The G rating is for movies that contain no violence, drug use, nudity or sex. Some language may go beyond polite conversation but no profanity is present. The movie is acceptable for young children to watch without a parent.
The PG rating suggests that parents make the decision to allow their children to view the film. There may be some mild profanity in these films. There may be some violence or brief nudity. However, there is nothing so explicit as to require that parents be strongly cautioned. There is no drug use in a PG-rated film. The PG-13 rating suggests to parents that the movie is probably unacceptable for children under the age of 13 years.
A PG-13 may contain violence, nudity, sexual situations, profane language, or drug content but is generally not rough, persistent, or sexually-oriented.
The R rating definitely contains some adult material. Parents are strongly urged to find out more about this film before they allow their children to watch it. An R-rated film may include strong and persistent profanity, rough violence, nudity, sexual situations, drug abuse, or a combination of the above, so parents are recommended to be cautious.
The NC-17 rating declares that the movie has excessive violence, sex, deviant behavior, drug abuse or other elements that most parents would consider too strong for children under the age of 17. The movies are not necessarily pornographic or obscene. Theaters cannot sell tickets to NC-17 movies to children under the age of 17 years.
For more information
To learn more about the content of a specific movie before you view it, we recommend Screenit.com. The main page will ask if you want to join now. You do not have to join. Instead, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "not now" to search the site. Search by movie title, and it shows you how the title is rated by categories such as Alcohol/Drugs, Sex/Nudity, Profanity, etc. It will then give you specifics related to each category. For example, "The Hitcher" lists profanity as extreme due to 39 instances of the f word and lists all other profane words said in the movie as well.