UNCUT - Watership Down (1978)

I think I saw this somewhere around age eight, presumably because, "It's a cartoon, for kids, right?" 😆 It was certainly memorable.

This movie messed up lots of little kids when it came out! I was about 15 & saw it on HBO in late 78/79. Loved it!

Now you need to watch "Night Of The Lepus!" You'll love it, trust me!

This movie traumatized all us Gen X kids.

I've heard of this movie for a long time, and I've seen clips of the bloody scenes, so I thought I was in for more of that than there actually turned out to be. After watching it for the first time along with you guys, overall I thought this was a solid movie but hard to classify. It would be a kids film if you toned down the violence, yet they went pretty gruesome in a few places which is such an odd choice and really kind of muddies the waters on what this movie is or rather who it's for. I pretty much feel the way you two did by the end. Glad to have seen it once, but I probably won't watch it again. Some good animation and music, including some parts that were more creative than I had anticipated, but past that and the surprising bloody stuff, it's.... fine. I'll always think of Alien when I hear John Hurt's voice.

Oh boy, I can’t wait to watch this! As a Brit raised in the 80s, this was a staple of my childhood. Hilariously, upon original release the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) awarded it a ‘U’ rating for ‘Universal- suitable for all’ - the British equivalent of ‘G’. The BBFC did not adjust this to ‘PG’ until 2022, after grudgingly admitting that they had received complaints about the films rating almost every year since its release.

Ooooo this one is good. Some nice trauma for the kids. You guys should watch Plague Dogs, too

I just wanted to first say, thank you Alex and Josh, besides your amazing love and dedication to Star Trek but to react and give me an excuse to re-watch Watership Down has been really emotional. Being born in '83 here in the UK, Watership Down was a Christmas movie before I was 10. For those great members viewing this movie for the first time and might be thinking "This was a kids movie!?", well all I have to say is that this movie teached me to be kind, caring, respectful and most impotently have empathy for all life but also understand death. Thank you Josh and Alex in given a new gen to discover this movie/

Watership Down is the name of the hill where the rabbits establish their new warren. The book was a bestseller when it was published. I've read it several times over the pas 40 years, but I'd never seen the film until today. As is typically the case, the book is much better than the movie (at least in my opinion). Despite the destruction of the original warren to make way for a housing development, mankind is portrayed as dangerous but not necessarily evil. In fact, in the book, after Hazel is attacked by the cat after setting the dog free, he is rescued by Lucy, the young owner of the hutch rabbits, and is taken to a vet to be treated. He is then set free on the down. In the film, Hazel's escape from the cat is glossed over and not explained. The story at the beginning is a creation narrative told from a rabbit's perspective. The legendary El-ahrairah, the Prince of Rabbits, is the chief figure in their folklore. He is renowned for his cunning and his use of trickery to outwit his many enemies. At the end of the book, when Hazel is close to death from old age, he overhears a doe telling a litter of young rabbits the story of the escape from Efrafa and the defeat of General Woundwort, but her version has mythical overtones and she relates it as one of El-ahrairah's exploits. The implication is that the various stories of El-ahrairah scattered through the book were actually about deeds performed by their ancestors, but the stories over time became part of their folklore. But just as you begin to think that El-ahrairah is only a myth, he appears to Hazel as he is dying and invites him to join his Owsla.

I read the book as a kid - so the deal with Cowslip is that they're baing kept for food. The man provides them with food so they don't have to leave their warrens but the price for all that easy living is every now and then some has to be sacrificed. Watership Down is the name of the they settled on. It is a real place where the author grew up.

Rabbits live 8 to 12 years. John Hurt who voiced Hazle also played the dying eccentric millionaire in Contact.

The scene of Captain Holly's describing the destruction of the Warren by the construction company, scared the shit out of me when I was about kid. But, I loved it. I simply never saw stuff like that anywhere else.

I've been looking forward to this.

I was 11 years old when this came out and I wasn’t allowed to go see it, That was 1977, I did finally see it in 1994. It took a long time to find it on video. It was worth the wait the watch and I loved it.