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The Book of Eli | 2009 | R | - 5.9.6
In a post-apocalyptic world, after a war has destroyed civilization and killed most of the human population, one man (Denzel Washington) walks alone through the desolate wasteland, fighting thugs and cannibals while protecting a copy of the Bible, which he thinks can save the world. Also with Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals and Evan Jones. Directed by Albert & Allen Hughes. [1:58]
SEX/NUDITY 5 - A woman is attacked by three men, they tear her clothing off (we see her topless from a distance and it's not clear if anything is discernible) and it is implied that they rape her.
► A man washes a woman's hair and kisses her on the head. A man washes himself with a disinfectant wipe, washing his chest and armpits (we see his bare chest and abdomen) and reaches into his pants to clean his genitals. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage and a short skirt that reveals bare legs in a couple of scenes. A woman wearing a low-cut dress (cleavage and bare shoulders are visible) tries to seduce a man (he refuses her advances).
► A woman pleads with a man not to use her daughter sexually in order to try to convince another man to stay with them. Using crude terms, a man tells another man to go and have as much sex as he can before going out on a hunting mission. A man says that he will do a job if he can have a woman as payment.
VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - Several armed men (with pipes, blades and a saw) surround a man, they attack him, and he swings a long knife lopping off their heads and limbs and slashing them across the abdomen (blood spurts and splatters and we see the heads and limbs separate). Several armed men surround a man who fights them with a large knife: several limbs are lopped off and a head or two, and others are slashed across the body (blood spurts and sprays and we see the severed bits separate).
► A man cuts off the hand of another man (we see the hand separate at the wrist, it lies on the ground next to him and blood spurts); he then stabs him slowly through the abdomen (we hear squishing and whimpering, he falls over dead and a woman quivers while watching).
► A woman is grabbed by two men, they throw her, slam her head into a large cement drain, (we see her with blood on her face), we hear clothing tearing, one man holds her down, the other begins to open his trousers (suggesting that she will be raped) and he is shot through the genitals by an arrow (blood spurts and we see the arrow poke through the front of his pants); the other man stands up and is shot through the throat by an arrow (blood spurts). A woman is grabbed by three men (we see the attack from a distance), she screams, they tear at her clothing, it is implied that they rape her and we see her lying motionless on the ground.
► A man is shoved the ground by another man on a motorcycle, and another man shoots him through the chest (we see blood spurt and he falls to the ground dead). A man shoots another man in the head (blood splatters on the wall behind him). A man shoots at a man twice as he walks away from him (the man is not struck). A man is fired upon by many other men, he fires back and several men are shot -- one falls from a rooftop (blood spurts), others jerk as they are struck, and one man is struck in the leg and he moans (blood spurts).
► While in a car, a woman wraps a rope around the driver's throat, he swerves the car, and it flips and turns several times (we see the woman with bloody cuts on her face, a man is dead and another man has a large knife in his chest, which he pulls out, we hear squishing and he falls to his knees dead).
► A man in a background bar scene appears to be trying to sexually assault a woman (we hear screaming and she slaps at his hands). A man threatens another man, who slams his head into a table (we hear a crunch, see his bloody nose and mouth and he collapses to the floor). A man threatens another man, asks him for a book and tells another man to shoot him. A man points a gun toward a man as he walks away (he does not shoot).
► A man shoots an arrow into a cat, the cat is thrown, blood sprays and the animal screeches; the man pulls the arrow out (we hear squishing and see blood on the cat's body) and places the carcass into a bag (we see the blood-soaked bag again later). We see a wounded man having bullets removed from his leg (we hear squishing, he moans and we see a bloody bandage on his leg).
► Gunfire is exchanged and explosives are used by many armed men surrounding a house and four people who are inside: many men are struck (blood spurts), a grenade is thrown, a bomb explodes flipping a flaming car into the air, a rocket is launched into the house, a Gatling gun is fired into the house, and the house begins to crumble (a woman is killed and we see her body with bloody wounds and a man is killed and blood spurts). A man shoots another man in the stomach (he falls to his knees and we see a bloody patch on his shirt).
► A cat approaches a dead body in a forest and begins to eat it (we hear brief squishing and munching). A dead man with a bullet hole in his forehead lies in a forest with a gun on the ground near him (it appears that the body is partially decayed). A man opens a closet door and we see a dead man hanging from a rope. We see a couple of human skeletons in burned out cars on a desolate roadway.
► A man threatens a woman in front of her daughter -- he pulls her hair and forces her to her knees, the woman screams and both women cry. A man and a woman fall through a trap door and are held at gunpoint. A man and a woman are held at gunpoint. A man holds a gun to a woman's face. A man holds a gun to a man. A man with a gun threatens another man who takes it away from him. A man grabs a woman's hand when she tries to reach into his bag.
► Men tear up a bar and steal from it: we see broken furniture, a couple of dead or unconscious men on the floor and one man hanging upside down over the bar. Several men in several trucks chase a man on foot. A man is locked into a room.
► A woman tells a man, "They were going to eat you." A man says, "We don't eat humans here." A man talks about the war "burning a hole in the sky." A man says, "We threw away things that people would kill each other for now." A man talks about a book of faith being a weapon for the weak and the hopeless. A man talks about people being wasteful. A man talks about people burning Bibles after the war because they blamed the Bibles as the cause of the war. A man tells another man to burn a stack of books.
► A man cooks and eats a cat; he peels a piece of flesh off and feeds it to a mouse. A man shoots a bird with an arrow and it falls out of the sky. A man's back and chest are badly scarred from burns.
► A car nearly drives off a bridge. A grenade explodes under a truck, and it drives off the road.
► It is implied that some people have taken to cannibalism because of a lack of food. We see people living in makeshift towns and squalor. We see crumbling bridges and buildings in several scenes. We see many burned out cars along roadways in several scenes. Heavy ash falls in a forest.
► A man sharpens a very large knife blade. A man cleans his gun.
LANGUAGE 6 - About 12 F-words, 7 scatological terms, 2 mild obscenities, 2 religious profanities.
SUBSTANCE USE - People drink in a couple of bar scenes (it isn't clear if it's alcohol).
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Survival, the Bible, books of faith, faith, evil, fear, war, cannibalism, illiteracy, waste, greed, preservation of books and history, be thankful for what you have, greed.
MESSAGE - The Bible and other books of faith will live on no matter what calamity befalls human kind.
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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.
Afraid - 4.5.5
You Gotta Believe - 2.3.3
The Forge - 1.1.1
City of Dreams - 5.8.7
The Crow - 6.9.8
Blink Twice - 6.7.10
The Union - 3.5.5
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We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.
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Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.
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We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.