Chronicles of Narnia

 

 

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Last December, C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" followed in the footsteps of the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy," with a gleaming new big-screen adaptation.

And despite the new movie's presence, it's worth taking a trip back to the 1988 adaptation of Lewis's book, produced by the BBC. It's evenly divided between good and bad -- good scripting and some good acting, but also some poor acting and sketchy direction.

The four Pevensie children arrive in the country, at the start of World War II. Despite the eccentric but friendly professor (Michael Aldridge) who lives there, they're all bored. And during a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy (Sophie Wilcox) slips into an old wardrobe -- and finds that the back of it opens into a magical, snowy forest land called Narnia. She encounters a friendly faun, but when she arrives back home, she finds that none of her siblings believe her.

But soon Lucy and her siblings find their way through -- not knowing that peevish Edmund (Jonathan R. Scott) has already allied himself to the evil White Witch (Barbara Kellerman) who keeps Narnia locked in winter. She's especially desperate, because Narnia is beginning to thaw out, now that leonine Aslan is coming back to it, and the Pevensie kids have shown up to fulfil an old prophecy. But the Witch won't go down without a massive battle -- and one that might destroy the lion-messiah himself.

"The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" is a mixed bag -- it has more or less equal measures of good and bad. What it also has is deep fidelity to Lewis's original book, which was one of the first major fantasies to get widespread attention. And that's definitely an important detail, since the spirit of the book could easily have been lost.

The filmmakers obviously did their homework, crafting the script and dialogue to be close to Lewis's novel. And it's a credit that they pulled off some lines that could have sounded idiotic ("You're not dead, Aslan!" "Do I look dead?") in the wrong hands. They also did an excellent job of changing atmosphere, shifting from the stodgy English country house to the airy frozen Narnia, with its castles and dewy wildlands.

Unfortunately, the special effects haven't aged well. They were state of the art at the time, but now they look quite cheesy and low budget, with a few exceptions -- the scene where Lucy restores various "statued" people to life is pretty good. The other stuff ranged from primitive bluescreen to an enormous puppet playing Aslan. It's a good puppet, and remarkably convincing physically, but it still makes Aslan look like he has a wicked case of arthritis.

The acting is also divided between good and bad. Scott is particularly good as the "bad boy" Edmund, who ends up falling in with the Witch, especially when he turns on his evil mentor. He is accompanied by some good acting from Sophie Cook as Susan, and Richatd Dempsey as Peter, who also has to do a convincing battle with a werewolf. The weak links are Wilcox, who speaks most of her lines in a whine, and Kellerman, who laughs madly, coos and shrieks, and generally hams it up like a lunatic.

While the new version of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" has captured the imaginations of moviegoers, the BBC version is still worth taking a look at.

In the December, C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" will follow in the footsteps of Lewis' pal Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings Trilogy," with a gleaming new big-screen adaptation. In the months before it's released, however, it might be time to dust off the 1988 BBC adaptation of Lewis's first book, which is divided between the good and bad.

The four Pevensie children arrive in the country, at the start of World War II. Despite the eccentric but friendly professor (Michael Aldridge) who lives there, they're all bored. And during a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy (Sophie Wilcox) slips into an old wardrobe -- and finds that the back of it opens into a magical, snowy forest land called Narnia. She encounters a friendly faun, but when she arrives back home, she finds that none of her siblings believe her.

But soon Lucy and her siblings find their way through -- not knowing that peevish Edmund (Jonathan R. Scott) has already allied himself to the evil White Witch (Barbara Kellerman) who keeps Narnia locked in winter. She's especially desperate, because Narnia is beginning to thaw out, now that leonine Aslan is coming back to it, and the Pevensie kids have shown up to fulfil an old prophecy. But the Witch won't go down without a massive battle -- and one that might destroy the lion-messiah himself.

"The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" is a mixed bag -- it has more or less equal measures of good and bad. What it also has is deep fidelity to Lewis's original book, which was one of the first major fantasies to get widespread attention. And that's definitely an important detail, since the spirit of the book could easily have been lost.

The filmmakers obviously did their homework, crafting the script and dialogue to be close to Lewis's novel. And it's a credit that they pulled off some lines that could have sounded idiotic ("You're not dead, Aslan!" "Do I look dead?") in the wrong hands. They also did an excellent job of changing atmosphere, shifting from the stodgy English country house to the airy frozen Narnia, with its castles and dewy wildlands.

