jasonbird

The reason I ask is becuase I have a 7 year old daughter that
likes movies, and we haven't let her watch it. But since the
commercials for Two Towers have been on, she walks around
saying [gaulum]"MY PRECIOUS"[/gaulum]. Then she watched
the Two Towers special on WB last night and was interested.

So my question is to those of you with children. Have you let
your kids watch Fellowship of the Ring and what age are they?

Thanks

Jason

Goat3001

Well I'm not a parent but I'll tell you what I've experianced:

1) during FOTR there were a few young children (from 5-10) who started crying and got really scared during some of the scenes.

2) The little kids that I know, around 8 years old, didn't understand the story one bit and watched it for the action.

3) I don't know how your child would be like in this situation, but its a 3 hour movie, kids can get restless and bored. (You may want to wait for the DVD).

jasonbird

Sorry, I ment to convey that I'm debating if I'm going to let her
see Fellowship of the Rings or not. I'll fix the title of the thread.

Jason

Jepthah

I don't think a blanket rule can be set for kids about these movies. Some may be OK with it younger, some older. They are intense and very emotionally sensitive kids might not enjoy them. Basically, it depends on your knowledge of your child.

William Wallace

besides a couple violent acts towards a couple monsters, there isn't anything extreme in this movie.

chipmac

I took my son to see Gladiator when he was 9. He sat through the entire movie totally engrossed in not only the action but the story of betrayal and revenge as well. Two guys in their thirties nervously sat next to him and when the film was over complimented us both on how well he behaved since he never seemed bored or frightened and never figited. As we walked out and discussed the film and the comments made by the 2 men my son looked at me puzzled and asked what the big deal was he was only enjoying the movie. So last year we went to see Fellowship of the Ring and he had the same experience. He's 11 now and reading the Two Towers and looking forward to seeing that as well.

The point of all of this is that sometimes you need to give them more credit then you think in as far as what you think they can deal with at a young age.

Jason

Sounds like some kid has a good parent

On the other hand, a good friend of mine told me once that when he took his kids to see Monsters Inc at the Dollar Cinema, they were the only people in the theater, so he let them run around like "a pack of heathens". Nothing like reinforcing bad behavior.

As for the Two Towers, it would really depend on the kid. Maybe see it once on your own before taking them. It looks like it'll be worth a repeat viewing or two anyhow.

Groucho

This guy at work was "home alone" for a few days while his wife and kids were off visiting the in-laws. He asked me for good movie to rent, and I recommended The Fellowship of the Rings. He said "No, that's one for the kiddies." (his oldest daughter is 4). I tried explaining that it wasn't a children's movie, but it wouldn't hear of it. He ended up renting that action movie with Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman and coming back raving about how much it "rocked."

Blade

In the openning scene, there's a huge war with Elves and Orcs killing each other, a fairly large and devil-like character shows up and singlehandedly sweeps away even more of the good guys, and then he gets his hand sliced off.


Besides that, all the scenes with the ring wraiths are very intense and


[mild spoiler warning]


the final battle ends with a human being ending up as a pin cushion for an Orc with a bow and arrow.

As mentioned above, children are all unique and each parent needs to judge the maturity level of their own child, but this is a much more violent and serious movie than Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets...if that was iffy for your child, I'd definitely wait on Lord of the Rings.

Groucho,

It's sad but there are quite a few people out there who think anything with elves and wizards in it is a child's story.

DeputyDave

I consider myself a good parent. I know what my kids can handle and what is too much for them. My daughter is 7 and my son is 10. I took them both to LOTR I the theater. A couple of monsters scared my daughter briefly, but it was agood scared (like how I felt in The Ring - a movie I know is too intense for them, despite the same rating). The both loved it. Desoite my warning of how long it was both insisted on watching EE, and both agreed it was a better movie.

Iron_Giant

I skipped around while my kids were watching it. My 10 year old daughter did not like the Orgs, she told me to skip during the big fight sceens and the Dark Horse sceens.

The love the Hobbits and the Elves.

waskydiver

I think that it would be more a matter of a child being able to get through such an "epic" movie.

I would think that a child with enough maturity to follow, understand and enjoy the movie would be mature enough to deal with the violent aspects of the movie with the appropriate parental supervision.

Matt925

Let her watch it! She deserves it after that.

But seriously, as others have said, there are some intense scenes, and only you know your daughter well enough to judge if they are too much for her. The best thing you could do is watch it first and decide for yourself.

But as far as the parental groups that are calling this film "evil," it is an imaginative and wonderful movie and I think it is great for the kids who are ready for it. Keeping children from this movie doesn't "protect their innocence," it keeps them from seeing creative and fun storytelling. Good and Evil are clearly defined, but everything is treated in an intelligent and well thought out manner.

I think this is a movie that people from all age groups can enjoy. If she is reading the books, I would whole-heartedly recommend the movies. Your imagination is much more frightening than anything Hollywood can come up with, and as DeputyDave said, there are good kinds of "scared." Kids are much more intelligent and aware than most people give them credit for, and just because something isn't funny and pleasant, that doesn't make it bad.