51 replies to this topic

[Dustin]

I wonder, is there a version of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSCRE for five-year-olds? One for all ages perhaps, too?

Questions...

[Turn]

Anybody remember about 10 years ago or so there was a company offering to take movies with "objectionable" content and cleaning them up for a more family-friendly audience? They were doing so without the approval of the studios and didn't last long.

 

Most young kids watch things selectively to begin with. They'll be engaged in action scenes and by colorful settings and bored during dialogue and other scenes more adult in nature.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

My rule is that when my son knows how to read (usually around the age of 6 in Finland), he's free to watch a Bond film if he is interested. Here in Finland Bond films are subtitled so there's no point in trying to "convert" him earlier. There aren't much objectionable content in Bond films and current childrens animations seem to become more violent/actionpacked every passing year - compared to some japanese of american kids animations Bond is really safe stuff! 

I won't allow him to watch Friday the 13th or The Exorcist for instance before I find him to be mature enough, meaning not before preteenage anyway.

Edited by AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän, 20 September 2013 - 04:06 PM.

[Dustin]

I'm somewhat sceptic about that idea of 'converting' one's kids in general. In the end it's up to them whether they catch fire for a thing, regardless how soon or how often they are exposed to it. My parents tried for years to wake my interest in the concept of cleaning up my room. No such luck, I moved out long before I became a convert. My daughter was the one who made the idea seem a necessity...

[David_M]

I don't know that I'd agree you have to be "mature" to watch the Bonds.  Maybe the reverse, actually.  Where we're running into trouble is that some of the entries veered so far into the realm of outrageous (even farcical) excess that they were perceived as "kid friendly" (or even "kid-oriented"), but taken on the whole the entire series is kind of hard to categorize as all that "grown up."

 

Consider:  people are shot, stabbed, electrocuted, dropped from great heights, etc but on the whole death is a fairly bloodless, mess-less affair just a step up from anything on the A-Team, or Dr Who.  Some of the violence can be pretty cold-hearted in motive, but in terms of visuals, it's about on par with gunfights in an old Roy Rogers western.  Villains meanwhile are over-the-top mustache twirling types in the Snidely Whiplash mold; there's never much ambiguity about which side is "good" and which is "evil."  Bond sleeps around, but there's few "sex scenes" per se and rarely anything more daring or "raunchy" than what you'd see on an episode of "Friends."  In other words, everything is already sanitized and prettied up to the point where it's not "realistic" let alone "provocative" or "exploitative," so right out of the gate we're halfway to "kid appropriate" anyway.  For a series where sex and violence play central roles, the filmmakers have always seemed interested in going beyond merely "tasteful" and well into "family friendly."

 

The Craig era challenges this theory, I grant you, but only so much.  Sex may be a degree steamier, but it's still not graphic.  People may bleed a bit more, but there's still no real gore.  We may be beyond running across the backs of alligators, but now we're surviving falls from 300-foot bridges and other assorted nonsense.  

 

There was a time, even in my lifetime, where Bond was a "controversial" choice for a hero because he was, in the end, a paid killer, and because he "slept around" and drank and smoked, etc. By now those traits hardly make him unique.  Almost every movie superhero kills now, Iron Man is a babe hound, and so on.  It's less clear where to draw the line.

 

 I'd argue that ultimately the Bond series is for kids; it's just a question of how old a kid.  At 48, I feel I'm an old enough kid to enjoy it.  But I'm not planning to share it with my 10- or 8-year old any time soon.  And I have a sneaking suspicion when I do get around to it, it may not hold their attention, anyway.

[Guy Haines]

I wonder, is there a version of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSCRE for five-year-olds? One for all ages perhaps, too?

Questions...

I've mentioned more than once my introduction to Bond as a child through my local cinema, The Portland. (Later known as The Savoy.) One Bond film I still hadn't seen yet when I was nine was YOLT. One week the board on the wall of the picture house featured a forthcoming double bill. One of the films was YOLT. Brilliant, I thought - until I noticed it was in a double bill with, of all films, "Soldier Blue" (Presumably it was a double bill meant for fans of Donald Pleasence, as he was in both movies, although I doubt that had crossed the mind of the cinema manager at the time!)

