A review of dark of the moon by Empire magazine said "For a movie aimed at teens, its extraordinarily violent. Humans reduced to smoking skeletons by alien attacks, but the likes of Opimus prime and Megatron save the toughest treatment for themselves. Heads are lopped off, spinal columns are ripped out, and several executed with shotgun blasts to the head gangland-style, in a manner that suggests this is the final instalment, at least for a while. If this action were human-on-human, we`d have the next Human Centipede 2 on our hands" when I saw it at the cinema I could make out a child sobing during the whole city attack part and got louder during the scene where the camera pans the train caraige full of dead bodies. Its not just the film which has got extra violent, transformers prime has had its share of torture scenes airachnid as a chacter seems to only take pleasure in over creatures pain and continues to torture and remove the head of any potentual victim. Its not just her mech removed an eye and tortured a decepticon plus megatron tried to murder a defencless child. All of this dosnt mention the added sexiness the movies are throwing in, it could be argued that the female lead in the latest movie is reduced to sex (or sexist) object. Do you have one rule for violence and another for sex? I was wondering how you feel about all this in the context of it being a kids tv show and film. from an artistic merit point of view transformers prime has been amazing and has benefited from these dark elements, and the tragic brutal part of dark of the moon has also made it superior movie to the bland revenge of the fallen. I know fans of this franchise span (human) generations and some of you may be parents yourself now, does this affect how you feel about this now? Heres my opinion, I personally dont like censorship but I wouldnt recomend all children start watching the hostel movies or A Clockwork Orange as a way of understanding life and gaining morals or values (or at all). As a child myself me and some of my friends managed to sneakily get hold of some age inapropriate films on video such as terminator 2, robocop and a nightmare on elm street and I dont think I have done a violent thing in my life and have had productive and happy relationships with my friends, partners and family. If I saw something violent or distressing which upset me or a sexual scene which confused me I was extremly lucky to have good parents to explain that the violence wasnt real life and alongside school gave me balanced ubiased sex education. I personally dont think censorship is nesesary in the case of the current rise of transformer violence and sexiness what do you think and feel about this
Personally, I had a bit of a problem with the level of violence in the third film. Mostly, this was down to the fact that it was exponentially more violent than the first two films. The first two films were clearly compromised to make them child friendly, whereas DOTM they basically decided to make it a 'grown up' film. In my view, with a series like this they should either have done this from the start, or kept the same style as the first two. I don't think that DOTM is a film I would encourage any children to see. Consider for a moment how censors would react if it was unarmed human prisoners being executed, or having their arms torn off? Or Humans having their faces torn off and then shot in the face? Also, I know it was stupid but Starscream getting a bomb in the eye? All in all, it left a bit of a bad taste, and that's before you get me on the subject of Rosie.
I absolutely think censorship, to some degree, is required for the movie franchise. This is a movie based on toys, sold to children, and they entice children. What kid wouldn't want to go see these movies? A large number of kids shouldn't. TF: A military base, full of people, is destroyed and the people vaporized. Bobby Bolivia is flipped off by his own mother and wants to smash her head in. Scorponok impales a man and drags his screaming, nearly lifeless body under the sand. Sam talks about riding Mikaela. Frenzy kills several Secret Service agents. Judy asks Sam if he was masturbating and admits she's been drinking. Bumblebee "urinates" on Simmons. Bumblebee is violently restrained while whining and writhing in pain. Jazz is ripped in half by Megatron. Starscream kills several F-22 pilots over LA. (Sorry, I mean Mission City. =P) Bonecrusher destroys a bus full of people. A Cadillac Escalade, brought to life by the Allspark, grabs a woman by her head. Optimus beheads Bonecrusher. Megatron beats Optimus savagely. Sam has to kill Megatron. Not to mention the language I wouldn't want a kid to repeat. ROTF: The Fallen crushes a man with his foot. Alice crawls all over Sam, talks about sex with him repeatedly. Judy gets high. (forget the accuracy of the content, it's still there, period.) A lot of talk of genitalia. Extreme violence involving Optimus killing Grindor, ripping off Starscream's arm. Megatron tries to have Sam's skull split open, after sending a probe into his brain. Sam's parents are kidnapped. Simmons' ass. Both Optimus and Sam die. Jetfire is ripped apart to rebuild Optimus who wear a corpse as his newfound armor. Mikaela: "FUCKING DO SOMETHING!" DOTM: Humans are vaporized. The hero is the villain. (possibly the most vile of them, I might add) Chicago is destroyed and left in ruins with families crying over their lost ones. Carly's ass, in 3D. Ironhide is executed by a friend/leader and rusts to death. Judy talking about sex once again, and slightly intoxicated while continuing to drink. Optimus is extra violent with knuckledusters, swords, guns, etc. Megatron's head is split in two and is ripped off of his body, spine and all. Sentinel is executed by the hero. Optimus has his arm ripped off while the traitor continues to try to kill him. Q/Que is executed with several gunshots to his back and the back of his head. Sam kills Dylan. Humans are assassinated by Laserbeak. Laserbeak has tea with the little girl before assassinating her father. (Creepy as hell.) Plenty of harsh language. Now, by no means does this mean I dislike the franchise. On the contrary, I happen to enjoy it very much. But it is aimed at older teens and young adults. Kids and older adults just so happen to like it as well. When families