Cruise film under fire

Controversy: Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds

11 April 2012

Steven Spielberg's blockbuster War of the Worlds faced a backlash yesterday amid fears that youngsters could be damaged by its scenes of extreme violence.

The film, starring Tom Cruise, opens in cinemas today with a 12A rating from the British Board of Film Classification, even though it contains 'sustained menace, threat and moderate horror'.

In yesterday's Daily Mail, film critic Chris Tookey hailed the movie 'the greatest action epic of all time'. But Simon Heffer countered by saying he would not dream of letting his children see it.

Youngsters can legally see the movie - an adaptation of H G Wells's 1898 novel - if they are accompanied by an adult, while 12-year-olds and above are free to go on their own.

But psychologists warned that the scenes of violence could make youngsters more aggressive and develop phobias, while child protection charities said the effects could have lasting consequences.

Professor Kevin Browne, director of the forensic and family psychology department at Birmingham University, said: 'The long-term effects on children are a matter of controversy and debate, but the short-term effects are now well established.'

The professor, an adviser to the British Board of Film Classification until 2000, said: 'For eight to 12 months after watching a violent film, children will become more likely to be more violent and aggressive themselves.' War of the Worlds - in which aliens from Mars invade Earth - features humans being exterminated with their blood sprayed over the landscape as, ironically, Cruise shields his young screen daughter's eyes from the horror.

Michelle Elliott, of children's charity Kidscape, said: 'The film will undoubtedly appeal to kids but, from the description of it, it sounds like they should have classified it 15.'

Glasgow-based psychologist Professor Alex Gardner said: 'There have been horror stories of kids seeing films and having nightmares. They store everything in their minds and it gets replayed in their dreams.'

He said parents should encourage their children to see the film as 'entertainment and fantasy' so they were less likely to be affected.

Chris Cloke, head of child protection at the NSPCC, said: ' Violent images can be extremely disturbing to children and the impact of these can be long lasting.

'We would urge parents to take care before exposing children to images which are unsuitable for their age.' However, Dr Guy Cumberbatch, from the Communications Research Group in Birmingham, said: 'The reality is that children are much more resilient than we expect.

'They might get frightened, but it does them no long-term harm.'

Professor Barrie Gunter, of Leicester University, said: 'It's likely to be very frightening, but as it is science fiction most children will see it as a step removed from real life.'

Last night Deborah Sheppard, marketing director of the film's UK distributor UIP, said: 'War of the Worlds contains sustained menace, threat and moderate horror. It's down to parents to decide for themselves whether to take children to see it.

'Jurassic Park had scary dinosaurs, this has scary aliens from outer space.'

Sue Clark, of the British Board of Film Classification, said: 'As far as we were concerned, the fantasy element mitigates the horror.

'It is not necessarily suitable for young children but parents can take them if they take responsibility.

'It's a film about an alien invasion - it won't be mistaken for "Bambi finds a new mum".'

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Cruise film under fire

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