Cheap Cds - The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005]

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Customer Rating:

Summary: Art in Motion
Comment: This wonderful movie gives us back the "special effects film" proper. Here's hoping it helps to wean
younger viewers (and older ones who should know better) away from the "might-as-well-be-a-cartoon"
overkill of the Matrix and other CGI-fests - even Jackson's Kong has, for me, one dinosaur-chase too
many - and back to the mythopoeic splendours of true cinema artists like Ray Harryhausen. Setting
aside the technical verisimilitude of 2001 and the zooming rockets of Star Wars, it's no coincidence
that the previous benchmark for really special special effects was "Jason and the Argonauts";
bringing mythology to life - that is, putting real performers in the frame with mythical beasts - is
the modern age's equivalent of Ovid and the rest doing it in narrative poetry. With Narnia, we
finally get a worthy contemporary inheritor of those legacies, cinematic and literary.
/>Of course, one of the secrets of a great "special effects film" is that the wizardry is
complemented by excellence in other areas. Narnia gives us, for a start, some genuinely good child
actors (English ones, to boot!) for our protagonists. The young performers here manage to convey
emotion and just the right level of anachronism to chime with the story's wartime setting, without
resort to jarring Harry Potterish bum notes of trendiness (or that series' often wooden, school-play
delivery of the juvenile dialogue). Georgie Henley in particular is absolutely pitch-perfect in her
depiction of little Lucy's delight, terror, sadness, and, above all, innocent wonder - the perfect
"Disney kid," in fact (and much, much better than that brand might imply).

The Narnia
grown-ups are also fantastic, similar streaks ahead of the Potter adult rota: compare James Cosmo's
brief and brilliant Father Christmas here with the Dumbledores of Harris and Gambon, for example.
Better still, put Tilda Swinton's subtly terrifying White Witch against any of cinema's fear-queens
and she's going to come out at the top. James McAvoy's faun is a touching demonstration of that
actor's striking versatility.

Meanwhile, on the voice-over front, we have Ray
Winstone's delightful Mister Beaver (paired with a Dawn French thankfully restrained from making
this character "her own" (i.e. not funny)), a great, appropriate fox from Rupert Everett and many
other fine vocalisations, culminating in a gloriously leonine sound-portrait of Aslan from Liam
Neeson.

The story is already established as a modern classic; the screenplay is pretty
faithful. Pacing, cinematography (a glorious colour palette is on view throughout) and music are all
fine, too. But the breath is most taken, of course, by the beautifully-integrated effects. When I
spoke of the voice-over performances just now, you have to see what amazing justice is done to the
real actors by their animated counterparts (and vice-versa). Facial expressions, body-language,
authentic animal behaviour and anthropomorphic adaptations are welded in magnificent style,
convincing and entertaining at the same time. The wolves look as real as the centaurs; the demons
are as alive as the cheetahs; the gryphon (the gryphon!) is somehow truer to "life" than, say, any
of the Black Beauties we've seen filmed. The phoenix is astounding. In true Jason style, we also get
a harpy, taunting Aslan on his way to his execution.

The masterpiece in this gallery of
wonders, indeed, has to be Aslan; the lion is real; super-real; moving just for being so beautifully
realised, before we even come to the deeper emotion of his sacrifice. This scene, if you were in any
doubt before, convinces us that we're watching art in motion. I haven't seen Bosch paintings move
before, but this riot of grotesques would grace any canvas of his, or Duhrer's. Clive Barker would
probably recognise the more hellish dimension of the scene, too. Tilda Swinton is at her most
chilling here; and the quasi-religious pathos outdoes Mel Gibson's sadistic little go at it in "The
Passion of the Christ" by many miles. It's at least as horrific as, and much more touching than,
Edward Woodward's exit in the Wicker Man; cinematically no less significant, either - this is, at
most levels, a "children's" film (and definitely an "effects" film), so the compliment to
intelligence and maturity is much appreciated: yes, we can respond to sacrifice without the
conventional frameworks, thank you.

In every respect, Narnia is one of cinema's genuine
and precious works of art. It's brilliant; you should see it. And if it's going to be classed as an
effects, fantasy and/or kids' film, then it has to be installed at the top of all those categories.
For my money, though, it should be put firmly in the classic ranks; and actually rated as one of the
finest of all time.

Customer Rating:

Summary: "You are giving me your life and saving no one. So much for love."
Comment: The Pevensie family must split-up due to the war and the children go to the country for safety.
There Lucy while playing a game of "Hide-and-seek" discovers an old wardrobe in a spare room. There
upon entering stumble into the country of Narnia. The story begins.

If you come at this
film with no preconceptions or knowledge of the writer or writing. And of course did not see the BBC
production, than you could almost perceive this film tale as a mild "Lord of the rings." We have the
cultural classic coming of age journey that requires sacrifice and a new understanding of life. />
The original BBC production truer to the story was of course lower budget and would appeal
to a different audience. I think Disney adjusted this film to match their perceived audience. />
The book which is a classic also has a following. However I must say that I think that C.S.
Lewis's fictional works are a pail reflection of his other works.

I did find the film
fun to watch especially after viewing the voiceover commentaries that told what they were trying to
accomplish including the "Potty Mouth Bucket". And this was a good selection of character actors.
The sets had great depth and care taken. Yet this is an interpretation of a book that is bay an
author that is not the best at fiction and should in no way be compared with other works either book
or movie. Dismay is trying to portray the essence of the story, not make a block buster action CGI
film. In those contents this movie was well done.

Watch for "The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian" (2007)

As a side note I own wardrobe similar although not as large as
the one displayed in the movie. So foe the only being that have been lost in it are my cats.

Customer Rating:

Summary: ****1/2 - charming and poignant
Comment: This 127-minute live-action version of Clive Staples Lewis' classic fairy tale is colourful and
impressive, and the young actors and actresses perform very well. At 32 I would have liked a bit
more grit and realism, perhaps, but Lewis wasn't Tolkien, and this is a children's story first and
(I suppose) foremost. Most of the casualties are monsters of some kind, and there is very little
blood - even on just-used swords, which annoyed me a little. But these details changes do less to
make the film unsuitable to adults, and more to simply invite children to join its viewership, and
from the viewpoint of a European, at least, "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" is a wonderful
fairy tale for anyone from the age of eight or there about. Some scenes are certainly frightening,
but the overall tone is far less dark than, say, "The Lord Of The Rings".

Tilda Swinton
is radiant and charismatic as Jadis, the White Witch, and Liam Neeson voices Aslan the Lion with
warmth and just the right amount of otherwordly dignity. Little Georgie Henley (Lucy Pevensie)
displays more acting chops at nine than many highly-paid actresses at thirty, and Scotsman James
MacAvoy is a charming and quite British Mr Tumnus.
The Christian subtext has perhaps been
toned down a little here and there, but it is still very palpable, especially in the...well, in one
particular scene. If you are on of the two or three hundred people in the English-speaking who don't
know the story, I'm not going to ruin it for you.

If I am to complain a little bit (and
I am), I'll say that certain scenes feel a bit rushed, like Lucy's meeting with the faun and
Edmund's first encounter with the White Witch. This is one movie which could have used that extra
half-hour of playing time that so many movies get for no good reason whatsoever. But the overall
impression? Great stuff. Touching, thrilling, charming, and not as Disneyfied as I had feared.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A CLassic Blockbuster is born !!
Comment: C.S Lewis's Narnian Chronicles have fascinated me since I was at school.Especially The Lion Witch
and The Wadrobe and Prince Caspian.This Walt Disney -Walden Media production is well over deferred.
I did find this somewhat dissapointing as the dialogue quite poor and cheesy in many cases and the
acting weak , besides young Lucy's touching performance, Tilda Swinton as the witch was brilliant
yet could have been more powerful and evil , The great Lion Aslan however was faultless yet more
emphasis could have been given on his magic and command. The atmosphere of the Narnian ice age was
superb and quite gothic , the digital images and soundtrack spot on.It's worth comparing this for
future referance to the late 80's BBC series Narnian Chronicles, these were superior in being closer
to the book, acting and dialogue better, however it lacked the hollywood funds for digital effects
and the talking animals were ridiculous humans in pantomine attire. Also if this has bowled you over
and you can't be bothered to read all of the C.S Lewis Chronicles. Amazon do an excellent audio book
BBC series. If you havent seen this blockbuster get it ,It's good, the only drawback was it missing
out to King Kong in 2006's Oscars.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Great yet somewhat childish
Comment: There's no question about it; as for a children's story, it's geat, with as usual fantastic,
brittish young actors. And the environment in Narnia is marvelously sculptured by CGI with more
human-like touch than the standard digital FX. Still, a few doubts and lapses in details compared to
CS. Lewis books...

First of all, having Santa Clause bring the swords and other gifts
to the children feels like an overkill to a great story. "So, you tell us the Narnians, on top of
suffering from an eternal winter and the terror-reign of the snow witch, haven't even been able to
share X-mas gifts under a decorated tree for a 100 years? What about the thanxgiving- turkey?" That
supposed to make the target group more empathic to the story-line? Loose up on those embarrasing
"family values", please!

Secondly, the mind-boggling mystery of the handkerchief. Lucy
gives it to the faun, the faun for some reason gives it to the beaver, who returns it to Lucy. Then,
the faun is somehow able to return it once more to her. Now, I know the laws of physics work
differently in Narnia (the street light tree, arbus traficialis?, for instance), but this
handkerchief logistics bewilders me. Was there like a deleted scene (to be included in later
directors's cut version) where Lucy gave it back to the faun again? And what's wrong with this
handkerchief anyway since noone would want to keep it?

Finally, I wonder what the
professor's maid will have to say about the cricket (not baseball!) broken window, but that is a
"good" loose end which in itself is enough to eagerly await the sequel!

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