The Lion, The Witch and The Wonder (The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005] (DVD))

Name: bonsibabe

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Product:	The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005] (DVD)
Date:	10/04/06 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant Film

Disadvantages: None

We found this yesterday and I just had to get it as I loved the book when I was a child and wanted to see if all the hype about the film was true. It cost me about £15.99 but if you shop around you can get it cheaper.

DVD Info
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Languages - English/Norwegian/Danish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Languages - Hindi/Aludio Described English (Dolby Surround 2.0)
Subtitles - English/English for hearing impaired/Norwegian/Danish/Hindi
Region - 2 (PAL)
Running Time - 137 minutes
Widescreen Format 2.35:1
Certificate - PG (it's up to you for kids undern 12)

Cast
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Aslan - Liam Neeson
MR Beaver - Ray Winstone
Mrs Beaver - Dawn French
Fox - Rupert Everett


The Story
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Four children (Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter) are evacuated from their home in Finchley during the blitz and sent to live with a reclusive Professor in the Country. The housekeeper is a bit of a frightening woman, well I was a bit scared of her! The children are instructed not to make any noise as it will disturb the professor.

Whilst playing a game of hide and seek, Lucy (the youngest) hides in a wardrobe in the attic room and suddenly finds herself in a forest in winter. Here she meets Mr Tumnus, a fawn, who informs her that she is in the land of Narnia, where it is always winter but never Christmas. She goes with Mr Tumnus to his home where he makes her a cup of tea and plays her a lullaby. When Lucy wakes up Mr Tumnus tells her that the White Witch has ordered that any children in her forest must be taken to her at once but Mr Tumnus takes Lucy back to where they met and she returns home back through the wardrobe.

She tells her brothers and sister about her experiences - she may have been in Narnia for hours but only a few moments have passed in the real world. Obviously the others dont believe her but Edmund does follow her into Narnia later that night wher he meets the Queen of Narnia who gives him sweeties and invites him to take his brother and sisters with him next time to her castle. On their return, Edmund denies that he has been to Narnia, which upsets Lucy. On hearing this, the professor has a little chat to Peter and Susan and tells them not to discount Lucy's story so easily.

On playing cricket, Edmund breaks a window, and to avoid confrontation with the Housekeeper, they all hide in the wardrobe. Here Peter and Susan find that Lucy was telling the truth the whole time! They go to find Mr Tumnus but discover that he is in prison for talking to Lucy. They meet Mr and Mrs Beaver, Fox and are chased by the police (a pack of wolves). Edmund disappears and makes his way to the White Witch's palace where he is imprisoned for not taking his brother and sisters with him.

Peter, Susan and Lucy discover that the only way to get Edmund back is to talk to Aslan, the true King of Narnia. Thus starts the voyage that will build bridges between brothers and make the children a closer family than ever before. Sorry but I'm not giving any more of the story away - that just would not be cricket!

DVD Extras
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The extra features on this DVD are pretty self explanatory. These are:

* The bloopers of narnia

* Director and Kid's Commentary

* Filkmmaker's Commentary

* Discover Narnia Fun facts - learn some trivia about narnia

My Opinion
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Fantastic film! The film is so close to the original book that myself and my hubby were sitting last night talking about which part of the story came next. Some parts of the book haven't been included; but if the film was an exact adaptation of the book it would have been twice as long! What has been done is a fine adaptation of a classic children's story. I remember reading the book as a child and watching the original series on the television, but this has far outshined that original series.

The special effects are absolutely wonderful! To say that two adults were mesmerised by a children's film is an understatement. We both sat motionless for the duration of the film! I also had my 2 kids (aged 4 and almost 2) sit and watch it with me again this morning. My youngest actually sat and watched the whole film (making funny noises at the same time but she sat just the same) and my oldest was enthralled with the film. She asked to watch it again immediately after the final credits started rolling but will keep it for a couple of days before she sees it again (don't want her to get sick of it too soon!). There are some scenes of violence (a battle) but i explained to my oldest that it was a make believe battle and no-one really got hurt and she was quite happy with that one. It does have a PG rating to it really is up to each individual parent as to how old their kids are to watch it.

This is definitely a Disney Classic film for any collection. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this to everyone and anyone who will listen to me. And it definitely gets the 5 stars from me. Fantastic acting, fantastic special effects, memorable soundtrack (if a little haunting for me) and generally a fantastic film. What else can I say - its fantastic!!! I feel that it was great value for money but you can get it cheaper if you shop around. I've seen in on choices for £12.95 and play for £13.99 (both postage and packing free of charge as well) so its worth looking around before you buy the first one you see. But definitely worth watching.

Summary: Well Worth Watching