Into the Blue

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Into the Blue's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Into the Blue completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 25 October 2005.

Overall comments and recommendations

Into the Blue is an underwater action adventure, featuring sharks and shipwrecks. In terms of adult enjoyment the plot is mindless, and appears secondary to presenting images of bronze models wearing skimpy swimwear. There is no substance or depth to any of the film’s main characters and acting performances are uninspiring. The film’s one shining point is the underwater photography of marine life, which provides more entertainment than the actors or the plot.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Into the Blue contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Jared (Paul Walker) and Sam (Jessica Alba) are a twenty something couple who spend most of their time diving in the deep blue waters of the Bahamas, dreaming of finding sunken treasure ships. When Jared’s friend Bryce (Scott Caan), a New York criminal attorney and his newly acquired girlfriend Amanda (Ashley Scott) arrive on the Island, Jared and Sam take the couple out for a dive into the deep blue. While swimming amongst dozens of non-predator type sharks, the four divers stumble across a shipwreck loaded with treasure, and a plane wreck loaded with hundreds of kilos of cocaine. Jared and Sam decide to defer reporting the plane’s load of cocaine to the authorities until they are able to lay claim to the treasure. Their attempts to raise financial backing to salvage the treasure lead them in the path of killer sharks and unscrupulous drug dealers, including Bates (John Brolin), Jared’s ex boss and long time friend.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

Violent acts are portrayed throughout the course of the film, including

• Jared argues with his boss and shoves him in the chest with enough force to push him off of the deck of a boat and into the ocean.
  
• a short but brutal fistfight between Bryce and a nightclub owner involving punches to the face
  
• a drug dealer / henchman brutally bashes Bryce across the head knocking him to the ground.
  
• a threatening car chase between Jared and the drug dealers resulting in Jared smashing his car into an innocent bystander’s car.
  
• blood-splattered bodies littering the floor of a yacht
  
• Jared, while swimming under water is chased by drug dealers in speedboats shooting at him with automatic weapons
  
• Bates shoots a police officer in the head, execution style
  
• Sam is tied, gagged and handcuffed to a dead policeman
  
• a man is shot through the leg with a spear-gun and then dragged out to sea
  
• divers are strangled under the water
  
• Sam kicks a drug dealer in the face, slams a door into his face, and later impales the man’s shoulder with a fish gaff
  
• Jared shoots a diver through the eye with a spear-gun; the diver’s body is then mauled by sharks
  
• Jared uses an oxygen cylinder to blow up Bates and the plane wreck.
  

Violent acts committed against drug dealers resulted in real life consequences such as injury and death, while violence enacted against the film’s heroes lacked any real life consequences. The violence enacted by Jared, Bryce and Sam was glamorised, as their use of violence was unrealistically successful in overcoming overwhelming odds. The use of violence by the film’s heroes was presented as both acceptable and justifiable when enacted against evil drug dealers.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Most if not all of the violent acts displayed throughout the film are capable of scaring children under the age of eight years. In addition, the scenes involving shark attacks could seriously disturb younger children. The shark attack on Amanda includes explicit gruesome images of her upper thigh being torn away, revealing a bloody mess of torn flesh and exposed bone. Other scenes involving shark attacks are equally gruesome, with bodies being torn apart, or hurled through blood-soaked water.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children between the ages of eight and thirteen years are equally likely to be scared and / or disturbed by the movie’s violence and by the gruesome bloody images of the shark attacks.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

The violent images in the movie, and the gruesome and graphic shark attacks are capable of causing fear in adolescents and possibly some adults.

Sexual references

The film contains several (mainly implicit) mild sexual references, including:

• Jared’s employer states “If I wanted that kind of lip I’d drop my fly”
  
• When Bryce arrives at the airport with Amanda, a customs officer asks him whether the purpose of his trip is for pleasure or business. Bryce slaps Amanda’s bottom and says “What do you think Bro?!”
  
• a play fight between Jared and Bryce results in Jared lying on the ground with Bryce straddled across Jared’s lower torso. Jared tries to push Bryce off and Bryce states “Hang on a second; oh that feels really good”. Jared responds with the comment “Sick ass”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no actual nudity; however there are images of bronzed women wearing scant bikinis throughout the movie, particularly the two female leads. One example is when a topless Amanda is lying on her stomach on the deck of the boat, wearing bikini bottoms that are very tight fitting. The camera, which is ground height, is squarely aimed at her bottom and the area between her legs. During the same scene a police boat loaded with policemen arrives and Amanda jumps up facing them (film viewers exposed to her naked back).

Sexual activity is limited to Sam and Jared kissing each other on the mouth either under the water, or while Sam is sitting on Jared’s lap. During these occasions Sam is wearing either bikini bottoms and top, or tight fitting shorts and top, while Jared is wearing board shorts with his chest naked.

Use of substances

The film contains no scenes involving the actual consumption of drugs; however the handling and possession of drugs is integral to the story. Specific instances include:

• Amanda attempts to purchase a small plastic bag of cocaine from a nightclub owner
  
• Jared, Sam, Bryce and Amanda find a sunken plane containing dozens of brick size packets of cocaine, one of which is recovered and brought aboard their boat. While Jared, Sam and Bryce want to immediately throw the cocaine overboard, Amanda wants to keep the cocaine to “party” with, and spends some time tyring to persuade the others
  
• Amanda and Bryce attempt to sell a brick of cocaine to drug dealers.

• Jared, Sam, Bryce and Amanda lounge around in a pool drinking spirits and beer. The four regularly sip from their glass, or bottle, and appear mildly intoxicated (happy, playful and relaxed).

Coarse language

The film contains medium level coarse language, often used as abuse, including:

• you ass
  
• holy shit
  
• friken’ drug dealers
  
• bullshit
  
• kick you in the balls and make you cough
  
• you’re such an ass
  
• pissed musket balls
  
• shut up—don’t screw this up
  
• Jesus Christ
  
• tons of shit
  
• shut up you coke whore
  
• arse hole
  
• that must suck

The movie's message

The film contains no meaningful take home message. The real hero of the film is Sam who is presented as extremely able, clever and courageous. She places a higher value on the simpler things in life, such as love, friendship and honesty, than on using the cocaine to become rich. Parents may wish to discuss Sam’s character and her refusal to compromise her principles for the sake of financial gain.

Parents may also wish to discuss how the film’s female heroes are portrayed as sexual objects and the impact such images can have on adolescent viewers, both male and female.