Fans of gratuitous, overwrought violence and Moon Bloodgood’s breasts should probably bow their head in a moment of silence. It looks like despite all McG’s boasting, “Terminator Salvation” will have to go without the “hard-R” rating he was going for and will have to stick to the consolation prize of PG-13.
According to AICN, the movie has itself a Pizza-Hut tie-in, which might be part of the culprit. Tits and family style pizza just don’t mix (no seriously, we tried it. It’s true). Is “Watchmen” to blame? After all, its hard-R didn’t exactly do wonders for Zack Snyder’s subtle sense of filmmaking and since Warner Bros. is the same studio, they probably want to cut their loses and get as many asses in seats as possible (as was rumored to be the new WB dictum back in mid March, just two short weeks after “Watchmen”failed to be the runaway success they were banking on; yes, it did put up decent numbers, but…). A PG-13 rating will likely ensure that.
McG promised at ComicCon — much to her embarrassment — that Bloodgood’s breasts would appear in the film. “Do you want to see Moon[Bloodgood] ‘s boobs in the picture?” he reportedly asked/goaded the ComicCon crowd who surged like a mob, only to be told, no sadly, they weren’t allowed to touch.
As Vulture cheekily notes, “Salvation will be the first-ever Terminator movie deemed suitable for 13-year-olds, which means the violence and profanity will likely not be as intense as in previous ones, or even as it was on set during the filming of Christian Bale’s scenes.”
However, fans who are writing the movie off as we speak shouldn’t forget that Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” was just as intense and way more riveting than “Watchmen,” and it too was rated PG-13. It just shows you a creative and smart director can make a ferocious movie without having to show you every little gruesome, speed-ramped fist to the face. And for lesser directors (*cough*McG*cough*!), it just forces them to try and make them use their imagination a bit more, and for that reason alone, we’re all for it.
