Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
Gerard Depardieu struts his considerable physical presence
as the great explorer in director Ridley Scott's version of what happened during the fall
of 1492.
SEX/NUDITY 3 - Columbus is living with a woman to whom he is not married,
and has had two children with her. There is some cleavage in women's costumes. There is
one passionate kiss between Columbus and his girlfriend. Native garb, topless women from a
distance. We see bare bottoms. One ship captain relieves himself and passes blood.
VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - Introductory scenes are etchings of natives being
massacred. We see a woman and a number of other people tied to stakes where they are
strangled and then burned; we hear them choking. The men on the ships are sunburned and
their skin is blistered and pealing. 39 Spaniards are shown after they have been beheaded
and burned. One native's hand is cut off because they think he was stealing gold. Men are
shown hanging with their extremities cut off. Slow motion fighting complete with lots of
blood and guts. After a tropical storm, we see a number of dead bodies, both human and
animal.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 1 - Bastard is used when referring to Columbus' sons. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Violence, murder, war, racism. Taking over land which is
already inhabited. Obsession with dreams.
MESSAGE - War and destruction is in man's nature. Columbus says, after his
discovery, "there are no crimes there, there will be no need for a judge." He
was quickly proven wrong.
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
Become a member: You can subscribe
for as little as $1 per month and gain access to our premium site,
which contains no ads whatsoever. Think about it: You'll be
helping support our site and guarantee that we will continue to
publish, and you will be able to browse without any commercial
interruptions.
2.
Tell all your friends:
Please recommend kids-in-mind.com to
your friends and acquaintances; you'll be helping them by
letting them know how useful our site is, while helping us by
increasing our readership. Since we do not advertise, the best
and most reliable way to spread the word is by word-of-mouth.
3.
Alert local & national media:
Let major media know why you trust our ratings.
Call or e-mail a local newspaper, radio station or TV channel
and encourage them to do a story about our site. Since we do not have a PR firm working for us, you can
be our media ambassadors.
"This is an excellent resource for
families. Merits two thumbs up...[Finally] movie ratings that actually
work"
