Why is this R rated? - Volunteers (1985) Discussion

[–] unclejay73 21 years ago

It's R rated, because of the profanity, adult situations and brief nudity. All in all, "Volunteers" is a very underrated comedy. Very funny, and clever.

"You learn from the best...and the worst." - Uncle Jay, 9/14/94

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[–] katie-130 21 years ago

I saw this on my family's trip to Hawaii. It was fun to watch, but I started watching it while the characters were on a plane and I don't know what I missed. I love when Tom Hanks says, "My God, we're a mile from the sun."

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[–] emoli358 21 years ago

And there was a love scene and also brief nudity at the beginning before they were on the plane.

This "Burmase Prince" thing

And there are some dialoges between Tom and Rita

Like:
Move this log and I'll sleep with each of you!

I'm not going to apologize for trying to make you!

Were you trying to go to bed with me

stuff like that!

Though I don't know if they suffice to make a movie r-rated!

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[–] ragreen259 19 years ago

Just a step above mediocre at best. How did they ever get Hanks to take this role, and why is he talking like an idiot?

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] paulb_30 18 years ago

Although you apparently didn't enjoy the film, it is an excellent production. Very professionally put together by a cast and crew of very competent individuals. Sorry that it wasn't your cup of tea, but it is far from mediocre in my opinion.

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[–] john_murdoch2002 21 years ago

...The Burmese Prince.

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[–] 21 years ago

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[–] barnapkins 20 years ago

ummmm nipples.

http://barnapkins.org

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[–] ParatusRentboy 20 years ago

also, when exactly was the pg-13 rating in effect? was this movie before that rating out?
It's the DANGLE of the bits.
meat pie?

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[–] barnapkins 20 years ago

Well the movie red dawn was the first movie released with a PG-13 rating, and that was 1984. This movie was 1985.

http://barnapkins.org

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[–] boogles 20 years ago

It is rated R mainly because of the sex scene between Jude Mussetter (Bootsy) and Tom Hanks at the beginning of the film after the card game. Jude Mussetter also appears nude briefly in the film. There is a bit of swearing in the film and sexual innuendo, but not much. Does anyone what Jude Mussetter is doing now?

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[–] BFenster 18 years ago

It's incredibly brief nudity and it's not during sex. There are about a dozen curses in the movie. I show a slightly edited version of this film to my high school students... I do cut out the Burmese prince (sadly).

Obviously the studio didn't give any fight to the MPAA here. Temple of Doom came out the previous year and has a person's heart being ripped out of his chest... and it got a PG. Morons.

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[–] Tocqueville 14 years ago

- The language, both the curse words and anything related to sex.
- The very brief nudity
- The brief time we hear (not see) Laurence and his girlfriend having sex.
- The discussion of drugs (maybe even the discussion of communism)
- The gambling at the beginning might have had something to do with it.
- An yes, the Burmese prince.

One thing we need to remember is that this was 1985. By large, movie makers back then couldn't get away with as much before being slapped with an "R" rating. Today, the cigarette and pipe smoking and the drinking would have had something to do with getting an "R" rating.

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[–] Jaybone23 14 years ago

HBO is showing "Volunteers" as I write this and I was wondering the same thing. A film company today would go out of its way to AVOID an 'R' rating for a movie like this since it would possibly alienate a large segment of the potential audience. I guess things were viewed differently in the 80s, and maybe "Volunteers" was made specifically for an adult audience. However, it would not have been difficult to make the kinds of changes necessary to turn this film into a 'PG-13' or a 'PG', and it probably would not have altered the story very much. I guess what others here are saying is true: the 'R' rating is for the language (there was at least 1 mother-effer!), the brief nudity, the drug references, and the negative portrayal of the US government. Today, I think all you would have to do is remove the language. You can get away with some nudity in a PG-13, can't you? Heck, you can even get away with a certain amount of nudity on broadcast television these days!

(P.S. - It appears HBO2 is having a Tom Hanks film festival of sorts! "Volunteers" has just ended, "Road to Perdition" is now coming on, and it will be followed by "Catch Me If You Can". HBO will do things like this on occasion, but it rarely, if ever, advertises it.)

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[–] lasvegasira 13 years ago

There were a lot of MF-ers at the beginning by the character Cicero. That and the nudity is where the "R" came from.

"You know what a cautious fellow I am..."

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[–] Jaybone23 13 years ago

Yep...that'd do it. The "eff" word is one thing (I think you can have one or two of those in a PG-13), but a bunch of "mother effers" is a mother effer of another color!

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