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Summary: A bunny tale NOT at all for children!
Review: I saw this film on TV a long time ago, when I was younger and it is based on a very lengthy novel all about rabbit osdessy into the unknown. In fact, this serious piece of work presents a very STRONG evidence that animation isn't ALWAYS meant for small kids. There are many parts that I just can't name all that just scared the wits out of me or left me with a creepy feeling. But I will provide a couple of vivid illustrations to this point: rabbits get into fights, scratching and ripping flesh out of each other's bodies and a rabbit trapped in a snarl violently writhing about and vomiting up red blood. So please wake up, you frazzled, overworked parents before you snap up this video right out of a rental store on the way home to pop it into your handy VCR right in front of your precious kids just to divert their attention. This animated film is simply NOT full of cute, fuzzy bunnies frolicking about sunny daisies and dancing butterflies. Instead, it is quite a complex society ran by stern animals with the remarkable ablitity to communicate with each other, not to mention the very fact there are also a bloodthirsty rabbit villian with a spooky eye as well.
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Summary: Da' Bomb...!
Review: This movie will make you feel the infinate struggles of humanity and the price we pay for our freedoms, and liberties. It will also help you to understand the security that lies in countries where we believe people are "oppressed" ; yet, they do not understand our concept of "freedom", or "opression."
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Summary: Watership Down
Review: I thought it was a great movie!I'm reading the book now,and it's awesome too! :}
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Summary: Thought provoking. Political themes within rabbit world.
Review: I don't even remember when I first saw this movie. I know that I was quite young. I know that many reviewers have said it is for mature audiences, and I agree... to an extent. You see... the violence and the blood may be too much for some children. You know your children best, and you know what they can handle. So, make a call accorrding to your experience. Personally, even at a tender age, I *knew* that the movie wasn't just about rabbits. I couldn't quite grasp all of the themes, but I understood the basics. I think that children really are more capable of understanding than is sometimes thought. This film is a very good political statement. It isn't just about humans wrecking the bunny lands. It is about the interactions between certain groups of rabbits. It's really amazing that Richard Adams could create such a tale using animals. I highly reccommend this movie to everybody. Though it isn't intended to give you warm fuzzies, I think that many people could take something away with them. A family friend bought the film for her niece thinking that it was going to be a cute movie with bunnies. Please don't buy the film for your child unless you believe that your child can handle some violence and heavy themes. If I hadn't seen the movie as a young child, I don't know that I ever would have watched it or read the book. So, I think it is a good thing that I saw it. It all depend on the child. It's a great movie, though.
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Summary: I think this story is great for kids...
Review: I saw this when I was pretty young and absolutely loved it. The death and violence didn't scare me because it was something that my parents had talked with me about. I did cry though, at the end, every time...but out of compassion, not fear. Psychologists and psychiatrists agree that children form their concepts of death at a fairly young age. I think that Watership Down illustrates the concepts of death and killing in a safe way (animated and with animals that would otherwise be considered pretty meak).
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Summary: Life's light and darkess painted in true non-Disney colours!
Review: This kind of animated film probably wouldn't be made these days (I'm sure many would disagree!), but I believe that is one of the main reasons many of the reviewers who where 8 to 10 when they saw it wouldn't show it to their 8 to 10 years olds... plus the fact that in 1978 every parent would have expected a Disney film of course! :-) Today's cartoons for children are all people shooting at each other with machine guns (or lasers), and no-one getting a scratch... what does that teach about life and the world? That the bad guys always miss and the good guys always win? That just 'aint true, I'm afraid!I have to agree with the reviewers who say it's gory in places, but I think parents should show it, and stop if their children find it upsetting, rather than just not show it at all. The first viewing of this film is an occasion (and should be made an occasion!). I assure you your kids will remember it... and they'll also remember that they watched it with you. I saw the film myself at the cinema when I was nine one afternoon with my father and some likable crazy guy who'd brought along a toy rabbit called "Tannoy" which had "saved his life" he told me (long story!). I was 9, and had waited years to see it... The film was delayed for a long time due to difficulties behind the scenes, but when it was finally released it was hailed as "the longest animated feature ever made", and over 9 months after release was still playing at our local cinemas... beat THAT Disney! :-) "Watership Down" is a story of escape from oppression, tyranny and deception, to a freedom won by conflict with those who would take it away by any means necessary, and a leader who earns his place rather than it being given without being deserved. The films opens with swaying grass at the top of Watership Down, and at the cinema this scene looked so real, that for a moment I thought it was a real film of grass being blown around! Although the art quality drops after the opening titles to a more 'cartooney' look (except for the background art), the film's overall quality never drops. You soon realise you're not watching a kiddie film, and you could just as easily be watching people as rabbits. The rabbits are not theme-park "bunnies" either, but a race with their own language, army, leadership and religion (the book goes into more depth about such matters), and also must suffer under their own oppressors, ineffectual leaders and cruelty towards each other. The only film that comes close to "Watership Down" is Don Bluth's "The Secret of NIMH" (another one worth buying if you haven't seen it), and the animated version of "Animal Farm" but even those films don't paint darkeness quite so honestly black and bloody as Watership Down! Get it! :-)
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Summary: The cold, cruel world through the eyes of rabbits
Review: In reading through the previous reviews, I was struck by how almost all were written by people from my age group. I was 10 when I first saw this movie in the theater. From where I sit typing this, I can see the novel of the same name on my bookshelf. I convinced my mother to buy it for me shortly after seeing the film. Obviously, this movie made a lasting impression on us all. Just reading the reviews brought back images from my theater viewing 20 years ago. To reiterate what others have said, this is not a film for small children; my two little ones will have to wait several more years. Death and killing are topics that are usually avoided in animated movies, but life and death are part of the adult-oriented subject matter in this engaging film. The animation may be somewhat dated, but the themes of this wonderful story (the longing for freedom and a better life) are as relevant today as ever. Hopefully this movie will make its way to DVD soon.
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Summary: For kids or not for kids...
Review: Its interesting reading other peoples comments on how they loved this movie when they were young, then saying its not for kids. I was about 7 or eight when I first say this movie, and I didn't watch it just once. I saw it many many times until our Beta machine finally gave out, and I loved it then, and still do, as many others also claim. It really depends on what you would want your kids to see. If this film is interesting, watch it yourself, then maybe sti down with you kids to watch it. I enjoyed it, many others have. Maybe you will like it too.
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Summary: A true classic. An animated movie that moves me everytime.
Review: I grew up watching this movie. I remember that I didn't always get the underlying messages, but it was still a classic that showed the adventure and honor in even the most insignificant of creatures. As I grew older, I read the book(and its sequel) and watched the movie. The various levels of the story, as well as the allegorical points, astounded me. While others say it is not for children, at some point in time the chidren have to learn that nature isn't always kind to the cute and fuzzy, and the overwhelming message that we (rabbit or human) are our own worst enemy.
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Summary: A wonderful classic movie to remember for life!
Review: I always loved this movie and I will love it again when I buy it. The first time I saw the movie when I was between the ages of 8 and 12. I love this movie because it's a classic. Me and my sister always watched it all the time. My mom threw it out because it was voilence. Well, the movie ISN"T suitable for children as other reviewers of the movie said. It's for more of a mature age group that can see the movie. Probably you would have to be atleast 10 and older to see it. Maybe 9. It does have some blood in it but still it's a classic. It's a memoriable movie to remeber for generations and generations. I also love cartoons and that is part of why I love this movie. I grew up with cartoons and still watchin' cartoons! If you love cartoons and can handle a little blood and love classic movies like this, then you will love Watership Down!
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