Not recommended under 5, PG to 8 (Viol. Scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 5 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children aged 5-8 | Parental guidance due to violence and disturbing scenes. |
Children over the age of 8 | Most children over the age of eight should be ok to see this movie with or without parental guidance. |
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: | Open Season |
Classification: | G |
Consumer advice lines: | None |
Length: | 86 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Boog (voiced by Martin Lawrence), is a loveable grizzly bear who has been hand reared by Beth (Debra Messing) since she rescued him as a cub. He lives an idyllic life and makes regular appearances with Beth on stage at a local wildlife park. However his nice life is challenged when he rescues Elliot (Ashton Kutcher), a young buck, from local hunter Shaw (Gary Sinise). Elliot points out that Boog is a ‘pet’ and needs to learn how to live in the wild. Elliot persuades Boog to leave the comfort of his home and take a trip into town where they break into the local store and totally trash the place. When Beth finds Boog the next day, the policeman tells her it’s time to return him to the wild.
Thus Boog is released into the wild with his sidekick Elliot just in time for open season. Boog has to learn how to fight both the elements and man, his natural enemy.
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.
Animals in peril
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.
Sensitive children in this age group could still be scared by the threat and treatment of animals.
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.
It is unlikely that anything in this movie would scare or disturb children over the age of thirteen.
None
Boog and Elliot become business partners and some jokes are made about them being ‘partners’ in the personal relationship sense.
None
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some use of the word ‘crap’.
Open Season is not particularly original, but might amuse some older children. The main message of the movie is that animals shouldn’t be hunted.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
Parents could talk about the dangers of using violence to counter violence.
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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