Star Wars film slapped with new trigger warning 26 years after it was first released
STAR Wars has become the latest iconic film to be slapped with a trigger warning – 26 years after it was first released.
Episode I: The Phantom Menace became a hit upon release in 1999 but now film bosses have been forced to add a new warning amid the growing trend in slapping classic hits with refreshed warnings for 2025.
AlamyStar Wars’ 1999 flick has been hit with new warnings[/caption]
Violent fight scenes and the use of lightsabres influenced the decision to re-classify the film
Starring Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley and Samuel L. Jackson, the movie became a runaway box office hit.
But now new warnings have been added as well as a re-classification understood to be provoked by an aggressive fight scene.
The British Board of Film Classification have decided that a ‘U’ certificate, which stands for universal and means suitable for all ages, is no longer appropriate.
It has instead been rated PG – often used to suggest films suitable for those aged eight and above or with parental consent – as a result of brief “bloody detail” and “non-graphic” shots of a dissected body.
The film’s starship dogfights and use of laser weapons were also used as a reason to upgrade the movie’s classification.
All these were attributed as the reason why the film must carry a new classification plus an updated warning.
It is the latest in a long-line of films and TV shows from years gone-by to face a new warning added for broadcast in 2025.
ITV show Inspector Morse found itself slapped with a warning last week as a result of its “crime scenes”.
ITV bosses fear viewers may get offended or upset while the mild-mannered Oxford detective solves his mystery of the week.
Streaming service ITVX even warns of “Satanic images” in one episode of the crime drama, which ran from 1987 to 2000.
Viewers must click past a parental control screen to watch series seven’s “Day of the Devil”.
Many other episodes also have crime and violence warnings.
The Fast Show has also found itself hit with a warning last month.
The classic series on iPlayer was flagged for using “discriminatory language”.
In February, Channel 4 was branded “humourless” for flagging a series of Father Ted episodes on its streaming service.
Regulators also hit Graham Linehan’s Bafta-winning sitcom The IT Crowd with advisories, with one telling sensitive viewers: “This episode was made in 2006 and contains strong, strong/offensive derogatory language and adult humour.”
It is the latest in a growing list of films and TV shows to be hit with the warningsKobal Collection - Shutterstock
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