 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Watership Down
- Review Date: October 20, 2005
- PG
- Genre: Drama
- 1978
Common Sense Media says
A serious animated drama with bunnies.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that, although there are animated bunnies, this is no cartoon. Kids who watch this movie will see battles among rabbits and with other animals (and humans) that result in bloodshed, serious injury, and occasional death. Rabbit characters die onscreen. A dog attacks and kills several rabbits in the climax. There is a recurring character known as the Black Rabbit of Death.
What's the story?
This feature-length theatrical release based on Richard Adams's book, Watership Down follows a group of rabbits, led by Hazel (voiced by John Hurt), Bigwig, and the hyper-sensitive Fiver. They leave their endangered warren (earmarked for real estate development) in search of a new home and female rabbits with whom to mate. Their journey is laced with numerous obstacles, including a dog, a cat, rats, men, cars, birds of prey, and other rabbits. In the final stage of their quest, they find a secure habitat but incur the wrath of a militaristic band of rabbits led by the dictatorial General Woundwort. A deadly battle ensues as our heroes attempt to secure their new home.
Is it any good?
A rare British-produced animated feature, WATERSHIP DOWN is an original drama with realistic animation, sharp characterizations, and brutal honesty about the territorial imperative. This is a stellar alternative to the glitzy musical numbers, cutesy characters, sentimental excesses, and merchandisable sidekicks of Disney movies.
For older kids and adult fans, the story offers plenty of drama, suspense and action as the rabbits make their way through an idyllic landscape that turns out to be quite treacherous. It's all set against beautifully designed backgrounds and enacted by realistically drawn rabbits, all convincingly differentiated from each other. The superb voice acting is performed by a notable cast who treat their characters with as much gravity as they would Shakespearean roles. Complementing the drama is a music score that subtly and effectively accentuates the emotional twists and turns of the proceedings.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about how the film compares to the book. Which do you like better? Would you have done anything differently if you were making this film?
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Kid, 12 years old
February 17, 2010
AGE
My advice - watch it at the age of twelve, no problems.
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AGE
Bloody, and Highly Disturbing
I saw this movie when I was very young, being that it looked like it was a childs cartoon from the vhs cover. I was very wrong. I saw this probably when I was 5, and to this day when asked about the most disturbing movie I've seen, this instantly comes to mind. Seeing clips of the movie reminds me just how terrifying it is.
PARENTS: This movie is based off a book written by a WWII veteran who wrote the book based on his time in the war. Trust me when I say this is NOT suitable for kids, in ANYWAY!
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AGE
A Beautiful Movie, Not For Children
A group of courageous rabbits set on a journey to find a new warren after their old one is suspected to danger by humans. Beautiful mastered animation. Violent scenes prove to be too violent for children under ten.
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AGE
O.o
This movie was weird. It was very voilent, had lost of bloodshed, and kinda freaked me out. There's one scene that really, really unsettled me.
Truth be told, I'd never reccomend this film to anyone with small children. It's just. . . Creepy.
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AGE
Beautiful, engaging story -- but very realistic death and violence
This is an excellent adaptation of Richard Adams' masterpiece novel about rabbits trying to survive in the English countryside. The beauty of both the book and film is that they treat the rabbits with utter realism, even while humanizing them. They live, die, eat, and poop just like real rabbits -- yet they have society, culture, and even religion, just like any human community. That dual-view gives a perfect view of creatures at once different and similar to us. A brilliant storytelling approach akin to Aesop and other great myth-makers.
Make no mistake, though: that realism can be upsetting. The film, while animated, depicts rabbits with personalities you can identify with being injured and killed with vivid bloodiness. This may well upset young children, and even some adults. But, frankly, death is a part of life and children need to learn that. In our urban world, we shelter our kids from that natural cycle to a neurotic degree that would baffle our farm-reared ancestors (or contemporaries). A movie like this, that shows
life-and-death consequences without the sanitization or (even worse) cavalier sadism often present in what is foisted off as children's entertainment today is of real educational value.
Still, be cautious before showing it to kids under 10, or older kids (or adults) who are easily disturbed. This is a fine movie for a wide swath of ages, but it is by no means a "kids" movie.
- mm
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AGE
a lot of bloody violence and the term piss of is mentioned onced
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AGE
Full of heart and emotion but VERY graphic.
Suprisingly this movie is indeed very graphic.We see rabbits killed on-screen and there are ALOT of bloody scenes.I would say,only for teens/adults who can deal with rabbits being beaten to death.Deffinately NOT for children.But overall the story has alot of meaning of life and morals.I cried on the ''Bright eyes'' scene where one of the rabbits are close to death and the so say,black rabbit is leading his brother to him.Very touching,yet very graphic.Lots of blood.And Quite disturbing for some viewers.
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AGE
Great but Scary
Although this is a thrilling and wonderful film, there is a lot of parts which may scare children under 12. I watched it when I was 10 and even then I was really frightened and was edgy&bad nightmares for a good few weeks. I would love it, if it wasn't scary and gorey. There is some bad language - a swear word used once or twice. Great film though.
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Kid, 12 years old
December 10, 2010
AGE
Perfect For Teens Who Love Horror Flicks, But A Big *NO* For Younger Kids
I don't even have to watch this movie to see how bad and scary it is. DEFINABLY not supposed to be only PG.
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| Topics: | book characters, wild animals |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Director: | Martin Rosen |
| Cast: | John Hurt, Richard Briers, Zero Mostel |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 72 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | November 1, 1978 |
| DVD release date: | March 26, 2002 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
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