The Chronicles of Narnia

[Gav Mortis]

Now while I'm a little dubious about how this film may turn out when it hits theatres this time next year, I am still very much looking forward to seeing it. There's nothing as far as teaser trailers are concerned just yet, however, I've just seen a production featurette which gave me a confidence boost. Considering WETA seem to have a midas touch for high quality production, I eagerly await the visuals of this film, if nothing else. The detail going into all elements of Narnia seems to be of the same standard as that for LOTR; I only hope the same level of direction and acting will be maintained for the Chronicles.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/the_chronicles_of_narnia.html

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Minotaurs, centaurs and swords - Oh my!

My excitement level for the new movie year is topping the charts. Sin City, RotS, Narnia... woohoo!

Edit: the cast list looks solid, from what I can tell - the White Witch is cast well, I think. And there are quite a few re-appearing actors/stuntmen from LotR (for the monsters, I believe).

[Dasquian Belargic]

The effort and detail they put into everything is just astounding.

Would I be correct in thinking that since the interview said "We started with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" that 'Prince Caspian' etc could follow? :eek What would you call a series of seven movies?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

You'd call it "The Chronicles of Narnia" ? Or... a septology?

[Dasquian Belargic]

I was just thinking, for when they inevitably release a boxset... it would be the "Chronicles of Narnia something" ^_^; I didn't know septology was a word... didn't the people who made Aliens make up 'quadrilogy'?

[Jedi Master Carr]

I don't think Narnia will be as popular as LOTR or even Harry Potter, so who knows if all seven films will ever get made. Still in the curious mode on this movie want to see a trailer before I decide how it will turn out.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

ahh... Narnia might be pretty popular even so.

And I just made up Septology - who knows if it's a real word or not. :uhoh

[Jedi Master Carr]

It is hard to say since it has been so long since the last book was published. It popularity in recent years has been no where near LOTR before they made them into movies. Still, I would have to say it is the third most popular fantasy series after Harry and LOTR.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Not sure if anyone was aware, but the movie site is up:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/

I've seen the trailer, and from the looks of things this is going to be excellent :) I'm so pleased that they chose Tilda Swindon for the White Witch. Although she isn't how I would have pictured the Witch when I originally read the books, she definetly fits the part well.

[Rutabaga]

I've been seeing the trailer for Narnia each time I've seen ROTS, and each time it gives me the chills. I loved The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, it was a favorite book of mine when I was a little girl.

The movie looks wonderful, it's a must-see, without a doubt. I've also ordered a new set of the books since it's been so very long since I've read any of them. :)

[Arya Ravenwing]

! I want to get a set of the books too, we had one when I was a kid, but I don't know what's happened to them. Read, and battered to death I think. I found a set I really liked at Borders, but then when I went back I couldn't find it.

^_^; I'm very paticular about my cover art on books, so until I find a set that I like the look of, I'm saving my money.

[Eluna Thals]

It seems like LotR part deux to me. That being said, it has an opportunity to be fresh and not as pretentious as the other trilogy was, so I'm interested :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

I will go see it, I am not sure how the series will do the biggest problem with Narnia is unlike LOTR and Harry Potter it takes forever to get going for the epic nature plus some of the books might not make good movies. The second book is kinda of boring. The third book is great my favorite of the series in fact. The fourth is a good book, I can't remember the fifth and sixth and the Seventh is the climax. Not sure how they will film the rest it will be interesting to see.

[Daiquiri]

Though Ive never read any of the afore mentioned books, the trailer looks great and Im planning on seeing it when it comes out :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Charley - it's not really anything like LotR. Oh, it's a 'fantasy' book, so yes, they're probably exactly alike.

And Carr, did you just say that Prince Caspian was boring? O_o

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
Charley - it's not really anything like LotR. Oh, it's a 'fantasy' book, so yes, they're probably exactly alike.

And Carr, did you just say that Prince Caspian was boring? O_o

Whatever you say, but looking at that trailer and any random scene set from LotR and you'd be hard pressed to really differentiate them. They're interchangeable in passing.

