 | 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. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Man on Fire
- Review Date: September 13, 2004
- R
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- 2004
Common Sense Media says
Extremely violent; not for kids.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie has extreme and graphic violence, including torture and attempted and actual suicide (portrayed as honorable). Children are in peril. A character has a drinking problem. Characters use strong language. The movie's strengths include strong inter-racial friendships and respect for spiritual values.
What's the story?
Denzel Washington plays Creasy, a burnt-out hired gun. Creasy takes on a new job as bodyguard for a Pita (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of a rich man. Although he insists he is not there to be her friend and does not want to talk to her, he is soon coaching her for the big swim meet and she is naming her bear after him. When Pita is kidnapped, Creasy vows to do whatever necessary to track her kidnappers down.
Is it any good?
Two of today's most talented and charismatic screen performers are lost in an over-big, over-loud, over-heated, over-long, over-everything mess of a story about revenge. The dialogue is clunky and pretentious. MAN ON FIRE is not willing to assume that viewers can figure anything out for themselves and pounds every point several times. A character says that Pita showed Creasy "it was all right to live again," and another responds, "And the kidnappers took that away." The violence is excessive, with too many bad guys and too many drawn-out scenes of torture, especially one elaborate set-up involving a bomb inserted into a man's body.
For a guy who is supposed to be a superstar of killing, Creasy seems rather careless about things like evidence and innocent bystanders. Even with all of the explosions and shootouts, the movie feels bloated and much too long at nearly two and a half hours. Director Tony Scott throws in a lot of tiresomely faddish tricked-up shots, using the subtitles as a part of the frame and putting a countdown to a time bomb in the corner of the screen. Reportedly, he shot three different endings for this movie. The other two have to be better than the one they decided to use, which takes a faltering script into the land of "I sat through all of this for that?"
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the issues of honor and redemption this movie raises, especially the portrayal of suicide as an honorable response to disgrace or as a heroic sacrifice. Why is it important that people in the movie keep talking about how they are professionals? And that the most important thing in life is family?
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- Teens & kids
AGE
13+ definetely. But wait....
This movie brings up a lot of religious questions, which makes it worth seeing. There's a lot of violence, no sex. See it.
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AGE
A great hi-quality movie and storyline
It's not everyday you see a movie as good as this. Man of Fire had so much depth to it and was not predictable by any means. There was nothing boring throughout the whole movie. The acting was exceptional as well as the directing of the film. This is definitely not for children as it is very explicit with the violence. As for adults, do not miss out.
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AGE
Action packed adult film. Definitely not for young audience
Action packed adult film. Definitely not for young audience
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AGE
Excellent Film, a little iffy
this film was fantastic, and i really liked the style it was done in, except there were a few things about it. i think it deserved an "R" rating, but it was very informative. if you could take out the torture sequence with the digit-chopping, then this movie would have been better.
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AGE
Only so so
I thought this was a pretty good movie. I'm a big fan of Denzel and I liked the ending. The violence wasn't over the top compared to some of todays stuff like The Punisher, Black Hawk Down, and Saving Private Ryan but I guess not much is like that.
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AGE
this was great movie. i really liked it. :) but the violence is disturbing. so yeah this isn't really for 9-12 year olds really. it's for mature kids. :P
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Kid, 12 years old
June 4, 2009
AGE
My primary problem with the movie was, strangely, not the excessive and bloody violence, but rather the movie's approval of said violence as a means of exacting justice. However, if you can overlook that, in my opionion, offensive message, the movie is enjoyable and definitely well-crafted, with memorable performances by Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning.
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AGE
Inspiring
This is a good movie. Tells a true story which is almost always better than fiction. I am sure the director/producer took some artistic license but who cares. Basic story is intact. Definite thriller and real life movie. Inspiring and pleasant to watch. Could have done without some of the sexual references and such, but worth seeing. You will know what I mean. It doesn't glorify suicide like one reviewer said, I saw it twice and didn't come away with that idea.
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AGE
Horrible waste of time!
Awful, violent, pointless, graphic, depressing... what else to say. VERY disappointing and a waste of time and money. Don't bother!
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| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Director: | Tony Scott |
| Cast: | Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning, Denzel Washington |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 146 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | April 22, 2004 |
| DVD release date: | September 13, 2004 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | language and strong violence |
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