how old should a child be before they watch jaws ?

godscop

My son is 8 and he wants to watch jaws, im unsure i dont want him terrifed.

Rasmus

I watched JAWS when I was a kid, don't remember being scared. Is there many sharks in your area where it might be possible your child could develop a phobia?
Depends on what kind of things scare you child (and you!). I'd let mine watch JAWS but not Poltergeist for example.

godscop

No sharks in my area, well a few human ones. I think i will let him watch it. Jaws did scare the hell out of me when i was a kid.

suicide_circus

Its actually quite a slow movie, lots of suspense and dread with only a handful of nasty scenes. Its a good quality horror, not like the jump a minute crap that gets pumped out today, it requires some patience.

IamMetaldave

Isn't it 18's? I don't think it's near as violent as some films that are rated at todays standards.. That are much lower rated. It'd probly cool to watch it with him.. But Rasmus has a point, if comes to you in the future with a phobia of sharks, you know who to blame

Delirium

I thought it was rated PG

I may well get a grilling for this but my 6 year old daughter has seen it. Now, I'm one of the biggest scaredy cats on the planet but she has loved scary things since she was very small, she finds being scared very entertaining!!! She actually found Jaws funny. I would put it on the same level as the gremlins, there are some kids (and adults) who find the gremlins scary, but she loves it.

I'm rambling sorry!

The point I'm trying to make is that it depends entirely on your child's personality rather than his actual age, if you think he might be too scared, then perhaps you are right

godscop

He watched gremlins as wasnt scared. He was bored to be honest. Thanks jaws tonight it is. I will be more scared..toes and feet up on the couch !:o

NoQuarter

Rasmus wrote: »

it might be possible your child could develop a phobia?
.

IamMetaldave wrote: »

But Rasmus has a point, if comes to you in the future with a phobia of sharks, you know who to blame

A bit ridiculous imo. 8 is old enough to watch it by far. I watched it multiple times as a child, the only adverse affect it had on my life was the 700 euro it cost me to fly to South Africa to dive with the real great whites!!

Damn film.

godscop

NoQuarter wrote: »

A bit ridiculous imo. 8 is old enough to watch it by far. I watched it multiple times as a child, the only adverse affect it had on my life was the 700 euro it cost me to fly to South Africa to dive with the real great whites!!

Damn film.

Was the dive good ?

Noffles

Ah let them watch it... it's a classis and very entertainig.. my lad watched it when he was about 6 I think.... and must of repeatedly watched it dozens of times!

Decuc500

I saw it when I was about 10. The only effect it will have on him will give him a love of movies all his life!

godscop

Decuc500 wrote: »

I saw it when I was about 10. The only effect it will have on him will give him a love of movies all his life!

So true, its the film that did it for me.

NoQuarter

godscop wrote: »

Was the dive good ?

Probably one of the best things ive ever done. And im certain im going to happily pay the money again to do it another day.

TheIrishGrover

Decuc500 wrote: »

I saw it when I was about 10. The only effect it will have on him will give him a love of movies all his life!

Yeah, I reckon 10 is about the right age. Remember for every jump and dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun moment there are long periods of quiet, dialogue-driven scenes. Remember the Indianapolis scene? Fantastic scene. My favourite. But would he be interested in said scenes or does he just wanna watch that scary, jumpy shark movie?

Having said that, as Decuc said, Jaws is a brilliant film to get him interested in movies

SeaFields

My 6 year old nephew has seen all the "Jaws". He's obsessed with them and with sharks in general. He cant get enough documentaries on the subject either or public aquariums when he's on holidays. He'll prob be a marine biologist

CokaColumbo

I let my 9 year old cousin watch Jaws and it scared him, especially the scene where the guy is scuba diving, approaches the wreckage of a boat and then this disgustingly disfigured head emerges suddenly (that gave me a fright as well to be honest).

He also got very scared by the dementors in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (petrified you might say, haw haw) so perhaps he's just a little timid.

godscop

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Yeah, I reckon 10 is about the right age. Remember for every jump and dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun moment there are long periods of quiet, dialogue-driven scenes. Remember the Indianapolis scene? Fantastic scene. My favourite. But would he be interested in said scenes or does he just wanna watch that scary, jumpy shark movie?

Having said that, as Decuc said, Jaws is a brilliant film to get him interested in movies

He might find some scenes boring due to his age. But he wants to watch it and he loves movies. Its probably alot to do with the legend of jaws. He saw the dvd in the house and i told him about it.

Auvers

SeaFields wrote: »

He'll prob be a marine biologist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u8KUgUqprw

mike65

The average child will not find Jaws very much of anything. Its a film with a lot of scenes where very little or "nothing" is happening with plenty of chit-chat between the protagonists who have their various crosses to bear. I'd say it could be a wasted experience and one that might put the little fella off seeing Jaws for years to come.

