I would suggest that the admittedly upsetting bloodsport scenes at the film's opening are an essential part of underlining the stupidity and cruelty of men like Hazell and what they like to do for fun, which was surely one of Dahl's key points for comment in the original novel. These scenes are not enough to take away from the film's appropriateness or enjoyability for a family audience, which scores highly indeed.

Regarding Judy Lewis' comment on the aspect ratio of this transfer, the Internet Movie Database lists the original aspect ratio for this film as 1.33:1 (or 4:3). This was a made-for-television film in 1989, so 4:3 would have indeed been the original aspect ratio for this film, and no widescreen edition could therefore exist without severe cropping. This means you are missing nothing of the film with this transfer.