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This is the special two-disc collector’s edition, which would later be one-upped a few months later with a four-disc special collector’s set. We’ll see if this affects the final rating at all.
The Main Characters
--Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan Pevensie (Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, and Anna Popplewell) are 4 children who live in London during World War II. When it is attacked they are whisked away to a mansion far out of the city. While there, they discover a magical place called Narnia and how they were destined to save it.
--The White Witch (Tilda Swinton) is a nefarious ruler of subjects in Narnia. She is opposed to Aslan and has dreams of ruling the entire land.
--Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) is a lion that is the inspiration to everyone in Narnia. He helps the Pevensie’s when they arrive in Narnia.
The Setting
The children start in London, then head off to a British manor on the outskirts of London (for a safe place to stay during the war) and then, of course, to mystical Narnia.
The Film (2:22:54)
It’s World War II and the Germans have started an air-attack on London in what has become known as the Blitz. During this time children were sent to the countryside for safekeeping. In this case the Pevensie’s were sent to Professor Kirke’s estate. While playing hide-and-go-seek the youngest Pevensie, Lucy, finds a portal in a wardrobe to a magical land called Narnia. She meets a fawn named Mr. Tumnus and is enthralled with the place. Her siblings don’t believe her, though, until Edmund happens to follow her one night through the wardrobe and into Narnia. He meets the White Witch, Jadis, and she tells him to bring his brothers and sisters along. See, according to prophecy, two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve are to come to Narnia and free the world of the White Witch’s cold wintery grasp and restore its splendor. She wants to prevent that. Shortly after Edmund’s and Lucy’s return the whole lot of them end up in Narnia. Edmund goes to the White Witch, still trusting her to some degree, while Lucy, Peter and Susan start on a trek to avoid the Witch’s minions and meet up with Aslan. Edmund is taken prisoner by the witch and only Aslan’s sacrifice can save him. Aslan is a fierce lion warrior with a heart of gold and agrees to be sacrificed to that Edmund may live. He is killed on the eve of the battle between the forces of good (The Pevensie’s and their army) and evil (The White Witch). Their final battle will seal the fate of the White Witch once and for all and determine if they can rid Narnia of her rule.
Movie Review
When I first saw this film I dismissed it as Lord of the Rings for children. Though some of me still thinks this, after repeated viewings I find I am enjoying the movie more and more. It has a lot of similarities to LOTR but that can be traced to Tolkien and Lewis being contemporaries and friends. This story at its simplest is good vs. evil and good can win despite the obstacles. The White Witch represents the evil winter that has snared Narnia for a century while the arrival of the children brings hope and summer. With these basics firmly in place and clearly understood, the film is free to open up and explore the relationship between the four siblings and how they act and react for a foreign world and creatures. The movie would’ve been a dead man walking had the casting of any one of the four children been wrong and luckily that did not happen here. Great care was taken to cast these children and each plays their role perfectly. Georgie was great as Lucy, a lovable yet sometimes annoying little sister. Skandar as Edmund really hits the mark as an irresponsible, brash third child. Anna as Susan plays the smart sometimes snobby sister beautifully and even William as Peter really brings to the screen the reluctant hero who really grows from child to man in this film. Of course, Tilda Swinton as the White Witch was just chillingly good and Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan just fits to a T. He has the power and regalness needed for the role. Everything about the film hits the right spot. The locations, the CGI was blended in seamlessly and the story moved quick enough to make you forget it was 2 and a half hours. The film was light on violence, which is surprising considering the battle scenes, and it makes it perfect for any youngster wanting to explore Narnia for the first time. The movie hits the mark on a emotional level for all who can understand the child inside of them and should be remembered as a great movie and not as a Lord of the Rings knock-off. ***.
DVD Features
A) Extras
---Disc One---
1) The Bloopers of Narnia (4:36)
It’s a bunch of goofs from the cast and crew and somewhat funny moments. Some things they talked about in the commentaries were in here, which was a nice touch, like Skandar getting hit in the head with the cricket ball.
2) Discover Narnia Fun Facts
Turning this feature on will cause pop-up facts that will play during the movie from co-producer Douglas Gresham and the stepson of C.S. Lewis. It doesn’t pop up too often and didn’t add much to the film. They mentioned mostly about C.S. and his life and not too much about the film itself.
3) Audio Commentaries
---A) Kids Commentary
William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley are the kids in the movie and they join Director Andrew Adamson on this commentary. Georgie seemed to do most of the talking and they mainly spoke about their experiences on set, their acting and things like that. It wasn’t terribly interesting to be honest and Georgie can be annoying to listen to at times. Anna and William barely spoke and Skandar was all right. Andrew was definitely the better talker of the five of them.
---B) Production Commentary
Andrew Adamson makes his second appearance on a commentary on this collection and he’s joined by Production Designer Roger Ford and Producer Mark Johnson. Roger Ford is joined via phone, which is odd to hear, and he says this is his first time watching it. They talk a lot about the actors (the four children were cast together in the same day to make sure they could interact well together and make it believable), the locations (for instance it was filmed in New Zealand, Czech Republic and on stage) and some of the effects. It is quite enjoyable to listen to and they have a lot of things to say and keep things going the whole two and a half hours.