Unfortunately, the special effects haven't aged well. They were state of the art at the time, but now they look quite cheesy and low budget, with a few exceptions -- the scene where Lucy restores various "statued" people to life is pretty good. The other stuff ranged from primitive bluescreen to an enormous puppet playing Aslan. It's a good puppet, and remarkably convincing physically, but it still makes Aslan look like he has a wicked case of arthritis.

The acting is also divided between good and bad. Scott is particularly good as the "bad boy" Edmund, who ends up falling in with the Witch, especially when he turns on his evil mentor. He is accompanied by some good acting from Sophie Cook as Susan, and Richatd Dempsey as Peter, who also has to do a convincing battle with a werewolf. The weak links are Wilcox, who speaks most of her lines in a whine, and Kellerman, who laughs madly, coos and shrieks, and generally hams it up like a lunatic.

The new version of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" has yet to be judged against Lewis' original novel, but the 1988 BBC version is a solid if flawed adaptation. Worth checking out.

This no-budget production from the BBC fails to live up to the production values of films made 100 years ago. Shoddy production design offers us absurd anthropromorphic animals of the stage-horse variety. The problem is not the budget - I offer the example of John Coates's "The Snowman", which opens with a simple shot of a man entering a wintry wood overlaid with a voiceover, all you need to create an atmosphere of impending enchantment. Instead, the producers foolishly try to emulate Hollywood-style visual effects on a shoestring budget. The results are depressing. The truth is, even with a huge budget, no one involved with the design and execution of this telefilm would be capable of creating a memorable visual.

The 4 children playing the leads are chubby and indolent looking. They consistently seem to be blissfully unaware of the fact that they are being filmed - were they chosen randomly from the nearest grade school? Aslan is a lifeless animatronic head which rasps out his lines via poorly synched voice over.

However, the first 30 minutes or so are wonderful, the minimally made up Mr. Tumnus the clear highlight. The score is very good, from the same composer who scored the deservedly praised BBC "Brideshead Revisited". The text of the telefilm is also very accurate to the text and Christian religious themes of the novel by CS Lewis.

This series gets better with each outing though: "Prince Caspian" ekes its head a little beyond its predecessor, "Dawn Treader" surpasses both by leaps and bounds and finally "The Silver Chair" carries itself with considerable aplomb and charm, despite some very poor designs and effects.

Overall, a decent warm up for the curious before the real thing hits cinemas Christmas 2005.

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1.0 out of 5 stars not very good
this movie wasn't even interesting, it is just a waist of money!

Published on July 4 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars Great to see, but could have been better.
I love the books, and think of them as some of the best literature ever written. I enjoyed watching the animated movie as a kid, but longed for something that was more real-... Read more

Published on April 9 2004 by Jedidiah Palosaari

5.0 out of 5 stars Immerse your child and yourself in Narnia
Excellent video production by people who love and respect C.S. Lewis and his Narnia Chronicles. My son likes this particular story of the series the best (so far) and after... Read more

Published on May 25 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars The enchanting first adventure in the magic land of Narnia
One of the lessons of this production of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is that a good story can forgive many things. Read more

Published on May 7 2003 by Lawrance M. Bernabo

4.0 out of 5 stars If only they'd had a better budget!
For those unfamiliar with the story, this is an allegory for the story of salvation through Jesus Christ. Read more

Published on Feb 21 2003 by Brian Hulett

4.0 out of 5 stars If only they'd had a better budget!
For those unfamiliar with the story, this is an allegory for the story of salvation through Jesus Christ. Read more

Published on Feb 21 2003 by Brian Hulett

5.0 out of 5 stars Chronicles of Narnia - Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Excellent miniseries version of the classic C.S. Lewis tale. A talented cast, great script and a heartwarming musical score add extraordinary beauty to this BBC classic. Read more

Published on Jan 31 2003 by Clob Lane

5.0 out of 5 stars Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
I give this 5 stars because its an amazing
childrens film, directed amazingly for a made
for TV movie and wonderful special effects for
1988. Read more

Published on Jan 28 2003 by SpiritChild

5.0 out of 5 stars True to the book
Very few films stay true to the book upon which they are based. This is one of them. It's a wonderful film for the whole family.

Published on Jan 21 2003 by Mynameisthis

4.0 out of 5 stars Lion In You're Heart
One of the best classic stories for children.Excelnt to have on DVD .Well worth the by.It's nice to watch the movie with familuer characters and exciting battels and adventures of... Read more

Published on Jan 2 2003 by FlyingDream

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