Home :: DVD :: Drama  

African American Drama
Classics
Crime & Criminals
Cult Classics
Family Life
Gay & Lesbian
General
Love & Romance
Military & War
Murder & Mayhem
Period Piece
Religion
Sports
Television
The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $22.46
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another two adventures in the magical land of Narnia
Review: Granted, the special effects in the BBC's adaptation of the C.S. Lewis Narnia series are minimalist. The animatronics of Aslan, the original lion king, are less than what Abraham Lincoln was doing in the Hall of Presidents at Disneyland forty years ago. But somehow in the final analysis that does not really matter for enjoying either "Prince Caspian" or "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." All of the kids who end up in the magical land of Narnia treat Aslan as if he was real and the production has great costumes and above average sets. Beyond all that, the stories are enthralling enough that the limitations of the special effects end up being rather inconsequential.

"Prince Caspian" finds Lucy (Sophie Wilcox), Edmund (Jonathan R. Scott), Susan (Sophie Cook), and Peter (Richard Dempsey) return to Narnia, not through the wardrobe but in response to the call of Prince Caspian (Jean Marc Perret), the nephew of the King Miraz, the despot who is now ruling the land. The evil king wants to kill Caspian, the rightful heir to the thrown, and it is up to the four siblings to take up arms and magic potions to help those who follow Aslan's banner to set thing to right.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" begins with Lucy, Edmund, and their annoyingly obnoxious cousin Eustace Scrubb (David Thwaites) being drawn into painting of the Dawn Treader. Aboard they find Caspian (Samuel West), now King of Narnia, who is on a voyage to find the seven lords of Narnia that were banished by the evil Miraz. Consequently we have a series of visits to various islands offering a whole variety of adventures, which makes this the much more ambitious story of the pair on this video (and twice as long). The major subplot is getting Eustace to grow up, stop acting like a spoiled brat, and accept the fact that this is Narnia and there is no British Consul to be found.

Some people will not be happy with the limitations of this television production, but it is a television production and certainly in keeping with the grand tradition of other BBC productions we have seen in the past. Aside from the special effects the look of the production is totally appropriate. The children tend to act like children for the most part, even when they are dressed up in armor and whacking at people with swords (think about it; that is rather hard to carry off). Yes, this production is not as good as the books they are based on, but we knew that going in boys and girls. For those who need special effects to be first and foremost, a new production is coming out soon that may rectify that supposed deficiency. But hopefully it will have the heart and soul of this one.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another two adventures in the magical land of Narnia
Review: Granted, the special effects in the BBC's adaptation of the C.S. Lewis Narnia series are minimalist. The animatronics of Aslan, the original lion king, are less than what Abraham Lincoln was doing in the Hall of Presidents at Disneyland forty years ago. But somehow in the final analysis that does not really matter for enjoying either "Prince Caspian" or "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." All of the kids who end up in the magical land of Narnia treat Aslan as if he was real and the production has great costumes and above average sets. Beyond all that, the stories are enthralling enough that the limitations of the special effects end up being rather inconsequential.

"Prince Caspian" finds Lucy (Sophie Wilcox), Edmund (Jonathan R. Scott), Susan (Sophie Cook), and Peter (Richard Dempsey) return to Narnia, not through the wardrobe but in response to the call of Prince Caspian (Jean Marc Perret), the nephew of the King Miraz, the despot who is now ruling the land. The evil king wants to kill Caspian, the rightful heir to the thrown, and it is up to the four siblings to take up arms and magic potions to help those who follow Aslan's banner to set thing to right.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" begins with Lucy, Edmund, and their annoyingly obnoxious cousin Eustace Scrubb (David Thwaites) being drawn into painting of the Dawn Treader. Aboard they find Caspian (Samuel West), now King of Narnia, who is on a voyage to find the seven lords of Narnia that were banished by the evil Miraz. Consequently we have a series of visits to various islands offering a whole variety of adventures, which makes this the much more ambitious story of the pair on this video (and twice as long). The major subplot is getting Eustace to grow up, stop acting like a spoiled brat, and accept the fact that this is Narnia and there is no British Consul to be found.

Some people will not be happy with the limitations of this television production, but it is a television production and certainly in keeping with the grand tradition of other BBC productions we have seen in the past. Aside from the special effects the look of the production is totally appropriate. The children tend to act like children for the most part, even when they are dressed up in armor and whacking at people with swords (think about it; that is rather hard to carry off). Yes, this production is not as good as the books they are based on, but we knew that going in boys and girls. For those who need special effects to be first and foremost, a new production is coming out soon that may rectify that supposed deficiency. But hopefully it will have the heart and soul of this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Great movie. A definite MUST for fans of Narnia. If you have seen The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, then you will ADORE this!!! END

