History WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/{{Jellyfish}}'' is promoted on Creator/{{Tubi}}'s "Family Movies" section, likely on the basis of it starring a child protagonist, heedless of the fact that said child is a [[SirSwearsALot foul-mouthed]] TroubledTeen who moonlights as a '''''[[HarmfulToMinors underage prostitute]]'''''.

* The whole premise of ''Film/ViolentNight'' is about Santa Claus being portrayed as a hero for a wealthy family due to some baddies coming out. Sounds decent enough for a family Christmas get-together film right? Well, wrong because what about the ultraviolence (the title doesn't lie), cussing, Santa getting drunk at a bar, and some sexual dialogue? Sure it's a fun watch but are you sure your kids are going to handle all that? Just because Santa is a prominent character in the film does not mean you get to let your kids watch it.

* When ''Film/TheBananaSplits'' was released to DVD, Amazon categorized it as a Kids and Family film because it was based on a children's show. Not only is it a horror movie based on the show, but it contains many gruesome deaths, along with a few instances of mild swearing and a scene in which a character goes onstage while drunk.

* Some parents took their kids to see ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' just because it was about cowboys. However, the movie revolves around a gay relationship, has multiple sex scenes, and in the end, [[spoiler: one of the main characters is beaten to death]]. Even worse, Common Sense Media gives this film as a recommendation to tamer movies for teens like ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'' and ''Film/CallMeByYourName'', even going as far to [[https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/lgbtq-movies-for-teens put it on a list of the best LGBTQ movies to watch with people that age.]]

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'' was a movie filled with over-the-top-violence about a grim future, dominated by corporations. [[Film/RoboCop2 The sequel]] retained the R rating (although the original script by Creator/FrankMiller was far more bloody, explicit, and adult than the real movie, and the ExecutiveMeddling made him disenchanted with Hollywood)... but then they decided to follow it with a LighterAndSofter ''Film/RoboCop3'' and ''WesternAnimation/RoboCopTheAnimatedSeries'', clearly trying to aim the franchise at children.

* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' and its sequels. "[[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs This dinosaur movie]] is so cool, look there's a ''T. rex'' and... HE'S EATING PEOPLE! MOMMY! I'M SCAAAARREEED!" Nonetheless, given KidsLoveDinosaurs, it was still pretty heavily marketed towards them, with plenty of toys, coloring books, video games, etc. It was a funny sort of {{defictionalization}} of the Jurassic Park merchandise from the park.

* If all you saw of the film was a picture of [[CreepyCute Sam]], you'd be forgiven for thinking ''Film/TrickRTreat'' was a fun, [[DefangedHorrors mildly spooky]] Halloween movie suited for kids.

** Almost all adaptations of ''Literature/LesMiserables''. Parents should notice the story includes prostitution, extreme poverty, [[KillEmAll massacres]], kids killed off, teens killed off, suicide, and other not-for-children things.

* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Although the first three films are largely targeted towards kids and pre-teens, the rest of the series is noticeably more geared towards teenagers and young adults. Some of the violence gets particularly dark and gruesome towards the end of the series, with pretty realistic and unpleasant blood and injury detail visible in multiple scenes. An example of a particularly nasty scene can be found within The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, where Hermione has the word "mudblood" carved into her arm with a knife while she screams in agony (although most of it off-screen, it's still way too dark and scary for children). Other non-kid-friendly scenes include Albus Dumbledore being horribly tortured by a toxic cursed potion in ''The Half-Blood Prince'', a sizable chunk of Ron's shoulder and upper arm being torn off in ''The Deathly Hallows: Part 1'', Harry being tortured by Voldemort (and briefly stabbed by a knife) in ''The Goblet of Fire'', a brief but graphic shot of Voldemort's bloodstained corpse in ''The Deathly Hallows: Part 2'', and so on.

* The original 1954 version of ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'', ''Film/{{Gojira}}'' is an extremely dark allegory for the horrors of nuclear weapons. It depicts people vaporized, a women holding her children assuring them "we will be with daddy soon," people suffering in hospitals with radiation sickness and burns, and a love triangle that ends in a suicide. You know, for kids!

* ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' might look like a cool movie crossing over two things that kids love: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aliens and cowboys]]. Even the ad services utilized for Wiki/ThisVeryWiki seemed to have the same thoughts, with the ads on the movie's page being for things like ''[[VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom SpongeBob SquarePants Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated]]'' and ''[[Series/SesameStreet Sesame Street Live!]]''. [[note]] Usually ads are determined by the content of the page, but unlike most instances where this happened, these usually turned up on the page even if the user didn't search for something related to them.[[/note]] However, this isn't the case. Besides having bucketloads of violence, there's drunk characters, a few swears, [[GRatedDrug tea being used as a hallucinogen]] and even a mention of prostitution, among other things.

* ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' ended up winning the 2017 Kids Choice Awards for best soundtrack even though it contains quite a bit of profanity.

** ''TIME'' reviewer Richard Corliss used ''Austin Powers'' as a starting point on an [[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002940,00.html essay about the PG-13 rating]]. He even states at a certain point: "parents strongly cautioned means kids desperately wanted."

* The Japanese 1957 classic film, ''Film/TheMilitaryPolicemanAndTheDismemberedBeauty'', whose graphic murder scene was definitely not for children, surely shouldn't fall into this trap. ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series creator Creator/ShigesatoItoi, however, [[MisaimedFandom was some accidental exception]] for the scene that he saw as a little boy (as he thought he was seeing a rape scene at the time), and that scene, along with the actress in it, would later inspire the last battle scene with Giygas in ''VideoGame/EarthBound''.

** To give you a hint as to why the movie deserves an "R"-rating, the eponymous teddy bear's personality is perverted and addicted to drugs, and lewd. Since it was rated R, numerous gross-out and adult gags [[NeverTrustATrailer were toned down for TV and advertising]]. For example, one overused clip has Ted showing off to a co-worker, only to weird her out when he starts humping a barcode scanner. In the actual movie? He goes from humping to fellating a chocolate bar. The gross out reaction his colleague gives? [[UpToEleven She is disgusted when he uses soap dispensers to simulate being ejaculated on.]]

* Someone on the Malaysian censorship board decided to grant ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'' the U Rating (Universal rating, ''meaning that it is suitable for everyone, even babies''), apparently because the title of the movie sounds like [[CriticalResearchFailure it's a clean family comedy outing]]. It was eventually reclassified as an 18+ movie, but not before a horde of angry parents wrote in to the local press complaining. The Censor? He's most likely out of a job.

** In Italy, it was [[ValuesDissonance basically rated G(!)]][[note]] Italy is notoriously lax with film ratings, and only has three-- tutti (General), VM14 (not for children under 14) and VM18 (not for children under 18. There are discussions to revise the system-- for example, Paranormal Activity was rated 'tutti', and that did not sit well with audiences there, some of whom had panic attacks at the premiere [[/note]]. The only notable controversies regarding the film there were from liberal Catholic organizations that thought it was at odds with Vatican II's promise ''not'' to paint the Jewish people as responsible for Jesus' death.

* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' and its sequels. "[[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs This dinosaur movie]] is so cool, look there's a ''T. rex'' and... HE'S EATING PEOPLE! MOMMY! I'M SCAAAARREEED!" Nonetheless, it was still pretty heavily marketed towards kids, with plenty of toys, coloring books, video games, etc. for kids. It was a funny sort of {{defictionalization}} of the Jurassic Park merchandise from the park.

%%* The movie poster for ''Film/{{Kids}}'' had teens in bright four-color filters laughing, smiling, and otherwise posing in a way that suggested nothing more dangerous than any other movie for late preteens from TheNineties. NeverTrustATrailer, indeed. This was probably intentional - the movie really was for late preteens. And the MPAA was all set to give ''Kids'' an NC-17 rating, but Miramax (already part of Disney) decided to release the film unrated instead.
* Some parents mistakenly thought ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' was just another silly spy movie along the lines of ''Film/AgentCodyBanks''. There was also a [[PreciousPuppy cute little pug]] [[NeverTrustATrailer in the trailers]]. Cue shocks of horror when they hear all the [[ClusterFBomb cluster F-bombs]] and witness the Tarantino-level violence. Let's just hope they left right [[SignatureScene before the characters went to church...]] Again, folks, rated R for a reason.

