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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 2009 | PG | - 4.6.3
The sixth in the series finds Harry, Hermione and Ron (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint) uncovering some of Voldemort's history, as his allies, the Death Eaters, grow more and more powerful and deadly. As Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) prepares Harry for what may be his final battle, the students of Hogwarts are also struggling with adolescent hormones. Also with Tom Felton, Helena Bonham Carter, David Bradley, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Natalia Tena, David Thewlis, Bonnie Wright and Jim Broadbent. Directed by David Yates. [2:33]
SEX/NUDITY 4 - A teenage girl and a teenage boy are shown kissing passionately in a couple of scenes. A teenage boy and a teenage girl share a lingering kiss in a few scenes. A teenage girl, clothed in a robe, and a teenage boy stand very close to one another, they pause as if to kiss but they are interrupted before doing so.
► A teenage girl blows a kiss to a teenage boy. A teenage boy and a teenage girl are shown holding hands in a couple of scenes. A teenage girl tells a teenage boy to take her hand and they hold hands.
► A teenage boy stares wistfully at a teenage girl. A teenage girl looks longingly at a teenage boy. A teenage girl looks as a teenage boy and winks, flirtatiously. A teenage boy looks at a teenage girl suggestively, waving at her with a longing look in his eyes. A teenage girl looks longingly at a teenage boy, mouthing, "I miss you." A teenage girl sits down on a sofa next to a teenage boy and feeds him a cookie.
► A teenage girl discusses how she and a teenage boy need to find "another room," implying they were looking for somewhere private. A teenage girl asks a teenage boy on a date. A teenage boy asks another teenage boy if he and a teenage girl "did it" -- not intending to inquire about sex, but the implication is there. A teenage boy angrily expresses his displeasure with another teenage boy who had run his hands over his sister. A teenage boy refers to his relationship with a teenage girl as being "chemical." A teenage boy states that his lips are chapped (the inference is that it's due to too much kissing). A teenage boy says that his date is being a "minx." A teenage girl says that she had left her date under the mistletoe, inferring that she was avoiding him because he wanted to kiss her. A teenage girl discusses that a different teenage girl is currently lusting after a teenage boy because he was "the chosen one" and not because she was attracted to him. Two teenage boys discuss the attractiveness of two teenage girls. A teenage boy asks another teenage boy to introduce his friend to him, saying that he would like to be on "a first name basis, if you know what I mean." A teenage boy inquires if a teenage girl is dating someone and she responds that it is none of his business. An older man asks a teenage boy if he is involved in a relationship with a teenage girl. A group of teenagers discuss dating, and serious relationships. A teenage boy discusses a failed date with a teenage girl. Two teenage boys discuss a "love potion" as two teenage girls look at an assortment of potions, appearing to be interested in buying one and one of the girls comments that another girl was interested in purchasing a potion to use on someone. A professor discusses the outcome of the use of a love potion, citing that the potion causes passion and infatuation.
► A teenage girl is shown jumping on the back of a teenage boy, who then carries her in a piggyback style. A teenage girl holds the hand of a sleeping teenage boy, who mutters her name in his sleep.
► A teenage girl is shown wearing a low-cut dress.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - A hand erupts from murky water, grabbing the hand of a teenage boy, and zombie-like, emaciated creatures come pouring out of the water, attacking the boy and a man: the boy strikes them, kicking one, punching another, and he is pulled under water, he struggles, a fire bolt rips through the water, igniting the creatures and a ball of fire explodes over the creatures still on land.
► A crunching sound is heard when a person attempts to fix the bloodied, broken nose of a teenage boy; the nose appears to be fixed, but is still bloodied, the boy holds a bloodied rag to his nose, and a teenage girl uses a rag to help clean his bloody face. Blood is shown dripping on the ground from a blood-covered ceiling. A drop of blood lands on a teenage boy. A man is shown licking a drop of the blood. A teenage boy is shown with a bloodied nose. A man casts a spell on an immobilized, bloodied teenage boy lying on the ground, causing the blood to disappear from the boy's chest. A man cuts his hand with a knife and wipes the blood over a rock wall; we don't see the blood and the wall crumbles.
