Originally Posted By Ursula I am not a parent. I saw Prince Caspian last night with a small audience. Everyone loved it but the thoughts of those with children in their homes were very happy to see it first to determine if it was okay for their kids. One parent knew it was too violent for her 8 year old daughter. One aunt thought it was too scary for her 9 year-old niece. One parent couldn't wait to see it with his 10 year-old son and knew it was perfect. Another parent said her 9 year-old (girl) also would love it. So there you go. I do want to give ONE spoiler to parents. This isn't a big deal to say, but there is a human birthing scene that is loud and scary if you don't understand what is going on...and might lead to questions, so I wanted mindful parents to know about it. One parent said they would just skip that part of the movie since she knows where it is in the film now. So there. I'm not giving away anything, but because I know of lot of parents on here, knowledge is a good thing!
Originally Posted By greenbean I also saw the film last night and thought it was pretty appropriate for most ages in that it handled the battle scenes well. I am a person who dislikes the use of blood and violence and found that this film was still exciting (for parents and older ages) but was not too much for younger children (obviously you do have to take your own children's sensitivity into account.) And was expecting there to be lulls in entertainment but in the end I realized there wasn't a moment where I was bored and was fully invested in everything on screen at all times! I also liked that the humor was for all ages. It wasn't inappropriate in any way but definitely something that both I and a younger demographic could enjoy. I actually laughed alot.. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it!
Originally Posted By Ursula ^ Me, too. I realy was surprised in how much I enjoyed the film. What did you think of the birthing scene? Too much for kids or a good way to get them talking about the realities of life?
Originally Posted By jdub If I'm going to watch something like that, it's not the BIRTH I want to see~
Originally Posted By greenbean Honestly I didn't think the birthing scene was too much. I had to think hard to even remember it. I think it was because i became so engrossed in the movie after that point it was hard to recall. There were just so many wonderful scenes that seemed much more important and memorable. I'm sure children would focus on the many other great parts of the movie for discussion...
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Overall, I thought the movie was really well done. I'm not sure yet whether or not I like it more than the original, but it is certainly close. This one seemed to be a little more heavy-handed with the symbolism, but it really worked for me. It seemed a lot more relevant (I hate that word) with things I've been experiencing in my life, so that definately connected to me a lot more. It was an overall darker movie (both literally and figuratively) than the first, but already knowing the characters helped it move along better. As for the birth scene, it was definatley a little suprising, but it wasn't too bad. It didn't show anything inappropriate, but it caught me off guard. In the grand scheme of things it really didn't seem to be one of the memorable scenes from the film, but it surprised me when I saw it. More random spoilers below as I sort of ramble about my feelings on the movie... And for what it's worth, I really want a picture of Lucy standing on the 'other' side of the bridge with the dagger that says "Speak softly and carry a big stick." That scene just made me really happy. Another thing that really worked well for me was the "Maybe you're just not looking for him" line. It may have seemed a little heavy handed, but it really just seemed to summarize a lot of things that I've run into in my daily life. There were many little things like this that really added to the overarching themes of the movie that brought it to another level. While these themes were in the first one, they were much more hidden, so it was nice to see them take a risk and put it out in the open more. I'm not familiar with the books at all, but I really enjoyed the movie. The end was a little confusing, since Aslan said that the older two wouldn't come back since they learned their lessons, yet that didn't really come across that much in the movies. The first movie showed that Edmond learned his lesson (as referenced a couple times in the second) and the second one was about Lucy learning her lesson. Yet they seemed to kind of ignore the other two learning much of tangible value and they are cited as the ones who have learned their thing. Maybe Aslan saw them as just being hopeless?
Originally Posted By Kira <<The end was a little confusing, since Aslan said that the older two wouldn't come back since they learned their lessons, yet that didn't really come across that much in the movies.>> I think Peter learned a great lesson in this film. I haven't read Prince Caspian yet, so I am not sure how his lesson comes across in the book. From what I understand, after seeing the movie tonight, is that Peter (the oldest) learned his lesson when he decided to invade the castle/fortress with small numbers of Narnians. When he calls the forces back and finds many Narnians left behind trapped behind the gate, you see the pain on his face when he realizes the consequences of his decisions. That battle scene was a huge lesson for Peter. Lucy obviously found a new strength and bravery in herself and I am quite happy with the way it played out. I was getting a bit tired of seeing her as the "young child" who was highly underestimated. Edmund, as you said, learned his lesson in the first film. Susan (the second oldest) is the only one that remains a mystery to me. Maybe her lesson could be considered letting go of love for a greater good? Her character seemed the most unchanged to me.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I have read the books, but not for years. As I recall, my impression was that it was solely age related. This is totally an old memory though!