 

So much for my plans - I wouldn't be let in the flicks because 50% of the bill had a then "X" certificate.

 

And I'll never forget the slogan just at the side of the two film posters for Soldier Blue and YOLT - "Good, wholesome family entertainment!"

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

I'm somewhat sceptic about that idea of 'converting' one's kids in general.

He either likes it or not, I won't be ramming Bond down his throat. I'll just say that "This is something you might like" and put on Goldfinger. He already likes the music, especially the Bond theme. I am certain that some awareness of the Bond phenomenon will creep into his mind anyhow and he'd be then interested to know what the fuss is all about.

Edited by AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän, 21 September 2013 - 08:36 AM.

[Jim]

Given the appalling slaughter and relentless shagging that goes on in The Bible, I'm rather amazed anyone Biblically-inclined frowns at letting their offspring watch Bond films.

[Dustin]

I wonder, is there a version of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSCRE for five-year-olds? One for all ages perhaps, too?

Questions...

I've mentioned more than once my introduction to Bond as a child through my local cinema, The Portland. (Later known as The Savoy.) One Bond film I still hadn't seen yet when I was nine was YOLT. One week the board on the wall of the picture house featured a forthcoming double bill. One of the films was YOLT. Brilliant, I thought - until I noticed it was in a double bill with, of all films, "Soldier Blue" (Presumably it was a double bill meant for fans of Donald Pleasence, as he was in both movies, although I doubt that had crossed the mind of the cinema manager at the time!)

So much for my plans - I wouldn't be let in the flicks because 50% of the bill had a then "X" certificate.

And I'll never forget the slogan just at the side of the two film posters for Soldier Blue and YOLT - "Good, wholesome family entertainment!"

Reminds me of that curious case of FROST/NIXON which was rated 'R' but in some countries was rated '6 years and above'/PG. The R rating obviously takes into consideration that you need a certain matureness to endure two hours of dialogue, let alone appreciate it.

I was initiated to 007 at 9 (almost 10), long before Bond films were shown on TV. My luck was Moore was the Bond of the day, a spectacularly popular actor whose PERSUADERS and SAINT was still on air at the time and a staple diet of many kids (we were the first generation to grow up primarily in front of the telly; thank heavens for the quality television of the early 1970s). Moore did a publicity appearance in a popular prime time Saturday evening TV game show, complete with trailer snippets from TSWLM. The whole country saw it and flocked to theatres the next week to watch the film. Queues longer than those for JAWS ensured the film was topic number one in most kids playgrounds and so I (and countless others of my generation) was allowed to see it at the cinema. Three times.

I was enormously impressed and of course became a fan right from the start. But I have to admit the scenes of dialogue started to bore me after the first stint and neither was I very fond of that singing part at the start, which in my view needlessly delayed the fighting-shooting-racing part. But I was hooked enough to want to get more of the same and so I picked up two books by Fleming, GOLDFINGER and MOONRAKER. I sometimes wonder what would have become of me if there had only been THE SPY WHO LOVED ME available at the newsagent...

[Dustin]

I'm somewhat sceptic about that idea of 'converting' one's kids in general.

He either likes it or not, I won't be ramming Bond down his throat. I'll just say that "This is something you might like" and put on Goldfinger. He already likes the music, especially the Bond theme. I am certain that some awareness of the Bond phenomenon will creep into his mind anyhow and he'd be then interested to know what the fuss is all about.

Indeed, hardly conceivable one can grow up today without actually getting an idea about Bond and his adventures. Also probably much more likely to catch his mind than stamp collecting or astronomy.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

Until the demise of Finnish Board of Film Classification Bond films were all restricted from anyone below 16 and at least Thunderball and Diamonds Are Forever were cut until the first DVD releases, but domestic films which many had lots of swearing and even nudity were for all ages. I guess it is partöy cultural, since almost every Finnish child above the age of 1 has seen their parents naked due our sauna culture and swearing isn't seen as huge societal plague as in anglosaxon countries...  

[Major Tallon]

Given the appalling slaughter and relentless shagging that goes on in The Bible, I'm rather amazed anyone Biblically-inclined frowns at letting their offspring watch Bond films.

