First, pretend like you've never seen any of the trailers.

Second, prepare yourself for a story of friendship.

Good, now you're ready to go enjoy "Bridge to Terabithia."

The special effects are so "pushed" in the previews and ads that some people actually complained and wanted a refund.

I was lucky enough to have read the book many years ago, so I knew what to expect, and the movie delivered.

If you're relunctant to see this movie because you think it may be about all those weird-looking creatures you see in the trailers, may I recommend you read the book first (short novel).

But the movie is not about "Terabithia;" it is about two friends who create it because they do not fit in their "real" worlds. It is a film for the whole family, but Mom and Dad might have to answer a few questions for the younger ones.

AC

P.S. And bring a hankie with you.

I haven't seen this movie. Ordinarily I won't write about movies I haven't seen, and I really don't like posts based on hearsay. That being said, here I am doing just that.

A friend at work saw "Terabithia" with her 5 year old daughter. The mom cried throughout the second half and her daughter was fine, perhaps too young to really get what was going on. At any rate, my friend searched reviews after seeing the movie to see if there were any warnings for families, largely because she was traumatized. She said if she had known what was coming, she probably wouldn't have seen it, though she did acknowledge that it was a lovely film.

Now that's about as contradictory a post as I've ever written.

Saynomore, do you think the film is OK for youngsters? I can't say because I haven't seen it.

Oh, so not what I was expecting. The whole first half I was bored by the fake acting and cheesy lines. The whole second half, after the incident, I was balling in the theater. It's a story about friendship and not fitting in, yes, but the dialogue is not very well done in my opinion. It seems, somehow, awkward. If that makes any sense? I think I would have liked to read the book first. I left the theater shaking my head, trying to wrap my brain around what I had just seen.

About the youngsters, yeah, it is ok, and they will probably relate to a good chunk of the movie. There's no blood and guts, if that's what you're asking. I could have used a little more fantasy and less schoolyard though.

Just my thoughts.

Stephanie

I haven't seen this movie. Ordinarily I won't write about movies I haven't seen, and I really don't like posts based on hearsay. That being said, here I am doing just that.

A friend at work saw "Terabithia" with her 5 year old daughter. The mom cried throughout the second half and her daughter was fine, perhaps too young to really get what was going on. At any rate, my friend searched reviews after seeing the movie to see if there were any warnings for families, largely because she was traumatized. She said if she had known what was coming, she probably wouldn't have seen it, though she did acknowledge that it was a lovely film.

Now that's about as contradictory a post as I've ever written.

Saynomore, do you think the film is OK for youngsters? I can't say because I haven't seen it.

Great for the kids, but the crowd I saw it with was mostly adults. And we were all blubbering. I half-expected a group hug after the end credits.

The few kids that were there went oooo and ahhh during the special effects but didn't react at all to the "incident". They also didn't fidget as many kids do during boring movies.

AC

P.S. Not that the movie's boring; it was just a sign that their not fidgeting meant they were enjoying the movie.

Great for the kids, but the crowd I saw it with was mostly adults. And we were all blubbering. I half-expected a group hug after the end credits.

The few kids that were there went oooo and ahhh during the special effects but didn't react at all to the "incident". They also didn't fidget as many kids do during boring movies.

AC

P.S. Not that the movie's boring; it was just a sign that their not fidgeting meant they were enjoying the movie.

Thanks, that sounds pretty much like the audience my friend described. That image of a group hug afterwards is hilarious.

Today I saw Bridge to Terabithia in a theatre. It was good more than I expected. I recalled my childhood because I was dreamer kid like Jesse.

"Close your eyes, but keep your mind wide open." That's right!

The few kids that were there went oooo and ahhh during the special effects but didn't react at all to the "incident". They also didn't fidget as many kids do during boring movies.

Maybe if I saw this when I was a kid, I would say "oooo" "ahhh". But now, that incident made me cry. It was very sad like candlelight went out...

I expect it wholly depends. I see children--as in well before their teens in many cases--taken to R-rated movies all the time. At the video store, I see children take up slasher flicks that I won't watch myself, including the "torture porn" stuff. Once, I heard a mother say, "No, put that back...we've already seen that 5 times." And if they can handle that stuff, surely they can handle BtT.

Other children have a problem with movies like Monster House or Nightmare Before Christmas. I myself had nightmares after seeing Return to Oz, and whenever anyone says anything about me getting a dog, I STILL think of Old Yeller that an elementary school inflicted on me like 3 years in a row. For that matter, I remember crying when watching The Lion King at the cinema when I was 11, IIRC. To this day, I don't take it for granted than any Disney flick is gonna be without someone major dying dramatically. :p

Oddly, I saw the old Salem's Lot roughly around the same time I saw Return to Oz (I was about 9), and I found Salem's Lot boring (and fell asleep through part of it) and RtO frightening. I saw them both again as an adult and found RtO on the cute side and the old Salem's Lot on the scary side. I don't know why, I guess I understand the context Salem's Lot better now and RtO was a bit hard to take as seriously as when I was 9, but that's just a guess. (RtO was more depressing to me as an adult which I also think is because I understood the context a lot better--as a child I considered it happy since Dorothy lives to escape all the bad people.)


As for me, I loved a lot about BtT, and I think I'd have liked it a lot as a child--not sure how I'd have handled the ending, and it might've taken it awhile for it to sink in (so I might have a delayed reaction, or react much worse upon watching it again).

What I don't like the deceitful trailer (which I think was made to "piggyback" on the success of some of the other fantasy movies that were popular). Interesting enough, the Japanese trailer was honest to the point of spoiling it, IMO--though NO ONE could say they'd been "tricked" into seeing it after seeing that one.

I thought the movie was sweet, but the *surprise event* toward the end was unnecessary in my opinion. It pissed me off. I would have enjoyed it a lot more had *it* not happened.

Susan