Seen Narnia!

[Sparrowhawk]

That's right, i go to a Christian School and we took a field trip and saw it at 10AM. It was pretty good, not as good as i hoped, not as bad as it could have been and about what i was expecting. The fact that they could put ZERO blood when Peter stabbed something and brought his sword out clean was a little strange, but overall i thought it was decent.

The books are definitely still better though. This movie strayed a litttle bit, adding some here, taking some there and putting things out of order. Well, I won't say to much since not everyone has seen it yet, but as i said it was not as good as i hoped, but hopefully it will encourage people to take a look at the books.

[TurkishMonky]

yes, but the battle scenes were pretty good, even if the camera moved for every stabbing.

[mitsuki lover]

Point of fact the battle in the book is actually down played as it only takes up 3 pages.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

The battle in the book is actually about three quarters of a page.
I haven't seen it yet, but I can't wait. Comes here December 26!

[Maledicte]

My friend, who works in a movie theater, got to see it 2 days before it opened.

Here's what I remember she said:

"The Christian symbolism was there. Even an atheist could pick it up." Apparenly not all atheists didn't pick it up In any case she didn't find it watered down at all.

"The animation was great." Pretty much seamless, she said. Particularly with the talking wolves. Plus she's a fantasy buff and had a field day with all the mythical creatures.

"They made Aslan look like Liam Neeson, even though he's a lion...eh it's confusing." No comment.

"The costumes were awful." Particularly the White Witch's, she says. Again, I can't say until I see it.

[TrigunX89]

I just got home from it a little while ago. It was awesome. It's worth seeing more than once.

[Bunny]

Ooooh, wow. I thought the movie was beautiful! My entire row was in tears. It was pretty powerful. Not as good as the book by any means, but powerful.

I was only disappointed by the costumes, editting, and weapons. Costumes could have been a little more elaborate and a few key quotes were misplaced. The weapons looked like toys. Ewww.

[TurkishMonky]

in fact, the weapons were real, but they were being handled by kids....

there was one watered down scene where Aslan talked about a "power" that controlled everything.... in the books it was the Emperor Over the Sea, and it sounded to me in the movie like qui-gon talking about "the force" more then a description of God...

[Raiden no Kishi]

Well, it would make sense if it sounded like Qui-Gon, considering Liam Neeson did Aslan's voice and was Qui-Gon in Ep. 1. On a totally random note, I think it would be funny if Aslan asked Peter to join the League of Shadows. Only because Liam Neeson was Ducard in Batman Begins. It would have been weird. My mind is strange like that.

I think the movie was great. I don't seem to recall Edmund being such a jerk, but I may be biased somewhat (Ed being my favorite Pevensie and all). The battle scene was pretty good, but not LotR-quality IMO. I also wish they had kept Father Christmas explaining "wars are ugly when women fight", but the director was being politically correct. Moron. It isn't YOUR movie, it's C.S. Lewis' movie, because it's using HIS story, HIS characters, in HIS world. Nobody gives a care what YOUR spin is on it. You do things according to the BOOK. Grr . . .

I'm done now.

.rai//

[Bobtheduck]

Wars are ugly when women fight

I was wondering about that when I read the book over again... I thought they'd probably take that out. Fewer people can touch Lewis because he's a literary master, but they can rail on the movie and its creators if they had kept that line. I'm not seeing it until next weekend... Seeing it as a church... *sigh* Why do I have to wait so long?

[Mikomi]

I'm going to see it tonight ^_^

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I haven't seen it yet, but if you are saying the weapons look like toys that's strange.
Weta Workshop used the expertise of blacksmiths and other master metal crafts people to make them, like they did for Lord of the Rings. Only some extras got rubber weapons (again like LotR).

[Ingemar]

I saw it. It is, at least, thankfully, better than the BBC version.

[uc pseudonym]

Having now seen the movie, I will offer a few random comments. Actually, what struck me most was things I am dissatisfied with in Lewis's original work, but discussion of them would probably lead to violation of the theological argument rule. Therefore, the relatively trivial:

The characters that struck me best were minor characters, such as the Professor or the fox (I wish we had seen more of the latter).

Aslan was somewhat underwhelming. He was significantly smaller than he should have been and he never did any impressive jumping. On the positive side, I was impressed by how the first half of the film centers around his character (which is fitting given the story).

They changed Aslan's lines concerning the Deep Magic. The writer probably thought this was a minor edit, but it significantly changes the nature of Aslan's sacrifice. This is actually probably my biggest problem with the movie overall.

[Sai]

I thought the movie was kind of slow, like paced wise. Susan just annoyed me, for most of the time. I also really didnt like the queen's dress. Maybe if i watched it a second time I would like it better. I suppose i am just being nit picky though.

[TurkishMonky]

i liked the relaxed feel f the movie though. it's not very common to have relaxing action movies.

[Mikomi]

I thought the movie was really good. And yeah I thought the queen's dress was kinda weird too. It was like she had used too much starch on her gown.

[Bunny]

I thought the movie was really good. And yeah I thought the queen's dress was kinda weird too. It was like she had used too much starch on her gown.

