Not recommended under 12, PG to 15 due to violence and disturbing themes and scenes
This topic contains:
Children under 12 | Not recommended due to violence and disturbing themes and scenes |
Children aged 12-15 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and disturbing themes and scenes |
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: | Jurassic Park III |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Medium level violence |
Length: | 93 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Jurassic Park (2001), directed by Joe Johnston, is the third in the Jurassic Park series, which first appeared in 1993. The film revisits paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), who has made every effort to put the horrific incidents of the Jurassic Park disaster behind him. In the intervening years, Grant has continued his dinosaur research, but has been limited by an ongoing lack of adequate funding. For this reason, he reluctantly agrees to accept a sizeable donation for research in exchange for his services as guide for a small pleasure flight over abandoned dinosaur-cloning site, Isla Sorna. The flight has been financed by wealthy businessman Paul Kirby (William H. Macy), who is joined on the trip by pilot M. B. Nash (Bruce Young), ex-wife Amanda Kirby (Tea Leoni), Grant’s PhD student Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola), in addition to the slightly sinister Mr. Udesky (Michael Jeter) and Cooper (John Diehl).
Grant only discovers the Kirbys’ real intentions for the expedition after the party near the island. It then becomes clear that they plan to land on the island and begin looking for their son, Erik (Trevor Morgan), who recently disappeared near the island after a freak parasailing accident with Amanda’s new partner, Ben Hildebrand (Mark Harelik). Despite Grant’s protests, the group lands, only to discover for themselves the true dangers of the island. Added misfortune eventuates when their plane crashes a few hours later, and the group must draw upon all of their resources to survive.
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.
Violence in the natural world; family breakdown; separation of children from their parents; the role of humans and their technological interventions on the earth
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 repeated physical violence amongst dinosaurs and between dinosaurs and humans in this movie, such as when:
There are also several heated verbal exchanges between Dr. Grant and Mr. Kirby and in another scene, Cooper knocks Dr. Grant unconscious (although the actual blow is not shown).
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:
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 several 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 is one scene in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen:
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.
Some children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
None of concern.
There is one mild sexual reference in this movie, when ex-partners Amanda and Paul glimpse each other while dressing. After observing that Paul had lost some weight, she adds, “you still look good…” and Bob replies, “so do you”.
There are no direct depictions of complete nudity or sexual activity in this movie. However, one scene shows ex-partners Amanda and Paul Kirby changing clothes in front of one another. Viewers see Amanda front on, from the waist up in her bra, and Paul is shown bare-chested.
There is at least one instance of substance use in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Jurassic Park III is a fast-paced science fiction adventure. While providing a more satisfying storyline than the second film in this series, this movie again depends heavily upon violent episodes for its impact. For this reason, Jurassic Park III is not appropriate for young children, who may well be terrified by the graphic, quite realistic depictions of dinosaur attacks.
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
Children and Media Australia (CMA) is a registered business name of the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM).
CMA provides reviews, research and advocacy to help children thrive in a digital world.
ACCM is national, not-for-profit and reliant on community support. You can help.
ABN: 16 005 214 531