4) Sneak Peaks
---A) The Little Mermaid (1:38)
This is for the 2-disc special edition. I’ll take a pass.
---B) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (1:47)
I saw this in the theaters and it came off to me as a long trailer for the third film. It had its enjoyable moments but I left feeling it was a 2 and a half hour commercial.
---C) Glory Road (2:33)
This is the true story based on a coach from Texas Western who brought his team to the NCAA finals using mostly African-American players and then defeating an all-white Kentucky team. It is a good story but I don’t have a desire to see the movie.
---D) Eight Below (2:24)
This is some cheesy Disney movie with dogs in the Antarctic somewhere. The dogs are stranded there and need to make their way across the wilderness. It’s based on a true story, too.
---E) Cars (0:54)
This is Disney and Pixar’s new animated movie. It’s about cars that can talk.
---F) Brother Bear 2 (1:35)
The first one was so good I guess we needed another one. Straight to DVD for this bad boy.
---G) Airbuddies (0:31)
More about dogs who can do things. It’s a team of air buds now! What is it with Disney and dogs?
---H) Lost (0:32)
A commercial for Lost which I don’t watch.
---I) Everest (0:32)
This is a new ride from Disney.
---Disc Two---
Disc Two is separated into two sections, Creating Narnia and Creatures, Lands & Legends
---Creating Narnia---
1) Chronicles of a Director (37:59)
After Disney got the rights, they got calls off the hook from people. Someone suggested Andrew, fresh from directing Shrek, and Andrew couldn’t turn it down. He talks about casting. He wanted kids he actually liked being around and hoped they liked being around him. Basically, he didn’t want to be around annoying kids he didn’t like for 12 months. He says Tilda was the first choice for the witch. They talk a lot about the CGI, the locations and Andrew’s work and energy in general. It’s a nice look into Andrew’s role in this film and some of the behind the scenes stuff.
2) The Children’s Magical Journey (26:23)
The featurette starts with Andrew bringing a blindfolded Georgie to the Narnia so she can see it for the first time. They recorded it to get her real reaction. The child actors talk about getting their roles and they interview them a bit later and let me tell you, Skandar needs a haircut. They said the children got along together well and would actually act like a family to some extent. They show the kids on location and goofing around and they definitely seemed to enjoy themselves on set.
3) Evolution of an Epic
---A) From One Man’s Mind (4:15)
This is a very brief look at CS Lewis and his life and what inspired the book.
---B) Cinematic Storytellers (55:06)
------i) Richard Taylor – WETA Workshop (6:36)
Richard is from WETA Workshop (best known for Lord of the Rings) and they worked on the armor and the designs in general. They show the progression from sketch art to color art to sculpture.
------ii) Howard Berger – KNB Creature Shop (5:27)
Howard talks about creating all the creatures for the film. He had a good time on the film and in the end felt he produced something very believable.
------iii) Isis Mussenden – Costumes (7:44)
Isis was in charge of producing the costumes. She says they are not Fashion Designers but they tell a story through their costumes. She says her costume designing has gone places she never imagined they would.
------iv) Roger Ford – Production Designer (8:10)
Roger is the production designer and he helped with the sets and what would look best. He says the budget would have to be agreed upon before filming.
------v) Don McAlpine – Director of Photography (8:03)
Don is director of photography, basically placing the cameras. He starts imagining it and picturing it from when he first reads the script.
------vi) Sim Evan-Jones – Editor (6:48)
Sim was the film editor. He talks about using storyboards to start off and visualize what they want and then editing the final footage. He says the photograph Edmund saves from the house is a photo of his father he found just a few days before and it was very emotional for him since he never knew his father.
------vii) Harry Gregson-Williams – Music Composer (6:26)
Harry says he was sent to a boarding school for music when he was six and he says he could probably read music better than he could read English.
------viii) Mark Johnson – Producer (5:52)
Mark is the producer, the man who interacts with the studio and the director and the “protector of the film.”
---C) Creating Creatures (53:30)
There is a wardrobe on the bottom below “Centaurs” that when you click on it, it changes the background and goes to Creatures of the World extra. These are all basically features where they highlight the character shown and have the cast and crew and actor talk about that character.
------i) White Witch (7:22)
The White Witch’s costume changes as her mood changes, and it goes from icy white to grayer and grayer and her crown shrinks. Tilda talks about playing the White Witch.
------ii) Aslan (9:40)
They thought it important to not be able to tell the difference between the CGI Aslan and a real lion. It was 99.9% CGI but there were three models made, the one on the stone, a full size one, and a riding one. It took hours to render a frame of Aslan as well.
------iii) Tumnus (7:16)
All Mr. Tumnus wears is a red scarf. They show James (Tumnus) wearing green pants for the CGI and the extensive make-up he had to under go.
------iv) Wolves (3:55)
They show the wolves used and trained in the film and used as the White Witch’s Gestapo. Sometimes they’d record the wolves then take some of them out if they weren’t menacing or doing what they should’ve correctly.
