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

THIS IS NOT MADE TO BE A KIDS MOVIE! Now that that is out of the way, this film is made for teens not young children. What is fantastic about this film is that it does not depict death nicely-it tells it like it is. It is pretty bloody/ventures into the realm of gore but that is based on the style of the writer (Richard Adams). This film should be supplemented with the actual novel first so that you can gauge your child's reaction to the violence in the story before the film. I suggest parent's worried about this film find it on youtube and watch the last clip of the film which is the most bloody/intense part of the movie. If you think your child or teen can handle that then they can handle the entire movie because that is what it is. It has some good messages between the gore such as to do what you can for those you love and to honor those close to you. There are other messages but I would rather you see them for yourselves. :) Some main things you need to know at a glance: 1) Depicts the hardship of animals 2) Gore/bloodshed is abundant 3) Good messages 4) An intense ride 5) Bunnies are essentially at war with each other (warrens fight for resources to some extent) 6) Overly truthful about life If you are not sure about the movie, let me suggest the TV series (which you can find on youtube) as it does not include the gore of the film but the same stories/messages-also it is more true to the book, not skipping a beat.

My mom borught this movie home from the library when I was 5 or 6 and my brother was 3. This movie comtinues to haunt me to this day. It is terribly violent and bloody, with very serious undertones. My brother, who has virtually no memories from before he was 5, remebers the "Black Rabbit of Death" vividly. Do not show to young children before at least watching it yourself first, and definitely do not pop this into the TV while you proceed to leave your children for a few hours.

I saw this movie when I was 5. I'm 36 now and STILL remember how terrified I was. This movie gave me nighmares so severe that as an adult I still have no desire to ever watch this movie again. I don't remember much about it now, except the bunnies with red eyes and I do remember a lot of bunny-death. I NEVER plan on showing this movie to my kids.

I love how so many people just assume this is a kid's movie just because it's animated. This is based off of a novel for adults, so of course it's not for children. This movie is brilliant. It's gory, dark and disturbing... but it's disturbing in a learning sort of way. I'd recommend this film for young teens and up.

This is not a movie for little kids. It was the 70's and the rating system was just getting underway, so the PG rating is a lie. I watched this movie with my friends recently, and there's now a joke amongst us that it is possible to tell who saw this movie as a child by seeing who cringes in fear at the name. At least one line of the movie says, [spoiler alert] "dead bodies choked the exits [to the burrow]". The movie also features bloody scenes of rabbits which Cartoon Network would never show. Parents, please don't show this to your children.