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.
Sometime in the distant future, after the polar icecaps
have melted, major flooding has devastated most major cities and the world is now run by
robots with highly sophisticated artificial intelligence. In the midst of it all stands
one boy and a robotic teddy bear who long for something more. With Haley Joel Osment, Jude
Law, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas, Brendan Gleeson, Daveigh Chase, William
Hurt, Jack Angel, Clara Bellar, Keith Campbell, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Kelly Felix, John
Harmon, Ben Kingsley, Katie Lohmann, Paul Isaac Martin, Kathryn Morris, Miguel Pérez,
Adam Scott and Kirk B.R. Woller. [2:25]
SEX/NUDITY 4 - There are discussions about "lover" robots whose
purpose is to please humans; one talks in euphemistic
and confident terms about the "services"
he provides, and we see one kissing a woman lying on a
bed (it's implied that they
have intercourse). One robot
refers to his endowment
while talking to a woman
who's looking at his crotch.
We see a miniature hologram of
a scantily-clad woman and she dances around a group of young men and on the lap of one who
reacts with interest. We see and hear about "Rouge City" where all forms of
illicit sex take place (what we see is a lot of neon lights, mostly shaped like women's
bodies, in a dark carnival-like atmosphere). We see a woman in an evening gown and a night
gown, which expose some cleavage. A female robot is instructed to
undress in front of a large group of
people; she starts to, but
stops. A robot boy opens the door of a bathroom
where a woman is sitting on the toilet and she scrambles for her pants to cover herself. A
boy tries to look into the pants of a robot boy. A story is recounted of a time when
a natural catastrophe led to the licensing of pregnancy.
VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - We see a woman lying dead with a puddle of blood by her
head. We hear about and see a "flesh fair" where robots are destroyed in all
sorts of gruesome ways for humans' entertainment: a robot is shot from a
cannon and his
face (in flames) sticks to a fence, a robot is melted with acid, a robot is sawed in half,
a robot is pulled apart. A boy robot beats another boy robot with a lamp, causing sparks to
fly, knocking his head off and smashing his face. A man pokes a pin through a female
robot's hand. A woman and a robot boy fight and she pushes him down to the ground. A robot
boy tries to cut the hair of a sleeping woman who rolls over and is nearly poked in the
eye with scissors. A boy is knocked into a pool and nearly drowns. A robot boy and robot
man are threatened with acid. A robot boy is shown lying at the bottom of a pool. Damaged
robots appear in dark woods looking for parts; they begin trying on replacement pieces. A
group of robots are chased through woods and into a town where they are shot at by men on
wolf-shaped motorcycles (they are hit with magnets which pin them to anything metal). A
group of robots are trapped in a shack and the men chasing them tear down a wall and throw
a net over them (the net is attached to a hot air balloon-like flying machine which
carries them away). A robot boy crashes and his face melts down on one side. We see a
laboratory with inanimate robot and body parts hanging from hooks and lying on tables. A
boy robot steals a police helicopter and flies it recklessly, knocking people and objects
around. A female robot's face opens up to reveal circuitry. A robot boy is left to fend
for himself in creepy-looking woods. A robot boy sits on the ledge of a tall building and
then jumps into the water below. A boy threatens a robot boy with a cake knife. A man is
pummeled with some bean bags. A young boy is shown cryogenically frozen in a glass case
and there is a discussion of the fact that he may not be able to be revived. A robot boy
is shown covered in ice when he is entombed in a sunken helicopter cockpit. A woman is
shown with a large bruise on her shoulder. A boy is seen in a wheelchair with an oxygen
mask over his face. A woman closes a robot boy in a closet.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 2 - A couple of mild
obscenities and a few religious profanities
and exclamations. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Mechanoids and robots, morality, longing for love, being
real, alien life, death of a child and parent, cryogenics, being unique, spirit, the
meaning of existence.
MESSAGE - Life, whether mechanoid or humanoid, is not worth living without
love.
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.
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