Star Wars.....

[Andry]

Any of you taking your kids to Star Wars? How old are they?

My 5 yo wants to go see it. I'm not so quick on that, even though he's seen most of the other episodes (indulgent aunt!). He's declared that this episode will complete the whole story!

Mind you, he's also seen most of LOTR - me with him, fast forwarding the darker parts - and my explaining some of the wonderful Biblical and moral lessons from the movie.

I've heard that Episode 3 is supposed to be darker and more sinister, but not to the point of it being a horror/satanic flick with gratuitous gory violence.

I'd appreciate some parents comments on this.

 

[HeatherJay]

My girls have no real interest in Star Wars (they're girlie girls)...but they can't wait to see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this Christmas. They also want to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (they love the first 3 movies)...but I think my hubby and me will see that one first without them, to make sure it's not too scary (the book was pretty dark in some places).

Judging by the first 2 'new' Star Wars movies, I'd think it would probably be okay (especially if he's already familiar with most of the characters and how the stories end...I mean, he probably already knows that Anakin goes darkside, right?) Sounds like something fun for the 2 of you to see together, maybe.

 

[Katydid]

From everything I have read and seen about it, it isn't for younger children because it does get soooo bloody. I mean ALL the Jedi except Yoda and Obi Wan get killed in this one. From what I know of the story, I am going to watch it before allowing my children to see it.

 

[Jenna]

My daughter is only 4 years old, so she won't be going to see this movie. Her father and I discussed whether she could go with us or not, and it was decided that from what we knew of the movie, it would just be too dark and scary for her.

 

[Zoomer]

My kids (almost 3 & 4) have seen all the other Star Wars but will not be seeing this one until they are older. It is PG-13 as opposed to PG for the other 5. There is good reason, it is alot more violent and death shown in this one than any other.

 

[LegacyOfLove]

I would say that you will have to really judge this one for yourself and probably the best way to do that is to first go and see the movie without your son. Also, yahoo Movie Mom has a very useful review about the movie. You can read through this link: http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=parentsguide&id=1808406061 to find out what the movie (specifically) is rated PG-13 for, the ages it is recommended for, etc.

Hope that helps some!

 

[Andry]

Thanks for that link, it helps.

My wife and I will see it first......

 

[HeatherJay]

Hey andry,

Here's a link to a review from www.kids-in-mind.com. It's a great site to get detailed movie reviews with kids in mind. It rates the levels of sex/nudity, profanity, violence, etc. One warning, it may include spoilers. So if you don't want to know the specifics about scenes in the movie (the scenes that might cause parents concern are described), you might want to avoid it until after you and your wife have seen it.

Anyway, even if you don't want to see the review for Star Wars yet, it's a great link to add to your favorites for future reference...they have a large database of movies.

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/s/starwarsepisodeiii.htm

 

[Entertaining_Angels]

It's PG-13, so no chance my six year old will see it.

I recommend also, going to Focus' site...hold on...okay

http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0002158.cfm

Oh, and I'll just cut and paste the last two paragraphs of the review:



Well, George has officially taken the gloves off. "I don't think I would take a 5- or a 6-year old to this," he said. "It's way too strong." Kevin Smith, director of the R-rated films Dogma and Clerks, is no stranger to offensive content. Yet even he commented after an early screening of Sith, "I'm not sure any kid under 8 should see that kind of violence. Even I was surprised by how insanely dark George made it." Indeed, the violence in Revenge of the Sith is not kids' stuff. And it's actually gory enough that it may have adult viewers—me among them—wondering whether it really had to be so vicious. Lucas' response? "This has always been a dark story. It's about a man's descent into hell. That's pretty serious stuff. ... I could pull it back a little bit, but I don't really want to."

 

[HeatherJay]

LOL, don't ever listen to me when it comes to Star Wars stuff, andry...thank goodness there's all these other SW fans around to get the story straight.


PS not really a fan myself...my ex traumatized me with his Star Wars obsession.

 

[Andry]

Thanks guys! Yeah, these sites will be on my favourites list now.

I'm actually a fan of the original three (episodes 4,5,6); when we were kids, they were magical.

Episodes 1,2 were kinda hokey for me, and the acting rather dreadful. But they have been magical and special for my son, so I don't want to dash his memories of that. It's just that this 3rd episode will be different than all the rest.

Now his also seen much of LOTR, to his sheer enjoyment. Long story/short, one of our friends kids, older than my son, were over. Watched the DVD, and my son followed suit. While there are violent scenes, it's not gratuitous blood and gore violence. I'm hoping Episode 3 will be less than that.

 

[psychoceramic]

check out screenit.com

they rate the movie and tell you all about the blood gore and curse words if any...i never see a movie unless it is g with out going to this site.....

As for kids and star wars... it is not even close to being a christian movie......it is a world religion movie.... it has some christian themes.. as did all of the other star wars movies.. but it has more world view and more world religion.. and some would call christian bashing.....


i am a big star wars fan... mostly of the first trilogy...couldnt stand the second installment of this trilogy...but i am looking to see darth become darth.. and the kids born and the like.... and the fight scenes... cant wait for the fight scenes.......


