Bridge to Terabithia [Blu-ray]

The trailer tried to make this look like another Narnia or even LOTR movie when in actuality there are about 10 minutes worth of special effects scenes in the whole movie. Thats ok. I love movies for what they are, not what they arent. Still, I am offended by the deceitful marketing. Expect a drama about two outcast pre-teens who become friends and help each other to cope with the difficulty of school, bullies, family, etc. and you will probably enjoy it very much. The acting from both of the two children leads is very good. I expect we will see great things from these two kids in the future. I enjoyed Josh Hutchinsen in Zathura as well and he seems to be keeping busy with 1-2 movies each year for the next 2-3 years. The extras on this DVD are pretty good. The commentary track with the two lead kids (and a producer) gave lots of interesting insight into how they made the film along with some funny stuff about the little sister actor and others in the cast. I recommend this movie to anybody who can sit through a somewhat slow-paced movie without much action but a wonderful story with a lot of heart - only DONT watch the trailer first. It will probably set you up for disappointed.

Id seen the trailer, but thats it. Given the current crop of fantasy movies, I was expecting a light, fluffy fantasy movie - NeverEnding Story, or the like. Boy was I ever wrong. Bridge to Terabithia was anything but light fantasy. Im glad I watched it alone - crying over movies is more my wifes domain, and I did plenty of sniffling. I dont see this as being a kids movie - nothing terribly objectionable, it just hit hard in spots I didnt have when I was a kid. The acting is very good - a good thing. Despite the trailer it was all about the characters and the story. There was comparatively little CG - no Star Wars or Lord of the Rings here. Just enough CG to support the story. Very tastefully done. My only disappointment is two bits of dialog, unnecessary to the story, that portray the usual Hollywood stereotype of Christianity. Disappointing, but not surprising, even from Disney. Aside from that one minor nit, I dont remember being hit as hard (in a good way) by a movie since I saw Apocalypse Now in the theater in 1979.

As an over-50 adult who loves to go with my imagination, I totally bought into this movie. If you let yourself simply believe you can travel into Teribithia with the characters and have no doubt that it is real. The only negative I have to mention is that I think the sadness (Im trying not to give away too much here for those who havent seen the movie) brought into the movie near the end is unnecessary. This movie is intended as a family movie, and throwing that element in is not only sad, its a bit disconcerting. Instead of walking away saying I loved it and it was filled with wonderful imagination!, I walked away saying, WHY did they put THAT in there! It actually made me and my viewing partner angry.

As the critics say in consensus, its a powerful and touching tale of love, loss and imagination. I really liked the movie through its entirety. I consider overall ratings of a movie anywhere to be an average of how much people liked it (more subjective) and its overall quality (more objective). In this case, I think some people might not like the ending (I did) or might have wrong expectations and be disappointed, but overall it is a very good movie, with great attention to detail, witty dialogues, quirky humor, talented actors and strong spirit in its story. The point being... everyone can like it or not like it, but this one is something that easily surpasses the general (low) level of production we see nowadays, particularly when movies involving fantasy are concerned. Also, I am frequently told that its childrens movie. Really, its not - it just has children as protagonists, but its not childrens movie and everyone can find something for himself in it.

The movie is not too intense as mentioned in many reviews. The only thing Id say about language is that the word hell was used repeatedly and if you dont like this word, dont show the scene where Leslie goes to church with the Aarons. Over all, really awesome and many differences from the book. The book is better.

Watched with the whole family. My 4 year old was a little confused what was real or not but her older sisters (10&8) loved it. They watched it again the next day. Very sad but well done and powerful message. If youre lucky enough not to lose somone in your life then hats off to you-but if you have then youll find this very touching. I think every kid should watch it. Reminds me of My Girl but better.

If you buy this DVD thinking that it is a full-fledged fantasy (like the commercials for the movie made it look like when the movie first came out) - you will be disappointed. This is a story about friendship between two outsiders that has a little fantasy thrown in. If you realize this, you will enjoy this movie. BTW: Parents with small children should be aware that this movie has its dark side (bullying, death, etc). So you may want to watch it first to decided whether it will be OK for your child.

This movie will pull at your heart strings and open your imagination.

I was bored on a Saturday afternoon and decided to flip through the channels. When I came to this movie it was about a third of the way into it. I cant tell you what hooked me but it brought back many childhood memories for me. It drew me back to playing with my sisters and brothers or friends in intricatly designed fantasies from our forts of cardboard boxes to the evil neighbor kid who taunted us. This movie was a way back machine and brought out some emotion I hadnt expected.It takes you up and down and up again. It made me laugh and cry. I dont often watch kids movies anymore but I was so wanting to see it from the beginning that I looked for it and bought it. I gave it to a friend who I thought could use the fantasy and now I have to buy myself another copy. I would love to have shared this with my kids when they were younger but not too young to understand what was happening.

I bought this to show my students after reading the book. I havent read the book myself since 4th grade (many, many years ago), but it seems to follow the books fairly closely. I like that it has enough differences (little things to update it) that make it easier to see of students actually read the book when filling out questions, but the main idea of the movie stayed the same as the book.