 | 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. |
Poseidon
- Review Date: August 20, 2006
- PG-13
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- 2006
Common Sense Media says
Graphic disaster flick. Not for younger kids.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie begins with some family tension -- a single father and his teenage daughter clash over her boyfriend -- but as soon as the wave hits (some 10 minutes in), the brutal, often fatal, action is non-stop. So are the bodies: Broken, bloodied, and burned corpses appear every time the core group of survivors turns a corner. This group is beleaguered by fires, explosions, flooding/rushing water, and crashing architecture as they make their way to the surface. They teeter across hand-made bridges over dizzying heights, get locked in flooding rooms, fight with each other, and risk their lives for each other.
What's the story?
In this remake, a New Year's celebration aboard a luxury liner turns disastrous when a 150-foot rogue wave slams the ship and flips it upside down. Rejecting the captain's (Andre Braugher) advice to wait, passengers try to find a way to the top of the ship, led by ex-firefighter Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell). He's occasionally preoccupied by his daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum), who is in turn preoccupied by her fiancé Christian (Mike Vogel). Before the wave hits, gambler playboy Dylan (Josh Lucas) is hitting on single mother Maggie (Jacinda Barrett). After, he's saving her young son Conor (Jimmy Bennett). As the group makes its way to the surface, the individual characters take a back seat to the pyrotechnics, the water, and the weird upside-down spaces the group must negotiate. While a recently brokenhearted gay architect Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) takes an interest in the underclass pair -- busboy Marco (Freddy Rodríguez) and his just-met stowaway friend Elena (Mía Maestro) -- the others pretty much stick with their (white and moneyed) kind.
Is it any good?
Why cast Andre Braugher if you don't use him? In his role as captain, he's relegated to making a couple of feeble speeches and then leaves everyone on board to their dire fates. When he advises passengers to wait to be rescued, you know he's wrong, and also that he's not long for the film. That's too bad, because the survivors are a dull lot. It's mentioned that Kurt Russell's character used to be "mayor of New York," which is never explained, but plainly draws on post-9/11 desires for heroes). None of the characters or their relationships are presented for more than a minute to two, and so none solicits much emotional investment.
That's not to say the folks in gowns and tuxedos don't learn some lessons in loss and courage. But they do so incidentally. The point in a disaster film is fear and relief and some more fear: It's a ride. Here, you watch characters work to get out of small spaces, endure water and fire, and make their way to more small spaces.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the formula of disaster films: How are relationships between characters forged through dire hardships? How does the movie use conventional gender roles: the women are fearful, loving, or maternal, and the boys are sneaky, assertive, or courageous?
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AGE
Interesting and intense, but basically the exact same movie as the original with worse acting.
Good for kids 12+
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AGE
One of the best movies I saw this year!
I absolutely loved this movie, and I think it is a must-see for everyone ages 12 and up. I liked it because it had an amazing display of courageous characters and The sequence of events just kept me in suspense! I even had my eyes covered for a little!
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AGE
Bad remake of classic disaster film. The moral: do not remake disaster movies.
My rating: PG-13 for intense disaster sequences throughout, alcohol use and some language.
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AGE
Horrific and Stale
I was shocked at how horrific this movie was. Dead bodies left and right. We watch a kind father and a sweet young woman drown, a little kid almost drown,and a man falling down several stories into a firey hell. Combine that with waaay fake explosions and an unimpressive ending. Why wasdte the time ot money.
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AGE
it's a classic, a must see.........great movie
it is a remake of a long forgoten movie i remeber when the first one came out in the 70s,it was a good film and it deveses the repsect of the original............a must see
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AGE
Great disaster flick
Intense prolonged sequences of disaster and peril. Dead bodies, bloody.
Two disturbing scenes: a man falling down a shaft, getting pierced by spikes. A woman hits her head underwater, drawing blood.
For more information, contact me on YouTube - davstern1500
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| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Director: | Wolfgang Petersen |
| Cast: | Jacinda Barrett, Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 99 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | May 12, 2006 |
| DVD release date: | August 22, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | intense prolonged sequences of disaster and peril. |
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