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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

(2007, Rated PG-13, Fantasy, Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 8, age appropriate for kids over 12; suggested age 12.
  • Is it any good?

    4.0
  • Common Sense says

    Riveting fifth movie finds Harry angry, brooding.

updated 06.26.09

Why We Rated This on for Ages 12 and Up

The good stuff

  • Messages:

    Harry's friends bravely agree to practice defensive spells to help him ward off Voldemort and his evil cohorts. In particular, Ron and Hermione refuse to let Harry go up against 'You Know Who' alone. Harry, his friends, and the Order of the Phoenix members act in a courageous, selfless manner. The movie's key lessons are that it's your choices and the actions you take that define you and that friends, family, and love make you more powerful than even the strongest evil.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence :

    Scary images of Dementors, Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort. Angry centaurs drag a character away. Professor Umbridge severely punishes Hogwarts students using a method that feels a lot like torture. A character is attacked by a large snake, with somewhat bloody results. The depiction of the battle at the Department of Mysteries is intense, and one key character is killed (though not in a gory way). Harry is painfully inhabited by the Dark Lord; he is also very angry during much of the movie.
  • Sex :

    Harry and Cho kiss; Ron and Hermione continue their thinly veiled flirtation through bickering and glancing at each other.
  • Language:

    The word "bloody."
  • Consumerism:

    No product placements, but the film franchise includes a ton of merchandising deals, toys, and other tie-ins.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Harry and his friends meet in a run-down pub in Hogsmeade, but they don't drink anything.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Parents need to know that even kids who can't read know about Harry Potter, and some kids who are too young for the content will want to see this fifth Potter movie (which is especially well timed, since the seventh -- and final! -- book hits bookstores July 21). As has been the case with each succeeding movie, as the central characters have gotten older and taken on bigger challenges, the themes darken, the danger becomes more intense, and the climatic battle scenes with "You Know Who" and his minions are downright frightening. Spoiler alert: There's a very upsetting (but bloodless) death of someone near and dear to Harry. As a result, he grows even more introspective and angry. At the very least, he does enjoy his first kiss (no spoiler to Potterheads), and Ron and Hermione continue their flirtatious bickering.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the movies' increasingly mature themes as Harry grows into a full-blown adolescent. Why is Harry so angry? Do you think Harry and his friends act and feel like real teenagers? Also, even though this movie and the last one are rated PG-13, they're heavily marketed to younger kids -- do you think that's OK, or are the later movies too scary for little kids? Potterheads: What parts of the book were best depicted in the film? What got left out that you would have included? What scenes included heavy foreshadowing of things to come?
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  • What did you think about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?
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See all 159 member reviews

Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer
    Age 14
    Lives in California
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 5.0

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

      there's no drinking, smoking or drugs in this!!

      People on here are so over sensitive ya know?? 100% of parents think there is too much smoking drinking and drugs?? there is none of that stuff!! they just don't like it cuz there's magic in it :( soooo pathetic (not the movie)

    • Kid Reviewer
      Age 10
      Lives in Pennsylvania
      I rate this title on for age 9 and give it 5.0
      My concerns are:
      • Excessive violence

      Great Movie! If You Saw 4 And Could Handle It, You Can Handle 5!

      Hey, first of all, I saw this IN THE THEATERS when I was nine. Of course my parents had to preveiw it but they thought it was fine and guess what it totally was! The violence gets a bit rough, but I could handle it. If you've seen number 4, you can handle number 5. 4 is much more scary than 5. I also know that all the stuff you all may have thought was "Unessesary and gross" was in the books, so it was nessesary. The movie is great and has turned into one of my favorites.

    • Kid Reviewer
      Age 11
      Lives in Ohio
      I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give it 4.0
      My concerns are:
      • Excessive violence
      • Inappropriate sexual content

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

      too much kissing scenes to take a kid under eleven.

    • Teen Reviewer
      Age 14
      Lives in Maryland
      I rate this title on for age 8 and give it 2.0

    • Teen Reviewer
      Age 17
      Lives in Florida
      I rate this title on for age 13 and give it 4.0
      My concerns are:
      • Inappropriate language

      Please Read This!

      Ronald Weasley uses the British cuss word, bloody, in the movie and I think you should look it up in a British dictionary before you let your children watch this movie.

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