Question needing an answer
Why is this rated NC-17?
shareI believe this was the first NC-17 movie.
I read somewhere a few years after the release that it was considered too explicit for just an "R" rating, but the next "strongest" rating after that would have been "X" - which back then was strictly for porn. The producers were somehow about to get a new rating devised because they were afraid of getting stamped with the "X".
Yes, I heard it was the first NC-17 rated movie also.I didn't know there realy was a "X" rating, but thanx for the answer.
shareIs it really that erotic? Dont tell me that they show the guy's dick. Im gonna go look for it in blockbuster. im curious as to whether the rating is a little show or if its appropriate for the movie. But I saw the trailer and it looks like an nc-17 movie. Just dont tell me you see the guys dick!!
shareFear not, your masculinity (or "virtue", should you be female) will remain intact; haven't seen it in ages, but I don't recall any dicks being shown.
At this point Henry and June seems pretty tame. But in the 80s, lesbian sex scenes were still verboten. Sexual mores have changed quite a bit (we see people having sex in commecials for upcoming sitcoms now - I'm remided of an Ally McBeal ad I saw featuring a couple screwing in an oversized coffee cup), so a movie that features a lot of sex but nothing graphic seems mild for the rating they gave it. A well made, erotic film, but not The Brown Bunny.
For americans imdb users: I have a doubt, i read that in the USA's Blockbuster it's impossible to rent movies rated NC-17, is this true? Here in Argentina we can rent XXX's movies in Blockbuster.
shareYeah, Blockbuster keeps it's shelves pretty puritanical, nothing stronger than an R, I don't think you can get Showgirls there.
sharei work at blockbuster and actually you can get anything inside of blockbuster. blockbuster carries every movie you can basically think of, and if they don't, we can order it and get it.
blockbusters aren't all the same, they are actually tailored to suit the location of the store. for instance, in el paso, TX you can find over a hundred copies of Orignal Latin Kings of Comedy on the shelf, but at my store in bible belt NC, you will find one shelf of that, but several copies of more christian related material instead.
everything blockbuster does is tailored to help that store succeed as you could imagine.
Ha!
shareYeah, but refusing to carry good films with 'objectionable' ratings (NC17, X) is WRONG, esp for a store that claims to maintain a 'family-oriented image' & has no problem renting violent & sexually explicit video games. This is only one reason why I stopped going to the BB in my area. Also, they never had any of the obscure or indy films I was looking for.
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"No TV & no beer make Homer... something, something." -Homer Simpson
I know when Blockcuster took over (everything in a week of 1995!) in Denmark, it was the first place in the world for BBuster to feature adult/sleaze/porn movies. Otherwise they would loose 25% of the sale, so they committed to continue these "goods"...haha
shareIn actual fact Blockbuster in the US does carry NC-17 and X-rated films (to wit Henry and June and even Caligula) but they only carry heavilly edited versions. The Blockbuster version of Henry and June is the same tame version often broadcast on Bravo. This censorship is usually in no place indicated on the display box.
Stay away from Blockbuster, give your money to your local independent video store which trusts your judgement enough to not censor your movies.
The fact Blockbuster does carry NC-17 movies, proves the policy is unenforceable and ridiculous. Two Blockbusters near me carry NC-17 versions of DVDs Tie Me Up and Crash (the R-rated version is availiable on the same disc), but the store also offers Director Cuts and Unrated versions of movies (which would have received NC-17 ratings if those versions were submitted to the MPAA.
share[deleted]
the blockbuster near me doesn't carry any version of it, and that's the only video store anywhere near where I live.
shareUnless of course you want to see a version of a movie that has been edited to suit your sensibilities, morals or beliefs.
If the studio wants to release a film in a version edited to make it acceptable to a market segment, they deserve to be thanked for that. Why should your morality be the ONLY acceptable morality. THAT'S immoral.
And before you complain that its an offense to the filmmaker, such editing from a theatrical release must be approved by the director and producer before it can be done. Its standard in all contracts.
If you don't like a store or its policies, feel free to shop somewhere else. It isn't the store that is wrong, its your attitude that to be "right" a store must operate to suit you.
The customer is NOT always right.
At the time of "Henry and June"'s release, Blockbuster was owned by Wayne Huizenga, whose religious/moral beliefs were reflected by his refusal to allow certain films to be available in his stores. Eventually the video industry experimented with "edited" versions of films Blockbuster wouldn't stock. This was evidence of how important Blockbuster once was.
I don't think things have improved much. Today Netflix is the leading provider of home video service, and anyone who subscribes to their streaming video service knows well that Netflix's offerings are restricted both in terms of what is shown and editing. One example: Compare the DVD versions of "Family Guy" to Netflix's streamed versions.
Both "A Clockwork Orange" and "Midnight Cowboy" received 'X' ratings in their original theatrical releases. The porn industry soon co-opted the rating as a way of promoting the "adult" nature of their product (this was at a time when there were many adult theaters, that is, pre-video). The MPAA eventually developed the NC-17 rating as a way of addressing concerns, mostly from parents, about young adolescents getting into 'R' rated films by either being accompanied by an adult or getting an adult (ie, a person 17 years or older) to buy them tickets.
As for "Henry and June," it is likely its NC-17 rating was the result of the film's adult story line. It is unlikely that many adolescents would be interested in the theme of the movie, but many teen-agers would be attracted to "the naughty bits."