SWC What age is right to see the movies?

Hi,

I want to get the opinions of parents, aunts, uncles, etc. about what they feel is the appropriate age of a child to watch the Star Wars Saga or the individual movies.

Do very young kids find the Original Trilogy to be too slow compared to the PT?

Is Shmi's death and the condition in which Anakin finds her too much?

Is Palpatine's Force Lightening attack on Luke too prolonged?

RotS is pretty brutal with the beheading of Dooku, Anakin igniting his blade on finding the Younglings, his injuries and Padmé's death?

Do you skip certain parts of RotS with young kids? Or not show them the movie at all?

I know every child is different but I'm eager to know people's views as I'm trying to decide on whether the movies are suitable for a young child who is a major fans by way of the action figures and Rebels and what him to see the movies before Youtube clips of the LEGO games ruin it all.

Cheers.

 

Well, I saw the original trilogy back when I was almost 9. At the time my younger sister was 6, and the baby of the family was 3. I feel having kids in that bracket is about right. The oldest is still young enough to get caught up in the wonder and awe of it all, but the youngest will only notice, as my sister did, "Yoda, Jawas, R2, Ewoks." The same applies with at least the first two prequels. A 3 year old will only notice "Jar-Jar, R2, Yoda".

Young kids do see some pretty "horrifying" moments in cartoons, such as Bambi's mom's death, Mufasa's death in Lion King. If your kid can handle that they *could* handle at least Shmi's death. Revenge of the Sith is kind of murky. My friends and relatives have kids that are under 3 so they aren't showing them the movies yet.

I think in terms of kids finding the OT "slow" that's part of the reason why to start them young. I don't plan to show a kid the Transformers movies for example until after Star Wars, for example. Next to Transformers Star Wars does look dull. Heck, I have cousins in there teens who find Jurassic Park and Jaws to be to "dull" and "boring" but that is due to a steady diet of nothing but slasher flicks. Star Wars should, in my opinion, be among a child's first "live action movie experiences".

 

I saw the first Star Wars when I was nine, but I've seen younger kids go utterly bonkers during the Prequels (okay TPM and AoTC I do not think any little ones were at the late showings of RoTS.)

I had a former friend who was very protective of not letting her young girls watch the Wampa eat the tauntaun in Empire. I suppose it depends on the child and how they react to intense moments.

 

While everyone processes, and is affected by, things differently, I disagree that that young kids would "only see" the cute funny aspects of the movies. Cartoon violence is a lot different to live action violence. Jerry has never beheaded Tom or Bugs bunny cut the limbs of Elmer Fudd. And those Disney deaths are intense, but not the same as a "real" mom dying or an old guy getting his hands and head cut of.

I can understand (kind of) that opinion of Jaws - though sacrilege in my opinion - because nowadays people are used to seeing the monster more (which I also like), but Jurassic Park surprises me. It is in an area all of it's own and I don't recall it as being "slow". I haven't seen it in years - do the VFX not hold up these days?

Yes, every child is different.

What do you mean bonkers? Excitement or panic?

 

I would say in between 5-7. At least that's when I first started to watch them.

 

It really depends on the children .Some 6-8 years could handle that stuff really well and some not .Every episodic Star Wars movie (apart from ROTS) is rated PG but to be honest I think this rating (like the ones in other movies)don't really apply to children in general .
My opinion : 6-9 year olds .

 

Yes, it does depend on the child. I was just hoping to get opinions in general.

 

I think you can watch all the movies minus ROTs at a pretty young age so I think I would wait on ROTS and show them the other 5.

 

When you are older than Yoda

 

I would say 4+ except for ROTS.

 

I can't remember a time when I didn't know what Star Wars was, so my family must have been watching the originals with me around since I was born. Then I saw all the prequels in theaters when I was still really young (I think I was ten when Revenge of the Sith was released). Nothing in Star Wars ever traumatized me. I think kids can handle more than some people give them credit for.

 

I was about 5 when I watched the OT, there was nothing too shocking about it (but then again my childhood movies were Alien and Terminator so...)
But when I saw TPM at 7 I found it really difficult to understand (too much talking about politics and philosophy and stuff), so the PT might need to wait if you want a complete understanding of the films.

 

I started with Jedi at 8. I didn't grasp what it was about and the lightning terrified me as I thought what I was witnessing was real. I would suggest between 7-12 if they develop a sustained interest. Violence particularly war is difficult to grasp when overly young and I don't consider it wise to dismiss possible impacts.

 

I mean most of us were introduced to it when we were very young so what I think in my Opinion is to tell them that there fake and explain that first and then show them all minus ROTS until at least there 10 or more.

 

I saw IV-VI when I was 4 or 5 actually, and there were no problems. I saw TPM at 4 but didn't really get it until 7 or 8. I was 7 for AOTC and loved it, and 10 for ROTS and it didn't bother me.

 

I actually have been thinking about this too. My goddaughter is 4 (I think lol) so I think I may show her TPM this summer (she hasn't seen any of them yet) and go from there (I will have to wait awhile I think before ROTS though). I have been deliberating when to show her for awhile and think she is ready. She may not get it fully, but it will make for a good bonding experience between us, and that is movies at its finest.

 

I would say apart from ROTS. From 4 years and beyond.

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This opinions in generally your right