Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this film features a considerable amount of blood, violence, and explicit references to sex. Prostitution, brief nudity, teen sex, gang-related deaths, car assaults, bloody fistfights, and a gangster pointing a pistol directly at a child's face, makes this film inappropriate for kids under the age of 17. There's a strong emphasis on guns that can easily be seen as glamorization: characters sport decorated pistols and fashionably threatening jewelry (skull rings, dagger belts), not to mention an ad for bullets. Background scenery makes much use of billboards, posters, and license plates designed to mimic soda, liquor, and cigarette ads.
Sexual
Content
Frank and demonstrative sexual humor and innuendo, Romeo and Juliet share more than a couple of passionate kisses.
Violence
Bloody gangster-style shoot-outs, gun-play, car assaults, murder, and suicide.
Language
Dialogue is classic, expletive-free Shakespeare.
Social
Behavior
The violence of this adaptation does an excellent job of obscuring the message of peace at the root of the story.
Consumerism
Heavy simulations of brand names and products.
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Smoking, drinking. A priest imbibes unspecified experimental potions. Romeo swallows a tablet of Ecstasy.