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Idea & Info Wanted: The Force Awakens - a PG edit?

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I have a 7 year old son who desperately wants to watch The Force Awakens. Being the responsible parent that I am, I’m not entirely comfortable with him watching an M-rated movie (Australia’s equivalent to 12 or PG-13).

I’m planning on creating an edit that would allow TFA to pass as a PG movie. Anyone got any thoughts on what would need to be cut to achieve this?

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Sorry… posted this in the wrong category. Typical newbie:)

Can someone move this to fan edits?

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What exactly merited the PG-13 rating to begin with? Han being skewered? To remove that would be to leave a gaping hole (pun unintended) in the story.
Is there anything else in the movie you’re concerned about?

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I know Finn says “Damn it!” during the Jakku escape.

Kylo kills Lor San Tekka at the beginning of the film, the stormtroopers kill the villagers, and Finn gets blood smeared across his helmet. I don’t think you can do much about the blood, but maybe you could trim the other two in a way that cuts away from those things sooner? I mean, you see them shooting at the villagers, but never see them get shot. Plus, it is kind of an important moment for Finn’s character.

The only thing I could think of would be to cut to BB-8 seeing the x-wing explode from a distance before we see everything resolved at the village, but you would lose a lot depending on when you cut away. This scene already does a pretty good job at cutting away from the violence, though.

For Han’s death, maybe you could cut to Rey, Finn and Chewie’s reaction a little sooner so we don’t see the initial stabbing. I don’t really see a way of cutting around Han’s death.

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Not sure exactly where the line is drawn for PG, but here’s a list of everything that might be deemed even the slightest bit inappropriate:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2488496/parentalguide

Everything from “Snoke’s voice and perceived size may be frightening to younger viewers” to “A man uses a lightsaber to suddenly stab another man through the torso and holds the weapon’s blade in place for a couple of seconds as it scorches the man’s clothing and innards”…

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Sir Ridley said:

“A man uses a lightsaber to suddenly stab another man through the torso and holds the weapon’s blade in place for a couple of seconds as it scorches the man’s clothing and innards”…

Jesus, that description is more graphic than what we actually see in the movie.

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I also have young kiddos and made a Youngling Edition of ESB for them. Need to find time for a ROTJ Youngling edition.

Anyway, I think strategic cuts that remove the more intense elements would make the movie PG. Vader choked out the captain in ANH and Luke’s aunt and uncle were shown as burnt skeletons. I think those scenes, especially the latter, are more intense than most things in TFA.

I’d recommend the following:
-Cut away or remove Lor’s death
-Cut away or remove the village massacre
-Tone down Poe’s interrogation scene
-Minimize on screen fatalities throughout
-Cursing isn’t terribly hard to edit out, my Heir to the Force edit removes it.
-Remove Finn skewering the stormtrooper and some of the more in your face deaths during the Takodana scene.
-You could get creative and have a stormtrooper shoot Han to lessen the creep out factor, but you’d lose the impact if the scene and plot point of the two movies thus far.
-Leaving in Ren’s tantrums may actually make the movie lighter for a kid.
-Not sure if you can do anything about Ren vs Kylo

digmodification.wordpress.com

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Hal 9000 said:

What exactly merited the PG-13 rating to begin with? Han being skewered? To remove that would be to leave a gaping hole (pun unintended) in the story.
Is there anything else in the movie you’re concerned about?

I just want to trim some of the graphic violence. I aim to cut as little as possible. Possibly just some of the battle on Jakku and trimming Han’s death. I certainly don’t want do anything drastic like removing Han’s death from the movie altogether.

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I’m not sure if TFA is that much more violent than the OT and first 2 prequels. I think it’s more a matter of the occam’s razor shifting to the point PG-13 encompasses much of what PG used to. Both ANH and ESB would probably be rated PG-13 under today’s rating system for having arms/hands being cut off by a lightsaber. IMO the only Star Wars film that really deserves a “PG” edit is Episode 3.

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Zachary VIII said:

IMO the only Star Wars film that really deserves a “PG” edit is Episode 3.

killing younglings, severed heads and limbs, a major character burning alive, multiple mass murder scenes… Episode 3 is probably the most deserving of any of the films, imo.

digmodification.wordpress.com

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All pre-Disney Star Wars movies except RotS were PG, and there’s good reason RotS wasn’t. However, we live in an age where PG-13 is the standard, so movies that back in the day would’ve been PG are now PG-13. That doesn’t mean the films themselves are any less kid-friendly. TFA is perfectly suitable for a 7 year old or even a 5 year old. There’s nothing traumatizing in it, unless you count the death of a mentor.

Being the responsible parent that I am, I’m not entirely comfortable with him watching an M-rated movie (Australia’s equivalent to 12 or PG-13).

Can’t help but laugh thinking of the ESRB’s M for Mature.