* The poster for ''Film/{{Honey Boy}}'' depicts a grumpy pre-teen boy who has had a pie smashed in his face, making it look like a harmless kid-friendly slapstick about a kid. The film is actually an adult drama about alcoholism and child abuse, and therefore isn't at all for kids.

* ''Film/{{Honey Boy}}'', which is an adult drama despite its name and standard poster (a grumpy pre-teen boy who has had a large pie smashed in his face) making it look like a harmless kid-friendly slapstick.

* Some clueless parents took their kids to see ''Film/Joker2019'', unaware that it is rated R. Alamo Drafthouse had to issue a [[https://ew.com/movies/2019/10/02/joker-parents-warning/ PSA]] to parents about not taking their kids to see it, as it is not kid friendly at all.

** The same can be said for the film ''Film/{{Honey Boy}}'', which is an adult drama despite its name and standard poster (a grumpy pre-teen boy who has had a large pie smashed in his face) making it look like a harmless kid-friendly slapstick.

* ''Film/DropDeadFred'' seems to be harmless, a movie about a woman reunited with her imaginary friend from childhood. Many people remember watching this as kids. However, looking past the goofiness present throughout the film, it's pretty much the story of a woman about to lose her mind thanks in part to a crapsack childhood, dominated by an emotionally abusive mother. Also, there's a lot of blatant adult (PG-13) humor, including sex jokes, and said mother is nicknamed "Mega-bitch" by the title character.

* Don't be fooled by the fact ''Film/FunSize'' is made by Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, is marketed by Airheads candy and stars Music/VictoriaJustice; it's not rated PG-13 for nothing. It's doused with a '''lot''' of inappropriate humor and some profanity (including a scene where a character drops the S-bomb ''three times'' in just a minute). In Australia, it had to be {{Bowdlerise}}d to escape the M rating (equivalent of PG-13) and thereby earn a PG. The [[AudienceAlienatingPremise edginess of the film despite being marketed by Nickelodeon]] is probably why it became a BoxOfficeBomb.

* Some clueless parents took their kids to see ''Film/Joker2019'', unaware that it is rated '''R'''. Alamo Drafthouse had to issue a [[https://ew.com/movies/2019/10/02/joker-parents-warning/ PSA]] to said parents about not taking their kids to see it, as it is not kid friendly at all.

* ''Film/LoveActually'' seems like a nice little family Christmas movie that could be fun to take the kids to, and even gets frequently aired on ABC Family. But then there's the subplot with two stand-ins for a sex scene in a movie (complete with nudity) and an implied '''five-some''' with four American girls and one British guy. And the F-words. ''And'' several restrained but emotionally intense scenes about a superficially happily-married father of elementary-school aged children [[spoiler:whose wife finds he's having an affair with another woman]]. Just the thing for Christmas with the kids! To make matters worse, it's rated "for all ages" in Spain and the Netherlands!

* ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' ended up winning the 2017 Kids Choice Awards for best soundtrack. Said soundtrack containing quite a bit of profanity.

* Although most DVD artwork for the film ''Film/{{Threads}}'' makes it clear it's dark, don't be fooled by the fact that it has a PG rating in America. It's not a light documentary. '''''[[NightmareFuel/{{Threads}} IT'S. NOT.]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis FOR. KIDS.]]'''''

* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'':
** Besides [[NightmareFuel/WhoFramedRogerRabbit scariness,]] there's the sex-related jokes, a lot of which center on Jessica Rabbit. There are also a few swear words, a plot thread involving Eddie's alcoholism -- and let's not forget this is a murder mystery, with several instances of real-life violence, including a man shot several times and left hanging from an editing machine by his necktie.
** There's a reason Creator/{{Disney}} released it under the Creator/TouchstonePictures label. Touchstone is Disney's brand for more mature films. Though ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' did "migrate" from Touchstone to Disney for re-releases and even then, that movie had ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' as an excuse for that.
** Disney also would later produce a handful of original Roger Rabbit shorts that were shown prior to movies released under their main title like ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids''.