I liked the starched flow (or lack thereof) of her dress. It went along with the icy feel. I think it wouldn't have hurt if they made it a little more ornate. When I think of a satanic character, I always think of his/her vanity or ego. It didn't seem fitting that a woman arrogant enough to claim herself the queen of Narnia would go modest on her robes.

To agree with UC, the smaller characters were definitely the more impressive. I loved the fox and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver.

As for the toy-like weapons; it wasn't that they appeared fake...only unusually shiny and plastic-ish.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I thought it was really good. But it seemed kinda fast... Maybe that's because I reallly had to use the restroom... Lucy was the cutest thing. Aslan was really cool. Liam was a good voice for him.

[chibiphonebooth]

"The costumes were awful." Particularly the White Witch's, she says. Again, I can't say until I see it.

yeaaahhh... the white witch pretty much looks like a man. XD

[Radical Dreamer]

I went to see this one when it came out the other day. It was so weird! Haha, I knew almost everyone in the theater! Everyone was either from my church or school, haha! Anyways, onto the movie. I really enjoyed it! I mean, I liked LOTR better (even in the books), but I really did enjoy this movie. Lucy was too cute, and I thought Aslan was portrayed well (Liam Neeson did a great job, I thought). The animation was all really smooth, and I think Tilda Swinton did a great job as the White Witch. She plays evil well. XD Anyways, I really enjoyed it, even if it was a "LOTR Lite," in a few ways.

[Destroyer2000]

Best movie I have seen in a long time. Beats LOTR by a long shot. Especially the battle...man, the pheonix was AWESOME.

EDIT: Too many LOTR fans...BTW, who played teh four kids in the films? Old and young?

[hawaiishirtguy]

Saw it yesterday... Twice! Haha. I loved it. As to the witch looking like a guy, wasnt that actress the same lady that played Satan in Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

No, it wasn't hawaiishirtguy.
Destroyer2000, the kids were varying ages (they look a bit older than the books say).
Peter is played by a 17 year old, Susan by a 15 year old, Emund by a 12 year old and Lucy by a 9 year old. Now the guy who plays Peter is 18, the girl who plays Susan is 17 (just), the guy who plays Edmund is 14 and the girl who plays Lucy is 10 (almost 11).

[Nate]

Just saw it today, I greatly enjoyed it. I was also disappointed by the changing of the line about the Emperor Over the Sea to "a great power," but, eh, kind of expected it. :\

The guy who played the White Witch's little dwarf sidekick...he ROCKED. He was by far my favorite character in the movie.

The changing of the White Witch to Sheena the Jungle Queen for the final battle was kinda weird, but whatever...

[desperado]

It made sense though with aslan's blood smeered on her eyes his shaved main draped around her neck was the ultimate insult and degredation to the true narnians. Also her lion shaped hat helm thingy fit in with this theme as well.

Also I was a little "ok that should be this..." about several parts, but hey its disney just be glad the allegory was still there.

Also the dwarf WAS HILARIOUS, comic releif fit perfectly.

And one thing that did bug me a little, even with the hilarious abscence of blood (cs lewis probably wouldn't have minded due to its target audience) but the first time I went their was a ton of 4-6 year olds. I heard during the death scene (you know when its quite while the girls were crying) a little girl almost in tears say "m m moommmyy.....w w why did they they kill him?" But maybe it planted a seed that will be realised later, who knows tides flow and all we can see is the surface.

edit
typo the kids were younger then 4-6 a lot younger specially the girl who almost cried and made the comment

[creed4]

It was good, the the like about the great power did stick me as odd, but I quicly assocated with the emperor.

[Ingemar]

Just saw it today, I greatly enjoyed it. I was also disappointed by the changing of the line about the Emperor Over the Sea to "a great power," but, eh, kind of expected it.

The only thing that bothered me was the omission of the fact that Aslan was Son of the Emperor-who-dwells-Beyond-the-Sea, but otherwise, I enjoyed the movie.

Actually, I was annoyed that they left out the fact that Aslan could fly.

[Rogie]

I was very pleased with the film, and I actually felt that Edmund's personality was better realized in the film than in the book. I also enjoyed the greater time spent developing the Pevensies' characters, since it seemed to be more difficult to pick up on those traits within the book.

And I got chill bumps nonstop from Aslan's death all through the battle. I had to take deep breaths at times; a very powerful film for me.

Oh, yeah, the phoenix was awesome! I loved that. Btw, the fox should've certainly had more time, and I'm surprised he didn't, since he was voiced by Rupert Everett, a rather known British actor.

I want to go see it again!

[uc pseudonym]

Also the dwarf WAS HILARIOUS, comic releif fit perfectly.

I'm not so sure I agree. He did a few funny things, but not that much (though I don't think he got in the way, either). What struck me as odd was that in the theater in which I watched the film, when Susan shoots him there was uproarious laughter. Why? There simply isn't anything funny about that.

Then again, in that theater when the grown children wonder, "What is this?" someone yelled "A lamppost!" It was a middle-aged woman, too.

Actually, I was annoyed that they left out the fact that Aslan could fly.

And there was no jumping. For an inconsequential element, I'm very irked by this.