Kaiju Theory: Could the Next Godzilla Movie Have an R Rating and What Would It Look Like?

Of all the things that could happen to the Godzilla franchise in the future, there’s something that stands out as much as Kong’s sore tooth Godzilla x Kong because it has never come about in 70 years, no matter how easy it would be. This thing has an R rating.

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The series came close a few times on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, and it wasn’t long before Toho gave blood to their beloved films. Before they arrived at the line with certain moments Minus one And Shinespecially in its body horror elements, which can be found in deleted scenes, they had the big guy splashed extensively in red back in the 1970s, when his child-directed rap was well received.

That didn’t hurt his image at the time, nor did all the necessary cuts Shin Godzilla however, kept it in line with PG-13 standards. Let’s face it, they stayed in line just enough to earn a more modest rating. There’s still a lot of goo, guts, blood, and dismemberment in these films, especially those from the MonsterVerse.

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The key to this, however, is that all the carnage and injury must be relegated to the Kaijus – unless that’s what we’re talking about Kong: Skull Islandthat showed people being mutilated while holding a PG-13. (Some films still keep the promise behind this rating when it was introduced in the ’80s, but that’s another story.)

I shouldn’t have to point out the obvious irony: Godzilla films have never shied away from the toll that wanton destruction takes on society’s forgotten men and women. From the beginning, these films were a dark and somber allegory in which people died tragically, even if we didn’t see it on screen.

There were several possibilities that played out – some are killed in Godzilla’s attack, others are left behind and die from severe injuries or radiation poisoning. That’s wasteland for an entire movie: show us in grim detail what happens to anyone unlucky enough to get too close when Gojira overheats.

I don’t know if any of you have checked what it means for a human being to be exposed to a nuclear reaction without protection, but it’s slow, it’s deadly, and it’s not pretty. Japanese audiences and producers may still be too squeamish to depict the implications, but someone out there is ready, and all it takes is a vision.

But even if that person’s pitch is met with approval, neither Toho nor Legendary Pictures has to go that far. All they really need to do is display more bloody casualties during a rampage or kaiju fight in full realism. Trampled, falling from buildings, crushed by debris, hit by a heat ray – whatever the means, there should be blood and ash, smeared and splattered.

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The same goes for the torn apart monsters, because green blood and guts are no substitute for a more realistic version of them. Following Robert Rodriguez-From dusk to dawn “Rule of Thumb” made some gains, but it’s still down to studios playing it safe.

However, that doesn’t mean that the MonsterVerse, or wherever Japan’s Reiwa era goes next, has to leave the confines of Godzilla’s more familiar cartoon world. Fan-made animations like the one below show that you don’t have to give up the Showa feel to turn the production into something The evil dead.

The only question is whether there’s any real demand for this stuff in a Godzilla movie; Or is it advocated by a minority of fans who don’t realize that “edgy” doesn’t always mean “better”? The answer to that ultimately lies with Toho, but they’ll have to see some benefit in giving their boy the green light to become a Rated-R superstar.

READ MORE: Kaiju History – The MonsterVerse’s humble beginnings lay in the failed goal of presenting Godzilla in 3D

This article was mentioned: Godzilla Godzilla Minus One Kaiju kong Legendary Entertainment MonsterVerse R-Rated Shin Godzilla Toho

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