Star Wars -- isn't DS too young?

[hillview]

DS1 is 4.5 and says "everyone in his class" has seen star wars. Specifically he means 3 boys who are his age (or 6 months older). I can't imagine letting him see Star Wars but it has been YEARS since I've seen it. Anyone remember it well?
/hillary

[AnnieW625]

FWIW we got our VCR when I was 6 or so and my parents either rented it from the video store or got it off tv so I think I was 6 or 7 when I saw it so my brother was 3. A year later he saw Return of the Jedi in the theater at 4 or 5. DD has seen bits and pieces of Star Wars. DH and I both like the original 3 movies
so we watch them every so often. It's honestly better than Power Range or anything else that has action in it on TV these days!

The only scene that ever really freaked me out was the scene at the beginning of Empire Strikes Back where Luke has to deal with the abominable snow man type character. I'd fast forward through that all of the time.

(ever since I found out my dad went out and saw Star Wars on the night I was born I have had a special connection to the movie....he he!)

[brittone2]

My kids are really sensitive. DS is almost 6 and would have nightmares. It would be totally out of my comfort zone although I'm sure there are many kids my DS's age who watch. But it wouldn't be a movie my DC could handle (yet).

[Melaine]

I think that my siblings and I probably watched it at that age, but my dad would zip through certain parts. There is one scene specifically that shows the charred skeletons of Luke's aunt and uncle. I will say that my parents were typically very VERY careful of what we watched but I think Star Wars was so near and dear to my father's heart that it was an exception to the rule!
I am prepared to tell my children that no matter what their peers may do, we will still have certain rules, so I'm just waiting for that to happen.

[egoldber]

The first ones from the long ago dark ages of my childhood :ROTFLMAO: are relatively tame. The newer ones, not so much. They are much darker.

If they have older siblings, they may have certainly seen Star Wars already.

[SnuggleBuggles]

It's really not that bad, especially episode 4. We knew them well enough that we could tell ds when to look away. We didn't do #6 till he was older and he hasn't seen the newer ones.

Beth

[Laurel]

Some of us who grew up watching the original trilogy are very nostalgic and have introduced out kids a very young ages. At least that is my excuse. My kids don't watch anything (else) violent but have both seen the original films, and are obsessed with them.

[egoldber]

There is one scene specifically that shows the charred skeletons of Luke's aunt and uncle.

Yes this is the one scene that I was thinking of. And it is sooooo brief.

And the second one has the scene at the end where Luke loses his hand. But there is no blood or anything.

Princess Leia in the bathing suit is your call. ;)

[Elilly]

DS is 5 1/2 and has not seen Star Wars. He does have the Leapster games but that is as far as I am willing to go at this point.

[KpbS]

IME Star Wars has become super popular with the under 8 set again b/c of the Clone Wars movie. That is when all of the merchandising exploded with Star Wars themed items. I've found that some 4-6 year olds have seen the original movies but most have just seen the cartoon (maybe on Cartoon Network?) and maybe the Clone Wars movie or bits of the older movies. We haven't gone that route. DS1 is very sensitive and it would be too much for him. He loved playing "star wars" at preschool, which for him was running around pretending to shoot. All of the boys were way way into it :) Some collect all toys etc. We are riding this one out.

ETA Some very good friends have seen the first and second movies--at ages 2 and 4/5. I would describe them as obsessed with the story and all of the characters. They can talk for hours (days) about it........... :dizzy:

[Cheburashka]

It depends on your child. I remember watching it all the time when I was little (apparently my favorite part of A New Hope was when a stormtrooper bonked his head on a door, I'd make my dad rewind that 4 or 5 times). IIRC, the first movie is the tamest. The skeletons are the worst part, and they go by a lot faster than you think. I was more traumatized by Luke nearly falling off Cloud City in Empire Strikes Back than any of the violence.

[KrisM]

There is one scene specifically that shows the charred skeletons of Luke's aunt and uncle.

It took me until much older to even notice that the skeletons were in that scene for some reason.

I saw Episode 4 in the theater at age 6.

DS1 has seen it and Empire Strikes Back and he's 5.5.

[AnnieW625]

It took me until much older to even notice that the skeletons were in that scene for some reason.


yes same with me.

[Raidra]

I think Lachlann was still three when he saw the original SW movies. They're pretty tame, to be honest, especially in comparison to movies nowadays. Movies labeled as familie comedies sometimes have more violence. There's some violence, but any death is 'clean' - ie, not gory at all. I know my cousin was watching them when she was 3 or 4, too.. she's 16 now. I think it's easier for kids to ignore the parts that might be a little scary, since the violence isn't as in-your-face. I didn't see the original movies 'til I was in high school for some reason, and I don't think I even noticed the skeletons on my first viewing.