* When ''Film/TheBananaSplits'' was released to DVD, Amazon categorized it as a Kids and Family film because it was based on a children's show. Not only is it '''a horror movie based on the show''', but it contains many gruesome deaths, along with a few instances of mild swearing and a scene in which a character goes onstage while drunk.

* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' series (yet another Spielberg effort!) is a victim to this. [[SarcasmMode Nothing screams Family Friendly like]] melting Nazis, [[HelicopterBlender mooks chopped up by aircraft propellers]], and man-eating ants, right? In particular, controversy over the particularly high level of gore and horror in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' strongly contributed to the creation of both the PG-13 rating in the USA and the "12" rating in the UK.
* Everybody likes ''Film/JamesBond'', right? All the kids think he's cool, right? Well then, one is advised to warn them of these bits:
** ''Film/DrNo'': Bond shooting a defenseless man twice for good measure;
** ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': Bond finding a dead, naked girl that he slept with earlier. Her sister later has her neck broken by Oddjob's hat;
** ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'': Bond slowly choking a man to death with a ski, and causing another man to be ground up by a snowplow. And Tracy is shot in the head by Irma Blunt and Blofield... and they get away with it;
** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'': Two baddies slowly drowning in mud. Also Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd murdering Lord knows how many people (including Plenty O'Toole, who wasn't even involved in the evil plan, simply because she was in Tiffany Case's house at the wrong time);
** ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'': A goon stuck to a giant electromagnet because of his metal teeth, then dropped into a shark tank. The BigBad murders his secretary for betraying him by feeding her to said sharks, and said henchman gruesomely murders two people offscreen and nearly murders two more onscreen;
** ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': The villain kills his secretary by having her be eaten alive by his dogs. Bond also murders two scientists with nerve gas for the heinous crime of working for the villain. And then there's the final scene where Bond, er, "attempts re-entry".
** ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': An innocent woman brutally run over by a goon who wasn't even aiming for her. Bond also kicks a man inside a car off a cliff, in cold blood;
** ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': 009 being knifed in the back and slowly expiring. Bond later does this to one of the two knife-throwing brothers responsible. General Orlov is shot in the lungs and slowly expires, Vijay is cut open by a bladed yo-yo, a mook is impaled on a bed of nails, another mook is suffocated by a blue-ringed octopus, and the bladed yo-yo using mook is devoured by crocodiles;
** ''Film/AViewToAKill'': The BigBad gunning down dozens of his own men for the hell of it and throwing a Russian spy's lover into a turbine for fun;
** ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'': A [=MI6=] official killed by a sheet of glass that stabs right through him. 004 falls to his death after his rappelling rope is cut. Necros is killed by Bond's direct action of cutting his bootlace so that Necros would fall to his death. And General Whitaker is crushed to death by a bust of Wellington;
** ''Film/LicenceToKill'': Felix Leiter mauled horrifically by a Great White shark. Also, a henchman's head explodes, and another henchman is ground up in a rock crusher. The villain has one of his henchmen cut his mistress's lover's heart out and whips her while she begs him not to (in the opening 5 minutes of the movie, no less!);
** ''Film/GoldenEye'': A woman being pressed against a tree and then asphyxiated. Said woman kills countless people with a machine gun and with her thighs during sex, and tries doing this to Bond twice;
** ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'': A ship is sunk and the survivors are gunned down by the Carver Media Group's security adviser Mr. Stamper in a bid to start nuclear war and profit from reporting on it. Elliot Carver also has his wife killed because she betrayed him for Bond, and is killed by being hit with his own drill;
** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'': A man slowly dying from a bullet lodged in his brain, who executes a minion for failing him to psyche another one into succeeding, and drugs the crew of a submarine and has them drowned. Also Bond shoots an unarmed woman;
** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'': Bond getting tortured by North Korea in a very disturbing, half-hallucinatory sequence that shows a lot of CGI naked women, the villain's chief henchman is impaled on a chandelier with a spurt of blood, another man has a laser drilled through the back of his head, a female henchman is stabbed in the chest, and the villain kills his father and is electrocuted and ground up in a turbine;
** ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'': Bond tied naked to a chair and getting his junk destroyed by the bad guy;
** ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'': Bond finding a dead, naked girl that he slept with earlier, again;
** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': A terrorist balancing a shot glass of whiskey on his mistress's head then shooting her to knock it off. Later, he pulls his prosthetic jaw from his mouth to show the damage inflicted by the failure of a Suicide Pill.
** ''Film/{{Spectre}}'': Franz Oberhauser/[[spoiler:Blofeld]] subjecting Bond to ColdBloodedTorture, and holding the BondGirl hostage. This is done to spite 007 for being favored more by his foster father. SPECTRE dabbles in human slavery, terrorism, counterfeit drugs and regime change, to the point that Mr. White called it quits, aside from nauseating Bond a bit.

