‘District’ R

With word coming out today that ‘District 9,’ the Neill Blomkamp-directed/Peter Jackson-produced, alien invasion drama, would be rated R, I felt it was time to go back and take note of some other alien invasions movies that were for restricted audiences.   Surprisingly, there are very few, and the ones that are even worth noting rank in even fewer numbers than that.

As out-and-out alien invasion films go, PG-13 is a tower when standing next to the anthill made up of all the ones rated R.   The ‘Independence Day’s and the ‘War of the World’s far outnumber the ‘Faculty’s or the ‘Body Snatcher’s.

In fact, look at those two groupings of film.   The PG-13 films are more about world domination.   The R-rated films are of smaller stature, centering on a small group of people during a rather quiet invasion tactic.   The aliens that come in with lazer beams blowing wiping out city after city are, evidently, more kid-friendly than the aliens who choose their targets more selectively.   The adult-oriented alien invasions are the ones where aliens take over the human race one person at a time.

Of course, this is saying nothing to the fact that ‘District 9’ isn’t even your typical alien invasion plot, though, I’m sure, Roland Emmerich’s depiction of this same story would be drastically different.   What we have with ‘District 9’ is more of a subdued story about how humans perceive aliens landing.   There is nothing to indicate from the film’s trailer that, at any time, do the aliens turn their weapons on the human race.   It looks to be more a film about the rights of all intelligent beings than a film about massive fireballs plowing through New York City.

However, those shots from ‘District 9’ of the alien’s massive ship hovering in the sky cannot help but call to mind the monster trend of alien invasions films that ran from the late ’90s to just a few years ago.   The aliens, or the blurry images of what little could be made out of them, look like the CG creatures that could have popped up in the middle of ‘Men in Black.’   For that reason alone, people are surprised today to hear the news of the MPAA’s decision to give the film an R rating.

However, these people seem to only be taking the film’s premise at face value.   ‘District 9’ is a film about so much more than a simple alien invasion or even a simple alien crash landing.   In fact, the whole thing is going to be playing like a documentary about the rights of these aliens and how the people of South Africa, where the aliens are being held as refugees, perceive these creatures.   I’m sure the film is going to be loaded with savage violence against both human and alien alike, as well as real-life dialogue between military and civilians.   This isn’t the kid-friendly military we’ve seen in other alien films.   I don’t think Will Smith is going to be among their ranks screaming out “Darn it all to heck” whenever he gets hurt.   Expect the F bomb to get thrown around in this one.

Something else that may be surprising people about the film’s R rating is Jackson’s name being attached.   Granted, he has become a household name for the casual moviegoer for his more recent works, four films (two if you count ‘Lord of the Rings’ as a whole) that were each rated PG-13.   However, if you look at his record pre-2001, you will see five feature films all rated R, some of them incredibally gory or offensive.   Anyone seen ‘Meet the Feebles’?   That film alone puts Jackson outside the “Walt Disney-esque” category right away.

Of coure, all of this could be moot tomorrow morning if the film decides to shoot for an appeal.   Columbia/Sony also had a film that was briefly rated R earlier this summer, ‘Year One.’   However, that film was re-cut and appealed down to a PG-13.   Some doubted the distributor would even release the film had it stuck with an R.   Most of us will never know for sure, though it is easy to speculate.   Granted, ‘Year One’ cost upwards of $75 million and ‘District 9’s price-tag is around $30 million, so the chances of it keeping its R rating is better than slim.   Of course, last year’s ‘Cloverfield’ had a budget in that similar ballpark, and it shot for a PG-13.   The thought of ‘District 9’ appealing to get a more audience-friendly rating isn’t completely unfathomable.

Here is hoping, however, that the film keeps its R.   Even if that wasn’t the rating they were aiming for initially, there is a satisfactory feeling in going to see something you know isn’t going to be watered down just for the sake of getting into more theaters.   For now, ‘District 9’ is rated R, and, although it might not be the expected rating for a film of this nature, it is very, very welcome.