The newer movies are a little darker, in order. Phantom Menace is the least scary and each one gets progressively worse. My husband and I had agreed not to show the third until the kids were much older, but then in a fit of insanity (while I was out) he showed them part of it, including where the clone troopers kill all the Jedi. Colwyn was a little traumatized by that part because he really idolizes the clones. I know other 6 year olds who have seen the whole movie (minus Anakin killing the children) and weren't phased at all by the Jedi getting killed.

ETA: Colwyn was very interested in Return of the Jedi where Vader turns good at the end. I think it was an interesting example of how a person can be good, but make lots and lots of mistakes, and still choose to do right in the end. He talked about it frequently after first watching it.. how Vader was bad but then Luke helped him to be good again.

[lizzywednesday]

I saw Jedi in the theaters. I was 5, my brother Ger was 2.

We made Jabba the Hutt out of Play-Doh for the next several months and I wanted an Ewok for a pet.

They also had an Ewok themed Ice Capades within the year after the movie.

IDK that I would willingly watch the new ones with my DC, but the older ones are BIG in our house now!!!

BTW, here's an article from Slate about one family's experience with the Star Wars flicks and their little boys:

http://www.slate.com/id/2215160/

[Twoboos]

DDs are 6 & 4. They have seen all of the SW movies - well, most of them. They only watch while DH has the remote to skip scenes we/they don't like. (Emperor, over the top fighting, Aniken getting burned up, other parts deemed "scary" for some reason, etc.)

They LOVE SW and all the characters. Which is fine w/me, I grew up w/SW and love it, too. DD2 wants to marry Chewie!!

It's true that the first three (ep 4, 5, 6) are almost laughable now with how tame they are compared to "modern" movies!

Ahhh, how I did love Luke Skywalker. :love-retry:

[ehmom]

my ds really got hooked on the first trilogy when he was about 5. my dd, who was 4 at the time, did find parts of it too frightening. we ended up just watching episode 4 for about the last 45 minutes on the movie. this part seemed the most interesting for them with lots of action and a happy ending.

[ezcc]

My DS had seen all of them by the time he was 4 I think, DD has seen them since she was a baby since they were on a lot. Agree with the others, the original 3 are pretty tame. We did wait a little longer for the second 3, but I think he was still only 5 or 6.

[wolverine2]

I thought my 5-year old was too young, but I never thought about it much- perhaps he's not. I remember being very mad at my mom for not being allowed to see Empire Strikes Back at the theater (I think I was 8). DS has only heard of Star Wars from friends at school, and sometimes comes home talking about "Dearth Fader" and "RBD2." :)

[shishamo]

MY daughter is 5 and she has seen Starwars, Indiana Jones, etc. It is all because she is my third- my first child saw Finding Nemo at age 4 (his first movie) and was scared to death, and didn't watch anything for 2 years or so after that.

[rlu]

Last spring when DS was turning 5 DH and I had this discussion as some of the kids at his preschool talked about Star Wars all the time. DS didn't realize there was a movie (and still doesn't) so it was pretty easy to decide to not watch. We did ask him what he knew about Star Wars and mostly he talked about good guys and bad guys and "livesavers". We went with that and let it go. Now he's in K and more kids have Star Wars backpacks and talk about it. We got the Star Wars easy reader books from the library and he ignored them. Not at all interested in reading them. He asked for a livesaver and Lego Star Wars which we were able to get him for Xmas (the lightsaber came to us unknowingly in a "bag of toys" off freecycle!) and that's as far as we have had to go. If he knows there's a movie, he isn't interested enough in it to ask to see it.

I still look away from the skeletons - DH didn't even realize they were there so I had to point them out.

When DS wants to see the movies, we'll start at A New Hope. I plan to dig in my heels and slow down the process before getting to the second-released trilogy since I think it is a lot less kid-friendly.

We also discussed Potter (reading the book and/or movie), but he does not seem to be aware of Potter yet so we have time.

eta: I think I was 9ish when A New Hope came out - I think I passed on the first go around and saw it when they re-released it right before releasing Empire a few years later.

[Moneypenny]

I know several kids in the 4-6 year old age range that are Star Wars nuts (bedrooms done in theme, etc). DD hasn't seen the movies yet, but then DH and I aren't that into them so it will probably be a while.

[Piglet]

My boys have both seen all of them. They love them. The older one saw the original 3 episodes when he was around that age. The new episiodes are not very good and are more graphic, so we help off until he was 7 and beggnig to see them. DS2 has benefitted from DS1 wanting to see them so he has seen them all too. I LOVE Star Wars and think the first one is very simple - like a western. It is pretty tame, honestly.

[pb&j]

DS is 4 and has seen Episodes 4, 5, and 6. He only watched part of 5 and 6 - kept asking for the original one, lol. I think he's too young for them, but it's one of those Netflix movies that DH slipped him. He knew all about Clone Troopers long before he saw the movies - we've never seen the cartoon, but I guess kids at school have. And some of the boys in our neighborhood play with their light sabers out on the playground, so he had an awareness of that.