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: success, but one failure
Review: I think the narnia chronicles are great,thelion,thewitch etc was a great PartI of the narnia series. my whole family loves the narnia movies ,although when we watched PartII, princecaspian & the voyage of the dawn treader,i didnt exactly see eye to eye with the special effects. PrinceCaspian was'nt exactly, what i thought it should be. the voyage of the dawn treader is simply superior to prince caspian & wonderful special effects. If anything, prince caspian should be remade, while the dawn treader should stay. then my second favorite,the Silver Chair, is PartIII and was one of the two best movies , in the chronicles of narnia.the time people get to this narnian ending, they will usually be curious to see if it makes up the holes in the series.So i highly recommend that you see firstly the wardrobe one, then skip prince caspian and go on to the voyage of the dawn treader so you'll be able to understand PartIII, the silver chair.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: success, but one failure
Review: I think the narnia chronicles are great,thelion,thewitch etc was a great PartI of the narnia series. my whole family loves the narnia movies ,although when we watched PartII, princecaspian & the voyage of the dawn treader,i didnt exactly see eye to eye with the special effects. PrinceCaspian was'nt exactly, what i thought it should be. the voyage of the dawn treader is simply superior to prince caspian & wonderful special effects. If anything, prince caspian should be remade, while the dawn treader should stay. then my second favorite,the Silver Chair, is PartIII and was one of the two best movies , in the chronicles of narnia.the time people get to this narnian ending, they will usually be curious to see if it makes up the holes in the series.So i highly recommend that you see firstly the wardrobe one, then skip prince caspian and go on to the voyage of the dawn treader so you'll be able to understand PartIII, the silver chair.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible special effects
Review: I watched the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe & I was able to overlook the bad special effects (lion) because the actors were good and the story was good. However, the Prince Caspian video was truely horrible. The story was boring and the special effects were really bad. I couldn't finish watching it & stopped before it was half-way done.

I loved reading all the books in the series. I am hoping that someone will make a wonderful movie series out of the Chronicles of Narnia. I am hoping someone that has as much passion as the man who is now putting out the Lord of the Rings movie series, will take an interest in CS Lewis. That will be truely marvelous.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible special effects
Review: I watched the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe & I was able to overlook the bad special effects (lion) because the actors were good and the story was good. However, the Prince Caspian video was truely horrible. The story was boring and the special effects were really bad. I couldn't finish watching it & stopped before it was half-way done.

I loved reading all the books in the series. I am hoping that someone will make a wonderful movie series out of the Chronicles of Narnia. I am hoping someone that has as much passion as the man who is now putting out the Lord of the Rings movie series, will take an interest in CS Lewis. That will be truely marvelous.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A fantastic adaptation
Review: Now how the heck can this not be being produced anymore?

The second part of the four Narnia Chronicles (that's all that were made, sadly) is grittier and more realistic than the first, but it still retains the beautiful, mystical magic that seems to be directly drawn from the books. The special effects and prosthetics are a bit primitive, but if you can look past that, it's completely convincing! The costumes, especially, are first-rate and the actors are amazing.

Centuries after the events of "Wardrobe," young Prince Caspian, a great believer in Aslan and the "people who live in hiding" is in danger. His uncle, King Miraz, is attempting to kill him to put his own son on the throne. But Caspian is now allies with Aslan, the old dwarf Doctor Cornelius, and the four kings and queens of Narnia.

The battles seem much more realistic and possibly frightening, since more humans and fewer imaginary creatures are involved. Once there is a scene that might well terrify small children, involving a very familiar witch, a wolf, and black magic, but it is relatively brief.

This is a glorious movie....

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Chronicles of Narnia - Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian
Review: Out of all the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, the first part ("Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe") is the best of them all.
This part is actually two parts and they are both very good, but we know after a while that in the next part ("The Silver Chair"), our sweet little Lucy will never return. Great acting,
writing and direction. Same heartwarming opening sequence I've always loved is in here too!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Weak leak in the BBC's Narnia series, but essential
Review: Part I, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," was spectacularly done; see my review there. If only the budget had been better, it would be a five-star film for all ages.

This combination of the next two books in C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia," however, stumbles over itself often, yet there are plenty of magical, memorable moments to recommend it. Also, it is often way too "talky" for smaller children.

Regardless of its shortcomings, with its uneven story-telling and the final half-hour that seems to drag to an end rather than be the glorious climax its subject would seem to demand, no Narnia fan will want to miss it. The tales of young Prince/King Caspian and his search for the talking creatures of Narnia, the war against evil King Miraz to regain the land for the spectacular lion Aslan (a type of Christ), and later the young adult Caspian's search for the seven lost lords of Narnia, provide plenty of excitement and enjoyment and object lessons, told by memorable characters all the way round. One can forgive the choppy pacing and smarmy-cheap BBC special effects, in the end.

Certainly one would not want to skip over this to proceed on to "The Silver Chair," the third and final film in the BBC-produced series, although it and tLtWatW are clearly superior.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates