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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 MAR2010.015  (2009), PG-13 [R-13*] (1hr 37min) 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. Over 1200 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more. |
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(While the Scriptural references are certainly not subjective, my commentary may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)
 Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database Production (US): Gold Circle Films, Dead Crow Productions, Chambara Pictures, Focus Films, Fourth Kind Productions • Distribution (US): Universal Studios Home Entertainment • Director(s): Olatunde Osunsanmi • Producer(s): Paul Brooks, Joe Carnahan, Guy Danella, Michele Greco, Veselin Karadjov, Jeff Levine, Ioana Miller, Scott Niemeyer ,David Pupkewitz, Terry Robbins, Jonathan Shore, Dylan Tarason, Norm Wait • Writing Credits: Olatunde Osunsanmi (screenplay & story), Terry Robbins (story) • Cinematography/Camera: Lorenzo Senatore • Music: Atli Örvarsson • Film Editing: Paul Covington • Casting: Sue Jones • Production Design: Carlos Silva Da Silva • Art Direction: Alexei Karagyaur, Axel Nicolet • Viewed on Universal Studios Home Entertainment DVD  This film analysis is sponsored by the generosity of E&HP. I am sorry this has taken so long to prepare -- not only months after it hit the big screen but nearly one month after release on video. Such is the way it is when I cannot afford to conduct this ministry full time and dedicated. When funding again reaches a point where I can conduct this ministry full time and dedicated I will not only be able to bring you analyses of films while still playing on the big screen but many of them before they hit the big screen. If you would like to help please visit our donations page. Our target is $81,000 per year for 11 more years. With that as a starting figure we could return to full time and dedicated operation of this ministry and bring you a much greater number of analyses: analyses targeted at films still playing at theaters, indeed many of them before they reach the big screen. Close encounters of the first kind is sighting a UFO. The second kind is having evidence of extraterrestrial aliens. The third kind is making contact with the aliens. This film is about close encounters of the fourth kind - abduction by aliens. The claim of the producers is that the film is based on over 65 hours of video and audio archives of actual events of October 1 - 9, 2000 in Nome, Alaska personally documented by psychologist Dr. Abigail Emily Tyler. I suspect psychologists are going to shake their fists at this film for the caliber it portrays of psychologists. The producers also claim the film is a combination of dramatizations and actual file footage and that every dramatized scene is supported by archives and by interviews with Tyler. It is clear the film is intended to try to make one think. Are UFOs real? Have the abductions been real? Are we not alone after all? As the film repeats a number of times, you decide. As a young boy I toyed with the idea of life on other planets as have most of us. And in my adolescence my conception of living in Heaven tended more toward living there bodily. My limited adolescent perceptions of immortality in Heaven led me to wonder how big Heaven had to be to hold so many people on the Earth. Then I thought about the possibility of life on other planets. I pondered how arrogant can we be to think that not one of the billions of possible earth-type planets in each of the billions of galaxies throughout the universe have any sentient souls living on them: that if there is life on other planets could Heaven hold them, too? Then empirical reality set in and I got to thinking (I do that sometimes) of how big would Heaven have to be to hold us all? Is the universe big enough to have a Heaven that big? Then I whipped out the pencil and calculated: assuming the average family is four people with a 6-foot tall father, a 5.5-foot mother and two kids, one of four feet and the other of two feet which average to 4.125 feet, if all the Earth's population (using today's numbers) of 6.8 billion were lined up end to end, the line would be approximately 28,050,000,000 feet (2.8e10) feet long. The average distance to the Sun is 93,000,000 miles which is approximately 4.9e11 feet. The long line of 6.8 billion people lined up end to end would not even reach the Sun therefore there is plenty of "space" in Heaven (though now I know "space" is not Heaven). The point is that even though, figuratively speaking in fantasy terms, there is plenty of "space" in Heaven for all souls, only God knows if there is life on other planets. I don't think we should be so arrogant to assume there are OR there are no sentient souls on other planets. The film opens with actress Milla Jovovich, who plays the part of Dr. Tyler, explaining what I summarized in the third paragraph above. Jovovich also warns that "some of what you are about to see is extremely disturbing." I'll second that but not for the same reasons. This film is a movie. Nothing more. Nothing less. There two scenes in particular that are probably quite disturbing to the prudent parent. I am going to describe them in graphic detail for a reason I will explain afterward. Abigail and her husband, Will (Julian Vergov) make out in their bed, her atop him. After they finish Will drifts off to sleep then Abigail dutifully assumes her prone position next to her husband. Then something apparently of outworld origin makes odd noises and invades their bedroom. Like a flash of lightning a long blade-looking instrument of some kind viciously appears poised lustfully above Will's