Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 14 (disturbing scenes, violence)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not suitable due to disturbing scenes and violence. |
Children aged 13–14 | Parental guidance recommended due to disturbing scenes and violence. |
Children aged 15 and over | 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: | Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Supernatural themes and mild level violence |
Length: | 178 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first epic Lord of the Rings movie in the trilogy produced by Peter Jackson. It is based closely on the time honoured books of the same name written by JRR Tolkien in the 1950’s.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring tells the story of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), a humble Hobbit thrust unexpectedly into a treacherous quest to save the lands of Middle Earth by destroying the Dark Lord’s evil ‘Ring of Power’ (the one ring to rule them all). Sauron (Sala Baker), the Dark Lord, created the Ring centuries earlier to rule Middle Earth, however when the Ring is lost to him he makes it his purpose to get the ring back and unleash his evil power upon Middle Earth.
Gandalf (Ian McKellan), a well loved wizard, knows that hobbits are the only race in Middle Earth pure enough of heart to be able to carry the Ring safely to the land of Mordor, the only place it can be destroyed. Frodo is handed this responsibility by Gandalf and he hesitantly sets out on this heroic journey.
Frodo is guided through his quest by his hobbit friends, Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), as well as the Fellowship of the Ring formed to represent all of the free races of Middle Earth.
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.
The supernatural; Armageddon; Death.
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.
This film features continuous intense action violence, including scenes of blood and other injury. Examples include:
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.
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 particularly 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.
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some mild language in this movie, including:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is an epic tale of good and evil and the story of an unexpected hero who risks all on a quest to save his land.
The main messages from this movie are of friendship and loyalty. Sam’s commitment and loyalty to his dear friend Frodo is beautifully expressed throughout this movie, as are other friendships such as Gandalf’s friendship with Bilbo and the Hobbits, and the Fellowship’s loyalties to each other and to Frodo and his friends.
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
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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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