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Michael J. Fox and James Woods in The Hard Way (1991)

Parents guide

The Hard Way

Content rating

  • Motion Picture Rating (MPA)
    Rated R for strong language

  • Sex & Nudity:
    Mild
  • Violence & Gore:
    Moderate
  • Profanity:
    Severe
  • Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking:
    Mild
  • Frightening & Intense Scenes:
    Mild

Sex & Nudity

Mild
12 of 28 found this mild
No nudity.
A man moons another customer in a pizzeria (seen from the side).
Intermittent sex-related dialogue (i.e. fleeting references to blowjobs, "having a woody", and being horny.)
A John Kacere painting can briefly seen - it shows a woman's backside in panties.
Women are seen in bikinis by a pool.
Susan mentions to NIck that she and John haven't yet slept together and that she wants to.

Violence & Gore

Moderate
17 of 21 found this moderate
There is an extended, and moderately brutal final fight scene, and it includes one character getting hit over the head with a board, and another character getting repeatedly punched in the face.
One character is shot in the chest and blood spurts, but the character lives.
A character is thrown off of a billboard and falls into a large glass display on a vehicle, and dies.
There is an extended car chase at the beginning in which one of the main characters hangs onto the villain's truck and struggles with him. The character gets slammed into a display, and falls to the ground, but this is not very brutal.
There is a lengthy shootout in a subway, but no one is seriously injured.
An arms dealer is killed in an explosion that engulfs a parking garage.
One character shoots another character through the chest, and the victim is apparently killed, although this is later revealed to be staged, and no one actually died.
There is a brief bar fight scene, in which one of the main characters fights and arrests some stooges, but nothing brutal or graphic happens.
Some adventure violence is briefly seen on TV screens at different times, of one of Lang's movies, and the clips are scenes from his movie where he is seen fighting ninjas. Mild violence.
Pretty mild

Profanity

Severe
19 of 26 found this severe
33 uses of "fuck", 43 uses of "shit", more than a dozen uses each of "ass", "son of a bitch", and "damn", seven uses of "Goddamn", as well as plentiful use of male genitalia slang ("prick", and variations of "dick").

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

Mild
12 of 14 found this mild
John smokes at various points, even though he's trying to quit. (Nick attempts to mimic him in one scene.)
John and Nick have beer and liquor at a bar.
A group of drunk men are seen at a bar, and they get into a fight with a cop, who arrests them.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

Mild
7 of 16 found this mild
Much of the action in the film is intense, especially in the last third, which involves a prolonged pursuit of the Party Crasher. Civilians are frequently drawn into the fray. The film's climax takes place atop a massive Times Square billboard and is very intense.

Certifications

Edit
  • Argentina
    • 13
  • Australia
    • M
  • Brazil
    • 12
  • Canada
    • 14AManitoba
    • AAOntario
    • 13+Québec
  • Denmark
    • 15
  • Finland
    • K-162015
    • K-141991
  • France
    • Tous publics
  • Germany
    • 16w
  • Hong Kong
    • II
  • Iceland
    • 12
    • 16video rating
  • India
    • UA
  • Ireland
    • 15
  • Italy
    • T
  • Japan
    • G
  • Malaysia
    • U
  • Mexico
    • B
  • Netherlands
    • ALoriginal rating
    • 16re-rating
  • Nigeria
    • PG
  • Norway
    • 151991, cinema rating
  • Portugal
    • M/12
  • Saudi Arabia
    • PG
  • South Korea
    • 151992, video rating
    • 121991, theatrical rating
  • Spain
    • 13
  • Sweden
    • 15
  • United Kingdom
    • 15
  • United States
    • TV-14DLV, TV Rating.
    • TV-MAcable rating
    • Rcertificate #30976
    • TV-PGedited version

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