EARLY ACCESS: Watership Down
Added 2026-01-20 00:26:30 +0000 UTC
Comments
I think my take on this film (and the book) is that it’s about how we choose to handle fear—you can let it make you freeze or give up, or you can face your fear in the hopes of finding something better. Fiver is the plot mechanism that gives the rabbits choices—his psychic ability means they aren’t just reacting on instinct. So you can choose the cage or the fascist Warren because you’re afraid, or you can choose to use your gifts and strengths to fight for your freedom and to help others and hope. There’s always risk, and you’ll die eventually either way; might as well die free.
Mitch M
2026-01-28 03:16:18 +0000 UTCIt was on HBO back when HBO truly MEANT Home Box Office bc it showed MOVIES and almost nothing else in its early days. I'm borderline baby-boom/gen-x and probably saw this in like 80 or 81 (82 latest - I can't recall and Google actually doesn't know!). Yes Rabbits are Bucks and Does, and their babies are kittens.
MertzRocks
2026-01-26 22:28:24 +0000 UTCThis movie came out the year I Graduated high school.. From comments I see it was on HBO so I never saw it didn't even know about it until your review.. As such I went looking to watch it before seeing your review. AND as You learning a Female rabbit is called a Doe I also learned.. Went looking in search a male rabbit is called a Buck ..
Mary Lawrence
2026-01-21 12:43:48 +0000 UTCI never had the strength to watch Plague Dogs. It looked so sad. I read the premise and yeah, I still don't think I have the strength to watch it. Richard Adams, the author, had some really sad stories "for children" that touched upon so many adult themes.
Echo Moon
2026-01-20 19:44:09 +0000 UTCI loved this film as a kid in the 80s but the overall message was lost on me then. Now I see it as a beautifully animated allegory for the brutal structures we impose on people in an attempt to cure them of their innate want of freedom. Kids don't see that though. My brother and I as kids just quoted the bird saying "piss off" and still call each other "you stupid bunny" lol.
R G
2026-01-20 11:36:44 +0000 UTCI am a GenXer, and I remember watching this a few times as a child. There are definitely things I did not understand as well as I do now. As a child, I mostly remembered the dark stuff (i.e., injuries, fights, and deaths, not the story so much. It scared me a little because of all the rabbits dying, but I still watched it more than once. I am not sure why, maybe because it was animated and part of my brain thought that it was made for kids. I have never read the book, but I would like to. Apparently, there is another animated movie written by the same author (Richard Adams), also released in the 80's, called The Plague Dogs, which I have never seen, but just reading the summary, it looks pretty dark too.
Confuzzled Shannon
2026-01-20 07:31:49 +0000 UTCGonna try to do some explaning on this one. But first, thank you Steve for choosing this one. Gen X here and I first saw this movie when it hit HBO in the early 80s and I watch the heck out of it as a kid. The book is also very good. Here's some trivia: Watership: This part of the title comes from an Old English word meaning a channel or body of water, suggesting a connection to water or a wet area. Down: In English geography, a "down" refers to a rolling, grassy, treeless hill or upland, often with sparse soil. The Warren of the Snares as Seductive Subjugation: This warren, where rabbits live in luxury but are periodically killed by a farmer (the "shining wire"), symbolizes a society that sacrifices freedom and safety for comfort. It represents a "false utopia" where inhabitants are lethargic and complicit in their own destruction. Efrafa as Totalitarianism/Fascism: The warren of Efrafa, ruled by General Woundwort, is a clear allegory for a totalitarian regime. It is characterized by severe surveillance, strict rationing of freedom, rigid social stratification, and the use of a secret police (the Owsla) to maintain control. Watership Down as Democracy: The community established by Hazel on Watership Down represents a democratic system. Decisions are made through collaboration, leadership is earned rather than inherited or seized by force, and individual agency is valued.
Echo Moon
2026-01-20 01:38:15 +0000 UTC
