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Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

(2008, Rated PG, Documentary, Starring Ben Stein, Lili Asvar, Peter Atkins)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 14, age appropriate for kids over 16; suggested age 14.
  • Is it any good?

    3.0
  • Common Sense says

    Controversial look at evolution meant for family discussion.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 14–16

The good stuff

  • Messages:

    Ben Stein is committed to asking questions, both of other people and himself. When he is faced with a tough subject, he admits he needs time to ponder it, and often goes to the geographical source of the query.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Graphic images of the Holocaust; images include emaciated cadavers piled up before they are disposed of.
  • Sex:

    Not an issue.
  • Language:

    Not an issue.
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Edward R. Murrow is shown smoking a cigarette when he gives a talk.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Parents need to know that this treatment of the subject of evolution contains a number of hot-button topics. From the existence of God to the destruction of humans in the name of racial purity, this documentary pokes at a lot of sensitive topics. It's the type of documentary that some families will seek out for discussion with their mature teens and some will avoid on religious and moral grounds.

Read our full review by Joly Herman

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about what their core beliefs are regarding the nature of life. How do religious beliefs and scientific doctrines differ? How are they similar? Do you like Ben Stein's approach to the subject? Why or why not?

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Our Members Say

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Missouri
    I rate this title on for age 10 and give it 4.0
    • My highlights are:
    • Positive messages

    Expelled is fine for 10+ (some photos and talk of the Holocaust) but most children at that age probably won't get much out of it.

  2. I rate this title on for age 11 and give it 5.0
    • My highlights are:
    • Positive messages

    Great Movie with A Great Message

    Great movie. Everyone needs to watch this. The scientific community has persecuted the Faith long enough. Although Stein does not actually promote the Faith, he does show the persecution of Intelligent Design in the scientific community. It is a very good movie, and an eye opener.

  3. I rate this title on for age 11 and give it 5.0
    • My highlights are:
    • Positive messages
    • Good role models

    Provacative and Stimulating, A Must-See!

    This movie is perfect for family discussion. Not only is it extremely well-made, it is very thought-provoking and stimulating. There is no language, sex, or onscreen violence, only some tense images of the Holocaust. The positive theme of asking questions and looking for truth is promoted, and Stein is always respectful to whoever he's interviewing, whether they agree with him or not.

  4. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Florida
    I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    • My highlights are:
    • Positive messages
    • Good role models

    A Great look at the comparisons between socalism and atheism

    Expelled is a very well done documentary examining how universities and professors have fired teachers for just barely reccommending intelligiant design in their reports rather then evolution. This movie is not for most liberals, and is definitely for conservatives. However, both may be confused by it. In the movie, Ben Stein interviews the Expelled teachers, and later Atheist professors and compares the atheists and scientologists to the Nazis and the Communists during the Cold War. My only concern with this movie is it's dark comparisons with the Cold War. We briefly see some violent images from time to time. These include film clips in which a bully thratens another kid, and in various historical clips which include images of the 1968 riots, communists enforcing Socalisim during the Cold War, and images from the Holocost wich include patients being examined a brief scene of a pile of dead bodies in a concentration camp. As for sex/nudity, there is nothing except for the aforementioned shot of dead bodies which are all naked. As for smoking, we see Edward R. Murrow smoking in one or two brief scenes. If you are a conservative and support intelligent design, you'll love this film. If you're a liberal, not so much. I do not reccomened this for kids under 11. They will be either bored or scared by the plot and themes. This film is alright for kids at age 12, but they may be disturbed or confused by the dark themes. It is age appropriate for kids 13 and older. I give it 4 out of five. It is not perfect, but it has a lot of common sense.

  5. I rate this title on for age 8 and give it 5.0

    This is one of the best if not most thought provoking movies in a long time. Extremely well executed and filmed. I have not only bought it but am currently loaning it or showing it to many others. I let my young children watch because although there may be issues touching on sensitive subjects such as the Holocaust, it is reality and history they should understand at whatever level they can and more importantly they need to understand the root motivating factors that allowed such thinking to exist and actually be deployed in plain view of the World. It brought many many topics up that the movie just began to touch on such as the sheer enormity of the engineering mechanics that become more and more complicated the further we delve into a single cell. We started discussing the parts of the cell and it's mystery as to how even an atom shouldn't technically exist due to negative and positive neurons existing in the same space... this should be impossible. They should cancel each other out... what holds them together to form an atom? Look up the 'atom smasher' on the internet to see what I mean. Researchers are desperately trying to discover the elusive puzzle piece that has been (funnily enough) the 'God Particle'.

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