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October Sky | 1999 | PG | - 1.2.3

Based on Homer Hickam's memoir "Rocket Boys," it is the story of a teenager from a small coal-mining town who studied science and built rockets in the hopes of getting a college scholarship. Starring Laura Dern, Chris Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Owen, William Lee Scott, Roy Lee, Chad Lindberg, Natalie Canerday and Scott Thomas.

SEX/NUDITY 1 - A boy shows his friend how to feel a date's breast during a movie. We see a boy and girl sitting in the back seat of a parked car, talking nervously.

VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - A boy fires a gun at an old, empty car. One gunshot is fired from a car into a house but no one is injured. We see a NASA rocket explode on television -- many other small rockets also explode. A small homemade rocket blows up a fence; another nearly hits a group of men and another nearly hits a man and his car. A boy gets knocked down several times while playing football. A man slaps and hits a boy; the boy's mouth gets bruised. A scuffle. A jump scene in which a flame shoots from sink drains in a chemistry lab. A man cuts his eye in a mining accident; another dies in the mine (we see a sheet-covered body carried out of the mine on a stretcher). A group of boys light a bottle of alcohol and throw it into a shack; we see the shack engulfed in flames. We see a man with a bandage on his head (his skull was apparently fractured in a coal-mining accident).

LANGUAGE 3 - A couple anatomical and scatological references, lots of mild profanities and many insults.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Making difficult decisions, being true to yourself, family relationships, physics, using explosives, tolerance, taking risks.

MESSAGE - Follow your conscience and your dreams -- even if that means bucking tradition, fighting authority, and withstanding disapproval from those closest to you.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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