My 8 year old wants to buy the X-Men DVD. Should I let him? (2 Viewers)

[John Pine]

I've never seen this movie. I know it's rated PG-13. Does it have the PG-13 rating for violence, language or sexual content? Some feedback would be great!

 

[Andy_S]

I believe it's language. Wolverine calls Cyclops a dick at one point of the movie. There's some "super hero" violence but nothing too gory.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Wolverine also does his version of the "finger".

Also the opening scene is one done in concentration camp where children are being separated from their parents.

Pretty intense actually and not what one would expect from a superhero type movie.

 

[Matthew R]

Screen It is a good resource for this type of thing... Very detailed information (and the reviews are usually pretty good, too).
--Matthew

 

[John Pine]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Good link Mattthew!

 

[DaveF]

Along with what the others said, there are a several violent moments (significant plot events detailed below):



There is a cage-fight, with large men beating each other senseless.

Wolverine is in a car crash, suffering serious injuries. His rapid healing is shown.

Rogue is accidentally stabbed by Wolverine's claws, nearly killing her.

Rogue grabs Wolverine, to draw his life-energy from him, healing herself. Wolverine is shown becoming sucked-dry, in a fashion for a a minute.

A senator is turned into a mutant. He walks out of the ocean, with gills on his back. He later dies, by liquifying and spilling as water all over the floor.

Wolverine fights with Mystique. Physical violence. He stabs her.

Wolverine later skewers himself on purpose.

Toad is struck by lightening.

Jean Gray is nearly suffocated by mucus spit at her by Toad.

Prof. X is nearly killed when his mental-enhancer device is sabotaged.

Magneto causes guns to be pointed at policemen. One is fired, with the bullet held in mid-flight against one officers forehead.

Magneto advocates the killing of non-mutants.

Magneto exerts his power over Wolverine, causing Wolverine to be stretched out, suggesting extreme pain for him.



There may be a few more points. That said, I really like this movie. But it's PG-13 for good reasons.

 

[David Rogers]

Honestly, if you're concerned you need to watch the film. You're the only parent (well one of two, but it's a limited edition set) of your child, and what other parents allow or not probably doesn't match your own standards. Parents are funny that way. Rent the flick and watch it when he's at a friend's house. Seems like the best advice that can be offered to avoid you getting irked at someone who said "sure no problem for your 8yr old to look at it".

For the record, it seems like a fairly benign film for any child that regularly reads comic books or watches action films. There's nothing in the film they wouldn't get from a comic.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I must agree with Mr. Rogers.
500 parents could say "Yeah, let him watch it" and you still might see something in the film you'd rather not have your kids watch. Rent it (or buy it for him as a surprise ) and watch it for yourself.
In my own opinion, it's pretty OK for kids - especially considering some of the things heard on prime-time sitcoms these days! But watching it for yourself will put your mind at ease more surely than will the recommendations of others.

 

[Ted Lee]

agreed with scott who agrees with mr. rogers.
you'll have to watch this for yourself and gauge accordingly.
imo, it's not that bad. my girlfriends kids are 7 and they've seen it before. i would say they got a kick out of it - the violence is really no worse than what is seen in some cartoons.
in any case, none of the violence is very graphic...just a lot of fighting, etc. i'd say average for a pg-13 movie...

 

[CharlesD]

I agree with the last 2 comments, your standards may vary, and more importantly IMO, you are the only one here who knows your son. A movie might be appropriate for one 8 year old, but might not be appropriate for another depending on their personality, interests etc. Rent it and watch it one night after he has gone to bed and decide if its OK for your boy to see it.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

John,

As a non-parent myself, I was curious if I might ask a question.

You outlined 3 qualities of why it might be PG-13 (violence, language or sexual content)- so I assume that one or more of these qualities would probably be seen as "okay" while one or more of these qualiities would be the trigger to not allow your kid to watch.

I was just curious which ones were which?

Not looking to second guess your parenting, but as a non-parent myself, I'm always curious to see which issues parents see as hot-button, and which they see as perfectly acceptible.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

Kids In Mind is also a great resource for checking the content of movies.
X-Men Review

 

[Rob T]

It's going to get a re-issue with a new score by John Ottman so I'd hold off till then, but it all depends on if you want the version that was in theaters or not.

 

[MickeS]

I know I was scared shitless of stuff like that when I was 8, but I was a wimp anyway. There is no (IMO) objectionable sexual content or language in it ("You're a dick" was the worst, I think), and most of the violence is very sci-fi and doesn't seem very real at all.
I agree that you should rent it and watch it, it's a great movie so you'll have fun AND act like a responsible parent at the same time!

 

[Scott_MacD]

It's going to get a re-issue with a new score by John Ottman so I'd hold off till then, but it all depends on if you want the version that was in theaters or not.

First I've heard of it.. Where did you hear this? and when's it due?

 

[Andy Sheets]

I don't know about the John Ottman thing (although I can only hope he rescores it; I hate Michael Kamen's music ), but Bryan Singer confirmed in an interview over at dvdfile.com that they're doing a new special edition dvd with deleted footage reinserted into the film, and they're shooting new scenes to put in there, since they've got the cast back together for X-Men 2.

 

[John Pine]

Thanks again for all the great feedback guys! The links were especially helpful, I book-marked them! Vince to answer your question, if I had to pick an order of importance I'd list language, sexual content/nudity and violence. I think that most cartoons these days have some form of violence. Hell, I grew up on the Roadrunner & Coyote. How much more violent can you get? I think that's why I'm less sensitive to violence than nudity and language.

 

[Luis Cruz]

I took my little cousins to see X-Men and they enjoyed it very much. There is about 2 bad words and some violence. But, if you let your kids see Batman, SpiderMan, or any other super hero movie...this one falls along the same lines. And I definately hope they don't rescore it, I very much enjoyed the original score.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Language is not too bad at all, only sexual content I can think of is Mystique's lovely blue body. It has the same kind of action like Batman or any other such comic book movie.

 

[Artur Meinild]

My 8 year old wants to buy the X-Men DVD. Should I let him?

No. Let him wait for the special edition that is in the works...