Super 8 why is it pg 13

Also, that isolation, loneliness, and cruelty only breed anger, bitterness, and revenge. Joe is a fantastic kid. Yes, he sneaks out of his house to help his friend make a movie, but he's also kind, generous, loving, and brave. He risks his life to help Alice when no one else will and treats her with reverence and respect rather than an objectified prize he should earn. Deputy Lamb is willing to investigate the Air Force's shady doings even when the naive sheriff tells him it's nothing to worry about.

Even though Lamb isn't the most understanding father at first, he later shows just how much he loves and is willing to sacrifice for Joe. All of Joe's friends are great boys who stand by each other even during horrific, life-threatening situations. From the huge, terrifying train crash that starts the action to the heart-stopping climax when lives we care about are at stake, there's a lot of action that's likely to scare younger viewer a couple of scenes may literally leave viewers jumping out of their seats or gasping aloud.

The alien is unseen for most of the movie, but he wreaks havoc by making scary things happen. A man bloodied in an accident pulls a gun on teenagers to get them to flee; several characters are grabbed by the alien. The Air Force is led by a sadistic colonel who thinks nothing of ordering a scientist killed by a poisonous injection or sending his people out on near-suicide missions.

The troops start a fire to force a town to evacuate. The alien squashes people, but there aren't any lingering shots of blood or guts the way there would be in an R-rated movie. A mother's death via a horrible steel mill accident is talked about throughout the movie.

Joe and Alice flirt with each other, exchanging furtive glances and then having heart-to-heart talks. They eventually share a couple of embraces, and it's clear they "like each other.

One humorously depicted use of the word "f--k" said by an older teen , as well as several uses of "s--t," "bulls--t," "a--hole," and "bitch" by the middle-school protagonists. Other words include "py," "d--k," "hell," "ass," "damn," "dumbass," "idiot," "stupid," "oh my God," and a few exclamations of "Jesus! Deputy Lamb and his fellow officers drink beer after their shifts. The camera shop salesman asks Charles and his middle-school friends if they want to buy pot; he's later shown smoking a joint and admits that he's high.

The kids react to his inability to drive during a crisis by saying "Drugs are so bad. Dainard is usually shown drunk, drinking, or smoking cigarettes. Parents need to know that this exciting, set sci-fi drama -- which follows a group of young teens who witness a horrific train accident while making a homemade movie and get caught up in a military cover-up involving a mysterious and dangerous beast -- has some intense action violence, especially the truly terrifying train wreck.

There's some blood and weapons use, and some scenes may make you jump out of your seat, but gore is minimal. Director J. Abrams manages to perfectly capture the feeling of similar movies from the period, largely by drawing shamelessly from the works of producer Steven Spielberg. Add your rating See all 57 parent reviews. Add your rating See all kid reviews.

Summer , Lillian, Ohio: Six teens are making a zombie movie that they hope to submit to a festival. For Joe Joel Courtney , it's a chance to bury himself in a project that might help him move on from his mother's recent death Alice Elle Fanning , a relative newcomer to the troupe, wants a respite from the home she shares with her tortured, alcoholic father Ron Eldard. Wannabe auteur Charles Riley Griffiths longs to see a finished product, and so do their three other friends.

But while filming a pivotal scene, the teens witness a mysterious train crash of monumental proportions, one that unleashes a military crackdown on their once-tranquil town, as well as a newcomer of extraterrestrial proportions. It definitely feels like an homage to great movies past, particularly E. And the bare bones of the plot are certainly familiar, as is much of the dialogue.

Yet, Super 8 is entertaining -- despite some overly obvious grabs for viewers' heartstrings -- because the personal stories that root the action-heavy film matter to the audience. We even care for the bossy, foul-mouthed fledgling director Griffiths plays because his friendship with Joe feels grounded and true.

Abrams captures the tumult of adolescence, especially when buffeted by very grown-up insights Families can talk about the movie's messages about communication and peaceful negotiation. How does the movie's violence tie in to this message? For those familiar with Spielberg's movies -- how is this an obvious homage to his films? What elements of Spielberg's movies are evident in the heroes, the story, the cinematography, the music?

How would this movie have been different if it was set in the present day? Four boys and a girl investigate train wreckage and one of the boys remarks he has a scratch on his hand we see a faint scratch.

A girl shouts at a boy. A man shouts at a boy. A man shouts at his son and the son shouts back. A boy and a girl shout after being scared by a flying metal cube that punches a hole through the wall as it zooms through the air. A man shouts at his daughter, she runs out of the house and he runs after her shouting. Several boys shout nervously, saying they are upset from witnessing a train crash. A boy begins to panic and he shouts at three other boys seated in the back of a bus in what appears to be a cage; one of the boys says that he thinks they are going to be killed and another boy says he feels like he is going to cry and vomit.

Several boys shout when they think a missing girl is dead and one of the boys says he is not going to look for the missing girl because he wants to stay alive. Four boys discuss how a woman had possibly died and one of them explains that the woman had been crushed by a steel beam; the four boys then discuss what they think her body might look like and one makes a remark that they should not be eating while talking about it.

A boy tells a girl, "It was bad" about how his mother had died. A man tells another man that a fire that was endangering a city had been set on purpose. Several boys, with a girl listening, discuss how they think it is possible that a man had caused a giant train wreck because he was trying to kill himself; one of the boys says he could have jumped off a building or taken pills instead.

A girl vaguely describes to a boy how the boy's mother had died while at work; she then says that she occasionally thinks that her father should have died instead, and that he also wishes the same. A script being read by a girl says that she is nervous about murders in a town. A police officer jokes to his son that he would like a boy more if he would "stop setting stuff on fire. We overhear a television reporter announcing that there is an impending "meltdown at Three Mile Island.

Two boys ask if they can blow up another boy's model train and a girl tells a boy to not allow another boy to blow up his model train. We see an outtake of a model train being blown up with Ms and we see a boy fire multiple fake shots at another boy dressed as a zombie we see a "wound" with fake blood appear on his shirt. A group of boys discover wreckage from a train wreck and panic when they see blood, until they realize that it is stage blood.

A character is attacked and his blood splatters across a window. An alien eats humans. Frequent intense depictions of an alien attack are shown. Sexual Content: A girl wears skimpy clothing on several occasions. A character shows interest in a boy to get what she wants from him. Language: Teens and adults frequently use scatological slang and terms of Deity. The script also includes sexual terms in a nonsexual context, a strong sexual expletive and mild profanities. The adult character later smokes the drug and drives in a stoned state.

Some cigarette and alcohol use by adults is shown. While the train wreck is a high action point of the film, how realistic is it? Would the driver of the truck survive such an impact? Watch the first part of this trailer and see what you think? How does this film portray the man who offers drugs to the kids? Is he a cool character? What does their response to him say about these young teens?

What message does this film make about illegal drug use? Get ideas for encouraging your kids to make their own movies in this Big Picture article. On October 18, , Super 8 releases to home video.

Abrams, producer Bryan Burk and cinematographer Larry Fong.