Robocop. Aliens. Rambo. Predator. Toxic Avenger. For kids?

These are a handful of the “hard R” properties that were adapted into video games, toys and cartoons for kids of the 80’s. It seems crazy today, especially since these types of genre films today have been sanitized down to a PG-13 rating. Though in the 80’s these movies ended up with ‘kid’ versions.

Off the top of my head, I can think of these movies that are completely inappropriate for kids that were turned into Nintendo games aimed at kids:

Die Hard
Predator
Terminator
Total Recall
Robocop
Rambo
Darkman
Conan
Nightmare on Elm St.
Friday the 13th
Dirty Harry

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Why was this normal?

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In short, it was a different era. The PG-13 blockbuster that has become commonplace today simply wasn’t a thing until the 90’s. Movies like ‘Batman’ and ‘Jurassic Park’ signaled the end of big budget R-rated movies, when film executives realized that toning these films down so younger people could be admitted was far more profitable.

Many of the popular movies of the 80’s had fantastic elements that would be perfect for younger audiences, but the violence, profanity and nudity that was common to these films kept them out of the grubby mitts of children of the 80’s. That is, until they were released on video or HBO and you had a friend with access to either. I remember watching Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm St. and Hellraiser at a sleepover when was a little too young to watch those movies.

With these popular brands already well established, it became commonplace to tone them down for video games, toys and cartoons so that there were ‘kiddy’ versions of these adult properties so they could enjoy them without being exposed to the more adult elements that defined their film versions.

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So while these films were 'sort of' being exposed to children that were too young to watch them, it was a compromise that seems harmless enough when you see what the video games, cartoon and toys actually looked like. They weren’t bloody or profane — they featured neon accessories and silly playsets. The cartoons removed all of the hard edges of the films. The video games toned down everything that the kids shouldn’t be seeing. It was a sensible compromise and once we got old enough (or hit up that friend with HBO), we could experience the original versions of these properties.

Thanks for reading. As always, upvotes, resteems and comments are appreciated!

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