POPCORN AND PRIME FAMILY TIME. (The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005] (DVD))

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005] (DVD)
Date:	09/04/06 (209 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful adaptation of an imaginative film.

Disadvantages: None at all.

I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this DVD, as from publicity, it looked spectacular. The film, released in 2005, is now available on DVD at a humble price of Eleven Pounds Ninety Nine from Amazon.

I had no preconceptions about the story of Narnia, because I have never read the C. S. Lewis books, although I had high hopes that the film would be an adventure that would be enjoyable.

The scene opens in war-torn Britain, planes in the sky, and chaos on the ground. I was not expecting this, although seeing it from a child's' eyes view was a good beginning that made a bold statement that pulled you into the story. Children were evacuated into the country to get away from war zones, and here we see the train pulling out of the station, pained expressions of mothers seeing their beloved children taking possibly their first journey away from home, and as the train pulls away from the station, the accompanying haunting music with a kind of Celtic mystery to it really does compliment the atmosphere of the film and of the times in which it was based.

The children arrive in the country where they are to stay in a huge mansion, and when they are greeted at the railway station by an austere Mrs. McCready, and driven to the mansion through wonderful countryside, the viewer is taken on a journey of discovery, in that the detail of the direction is amazingly accurate, and the viewer can actually feel the childrens' mixed emotions being taken away from all things familiar to a place that is indeed very different to anything they have experienced before.

Having established themselves within the household, the instructions that they are given are almost frightening. They are not permitted to touch the antiques that are in the old house, not to disturb the master, and certainly not permitted to let their presence be felt. Little by little, the character of the children become apparent, and here the choice of actors and actresses was superb. The choice for the part of the younger daughter, Lucy, was superb, as her speech and reactions to situations had the childlike quality that only a film like this can portray but not only that, were realistic to the time frame of the second world war period. The costumes chosen for the film as well were realistically those one would expect at this time. Her sister, Susan, was typically the elder sister whose commonsense ruled the character she portrayed, and brothers Edmund and Peter played contrasting characters though very true to life, one being the elder responsible child, whilst the other being the irresponsible child that sees no consequence to his actions until it is too late, a childish impulse that is portrayed in a manner which is both believable and perhaps even responsible way by the storyline itself, showing children that their actions are judged and that the surface trappings of “want” are sometimes less important than the qualities of “support, and care for those you love”.


I don't want to spoil the experience for viewers and instead of telling you where the story goes, and how it gets there, would like to outline what was good about the production by Disney, which to me brings back the quality of Disney Films that has been lost for many years. Following a game of hide and seek, Lucy discovers a world that lies behind the wardrobe. Of course, no one believes her and even her brother who experiences the same as Lucy decides not to support her, although after an accident with a cricket ball, the children all decide that the best place to hide is in fact the wardrobe,
and here begins an adventure that is to last the duration of the film.

In the magical world of Narnia, ruled by an oppressive Witch, played convincingly by Tilda Swinton, who has turned Narnia into a glacial, snowbound place where Christmas is never celebrated, the children soon learn about the history of Narnia, and what their role in the state of affairs is. Here, I really would spoil the film if I told more of the story, as this is where the adventure of the film takes the viewer into wonderful special effects that are simply astounding. Aslam, the lion, Beavers, animals that talk, dwarfs and fauns have all found their place in the mystical world or Narnia, and each of the creations of the film makers (based of course on the original book by C. S. Lewis), come over as wonderfully believable, even to the extent that facial expressions, magic and mayhem are all directed in such an extravaganza of well thought out and filmed work that is suitable for children.

The Director of photography, Donald M. McAlpine must really have had a field day, and be very proud of what he achieved. Every character within the film was well chosen, and the interaction between them superbly portrayed. Disney came up trumps in a way that they have not done since my youth, and I would recommend this film wholeheartedly for both adults and children alike. Parent Guided because of “Fantasy violence, mild battle scenes etc”, I believe that the rating was justified, but that the subject matter is suitable for all ages, and perhaps they were wise in their assessment that younger children should watch the film with grown ups.

Comparing this film to another which was in the cinemas at the same time in the Harry Potter series, I would actually say that this one has the edge, in that it was made for children and is a flawless production, whereas the Harry Potter one seems to have taken a step too far in the search for credibility which to my mind, they did not need to do. Narnia caters for kids, and did not forget that the entertainment they produced was indeed for their young audience, whereas the Harry Potter one went a step to far in the direction of adult entertainment, and lost some of its' pull on the way.

This film portrays children confronted with decision making, and I feel it tackles the subject in a really realistic fashion. The young Lucy shows all that is good about childhood, the optimism, the sadness at times, though what sticks out in my mind when I think back on last nights' viewing was the realistic nature in which the film tackles differences between siblings. Here I can relate to the film totally, as I myself have a brother and four sisters, and I feel that the portrayal was near perfect.

This is the story of good versus evil, morality versus immorality and it is leaps ahead of any childrens' film that I have seen for a very long time. The adaptation for film by screenwriters, Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and and co-screenwriter and director, Andrew Adamson, has worked exceedingly well, and the voices chosen for the creatures featuring Rupert Everett, Dawn French, Ray Winstone and Liam Neeson were all good choices that made the characters stand out as real. Enhanced further by the compositions of Harry Gregson Williams, the music plays a great part in creating atmosphere in the film.

The DVD that I bought has the options of English, Norwegian, Danish or Hindu, and has subtitles in English for the hard of hearing.

Extras.

Now here, this played an usual part for me, since I have never been one to enjoy the extras that DVDs offer. Many appear to be actors or Directors congratulating each other on their performances, rather than remembering that the viewer is what makes a film successful. Here on the Narnia dvd, it was somewhat different, in that out takes from the film came as part of the package, and there was an area of discovery of Narnia Fun Facts, which is good for the kids to enjoy, together with Director and Kids' commentary and Film makers commentary which made good viewing and actually enhanced what you got for your money.



Aspect Ratio: 2.35 Wide Screen

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Available Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
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Main Language: English
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Dubbed Language(s): Danish, Hindi, Norwegian
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Sub Titles: Danish, English, Hindi, Norwegian
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Hearing Impaired: English
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Disc Format: DVD 9



Would I recommend it ?

Of course I would. Get the family together, have a film afternoon with popcorn and take a step into the land of Narnia with them and you will get much more than a good viewing experience, you will get a step into a fantasy world where the imagination has no limits.

Summary: A super film that lives up to its' hype.