Star Wars Trilogy

What’s it about?

The Star Wars trilogy follows the journey of farm boy Luke Skywalker as he discovers his destiny as a Jedi. With the help of Princess Leia, Han Solo, and the Rebel Alliance, he ventures into space in hope of defeating the evil Galactic Empire to bring balance to the Force and restore peace across the galaxy.

Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV) (1977)

Star Wars V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)

The facts

• Created by George Lucas
• Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker.
• English language
• Runtime: 128 minutes per film, on average
• Won 7 Academy Awards and received 17 nominations

Why did it get this rating?

These films were cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence

This trilogy contains regular fantasy action scenes including futuristic guns and sword weapons, some of which involve characters being injured or killed, but there is no gore.

Many large spaceships are destroyed with large explosions and sometimes whole planets are disintegrated.

Some of the strongest violence in the Trilogy include:

• A man uses a forceful power to lift a man in the air and strangle him. We hear bones being crushed as he falls to the floor, dead, but there is no gore.
• One man’s arm is cut off by a laser sword. It is seen lying on the ground with some blood around it.
• After a boy returns home, he finds his aunty and uncle’s blackened skeletons after they were burned to death.
• A man cuts open the belly of a large fantasy beast, with its fleshy internal organs spilling out, but there is no blood.
• One character’s hand is cut off by a laser sword, but there is no blood or gore.
• In one scene, a female slave is thrown into a pit with a large monster. We see the monster put her in its mouth and bite her in half, but the camera cuts before we see anything graphic.

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.  

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters