Eagle Eye parents guide

Eagle Eye Parent Guide

Overall C+

Jerry (Shia LaBeouf) has been framed. The FBI think he is part of a terrorist cell. With no way to prove his innocence, he is forced to follow the directions of a woman on the phone who is demanding he take part in her evil plot -- or be killed. When Jerry discovers the same omnipotent voice is blackmailing another innocent bystander named Rachel (Michelle Monaghan), the two of them begin working together in the hopes of survival.

Release date September 25, 2008

Violence D+
Sexual Content B+
Profanity D+
Substance Use C+

Why is Eagle Eye rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Eagle Eye PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and for language.

Run Time: 118 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Imagine that someone is watching your every move. Monitoring cell phone calls, ATM withdrawals and routine habits. Hacking into your personal information and collecting family photos and videos from Internet downloads. Make you a tad nervous?

For Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf), the fear has become a reality. Unbeknownst to him, someone out there has gathered enough facts about the young man to create an impressive personality profile. Aware of his family disputes and his father’s (William Sadler) disappointment with him, they load Jerry’s boarding house room with sufficient bomb-making supplies to blow up a small country, pushing him front and center on the FBI’s most wanted list. Now to help Jerry avoid arrest and incarceration, they force him to do their bidding. But what they ultimately want from Jerry is obscure.

“They” have also chosen Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan). Using the single mother’s child (Cameron Boyce) as a pawn in the dangerous game, an unidentified woman gives Rachel and Jerry instructions via electronic billboards, cell phones and other devices while she controls public transit, traffic lights and security systems. With FBI Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton) and military officer Zoe Perez (Rosario Dawson) close on their heels, the mysterious voice badgers the unwilling recruits through a seemingly endless barrage of detours that moves them toward a nameless destination.

Taking terrorism to a new level, Eagle Eye sacrifices the private lives of citizens, making them mere collateral in a bigger war punctured with high-powered gunfire, intimidation and an endless number of car crashes. With only a brief scene of sexual innuendo, the film’s main focus is non-stop action that also includes the portrayal of an electrocution, the charred corpse of the victim and regular missile attacks.

Unfortunately, despite the proliferation of increased security measures over the past few years, this script, set in the present day, pushes the plausibility of the plot by employing high-tech surveillance methods that leave no corner of the country unseen. While the premise might be more believable in a futuristic setting, it doesn’t work as well in the here and now given the sophistication of the shadowing devices. Yet the movie’s concern over current Big Brother-style interference into the common lives of the people is readily apparent. Although the threat of foreign-based terrorism might make the nightly news, its seems (from the filmmakers’ point of view) that the biggest risk to security is already in our own backyard.

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson. Running time: 118 minutes. Theatrical release September 25, 2008. Updated

Eagle Eye
Rating & Content Info

Why is Eagle Eye rated PG-13? Eagle Eye is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of action and violence, and for language.

Packed with non-stop action, this film includes frequent scenes of gunfire, explosions, car crashes and military invasions. Heavily armed officers burst into a man’s apartment in a takedown operation. Security officers are shot at and robbed. Missile attacks kill innocent victims both in the Middle East and at home. A man is electrocuted and his charred body and thumb are seen. A couple inject themselves with an experimental fluid. A man is shot at close range and other characters are threatened with death. Women share drinks in a bar. Brief sexual innuendo, profanities, terms of Deity and a sexual expletive used in a non-sexual context are included in the script.

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Eagle Eye Parents' Guide

How have people’s concerns about their personal security changed since the events of 9-11? Are government and other agencies able to collect too much information on individuals? How do you feel about surveillance cameras in public locations?

Rachel agrees to go along with “the voice” in order to protect her child. What would motivate you to comply with another’s demands?

Some of the techniques used to spy on people in this movie are a little far-fetched, but one involving cell phones is very possible.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Eagle Eye movie is December 27, 2008. Here are some details…

Release Date: Dec 27, 2008

Eagle Eye is releasing on DVD (in either a single or 2-Disc version) and Blu-ray.

Bonus extras to be found on the Eagle Eye 2-Disc Edition include additional scenes (Ethan’s Wake, Minuteman and Twins) and a featurette (Road Trip).

Eagle Eye Blu-ray Edition offers all of the above plus an alternate ending, more featurettes (The Making of Eagle Eye, On Location: Washington, D.C., Is My Cell Phone Spying on Me? Shall We Play A Game? and Asymmetric Warfare), a bloopers, trailers and a photo gallery.

Related home video titles:

In the movie The Manchurian Candidate, another character is forced to commit crimes against his will. Along with the role of an unjustly accused shoe thief in the movie Holes, Shia LaBeouf has starred as the son of the famous archeologist in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He also plays an aspiring golfer in The Greatest Game Ever Played.