Parents' Guide to

7500

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Airplane hijacking thriller is tense, serious, violent.

Movie R 2020 92 minutes
7500 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 17+

Based on 2 parent reviews

MovieLoverMum
MovieLoverMum Adult
July 17, 2021
age 16+

artistic with some great views but meh

There are many great things about this movie that I enjoyed: most was the claustophobic camera view on the tiny cockpit that showed what pilots do and see which was awesome and interesting to me!! There's a lot of blood and terror that I didn't mind but it was all just sad sad sad without any ending for the audience. Some scenes drag on...it made me also upset because the storyline is so overdone with the Muslim terrorists... yawn!!...In addition. the reviewer before said that half of the movie is Arabic and Geman... well it wasn't... a huge portion was in German which I didn't mind since I lived in Germany but the subtitles are easy to follow for English-speakers.. also.... there was barely Arabic but also Turkish. Anyway, it is an artistic movie and I can see the artistic realistic movie making of the production companies that distributed it (like the German French TV "Arte").... this isn't Hollywood ! Watch if you like European realism and some awesome cockpit scenery.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
byoung7998
byoung7998 Adult
March 14, 2021
age 18+

Lots of blood and implied gore, way too much foreign language dialogue

First let me start by saying I was born in Germany to a USAF military father and American mother. I also lived in Italy for 2.5 years as a teen. I am very well aware that English is not the only language in the world. I speak some French, Italian, and English. This move seemed to be more than half in Arabic and German. I have no problem reading a few subtitles, but this was far beyond acceptable in what is likely a USA release movie.
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What's the Story?

In 7500, American co-pilot Tobias (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) takes his seat in the cockpit of a flight out of Berlin. Flight attendant Gökce (Aylin Tezel) sneaks in for a quick chat about their daughter and kindergarten. She tries to be discreet, since they've agreed to keep their relationship secret while working. The captain, Michael (Carlo Kitzlinger), arrives, and the pre-flight check is mostly normal. But not long after takeoff, a group of glass knife-wielding terrorists hijacks the plane. One gets into the cockpit, wounding both Michael and Tobias, but Tobias knocks his attacker unconscious. Other terrorists start threatening hostages, one after the other, in order to gain access to the cockpit. Unfortunately for Tobias, Gökce becomes one of the hostages. Can Tobias keep his wits about him and safely land the plane?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This white-knuckle thriller uses constricted space and realistic details to generate intense suspense, but at the same time, it never forgets the sobering, tragic seriousness of the situation. A strong feature debut by director/co-writer Patrick Vollrath, 7500 is, incredibly, set entirely inside the cockpit and focused entirely on Gordon-Levitt, who gives an exhaustively impressive physical and emotional performance. The movie begins with no bombast or fanfare: The pilots just go through their ordinary routine. But this everyday tone helps establish that a hijacking isn't popcorn-movie fare, and that we shouldn't expect giddy, enjoyable thrills.

After the initial attack, Vollrath establishes a sickening dread as Tobias recovers and regroups to the sound of violent hammering on the cockpit door, which lasts for many minutes. Tension here comes from a place of terror, of waiting, as events keep turning well past anything we might expect. But perhaps more importantly, death actually means something here -- there's no Bruce Willis knocking off villains left and right -- and two scenes in particular have the potential to shock viewers into stunned silence. 7500 is a wrenching, bracing experience, but it's also a humane movie that's capable of leaving viewers thinking about the significance of life.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about 7500's violence. Is it thrilling? Exciting? Shocking? How does it differ from other thrillers you've seen?

  • Should Tobias have opened the door when Gökce was being threatened? Why or why not?

  • What does the quote from Gandhi, "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind," mean?

  • Did you identify with Vedat? Did the movie humanize him? How did you feel about the way his story ends?

Movie Details

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