Narnia - just back - PG - who are they kidding?

[SecondhandRose]

Scary war scenes, with very frightening faced warriors. An awful lot of subtle killing. Poor Edmund in chains & being hit in the face by the queen.

Mmmm, I wouldn't take little ones. My nearly 11yr old DS said it was a bit scary.

Thing is, Rey, it depends on the child. DS2 (4.75) said it wasn't scarey at all.

I thought it was fab.. totally brill. I loved it.. it had everything as far as I am concerned... unicorns.. mermaids; the lot!

DD (age only just 7) and DD's friend (age 5) loved it too and were not scared at any point.

It's fab. But long (2.5 hours although you don't notice this.)

SJ x

Re the link that Mistletoo posted, what a complete load of old bollocks that Poppy Toynbee has written! Wonder what mind-bending drugs she can have been on when she wrote that?! Silly old tart! The wonder of Narnia has passed entirely over her middle-class pseudo intellectual head! Sad cow...

"Poppy Toynbee" indeed. Who does she think she is!

I'm sorry but I am going to stand up for Polly Toynbee, and I loved the narnia books for the magical story when I was a kid, and I still love a lot of it now, but I do think she has a point about the way Lewis depicts christianity

I took my dd at the weekend, she is 5.5 and it was her first trip to the cinema. The fighting dcvenes didn't bother her in the least, she looked more worried when the faun first appeared (they both scream) and when the witch yells at Edmund. It's a great film, and I think the guardian article is a load of crap. I've only skimmed through it, but if there is any truth in disney and christian alliances, it's prob just a ploy by disney to earn more money and publicity.

The christianity stuff is only there if you look for it, otherwise it's simply a magical tale.

Exactly ChristmasDragon. Some people just insist on dissecting things (fairy tales now!) with a fine tooth comb and criticsing for the sake of it. I don't give a f* about religious connotations.. real or imagined.

ive just put the BBC version one on for 6 yrs old SD and she is already frightened so lucky we didnt have the Narnia dvd showing at piccys now...SD is very sensitive and easily get upset!!

I took ds (nearly 10)to see it and we enjoyed it but I think he was only just old enough to see it.

I understand the Christian message thing but honestly don't think most children would realise. Good vs Evil, noble sacrifice etc are par for the course with most fantasies.

However, now I've seen the film another thing has struck me. In their normal lives the children are living through a war and have no way of knowing if Britain will win. Their father is away fighting for their freedom which is exactly what they are doing in Narnia (freedom from the witch's power). Also Aslan is almost a father figure. And aren't a lion and a unicorn on the royal coat of arms? I think Aslan represents wartime Britain, when ordinary men and women could make huge sacrifices for a cause they believed in. Their power was in sticking together as the Pevensey children eventually did.

Crikey, that all sounds very pretentious doesn't it?! It's just never occurred to me that's all. Polly Toynbee can go get stuffed btw! I'll bet she didn't think all those things when she first read the book, she probably enjoyed it as a thrilling story like the rest of us. Of course, a writer has to have an angle!