The Game Changers is the latest addition to health documentaries that bringing to light the real impact our food choices have on our health.

The Game Changers is unique in several ways–first that big names such as James Cameron (director of Avatar, Titanic, Terminator), Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan were all among the producers for the show.

Also, the Game Changers seeks to reach one sector of the population that in general tends to be slower to adopt plant-centric diets or make healthier choices:

Men. Most of us know a male, or two, or three who has zero interest in changing their ways to improve their health.

Is the Game Changers Appropriate for Kids and Teens?

The movie highlights plant-based athletes leading their sports and setting world records in a variety of disciplines–whether it’s Ultimate Fighting, Ultra-running, Olympic Track Cycling or Body Building.

Unfortunately, it also caters to the tough guy image by including a handful of expletives. It also includes a rather detailed description of the positive impact a plant-based meal can have on male reproductive functions which may not necessarily be inappropriate for all audiences but is definitely not something my boys are ready for.

As a mom of five boys, my husband and I work hard teach them to be what we call “Real Men.” In our home, Real Men are kind, caring and make sacrifices for their families. They take care of their bodies so they are better equipped to serve others. They have a close connection to God and try to do what He would have them do.

So in watching the Game Changers I faced a dichotomy. I love the way it powerfully enforces all I’ve worked to teach them about how food choices impact our abilities to perform and help others. But fortunately, our school is so good at keeping bad language under control (you get detention if you say “the c-word”) that my kids tell me every time they hear something, whether it’s at the pool, in a book, or a rare instance at school. So I knew that showing them the movie as is would not be a good idea.

Can You Get the Game Changers Edited?

As I’m running out of time before the tween years become the teens, and outside voices tend to have more influence than parental ones, I wanted my kids to see a clean version. I am not aware of any edited versions available, so I decided to make some notes so that I could show them a censored version. This won’t be the right path for everyone, but it allowed me to take the good from the movie and leave behind the bad.

My boys 9 and up had the reaction I was hoping–excited about all the ways eating plant-based helps them and disappointed at all of the profit-driven and misleading “research” and marketing out there. My 7 and 4 year old liked it but were still pretty excited about the cheese that managed to find it’s way in the fridge on a leftover fruit tray brought home from work. No one’s perfect and we’ll have to revisit it with them in a few years! 🙂

Depending on whether you are watching on a mobile app or on a TV will affect whether it’s easier for you to mute or skip. I highly recommend you preview and practice before watching it with everyone. But with these notes my kids had a great viewing experience! It is so fascinating to learn the science behind all of the mixed up food advice that dominates the media today. I might be skeptical if I hadn’t experienced the benefits myself, but just like the athletes in the film, I experienced greater endurance and shorter recovery after switching to a plant-based diet.

If you’re anything like I was and nervous about various aspects of switching to a plant-based diet, I highly recommend this film and others. They set aside so much of the doubt I’d experienced and left me completely confident that I was doing what was best for my family.

The Game Changers is on Netflix (who offers a 30-day free trial), Amazon, and most anywhere you can watch movies!

Grab your printable PDF here:

All in all it left me more excited than ever to stick to the path we’re on and help others do the same. My favorite line from the movie was from Patrick Baboumian, arguably the world’s strongest man:

“It’s not about being the strongest and the biggest, it’s really about what you’re going to do with your strength. What are you going to do with that power?”

(Shown with time remaining in film)

1:21:00 James Wilkes in UFC fight (not graphic)

1:06:00 World’s Strongest Man Patrick Baboumian has shirt that says “vegan bad ***” (pretty sure my kids didn’t notice this one)

1:05:29-1:04:23 UFC fight Bloody and violent, (1:04:57 “I’m not surprised ******”, “beat me in the ***”)  (most important to skip in my opinion)

58:57 Dotsie Bausch, track cycling: “thought it would be a longer transition but I started feeling like I could go kick ***”

53:13 James at the gym doing the arm ropes: “I hit 20 minutes, then 30, I thought **** **** I’m going to do an hour”

34:00-28:50 Male Reproductive discussion with 3 football players (fairly detailed, suffice it to say that blood flood throughout the body improves under a plant-based diet)

23:10 James discussing benefits of plant-based diet: “But I was also p****off”

17:11 Damien Mander, anti-poacher discusses his decision to stop eating meat: I knew I was full of ****, 16:40 This whole fantasy that we need meat to get our protein is actually **** **** The gorilla will ****(skip TWICE‼!)

8:10 Schwarzenegger  – Skip as soon as you see him

5:50 Zoom in on Vegan Bad*** shirt (makes several appearances)