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Avatar | 2009 | PG-13 | - 5.7.4

Sci-fi epic set in the year 2154: Humanity has exhausted the Earth and are now mining planet Pandora, which has its own humanoid species, the peaceful Na'vi. A paraplegic war veteran (Sam Worthington) accepts as his mission to infiltrate the native population by assuming a genetically engineered Na'vi avatar, and soon finds his loyalty to his own species challenged. Also with Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi and Joel David Moore. Directed by James Cameron. [2:41]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - Humanoid blue aliens wear tiny loincloths only: the men are topless and numerous females are shown in revealing native garb that exposes bare breasts and nipples (jewelry, flowers or strips of cloth cover nipples in most cases), abdomens, backs and legs to the hip. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage a couple of times. We see a naked woman in the fetal position: we see her bare back and vines with small leaves cover private areas. We see an alien's behind when his hospital gown opens -- his long tail covers his private parts.
 A male and a female alien kiss tenderly and then passionately and embrace tightly; we see them waking up after a while and holding each other and we hear later that they "mated for life."
 A female alien tells a male alien to stop playing with his long tail, or he will go blind (presumably referring to masturbation). A male alien advises another male alien to "get some local tail."

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - There's a large battle between humans and humanoid aliens: Several helicopter gunships and two larger flying vehicles attack the aliens with bullets and missiles, the aliens attack with arrows while perched on flying dragon-like creatures, and we see several helicopters blow up and many aliens are struck and crash to the ground.
 A soldier in huge mechanized armor fights with an alien riding a large tiger-like animal: The animal is eventually stabbed repeatedly by the soldier and falls dead on top of the alien, who tries hard to free herself. A soldier in huge mechanized armor uses a spear to fight with an alien holding a dagger: after several blows, the alien throws the dagger, the soldier grabs the alien by the hair and is ready to kill him with the dagger but another alien shoots two arrows into the soldier's torso killing him.
 An alien on a very large dragon-like creature attacks a large flying vehicle, shoots several soldiers with a machine gun, and throws a grenade into the vehicle's engine, causing it to explode; he jumps off and back onto his dragon-like ride and attacks another large flying vehicle, but he slips and dangles, grabs a missile, during a struggle a soldier knocks it out of his hand and onto the engine, the vehicle explodes, the alien falls off and drops a great distance to the ground, hitting several trees and branches (he's OK), while the soldier puts on a huge mechanized armor and drops to safety.
 Several soldiers on foot and a few soldiers in huge mechanized armor attack aliens who charge while riding alien horse-like animals; we see many aliens shot and killed (little blood is evident) and a few humans are killed by arrows. Soldiers on foot and in huge mechanized armor are attacked and crushed by rhino-like animals that charge them (the soldiers shoot back) and then are attacked by panther-like animals that have big teeth.
 Gunship helicopters attack aliens with gas and explosives, and shoot at a gigantic tree with missiles: the aliens attack with arrows that have no effect and when the tree collapses aliens scramble to get away and many are presumably crushed and killed. A helicopter attacks a larger flying vehicle, they exchange fire, and the helicopter is struck by a missile and crashes in a fiery explosion. An alien jumps onto a flying gunship, shoots a couple of soldiers with arrows, strikes several others with a spear and is eventually shot dead and falls off. A flying dragon-like creature with an alien rider grabs a soldier out of a helicopter with its mouth and flings him out.
 An alien is surrounded by alien panther-like animals at night, he tries to scare them off with a flaming torch, they attack, and he defends himself by hitting them with the torch and by stabbing and slicing at them with a knife; an alien shows up and shoots several with arrows, and she uses a knife to finish off an injured animal. An alien shoots a cow-like animal with an arrow, and then stabs it to finish it off.
 A soldier shoots at a departing helicopter, first with an automatic weapon and then with a pistol; we see several bullet holes on the helicopter's windshield and find out that one passenger has been shot -- she lifts her hand to show blood on her abdomen. An alien has a wooden spike sticking out of his chest and he dies (no blood is seen).
 An alien attacks another alien with a knife, slices him on the arm, and the second alien suddenly falls down unconscious; the first alien prepares to cut his throat when a female alien jumps on him, throws him down and snarls at him (we see his nose bleeding).
 A female alien hits a male alien a couple of times and one time he falls to the ground (in one instance she is being playful). A soldier hits another soldier, who's half asleep, hard in the face. A female soldier threatens a male soldier with a pistol, makes him get to his knees and hits him in the back of the head.
 Two aliens fly perched on dragon-like creatures, when they are attacked by a much larger dragon-like creature, with big teeth; they fly through jungle and manage to hide behind trees. Two sleeping aliens are almost crushed by a huge tank-like machine that knocks trees down along its path: one alien wakes up and tries to drag the other one away, who remains unconscious while trees are crashing all around them -- eventually he wakes up, climbs on the machine, breaks its cameras, and jumps to safety when he's fired upon.
 A man is suffocating while trying to reach an oxygen mask; he passes out but an alien puts the mask on his face and he starts breathing again. Two aliens are tied up, another alien approaches with a knife, and she cuts their bonds. An alien is tripped by a rope that's wrapped around his ankles and he's surrounded by several aliens with arrows aimed at him.
 A dragon-like creature is struck and killed, while its alien rider grieves. A large rhino-like animal confronts an alien, who wonders about shooting it with an automatic weapon but is told that the animal's hide is too tough: the animal leaves when a larger, tiger-like animal with sharp teeth and claws shows up and starts chasing the alien, who shoots at it but the animal grabs his gun away, then grabs him and flings him in the air, and he run away until he falls off a cliff and into water (the animal does not follow).
 An alien feels threatened by a large tiger-like creature, but the creature becomes obviously friendly. An alien aims an arrow at another alien and is ready to fire when an alien plant resembling a luminescent floating dandelion attracts her attention and she changes her mind. An alien falls off an alien horse-like animal and is covered in mud. An alien falls when trying to navigate narrow jungle paths.
 An alien pricks another alien with a needle and then licks it, tasting a drop of his blood. We see a dead man in a coffin and during a cremation, we see a box containing the body of a dead man, placed in an incinerator, the flames erupt and the box is engulfed. We see a dead alien being buried.
 An alien tries to mount a dragon-like creature, is thrown off and almost off a cliff, and he eventually holds onto the creature and subdues it.
 There are several arguments between humans and between aliens, with some shouting. We learn that a mugger killed a man. Aliens snarl at each other and at humans on several occasions.

LANGUAGE 4 - 11 scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 11 mild obscenities, name-calling (moron), 7 religious profanities, 6 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A woman has a drink that's presumably alcoholic, and beer and tequila are mentioned a couple of times. A woman smokes several times, and at one point asks for a cigarette with urgency.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Alien civilizations, human rapacity, greed, genocide, militarism, lack of respect for presumably primitive cultures, space exploration, communion with nature, spirits.

MESSAGE - Humanity has a great capacity for destruction. Seeing reality from a different perspective can make someone switch loyalties.

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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