how old should a child be before they watch jaws ?

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.

mrgardener

My 7yr old watched it. He said it was boring. Which for a lot of 7yr olds, it probably is. Too much "talking" maybe. Theres probably more action in the Chipmunks!

Mike Litoris

Yeah, I think I saw it when I was about 8 and thought it was a bit boring but the Clint death scene absolutely horrified me so that made it cool. Saw Jaws 2 around the same time and thought it was much better so go figure...

Enjoyed 1 infinitely more in my 20's and consider it one of the greats.

CornWallises38

I watched it with my Dad when I was about ten or so. The only fright I got during the entire film was during the infamous , "head scene". As for Quint's death scene I found it more jaw droppingly amazing than terrifying.

I'd say let the kid watch it. I didn't develop an crippling phobias after it, so it should be okay.

WoollyRedHat

I watched Blair Witch when I was like 12.. now that was scary, especially if you were in the scouts

Jaws, didn't find remotely scary

Ullrich

I think you can have your son watch the movie if you are with him. Of course there is a possibilitie that he will be scared but thats life

I wouldn´t be the one I am today without some of the scars from my youth when I watched scary movies. :rolleyes:

WHIP IT!

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

I watched Blair Witch when I was like 12.. now that was scary, especially if you were in the scouts

Jaws, didn't find remotely scary