► A teenage boy, flips another teenage boy onto the ground, the boy is stunned and the aggressor then kicks the boy in the face; the boy's nose is bloodied, there's blood is on his shirt and mouth, and he is unconscious. A teenage boy knocks another teenage boy to the ground, his body splashing against water on the ground, blood erupts from the boy's chest, and he lies stunned, on the ground. A teenage boy hurls lightning strikes at another teenage boy, hitting and breaking a mirror, and causing pipes to burst and water to shoot around the room. A teenage girl is shown being pulled into the air and violently tossed about by an invisible being; she opens her mouth and appears to be screaming, but no sound is heard, and her limp body is then thrown on the ground and she appears to be unconscious. A teenage boy shouts at a man, the man knocks the boy back and he falls to the ground, the boy shouts at the man again, and the man forces the boy to the ground, knocking his wind out.
► Ghost-like clouds zoom through a city street and burst through a brick building, which explodes, the ghost-clouds are then shown crashing through the windows of a shop and the storefront erupts in flames, with fire raining on the street. A large bridge, crowded with people, is shown pulling apart; cables buckle and whip and people run in panic. Two ghost-like clouds rip through a house, causing it to burst into flames, and a husband shouts for his wife, fearing that she is caught in the fire, runs into the burning house, and finds that his wife unharmed. Three black ghost-like clouds are shown slamming against an invisible wall.
► A man instructs a teenage boy not to stop giving him a poison that causes extreme pain, paralysis, and even death, and the man is shown shaking violently, moaning in pain, and begging for the boy to stop feeding him the poison.
► A man forces an older man out the window of a tall building, and the man is shown falling through the air with a look of panic on his face. The lifeless body of a man is shown, his head cradled by a teenage boy, who is openly weeping and a large group of people surrounds the dead body.
► A ball of fire erupts and encircles a house and a teenage boy, a teenage girl, a man and a woman are shown leaping through a small opening. Two teenagers are shown dropping to the ground after being knocked off their brooms during a sporting event. Two people violently crash into one another, both dropping to the ground, during a sporting event. Two people tackle one another, wrestling each other off their brooms and to the ground during a sporting event. Two people slam into a goal post and fall to the ground. A teenage boy purposely bumps into another teenage boy. A man pulls a teenage boy into a crowded room, tugging at him violently.
► A teenage girl and boy cast defensive spells, causing lightning to shoot about, attempting to strike a woman and a man that are lurking in the shadows. A teenage boy chases a woman through a field, screaming and shouting. A large man creeps up behind a young woman, poised to attack, but is interrupted. A teenage boy has a memory flashback that includes a woman screaming, and the sound of a man shouting.
► A teenage boy, visibly upset, states that he must kill a man or someone will kill him. Shouts are heard as a teenage boy insists that he must kill a man. A man discusses how a bottle of wine had been poisoned, and caused a teenage boy to fall in a deep slumber. A teenage girl discusses that she had been poisoned, but was unsure who poisoned her. A man tells a large group of schoolchildren that "dark forces" were attempting to destroy the world. A professor discusses that a mere drop of a potion would certainly kill an entire room of schoolchildren. The headline of a newspaper reads, "Death Toll Rises" and a report about recovering dead bodies from the destruction of a crowded bridge is heard.
