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Bridge To Terabithia (2007) DVD Review
Bridge To Terabithia (2007) DVD Credits:
Bridge To Terabithia (2007) Directed by:
Gabor Csupo
Bridge To Terabithia (2007) Written by:
David Paterson, Jeff Stockwell, Kevin Wade
Bridge To Terabithia (2007) Cast:
Josh Hutcherson, Anna Sophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel, Robert Patrick
Bridge To Terabithia (2007) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Bridge To Terabithia (2007) DVD Release Date:
18th June 2007
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Bridge To Terabithia (2007) Synopsis:

Josh Hutcherson stars as Jess Aarons, an 11 year old boy whose efforts to be the fastest runner in his grade are thwarted by a new girl who outruns all the boys. Anna Sophia Robb stars as Leslie Burke, the new girl who becomes friends with Jess despite their awkward introduction. She ultimately opens up a world of imagination for Jess in the land of Terabithia that changes his life forever. Zooey Deschanel stars as Miss Edmunds, the music teacher at Jess and Leslie's school, and Robert Patrick is Jess Aarons' father. Together Jess and Leslie create the world of Terabithia, an imaginary kingdom filled with all manner of magical beings. While the real world of family and school may be filled with challenges, in Terabithia, Jess and Leslie rule as King and Queen. Based on Katherine Paterson's Newbery Honor award winning best-selling novel.

Bridge To Terabithia (2007) DVD Review:

What worked once must work every time afterwards, or so some studios seem to believe. Released with the tag line “From the studios that brought you The Chronicles of Narnia” and based on another loved children’s novel, Bridge to Terabithia seems to be riding on the success of a much larger film. In fact, Bridge to Terabithia is a fairly simple story and a basic film in many regards. There are many fantastic sequences, but essentially it is a film much more grounded in reality about an imaginary world two friends create together to escape their lives.

Jess Aarons is just a poor farmer’s son who can’t even afford a new pair of shoes, forced to wear his sister’s pink hand-me-downs, and as a result he is bullied and teased at school. He has no friends at school until a new girl Leslie Burke comes to the school, just as bullied but more because of her different, although obviously wealthier and more hip. Although the amount Jess is bullied at school is not much of an exaggeration as children can be very cruel for no reason at all, but the way that he is equally ignored at home is slightly ridiculous. Although the household is too poor for Jess to get new shoes his sisters lounge around the house eating incessantly and watching music videos on what appears to be cable television. This Cinderella-like arrangement that has Jess doing all of the work while the other siblings do nothing is frustrating more for the obvious ways it tries to manipulate the audience as it is an obviously poor way to raise a child.

While in their forest their imaginations allow them to create their own world, including creatures to be feared. The creatures, whether animal or monster, begin to represent the bullies they face in their everyday lives, and by standing up to the far scarier counterpart they are able to face the bullies in real life with much more ease.

Jess is played by Josh Hutcherson (Little Manhattan) and Leslie is played by AnnaSophia Robb (Because of Wynn Dixie). Both of these actors seem much older than their actual age, which works for this fantastical story, but it is often distracting at how much like an adult Robb appears to be from the way she carries herself to the make-up put on her eyes to emphasis this appearance. If there is one thing that director Gabor Csupo is able to do is emphasis his actor’s strengths. Robb’s eyes are a highlight of many composed shots in the film and Broadway actress Zooey Deschanel is given a wonderful role as the hippest music teacher any grade school ever had. Even in a small farming area her song choices are classics that all can enjoy and she is able to play in them with various instruments showing off her incredible singing voice.

The DVD bonus features include a featurette about the digital effects used to bring the world of Terabithia to life as well as a featurette about the adaptation of the book into a film. There are also two audio commentaries; one with director Gabor Csupo, writer Jeff Stockwell and producer Hal Lieberman and the other with another producer and the two young actors. AnnaSophia also has a music video in the special features as well.

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Bridge To Terabithia (2007) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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