Narnia movie: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- Page 5

[Jim Colyer]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 2:03pm

I saw Narnia. Enjoyed parts of it, but the battle scene was too long. They always are.

[hopeful2]

Posted: 12/23/05 at 10:43am

Well, I really enjoyed it. I agree with everyone about McAvoy and Swinton. He was adorable and I think I'll always see him as a fawn now. She was perfect for the role.

I can only think of one scene where the special effects jumped out as being just that. The lion and the wolves were very convincing though - the two people I saw it with agreed with me there too. But I don't think that's particularly important for this type of film. Disney mainly caters for children, and children generally have better imaginations to be able to ignore things that look wrong for the sake of accepting what they know they're supposed to be paying attention to. I'm glad they saved money in this area rather than on the writing and acting. I wasn't watching it as an action-adventure so it didn't spoil it for me. I personally was looking for concepts and characters and story and was keen to assess how they handled the religious ideas, which was all fine, though some of the characters were a little neglected. It was already verging on too long for children though, so time was probably an issue here.

About those 'ideas' (to imagine what might happen in another world with regards to redemption Lewis must have used his understanding about what happened in this one, so it could be fair to call it an allegory of sorts, though I can see why he wouldn't want it to be jugded as one). In the secular part of the world I come from, any religious references that went much further than the book had done may have been met with groans, I suspect, and in the packed cinema I went to this wasn't obviously the case. However, I can't imagine many educated adults who wouldn't notice the references at all. They were a little stronger than I think people have so far given them credit for.

I do say 'religious' and not 'Christian'. Most of it could have been about any of the Abrahamic religions. Only the explanation of the resurrection could fairly be called exclusively Christian. Apart from this and his being the King of the world, I don't think there's anything that challenges Muslim beliefs about Jesus, for example. (What happens to the White Witch (Satan) probabaly does too, but then that's not accurate in Christian theology either.) So given that the intention of the book seems to have been to play out the Christian Jesus' role in a metaphorical world, I think this version is faithful to that without ruffling feathers or sacrificing appeal to the imagination. :) I was pleased by this.

Oh yes, and I agree that it might be a little scary and violent for young children. I was looking anxiously down at some about four year olds during the battle at the end, with all the ugly creatures fighting, thinking I would have been frightened at their age. That scene reminded me of LOTR, which people didn't take young children to see.

[zepka102]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 6:53pm

bumping!


i saw the movie this afternoon and i loved it! i was never a huge fan of the book. i didn't care for the style C.S. Lewis used to write it. but it translated VERY well to the big screen. Tilda Swinton is AMAZING. i was trying to imagine the role played by Nicole Kidman. i could see her being VERY good in the role... and it would be very different from Tilda's portrayal. however, Tilda had the perfect balance of beauty and coldness, which made her perfect for the role. i felt like an idiot though. i never looked for the biblical similarities as i read it before, but seeing it on the big screen, it was very obvious. i didn't care though... i thought it was great!


and on a funny note, i heard an old person behind me say "that is the best trained lion i have ever seen!" that had me and my sister laughing for a while!

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 7:08pm

I saw it yesterday with a 10 year old boy who has autism. He very rarely sits through anything that isn't animated. He LOVED it. I loved it, too, but I was more impressed with how well he behaved. I think it was the incredible detail of the animals. Just amazing.

[pyewacket]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 8:18pm

Where do you live that this movie didn't get a big hoopla??? Though it didn't make as much as Harry Potter the first weekend that it was out

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 8:45pm

James McAvoy was hot as a faun :).

[billygoatgirl300]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 11:45pm

I'm glad to see this thread is back again!I really enjoyed this movie.It's been a long time since I have read the books so I'm going back to reread them.
Are there plains to make all seven of the books into movies?

[billygoatgirl300]

Posted: 12/30/05 at 11:45pm

I'm glad to see this thread is back again!I really enjoyed this movie.It's been a long time since I have read the books so I'm going back to reread them.
Are there plains to make all seven of the books into movies?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 9:45am

Mmm. Good flick.

[RobbO]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 4:59pm

bleh.

Posted: 9/18/06 at 5:08pm

love the movie and the music to it amazing! really sad when lion dies nearly i say nearly had me in tears!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 5:32pm

My favorite film of 2005.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 6:03pm

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the books (The Magicians Nephew being my favorite). My wife and I saw the movie in theaters and both were slightly underwhelmed. I mean, I liked the movie for what it was, but I feel they left out a lot of character development for special effects and sweeping camera angles. Honestly, I like the BBC version better because it took time to bring the characters to life and make you feel for them. For example, Edmund in the BBC version is a little bastard that you just want to smack. In the movie version, he is just annoying.

But, overall it is a really good movie. I hope the CGI and character development is better in the next movie.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 6:58pm

I have to agree. I loved the books and owned the BBC videos, so I was very skeptical at first. I really did like the movie, but there were so many times they didn't need special effects, but it seemed like they had them just to "show off". Like adding the scene with them attempting to cross the melting river and being chased by the wolves. It's been years since I read the books, so I'm not sure if that was in the book at all. But it just seemed really unnecessary to make such a huge deal out of that scene when it wasn't an integral part of the plot.

[AmericaRight]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:21pm

The Chronicles of Naria and the Passion of the Christ are the only decents things to come out of Hollywood in Decades.

We need more films that deal with the solid values that make this Christian nation the best in the world.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:34pm

and another moron sockpuppet joins the board......

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 9:45pm

I'm deleting my post Updated On: 9/18/06 at 09:45 PM

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 9/18/06 at 10:48pm

Yawn....AmericaRight.....

Chanti, is that you?

How tiresome....

Posted: 9/18/06 at 11:32pm

one of my bosses said, "it was beautiful but there was something missing...kinda like my ex-wife"

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 11:16am

Yeah, too bad this is not a Christian nation. We are not under dictatorship . . . and the founding fathers were Diests (Not Christians).

Carry on!

[RobbO]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 11:20am

i was rooting for the witch the whole time.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 11:24am

And she would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids!

[RobbO]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 11:25am

exactly. watching this movie was the longest four hours of my life.

[bunnywings]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 12:30pm

I loved this movie. It was visually appealing and, if I remember correctly, the music was awesome. I never read the book when I was younger. I saw the movie with a church group and I didn't catch the biblical reference at all, which my mom wasn't happy about. (I went to a catholic school 1st-8th grade) I was just there for a good movie. And, it helped that the older brother was hot.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/19/06 at 12:36pm

Bunny- I HIGHLY recommend getting the books (not in Chronological order, though). Get in this order

1. Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe
2. The Horse and His Boy
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Silver Chair
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Last Battle

I promise you won't be dissapointed.

Updated On: 9/19/06 at 12:36 PM