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.
Based on the novel by James Jones, the film
depicts the U.S. invasion of Guadalcanal and subsequent battles with Japanese soldiers.
Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Jim Caviezel, Woody Harrelson, Elias Koteas, John Cusack, George
Clooney, John Travolta, Adrien Brody, Ben Chaplin and John C. Reilly co-star, and Terrence
Malick directs.
SEX/NUDITY 4 - A few passionate kisses and embraces. In a few brief
flashback scenes, a man fondles a woman's clothed breast and then they appear to be
having intercourse but remain clothed. We see a few scantily-clad and naked natives and we
see the posteriors of soldiers (some in underwear and some naked) running into the ocean.
A brief shot of a woman's bare back as she's bathing.
VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - We see hundreds of soldiers being shot, bombed and
stabbed. Many shots of bloody, wounded soldiers -- sometimes wailing and writhing -- and
dead bodies strewn about. A group of soldiers discovers two very bloody, dismembered
bodies. In one scene, two dogs are eating corpses; in another, a wounded and bloody bird
crawls slowly on the ground. We see bloody teeth in a soldier's hand and pliers in
his other hand, implying that he's pulled them from the wounded and dead enemy
soldiers around him. One extended shot of an obviously dead man's face poking up from
the ground. Numerous bombs, blasts, screams, and moments of terror.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 6 - About 12 F-words, a couple of anatomical references, several
scatological references, and lots of mild obscenities. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - The military and war, death, friendship, obeying authority,
loyalty, life's randomness.
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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