The Dirty Dozen: Films that Narrowly Avoided an NC-17
In the Oct. 28 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, Fox Searchlight reveals how it will try to restore respect to the NC-17 rating with Shame. The rating is so stigmatized, Hollywood studios have done whatever they can to secure an R rating. A surprising number of mainstream movies were initially rated NC-17 for sex, violence, aberrational behavior, drug abuse or other elements most parents would consider off-limits for children. These were cut just enough to slip under the wire and go out with an R.
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Pulp Fiction
A scene showing a head exploding after John Travolta's character blows it off was deleted.
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American Pie
The teen comedy, which became a pop-culture phenomenon, toned down its crude sexuality and language.
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The Hills Have Eyes
Wes Craven had to trim the more grisly moments in his 2006 remake to deliver an R-rated film.
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Original Sin
Four minutes of explicit sex scenes between Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas' characters were trimmed in the U.S.
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Law Abiding Citizen
A scene of Gerard Butler's character stabbing his cellmate, who bleeds to death, with a steak knife had to be cut from the 2009 film.
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Boys Don’t Cry
The filmmakers had to cut a sex scene between Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny's characters if the movie wanted an R.
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Cliffhanger
Nearly every violent scene in the 1993 Sylvester Stallone action film had to be trimmed to secure an R.
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The Godfather Part III
A few seconds depicting blood gushing from a character's neck were deleted in order to get an R.
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Hard Target
John Woo had to slice 20 minutes of violence from the 1993 pic starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
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Scream
About 20 seconds of gore were cut to secure an R rating.
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Summer of Sam
Spike Lee had to trim two scenes of nudity in the 1999 crime drama to deliver an R-rated film to Disney.
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The Getaway
A sex scene between Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's characters in the 1994 remake had to be excised.
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