love

Author Topic: Bridge to Terabithia  (Read 2715 times)

secondcitywolverine

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 487
  • It Stinks!
    • Dad's Secret Stash
Bridge to Terabithia
« on: January 19, 2008, 01:48:54 PM »
Just watched this on DVD. I read the book when I was younger and remember it being one of the few books I've ever cried to while reading. The film I think is pretty good. For a family film that has to deal with some pretty big topics (poverty, abuse, death) I think it does a great job. There are very few "cheesey" moments for a film that I believe all ages would enjoy. Only major problem I had with the film was the inclusion of songs that must be on the soundtrack, they just didn't fit in.

Anyone else see this? Thoughts?

pixote

  • Administrator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 34237
  • Up with generosity!
    • yet more inanities!
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2008, 02:50:44 PM »
I saw this back when it played in theaters, so my memory of it is pretty vague.  I do remember thinking it was a passable adaptation of the book, with few if any real great moments, but also few truly bad moments.  The relationship between the boy and his father (which I didn't remember from the book) felt awkwardly handled at times, but I liked that they at least tried to handle it.  I was a little disappointed, I guess, but then again I had gone in with unusually high expectations, hoping for like a more considered version of My Girl combined with the fantastic elements of P.J. Hogan's Peter Pan.  It didn't quite work out that way, but I was still glad I saw it.  If nothing else, it provided me with a good underdog Visual Effects candidate for the Filmspots.

pixote
« Last Edit: January 19, 2008, 02:52:17 PM by pixote »
Great  |  Near Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Fair  |  Mixed  |  Middling  |  Bad

crumpet

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 961
  • slithographer
    • CrumpArt
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2008, 03:13:07 PM »
The father thing was very much there in the book — it's not something they made up for the film.

I really enjoyed this.  I saw it in the cinema.  It's a book I loved  and was devastated by as a kid, and I was worried that the film was going to focus way too much on the fantastical stuff (from my viewing of the trailer), but thankfully they stayed pretty true to the story.  I thought the two kids did a great job.

secondcitywolverine

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 487
  • It Stinks!
    • Dad's Secret Stash
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2008, 10:53:15 AM »
I agree the father-son relationship did seem a little off. Little explanation, in the movie that is, of why the father doesn't talk to the son. May be due to the fact he's the only boy of the group.

Also glad that the fantasy-stuff wasn't a big part of the picture.

andyg

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 386
    • My Site
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2008, 12:07:54 PM »
Never read the book but film surpassed my admittedly low expectations. Definitely got a little dusty around me in the second half.

happynobita

  • Junior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 35
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2008, 06:16:51 AM »
Had never read the book and went to see it from the good Rotten Tomatoes rating. Really enjoyed it. My theater was a bit dusty, too.
"My dear boy, if God had intended for us to walk, he wouldn't have invented roller skates."

Lugosi

  • Junior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 49
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2008, 06:01:01 PM »
I can definitely relate to other people's dusty theater experiences.  I hadn't read the book either, and I really liked the film.  The marketing (what little there was) probably had a lot to answer for - I know that I certainly went in expecting a children's fantasy film, but it definitely wasn't a fantasy film, and I don't think it was really for children either.
"He was after my soul ... now you can get that out of any major orifice of a person's body - I read about it" - Elvis

fallguy

  • Junior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 32
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2008, 04:11:46 PM »
I can definitely relate to other people's dusty theater experiences.  I hadn't read the book either, and I really liked the film.  The marketing (what little there was) probably had a lot to answer for - I know that I certainly went in expecting a children's fantasy film, but it definitely wasn't a fantasy film, and I don't think it was really for children either.

This one threw me for a loop. And not in a good way.

It seems to me that the entire first half of the movie is about their escape from the world through fantasy and some attention paid to the power of imagination. It's all very mild though not entirely without charm. And then, without warning, which presumably is the point, because there had been so little real conflict up until then, they drop the axe - and offscreen at that. I thought it was a ridiculous move at that point but I would have been willing to go with it, if I could find anything in the setup that promised this kind of movie or - more importantly - if they had dealt with it afterwards in any real way.

My questions to admirers of this one are who is this movie for and what is the point it's trying to make about the major event of the film?

'Cause I've got this one in the disaster file.

secondcitywolverine

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 487
  • It Stinks!
    • Dad's Secret Stash
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2008, 04:52:52 PM »
One point I think the film/story was trying to make is that there are certain things you just can't escape from, one being death, no matter how imaginary your world may seem. On the positive side, the idea that although people in our life will die and we may feel responsible (the main character going to the museum) some things are beyond our control and that although these people may be gone from our lives physically, they stay with us in our memories (she was able to get him to imagine a new world and he can go there anytime now).

Pacze Moj

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 90
    • Critical Culture
Re: Bridge to Terabithia
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2008, 07:36:24 PM »
I wish Zooey Deschanel took me places...

*sighs*

Other than that: I didn't like this movie. Thought the acting (Zooey excepted) was bad, and the film itself a manipulative tear factory. I haven't read the book, so maybe I'm missing something.
Critical Culture: cinema, literature, history.