CAPCon ALERT

RED does not mean "stop." GREEN does not mean "go." Click on the CAPCon Alert image for explanation
CAP Movie Ministry
A ministry of the ChildCare Action Project:
Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP Ministry)
A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Christian Ministry. www.capalert.com/
Entertainment Media Analysis Report
A service to His little ones through you in His name by His Word

MAR25051

(2005), PG-13 [R-13*] (1hr 37min)

Analysis Date
CAP Final Score
CAP Influence Density
MinMax
July 7, 2005
53 out of 100
0.94
-90

The #1 Christian entertainment media analysis service on the Internet. We give you OBJECTIVE tools NO ONE ELSE CAN to help YOU make an informed decision for yourself whether a film is fit for your family. Nearly 1000 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more.
Give your visitors full access to nearly 1000 CAP movie analyses! Place this image on your website and link it to
"http://www.capalert.com/
now_playing.htm"
Target="_Blank"


Click it to try it!

PLEASE . . . . . . .

Through PayPal

You DO NOT have to have a PayPal account.
OR by US Mail (preferred - no service charges).
The CAP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Christian ministry (75-2607488). Your donations to us are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE

Stay informed ...OBJECTIVELY...
on what Hollywood feeds your kids. SUBSCRIBE
(or unsubscribe)
to our FREE text-only email version of these reports and our COMING SOON notices.
Email this report to friends and
tell them about the CAP Ministry:






Christian Long Distance

SUMMARY / COMMENTARY:
(This section may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)

If Scriptural references appear, the full text appears at the end of the Summary / Commentary.



(2005), PG-13 [R-13*] -- ... equivalent in volume but not intensity to many R-rated films


Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database
Production (US): 20th Century Fox, Marvel Enterprises, 1492 Pictures, Constantin Film Produktion GmbH
Distribution (US): Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Director(s): Tim Story
Producer(s): Avi Arad, Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Bernd Eichinger, Ross Fanger, Kevin Feige, David Gorder, Stan Lee, Ralph Winter
Written by: Michael France, Mark Frost
Comic Book and Characters: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee
Cinematography/Camera: Oliver Wood
Music: John Ottman
Film Editing: William Hoy
Casting: Nancy Klopper, Coreen Mayrs
Production Design: Bill Boes
Art Direction: Shepherd Frankel, Don Macaulay
Viewed At: Driftwood Theater 6


As part of the fund raising campaign we must launch, I have included the following to implore you to help us pay the bills of this free service which is NOT free of costs. If you are reading this, you are using this service which takes hundreds of dollars per week. Won't you please help us with the costs of bringing it to you? I will get to the report for Fantastic Four immediately following this vital administrative matter.

Your pastor and church cannot do their jobs without your financial help.

Neither can we serve your kids through you without your financial help.

Donations are seriously down and if the bills don't get paid the CAP Ministry service stops.

We cannot provide this service much longer unless everyone who uses our service decides it is worth a little help.

I have been asking you all for a very long time to help us bring this service to the more than 7,000,000 visitors (134,000 in just 30 days).

Visitors who might need them the most pick up Word-borne, Blood-blessed Seeds every time they visit.

And the Seeds are working!

  • Hate mail has dropped off to a trickle.
  • Death threats have stopped altogether!
  • People are asking good questions!

    Even Hollywood producers are taking notice and inquiring.

    We are applying His Word to what is quite possibly the most insidious and invisible way which grieves Jesus the most - influencing your kids (which includes at-home teens)!

    It is now known inarguably that entertainment, whether intentional, shapes the values of your kids.

    Don't you want to continuing knowing objectively the content of films before you decide whether to let your kids watch them?

    Our service is free to you but it is NOT free of costs.
  • Your donations to the CAP Ministry ARE tax-deductible.

    P-L-E-A-S-E fervently pray for guidance and answer the call to give generously, regularly to the CAP Ministry.

    Indeed, if enough funding is provided we could bring you analyses of many more films.

    As much as 80% of all new film releases (and even more than just films).

    And provide many of them days before the first showing.

    This would give you ample time to inspect our analyses.

    Then you might be in a better position to make an informed moral decision on your own whether an unseen film is fit for you and/or your family.

    All that is not to mention the improved research made possible by increased analyses made possible only by increased funding.

    This is NOT a nothing-better-to-do project, folks.

    We even proved what Harvard University proved four years before they did using God's Word!

    This is a bona fide, IRS authorized, Word-based, Jesus-loving nonprofit Christian ministry preaching God's perfect and complete Word and, through His Word, the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    We depend on your financial support just like your church.

    P-L-E-A-S-E give fervent prayer to generously helping us with the expenses of this free service.

    The ChildCare Action Project (CAP) Ministry is authorized by the Internal Revenue Service to receive public support per section 501(c)(3), ID: 75-2607488.


    I am sorry this report, too, is late. But until funding is adequate delays are inevitable.

