| The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005] | ![The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GG1J0SHEL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Andrew Adamson
Actors: Tilda Swinton, Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Sophie Winkleman, Liam Neeson
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £20.99
Buy New: £3.98
You Save: £17.01 (81%)
New (18) Collectible (1) from £3.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 103
Format: Dubbed, Pal, Widescreen
Languages: Danish (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Hindi (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Danish (Dubbed), Hindi (Dubbed), Norwegian (Dubbed)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Running Time: 137 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 8717418086527
ASIN: B000EPE7AU
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Release Date: April 3, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Rather enjoyable January 3, 2007
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
I admit it. I thouroughly enjoyed this film. I also admit to never having read the book which isn't like me. It seems that for fans of the book, the movie is a miss.
Firstly it's visually stunning. Ok, so most of it is CGI but the contrasts between the snowy wilderness of Narnia's winter, the de frosting river and the sun drenched battlefield sucked me right in.
I found the acting ok if I'm honest. Liam Neeson is well cast as the voice of Aslan, he seems to try for a Mustafa (Lion King) type role with the deep yet gentleness of his voice. William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Poppelwell and Georgie Henley are okay in their roles, some being more likable than others. I know people are saying Henley is the next Dakota Fanning and I realise she is only a child, but I did find her character smug and almost irritating at times. As menioned, her relationship with James McAvoy's character Mr Tumnus seems quite forced. However, I found that McAvoy and Tilda Swinton's parts to be well played and Swinton certainly made me squirm as Jadis.
I don't think I need to go into the whole Aslan/Christ comparison as it's the basis of the film, but this is the one part I remembered from hearing the story in my childhood. Aslan is an inspirational character even if his part in this film does seem slightly minimal if I'm honest. It's a case of bung him in at the end and hope that he's built up sufficiently for the duration of the film. Sadly, he isn't. I don't think there is enough emphasis put on the importance of Aslan prior to seeing him. From the little I know of the story, I know he needs and deserves a bit more time than he got.
All in all an enjoyable film. However, I intened to read the books to get a clearer picture of the story.
 good family film January 1, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film has some very good aspects, the landscape in particular is spectacular, the effects are not perfect but better than average, and I feel it is quite good as a Lord Of The Rings type film for younger children. I also feel it is quite good at condensing the book down otherwise it would have been way too long. The children actors weren't great as they were slightly wooden at times but overall an ok film. I can see why die-hard book fans wouldn't like the film but it must be noted that the film has been made in different times to those of when the book was written, moral messages and character portrayal have to be toned down for an audience who dont want to be given a moral and want action not characterisation.
Overall an average film, good for a family to watch, but maybe not for older people.
 This is the total opposite to what C.S Lewis would have wanted... December 9, 2006
9 out of 25 found this review helpful
Everything good about Narnia has suddenly become nothing. The beavers are appauling characters and Mr. Beaver, for example, shouldn't reffer to Aslan as 'a cool geezer'. This is close to disgraceful. In the book and in the 1980's BBC series Aslan was the most mystical, most sacred being in all existence and here he is a 'cool geezer'.
This is vastly inferior to the BBC series (Aslan was true to Aslan more as a robot or guy in a suit [as shown on the BBC series] rather than a CGI bunch on nonesense that has no character, depth or warmth). The reason why Lord of the Rings was so successful was because they didn't flaunt all of the effects, they didn't make a show of it. Instead they used the effects to tell a story so that no one would even take the time to even consider the effects.
The acting is very poor in this film as well, they children just aren't believable as characters. I feel very sorry for the children of this generation, and am so glad that I was born upon the decade that I was so that I can enjoy Narnia as it's meant to be enjoyed, as something that should inspire dreams rather than the shallow, video-game generation.
Beautiful and (almost) perfect December 4, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
It has been a few years since I read C.S. Lewis' magical tale, so perhaps that is why I accept this film much more readily than die-hard book fans. However, this movie IS well-made. Although the story is compressed, Narnia comes to life. The panoramic splendor of New Zealand, the gorgeous special effects and perhaps most of all, the soaring music all make a vivid, textured back-drop to the story.
I think you have to think of "Narnia" also as a movie/story in its own right; the characters of the four children are changed and exaggerated to give room for development. Peter is the well-meaning eldest, trying to replace their lost father when he is basically still a child; Susan is the "smart one", almost hyper-rational, and she must learn to doubt her loved ones less; Edmund is quite a weakling, a sulky selfish little boy, but I like him because you can see the guilt that plagues him, which makes his final transformation more convincing; Lucy is always the ideal child, trusting, innocent, single-minded and brave. Yet her vulnerability is partly what brings this fragmented family back together.
