Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 14 (violence, disturbing scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not suitable due to violence and disturbing scenes. |
Children aged 13–14 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and disturbing scenes. |
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: | Star Trek |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Violence |
Length: | 122 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Star Trek opens with the U.S.S. Kelvin travelling through space on a routine patrol, when a Romulan ship with advanced weaponry appears out of a “singularity” (black hole) and fires several missiles at the ship. The Kelvin’s captain is ordered aboard the Romulan ship where he is killed by Nero (Eric Bana) the leader of the Romulans, who seems confused about the current date and the location of Ambassador Spock. Nero continues his attack on the Kelvin and acting Captain George Kirk orders the crew, including his pregnant wife Winona (Jennifer Morrison), to abandon ship. As the escape pods move away from the Kelvin, we see Winona giving birth to a son, whom she names James Tiberius Kirk. After hearing his son’s name and saying goodbye, Captain George Kirk rams the doomed Kelvin into the Romulan ship to destroy it.
The following scenes portray the early years of James Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto). Young Kirk is depicted as a rebellious child, while a young Spock battles with controlling his emotions. As a young man, Kirk is still rebellious, but now spends his time in bars, chasing women and picking fights. Following a bar room brawl, Kirk is approached by Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), who dares Kirk to join Starfleet. Not wanting to refuse a dare, Kirk takes up Pike’s offer and joins Starfleet. Immediately, he forms friendships with fellow Starfleet cadets Dr. Leonard “Bone” McCoy (Karl Urban) and communications wiz kid Uhura (Zoe Saldana), and a somewhat shaky relationship with Spock, who is now a Commander.
Kirk and his fellow cadets have no sooner graduated, than Starfleet Command receives a distress call from Vulcan. Kirk, Spock and fellow crew members board the newly built Enterprise and head off to do battle with time-traveller Nero, who is determined to avenge the future destruction of his home.
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.
Alien worlds; Time travel; Death of a parent.
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.
Star Trek contains intense action violence, bullying, some reckless and life endangering behaviour and infrequent depiction of blood and gore. 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 in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
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 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.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
There are some sexual references and double entendres this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
Star Trek contains some medium level coarse language and putdowns. Examples include:
Star Trek is an action packed science-fiction adventure providing a new perspective on the two leading characters, Kirk and Spock. Established fans of this long-running TV and movie series are likely to be impressed with this film, while newcomers may find it difficult to relate to some of the film’s references.
The main messages from this movie are:
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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