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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Walt Disney Video
Salesrank: 10922
Released: June 19, 2007 |
| Our Price: $4.82 |
| Used Price: $0.79 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
FIFTH GRADER JESSE AARON'S HOPES OF BECOMING THE FASTEST RUNNER IN HIS CLASS ARE DASHED WHEN NEW GIRL LESLIE BURKE OUTRUNS EVERYBODY, INCLUDING HIM. HOWEVER, JESS & LESLIE SOON BEGIN A FRIENDSHIP & DISCOVER A MAGICAL FANTASY KINGDOM IN THE FOREST, WHERE THE TWO OF THEM REIGN AS KING & QUEEN.
Description of Bridge To Terabithia (Full Screen Edition):
Based on Katherine Paterson's young-adult novel and filmed in picturesque New Zealand, Bridge to Terabithia has lessons to impart about empathy and self-expression, but the tone is never heavy-handed. Jesse (sleepy-eyed Josh Hutcherson, Zathura), a fifth-grade loner, lives in the country with his parents and four sisters, including pesky May Belle (Bailee Madison), who adores him. His strict father (Robert Patrick, The Terminator 2) works in a hardware store. Money is tight and classmates make fun of his hand-me-downs, so Jesse finds refuge in running and drawing. Everything changes when two writers and their daughter Leslie (wide-eyed AnnaSophia Robb, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) move in next door. Leslie is faster than all the boys, which initially puts Jesse off, but the two soon bond over their love of make-believe. In the forest, they find a creek that can only be crossed by rope. Leslie names the land on the other side Terabithia, where they imagine themselves rulers of the kingdom. Jesse and Leslie also connect with their unconventional music teacher, Ms. Edmonds (Zooey Deschanel, Elf), who encourages their creativity. Despite the tension at home, Jesse's personal life is finally coming together when the unthinkable happens. Will he revert to his anti-social ways or will he grow from the experience? Though aimed at all ages, pre-school students may find Terebithia's creatures frightening. For grade-school kids and up, however, there's much to savor in this smartly written, sensitively acted film. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Bridge To Terabithia (Full Screen Edition) Reviews:
Beautiful 
2009-10-17 - Good Movie
Mainly it was the characters especialy AnnaSophia Robb (Leslie Burke)that i liked most about the movie The Characters i thought were all likable and, and the friendship between Leslie and Jess felt real,. The Movie looked very good too, the river the two kids crossed was very tranquil looking with the sun coming down on it and the CGI was used very sparingly which was nice, Other reviewers have also pointed out that the movie was advertised as though it were a special effects laiden fantasy film like the "The Adventures of Narnia" or somthing like that whcih was,nt the case.
Definetly a movie to see, but keep a few tissues handy
It could have been so much more 
2009-09-28 - Many have complained that "Bridge to Terabithia" was falsely advertised. They are correct. There is actually very little fantasy in the movie. And if that's the reason you sat down to watch this movie, it is especially disappointing because you keep waiting for something bigger to happen--and it never does. Really, it's just two kids running through a forest and imagining that giant squirrels are chasing them.
I'm actually surprised at all the raving reviews. I personally thought it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It was a terrible disappointment; the plot flow was bad, and the story seemed to keep going in circles with no real point. There was potential there, but it never came to fruition. I am sure this was a fine book, but Disney really did a terrible job here.
Because I kept waiting for a grand fantasy world (did I mention that doesn't happen?), I grew more and more bored as the movie progressed. At this point, it becomes easy to nitpick at the flaws in the story. Like how the school, its students, and its faculty seemed to be in some kind of bizzaro world where teachers turn a blind eye to some very obvious physical bulling, well-behaved kids are falsely accused and punished because adults will apparently believe any child that has a scowl and dark circles under their eyes, and female teachers take their male students out on a "special private field trip" over the weekend. Yeah. I would have glossed over the inconsistencies with reality had the story been decent. Unfortunately, it was not.
Now, of course, the big "plot twist." I thought the movie was just plain mediocre up until this point, but this one really took the cake. I am not opposed to character death, but in the context of this movie's plot (and again, I'm sure the book did better justice to this), that plot twist was poorly done, meaningless, and very depressing. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how so many others have enjoyed this movie so much. It's really shocking to me.
Either way, view this movie at your own risk. Obviously, many have enjoyed it. Although it says "children aged 7 and up," I honestly would only bring older children who have a decent handle on death and are NOT expecting to watch the Chronicles of Narnia. This is not a "feel good" movie, nor is it very fantastical. It also has a horrible pop-rock song awkwardly stuck in one of the scenes that would have done better without it. So if you don't mind a broken storyline, poorly placed abstract themes that never come together, and a depressed mood at the end, then be my guest and pick this one up.
The 1 Star Reviews Hate Misleading Trailers, but Don't Mind Spoilers
2009-09-21 - "Bridge to Terabithia" is one of the most affecting coming-of-age movies I have ever seen that is not afraid to treat its target audience like intelligent human beings. Performances by all the actors is uniformly excellent, from Hutcherson's moody and introverted Jess to Patrick's turn as the conflicted father. I'm typically annoyed by Hollywood childrens movies, which condescend the viewer, and sanitize the violence, despite the fact there is violence nonethless. "Bridge to Terabithia" does give me some faith it is possible to make an intelligent childrens movie.
But two can play at the game where its Ok to reveal the death of a main character in reviews. In "Narnia", a lion bites the villain in the face and she dies. There is also a brutal scene where a mob gathers to cheer as one character stabs another to death with a knife. Fear not though, for death in fantasy is never permanant. The death in "Bridge to Terabithia" does not even occur onscreen and is only described in vague detail. The crying and tears really comes from watching the others being forced to deal with survivor's guilt.
I should be reviewing the movie and not the other reviewers, but it just cannot be helped, since it's very telling that they hate a trailer that doesn't reveal things about the movie they are watching, but they are perfectly Ok with spoilers. People are mad this wasn't "Narnia". They went to go see it thinking it was. I find it dismaying that people would consciously spend 12 dollars to go see more of the same thing, rather than be pleasantly surprised that they saw something thought provoking. Genres shouldn't matter. Whether you saw a good movie or not is what matters.
"Bridge to Terabithia" should come with a warning: Not appropriate for audiences too afraid to form a connection with the characters they are watching.
Imaginative and Moving
2009-09-12 - This is one of the most intelligent, moving "children's" films I have ever seen. I took my four-year-old. He was scared at times, but not so scared that he insisted on leaving, as he did with Ratatouille. He paid close attention and afterward said he enjoyed it a lot. The acting and direction are excellent, the visual imagination is impressive, and the character-driven story is from the heart. Most viewers will cry at the end, but the filmmakers earn the audience's tears with honest emotion rather than cheap, manipulative sentimentality. An interesting element, seldom seen in mainstream American films, is the exposition of Jess's family's Christianity and Leslie's family's secularism. As engaging for adults as it is for children, I highly recommend this. Disclaimer: I have not read the book, so can't say whether, as is so often the case, the film compares unfavorably.
great movie
2009-09-10 - it gets sad but all n all its a must see for the young at heart