An amusing observation, but Jim, without meaning it I'm sure, makes my point.  I could read my kids the Nativity story without qualm, but I wouldn't have tried to explain "The Song of Solomon" on a bet.  Likewise, I was judicious in showing my kids Bond, and a lot of other films.  We all have our ways of parenting, and these were the choices that were right for us.

[Guy Haines]

 

 

I wonder, is there a version of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSCRE for five-year-olds? One for all ages perhaps, too?

Questions...

I've mentioned more than once my introduction to Bond as a child through my local cinema, The Portland. (Later known as The Savoy.) One Bond film I still hadn't seen yet when I was nine was YOLT. One week the board on the wall of the picture house featured a forthcoming double bill. One of the films was YOLT. Brilliant, I thought - until I noticed it was in a double bill with, of all films, "Soldier Blue" (Presumably it was a double bill meant for fans of Donald Pleasence, as he was in both movies, although I doubt that had crossed the mind of the cinema manager at the time!)

So much for my plans - I wouldn't be let in the flicks because 50% of the bill had a then "X" certificate.

And I'll never forget the slogan just at the side of the two film posters for Soldier Blue and YOLT - "Good, wholesome family entertainment!"

Reminds me of that curious case of FROST/NIXON which was rated 'R' but in some countries was rated '6 years and above'/PG. The R rating obviously takes into consideration that you need a certain matureness to endure two hours of dialogue, let alone appreciate it.

I was initiated to 007 at 9 (almost 10), long before Bond films were shown on TV. My luck was Moore was the Bond of the day, a spectacularly popular actor whose PERSUADERS and SAINT was still on air at the time and a staple diet of many kids (we were the first generation to grow up primarily in front of the telly; thank heavens for the quality television of the early 1970s). Moore did a publicity appearance in a popular prime time Saturday evening TV game show, complete with trailer snippets from TSWLM. The whole country saw it and flocked to theatres the next week to watch the film. Queues longer than those for JAWS ensured the film was topic number one in most kids playgrounds and so I (and countless others of my generation) was allowed to see it at the cinema. Three times.

I was enormously impressed and of course became a fan right from the start. But I have to admit the scenes of dialogue started to bore me after the first stint and neither was I very fond of that singing part at the start, which in my view needlessly delayed the fighting-shooting-racing part. But I was hooked enough to want to get more of the same and so I picked up two books by Fleming, GOLDFINGER and MOONRAKER. I sometimes wonder what would have become of me if there had only been THE SPY WHO LOVED ME available at the newsagent...

 

Yes, sounds a lot like my initiation into the world of Bond seven years earlier. A TV quiz called "Screen Test" showed the bob-sleigh chase from OHMSS, I was watching and that was it - I was hooked. When it came to DAF, I went to see it aged ten with my mum at the Granada cinema in Mansfield, Notts. The queues were 'round the block! I didn't think we'd get in, but we did, and forty years on I still have the souvenir programme. And yes, TSWLM did brilliant business too, if the packed out Odeon I went to in Nottingham was any guide. (Oddly enough, the first time I was turned away from a Bond because the cinema was sold out was in 2006 with CR - and then again last year with SF.)

 

I thought Bond was on TV, certainly in the UK, before 1977. I'm almost certain I watched DN on ITV in 1975. As for the books - good choices. Goldfinger & Moonraker are both favourites of mine. Not sure if Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me would have given a first time reader a true taste of Bond in print - hence Christopher Wood's rather good adaptation of his own screenplay for the film as a novel.

[Dustin]

I thought Bond was on TV, certainly in the UK, before 1977. I'm almost certain I watched DN on ITV in 1975.

Sure, only I didn't grow up in the UK. No 007 on the tube for me back then. When I heard in those days about traditional broadcasts of Bond I went downright dizzy with envy and seriously tried to talk my father into buying one of those new 'video-recorders' (then priced roughly the equivalent of a small car) and arrange for someone to record me the Bonds and send the tape. Thankfully he pointed out there was an old Bond film rerun at theatres nearly every month and by the time of MOONRAKER I had seen all but OHMSS.

