Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 11 (violence, scary scenes and themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes and themes. |
Children aged 8–11 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes and themes. |
Children over the age of 11 | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Dark Crystal, The |
Classification: | G |
Consumer advice lines: | Not specified |
Length: | 93 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
A young Gelfling named Jen (voiced by Stephen Garlick) is charged with the task of restoring order to a dying world ruled by the evil Skeksis. The leader of the Mystics, who raised him after all his people were killed by the Garthim (the dark, crab-like, army belonging to the Skeksis), tells Jen that he must find the oracle Aughra (voice of Billie Whitelaw) and a missing shard of crystal. With little idea of where to go or what to do, Jen sets off to find Aughra who helps him find the crystal. No sooner has Jen located the shard, that he is attacked by the Garthim who have orders to kills him. Jen escapes into a terrible swamp-like forest where he meets Kira (voice of Lisa Maxwell), another orphaned Gelfling. Together they set off to fulfil a prophecy, help restore the shard to the crystal and bring peace to a world split apart.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Death, genocide, separation from a parent, mythical quests, slavery, good versus evil.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
In addition to the above mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Nothing further of concern.
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
The Dark Crystal is a puppet animated, fantasy film from the Henson studio. Highly acclaimed for its time, it was originally marketed as a family film but due to the dark nature of much of the content is best suited to families with older children.
The main messages from this movie are to follow your destiny, to believe in yourself, to remember that there are always two sides to every story and that ultimately, good will prevail.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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