Parents' Guide to

Pacific Rim

Movie PG-13 2013 131 minutes
Pacific Rim Poster Image

Parents Say

age 11+

Based on 30 parent reviews

Parent Reviews

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age 15+

Dull characters and disturbing alien dismemberment

Boring characters fighting glowing cgi aliens with glowing cgi, unoriginal, robots. Lots of aliens being torn/cut/burned to pieces in full view; a disturbing scene where an alien fetus tears its way out of its mother, strangles itself in its own umbilical cord, and then is used for 'comedic relief' at the end when a character cuts his way out of its corpse. Aliens have blue glowing blood and 'alien' organs. It's not exactly gory the normal way, but it's still quite horrific.

This title has:

  • Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
age 12+

A lot of ideas which would appeal to children, but the violence might be a bit much.

Pacific rim is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to the unspoken PG-13 Rule that there can be ludicrous amounts of violence as long as the blood isn't red. The Official review on this website dramatically low balls the level of violence in this movie. Violence: The giant monsters in this movie are shown no mercy throughout. They are beaten, shot to death and cut apart with swords. One scene shows a creature's corpse being repeatedly shot until it is nothing more than a smoldering mess of organs and broken bones. The main reason this didn't boost the film to an R-rating is that the beasts' blood isn't red, but rather a neon aqua marine. This does make their violent demises less realistic, but it doesn't make the injuries they suffer feel any less painful. There are also some moments of human violence. One scene depicts a man spitting blood as he is punched in the face. another man briefly has a switchblade shoved up his nose. This doesn't cause any major visible injury, but it is uncomfortable to watch. During their battles, some of the robot pilots die. There are a few sad moments where main characters react to seeing their friends get killed. The robot pilots seem to feel pain corresponding with the damage their machines receive. Positive messages and role models: The cast is pretty diverse, portraying both genders and several races as equal. The main character, and several supporting members of the cast are coping with tragic pasts, and bond over their shared pain. There is a general message about working together in the face of hardship. This is expressed in several ways, mainly through the friendship the two leads develop over the course of the film, but also through how the film handles the conflict between other characters who are at odds. During moments of tension, characters put aside petty squabbles to save their own lives. Also, the film portrays all of the worlds major countries as working together towards a single goal Sexuality: Nothing too serious, but there are a few slightly suggestive moments. Most notably, there is one scene where an attractive man is seen shirtless, and a woman stares at him for a few moments. At one point, a man and a woman exchange a very passionate hug, but it's unclear if this was supposed to be seen as romantic.

This title has:

  • Great messages
  • Great role models
  • Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
age 11+

Good movie

This title has:

  • Great messages
  • Great role models
age 10+

Awesome action film for your pre-teens!

Awesome action film has some violence, destruction, mild gore from the monsters. Some language includin a few b words but many pre-teens could handle this
age 8+

I Loved This Movie!!!! (review by 8 year old)

I think this is the best movie I've ever watched. Monsters AND robots fighting. A bit of swearing but I still loved it. Not good for anyone under 7 who doesn't like violence.
age 9+

Lots of action!!

Watched this with our 3 boys aged 14, 12 and , and everyone enjoyed it. Lots of action, monsters and robots are impressive, plotline easy to follow. Language is a little colorful (lots of 'no-no' words, our youngest points out gleefully) but message very positive. It's a challenge to find something that all three like, and our youngest ends up seeing things we don't always feel are quite age-appropriate.... luckily CommonSense media is very helpful!

This title has:

  • Great messages
  • Great role models
age 13+

This title has:

  • Great role models
age 14+

Teen audiences+

This movie was awesome. The language was for teen audiences Their were a few uses of the s word and the b word and other bad words. The violence was more kid approiapte because there was only hand to hand robot fighting.

This title has:

  • Too much swearing
age 10+

Fun action, loud and engaging, but the monsters can be scary

My 9yr old loved this movie up to a point. He asked me to turn it off when when a baby Kaiju appears. It was too up close and too scary for him. He is a sensitive soul. When it was all at much more of a distance, he was fine and really enjoyed it. Overall, though, he loved it and has been inspired to draw Jaegers of his own creation. I think you could watch it with your younger ones and just be aware of their state, ready to turn it off.
age 9+

this out of -this-world film is a good one!

funny, but has curse words including d**n, s**t, etc. a amazing story line, but not too child friendly.

This title has:

  • Too much violence

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