Remembered when they marketed R-rated movies to kids?

[TomServofan]

I remembered for 34 years they marketed R-rated adult films like Rambo, Terminator 2, Robocop, Demolition Man, Aliens, Predator etc. to kids.

I mean when i was 4 34 years ago i had a Rambo power bike, toy knife, lunchbox and a toy gun plus a Rambo figure and i remembered watching First Blood when it aired on TV plus saw Rambo 2 on video at that age as i recalled they had a cartoon weekday mornings and i saw Rambo III In theaters when i was 7 years old. They made halloween costumes, bubble gum, cards, coloring books, vitamins, toys and all based on Rambo in 1985 and marketed to kids.

I also remembered seeing Robocop in theaters when i was 6 with my 12 year old big brother and my dad and thought it was an awesome movie and i had a couple of toys and watched the cartoon sunday mornings. One of my friends had a Robocop lunchbox in second grade and i saw Robocop 2 in theaters when i was 8 and had some cards.

I remembered seeing Alien on TV a month before the sequel hit theaters when i was 5 and saw Aliens in theaters at that age and i remembered seeing Aliens toy commercials on Fox kids and ABC and CBS.

I did saw Predator 1 and 2 in theaters when i was 6 and 9 as i recalled seeing commercials for Predator toys later on. I saw Terminator when i was 4 on HBO and saw Terminator 2 in theaters when i was 10 as i had some stuff like t-shirt, a few action figures, comic, poster, lunchbox and more as they did some kids merchandise.

I also remembered seeing Demolition Man in theaters when i was 12 and had some trading cards and i recalled they had merchandise for kids even an action figure series as i saw commercials for them on Fox in the afternoons.

[TomServofan]

Remember Toxic Crusaders anyone? i was 10 when i watched that cartoon and dug it as i had some of the action figures, cards, t-shirt, coloring book and comics. I rented the movie The Toxic Avenger at that age to see where it all began and OMG it was a shocking and sleazy film that made me sick especially that scene where a kid gets his skull busted in detail as we see his skull crushed by a wheel of bad guys who do hit and run stuff and that scene made me nearly puke as it looked like an actual dead kid's body with busted head but luckily it wasn't but was an awesome movie despite that horrible scene i mentioned.

[Vakanai]

To be fair, a lot of those R rated movies were the kind of thing kids would like, big action type blockbusters with something of a fan appeal even before they were franchises. Robocop kind of felt like a big Saturday morning cartoon for adults with the robot man and gunfire and gratuitous bloody violence. Closest R rated property today that gives off a Robocop/Predator/horribly violent thing parents might slip up and let their kids watch is Deadpool.

[numberthirty]

That a film turned up on television and you might have seen it doesn't mean that it was marketed to kids.

By that logic, the "Porky's" or Sedaris Brother's films were "Marketed" to kids.

[TomServofan]

That a film turned up on television and you might have seen it doesn't mean that it was marketed to kids.

By that logic, the "Porky's" or Sedaris Brother's films were "Marketed" to kids.

I'm talking stuff like Rambo, Robocop, Terminator 2, Demolition Man, Aliens, Predator, Elm Street etc. they had merchandise for kids in the 80s and 90s. There was even lunchboxes on T2, Rambo and Robocop.

[numberthirty]

I'm talking stuff like Rambo, Robocop, Terminator 2, Demolition Man, Aliens, Predator, Elm Street etc. they had merchandise for kids in the 80s and 90s. There was even lunchboxes on T2, Rambo and Robocop.

If someone can't see the difference between Terminator and T2, there isn't much of a point in discussing it.

There is a "Black"/"White" difference between the two films, and trying to group them together just because they both had "R" ratings is like saying Die Hard and Saw 3 are alike because they both happen to have an "R" rating.

[AnakinFlair]

To be fair, a lot of those R rated movies were the kind of thing kids would like, big action type blockbusters with something of a fan appeal even before they were franchises. Robocop kind of felt like a big Saturday morning cartoon for adults with the robot man and gunfire and gratuitous bloody violence. Closest R rated property today that gives off a Robocop/Predator/horribly violent thing parents might slip up and let their kids watch is Deadpool.

Actually, Robocop BECAME a big Saturday morning cartoon. It was terrible.

[Darkseid Is]

Most of them had Nintendo games too. Mostly horrible Nintendo games but Nintendo games none the less.

[Immortal Weapon]

Deadpool is a recent example. The guy has two r-rated movies and a rated M video game but he has a bunch of merch that appeals to kids.

[TomServofan]

Actually, Robocop BECAME a big Saturday morning cartoon. It was terrible.

I remember that when i was 7 and i think it's time they should do a Netflix or Hulu or amazon prime adult animated show from MGM and Madhouse animation with the guys who did Ninja Scroll, Wicked City and Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust to do it since adults were the fans of Robocop 1 and 2.

[Jokerz79]

That a film turned up on television and you might have seen it doesn't mean that it was marketed to kids.

By that logic, the "Porky's" or Sedaris Brother's films were "Marketed" to kids.

Police Academy got a cartoon.

[Killerbee911]

They never marketed R movies to kids but they had supplementary stuff that was marketed at kids like games, cartoons and toys that was aimed at kids. Also Edited version of these movies existed as well

[Marvelgirl]

I never cared about r rating as long as what I was watching was not done in a silly fashion so it could be marketed to kids. Content is different for many people. My R rating can be your pg 13 and vice versa.

[Gaastra]

By that logic, the "Porky's" or Sedaris Brother's films were "Marketed" to kids.

Well porky's did get a Atari 2600 game!

They never marketed R movies to kids but they had supplementary stuff that was marketed at kids like games, cartoons and toys that was aimed at kids. Also Edited version of these movies existed as well

T2 was promoted to kids hands down. Arnold was on nick promoting it to kids. Nintendo power did a kids contest for it. They did comics, toys, games, even shirts. This was more or less a R rated kids movie!



Also the R rated police academy was such a hit with kids it tuned into a kids series by movie 5!

[ed2962]

They never marketed R movies to kids but they had supplementary stuff that was marketed at kids like games, cartoons and toys that was aimed at kids. Also Edited version of these movies existed as well

Exactly. The original films were marketed towards adults, but once they were hits, the producers saw they could make money with merch for kids.