My oldest daughter has seen the star wars a new hope.. havent seen the others yet.. not really interested...... but will probable get all six on dvd.. and then when she is older and can enjoy the movies for the art sake then she will watch them.. if not.. thats cool also.

 

[okiemommy26]

Well I am debating about because Desiree wants to see it and I was going to take her and hubby to go see it for their bdays together. Desi will be 7 in June. She has seen the first two. But as they said it is darker than the others. She watched the first Lord of the Rings and some of it we had to fast forward through. I will not let her watch the other two. I do not know. She doesn't know I want to take to the movie. I just might take hubby and go see it before I take her. I do not know yet.

 

[Andry]

check out screenit.com

...... but will probable get all six on dvd.. and then when she is older and can enjoy the movies for the art sake then she will watch them.. if not.. thats cool also.

Thanks for the link!

And I held off on buying the 'special edition' five-pack. Now all those fans who bought it will have to buy the complete set of six now! What a money machine.

 

[Why?]

My son is seven. My husband and I will be taking him to see it tomorrow. He saw the first two and is very excited about the 3rd. He has also seen all three LOTR movies. He knows that it's all fake. We stress the difference between 'real' and 'not even close'.

 

[Andry]

It's not the fakeness I'm so concerned about.

It's the realism of the fakeness. Which in this case, the faker the realism the better the fakeness.

 

[Princessperky]

I took my 3 year old to see it, he asked to, prolly cause he has seen all the rest.

PG means parental guidance, and no movie should be without that for years to come. (not even blues clues IMO)

As for all the violence, it is not real and he knows that.

Some dude told my son he couldn't watch episode I since Darth Maul was cut in half, my son said 'he is toad in Xmen' in that 'duh dude you missed the part about it being a movie?' attitude.

My son knows several actors from several movies and knows that the violence is scripted, he plays actor and rewrites movies (if so and so did this then such and such would happen) he in no way believes it is real or dangerous. He does not believe life in movies have gaps due to fast forwarding on my part, he doesnot belive that Ewan magregor is in anyway injured fighting with count dooku (episode 2) and yes he knows which actor plays the young obie wan (he knows who plays the grey haired one too) but the name isn't important, the fact that it is all fake is.

And if it scares me it would scare him, thankfully it doesn't.

Now if you have a christian problem with the movie, than by all means skip it. If your child has never seen death in a movie or anything darker than barney, please don't start with Episode III. If you just plain have no interest in it and don't want to be bored just for your kid, skip it your kid needs your opinions about it, and boredom you might miss most of it.

But allowing the government to decide how old your kid can be before they understand the fakeness of a movie is not a good idea IMO.

The only kind of worry I ever have is with nudity, not that there is anything wrong with it, but it is often portrayed in a way I do not aprove of in a movie. If the government wanted to do me a favor and lable movies with actual content I suppose there are worse things to do with my tax money.

 

[Andry]

I took my 5 yo to see it, and he loved it.

IMO, it's better than Episode 1 or 2. The 'darker' nature of it nowhere approaches LOTR. But it's what made it a more 'real' movie for us older fans who saw the original three as kids. And amongst slicing battle droids in half - which is more of a mechanical destruction - there were a few limbs lost, but without the gory blood and guts.

A couple of 'dark' scenes were more of what they didn't show (I won't spoil it for you), but thankfully my son didn't catch on.

Obviously, it'll be up to you parents to determine the appropriateness for your kids.

Thank you for all your input and advice!

Be wise and be blessed.

 

[suzybeezy]

,

Here's a link to a review from www.kids-in-mind.com. It's a great site to get detailed movie reviews with kids in mind. It rates the levels of sex/nudity, profanity, violence, etc. One warning, it may include spoilers. So if you don't want to know the specifics about scenes in the movie (the scenes that might cause parents concern are described), you might want to avoid it until after you and your wife have seen it.

I love this site. I always use it before I take my kids to see any movie. The details are awesome.

I have seen the movie. It is more violent than all the other Star Wars movies. Even if a child can separate the movie from reality, there are a few disturbing scenes they may struggle with. One scene comes to mind that a small child may really have a hard time with is after Darth starts to go nuts! I will say I did see other kids at the theatre and they seemed to handle it okay, but each child is different and I would definately screen it first.

 

[JoshuasMacGeek]

My husband and I went to see Episode 3 on Saturday, we do not have any children and we were very surprised to see 5 young children sitting in front of us in the theatre. They ranged from 4-8 years old, I am so bad at guessing ages. They were fine with the movie!
I think back to what I watched at that age, most things went over my head. I watched the Simpsons with my dad since age 4 until recently and I turned out fine. Use discretion sometimes... I think a small child seeing Star Wars is fine most of the time. Rescue 911 was my favourite show at that age, anyone remember that? I can't even watch something like that now!