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I have yet to see Star Wars VII The Force Awakens. I have two younger children and am just wondering what other people think about how "kid" friendly the movie is.

I know it's rated PG-13, but movie ratings are extremely subjective. Do people think that it's really only for 13 years old and up? What about age 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, etc.

The basic question is, "How graphic and/or violent is the movie?"

Ultimately I will just have to watch it myself, but I'm just wondering what other peoples opinions are.

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    /waves hand - This is the site you're looking for
    – user7812
    Jan 4, 2016 at 0:58
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    most of the violence is directed at the furniture.
    – KutuluMike
    Jan 4, 2016 at 0:59
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    @MikeEdenfield Except for the very brutal massacre of innocents right at the beginning of the film. Jan 4, 2016 at 1:06
  • My son was 8 and it was fine for him. I wouldn't hesitate taking my 6 year old daughter either. None of the violence is graphic, gory or scary/ Jan 21, 2016 at 16:03
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    Like the plot, the level of graphic violence can be compared to the first - Star Wars IV: A New Hope.
    – Mikey
    Feb 12, 2016 at 23:28

2 Answers 2

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The BBFC rating page has a summary of what justifies their 12A rating, which may answer your question:

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS is a sci-fi action adventure in which a young woman becomes embroiled in a galactic conflict.

VIOLENCE There are frequent scenes of moderate violence, including use of blasters and lightsabers, and dogfights between spaceships. Sight of blood and injury detail is limited and brief.

THREAT Occasional scenes of moderate threat include characters being interrogated using 'the Force', which it is implied causes them pain, and characters being held at lightsaber-point.

There is infrequent use of very mild bad language ('hell', 'damn').

Unfortunately the only thing I can find for the corresponding American institutions is "Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence", which doesn't help much.

An unofficial site that often has more detailed ratings/summaries than the official ones is commonsensemedia.org, which says in the main summary:

Directed by J.J. Abrams, the sequel takes place approximately 30 years after the events of The Return of the Jedi, and although there's tons of sci-fi action -- space battles, crashes, explosions, lightsaber duels, and more -- there's less violence overall than viewers saw in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Villains do order the mass murder of countless civilians, prisoners are coerced physically and with the Force, and duels lead to injuries and death, but none of it is bloody or gory. With little language ("dammit" and "hell" are as strong as it gets) or sex, this is the kind of epic adventure that will undoubtedly appeal to Star Wars fans of all ages. But while younger kids may be familiar with the franchise and its many spin-offs (like the animated Clone Wars), they might not be ready for some of The Force Awakens' more violent or emotional scenes. (Spoiler alert: One death will hit very hard.)

And in the tooltip of the "Violence" sub-rating:

Lots of sci-fci action violence on both the largest possible scale (planets obliterated) and much smaller (one-on-one lightsaber duels and firefights/shoot-outs), but hardly any blood/gore (with the exception of bloody fingerprints on a white stormtrooper helmet). There's a weapon that can destroy entire systems, and there are explosive battle sequences in which people die and ships burst into flames. Kylo Ren tortures people, both physically and with the Force. Quick glimpses of dead soldiers and civilians lying around. Laser guns of all shapes and sizes (handheld, ship mounted, etc.); bombs. Chases, crashes, and frequent peril. Large, monstrous creatures rampage through a ship; other creatures look scary/threatening, and the leader of the First Order is creepy. A man orders an entire village of civilians/witnesses slaughtered and cuts down an unarmed man. A young man has debilitating anger issues. Spoiler alert: Supporting characters are injured, one is presumed dead, and there's one very upsetting death.

Having seen the film myself, I can attest these summaries are completely accurate, although the mention of "torture" in that last quote may sound worse than it actually is; it's more like "interrogation using the Force" as the BBFC summary says.

Whether this means 13, 10, 9, etc is the ideal cutoff is something only you can decide, but that ought to be enough detail for you to choose.

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    The film is rated PG-13 in the US, so I'd say if whatever kid(s) you're thinking about taking to see it have seen Revenge of the Sith without problems, this shouldn't be any different. As noted in the answer, MPAA ratings are mainly guidelines, so anyone who looks to be under the age of 13 has to be accompanied by an adult. However, I know some theaters will let kids as young as 7 into R-rated films so long as there's an adult with them.
    – MattD
    Jan 4, 2016 at 4:24
  • I believe that's how the ratings system works: G - no restrictions; PG parents may want to think about whether to let kids go or not, but no parent is required; PG-13 - under 13 OK if accompanied by adult; R - under 17 OK if accompanied by adult; NC-17 - must be at least 17. PG-13 should probably be R-13.
    – RDFozz
    Nov 7, 2017 at 21:58
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Having seen the movie now; not with my kids BTW. If your kid can watch the old Star Wars movies, then I'd say they can watch the new movie. Violence and such is really similar in amount and style to the older movies.

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    It being "just fine" to you is utterly subjective. Every parent and every kid is different. At least Ixrec's answer has some actual data to help a parent make their own choice.
    – Catija
    Feb 12, 2016 at 17:09
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    Besides that, even if you settle for a more subjective view of the matter, you might still want to elaborate a little more in order to flesh out the answer more.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Feb 12, 2016 at 17:11

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