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The Golden Child

(1986, Rated PG-13, Comedy, Starring Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, J.L Reate)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 13, age appropriate for kids over 15; suggested age 13.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    Murphy gets mystical in '80s adventure comedy.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 13–15

The good stuff

  • Messages:

    A classic good-vs.-evil story with the good guy not being a perfect angel, but learning from his failings. The "golden child" represents compassion in the world.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Martial arts-style fighting with weapons and injuries; a demon wants to kill a child; a girl is murdered and we see police taking pictures of her body, but her body isn't shown. The bad guys try to feed a child oatmeal with blood in it. Monks are killed trying to protect a child from demons, and a woman is shot in the back with an arrow.

  • Sex:

    Lots of innuendo with romance between two of the main characters. A woman appears in a man's dreams wearing a sexy outfit and tied up with toilet paper. A couple gets dressed in the morning making it clear that they spent the night together. A woman is described as being raped by a dragon.

  • Language:

    Quite a bit of swearing. No f-bombs, but just about everything else, at least once.

  • Consumerism:

    Quarker Oats and Pepsi.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Alcohol and tobacco use by adults.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About The Golden Child

Parents need to know that this movie has satanic imagery, mystical theories about the world, and some violence, including martial arts-style fighting with weapons and deaths, and attempted violence against a child. There's also plenty of sexual innuendo between two of the main characters who eventually sleep together, but nothing is shown.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about culture shock and comedy. Most of the laughs come from Eddie Murphy's character bumbling through unfamiliar traditions. What other comedies use this type of humor? When does it cross the line into stereotyping or laughing at other traditions? Does this movie do that?
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