Into the Blue

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Tedious adventure; too scary for younger kids.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the movie begins with a harrowing plane crash into the sea, with violent imagery and editing. Young divers find a pirate ship's treasure and then the cocaine shipment that was aboard this crashed plane, then ponder whether to recover the drugs and sell them. Characters (especially girls) wear skimpy clothing on land and undersea. They see and swim alongside sharks when they dive; the movie includes two gruesome shark attacks, resulting in bloody water and ravaged bodies. A couple of scenes feature near-drownings (one character begins to turn blue, as his arm is stuck under a heavy cannon and he can't get loose). A car chase results in a couple of crashes, a killer leaves multiple dead bodies on a boat (though you don't see these murders, faces, legs, and feet appear in close-ups that might trouble younger viewers). Characters fight with knives, guns (one man is shot through the chest, quite graphically), harpoons, and in a couple of instances, oxygen tanks are slammed into opponents' heads. Handcuffed to a dead body (his eyes left disturbingly open), a young woman hacks off his hand with a machete (you see the knife head to the camera, then the scene cuts). Characters drink, smoke, and do drugs. The film includes sexual references, sexy dancing in a club with colored lights and liquor flowing, some embracing/kissing, and a discrete sex scene between the romantic leads. One character behaves callously when his girlfriend dies.

  • Obnoxious young lawyer who owes money and assumes he can deal major drugs easily; drug dealers and killers; discussion of pirates as "romantic."
  • Hand to hand fights, as well as violence using harpoons, knives, cars, and guns; a couple of shark attacks.
  • Girls in scant apparel, sexy dancing and references; kissing and one briefly noted romantic sex scene.

What's the story?

Happy but restless with their bohemian life in the Bahamas, Sam (Jessica Alba) and Jared (Paul Walker) live in a trailer. He's a treasure hunter who spends most of his time bailing water out of his rickety rusty boat, she instructs crowds at a Seaworld-style theme park as to the dining habits of sharks. Formerly employed by Bates (Josh Brolin), Jared still has dreams of the big score, but wants to do it the right way, an aim encouraged by breadwinner Sam and pooh-poohed by his jet-setty frat boy-type best friend Bryce (Scott Caan). A lawyer for drug dealers back home, Bryce arrives for a vacation with a girl he met the night before, Amanda (Ashley Scott). The two couples set out to enjoy their weekend, diving, sunning, and partying. Amid the pretty undersea imagery -- fish, coral, clear water -- they find a downed plane full of cocaine bricks (and a few dead, black bodies). They also discover a really old shipwreck, which might be a legendary pirate's ship. In order to get enough money to excavate the treasure with the proper equipment, Bryce and Amanda decide to collect and sell the cocaine. This leads the entire crew into a conflict with the local drug runners, very hard and mean men who think nothing of shooting associates through the chest.


Is it any good?

 

INTO THE BLUE doesn't even pretend to be serious. Beautiful and very blue, the movie features frequent views of lithe young bodies in scant clothing. Granted, stars Alba and Walker look fabulous -- they're famous for doing just that. And they both spend much time in under- and swimwear.

But the plot is tedious enough and the underwater scenes clichéd enough to undermine such glib self-understanding. And so the movie is less easily forgivable for its excesses, much less its corny characters (for instance, a brutal kingpin (James Frain looking gaunt and sleepless), sly club-owner (Tyson Beckford), hapless island cop Roy (Dwayne Adway). And oh yes, the sharks. Though Sam is a professional expert on their habits and diets, and she and Jared are comfortable swimming among the non-man-eating sorts hanging round the treasure site, you can't really make a movie with sharks in it and not feature a couple of harrowing incidents.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the moral decisions facing the characters, and the film's framing of these decisions as matters of "love." What is at stake for whom when Sam asks Jared to choose between her and dealing drugs?


This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Interesting...
Fairly thrilling and entertaining. I liked it because I snorkel and dive some...it was good for teens but not little kids-they would be scared. There is a lot of violence and drug refrences (considering the WHOLE movie is revolving around drug dealers trying to get their sunken plane back...full of cocaine). But it's good as long as you are mature enough to get the idea of the movie...

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Pretty violent. Includes blood from shark attacks. Be careful who sees this movie.

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
this movie is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Cool underwater effects
Good but Jessica Alba falls into a teen interest.

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Teen, 16 years old
July 22, 2010
 
Although there are some scenes where even I have to cover my eyes (1st shark attack, when they first discover plane) But it's not to bad, the only thing I would worry about for young kids is seeing all of the dead people on the boat, etc. There is a lot of violence but that is to be expected in a action/thriller movie. If any younger kids watch it you will have to explain a lot to them about all of the drug related things. I absolutely love this movie though! There is something for everyone, the ocean is beautiful too, every time I watch it I want to go snorkeling or swimming in the ocean. And not to mention PAUL WALKER! (no further explanation needed for that one, haha) All in all, this is a great, enjoyable movie. Definitely my favorite!

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Teen, 18 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Loved it!
It was filled with action, and suspense. Something different... And i actually felt like I was in the movie. Great movie to watch!

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
GREAT MOVIE
this was a great movie. i dont know what commonsense was talking about when they said its scary. its an action flick not a horror one. its a very fun movie and i highly recommend it to about 9 and over

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Teen, 15 years old
September 2, 2009
 
lots of drugs
the whole movie is about good guys being forced to bring up cocaine for these bad guys. kind of vionlent, lots of talking about drugs, characters drink alchol.

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This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Studio:MGM/UA
Director:John Stockwell
Cast:Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Paul Walker
Genre:Action/Adventure
Run time:110 minutes
Theatrical release date:September 30, 2005
DVD release date:December 27, 2005
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:intense sequences of action violence, drug material, some sexual content and language

This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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