This American rating means one thing - NO-ONE under 17 will be admitted.
The NC-17 rating came out in 1990 to replace the X rating for two reasons. 1) That X had become associated with pornographic movies, and 2) anyone could use the X rating. It was not trademarked. NC-17 solved both of those problems.
There are a ton of movies that are "unrated" that would classify as NC-17, but they just don't get rated because of the bad stigma that is associated with NC-17 movies. Just look at the movie 'Showgirls', a movie with an excellent storyline, excellent acting, and excellent directing. This movie bombed in the theater. But, a far inferior movie like 'Requiem for a Dream - Director's Cut', that was released as "unrated," enjoyed critical acclaim and a decent stint at the box office.
Anyway, NC-17 is the mark of death for a movie at the box office, and I list below those brave movies who dared to claim the rating that they deserved. All this stuff is taken from the MPAA website, so even if the video release below is unrated or R, then these are the few brave films that dared to get and keep a NC-17 rating for the theatrical release. You’ll notice that not many movies nowadays dare to get an NC-17 rating. Most of them were early 90’s.
'The Dreamers' in 2004. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.
'Wadd: The Life & Times Of John C. Holmes' in 2003. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.
'Wvag In New York City' in 2001. Rated NC-17 for graphic sexuality. Short Film.
'Trois' in 2000. Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexuality.
'The Barcelona Erotic Film Festival' in 1999. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.
'Orgazmo' in 1998. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content and dialogue.
'Two Girls and a Guy' in 1998. Rated NC-17 for a scene of explicit sexuality.
'Glam' in 1998. Rated NC-17 for a scene of explicit sexuality and some sexual dialogue.
'Bent' in 1997. Rated NC-17 for a strong scene of graphic sexuality.
'Hell's Belles' in 1997. Rated NC-17 for pervasive sexuality and nudity.
'Broken English (Unrated Version)' in 1996. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality.
'Crash' in 1996. Rated NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes.
'Comfortably Numb' in 1995. Rated NC-17 for scenes of graphic drug use and some explicit sexuality.
'Delta of Venus' in 1995. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality.
'Showgirls: Sneak Preview' in 1995. Rated NC-17 for strong sexual images. Short Film.
'Showgirls' in 1995. Rated NC-17 for nudity and erotic sexuality throughout, and for some graphic language and sexual violence.
'Hottest Bid' in 1995. Rated NC-17 for strong, graphic sexuality.
'Paris France' in 1994. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.
'Tokyo Decadence (Subtitled)' in 1993.
'Man Bites Dog - Criterion Collection' in 1993.
'Hard to Die' in 1992.
'Easyriders Video Magazine #13' in 1992.
'Intent to Kill' in 1992.
'Wide Sargasso Sea' in 1992.
'Poison' in 1992.
'Bad Lieutenant' in 1992.
'The Loves Of Lady Chatterly' in 1992.
'Bizarre' in 1991.
'Dark Obsession' in 1991.
'Andrew Dice Clay: Dice Rules!' in 1991.
'The Dolls' in 1991.
'Flesh Gordon 2 - Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders' in 1991.
'Games Of Love' in 1991.
'Modern Love' in 1991.
'The Shadowed Mind' in 1991.
'Whore' in 1991.
'Centerspread' in 1990.
'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' in 1990.
'Henry & June' in 1990.
'In the Cold of the Night' in 1990.
'Midnight Woman' in 1990.
'Peepshow' in 1990.
'Play Thing' in 1990.
'Radio Active' in 1990.
'Softly From Paris - Series I, II, III, IV, and V' in 1990.
'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!' in 1990.
'Santa Sangre' in 1990. Rated NC-17 for several scenes of extremely explicit violence. Moved from R to NC-17 in 1991.
'Rodney Dangerfield: Nothin' Goes Right' in 1989. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1991.
'Myriam' in 1982. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1991.
'Evil Dead - Special Edition' in 1981. Rated NC-17 for substantial graphic horror violence and gore. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1994.
'Arabian Nights' in 1979. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1991.
'The Canterbury Tales' in 1979. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1991.
'Blonde Emmanuelle in 3-D' in 1977. Rated NC-17 in 1990.
'Emmanuelle 2: The Joys of a Woman' in 1976. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1991.
'In the Realm of the Senses' in 1976. Moved from being banned to NC-17 in 1991.
'1900' in 1976. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1990.
'The Story of O' in 1975. Rated NC-17 for sexual content. Moved from X to NC-17 in 2002
'Inserts' in 1975. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1996
'Female Trouble' in 1974. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality and nudity. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1999.
'La Grande Bouffe' in 1973. Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexuality. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1998
'Last Tango in Paris' in 1973. Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexual content. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1997.
'Pink Flamingos' in 1973. Rated NC-17 for a wide range of perversions in explicit detail. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1997
'Romantic Memoirs' in 1973. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1990.
'The Secret Sex Lives of Romeo and Juliet / The Notorious Cleopatra' in 1970. Rated NC-17 in 1990.
'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' in 1970. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1990.
'Tropic of Cancer' in 1970. Moved from X to NC-17 in 1992.
Most of those movies were never even released to theatres to begin with, and "Wadd: The Life & Times Of John C. Holmes" was just a suppliment disc to the "Wonderland" DVD. NC-17 is virtually extinct, and needs to be done away with, like "sudden death" in the NFL.
BTW, I think you're in the minority, thinking that "Showgirls" is a better movie than "Requiem for a Dream". There's no comparison, to be honest. Although I heard "Showgirls" is a favorite in France.
Last edited by Cory Chaos on Apr 17th, 2004 at 04:07 PM
Indeed, Requiem for a Dream is pure gold, showgirls is pure dribble.
However, it's interesting to look at that list, and recognize so many movies that are now considered cult classics and known as extremly strong, and popular films today.
KMC Community Forums
Nc-17
Apr 17th, 2004 03:24 PM