Originally Posted By oc_dean C.S. Lewis borrowed heavily from his colleague J.R.R. Tolkien. The bit with the trees .. the battle scene on that green lawn ..reminded me too much of the battle on Pilinear fields in front of Minus Tirith, the water stream .. with the crushing water .. barring down on "the bad guys" on the horses. Over all ..... The Narnia films so far are not capturing my attention. There seems to be too much of a random nature ... with no CLEAR story .. and a CLEAR threat ... As Tolkien did so well with the threat of Sauron. Characters who sort of come in .. and out ..without any clear development. It's sort of clear it's 1300 years later .. that the kids return to Narnia. But who exactly tells them they need to return. Oh .. a tap on their backs in the subway terminal ... and a little dialog .. "it's magic". Ummm .. I don't buy this lack luster way of telling a story. And I felt that way with most of this second Narnia film. And why does the lion not come in and help earlier? That does not exactly make a sense .. and it's not clear why he shows up at the end. So ... given what the producers had to work with ... the production values were absolutely GREAT! But I'm not exactly the largest fan of C.S. Lewis way of telling a story. With characters sort of coming .. and going ..... there's no real connection .... nor could I find myself carrying about what's going on. I had empathy and sympathy for Frodo .. and the burden he carried. I left the theater though .. barely having a connection with Prince Caspian ... and even far less with the main characters. Have to say ... the shots in Poland, the Czech republic, and New Zealand ("Middle Earth") .. were FANTASTIC!
Originally Posted By indiana_jones88 When Caspian blows the horn, it calls them back. They don't just randomly come back
Originally Posted By Dlmusic <<C.S. Lewis borrowed heavily from his colleague J.R.R. Tolkien. The bit with the trees .. the battle scene on that green lawn ..reminded me too much of the battle on Pilinear fields in front of Minus Tirith, the water stream .. with the crushing water .. barring down on "the bad guys" on the horses.>> Umm...Prince Caspian was published in 1951, the Lord of the Rings was published in 1954/1955. So it would really be the other way around. BTW, the crushing water destorying men on horses is really in neither book exactly. Both movies took artistic licenses to make the scenes more exciting. <<There seems to be too much of a random nature ... with no CLEAR story .. and a CLEAR threat ... As Tolkien did so well with the threat of Sauron.>> The Narnia books do not all have a common villain, however I'm surprised that for Prince Caspian it's not very obvious that the villain was King Miraz and the Telmarines in general. <<Characters who sort of come in .. and out ..without any clear development.>> I agree that the characterizations aren't incredibly strong in the films. However, the book is better in this IMO. <<Oh .. a tap on their backs in the subway terminal ... and a little dialog .. "it's magic".>> The book did this better as well making it more obvious of the horn calling the kids. Also, in the book the horn is blown after some time is spent trying to thwart the Telmarines. Essentially the night raid scene which is completely made up should not involve the kids at all in the book's timeline. <<Ummm .. I don't buy this lack luster way of telling a story. And I felt that way with most of this second Narnia film.>> I did think that this movie suffered from a thiner story that it needed to have, especially when it came down to characters. So many characters were changed (In the book Prince Caspian is more of a wide eyed 13 year old, Peter is not an angsty teen and Susan is becoming distant from Narnia not actively engaging in warfare) and in the end I found the movie to be too different than the book to be completely enjoyable. Maybe if I hadn't read the book I would enjoy the movie more, but I just didn't agree with many of the changes.
Originally Posted By bigthunderranch Back to the topic... I would like to see the movie with my young son. For those who have seen the film, what age should be the cut-off. Thanks!
Originally Posted By christiemarsh88 I hope this will help you: It's a little more scary than National Treasure but much less scary than Pirates. That's about all I can say on this issue. I guess I would say this movie is on about a 10/11 year old's maturity, but it just really depends on your kid. But if they've seen either of the movies I mentioned earlier, then I think they could handle Prince Caspian.
Originally Posted By basil fan I know this is old, but I agree that I would let my kids (if I had 'em) see Prince Caspian before any of the Pirates films.