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'': Most people think of the original film as a family movie, and why shouldn't they? The theme song is almost always played during kid-friendly Halloween parties, there was plenty of merchandise targeted towards children, it spawned [[WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters a popular cartoon]], it's been shown on the Disney Channel several times, and even been released on home video as part of Creator/{{Columbia|Pictures}}/Creator/{{TriStar|Pictures}}'s family collection. But the truth is, the film was meant for adults. There's blatant sexual references and language throughout the entire film, particularly one brief scene during the montage that played during the theme song that actually went so far as to feature a ghost giving Ray a blow job. The original film is rated PG, which might be why people think of it as being for kids. However, if it were being released today, ''Ghostbusters'' would easily earn a PG-13 rating, with all the swearing, sex jokes, and casual smoking. The only reason it wasn't rated PG-13 in 1984 is because the PG-13 rating didn't exist at the time of its release (though it did come along later the same year).
** Because the movie was such a hit with young children and also because of the cartoon's popularity, ''Film/{{Ghostbusters II}}'' was toned down considerably to be more family friendly.
* The original 1954 version of ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'', ''Film/{{Gojira}}'':
** Unlike the later films, this one is ''very'' dark. You get to see people vaporized before your very eyes; a women holding her children assuring them "we will be with daddy soon" (it is assumed they are killed a moment later); people suffering in hospitals with radiation sickness and burns; and a love triangle that ends in a suicide. You know, for kids!
** If you can get your hands on a subtitled version, without Raymond Burr, which is to say, the version that was released in Japan, it is very dark and depressing. If you happen to know that the fake rubber suit the actor playing Gojira wears doesn't read as "cheap" so much as "stylized," to Japanese audiences, then the monster becomes scary. It makes more sense when you realize that the fire, the burning sets, and the radiation victim make-up are very real; the producers probably could have made an FX-y, stop-motion monster if they wanted. It's a horrifying movie. Oh, yeah, most of the people who worked on it actually lived through the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

** John Kelleher (speaking in 2004) - ''[[http://www.irishtimes.com/news/censor-s-changes-to-film-certs-1.1169376 "A number of recent films were given an 18 rating, whereas a 16 rating would have been absolutely adequate had such a rating been in force at the time. However, none of those films would have qualified for the 15PG rating, so they had to be given the 18 rating."]]''

* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Although the first three films are were largely targeted towards kids and pre-teens, the rest of the series is noticeably more geared towards teenagers and young adults. Some of the violence gets particularly dark and gruesome towards the end of the series, with pretty realistic and unpleasant blood and injury detail visible in multiple scenes. An example of a particularly nasty scene can be found within The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, where Hermione has the word "mudblood" carved into her arm with a knife while she screams in agony (although most of it off-screen, it's still way too dark and scary for children). Other non-kid-friendly scenes include Albus Dumbledore being horribly tortured by a toxic cursed potion in ''The Half-Blood Prince'', a sizable chunk of Ron's shoulder and upper arm being torn off in ''The Deathly Hallows: Part 1'', Harry being tortured by Voldemort (and briefly stabbed by a knife) in ''The Goblet of Fire'', a brief but graphic shot of Voldemort's bloodstained corpse in ''The Deathly Hallows: Part 2'', and so on.