MovieChat Forums > National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) Discussion > If this was a PG-rated series from the b...

If this was a PG-rated series from the beginning

posted 9 years ago by auteur_theory
18 replies | jump to latest

Would it still be as good? Because really the only thing truly bad about this movie is the Profanity. If there was little to no swearing, the rest of the movie is a hard PG or soft PG-13.

The inconsistencies with the ratings are kind of annoying
Original Vacation - R
European - PG13
Christmas - PG13
Vegas - PG
New Vacation - R

Make up your minds already Warner Bros., is this franchise gonna be family-friendly or adults only??! Lol.

tRuE sTAR LeGEnd

[–] SurroMama 8 years ago

I haven't seen he new one but the original, from what I remember, is the only one with brief nudity, Ellen topless in a couple scenes.

[–] Son_Of_A_Bitch_Must_Pay 8 years ago

European Vacation has some nudity in it

Channel Six News, they'll finger anything with a pulse!

[–] HellboundHero 8 years ago

Yeah, there was a scene in some kind of strip club from what I remember, and I think maybe a girl took her top off in front of Rusty(but I can't remember if they actually showed anything in that case).

[–] Son_Of_A_Bitch_Must_Pay 8 years ago

Yeah they showed the german girl opening her top an showing Rusty her breasts

Channel Six News, they'll finger anything with a pulse!

[–] rmacchiarelli 8 years ago

Of course it would be as good, ratings generally don't determine if a movie is good or not. Christmas Vacation (PG-13) is my favorite of the series and I thought Vacation (R) was just pretty good and isn't near as good as Airplane! (PG) or The Naked Gun (PG-13). So as long as there would be the jokes and gags that make it so loved and they just censored the nudity or language it would be fine.

[–] purplebear17 8 years ago

Vegas vacation wasn't too good and the worst vacation film because john hughes didn't write it.

[–] straw_hat_boy_luffy 8 years ago

I think they should compromise with a PG13 rating. CV cursing worked because it was peppered and used constructively. I think this would be even funnier if they kept the profanity reined in a bit more. Keep the F-bomb to the one from Clark's outburst and it hits harder. The nudity added nothing here. This movie wanted to be PG13.

[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 8 years ago

Clark's outburst is the funniest part of the movie so no this movie would not have been as good if it were PG.

"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

[–] HellboundHero 8 years ago

I think Christmas Vacation proves the movies can be funny without the stronger language and sexual themes, but they never bothered me. When Vacation came out, I think there was sort of a phase going on where comedies were rauncher due to the influence of Animal House, and by the time Christmas Vacation came out, comedy was entering a more family-friendly phase.

[–] KyleH87 7 years ago

We're in the raunchy phase again with the Seth Rogen crap that keeps coming out. At least Animal House and Vacation were actually funny. I agree with you on the late 80's. Even the R-rated comedies that were coming out then like When Harry Met Sally were really tame. If you removed a couple f-bombs that movie could've easily been PG-13.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) a year ago

The profanity was funny so no it should have been R rated.

[–] EleazarHisSon (599) 7 months ago

PG-13 didn't exist yet when whis was made. European Vacation which is PG-13 has much more nudity than this does (but maybe not profanity). Christmas Vacation "remade" Clark's profane outburst and kept it successfully at PG-13. In retrospect, I think the original should have been R.

[–] Sparky (2336) 6 months ago

Taking the original by i9tself I'm not certain it was ever meant for the family. I think it was aimed at adults regarding families so they were present. Even the themes with the kids- sex, drugs etc, were adult themed. I don't think they expanded their target audience until European.

[–] EleazarHisSon (599) 6 months ago

The sequel hardly felt like a family picture either (though I would assume that many believed it was). It had a lot of nudity, and showed an underage boy in a strip club and making out with one of the strippers (or if it was a prostitute, don't really remember exactly).

[–] Sparky (2336) 6 months ago

Yes but it was the 80s and that cheeky sort of thing was the course du jour. It was my coming-of-age period and I remember it well. By today's standards you're probably right., but the 60s and the 70s sorta freed up sexual material to a degree in the states, in Europe it was even more so.

[–] EleazarHisSon (599) 6 months ago

Europe did have a sexual liberation period at that time, but I wasn't aware that existed in the US too. I thought Americans were always more prude when it came to nudity than Europeans were. But yeah, come to think of it, I've noticed that many 80's movies which were rated PG and PG-13 had a lot of tits in them. Something that you rarely se today.

[–] Sparky (2336) 6 months ago

Oh ya back then esp before PG-13 became a thing one could have seen some nudity in PG movies in the states. You're right from that perspective the US is more prude than Europe, even still. The US embraces violence and Europe less so in a similar way.

[–] EleazarHisSon (599) 6 months ago

Generally, Europe is a bit more harsh on violence and a bit more lenient on sex and profanity. There are some movies that are rated R for sexuality that are considered ok from 7 or 11 here, like American Pie, Good Luck, Chuck and the first Scary Movie entries. On the other hand, there are PG and PG-13 action movies, like Indiana Jones, Jaws and James Bond movies, that are rated 15 which is the highest rating here and the equivalent of R basically.