DVD
REVIEW: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
PRINCE CASPIAN
3
Disc Special Edition
11/30/08
SYNOPSIS:
One year after the incredible events of “The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe,” the Kings and Queens of Narnia find
themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to
discover that more than 1300 years have passed in Narnian
time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has
become extinct, Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines
and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who
rules the land without mercy.
The four children will soon meet an intriguing new
character: Narnia’s rightful heir to the throne, the young
Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding as his uncle
Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn
son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, a
courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named
Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians, led
by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian, embark on a
remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz’s
tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.
REVIEW:
“We've anxiously awaited your return my liege.” And return
they did! Just as the Kings and Queens of Narnia matured, so
did the sequel. We witness the progression of boys to men,
girls to women, child’s play to epic battle. “You may find
Narnia a more savage place than you remember... “ The
savagery causes the royal family to grow up even more, real
quick. No room for fun and games, it’s strictly business
this time. The kingdom is still magical, but it has gotten
dark and bleak compared to how it was. It is still an
adventure, but a lot more violent, realistic, and mature.
There is always a conflict when dealing with corrupt sons of
Adam, which happen to be ruling over the kingdom. The
treachery and tyranny is what causes the Kings and Queens to
be summoned back to Narnia.
This movie was exciting and inspiring. It is more down to
earth than the first one and all around better too. I really
don’t think I’ve ever been at a movie with as much cheering
and clapping as this one. I think this one took the top spot
in that category. Granted, about 25% of the audience were
children. Regardless, the whole audience was really into it
and enjoying every minute even though it is over 2 hours
long. It didn’t even seem that long. I don’t recall ever
being bored. There was plenty of action and a very good
storyline to keep you tuned in. On the other hand, however,
the progress of the story was abrupt at times.
It was nice to see the original 4 reprising their roles. It
was similar to how you see the Harry Potter crew grow up
before your eyes throughout the years in their movies. They
are all a lot less innocent and a lot more regal. Their
performances were good enough considering they don’t get
much of a chance to really act because there is too much
going on. One actor that did stand out was Peter Dinklage as
Trumpkin. That guy can act. His facial expressions along
with his voice strengthen his performance. I also need to
mention that at least this time Lucy (Georgie Henley) was
not constantly crying. As you can imagine, the
cinematography was breathtaking. From the streets and subway
of England to the forest, hills, mountains, castles, and sky
blue waters of Narnia, the look of this film truly elevates
its quality. Even the majesty of the Kings and Queens as
well as Caspian (Ben Barnes) adds to the effect of the
picture. The special effects, such as the talking animals,
were very well done and realistic so they didn’t distract
too much. Writer/Director/Producer Andrew Adamson outdid
himself with this one. If his work on the first Narnia was
good, and this one was better, I can hardly wait to see
what’s in store for us on the next episode which he is
signed on to do. This series could really catch on and be
almost as big as Lord of the Rings or, dare I say, Harry
Potter . . . I dare, I dare.
Movie
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
DVD: Walt Disney
Home Entertainment included close to 2 hours of special
features in this 3 Disc Special Edition. Features like "Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns",
"Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to Life" and "Big Movie
Comes to a Small Town",
take viewers beyond the making of the film. This edition
also includes a couple of features about
Peter Dinklage who plays Trumpkin in the film and
another one about Warwick Davis who plays Nikabrik. A
short but interesting featurette was a "Secrets of the Duel",
which takes viewers behind the making of that scene.
Viewers will be abel to find about 10 deleted scenes
with commentary by director Andrew Adamson.
It also includes the
digital copy. Complete list of features are listed
below.
VIDEO:
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English,
Spanish and French
5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish
French - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary With Director
Andrew Adamson and Actors
Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns:
This is a good documentary in which the Filmmakers talk
about the transition between the first Narnia film and
Prince Caspian. It includes comments from the cast. (34:43)
Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to
Life: This is an excellent featurette that takes
audiences behind the scenes on how the beautiful sets and
settings of the film were created. (23:32)
Big Movie Comes to a Small Town:
Director Andrew Adamson shares how was the experience
shoot the film in the small town of Bovec in Slovenia. It
includes comments from the town's residents. (23:18)
Previsualizing Narnia: In
this short interesting featurette, the pre-visualization
team talk about how computer pre-visualization was use in
the film (10:08)
Talking Animals and Walking Trees:
The Magical World of Narnia In this short featurette,
filmmakers talk about the meaning of talking animals
and walking trees in the Chronicles of Narnia series (4:51)
Secrets of the Duel This
section takes viewers behind the scenes of the making of the
Duel scene. Short but interesting (6:46)
Becoming Trumpkin Peter
Dinklage talks about his role in the film (4:48)
Warwick Davis: The Man Behind
Nikabrik Warwick Davis takes viewers behind a
typical shooting day of the film (11:08)
Bloopers (3:06)
Deleted Scenes: A total of
10 deleted scenes with commentaries by Director Andrew
Adamson (11:18)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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AUDIO |
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