[Droo]

WETA workshop is the driving force behind production for the Chronicles of Narnia, all special effects and costumes and sets are designed by them - the same company responsible for all such things in the Lord of the Rings films. They look nothing alike though, apart from in the excellence in production quality.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
Charley - it's not really anything like LotR. Oh, it's a 'fantasy' book, so yes, they're probably exactly alike.

And Carr, did you just say that Prince Caspian was boring? O_o
I found it ran too long, it is considered the weakest book of the series.

[Draken Chakara]

Well, Chuckles, LOTR and Narnia have NOTHING in common. NOTHING WHATSOEVER. One's a giant war, etc... Narnia's more adventures in another world.

BTW, any idea why they're not doing the Magician's Nephew first? I know Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe is more popular, but still...

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The Magician's Nephew is first chronologically, but not the first book in the series. LtWatW is.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Originally posted by Draken Chakara
Well, Chuckles, LOTR and Narnia have NOTHING in common. NOTHING WHATSOEVER. One's a giant war, etc... Narnia's more adventures in another world.

BTW, any idea why they're not doing the Magician's Nephew first? I know Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe is more popular, but still...

Like I told LD, I'm sure you're right and there's some kind of magically unique difference, but seeing the trailer, everything looked pretty much cut from the same cookie cutter that LotR was, design-wise.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
The Magician's Nephew is first chronologically, but not the first book in the series. LtWatW is.
I am not sure if they will film that one because it would be viewed as a prequel. The most they could film is six but they could skip both five and six and go straight to Seven, and it would work.

[Vice]

Ive read all the books and seen all the movies. Old version. And yes their are old versions I watched them at school in the 3rd GRADE.

[Draken Chakara]

Yeah, they could easily skip that one and get away with it. And Chuckles, I'm still confused as to your connection with LOTR. Yeah, it's a fantasy. Apart from that, I see no correlation whatsoever to Narnia. That's just GROSS assumption and WAY over-generalization. That's like saying that Rudy and Varsity Blues were the exact same movie, because they had football in them.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Don't you get it? Charley knows all.

Once we all understand that, he'll stop mocking us.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Originally posted by Draken Chakara
Yeah, they could easily skip that one and get away with it. And Chuckles, I'm still confused as to your connection with LOTR. Yeah, it's a fantasy. Apart from that, I see no correlation whatsoever to Narnia. That's just GROSS assumption and WAY over-generalization. That's like saying that Rudy and Varsity Blues were the exact same movie, because they had football in them.

So you're saying that the creature and effects design in the Narnia trailer didn't look like it came straight out of LotR? Ok, how about from a layman's perspective then?

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
Don't you get it? Charley knows all.

Once we all understand that, he'll stop mocking us.

Shouldn't you be washing or cleaning something now?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Don't be ridiculous - there are no minotaurs in LotR.


XD

[Draken Chakara]

If you mean they're a bit CGI looking, yeah, they look similar. The main animal in Narnia's a lion. There were no lions in LOTR.

[Rutabaga]

So I saw the new trailer for Narnia before The Legend of Zorro today (which was a fun, fun movie :)), and I got the shock of my life when, in the trailer, Aslan opened his mouth and started talking.

Because Liam Neeson's voice was coming outta Aslan's mouth.

:crack

[Darth McBain]

I haven't seen the trailer yet, but I'd heard that Liam Neeson would be voicing Aslan. I think he'll be great as the voice... So far I've only read the first three of the Narnia books and I'm enjoying them quite a bit. I'm taking a break from them at the moment, but I hope to return to them and finish them up soon.

[Dasquian Belargic]

James Earl Jones clearly should have been the voice of Aslan :p

[Lilaena De'Ville]

:lol True!

[Akrabbim]

Originally posted by Dasquian Belargic
James Earl Jones clearly should have been the voice of Aslan :p

You know, I was thinking the EXACT same thing.

[Colonel Karrnage]

Originally posted by Akrabbim
You know, I was thinking the EXACT same thing.

