The first Godzilla movie came out in 1954 and gave birth to a franchise that has 38 movies. All 38 of those movies have been rated anywhere between not rated/G to PG-13 by the MPAA standards. But November 6th of this year will bring us the first ever R rated Godzilla film when Godzilla Minus Zero comes out. It’s the direct sequel to 2023’s Godzilla Minus One which is one of the highest rated Godzilla movies. The MPAA just released the rating and it says that the reason is for violent content and bloody images.
If first learned about this from Polygon’s Elijah Gonzalez, you can read his article here, and I hadn’t known that no other Godzilla had a R rating before. The original 1954 Godzilla film was not rated. It wasn’t until 1965’s Invasion of Astro Monster that a Godzilla film first got an actual rating. Despite the action and kaiju battles, Invasion of Astro Monster got a G rating but the next film, 1966’s Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, got a PG rating and that became the ceiling for Godzilla film ratings until America stepped in with 1998’s Godzilla, which got a PG-13 rating.
Godzilla Minus Zero had it’s world premier screening at the New York Film Festival and director Takashi Yamazaki spoke with Variety about the R rating. In this article by Variety’s Antonio Ferme and Zack Sharf, Yamazaki mentioned that normally a studio and director would want as many people to see the film as possible. An R rating would limit that possible audience. I remember as a kid, I could easily convince my parents or my Grandpa to take me to a PG-13 film, but an R rating would take some convincing. So even though an R rating could possibly limit the audience for the new Godzilla film, Yamazaki found that there were some scenes that he just couldn’t cut.
“there were certain scenes that, for me as a director, were so essential to the film. Censoring it or cutting it was just not an option for me.” Yamazaki told Variety
This single quote does a lot to tell me that I can keep my hopes up for this film. As the quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry goes: “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” It’s the fact that there are a few key scenes that caused the R rating but Yamazaki knew taking those scenes out was not an option.
Yamazaki goes on to say that he believes there isn’t that much of a negative connotation with R rated films anymore. The article even mentions how a few R rated films have crossed the billion dollar mark like Deadpool & Wolverine and this year’s Odyssey.
In my opinion, this film may be rated R but if you think any youngins in your life can handle the action and fantastical violence, then I don’t see why they can’t watch this film. It’s not like a Saw film where it’s over-the-top grotesque or overtly sexual like 1998’s Wild Things. I don’t believe this is going to be the sort of R movie that you need to seriously consider leaving anyone 17 or under behind. Just be smart about it.
Godzilla Minus Zero is such a highly anticipated film that I don’t think the R rating will have any negative effect on the film’s box office. If I saw parents take their kids to see Terrifier 3 in theaters, then there should be no problem with everyone’s favorite kaiju. Godzilla Minus One was my favorite Godzilla film and I hope this sequel is even better.