How the hell did he find Gremlins boring? :eek:

NoQuarter

NoQuarter wrote: »

A bit ridiculous imo. 8 is old enough to watch it by far. I watched it multiple times as a child, the only adverse affect it had on my life was the 700 euro it cost me to fly to South Africa to dive with the real great whites!!

Damn film.

I've never seen a signature so apt when posting in a thread. It's like a gay shark.

When I was about 8 or 9, my parents let me watch One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. I haven't actually seen it since then, come to think of it.

Back then, movies were rated a lot different. Hell, some of the things that 12A movies get away with are pretty damned dark. I remember sitting in Stardust and being unnerved.

Ironman76

Jaws was one of those movies I would watch over and over on video as a kid as young as 6-7. Wouldnt see any harm in it at all.

bonerm

I saw it when I was about 7.

The only bit that shocked me was where Quint gets bit in two by the shark. By comparison the 'head' scene (famed for being the first scene in the movie to have people jumping out of their seats) didn't scare me at all.

Based on this I think if anything the 'suspense' in Jaws is wasted on a kid because they haven't built up enough psychological fears at that point to feed into the movie-making.

mirror mirror

i watched when i was about 10 or 11,i reckon thats what has me fu@@ked in the head now.

Ardennes1944

i watched it when i was 8 and still watch it everytime i see it on. it has made me scared of swimming far out in the ocean though. they scare the **** out of me.

Professey Chin

I was 6/7 when I saw it. Although I saw Aliens before that so I think it muted it a bit for me :pac:

Harrocks

A true classic wish i was 8 and seeing it again for the 1st time.There are not to many movies nowadays that you would remember scenes or particular lines from.Jaws is one of those movies that sticks with you.Let him have a look.Its pretty mild by todays standards.

bellapip

O H D E A R G O D

Back yourselves away people.

I watched Jaws when I was six years old. My uncle Sammy brought myself and my best friend Janet to see it. We went to the old cinema at the top of Dorset street where the wax museum formely hung out.

Can I just say that at the time, the ripe old age of 6, my plan was to be a swimmer. I went to the Vincent De Paul pool on the Navan Road twice a week and when I was not there I dreamed of being there, at that point I was a fast little swimmer, but nothing great.

I was brought to see Jaws.... I cried for Three nights.... I was then brought to the pool for the event of the year, the pyjama race (In the feckin poolllll)!!!!!!!!!!!!
I beat the other competitors by about ten minutes, as soon as I got in the water I became convinced that Jaws could get out the wall behind me, I was like a scene from a movie on FFFFFWWWWWDDDDDDD...
At one point I jumped out of the pool and when the whistle blew I got such a fright I jumped back in, realised I was in the water and was so petrified I swam to the other end in a split second....

It did great things for my collection of 6-7 year old Gold Swimming medals, but jaysus even up to the ripe old age of 20 I still freaked in the water if anything touched off my legs or my feet,


DO NOT LET THE CHILD WATCH IT.......

SERIOUSLY.......

Bella

Mickeroo

All professional swimmers are shown jaws at an early age, trade secret that

NoQuarter

If you child thinks there could be a shark in the swimming pool id say you've failed as a parent already!

Sad Professor

IamMetaldave wrote: »

Isn't it 18's?

koth wrote: »

I thought it was rated PG

It is actually rated 15 over here. 12 in the UK. According to my DVD case anyway. Sometimes they change the rating on subsequent releases.

I was definitely younger than 10 when I saw it. I'm not sure it would have had the same impact had I been older.

nyarlothothep

It strange when I think about it but I found It to be terrifying and strangely compelling at the age of 8/9 but aliens or robocop 1 and 2, although scary were considered really cool and rewatchable. But something as cheesy and lame as IT had me looking under the bed and worried about gigantic spiders.

BengaLover

My daughter was 6.. she's catching up with the terminator movies at the mo and loves the new Dr Who series.
And no, she's never had a nightmare.

DazMarz

I doubt an 8 year old would be terrified of Jaws tbh. By today's standards, the violence and 'nasties' in it are not that bad. It's also a superior film and they could watch a helluva lot worse!!!

Otis Driftwood

I agree with most posters,it cant do any harm,especially if he wants to watch it himself.

I have a friend that has a couple of sons similar in age to your own and like me,he is a horror fanatic.

He started the lads off watching stuff like Gremlins,Critters,Jaws etc,then graduated them to stuff like Army of Darkness,Poltergeist and similar movies.They are 2 of the most normal kids you could ever have the pleasure of meeting and neither of them have ever had a nightmare.

Let us know how he enjoys it!

Das Kitty

I watched Jaws when I was 7. It scared me so much I threw up for a few days after. Developed a terrible phobia of the sea. Now there were other intense and upsetting things happening in my family at the time so maybe I transferred all the bad feeling onto the film? Dunno, I'm not a psychologist.