Why are you here and not busy doing other things

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Yeah, what happened to the honeymoon? Does the hotel have internet access or something? :p

[Akrabbim]

As a matter of fact, it does. For FREE! :)

[Colonel Karrnage]

Well you'd better be downloading porn with it and having a session of buck naked simon says then.

[Crystal]

Hey, leave him alone. I know I'd be browsing the internet on my honeymoon.

[Colonel Karrnage]

I'd like to say that I certainly would not but I'd probably get weak and do it too :cry

[Arya Ravenwing]

Well *I* didn't on MY honeymoon.

[Droo]

Only because you had mirrors on the ceiling! :mad

[Crystal]

Originally posted by Droo
Only because you had mirrors on the ceiling! :mad

Maybe her hotel just didn't have internet access!

This thread has been sufficiently derailed. ^_^;



SO, Cronicles of Narnia! I had to read one of the books in class and we watched the older movie. I never really got into it. So I doubt I'll be seeing this one.

It does look a little LOTR-y but I think that's just how fantasy movies are gong to be done for a few years untill they find something they think is cooler.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The older movies sort of suck. Still, they're not too bad. I have great hopes for this one.

[Akrabbim]

Have no fear. We're still having all the sex. We do need SOME downtime. Sheesh. :)

But yes... Narnia. Cool!

[Dasquian Belargic]

I saw this tonight. It was good, but it felt as though it was lacking something, though I can't put my finger on what exactly. I thought the White Witch was great :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I caught a midnight showing, and I really enjoyed it although it seemed that the pacing was off during the trek to go to Aslan from the beaver's house. There were a few scenes that were added just for the movie which were fine, and a few of the special effects seemed weird to me.

The talking animals were brilliant, and the centaurs in paticular were awesome. :) My personal favorites were the griffins. :D Oh and Mr and Mrs Beaver were terrific although Father Christmas never gave them presents and not a word was mentioned of Mrs. Beaver's sewing machine!

I thought it was interesting to note that while WETA was behind the armour and creatures etc, they were not in charge of special effects or animation.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Have to agree about the Beavers. The voice work on all of the animals was great. Same excellent choices in casting.

Oh, also I adored Mr Tumnus :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

Okay saw it today, I enjoyed the movie, it isn't Lord of the Rings but it is still a very well done fantasy movie. I thought the Tilda Swenson who played the witch did a wonderful job, and the effects were top rate. Right now I would say it is top 5 for me for the year.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I saw it again today - it was even better the second time. :D:thumbup

[Rutabaga]

Saw it today, and it was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Our theater was probably only 1/3 to 1/2 full, but that was because the showing was an early one for a Sunday, 10 am. But lots of people applauded at the end,so it seemed like everyone enjoyed it. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who's interested, it's beautiful and affecting filmmaking, and also a great fantasy for children to see, even with its darker, scarier moments. A big, big :thumbup from me.

[Droo]

I took my little sister to see this today and really enjoyed it. There were some things I loved and other things that left me feeling neither impressed or unimpressed.

First of all, Tilda Swinton. I have seen her in two films; this and Constantine. I love her. That is all.

Mr. Tumnus was great too.

My favourite part of the film is the moment when Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus. It's just magical and special. There is not another magical moment like that in the rest of the film unfortunately. I wanted Narnia to be more intimate than epic and that scene is the reason.

Narnia itself is absolutely beautiful. The production is magnificent. WETA remained true to their reputation, however:


Originally posted by Lilaena De'Ville
I thought it was interesting to note that while WETA was behind the armour and creatures etc, they were not in charge of special effects or animation.

It shows! That brief moment when you see the giants lumbering amongst the White Witch's ranks looks so awful and super-imposed that for a second, I thought I was watching an old santa sleigh ride video from Christmas 1994.

Liam Neeson's voice coming out of Aslan's mouth was far too distracting. It was too identifiable, in my opinion. I love Liam Neeson but they should've cast a relatively unknown actor for Alsan. It pulled me out of the fantasy and made me realise I'm watching an animated lion voiced by an actor in a film.