walk out, when children cry, when the material is so intense that it evokes a negative reaction, it's not kid friendly. I know of many people (a number of them posters on here and other boards) who said "It would've been nice to see a transformer movie with my kids. Can't do that with these." and they're right. Sure, some kids are more mature than others and understand better than others might. One size does not fit all, and no kid should be forced to be like another. Obviously, Cartoon Network, TNT and ABC felt censorship to some degree (language) was necessary before broadcast. And they're right to do so. Theater censorship? No. Parents should do their job and research the film before taking their children to it. We shouldn't have to suffer because they fail at it. Home video censorship? No. Same as above. On TV and children having access without parental guidance? Yes. It should be kept from them until they're ready. As for Transformers Prime? Censorship may become necessary. I think TV-Y7 is a little too lax. As you mentioned, torture, experimentation, children being injured, constant violence, dark themes all add up to not being quite kid friendly. But, since it says Y7 and it's on The Hub, kids do have access to it, and they (and parents) have no reason to suspect the worst of the show. And they shouldn't have to. It should be raised to TV-PG and parents should be given a "Viewer Discretion Is Advised" warning before the show starts. I don't think rerating it counts as censorship, just good planning. As for Terminator 2, Robocop, Nightmare On Elm Street... None of them were marketed towards kids. They were meant for adults and everyone knew it. Robocop was turned into a cartoon series and a toyline was made. Terminator 2 just boggles my mind because it had a toyline. Nothing in that film was kid friendly.
we didnt watch those films with our parents consent, there was 3 of us all friends who were all friends and our parents were also friends and we all go round each overs houses for dinner and stay overs and my one mate had an older brother who used to help us get hold of them. No child should be made to witness violence or sexulisation whether that be on tv, movies or espesialy in there day to day lives. the only person I new from my school who had there entertainment censord to a really high level didnt exactly grow up to be a non violent person. He wasnt alowed out and had most of his chanels either locked out and his mom checked everything he read or listened to and it must really isolated him and his little sister. I went round his house once or twice and it didnt seem like a friendly eviroment. The sad truth is whether we see bullying at the school gates or those unfortunate enough to have bad parents, we are all probably gonna witness at least one thing which is violent, troubling or upseting before (for example) our 11th birthday and Its understandable why parents never ever want it to happen. I think the best way of dealing with this sad truth about the world isnt taking every last trace of conflict or negative emotion out of every piece fiction designed for children but to help explain to children that it is fiction and help the child come to terms and understand how it has made them feel. ive met plenty of people who said bambi, lion king, bateries not included, ET, death of optimus prime made them cry and upset but it was healthy for them to do so
Obviously you're unique and different from others, just as they are unique and different from you. Like I said earlier, some kids can handle it, some can't. 100% agreed. That sounds more like the product of an abusive home, rather than the material (or lack thereof) making this person violent and disturbed. I agree that censorship can go too far, sometimes, but that sounds more like a case of abusive and disturbed parenting, than anything else. Of course we'll see violence at least once in our lives. In fact, we'll see it more than we wished we had. Violence is a part of life and there's no escaping it wholly. However, when you can escape it, there's nothing wrong with that either. Too much will desensitize a child and that can lead to problems as well. Censoring everything isn't the answer, but using common sense and being a good parent goes a long, long way. Sometimes, to do that, you must censor to some degree. I don't believe violent movies, music and video games make you violent. I believe there's an underlying issue and they're merely a release for it. They might give you some ideas on how to make it happen in reality, but I don't think they make little Bobby or Susie get up one morning and climb a clocktower with a rifle. Still, if it's even remotely possible that it could affect a child, isn't it better to err on the side of caution?
I do believe a common sense aproach is the best way and obeying the age ratings on films and games. if you look further back to kids entertainment like say brothers grimm stories, some very old fairy tales they can often contain quit alot of violence, cruelty that could easily top transformers and villain characters which could rival airachnid. what makes these kind of acceptable is there strong moral centre for every villain there is heros to aspire to or a lesson to be learned. for the same reasons as the old kids storys I think transformers prime should slip through uncensored but the live action movies seem really clueless and amoral
Quote: Originally Posted by gregles No child should be made to witness violence or sexulisation whether that be on tv, movies or espesialy in there day to day lives. 100% agreed. ^ Totally correct. That said, I do agree with the comments above, but I also feel some children really need to toughern up in some aspects, but we all have a duty to protect children from real voilence etc. I remember watching heaps of films that were 18 before I was 12 but I knew what was right and wrong and I knew that horrors were made up. I watched Alien, Aliens, Terminator, T2, Robocop etc and just thought this is well cool! Loved the films. I think every child is different with regards what they are able to cope with mentally, especially if they have led quite a sheltered life. The thing that really annoys me is the music lyrics and videos.........most are just advertising sex! Heaven help if I have a daughter in November!