► A man discusses the death of a person's parents. A teenage boy tells of his parents who were violently murdered. A woman discusses an agreement with a man and implies that he may be required to take a life, and that his life may be in danger. A teenage boy discusses how his mother had sacrificed herself to save his life. A man and a teenage boy discuss how the boy must destroy the man who had killed his parents, or else the death of his mother was for naught. A man discusses that when a person murders another human, their soul shatters into pieces and that the soul and the body are connected. People talk about "death eaters" and about "disappearances." A note states that someone will wait until a man's soul is intact before killing him. An older man discusses that should a person fail at his given task, it would certainly lead to the end of the world. A teenage boy discusses that a certain type of promise, if broken, would immediately lead to death. A group of teenagers discuss why a young man is covered in blood, commenting that it is commonplace to see him covered in blood. A young boy discusses how he can, and often does, harm people that are mean to him. A teenage boy discusses a person being cursed. A teenage girl discusses how a young boy had bitten her father and the bite was violent enough to caused her father to need ten stitches. A teenage girl, visibly upset, discusses her recent heartbreak. Two teenage girls have a verbal altercation. A man scolds a young boy about stealing from others. An older man shouts violently at a young man, ordering him to get out. A teenage girl stares hatefully at a teenage girl and a teen boy. A man in a drunken stupor slams his head against a wall, and then immediately falls asleep. A teenage girl discusses small creatures that "float in your ears and make your brain go fuzzy." A man discusses the death of his pet fish coinciding with the death of a person's mother. A man comments to a distressed teenage boy that he is surprised the boy did not vomit, as most people in his situation typically vomit. A person jokingly says, "Excuse me I have to go vomit."
► Six small birds are shown chasing a teenage boy, the birds slam into a heavy wooden door, feathers fly and the birds drop to the ground. A man is shown being dragged by a group of dogs on leashes.
► A teenage boy is heard vomiting on the feet of a man -- no vomit is shown. A teenage boy falls to the ground and begins to have a seizure, foaming at the mouth, and then blacks out. A mannequin display is shown vomiting pieces of candy. A giant dead spider is shown, causing a man to be visibly upset, and another man accidentally snaps an arm off the dead spider after asking if the owner of the spider had killed the spider on purpose. A dead bird is shown, after a teenage boy puts a bird in a cabinet.
► Two people are shown on top of a rock, stranded in the middle of a stormy ocean. A teenage boy ducks to prevent a flying candlestick from hitting him. A teenage boy shakes the hand of another boy and shocks him with a handheld buzzer; electric volts are shown shooting through the person's hair, he shakes and laughs. A classroom full of teenagers is shown attempting to stab at rock-like fruits that ricochet across the room. A pot flares up and singes the face of a teenage boy; the boy is shown with his face blackened with soot. A man with a wand pokes a chair; the chair turns into a man who winces from being poked. A woman causes a house to catch fire and laughs as the fire consumes the house. A man lights a warehouse on fire. A house is shown after a violent altercation; furniture is over-turned and claw marks are shown on a wall.
► What appears to be a hand appears in shadows underwater. Dark smoke is shown as an apparition snaps out of focus, startling a teenage boy. Shrieking animals are heard in the background in a couple of scenes. A small dragon shoots fire out of its mouth.
► Two teenage boys playfully skirmish over a book, shoving one another, and one boy whacks the other boy on the wrist with it. A group of teenagers are shown playfully fighting, shoving one another and laughing. A teenage girl whacks a teenage boy on the head with a folded paper. A teenage boy falls off the back of a sofa and lands on the ground. A woman runs on top of a table, joyfully kicking glasses off the tabletop.
LANGUAGE 3 - 3 sexual references (snogging), 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (tosser, nosey, coward, a bit mad, fool, rather old, creepy, Cretan, a sarcastic "nice face," vile, Slick Nick, rubbish, monster, wussy, disgusting squid, daft dumbo), two religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - A group of people is shown toasting with presumably alcoholic beverages, a man spills a drink on a young woman, people discuss "Butter Beer," a young man states that his uncle would often have a "stiff one" at the end of the day, an older man offers two teenage boys wine and beer (they accept wine), people are shown holding drinks and being offered drinks at a party, and two men are shown intoxicated and with empty bottles and glasses in front of them. A boy is shown under the influence of a love potion, acting erratically.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Love, friendship, luck, promises, spying, heartbreak, the concept of souls, death of parents, murder, conspiracy, adolescence, torture, animal cruelty, good vs. evil, promise keeping, secrets, risk, revenge, doom, death, destruction of property.
MESSAGE - Sometimes ensuring the safety of others may require the ultimate sacrifice.
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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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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