chest, ready to strike at any moment. Then it does. As Will writhes in pain and astonishment the blade repeats its murderous thrust into his body again . . . and again . . . and again in rhythm to his horror. In one of the many stabs the point of the blade depresses the surface of Will's body then the blade punctures the skin and penetrates deeply into Will's body. As Will gurgles in his own blood his blood spews from the holes ripped and slashed into his body as Abigail screams "It's all over me!." Will's writhing ebbs with each thrust of the blade. Embedded among screams of terror and panic, Abigail is paralyzed with fear and can do nothing to stop the slicing of her husband's flesh. Slowly Will's last breath is drawn. This is all during a dream state of awareness and Tyler is accused of compensating the loss of her husband to suicide with the above tale as compensatory fabrication, but the imagery is the same nonetheless. While all that sequence is dramatized, another scene of murder appears to be actual file footage of a father murdering his wife and two kids by gunfire then committing suicide by gunfire. Through a house window the file footage shows the father pointing the gun at his wife and children then discharging it first into his wife. The lead of the bullet explodes the flesh of his wife and the splatter of blood freckles the window pane behind her. As she falls the father turns to his two children. After the first child reels back from the impact of the hot lead the father turns to the second child and shoots. Then in a final act of cowardice the father turns the gun to himself and his head is knocked back as the slug burrows through his brain and takes his life. This part is (apparently) real file footage of an actual triple murder-suicide. And, as if to reduce the influence and impact of such a display, the filmmakers masked the victims with mosaics as the bullets tunnel through their flesh. Now to the "reason I will explain afterward." Ever wonder why so many of our youth are so vicious and uncaring? Now you know some of why. As graphic as it is to read the above descriptions of heinous violence you can imagine the extremely graphic influence of seeing it happen with modern technology amplifying it -- a vision that will likely embed itself into your young one's consciousness and add to the already vast arsenal of desensitizing influences and behavioral templates with which your child must do moral battle. This film is intensely R-equivalent in violence/crime. With an investigation area score of zero in Wanton Violence/Crime many R-rated films are more tame than this PG-13. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 Many years ago God [1 Cor.15:33], then more recently I :-), then four professional health agencies chimed together to declare the proselytizing and desensitizing effect of such violence in and as entertainment. How many will it take for the world to finally conquer their addiction to it and release themselves from bondage to it? I have already belabored the violence/crime content of this film almost to the point of this report being a spoiler. In spite of that I want you to know what you are getting before you place it in front of your kids. Additional examples of violence and/or crime include: hostage situation with reckless gunfire; episode of violence and screaming terror of abduction; depiction of violence "possession" with broken back as the result; long sequence of intense terror with imagery of surgical invasions. [Prov. 16:29] Impudence/Hate (I) - 48 out of 100 Thirteen times someone uses profanity of some form or another. [Lev. 26:19, Prov. 22:11, 1Tim. 4:12, Prov. 15:4] A preteen shows numerous examples of disrespect and arrogance toward fair authority, especially parental. [Prov. 6:20] Sexual Immorality (S) - 93 out of 100 Other than what has already been discussed regarding Dr. Tyler and her husband, there is no sexually oriented content to this film. Emily and Will may have been a married couple but Jovovich and Vergov were not. The display of bedroom shenanigans is inappropriate in any medium. Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 100 out of 100 There were no instances of alcohol, alcohol consumption, no illegal drug possessions or uses or distribution of them and no abuse of prescription drugs. Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 Hypnosis was demonstrated numerous times. A couple attempts at usurping God's Word with comments such as "Genesis came from the Sumerian epic of creation" and "Noah's ark came from the Sumerian deluge" give possible risk of contaminating Bible-taught history. Levitation was portrayed, once for violence purposes and the ultimate comment of rebellion, "I AM God" surfaced, all providing a potential to give a little more energy to rebelling against His Word and make merchandise of you. [2 Pet. 2:1 - 3] Murder/Suicide (M) - 55 out of 100 There were four murders, one by impalement and three by gunshot, and one suicide. God said that we shall not murder. [Deut. 5:17] That includes murder of the self. 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 ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry*** 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. |
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 Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - 48 out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - 93 out of 100 • man and woman in bed making out Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 100 out of 100 Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 55 out of 100 |
| 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 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. |
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