Never Say Never Again (PG, 1983)
common sense media says
Boobs, bombs, and Bond galore in epic 007 thriller.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is a classic James Bond movie. The secret agent beds at least four women in the course of the movie (two in one afternoon). He kills countless men and at least one woman (with an exploding pen). Though deaths are bloodless and rarely graphic, one brief scene shows a woman dead, face-down in water, with her eyes still open. The main female character lives with an evil terrorist who threatens to cut her throat if she leaves him. Women's bodies are frequently shown wet, in bikinis, and often without focusing on their faces. In one scene, the main female character is tied to a post, barely dressed, in front of a band of aggressive men on horseback who offer money for her.
Positive role models:
James Bond's behavior is risky (because that's his job) and he's a pleasure seeker (caviar, martinis, sex). In the film, he never seems less than noble, but as a role model for boys, he doesn't demonstrate ideal or even realistic choices. There's nothing wrong with pleasure, but when it comes at the cost of making true connections with people and valuing people for more than sex or what they can do for you, it becomes problematic. The women in the movie are definitely not role models. They're both sex objects, one evil and powerful, one innocent and powerless.
Violence:
Almost nonstop fighting, with guns, knives, spears, bombs, exploding pens, etc. People die but there's no blood. One brief shot of a dead woman lying face-down in water.
Sex:
Ladies just fall into James Bond's bed without much effort on his part. Though the sex is frequent, and promiscuous (one day he has sex with one woman, fights a few sharks, and then beds the woman who rescues him from the ocean), it's not graphic. One brief scene seems to be Bond thrusting behind a woman, but turns out to be him getting a chiropractic adjustment.
Language:
Occasional mild swearing, like "hell" and "ass."
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Bond enjoys his martinis -- shaken, not stirred. Some smoking in the background. One minor character is a heroin addict.
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