------v) Centaurs (5:55)
They didn’t motion capture the guys legs since they were useless. They couldn’t replicate the horse movements so there was no point. They show the swords they use as well.
------vi) Minotaurs (4:09)
The Minotaur costume was pretty cool and they show the actors fitting into them. They wore a hat that the actors can see through the mouth. They were very cool looking characters.
------vii) Ankle Slicers (1:31)
These were the small creatures that fought for the White Witch. It is all CGI and they used an Austrian gymnast to base their movements on.
------viii) Gimarrbrik (2:10)
He is the White Witch’s right hand man and the big inspiration was based on an Alan Lee illustration. They interview the man who played Gimarrbrik and he says he’s the shortest stuntman in the world.
------ix) Beavers (5:50)
The Beavers were critical to the story. They were the first characters the children encounter and are entirely CGI. They would use a model Beaver or Andrew acting as a beaver when filming the kids.
------x) Satyrs (2:36)
The Satyrs were going to be all-digital but then needed to have them real-life about a month into filming. The suits were retro-fitted to the actors and was described as a very tight fit.
------xi) Goblins (3:07)
They show the fitting of the Goblin and that’s really it.
---D) Anatomy of a Scene: The Melting River (11:31)
This shows how the melting river scene was shot using scale models, green screen, special effects (the icebergs were put on hydraulics to make them move and were actually slippery) and combining all of that together to make the final scene. You’ll learn a lot watching this.
---Creatures, Lands & Legends---
1) Creatures of the World (14:16)
There is a wardrobe on the bottom below “Centaurs” that when you click on it, it changes the background and goes to Creating Narnia extra. These are very short segments on each character that features someone reading (I assume from the book) about the character. It’s nice to listen to and see they include images from the book.
------i) White Witch (1:27)
------ii) Aslan (1:29)
------iii) Tumnus (1:03)
------iv) Wolves (1:16)
------v) Centaurs (1:22)
------vi) Minotaurs (1:24)
------vii) Ankle Slicers (1:10)
------viii) Gimarrbrik (1:29)
------ix) Beavers (1:18)
------x) Satyrs (1:02)
------xi) Goblins (1:17)
2) Explore Narnia
There’s a map and you can explore the various places of Narnia. When you click on a location a narrator pops up telling you more about it.
---A) The Lantern Waste (1:58)
---B) White Witch’s Castle (1:00)
---C) Cair Paravel (1:07)
---D) Battlefield (0:55)
---E) The Stone Table (0:57)
3) Legends In Time
This shows that time doesn’t move the same in Narnia has it does in our world. See, they were in Narnia for 15 years while only about an hour passed at home.
B) Audio/Video
The film is presented in widescreen (2.35:1) ratio while it is heard in DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. The audio is actually quite impressive. I listened to it on my home audio and it was just fantastic. The subwoofer and rear stereos were used very well and it’s one of the better audio presentations I have heard lately. The video was amazingly clean as well. The dark parts didn’t show any signs of compression and it didn’t get too bright which is exceptional considering how much of it took place in snow! Excellent.
C) Packaging / Liner Notes
It’s packaged in a beautiful fold open slipcase (which is velcro shut) and the DVD package itself looks like a wardrobe. Inside the DVD case are extensive liner notes containing all the special features and the chapter listings. There are two pieces of concept art (in postcard format) of the White Witch and Aslan. Very nice collection.
D) Easter Eggs
---Disc One---
1) Screensaver
From the main menu, highlight Play Movie and hit up to highlight the Aslan head. Hit enter to get some aerial scenes of the location with the theme playing in the backdrop. It lasts quite a while and only ends by hitting menu again.
---Disc Two---
1) Turkish Delight (1:23)
From the main menu click on “Creating Narnia.” From there, click on “Evolution of an Epic.” Highlight “Anatomy of a Scene: The Melting River” and hit left twice to highlight a symbol on the chair. Hit enter to hear about the Turkish delight and Skandar having to eat it being very excited, then having to keep eating it and getting disgusted.
2) Credits (0:09)
To get the credits for the DVD, go to “Creatures, Lands & Legends” and then go to “Creatures of the World.” Highlight “Goblins” and press down for the credits.
Overall Review
Disc One started off with some previews (6:21 worth). They are, The Little Mermaid DVD Set, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and Glory Road. The movie itself is fine but how does this stack up against the four-disc set that was just released? To be honest, this set is very good and I thought was comprehensive (though oddly there were no deleted scenes). But, currently on amazon.com, the four-disc set is $1 more than this collection and I have heard there is a $10 rebate on the 4-disc set if you own this one. I have also read that the added scenes weren’t too noticeable, the extras on disc two is exactly the same, the third disc has a 90-minute C.S. Lewis bio and the fourth has a visual commentary of some sort. With all that, especially with only a one dollar difference for 2 more discs, I would have to recommend passing on this and picking up the 4-disc set. If the four-disc set never came out this would be about an 8.5, with it being out, it drops down to a 7.0.
Overall Rating
7.0
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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