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Yeah, TFA and TLJ don’t deserve their pg13 rating. I suppose there is more mild cursing and the blood, but cmon. ROTS and RO are the only ones I understand.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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Well there is a massacre,two torture scenes, an execution, an annihilation of worlds, people being eaten, shot and rounded up for slaughter. I’d say there’s plenty of stuff that would be traumatic for a child. Just my 2 cents.

digmodification.wordpress.com

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It’s important to keep in mind that before 1984, the ratings system was completely different. G meant for kids, PG meant for teenagers (kids aren’t recommended), R meant for adults (kids aren’t allowed without parental permission), and X meant kids aren’t allowed whatsoever under any circumstances (usually porn, but not always).

PG-13 not only didn’t exist, but PG of the time was definitely harder than PG-13 of today, and while the Original Trilogy wouldn’t be considered R today, a lot of PG movies of the 80s would be considered R today (especially horror movies, which is what prompted the redesign of the ratings system, people thought PG meant okay for kids when it did not). Additionally, I’m pretty sure all three OT movies would get PG-13, and maybe my hatred for American puritanism exaggerates this in my mind, but I’d imagine RotJ might push it with Slave Leia. All three of them are harder than anything in the sequels or prequels.

Reading R + L ≠ J theories

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All three were resubmitted to the MPAA in 1997 for the SEs, though. And then there’s TPM and AOTC, which are both PG.

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I grew up watching things like Batman Returns and Revenge of the Sith since before I could remember. I don’t think the stuff in TFA is enough to traumatize him, but I suppose it would still be good to be very sure as you’re watching the film that he’s okay with what’s shown.
My two cents.

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ChainsawAsh said:

All three were resubmitted to the MPAA in 1997 for the SEs, though.

They received the new rating because of censorship edits, like for example how in ANH they edited out a bunch of Imperial Officers dying.

Reading R + L ≠ J theories

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I mean, that’s literally the only example of censorship in the SE’s. Nothing else in ANH or anything in ESB or ROTJ were censored when it was resubmitted to the MPAA in 1997, and again, both TPM and AOTC were given PG ratings in 1999 and 2002.

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ChainsawAsh said:

I mean, that’s literally the only example of censorship in the SE’s. Nothing else in ANH or anything in ESB or ROTJ were censored when it was resubmitted to the MPAA in 1997, and again, both TPM and AOTC were given PG ratings in 1999 and 2002.

A lot has changed since then. Hard to think of many movies in recent years with similar content to the first 5 Star Warses that haven’t been rated PG-13. I’d bet if the films were made today they all would get PG-13, save maybe TPM.

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I remember watching ROTS in theaters when I was 8. Although Anakin burning to a crisp was certainly hard to watch I was able to enjoy and appreciate the darkness of the story. I don’t think TFA has anything quite as dark as that. The only thing that I think could be very intense is probably Han’s death but even that is not overtly graphic.

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I saw Revenge of the Sith for the first time when I was six. Anakin’s immolation scene didn’t bother me at all when I first saw it. At the time, I thought it was cool to see how Anakin became Darth Vader. I don’t think you should be cautious about showing your seven year old son The Force Awakens.

The name’s Lawson. Noah Lawson.

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TFA feels very “PG” to me, but then I’m judging by the standards of the other “PG” installments of the series, all except Episode I & II, which came out in the era before “PG-13” even existed.

About the only scene that to me pushed it a little in that direction was the “dripping blood” scene of Kylo’s wound as he begins to fight Ray and Finn in the forest. But I guess the “Wiping blood on the helmet” scene with Finn might have counted as well (it seems movies accumulate incidents to an overall subjective rating).

 

Mod Edit: A quick reminder that the Star Wars Preservation and Star Wars Fan Edit sections of the site are NOT the places to bash on certain eras or aspects of the films, actors, film-makers or owners.

Critiquing a scene in the Star Wars Fan Edits section with the aim of improving it, removing it, altering it etc is perfectly fine. Statements along the lines of ‘Disney sucks’ and ‘this film is so shit no Fan Edit can save it’ is not.
 

<i>TCBOO</i>

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KurganX said:

Honestly, no amount of cuts will turn this into a good movie, and any young one is better off seeing the original classics. Tell him that TFA is a boring ripoff and TLJ is a nihilistic middle finger (“naughty word”) to the fans. They were made by greedy people who didn’t care about making Star Wars good anymore.

The young lad will likely see the classics regardless - though the OP, as stated… ‘I have a 7 year old son who desperately wants to watch The Force Awakens’…

Mate, this thread is for coming up with ideas and suggestions to help achieve a PG Edit of the The Force Awakens film. It is not for people to put a downer on the ideas and contributions here - or give their opinion it is not worth the effort - in the way you have.
 

The young lad doesn’t likely need to be told to enjoy TFA & TLJ or not. Maybe he can even watch them with an open mind…
 

Though feel free to take your views to the TFA and TLJ review threads.
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.