found on tfn
i thought this would be an appropriate topic for parents if redundant close please but also beware of spoilers
Parent's Guide to Revenge of the Sith
Posted By Scott on May 6, 2005
In 1984, I remember being a kid and desperately wanting to see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The only problem was that my parents heard the movie was very graphic and that a dude’s heart was pulled out of his chest in one scene. Despite their reservations, they ended up taking me anyway and making us hide our eyes during the scene. It was certainly a memorable experience for me. It also started the PG-13 rating. Now 21 years later, I find the tables turned on me by George Lucas. I’m the parent of a young child dying to see Revenge of the Sith, but I have some worries that it might be too much for him.
In fact, many parents have asked me if I think Revenge of the Sith is appropriate for their children. My standard answer is that it depends on the kid. I took two 5 year olds to Lilo and Stitch a while back. My daughter loved it, but her friend absolutely freaked out and had to be carried out of the theater screaming. So it depends a lot on the kid. So rather than telling you to take your kids or not, I’m going to list everything that I think could potentially freak a kid out and let you decide for yourself.
Note that spoilers will follow. Highlight to read:
1. The Emperor – Make no mistake about it, the Emperor is awful scary in this movie. When he first turns wrinkled, his voice changes to an evil tone and he has yellow eyes and no hood. He’s on the screen for several long moments looking awfully creepy. This could scare a kid. But if your kid has seen Return of the Jedi, it might not be so bad for them.
2. Anakin kills the Younglings – When Anakin arrives at the Temple to kill the Jedi, he walks into the Jedi Council chamber. Hiding behind the chairs is a number of 6 or 7 year old children. They see Anakin, and a boy comes out from hiding and says something like, “There’s too many of them to fight, Master Anakin. What should we do?” In response, Anakin ignites his lightsaber and the scene cuts away. Much like the slaughter of the Sand People in AOTC, you don’t see anything, but the message gets across that he kills them. Later in the film you see the bodies of several children lying on the ground as Obi-Wan and Yoda survey the damage. The kids have no obvious wounds on them, so they look like they are sleeping. But our hero has killed children in the movie.
3. Anakin chokes Padme – Towards the end of the film, Padme arrives on the volcanic planet of Mustafar to tell Anakin that Obi-Wan is hunting him. Anakin then sees Obi-Wan emerge from hiding on Padme’s ship. Thinking that Padme is yet another in a long line of people to betray him, he flies into a rage. He raises his hand and starts to Force choke Padme. She hangs in the air choking for about 4 seconds, then Anakin releases her and she falls to the ground unconscious. It’s brief and surprisingly understated, but it’s a bit shocking to see spousal abuse in a Star Wars movie.
4. Anakin Burns – Towards the end of the final duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin, Obi-Wan catches Anakin in mid-air and cuts off both of his legs and his remaining arm. Anakin falls to the ground and proceeds to slide down an embankment towards lava. As he gets near it, his clothes catch on fire. He burns for a few seconds in full flame and you see his hair and clothes burn away. He’s then left with red eyes and charred flesh. You see it clearly in a couple of close up shots and a couple of far away shots. It’s not shown on the screen more than a few seconds. Later, as Anakin’s being turned into Darth Vader, you see him on an operating table screaming in pain as robots poke and prod him with needles. You see his full charred body in this brief shot. (My son has an intense fear of fire right now, so this would obviously terrify him.) I think the burning scene alone is what gave this film the PG-13 rating.
5. Padme delivers the twins and dies – After the final duel, Obi-Wan takes Padme to a medical center. Droids report that she’s physically fine, but that she’s lost the will to live so she’s dying. (Would a pregnant woman as strong as Padme lose the will to live? I doubt it. Anyway….) They must deliver the twins to save them. Padme screams and cries as the children are delivered by a robot. After she names them, she says to Obi-Wan that there’s still good in Anakin, then she dies. It’s not too hard to see that this could unsettle a child, especially one with a pregnant mother.
That pretty much sums up what I think would freak out a child in Revenge of the Sith. Hopefully you can take this and judge for yourself if your kids are mature enough to see it. I think if you’ve let them watch Attack of the Clones and LOTR: Return of the King, then they’re old enough to handle Revenge of the Sith. I highly recommend you just go screen it yourself first and decide based on that. For me, personally, I’m going to take my young son and daughter, then take them out of the theater or hide their eyes when there’s something I know they’ll think is scary. Out of the entire film, I believe they can handle 97% of what is on the screen.
yeah considering the lack of the word SPOILER in the title combined with the lack of spoiler tags, Id say you are gonna hear about this. Thanks for posting it tho.
it would have helped if they had spoilers in the title , but they still said spoilers before theyw ent on to the descriptions
(just tryin to cut em some slack)
you should be thankful that your children only see this on a movie screen. people all over the world deal with far greater gorry events on a daily basis such as iraq, or sudan. how about being honest with your kids for a change instead of being an overly protective, and selfish parent. lies and decieption are the ways of the dark side. may the force be with you
Thanks for posting this! My partner and I were unsure of whether to take our 5 year old to see this movie because he loves all of the Star Wars movies to date and is excited about this one. This info helps us make a more informed decision.
Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Imperial Palace, Imperial Center
I had already read this on theforce.net. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be. To me, for a PG-13, they would have shown the younglings being killed and such. I think that it barely makes the PG-13. Its just over the line or something.
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I am the Dark Side~ Sig image by Tracyn
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
There's no harm in seeing if you put it in perspective for your children. My mother was very thorough and always talked things over with me, and I don't have any urges to be emotionally scarred or shoot up a school. Parents need to be parents and not raise a child in a house of pillows. You raise your children to mature, learn, adapt, and survive outside of your protective reaches. Any parent that coddles their child and shelters them from the real world is hurting more than helping.
Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Imperial Palace, Imperial Center
I agree. My parents were really strict for a while. They got wise after a while and took me to see things that they had screaned first and talked things over afterwards.
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I am the Dark Side~ Sig image by Tracyn
My six year old's favourite movie at the moment is Hellboy (along with the Star Wars movies) so i think that earns him a seat next to me in the theatre.
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"The Capitol of this rugged slang is WU-TANG, Witty Unpridictable Talent And Natural Game". GZA
I'm going without my youngest to see it first. He's three, and the biggest 'little' Star Wars fan I know. I think he could handle it, as at the moment his favorite movie to watch is Starship Troopers, or 'The Bugs' as he calls it. I'm sure he can handle RotS, but to be safe, I'll go first. I can handle seeing the movie twice if I decide to take him afterwards.
too much violence is no good for any kid without proper perspective...
good vs evil
it's only a movie...no one got hurt, etc
I think a mature 9 or 10 year old will be fine...younger, you should probably see it first and make good parental judgement
yes terd40, there is real evil, gory, and unwarranted violence in the world. the job of a parent is to shield a youngling from it until they are old enough to process and understand that everything is not butterflies and flowers...let them enjoy their innocence while they can; I'm sure the parents of children in areas where day to day living doesn't allow time to post opinions on forums would appreciate if their children could live in innocence also ...IMHO
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Hiding from zombies
Very true. Each parent would want their child to enjoy the innocence of childhood if possible. Perhaps then a wise goal for a society is to create an environment where that is possible, instead of one where children are abused and mistreated regularly, where their thoughts are being bombarded with images and sounds from media and whatnot, from interaction with kids who aren't raised properly who may introduce bad behavior...
Bah. It's all just a mess. You could say that in a perfect world, we would not need to fear taking our kids to the movies we enjoy.
May 7th, 2005 07:59 PM
