The Last Full Measure | 2020 | R | – 1.7.6

Why is “The Last Full Measure” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “war violence, and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few kisses and a couple of cleavage revealing outfits; several flashback sequences of a bloody firefight in a jungle where many men were killed and wounded (we see very bloody injuries), and many discussions of war and the treatment of veterans; and nearly 10 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Inspired by true events about William H. Pitsenbarger (Jeremy Irvine), a member of the US Air Force Pararescue service, who in 1966 was killed while tending to wounded soldiers and saving almost 60 lives: The movie chronicles the fight with the Pentagon bureaucracy by fellow soldiers for over 30 years to have his recognition of valor and courage posthumously upgraded to the Medal of Honor. Also with Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, , Christopher Plummer, Bradley Whitford, Ed Harris, Michael Imperioli, Diane Ladd, Linus Roache, William Hurt, Alison Sudol, Peter Fonda and Amy Madigan. Directed by Todd Robinson. [Running Time: 1:50]

The Last Full Measure SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A husband and his wife kiss and hug in a few scenes.
► A man lifts his shirt to reveal five healed bullet wounds in his back (we see his bare back to the waist). A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A woman wears a low-cut robe that reveals cleavage. A man stands at a urinal in a restroom and we hear a trickle (we do not see urine or nudity).

The Last Full Measure VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – Several scenes replay an ambush of US ground troops by Vietcong in the jungle with many men shot down and badly wounded or killed: we see several scenes of men with gaping bloody wounds and screaming in pain and men dead with bloody wounds; one scene shows Vietcong perched in the trees and shooting soldiers as they walk through the jungle, one Vietcong opens a camouflaged hatch in the ground and shoots a soldier before being shot himself, explosives blow up and throw men and dirt through the air, and one scene shows the Vietcong walking through bodies on the ground, shooting at close range those that seem to be still alive (the bodies flinch with the bullet strikes). A soldier is shot through his helmet and blood pours down his face. A soldier shoots a Vietcong fighter and we see the man dead on the ground with his intestines out of his abdomen. A man describes having gotten the distance wrong when calling in an attack on where he and his men were fighting the enemy in a jungle; we see explosions throwing men through the air and he says, “It was friendly fire.”
► A helicopter flies over an area where ground troops engage with the enemy and wounded men are evacuated from the scene; one man on the helicopter lowers himself on a cable into the battle to help other wounded men and load them onto carriers that lift them into the helicopter (we see many wounded men with a lot of blood as the man tries to patch the wounds temporarily and one man with a very large bleeding wound on his back says that he can’t breathe). A man puts his vest on a wounded man and puts two dead men on top of him to protect him as he leaves to find another wounded man in the jungle. A soldier’s body is prepared before being returned home and we see a bloody bullet hole in his head, a bandage is placed over it and his hands and feet are washed. A tarp is lifted to reveal a dead man’s bloody arm and watch.
► A reference is made to a battle being the “bloodiest day of the war.” People talk about 34 men dying in one day in an ambush. We see the Vietnam memorial with lists of the names of the many people that died in the war. A man says that he is a Palliative Nurse and helps dying people deal with the end of their lives. A man tells another man, “You have blood on your hands.” A man talks about the many letters he wrote to parents and sweethearts of the young men under his command that died in Vietnam. A man says that after returning home from war he went to a bar that had a sign posted that read, “No dogs or baby killers.” A man describes a bar fight where there was “blood, teeth and peanut shells” left on the floor. A woman describes a man having PTS, OCD and hallucinations that make it impossible for him to sleep at night. A man talks about performing a “Post Traumatic Exorcism.” A man talks about another man having “a bullet in his head still.” A man says that a mission used ground troops as “live bait.” A man asks another man, “Did you grow a conscience?” A man chokes up when he talks about having just unpacked a duffel full of things from his service in Vietnam; he leaves his Purple Heart medal on a table after admitting that he couldn’t deliver a letter to a dead friend’s girlfriend after returning home. A man stands in a cemetery and leans on a marker grieving. A man describes thinking that he saw an angel when a man was lowered down from a helicopter in the jungle during a firefight. A man talks about his father leaving him and his mother when he was 5 years old and that he put his hand in the car door as his father closed it to injure himself and hope that his father would stay to take care of him (he did not). A man refers to partisan backstabbing. A man yells on a riverbank while looking for another man and is startled when the other man calls out to him from a ledge above. A young boy yells at a video game he plays in the backseat of a car. A husband and his wife talk about her going to have an amniocentesis test while pregnant.
► A man holds a dying hare and twists its neck to kill it (we hear a crunch). A man shoots a gun into the air while talking to another man to prove that it is loaded. Several men shoot targets in a field (barrels and cars). A man throws another man’s mini recorder into a river. A man startles another man that’s asleep in a car.
► A man vomits toward the camera (we see goo and hear retching) after seeing a dead man with his intestines out of his abdominal cavity. A man lifts his shirt to reveal five healed bullet wounds in his back. A man stands at a urinal and we hear a trickle, as another man who stands in the stall next to him reaches out to shake his hand.

The Last Full Measure LANGUAGE 6

 – About 9 F-words, 4 “FNG” (acronym for [F-word deleted] New Guy), 2 sexual references, 16 scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 17 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory terms for Vietnamese people, name-calling (fur ball, poor slug, hopeless, hotshot, cheating, womanizer, predator, coward, Mad Maddy Holt), 11 religious profanities (GD), 9 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, Christ, God, Oh God No, Oh Jesus, I Wish To God, Holy [scatological term deleted], For Christ’s Sake). | profanity glossary |

The Last Full Measure SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man injects a badly wounded soldier with a pain reliever in the jungle, a man is shown in a hospital with IV lines in his arm, and a man wears a drug-dispensing unit that dings when it is time to administer his medication. People drink wine with a meal. A man smokes cigarettes in several scenes.

The Last Full Measure DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – The Vietnam War, death of a child, death of a child in war, bravery, war, purpose, honor, valor, parental pride, grief, guilt, values, duty, commitment, mission, honesty, trust, aging, cancer, sacrifice, justice, US Air Force Para Rescue, the Congressional Medal of Honor, PTSD, OCD.

The Last Full Measure MESSAGE

 – Many stories of bravery and valor have gone unrecognized due to bureaucratic inertia and apathy.