I give this movie four stars because there were a few things I didn't agree with. The acting is ocasionally stiff and I found the White Witch's costume irritating (why is she wearing an inverted cone around her torso?). But the visual impact of her palace was awesome. As time wears on (and visual technology improves), Aslan looks less convincing, but I still love how his mane shimmers when he moves and the expressiveness of his face.
This is a very personal creation, a very specific vision of Narnia, but beautifully crafted one. I would rather see a director's heartfelt version than something utterly debased by trying to please everyone. The characters are heavier, the story less innocent and childlike, and the Christian allegories are minimised. But the morals are still there, C.S. Lewis' beautiful tale about the human nature of good and evil, embodied in four "ordinary" children.
What have they done to my magical world ! ! November 15, 2006
10 out of 30 found this review helpful
I grew up having read the famous book, undoubtedly someone would one day try and convey this story upon the silver screen, it's actually a miracle it took them this long! Where do I start, its always hard taking someone's else imagination, work, story and moulding it into your own piece but people have done good jobs of this in the past "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory", "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" & "Jurassic Park" to name a few books successfully turned into good movies.
Also with such a entertaining book with detailed characters & good action scenes everything is in place for a good translation into a movie, unfortunately Andrew Adamson who directs this movie maybe thinks he can follow in his countrymen's footsteps (Peter Jackson also a famous Kiwi director) and although he did good with the Shrek Movies, it seems Mr. Adamson's skills lie in the animated movie industry as this film is diabolical from start to finish.
Most of you will already know the story and premise of this famous story, 4 young children during World War II are evacuated to the countryside in rural England, from here the children stumble upon a cupboard in a strange professors huge house, upon entering the cupboard they arrive into a strange world, NARNIA. Their adventures in Narnia centre on saving the people from the evil rule of the White Witch who has plunged all of Narnia into eternal winter, with the help of Aslan the talking Lion they set about freeing Narnia.
The problem with this movie is it seems VERY, VERY, VERY Rushed, where as LOTR spent years trying to recapture Tolkiens world of Middle earth, Narnia seems to have taken the blurb you get on the back of the book and created the film off that! The story is told at a frenetic pace and at 140 minutes long that's quite a feat, but even if they had made the movie longer and told the story better with these pathetic child actors in charge little could have been done to save this film. Peter the eldest and supposedly smartest of the bunch is totally unconvincing and his fight scenes are almost comedic, Little Lucy is just plain annoying rather then endearing & cute, Susan is very pompous more so then her character in the book and the one person who has the most material and characterization to play with fails miserably as a weedy unconvincing troubled young boy, Edmund, but at least he plays the cowardly part right.
Liam Neeson provides the voice for Aslan and does his wise old man routine seen so successfully in Star Wars & more recently Batman, Mr. Tumnus played by James McAvoy from "Shameless" fame does well but the relationship between him & Lucy seems a bit too false, where as in the book it was well written.
Tilda Swinton plays the White Witch the "bad guy" so to speak in this movie, and she does ok, but I think anyone could play this character as she has to look quite monotone & emotionless, almost wooden in her performance to pull it off, so stick a wig on Keanu Reeves and you'd get the right effect !
The Beavers are by far the most entertaining characters along with the wolves but don't get nearly enough screen time, instead we're left looking at Peter holding a sword in an attack position looking like a complete donut for half the movie.
My biggest gripe with this movie isn't how he hasn't made a good interpretation of the book, its the poor makeup & costume of some of the characters, the visual effects are excellent, CGI and all is good, but some of the creatures like the half horse half men, the Minotaur's (bull heads) and other creatures look like they are straight out of a TV serial that got cut after the first episode, just imagine watching the making of LOTR and seeing all the Orcs, Goblins, Uru-Kai's, Dwarfs & Elves masks made up by the crew that went horribly wrong and were thrown into the scrap heap, its almost like the Narnia crew snuck into this scrap heap and took what they could !
If you enjoyed the books, save yourself the torture, and read it again, or watch the old cartoon or old BBC TV series, this is so bad how Disney hopes to have started off a Lord of The Rings or Star Wars legacy is beyond me, this is more the start of something like Police Academy then anything else!
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