I was 2.5 when Episode 4 was out in theaters. I remember crying because I was not allowed to go see it, and my sister (who was 5.5 at the time) was.

I think it's really sweet that DS will tell bedtime stories involving Darth Vader that usually feature DS as a police officer who takes Darth Vader to jail, tells him to behave, feeds him juice and graham crackers, and then plays with him because now he's nice. :ROTFLMAO:

[hellokitty]

I was hesitant to let my boys see it. However, it was the same thing. DS1 went to preschool last yr and ALL of the boys in class had seen it and kept referring to it. We finally let the boys watch the SW movies (new, original and clone wars) a few months ago. They really like it and didn't really get freaked out. I actually prefer the live action movies to the clone wars cartoon, b/c I think that there are too many guns in the clone wars version. This past Christmas was BIG on SW in our household. DS1 got a huge AT Walker and DS2 got a millienium falcon. They talk about SW everyday and DS1 has the lego SW book and loves it. Their favorite movies are the one when anikan is in the pod race and the one with the ewoks. I remember liking the ewok one the best too as a kid.

[Gena]

I saw Star Wars in the theater when it first came out; I was about 4.5 years old. It's the first movie I remember seeing. My mother swears that she took me to see Disney movies before that, apparently they failed to make an impression on me because I don't remember them at all.

I also saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the theaters later that year. I don't remember being scared of either SW or CETK. I do think that these two movies started me on my life-long love of science fiction.

DS has seen parts of the SW movies, but doesn't sit through a whole movie. He seems to like the parts he's seen.

[s7714]

A large percentage of the boys in both my DDs' preschool classes had seen Star Wars by the time they were 4.5-5. It seems to be a topic that comes up for discussion every year because there's always at least one Star Wars themed birthday party which leads all the moms to start talking about who's DCs have seen what and when.

My DDs, who are ages 4 and 6 (almost 7), have both seen episodes 4, 5 and 6. They haven't seen 1, 2 and 3 yet, but probably will soon. We watch the Clone Wars episodes on TV as a family all the time. They think the female jedis are the coolest thing and quite frankly I'm happy to see them admiring some kick a*s females instead of just woe-is-me princesses for a change.

Neither of my DDs were scared by things in 4-6. I was concerned about things like the aunt and uncle's skeletons and when Luke gets his hand cut off, but none of those things phased my DDs. I think a lot of the stuff just is way over their head at this point. For instance we keep trying to explain that Anakin from the Clone Wars "grows up" to be Darth Vader who they've seen in the movies, but they think that's just silly and can't connect the two since the storyline is so complex (to them).

ETA: Both my DDs fell in love with the Star Wars Star Tours ride a Disneyland long before we let them know about the movies. As soon as they realized the movie and the ride where related, it only made them that much more interested in the movies.

[fauve01]

OP, here is a link to a site where there are descriptions of what's in the movie and what may be objectionable. There are parent reviews too, IIRC. I searched for Star Wars, so those movies are in this link, but you can search for any movie (also video games) on this site.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/search/star%20wars%20moviestat:%22Movies%20on%20DVD%22%20 media:Movie

HTH,
Anne

[ladysoapmaker]

My now 6 year old's favorite movies are the Star Wars Series. She's been watching them regularly for about 1 year and a half. I will admit I'm a geek and I totally love the original 3. I like the fact there is no really gratuitous (sp?) violence, very little blood and at least with episodes 4-6 the story line is good. She tends not to watch episode 3 and as with all of our kids we do get some interesting discussions from the movies.

Good luck with your decision.
Jen

[alexsmommy]

Another one who let her DS1 watch it. It has made a complete comeback. He's seen Episodes 4,5,&6 (so the ones we saw as kids) and Clone Wars. He does scare somewhat easily and was uneasy during a few scenes. I'm not sure which since DH was the one to sit with him and watch for this exact reason. Now he's over it and loves them and wants me to purchase the DVD's. Any time it's on tv he wants to watch them.
He also wanted to see Indiana Jones and we let him watch all but the very last few scenes. DH said he was spooked by that and he was older than DS when he first saw them. DH is waaaaay more lenient about tv/movie viewing than I am (though he respects the limits I set) so for him to say that meant he really didn't feel DS was ready for it.

Chances are DS2 will see all of this at a much younger age than DS1 only because of being the second and we already own moveis that I would not typically buy for DS2 until he was older.

[lmintzer]

My boys (ages 8.5 and 6) have seen episodes 4, 5, and 6. We watched them roughly 6 months ago.

I had mixed feelings about showing them to my then 5 year-old. But he is is the kind of kid who would just walk away if he were bored or upset by something on the screen. He doesn't seem to internalize things he sees on the screen.

My older son would have had a hard time watching at 5. In fact, at 8, he cried when Obi Wan died. (I actually thought that was very sweet.) He'd be mad if he knew I was sharing about it!

I think it really is kid-dependent. And birth order dependent. I am more liberal with my younger son than with my older.