I showed this film during every single one of my U.S. Civil War units (8th and/or 11th grades). It is rated R, but it is a mild R rating; if it were made today, I believe it would receive a PG-13 rating. Nonetheless, a parent permission letter was required. In 18 years of teaching, I never received a letter back through which the parent/guardian had not agreed for the student to watch it. It's a classic!