The animals were great: the beavers are fantastic and completely adorable. In fact, and this will provide a nice little segue into my next gripe, I found their character's portrayed in a much more convincing and touching way than the children's characters.

I llke (not love) Lucy. She was probably the best of the four. Her crying became tiresome at the end though. I felt for Edmund, he was played well. But my God, the other two, and played by older actors, were dreadful. Susan was a whining cow and that was it. There was no added depth to her character. Oh wait, she cried a bit. Peter droned on and on. Albeit, this to a degree, may have been the basis of the characters in the books, they did not evolve and I could not believe, by any stretch of the imagination, that by the end of it, Peter had become a brave noble warrior, etc. etc. He was a wet blanket with an annoying voice.

Some moments of the battle were exilerating but these moments usually coincided with the ominous approach of the White Witch on her awesome polar bear taxi.

To be honest, now that I've written this up, I think I dislike this film more than I thought I did. Some moments are cliché while others are poorly paced and these slight misgivings serve only to pull the audience out of C.S. Lewis's beautiful world and remind them that they are only watching a film. If fantasy anything, literature or film, does this, it fails. I think, ultimately, I have moved into the apathetic bracket of this film with regards to criticism.

I enjoyed this film for the following reasons: Tilda Swinton. The magical moments of first discovering the world within the wardrobe. Mr. Tumnus. Tilda Swinton. The beavers. The quality of production. And Tilda Swinton.

After reading all that, you might think me excessive in my hammering home the importance of Tilda Swinton in this film. I am not. Her White Witch does for Narnia does what Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow did for Pirates of the Carribean.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Droo, I share your love for Tilda Swinton. She was great in Constantine (and The Beach) too. :love

[Droo]

Mae that three films I've seen her in. :)

Oh! And I forgot to mention, best bit about today's cinema-going experience? I finally got to see my beautiful Superman Returns teaser trailer in all its big screen glory! I was jumping about in my seat and my little sister was just like: "What are you doing, Andrew?" :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Peter was too much of a wet blanket in the movie. The children in the book are a lot more gung-ho about helping out Narnia. :)

[Figrin D'an]

Saw this today (finally). Was alright in a general sense, but was far, far too Disney-fied. There were way too many manufactured moments in attempts to tug at the heartstings of the audience and it ultimately took away from the more important moments of the story. In that respect, it got old very, very quickly.

Translating a good childrens tale into film has become a lost art, IMO. It's too easy to go the route that this film took, and simply make it a constant up-and-down faux emotional experience that kids will eat up because of the "It's Disney, so it must be good" mentality that they have been subjected to, rather than actually craft a solid screenplay. Kids aren't idiots. If they are given something that is legitmately good, they will (in most cases) recognize it and like it. But, it's easier to spoonfeed them things like "Narnia" because it still brings in the money.

It looked pretty, which I expected. The younger two of the kids (whom played Edmond and Lucy) did solid acting jobs. The other two were okay... both some good moments and some awful ones.

The film could have been cut by 45 minutes and it would have been more effective. Being true to a book can be accomplished without making a film a visual verbatim recitation of the source material. We've seen it done before. Not all filmmakers seem to understand this concept though.

[Tasha McTallen]

Well, I finally got to see Narnia yesterday. Absoluletly wonderful. I read the book in elementry school (can't remember which grade) but I never to see the movie. I'm now rereading all the Narnia books again.

[Mu Satach]

I protest, Polar bears and white tigers are not evil. :mad

[Atreyu]

Saw it a couple of weeks aho. Loved it. I had never read the books before, but am doing so now (read the first 2 - now onto Horse and His Boy).

I was surprised how well the film worked for me, since from the trailers it didn't seem to be my thing (too kidified for my tastes). Even Liam Neeson as Aslan worked as well - he had the right tone of voice considering the character (like many people I thought a Darth Vader-ish voice would have been better (James Earl Jones also did Mufasa in The Lion King), but after seeing the film I no longer agree).