bridge to terabithia...

"Next time, we should invite Leslie too." Josh Hutcherson delivered that line so well, it broke my heart. He gave a performance beyond his young years. Also, AnnaSophia Robb was so charming and likable as Leslie, which made her death even harder to swallow. 💔😭

Knowing that Leslie's death was inspired by the real life tragic death of the childhood friend of the author's son via being struck by lightning really hits home even more.

What I think it's really crazy about this movie is how realistic Leslie's death is. When someone you love dies all of a sudden and you're not there to witness it, that is exactly how it goes. No goodbye, no last words, you're just hit with the most devastating news. They're gone forever.

I think the lack of buildup to Leslie's death is what makes it so real. It's a freak accident and that happens in life. No prep for it, it just happened. Leslie was there one day and then she was gone the next. I think the realism is what makes this movie so so great and, along with the deeply superb performances from its young actors, why it's stands out as such a truly remarkable children's film.

The buildup was really subtle. Over time, you can see the creek swelling, and as they swing over it, the rope gets closer and closer to the water. The kids even note it in passing at some point in the movie. It foreshadows that the creek is getting more and more dangerous. It's getting higher, flowing faster, the rope isn't as high up over it as it was in the beginning, and the rope itself is so old and just kinda tied to a tree in moist conditions.

The buildup that you missed is that the teacher offered to bring leslie along to the art museum but jess wanted the teacher all to himself so he said no. If he had invited her, she would still be alive. So yeah she just dies out of nowhere, but with that context, it has a bit more depth to it because you know jess has to live with that.

I remember my 5th grade teacher reading us this book, and my whole class was sucker punched when Leslie died. It was such a shock, and so many complained to the teacher that she actually stopped and said that's what death is like. It can be sudden and come out of nowhere. I think that was the first time I ever realized that not every story had a storybook ending. As foundational as that was for me, I could never bring myself to read the book again.

Thanks for this video. I, at 45, can't watch this movie. I was a kid when I read this book, with my first real "best friend". A girl in my class named Mariah. I didn't know at the time but she had a fatal illness (I knew she had health issues, but not that serious). She recommended we read this book together... every day at recess, before and after school, and on several weekends... we'd sit and read together, taking turns reading it... Only about a month after we'd finished... she tragically passed away. She KNEW she was dying, and how much we meant to each other... she tried to prepare me for losing her... it was one of her favorite books. To this day I remember her, her face, her favorite blue dress she was buried in.... and this book... It's a powerful story about finding yourself, connection with another person, and the hardship of loss... and it holds a deeply special (even if traumatic) place in my heart.

I love how blunt they made Leslies death, there was no build up, there was no hints or foreshadowing, it was completely blunt. A lot like real life. Its what made it feel so real and genuine, and the fact that they showed his grieving process made it even more real, his anger over her death, and the fact that you could FEEL her absence in the scenes after her death just hit so deep.

We get exactly 2 points of foreshadowing to Leslie’s death. The first was when Jess warns that the rope is old . And the second is when they swing across while it’s raining and the tip of the rope brushes against the water. We were told, and then reminded, that this rope swing is dangerous. And then the story makes good on the threat, and it snaps while Leslie is alone with no one to save her.

My brother died like 3 years before I saw this as a kid and I had no idea what I was in for... to say this traumatized me as a kid is too kind. This movie was a part of my healing after the most difficult times I can remember. It hits to this day.

Honestly, I feel like movies like this one are very important for a child to grow up properly. Their first encounter with death shouldn't be the loss of a real person, a real loved one, but a fictional character, so they can learn how to grief before actually having to do it.

Besides Leslie's death, the saddest thing is that Jess imagines his own father as The Dark Master that terrorizes Terabithia. After her death he, in his grief, goes to their treehouse and gets the paints that Leslie bought for him on his birthday, and squirts the tubes into the creek. And it is very subtly different when he's there without her. The colors aren't as vibrant the sounds are like normal forest sounds, the camera doesn't move like it did before. When he hears the rattling of the dark master he tries to run, but the "dark master" catches up to him, and its actually his dad, who hooks his keys on his beltloop. And he scoops Jess into his arms and holds him while Jess weeps and says "It's all gone."

Use me as a “this movie traumatized me as a child” button lol

I'll never forget, many moons ago, my teacher reading this to us in 2nd grade. He would read a chapter a day, and we were so enthralled with it. But when it got to the ending, it was like wrenching your guts out. It still feels like that seeing this movie. I do feel like it's a shame to miss out on reading the book.

I never saw this movie, because the book had already killed my soul. I was reading a lot of Sci-Fi and fantasy that had body counts in the thousands and that didn't get to me. But that one page twist hit so hard, I remember holding a grudge against the librarian for the remainder of my time in elementary school.

Leslie IS the Bridge to Terabithia. She is the path for Jess to imagination. She dies falling on the physical rope that was also a symbol of the connection to Terabitha.

Also in the movie Leslie couldn’t swim, but in the book she was a great swimmer. I remember Jess denying she could have ever drown over and over saying “she can swim really well”

I remember me and my dad went to see this movie in the theater right after my mom died. We had no idea what it was about, just looking for a way to get our minds off things for a couple hours … needless to say it wasn’t what we needed at the time.

The movie still makes me cry, it hits very close to home, I lost a friend at a young age and I understand what it feels like living with regret, wishing you could of done something differently so the outcome would be different. I believe a lot of us have that feeling wishing we had a Time Machine and could go back and rewrite our history and mistakes. It’s very rare for a movie to be almost as good as the book. This is Based on a true story..somewhat at least. The authors son lost his best friend to a lightning strike. And what he went through kinda not wanting to face the fact that they are gone forever… well depending on what you believe at least. As I grew older, I learned to accept the past for what it is, that nothing can be changed and the best you can do is live your life to the fullest as the people you have lost along the way would have wanted you to. Great video