[Odd Jobbies]

Connery  =  everyone

 

Brosnan  =  everyone

 

Craig       =  adults

 

Dalton     =  those with adult pretensions

 

Moore     =  children

Edited by Odd Jobbies, 23 September 2013 - 08:18 AM.

[Daddy Bond]

@ChickenStu:  I'm trying to process what you mean by "somewhat Christian"?  You either are or you aren't.  With that said, I'm not sure Bond is appropriate for girls that age.  However, you may want to consider a special DVD player sold by a company named "Clear Play".  Clear Play provides flash drive files you load onto the DVD player, it then recognizes the movie and then loads a filter for that movie.  You can remove any language and suggestive themes/nudity from the movie...it's usually pretty seamless.  However, as far as I know, they only sell a DVD player and not Bluray.  You may want to check it out as it is a great tool for movies and families with younger kids.

[SecretAgentFan]

An even better tool which does not even fill the pockets of businessmen with dubious perspectives on culture: think for yourself.

 

And really, once again the best help for this is: look at the official ratings! That´s what they are for! Why are some parents here so eager to disregard them? Sure, sometimes parents cry foul when they believe a movie that should be R-rated gets a PG-13. But the other way round? "Hey, this Bond movie is PG rated. But couldn´t I make it a G?"

 

Mind-boggling.

[ChickenStu]

However, you may want to consider a special DVD player sold by a company named "Clear Play".  Clear Play provides flash drive files you load onto the DVD player, it then recognizes the movie and then loads a filter for that movie.  You can remove any language and suggestive themes/nudity from the movie...it's usually pretty seamless.  However, as far as I know, they only sell a DVD player and not Bluray.  You may want to check it out as it is a great tool for movies and families with younger kids.

 

Sounds interesting! 

 

Could you imagine putting a Scorcese movie into it? The film would probably only last about three minutes! 

[00 Brosnan]

I think the only thing to avoid would be the Connery films simply because you have young girls and there's definitely "men are superior, women are sex objects" ("Man talk" and casually smacking girls butts come to mind) vibe in these films. Nothing wrong with that as that's just how it was during the 60s. The sexual innuendos in all the films are likely to fly over their heads though.

 

Still, it's hard to recommend things for other people's kids because every kid is different. Personally, I'd start with something like Casino Royale or Tomorrow Never Dies. Both have strong (mentally and/or physically) women in important roles and aren't so old they could potentially turn off a young kid.

[SecretAgentFan]

I think the only thing to avoid would be the Connery films simply because you have young girls and there's definitely "men are superior, women are sex objects" ("Man talk" and casually smacking girls butts come to mind) vibe in these films. Nothing wrong with that as that's just how it was during the 60s. The sexual innuendos in all the films are likely to fly over their heads though.

 

Good thing, we are in the 10s of the new millenium where women have no other choice but being sex objects and men are, well, still considered superior. But the sexual innuendos in today´s culture are probably too massive to be recognized anymore, they surely will fly over anyone´s head.  And if not, one can just be discarded as "old school". At least Miley Cyrus´ manager would say so.

Edited by SecretAgentFan, 17 October 2013 - 10:12 AM.

[Hockey Mask]

 

However, you may want to consider a special DVD player sold by a company named "Clear Play".  Clear Play provides flash drive files you load onto the DVD player, it then recognizes the movie and then loads a filter for that movie.  You can remove any language and suggestive themes/nudity from the movie...it's usually pretty seamless.  However, as far as I know, they only sell a DVD player and not Bluray.  You may want to check it out as it is a great tool for movies and families with younger kids.

 

Sounds interesting! 

 

Could you imagine putting a Scorcese movie into it? The film would probably only last about three minutes! 

 

Put in disc.

Close tray.

Eject.

[DaveBond21]

I have started to do this with my kids who are 8, 5 and 2. I am mostly showing them sequences rather than entire movies, because I think most of the movies are rated at least 12.

 

What I have shown them, that they loved is the following:-

 

- the last 30 minutes of FRWL

 

- the last 30 minutes of Octopussy

 

- the Paris scenes and San Francisco chase in AVTAK

 

- YOLT car chase and Kobe docks fight

 

- DAF car chase in Las Vegas

 

- the PTS of TSWLM, AVTAK, Moonraker, TWINE.