Need For Speed parents guide

Need For Speed Parent Guide

Knowing the stunts are real makes the explosive and spectacular car crashes, the camerawork and the editing all that more impressive -- and possibly dangerous.

Overall D+

Based on the popular video game, Need For Speed pits Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) against cops and crooks as the street racer, who has spent some time behind bars, uses his new freedom to find and punish those who put the breaks on his former life.

Release date March 14, 2014

Violence C-
Sexual Content C
Profanity C
Substance Use B-

Why is Need For Speed rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Need For Speed PG-13 for sequences of reckless street racing, disturbing crash scenes, nudity and crude language.

Run Time: 131 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

Can you drive faster if you grimace? Apparently. That’s why all the drivers in the Need for Speed furrow their brows as soon as they get behind the wheel of a car. And nobody does it better than Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul).

Tobey supports his racing habit and pit crew with the earnings from his garage. But lately his income has been a little lean and that forces him to take a custom car job from his old rival Dino Brewster (Dominic Coouper). The two men have been at odds on the racetrack since childhood. Dino now has a professional gig as a driver but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to grind Tobey’s reputation into the asphalt.

Borrowing three of his uncle’s luxury concept cars, Dino lays down a challenge for Tobey and Pete (Harrison Gilbertson), one of Tobey’s garage hands. With an agreed upon finish line, the three men take off on a high-speed competition that has them weaving through traffic, driving down the wrong side of the road and causing a fiery explosion that leaves one man dead.

Wrongfully charged with the death, Tobey spends the next two years behind bars. When he emerges from jail, his only goal is to make Dino pay for his unjust incarceration. But to do so, Tobey has less than 48 hours to drive all the way across the country and earn a spot in the secretive DeLeon road race.

Based on the EA video game, this storyline is all about one thing: illegal street racing. Honoring the memory of his father, stuntman Fred Waugh, film director Scott Waugh chose not to include any computer generated driving stunts. That meant the actors spent hours at driving school perfecting their skills. Knowing the stunts are real makes the explosive and spectacular car crashes, the camerawork and the editing all that more impressive—and possibly dangerous.

While the Fast and Furious franchise has dialed back on the depictions of street racing in more recent movies, Need for Speed runs at full throttle. Tobey’s hunger for revenge means he endangers, and likely maims or kills, a host of innocent victims. But the camera speeds away before showing any of the deadly consequences. Instead all audiences get is the adrenaline rush of watching high-powered cars careen down the roadways with their engines roaring.

Although that might be okay if you’re sitting in a theater or working the controls of your game console, Need for Speed sets a high-risk precedent for drivers who think they can recreate the rush when they get behind the wheel of a real car.

Directed by Scott Waugh. Starring Aaron Paul, Chillie Mo, Dominic Cooper. Running time: 131 minutes. Theatrical release March 14, 2014. Updated

Need For Speed
Rating & Content Info

Why is Need For Speed rated PG-13? Need For Speed is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of reckless street racing, disturbing crash scenes, nudity and crude language.

Violence: Cars race through city streets nearly hitting a homeless man. Cars race down country roads, among cars on the Interstate and on the wrong side of the road. Cars hurtle through the air, crash and in some cases burst into a fiery explosion. A character breaks into a building. A man steals planes and helicopters. Men fire at passengers in a car and try to drive them off the road. An explosive car accident results in the death of a man. Accidents cause some bloody injuries. A man is punched in the face. Numerous scenes of irresponsible and dangerous driving are shown. Characters seek revenge.

Sexual Content: Women drape themselves over cars. Brief moments of sexual innuendo are included along with embracing and kissing. A man takes all of his clothes off and walks through his workplace completely naked. Several scenes of buttock nudity are shown.

Language: The script includes crude sexual innuendo and anatomical terms, along with scatological slang, profanities, curses and vulgarities.

Alcohol / Drug Use:Characters drink to celebrate a race. Other brief scenes of drinking and one depiction of smoking are shown.

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Need For Speed Parents' Guide

What consequences are shown in this movie for dangerous and irresponsible driving? How does Tobey justify endangering so many innocent lives? What consequence does the organizer of the DeLeon race face?

How are police portrayed in this film? What affect might that have on real drivers?

The actors in this film spent hours and hours working with professional drivers at driving school. As a result they make the stunts look amazing—and easy. The movie also fails to give away the details behind the filming of these scenes and the special precautions. Why might that be dangerous for drivers who think they could pull of the same stunts on real roadways?

This movie is based on the video game Need For Speed.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Need For Speed movie is August 5, 2014. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Need For Speed

Release date: 5 August 2014

Need For Speed releases to home video (Blu-ray) with the following special features:

- Capturing Speed: Making An Authentic Car Movie

- Ties That Bind

- The Circus Is In Town

- Feature Audio Commentary with Director Scott Waugh and Aaron Paul

- Monarch & Maverick Outtakes with Introduction by Director Scott Waugh

- 4 Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Director Scott Waugh

- The Sound Of Need For Speed “B-Camera”

- Crash Compilation with introduction by Director Scott Waugh (Easter Egg)

- Need For Speed Rivals Trailer

Related home video titles:

The Fast & Furious franchise also glamorizes the illegal world of street racing. The R-rated film Rush shows what life is like in the legal racing circuit. For a more kid-friendly take, see Cars and Cars 2.