Chronicles of Narnia

[Revan/anakinjmt]

Just in case you guys weren't aware, the trailer for the next Chronicles of Narnia is out, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

To Watch It (click on "Enter Narnia to View Trailer")
To Download It

I enjoyed the first one and the second one looks even better, although as far as fantasy movies, LotR and Harry Potter are still top dog.

I haven't seen or read Golden Compass yet, so I'll withhold my opinion on them, preferring to form my own opinion rather than let people tell me about them (hello Harry Potter!), but from what I've heard, Narnia should combat any damage Golden Compass might have done.

[ACPigeon]

Looks pretty decent. I've never read the actual series, but I did enjoy the first film, so I suppose I'll probably go see this one, too.

Narnia should combat any damage Golden Compass might have done.

*cocks eyebrow*

[HomeStarRunnerTron]

*cocks eyebrow*

You know, the whole thing about The Golden Compass' mission being to "kill God in the eyes of children", and CS Lewis' series being riddled with references to Christianity and Christian beliefs, etc. So the movies will equal each other out! I think that's what he meant.

EDIT: Also, nice way at getting past that stupid censor.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

You know, the whole thing about The Golden Compass' mission being to "kill God in the eyes of children", and CS Lewis' series being riddled with references to Christianity and Christian beliefs, etc. So the movies will equal each other out! I think that's what he meant.

EDIT: Also, nice way at getting past that stupid censor.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Like I said, I'm withholding my opinion until I've read the book/seen the movie, as I'm very strongly reminded of Harry Potter and people believing what they're told without reading the book for themselves. I guess you could say Harry Potter has made me determined to not let people sway my opinion on something, but rather let my own reading of something form my opinion.

[Goombazoid]

I remember liking this book when I was forced to read the whole series, so I'll probably go see this movie, but I also remember hating The Horse and His Boy so I probably wont see that movie. On a final note, I can't wait for the movie version of The Last Battle.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

I remember liking this book when I was forced to read the whole series, so I'll probably go see this movie, but I also remember hating The Horse and His Boy so I probably wont see that movie. On a final note, I can't wait for the movie version of The Last Battle.

You were forced to read the whole series?

I've seen the BBC TV Movie versions of the Wardrobe through Silver Chair, and really liked those, so I've been able to read the first four books in publication order. One of these days I'll actually read the entire series.

[Goombazoid]

You were forced to read the whole series?

Well I had to read all 7 books in grade 7 for english. I was also forced to watch the hilarious Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe movie, where the beaver was a man in a brown bowling pin costume with a lisp, good times...

[Revan/anakinjmt]

Well I had to read all 7 books in grade 7 for english. I was also forced to watch the hilarious Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe movie, where the beaver was a man in a brown bowling pin costume with a lisp, good times...

Was that the BBC version?

[potthole]

Was that the BBC version?

I believe so.  I remember watching that version back in the day, in 3rd grade.

[Goombazoid]

Was that the BBC version?

I think so, yeah.

[ACPigeon]

I think I tried watching the BBC version once, but if my memory serves me correctly, Aslan looked like a guy in a bear suit and I just couldn't take it seriously after that.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

Saw Prince Caspian today. Spoiler alert below, even if you've read the book (because they ALWAYS change things):





















Overall, excellent movie. Much better than the first one. The first one was good, don't get me wrong, but it was in essence a beginning. But this one assumed you remembered things from the first movie, and then proceeded to rapidly change them, but it all made sense, because you were used to the world of Narnia now. I got the same thrill from this movie that I got from Iron Man. Not once was I bored, and I would have been fine with another hour easily, just like Iron Man.

The main four kids were a lot better. I loved how they had the three oldest kids fighting more, which made sense. In the first film you saw Susan use her bow like once or twice, and you only really saw Peter and Edmund fight in the end battle which wasn't much of an end battle, and even then they didn't really fight. But they'd had years of training and experience as rulers of Narnia, and for them it'd only been a year since they'd last left Narnia, and you don't just forget things that you've learned and honed for at least two decades in the span of a year. But this time they were accomplished fighters, especially Peter and Edmund. I honestly had a hard time believing they were just kids, all of them younger than 16 or 17. Even Lucy didn't seem so young. In the first movie, I think Lucy was 7 or 8, and she acted like it, but this time, she's supposedly 9 or 10 but she acted as grown-up as the other three, for the most part. She still had a bit of innocence and young faith that she had to have given her age, but her memories as a queen of Narnia had obviously matured her a lot.

Peter I think was done brilliantly. Here's a guy who is High King. The thing about him being the High King is he is above all other kings of Narnia. If he ever came back and visited Caspian's great-grandson, Peter would still have authority over him. Only Aslan outranks him. And yet, he's about 16 or 17, younger than Caspian. It was one thing for him to be treated as High King back in the first movie. It was just a rank he had that he hadn't really earned because he wasn't particularly wise or strong and he didn't have the battle experience yet. This movie he had earned that, and it got to him. He saw himself as the only one able to save Narnia. Lewis didn't write strife between Caspian and Peter, but I think it was wise to have some. Caspian is the heir to the throne of Narnia, and Peter is High King over all kings of Narnia. A power struggle is only inevitable. And he totally rocked in that fight with Miraz. I totally thought he was just as accomplished as Aragorn in fighting.

Susan was a heck of a lot better. I think they took a few lessons from Legolas, because I saw her using her arrows like Legolas had done in LOTR. Here's a girl with a bow who KNOWS how to use it. To not utilize her in battle would be foolish. She seemed more of a queen then she ever did in L,W,W. I will say, though, one change I'm not quite sure needed to be done was the supposed romance between her and Caspian which IMO sprang out of nowhere. I never saw any signs they liked each other, and then at the end she says "It wouldn't have worked anyways. After all, I am 1300 years older." And then when she just kissed him, I thought that was a little forced. I guess if I had seen signs of an attraction it would have seemed more natural, but considering I didn't see them, it just seemed out of place. Maybe when I watch it again I'll notice them.

Edmund I could tell had really learned from his time with the White Witch, as well as his years as a king. My favorite moment for him was the scene with the White Witch. The fact that it's HIM that gets rid of the Witch I think shows how he was scarred from his encounters with her, and how he would make sure she never did that to anyone again, which he clearly saw was about to happen with either Caspian or Peter.

Lucy really seemed older. Obviously the actress was about 3 years older than the last time, so she did look older, but she also acted older. She still had that sort of childlike faith, given she was the only one to see Aslan, but she also knew what was at stake, and what would happen. She didn't seem scared of death like she did in the first movie. And, you've gotta give her credit for riding a horse at that speed at her age and having tremendous control. I couldn't tell if it was a canter or gallop, but it was impressive either way.

Caspian was a darker character than I recall from the book, which isn't really a bad thing. He had to be tough when he thought he was the leader, and then it sort of became a multi-co-leadership with him and the rest of the Pevensies. My only complaint was the scene where he learned the truth about his father's death. That didn't feel quite natural to me. It seemed a little over the top.

Battle sequences were a heck of a lot better. After seeing Lord of the Rings and the amazing battles in that, I was disappointed with the battle in Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe. But we got really three battles here. The battle at the castle, the battle between Peter and Miraz, and then the final battle (which was freakin' sweet). Again, I really felt like Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Caspian were tremendous fighters, all along the lines of Aragorn, Boromir, Feramir, and Legolas (well, maybe not quite Legolas, after all, I didn't see Susan whip out knives or take out a huge mummacle). They seemed to know exactly how to fight and what to do, which is important, given their experience before (as far as the Pevensies are concerned). And I loved the moment where Lucy steps out in front of the army facing her and she just pulls out this little dagger, and then Aslan comes. That water image made me wonder if that was the Emperor over the Sea. I certainly got the impression of God the Father, which is who the Emperor over the Sea is supposed to be, just as Aslan is supposed to be Jesus.

I am very much looking forward to Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is my favorite out of the four books I've read of the Narnia series. It'll be hard to top Prince Caspian.

Now, why can't the Harry Potter movies be this good? The story after all is better than that of Narnia! Had to ruin the ending battle in OotP, didn't they? Thankfully, still the last battles of HBP and DH to see.

Oh yes. I give Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian a 9.3/10 or a 4...out of 5.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

I saw Caspian again yesterday and then found the BBC version of Narnia at Wal-Mart and paid $20, even though one of the price tags on it said $15.44, but apparently because it wasn't green, it didn't count. I almost asked to speak with a manager but I didn't feel like wasting more time. I watched the BBC Caspian version, and I'll compare the two in a sec, but first a couple of things I noticed the second time around.

Y'know, this is a Disney movie, and it is based on a book written by a Christian with the book basically being a Christian allegory, but one of the dresses Susan wore, where she and Lucy are talking about why Lucy saw Aslan and Susan didn't...it seemed a little low. I know Disney has done that before in Pirates of the Caribbean with Elizabeth, but with Susan? I looked up Anna Popplewell who played Susan on Wikipedia, and apparently she's twenty, which means she was nineteen when they filmed. So, I guess it's not as risque as it would have been if she had been only seventeen when they filmed, but still, it was a little unusual.

Another thing was the romance between Susan and Caspian. Now that I knew about it, I saw signs here or there but I'm still not sure there was enough going on there to warrant a kiss, despite how chaste it was (I had thought it was a little longer and a little deeper but it really wasn't). It still felt a little bit out of place.

When I got home I watched the BBC version of Prince Caspian. Wow. It was done in 1990, so nearly twenty years ago, and it just seemed...so campy and childish compared to the movie. The astonishing thing was they did in fifty minutes what it took Disney 2 1/2 hours to do (admittedly not as good of a job as Disney). After seeing the great Reepicheep in the movie, Reepicheep in the BBC being the same size as a dwarf did seem farfetched. I realize they couldn't have animated a mouse then, but it still seemed a bit farfetched. The battle between Peter and Miraz was nowhere near as intense as it was in the film. In the BBC it seemed like Peter still didn't really know what he was doing and he spent most of the time running away from Miraz. Music was way too heroic, and comparing it to the film, which made it seem like another world, the BBC made it look like they filmed in some random forest in England. I think I've seen forests like that here in Michigan.

I will say though that Aslan did not look like a guy in a bear costume. It looked like two guys in a lion costume and the guy that voiced Aslan was way too quiet and unemotional.

So, yeah, no question here at all. Disney did a much better job than the BBC. Almost makes me wish I hadn't opened the BBC DVD set.