BSA206, Watership Down review, 30 August, 2016

Watership Down
research answers to the following...
Director and year made:  Martin Rosen 1978

source material film was based on
Book Watership Down by Richard Adams
This is a really good book. My dad read this to us, and I reread it as an adult, so my strongest memories are from the book.

what rating did the film receive?
Watership Down would be rated PG today says BBC
In the UK, the film was originally released with a U classification because it was considered "low in sex, violence, profanity etc."  But people, adult and child, have been complaining for 30 years about the "trauma of dead bunny rabbits".
How often have people complained about the rating?
Richard Adams, the author, wonders if he made the book too dark:
complaints to BBFC
We also regularly receive complaints about classification decisions made years, sometimes decades earlier. Watership Down was rated U for film in 1978 and for video in 1987 reflecting our classification system and standards at those times. There were a few complaints from parents at the time who felt the film was too upsetting for very young children. The category has not changed since then, and we continue to receive one or two complaints about the film each year (more when a new edition of the DVD is released) despite the widespread familiarity with it over the past 30 years.
Write your own review of the film and provide your own opinions in regards to the following...
what are the main themes?
Is the film suitable for children?
Would you recommend this film?
Lastly, BBC and Netflix are remaking Watership Down as a child friendly four part mini-series with toned down violence.  Do you think the story will work well in this format?

The main themes covered by Watership Down are freedom, oppressive government control, and persevering against all obstacles.  The rabbits flee from a complacent society when Man threatens to destroy them and encounter a variety of social/governmental constructs: the defeated, the enslaved, and finally, the oppressed police state.  Like George Orwell's Animal Farm, people seem to think that animal=adorable and movies about them should be tame.
I can't figure out why they're complaining when The Hobbit (1977) features ugly Hobbits and Gollum creeping around moaning about "The Precious".  Dear Lord- this is the Nightmare Factory, people.

It's an entirely suitable film for children- the right children, at the right time.  The right 5 year old is going to love the gore and the wrong 13 year old is going to complain about bad dreams until the end of time.  What can you do- everybody's different.  Parents can either risk it or actually do some research before they plop their kids down in front of the TV.  I don't believe in making filmmakers pay for it when parents aren't willing to supervise or talk to their kids about what they're watching.  I'd recommend the film as it's quite beautiful. But I did play Bridesmaids for a group of 11 year olds and Labyrinth to mixed results, so I'm not the one to ask.   I'm happy that they're going to remake the film because the longer format will give the story more room to breathe.  I'm not happy about this "dumbing down" of the story, or specifically, the violence in the story, because the struggle the rabbits go through is so emotionally satisfying and creates sympathy for them as characters.  I'll watch it when Netflix releases it.