Funny thing is I'm still afraid of the sea but Jaws is one of my favourite films now.

jaykhunter

I'd say 8. But with anything it depends on the child and how you present the film. If you brace them for it and watch it with them it'll be fine

Mickeroo

Sad Professor wrote: »

It is actually rated 15 over here. 12 in the UK. According to my DVD case anyway. Sometimes they change the rating on subsequent releases.

I was definitely younger than 10 when I saw it. I'm not sure it would have had the same impact had I been older.

Nearly sure it was PG when i was a kid. otherwise my parents wouldn't have let me watch it!!

godscop

He watched jaws and loved it. He was scared ****less for parts, but thats part of the enjoyment. He also watched E.T and loved it. He was getting very teary near the end. Next up the goonies..:)

Phony Scott

Sad Professor wrote: »

It is actually rated 15 over here. 12 in the UK. According to my DVD case anyway.

I looked at your post and thought thats got to be wrong. I always thought it was PG here as well. Sure enough, it's a 15 over here, though it says PG on the disc I have for the UK, not 12. The 12 is for the extras. Oddly the IFCO rated the extras PG despite a few f-bombs either in the documentary or the deleted scenes/outtakes, surely that's an automatic 12?

Mickeroo wrote: »

Nearly sure it was PG when i was a kid. otherwise my parents wouldn't have let me watch it!!

I'm pretty sure it was back in the day and, correct me if I'm wrong, the IFCO didn't do certificates for video until sometime after 1993, so all you would have seen on videos prior to that was the BBFC cert. Hence, Jaws had a PG cert on video.

Phony Scott

Just to add, I would definately let an 8 year old watch the film. If you show them 'Jaws 2,' they'll be drawing sharks attacking helicopters all day long in school the next day!

WHIP IT!

Holy sh*t Batman, very weird - I've only just bought Jaws for my 10YO this week and planned on heading to the 'Parenting' forum to see if people thought she was old enough! Very spooky... that ever happen anyone else?? Head over to boards to start a thread and someone's already started an identical one?? No?? Just me... :pac:

Anyway, I'm sure I was about 8 when I watched it ad I specifically remember watching it with all my bros and sis's (one younger, three older) so while it's scary, it's still a family movie.

Oh, and it's 12s, not 18s or PG according to the copy I bought.

common sense brigade

No harm in letting him watch it- its a classic movie and a rite of passage. Be proud he is showing good taste in movies. Jaws is more of a suspense build up. Its the new kinda gruesome horrors like hostel etc that i would be wary of. hate torture films! . Curl u together and enjoy.The scene on the boat with Dreyfuss and schneider and the captain is brilliant. I think they were really drunk and making up their own lines. its class.

common sense brigade

common sense brigade wrote: »

No harm in letting him watch it- its a classic movie and a rite of passage. Be proud he is showing good taste in movies.

Just common sense I suppose

paky

godscop wrote: »

My son is 8 and he wants to watch jaws, im unsure i dont want him terrifed.

i watched nightmare on elm street, childs play, jaws and rawhead wrex when i was just 5. i turned out fine, really in did...:cool:

WHIP IT!

common sense brigade wrote: »

No harm in letting him watch it- its a classic movie and a rite of passage. Be proud he is showing good taste in movies. Jaws is more of a suspense build up. Its the new kinda gruesome horrors like hostel etc that i would be wary of. hate torture films! . Curl u together and enjoy.The scene on the boat with Dreyfuss and schneider and the captain is brilliant. I think they were really drunk and making up their own lines. its class.

I'm sure I read that Quint's monologue was taken from something else, a book or something? Brilliant scene... Is "We're gonna need a bigger boat" the best line in the history of cinema??

common sense brigade

My fave part in Jaws is Quints speech about the Indianapolis

'So eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen come out, the sharks took the rest, June the twenty ninth, 1945.' Quint takes a drink. 'Anyway, we delivered the bomb'

'swimmin' with bow-legged women'.

Classic

Auvers

common sense brigade wrote: »

The scene on the boat with Dreyfuss and schneider and the captain

the "USS Indianapolis" monologue the was first written by playwright Howard Sackler, lengthened by screenwriter John Milius and rewritten by Robert Shaw.

Bus77II

I saw it in a hotel room one night. I must have been up late becuase I was excited about being away or something. I don't remember being too scared at the time, but afterwards I got one of my most memorable and scary nightmares.

In my dream the sharks could come out of the water and walk on their fins. Ate one of my neighbours in the most gory way possible.

WHIP IT!

Bus77II wrote: »

I saw it in a hotel room one night. I must have been up late becuase I was excited about being away or something. I don't remember being too scared at the time, but afterwards I got one of my most memorable and scary nightmares.

In my dream the sharks could come out of the water and walk on their fins. Ate one of my neighbours in the most gory way possible.

Lucky they couldn't do that in the film itself... Schneider saying "We're gonna need a bigger Range Rover" might not have had the same enduring effect

paulosham

Any child over Eleventeen should be allowed to watch Jaws.