I was a little curious about that too -- it wasn't neearly as bad as I was thinkin' (most of that stuff is pretty subtle -- don't want to go into spoiler territory), but, you know, I'm not a little kid, so, I'm probably not the best person to ask about that stuff. It's a bit darker than the other two, not nearly as happy/feel-good as the others, but I figure you'd kinda gather that, since it's about Darth Vader and all.

I'd say it'd depend on how old/mature your kids are. Like, if they're young and squeamish about stuff, they might want to wait. If they don't really blanche at anything, go for it. (There is one or two scenes that might be Nightmare Fodder -- won't say what it is, spoiler -- but for the most part it's pretty OK.)

You might want to go see it before-hand, but that could also be seen as sorta taunting the kid if you decide it's Too Much for them, heh.

Movie-wise, though, it's very good. Recommended! (Feel free to email me if you want me to actually mention what the particular spoilers are -- I think my email's in my profile... if not, let me know and I'll give you the address. Or you can probably figure it out, since I'm all a paid LJ user, and so I've got the username at livejournal.com forwarder thing.)

Hmm -- yeah; that might be a good idea to steer them away from this for a few years (at least Matthew, anyway, but since you said he's the one who's more indifferent towards the film, that might not be so bad). I know the movie's a PG-13; I'd say that 10 or so might be a good age (though it's always hard to say that, as kids are different all across the board, but just sorta thinking aloud), but you might want to see what Melissa says, too, since she actually _has_ a kid that age, where I'm just sorta thinking back to when I was around that age.

But yeah -- it sounds to me that you'll probably want to pass on this for a while. The violence could be much worse (most of it does take place off screen), but there is still a bit, including one or two bits that are kind of disturbing, especially for younger viewers. It's not nearly as kid-friendly as the other films. (And as I was talking about last night, it'll be kind of odd for kids who saw Episode I (and to a lesser extent II) and really identified with Anakin, heh.)

Laurel has been exposed to a fair amount of animated violence (her bio-dad played video games every waking moment he was at home) so I was most concerned about the big fights toward the end. She was more interested in the light sabers and Yoda than anything else, so she wasn't watching the parts I thought would be most disturbing to children because she was more interested in going to the bathroom or coloring.

I agree with revme that it's not as kid-friendly as the other episodes.

I don't expect great acting in the Star Wars films, just exciting action scenes and a sufficient value of Jedi knights, so I was satisfied. Laurel's mostly interested in light sabers and Yoda right now, so it was good for her too. I hope you enjoy it!