G - General Audiences All ages admitted. PG - Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. PG-13 - Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. R - Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. NC-17 No Children 17 and under admitted. X - Must be over 18 or whatever the state's "legal" age for an adult is. Most of these are on videos and DVD's now, although some are shown in a theatre if ID is shown as proof of age. it depends on the state and country.

If you are under 17 you cannot see a film that is R rated unless you have parental supervision. If it's rated X you can't even with the parent. In fact the parent is liable for criminal charges. R rated films tend to have nudity,explicit violence and cussing, while the X films are generally porn.

Films in the United States are rated by the Motion Picture Association of America to describe their content. A G rating means that it doesn't include any violence, nudity, or cursing. X is the highest. R - In the opinion of the Rating Board, this film definitely contains some adult material. Parents are strongly urged to find out more about this film before they allow their children to accompany them. An R-rated film may include strong language, violence, nudity, drug abuse, other elements, or a combination of the above, so parents are counseled in advance to take this advisory rating very seriously. NC-17 - This rating declares that the Rating Board believes this is a film that most parents will consider patently too adult for their youngsters under 17. No children will be admitted. NC-17 does not necessarily mean obscene or pornographic; in the oft-accepted or legal meaning of those words. The Board does not and cannot mark films with those words. These are legal terms for courts to decide. The reasons for the application of an NC-17 rating can be excessive violence, sex, aberrational behavior, drug abuse or any other elements which, when present, most parents would consider too strong and therefore off-limits for viewing by their children. X is reserved for the porn industry. http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp http://www.mpaa.org/Ratings_history1.asp