So HAPPY to See these in their Entirety
Rather than the cartoons of Snow White, Cinderella, Pinnochio, Peter Pan, Bambi and so on, I was a resident of the land of Narnia when I was a kid. And not because my family is ultra-religious either. In fact, we never really picked up on the biblical parallels until we read about them on this website!
What we saw was a basic battle between good and evil and a great group of kids who had to conquer their shortcomings to become the best people they could be. They faced adversity and had to stand on their own against even their own friends and siblings to do what was right. And in the end, they triumphed! For me, this series contributed much more to my sense of self, my take on right and wrong, and my maturity than any Disney cartoons ever could have!
I first saw these movies on Public tv, PBS, when I was maybe 4 or 5 years old and my Mom had the foresight to record them to video tape for me. Over the years, I watched the tapes so much that they were really...
Delicious Blend of the Real, the Near-Real and the Unreal.
Let us begin by agreeing that computer-generated images have both added to and taken from filmmaking, in ways similar to the effect performance-enhancing drugs have had on sports. We might thrill at the modern athlete who hits the ball out of the park, but we still wonder how he'd compare to Babe Ruth.
This 1980s-era BBC production is in many ways superior to the more recent cinematic version of Lewis' great fantasy; in particular, a number of elements, both major and minute, which are altered or removed in the film are faithfully represented in the BBC video Chronicles. This is no unimportant detail -- the Chronicles of Narnia is first and foremost a story; anything C.S. Lewis included is probably significant and ought not to be left out or redefined at the whim of a Director. In producing these versions of four of the seven Chronicles the BBC was careful to tell the story without incautiously rewriting it.
The technology of the 1980s, and the budget...
Best TV adaptation yet!
Well, the DVD set box arrived and it made my weekend! 20 years after reading the books, I am currently rereading them again, and following them up by watching the DVDs. I enjoyed the DVDs and so did my two sons aged 4 & 2. Well done to BBC for trying to faithfully adapt the books, even with the limited budget. Yes, the special effects are not always special, but pretty good for a television production back in the late 80s/early 90s. The animatronics of Aslan is convincing, especially his size. I hope this DVD production prompts the filmmakers who are planning to make a movie of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to produce something great. One surprise with the DVD set; having ordered it from North America, I thought I would not be able to play the DVDs on my Japanese (Region 2) DVD player, but, 'by Jove' it did! So maybe it is a 'Region Free' DVD. One disappointment: Maybe it was my DVD player/amp but the mono sound did not play very well on my system, with the dialogue often...
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