These are valid concerns but nobody complains about the last 3 Harry Potter books being too dark or violent but instead praise them for growing up with their audience. No comic book fans are upset that the Dark Knight didn't feature an Adam West Batman style storyline. I'm happy that Transformers took the darker turn for the movies at the very least. Animated and Prime both remain kid friendly to my understanding, so why should we bothered that one aspect of the franchise tried something new?
Its PG-13. Being a movie based on a toyline doesn't change that fact. If you take kids in younger than 13 and they're bothered by the movie's content then you have no one to blame but yourself. You knew the age rating before you took them. Besides, the first two movies were infamous for their bad language, inappropriate references and violence. You should have known that the third movie wasn't going to be that much different. My six year old nephew watched it with his step-dad and he quite enjoyed it. The sexual language and other inappropriate references would have gone straight over his head. You'd have to question your own parenting if a six year old kid knows what masturbation is.
No one, must bare witness. Seriously though, I think a lot of this is being blown out of proportion, especially since nothing is really being "forced" upon kids the way we're lead to believe, and since it's painfully obvious that violence & whatnot in movies is just that, a movie. Along with that, most of the adult stuff goes over kids heads anyways, and the ones who get it are simply more intelligent than others. This was the case when I was 10, and it's gonna be the case when my kids (assuming I have any) are 10. If anything, I'd sooner have to question the damage that censorship itself is doing, as well as the fact that foul language & whatnot needs to be used as much as it does, thus adding to the circle.
Meh, I watched violent movies since I was aIkid. Some people get too worked up over the "think of the children" nonsense. TFX ideas, franly would make the entire movie lame. Heck even as a kid most of thoughts regarding cartoon were "Why don´t the good guys just KILL the bad guys?!" Also Transformers was always sold as a Civil War between two faction. If you can make a war happen without violence...
Paramount and Hasbro didn't make the kids watch it. It's a parent's job to parent their kid, and control what they're exposed to, no one else's. Ratings exist for a reason, if someone takes a kid to any movie and is shocked by the content, the parent alone is to blame. When I go to movies with my niece or nephew, I ALWAYS look into what kind of content is in the movie, because I'm RESPONSIBLE.
My sister was not happy about the adult stuff in the second movie. She still let the kids watch it however. Funny that today's adults gripe about movies and kids when kids of the 80s had far worse in thier kids movies. Even R rated stuff like police academy was so big with kids it became a kids series by movie 5. Lets look at some 80s kids movies Return to oz--Tons of scary stuff. Headless woman chases a girl, wheelers,etc. Goonies-More curse words then a eddie murphy movie! Dead body in the freezer. Gremlins-Tons of deaths, The whole blender scene, The melting scene. Temple of doom-Ripping heart out, Monkey brains,etc. Clash of the Titans-cursing, blood, full nudity Dragonslayer-Blood,cursing, nudity (and it's a disney movie!) One of the most painful deaths of all time! Something Wicked this way comes--Scary stuff, blood Sheena-Nudity Teen wolf-cursing,adult talk Black Cauldren-nuff said. Secret of Niym-blood, battles, scares. ET-curse words, scary stuff Short Circuit-curse words Labryinth-curse words This stuff was fine in the 80s so it's funny the kids who grew up on them are complaining about todays films!
To be honest, I feel sorry for the kids of today who're forced to grow up with shit like Dora the Explorer instead of X-Men & Rugrats. Back then, barriers still existed, but the were a lot more GOOD shows that could be appreciated by a wide range of age groups without being flat out obscene like South Park.
Frankly, I don't want the TF movies to be kids' movies. I like them (and the cartoons) being darker and more serious/mature (not that the movies were "mature," at most parts). Not that I want things like all the crude humor from ROTF in the series; I just don't want Transformers to be made into something purely kid oriented, with no deaths, villains who aren't very evil, etc. I think Animated and Beast Wars were both perfect examples of how a TF show should be done (I haven't seen Prime yet, so I can't compare it). They're pretty dark and serious at points, and have lots of jokes that would go over kids' heads (especially BW), but are still okay for younger kids to see. Parents just shouldn't let their 10-year-olds see PG-13 movies like Transformers. There's nothing wrong with making toylines of adult movies, especially if they're collector-oriented. Even if they're not, I'm sure that tons of the kids who like Transformers based on the movies have never seen the movies, and some may not even know there are any.
