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Reel World Reality 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 MAR2012.038  (2011), PG-13 [R-13*] (125.4min) 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 1300 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.)
 Production (US): Paramount Pictures, Sky Dance Productions, A Tom Cruise Production, A Bad Robot Production Distribution (US): Paramount Pictures Director(s): Brad Bird Producer(s): Jeffrey Chernov, David Ellison, Paul Schlake, Dana GoldbergJosh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Tom Peitzman, Tommy Harper, Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk Written by: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec Cinematography/Camera: Robert Elswit Music: Michael Giacchino Film Editing: Paul Hirsch Casting: April Webster, Alyssa Weisberg Production Design: Jim Bissell Art Direction: Grant Van Der Slagt, Michael Oiner Viewed on Paramount Home Entertainment DVD To Budapest then to Moscow then to Dubai then to Mumbai then to ... This M:I crew certainly gets around. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol (M:I:IV) is a highly violent film, not so much in gore as in the sheer number and diversity of examples of violence and sometimes the intensity of it. At film's end the CAP analysis model revealed 115 individually identifiable episodes of violence of some sort or caliber. After a series of gunfire killings in Budapest, one of them particularly brutal by contract killer Sabine Moreau (Léa Seydoux) of IMF Agent Hanaway (Josh Holloway) who had secured a file of Russian nuclear launch codes that was going to be used by bad guy Cobalt, a.k.a. Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) to start global nuclear war, we see IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in a Russian prison for (an unsanctioned) killing of six men who were supposedly responsible for Hunt's wife's death. But not for long. After a sequence of prison violence Hunt is broken out of prison by IMF Agents Jane Carter (Paula Patton) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg, "Scotty" from Star Trek). On his way out of prison Hunt drags "big, hairy Russian" Bogdan (Goran Navojec) in tow because Bogdan, who will provide more plot support later in the film, fed intel to Hunt while in prison and would have been killed had he remained behind. Once out of the prison Hunt and his team plan how they are going to defeat the plans of Cobalt to start global nuclear war.  Let's get into the scoring comparative shown to the left we have been maintaining over the now four installments of Mission: Impossible. Contrary to trending revealed by most films with sequels, this latest of the four installments of M:I is not the most severe. M:I:IV is another R-13 but, though more severe than the fist two installments of M:I, is not as severe as the immediately previous M:I:III installment as trending would predict. A common thread among the four installments is the Wanton Violence/Crime content consistently earned the lowest area of the six investigation area scores in all four installments. As usual there is much more to the story and plot but to reveal any more of it would spoil it too much for spy flick fans since this film is a standard cookie-cutter spy flick just like the three previous installments of the M:I films. If I revealed much more, the spy flick fan could likely put two and two together to come up with the story before seeing the film. I will, however, tell you about the content in detail. Following are brief discussions of the content per individual content investigation area. As always the Findings section of this report, the heart of the CAP Analysis Model, is the best source for discovering the full accounting of the content of this film. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 The greatest contribution to the violence content of this film is in action violence. Much of the action violence includes killings, gunfire to kill or some other means of killing. Some of the killings display the bullets hitting the victims. There is far too much violence in this film to summarize in this space. To discover the full content of violence, please inspect the violence listing in the Findings section. This film is a prime example of God's admonitions against violence. More than 50 times from the Old Testament to the New Testament God has dark and stern things to say about violence. Proverb 16:29 address His Word about violence quite succinctly. In Proverb 16:29 God warns that violence is "catching": that it can lead one into "the way that is not good." As if God need corroboration of His own Word, man has done so by four public health agencies publishing findings that warn of violence in and as entertainment can, among other things, lead the viewer, especially youth, to believe that violence is an effective may to settle conflict. Impudence/Hate (I) - 55 out of 100 Profanity consists of 13 uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary plus one masked use of it [Col. 3:8, Eph. 5:4] but none of the most foul of the foul words. Other matters of impudence and/or hatred include an order to lie and a man promoting universal/worldwide fatalism. Sexual Immorality (S) - 73 out of 100 Besides one display of below navel skin which threatened to expose that which follows, vulgar paintings, a vulgar gesture and multiple views of an adult in underwear, excessive cleavage was displayed by two women repeatedly. [1 Tim. 2:9 -10]. Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 49 out of 100 Smoking, drinking and booze repeatedly in this film present a real danger to the PG-13 crowd. So sayeth the American College of physicians (ACP). A 2002 study by the ACP revealed that adolescent exposure to drinking in and as entertainment undeniably leads to abuse of alcohol among underage viewers. The report entitled Relation Between Parental Restrictions on Movies and Adolescent Use of Tobacco and Alcohol reports that of 4544 youths from grades 5 through 8 of fifteen Vermont and New Hampshire middle schools (90% of the youths were under fourteen years old) only 16% were completely restricted in their entertainment diets. Within the ACP study population, the prevalence of having tried alcohol without parental knowledge was Offense to God (O) - 63 out of 100 God's name was abused ten times, one of them with the four letter expletive. God does not like that. [Deut 5:11] Murder/Suicide (M) - 60 out of 100 While there were many killings portrayed in this film, this Murder/Suicide content investigation area does not consider attempts to murder or commit suicide, deaths by acts of war, deaths by police action or defensive killings as murder. These acts of death are incorporated by the Wanton Violence/Crime (W) content investigation area. With that understanding, there are four murders and one suicide portrayed in this film. 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 --> Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view violence as an effective way of settling conflicts. Children exposed to violence are more likely to assume the acts of violence are acceptable behavior. --> Viewing violence can lead to emotional desensitization towards violence in real life. It can decease the likelihood that one will take action on behalf of a victim when violence occurs. --> Entertainment violence feeds a perception that the world is a violent and mean place. Viewing violence increases fear of becoming a victim of violence, with a resultant increase in self-protective behavior and a mistrust of others. --> Viewing violence may lead to real life violence. Children exposed to violent programming at a young age have a higher tendency for violent and aggressive behavior later in life than children who are not so exposed. Further, God speaks darkly of violence 56 times in the Old and New Testament of the KJV.] 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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(The objective heart of the CAP Analysis Model, independent of and insulated from the Summary / Commentary section.)   Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - 55 out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - 73 out of 100 Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 49 out of 100 Offense to God (O) - 63 out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 60 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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| For G rated Films with G equivalence: G PG equivalence: PG-G PG-13 equivalence: 13-G R equivalence: R-G< | For PG rated Films with G equivalence: G-PG PG equivalence: PG PG-13 equivalence: 13-PG R equivalence: R-PG | For PG-13 rated Films with G equivalence: G-13 PG equivalence: PG(13) PG-13 equivalence: PG-13 R equivalence: R-13 | For R rated Films with G equivalence: G-R PG equivalence: PG-R PG-13 equivalence: 13-R R equivalence: R | For NR rated Films with G equivalence: G-NR PG equivalence: PG-NR PG-13 equivalence: 13-NR R equivalence: R-NR |
