Parents' Guide to Twelve O'Clock High

TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH is a gripping action-drama that focuses on the psychological effects of war. For kids who like war history, there's much to engage with here: an exploration of heroism, motivation, patriotism, and courage based on a real unit of bombers stationed in England in early WWII who learned to master daylight-precision bombing in raids over Germany in spite of terrible odds and low morale. The violence is incredibly tame, with mostly references to the dead or the occasional shot of a plane blowing up, and no blood. There's no profanity, and smoking and drinking are faithful to the era. That said, this movie focuses heavily on the details and strategizing involved in the planning of war and, as such, likely will not keep the attention of younger kids, much less anyone not already fascinated by the drama of war.