    With a final score of 53, Fantastic Four earned a place one point from the top of the comparative baseline database scoring range for R-rated movies (54 and below out of 100). That makes this film an "extra-lite" R-13 but a R-13 nonetheless. The greatest loss of points were due to violence and sexual immorality.

    Both of the Wanton Violence/Crime (W) and Sexual Immorality (S) investigation areas found programming equivalent in volume but not intensity to many R-rated films. The Offense to God (O) and Murder/Suicide (M) investigation areas revealed a level of morality that may be found in some "hardcore" PG films The Drugs/Alcohol (D) investigation area found material equivalent to the content of most G-rated films. The Impudence/Hate investigation area was the only one to find programming equivalent to most PG-13 films, for the most part due to foul language.

    Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) has discovered a cosmic storm headed toward the Earth. Reed feels exposure of some samples of Earthen life to the cosmic energies would give science a huge boost. So, Reed sought the financial backing of his college adversary Dr. Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), an evil and selfish billionaire who just happens to own an orbiting space station in the path of the coming cosmic storm.

    Von Doom is Reed's adversary because Von Doom vied for the affection of Reed's college girlfriend. Von Doom lost. The girl is now working for Von Doom but still carries a torch for Reed while Von Doom woos her.

    Convincing Von Doom to back his theory, Reed heads to the space station along with Von Doom's Director of Genetic Research Susan Storm who was Reed's college girlfriend (Jessica Alba), her cocky and arrogant never-grew-up brother Johnny (Chris Evans) and pilot Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis).

    Once the crew is aboard Von Doom's space station, taking advantage of the special setting that could not be had any other way, Von Doom opens the shields to show off the Earth in a panoramic display to Susan in an attempt to propose marriage to her, "promising the world" to her. The key to this scene is the shields are open.

    With the shields open, Ben takes a space walk to position the samples of Earthen life outside the space station to be exposed to the cosmic storm. All should be well for the occupants since the shields of the space station should protect them from any harmful energies in the cosmic storm. But the shields are still open.

    While Ben is positioning the samples, Reed discovers the storm will hit the space station in nine minutes instead of seven hours! Ben is still outside! The shields are still open! Ben cannot get back inside when the shields are closed.

    Failing to get the shields closed in time, the entire crew -- Von Doom, Reed, Susan, Johnny, Ben -- are exposed to the full force of the cosmic storm (which looks strangely like a collection of "energy ribbons" from Star Trek: Generations) in one of the most dazzling displays of computer-generated imagery of what it might be like to be saturated with such energy I have ever seen.

    Back on Earth, the space station occupants begin recovering from the effects of the cosmic storm.

    The team slowly begin to discover they have been changed ... changed down to the DNA level. Strange "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men"(1) begin to manifest in the team members.

    Reed found he can stretch any part of his body. Susan found she could become invisible under the right emotional provocation. Johnny discovered he could become flame of 4000 degrees Kelvin - the temperature of the sun (according to the script writers anyway). Ben saw that he was turning into living stone, into such a hideous creature his fiance Debbie McIlvane (Laurie Holden) decided to leave him. Von Doom was turning into electrically charged metal which gave Von Doom the advantage he sought to wreak vengeance, murderous vengeance.

    While this film could be a fine Saturday night sci-fi cinematic comic book, there are things in it you may want to know about before you decide whether it is fit for your family (or yourself).

    The strongest loss of points was due to massive violence. Action violence, fighting, guns to control, assaults, attempted murders and a number of other matters of violence. [Prov. 13:2, Prov. 4:14, Matt. 5:9, Prov. 10:23]

    The next strongest loss of points was due to sexually inappropriate material such as: repeated nudity of Chris Evans with genitals hidden by a convenience object, i.e., a ski coat wrapped around his waist held in place in a manner to clearly imply him holding himself through it; an invitation to sex and implied acceptance of it; Jessica Alba stripping to her underwear while invisible (the stripping motions were not invisible) then becoming visible in her underwear then invisible again with the underwear visible. The writers just couldn't resist. [1 Thess. 4:1 - 5]

    I leave the rest of the findings to the listing in the Findings/Scoring section.

    (1) Quoted from the Superman TV Series


    ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


    SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S)
    If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ] or bold. If you wish to have full context available, the Blue Letter Bible is a convenient source. If you use the Blue Letter Bible, a new window will open. Close it to return here or use "Window" in your browser's menu bar to alternate between the CAP page and the Blue Letter Bible page.

    CHAPTER/VERSE

  • Prov. 13:2 From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.
  • Prov. 4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
  • Matt. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
  • Prov. 10:23 A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.
  • 1 Thess. 4:1 - 5 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: ["know how to possess his vessel" - be able control his body and drives; be master of them not slave to them: "in sanctification and honor" - of God's Will; "Not in the lust of concupiscence" - not in passionate lust like the heathen.]

    ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry***
  • Ps. 12:8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men [e.g., create progressively vile/offensive entertainment with impunity and no consequences to younger and younger audiences every year when enough people continue to defend it, embrace it, pay for it, enjoy it, want it].
  • Col. 2:8 Beware lest any man [by his influence] spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
  • 1 Cor. 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
  • Rom. 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
  • Jude 1:4 For there are certain men* crept in unawares [secretly slipped in among you], who were before of old ordained to this condemnation [whose condemnation was written about long ago], ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [a license for immorality], and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [*men: anthropos {anth'-ro-pos}, generic, a human being, whether male or female]
  • Matt. 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto [or for] one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto [or for] me.
  • Luke 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. ["Offend": skandalizo - to entice to sin; to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey; to cause to fall away. "Little ones": mikros - little;, small of age; younger which can include at-home teens].
  • Ps. 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me [let no sin rule over me].
  • John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
  • 1 Thess. 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. ["Evil" includes all things that are sinful.]


    ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


    As always, it is best to refer to the Findings/Scoring section -- the heart of the CAP analysis model -- for the most complete assessment possible of this movie.
  • FINDINGS / SCORING:
    (The objective heart of the CAP Analysis Model)

    Fantastic Four (2005) CAP Thermometers

    Wanton Violence/Crime (W)
  • corporate underhandedness
  • reckless driving
  • action violence, repeatedly, some graphic and rather extreme
  • attempted suicide
  • contemplation of suicide
  • massive vehicular property damage
  • police gunfire to kill
  • human aflame repeatedly
  • guns to control
  • fighting
  • physical assault, repeatedly
  • attempted murder, repeatedly
  • police gunfire to kill
  • human incineration

    Impudence/Hate (I)
  • eight uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary
  • mischief
  • egotism
  • torture

    Sexual Immorality (S)
  • computer image nudity
  • request for sex, twice, once with implication of acceptance
  • below navel skin - male, threatening exposure of that which follows, repeatedly
  • vulgar mannerism to clearly imply a man holding himself through a ski coat
  • short nightwear in public
  • adult in underwear
  • woman stripping to underwear
  • dressing to maximize the human form and/or skin exposure
  • camera angle to force viewer on private parts, repeatedly
  • womanizing, repeatedly
  • desire to cohabitate
  • sexual innuendo, repeatedly
  • women as toys
  • excessive cleavage

    Drugs/Alcohol (D):
  • bar, twice
  • booze

    Offense to God (O)
  • one use of God's name in vain with the four letter expletive and ten without
  • vengeance

    Murder/Suicide (M)
  • murder by choking and being thrown against wall
  • murder by electric bolt through chest, graphic
  • murder by electrocution, two





  • First Impressions and YourSafeChild.com






    Christian Educators Association International







    CLICK HERE

    YOUR LINK HERE?
    YOUR LINK HERE?
    YOUR LINK HERE?







    There are some in the entertainment industry who maintain that 1) violent programming is harmless because no studies exist that prove a connection between violent entertainment and aggressive behavior in children, and 2) young people know that television, movies, and video games are simply fantasy. Unfortunately, they are wrong on both accounts." And "Viewing violence may lead to real life violence." I applaud these associations for fortifying 1 Cor. 15:33. Read the rest of the story. From our more than eight years of study, I contend that other aberrant behaviors, attitudes, and expressions can be inserted in place of "violence" in that statement. Our Director - Child Psychology Support, a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist concurs. For example, "Viewing arrogance against fair authority may lead to your kids defying you in real life." Or "Viewing sex may lead to sex in real life." Likewise and especially with impudence, hate and foul language. I further contend that any positive behavior can be inserted in place of "violence" with the same chance or likelihood of being a behavior template for the observer; of being incorporated into the behavior mechanics and/or coping skills of the observer. In choosing your entertainment, please consider carefully the "rest of the story" and our findings.



    Join Christian Banner Exchange Network Today!




    The ChildCare Action Project (CAP) is a nonprofit Christian ministry. We rely on public support. If you wish to contribute to the CAP, please send your donations to
    ChildCare Action Project
    Post Office Box 177
    Granbury, TX 76048-0177

    Your gifts are tax deductible in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Tax Codes. Please feel free to write to us.



    You are welcome to go to the
    CAP Reports page
    or go to the
    Top of the CAP Home Page
    or the
    CAP Site Map (Table of Contents)
    or leave me an email message or comment at
    cap@capalert.com



    Thank you for visiting us and may God bless you. Prayerfully, we will provide you with some of the most revealing commentary and investigative reporting you have ever read.

    In the name of Jesus:
    Lord, Master, Teacher, Savior, God.
    Tom Carder
    President
    ChildCare Action Project (CAP): Christian Analysis of American Culture
    100% dependent on your tax-deductible financial support

    Copyright ChildCare Action Project (CAP) Ministry





    Since December 5, 2000


    The Fundamental Top 500

    Christian Long Distance

    We exist only by your tax-deductible donations. PLEASE


    Features PayPal! You do NOT need an account to donate.



    Copyright ChildCare Action Project (CAP) Ministry
    A Nonprofit Christian Ministry EIN: 75-2607488

    CAP HOME PAGE