"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

When does this sucker come out, anyway?

 

[TheBat]

may 16th.

Jacob

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Fuck. Not even going to be on this continent on May 16.

Is this a day-and-date global release?

 

[Andy Sheets]

Maybe there are quality concerns but my first thought was that Disney has been looking at all those other recent fantasy movie bombs and decided that fantasy films are dead. It doesn't really make much sense but that's how Hollywood thinks about these things.

Regardless, I will say that I think they should be targeting these movies for Christmas time, not summer. I know my wife was very surprised when I told her Caspian was coming out in May. She assumed that it would be a Christmas time release like the first film because the stories just feel more like it. Makes me wonder how many other people feel the same way.

 

[Arild]

Sadly, no.

 

[MandyHan]

I said that hopefully we have nothing to worry about and apparently I was right. Disney is saying that "the rumors are entirely false." I read that here:

ROTTEN TOMATOES: Update: Disney Denies Narnia Rumors

So it does look like we'll be seeing all of the best Narnia books on the big screen.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

But of course they're going to deny it. We'll just have to wait and see what actually happens.

 

[Arild]

They damn well better be. Three of the Narnia books have never been adapted to the screen, and I have been waiting too long to see that happen for it to fall through now.

 

[DavidPla]

In the end, it's always in the box office. As long as these movie pull in the money at the theatre.. we'll get another one. Hopefully with the same care and time that was put in with the first two.

 

[MandyHan]

I have faith that they will all be made, and that the box office numbers will justify that. Judging by what I've seen and heard about Caspian so far, I have a feeling that they will keep going from there, because I think it looks even better than the first one.

 

[Brandon Conway]

NarniaWeb - Starlog Magazine Features Prince Caspian

Good article from Starlog, with lots of statements by producer Mark Johnson, including the reaction to the first screening. The part that caught my attention was this:


Perfect.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Indeed. Reepicheep is a character that could so easily be played for laughs, especially when you get a comedian to provide the voice. So it's good to know that they are trying to protect the dignity and honour of one of the best characters in the entire series.

 

[Brandon Conway]

New trailer: YouTube - THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN New Trailer Debut

Looks excellent, IMO.

Seriously - Aslan taking down the rider on the horse.

Also really liked the shot of the catapult ball going through the living, walking tree. Very Narnian image there.

With word coming out of early previews that audiences unfamiliar with the books but who liked the first film like this one even more, I expect VERY good things. It's great news for the series as a whole, too.

I'm stoked. Reading the books as both a child and adult, I never thought I'd see them brought to the big screen faithfully. It's one of my childhood reading dreams come true if they continue to deliver the goods.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Youtube?!!!!!!!!!!!! Go HD!
MySpace.com - www.myspace.com/trailerpark

 

[Shawn.F]

Caught this tonight in Boston. It was...okay. The visual effects were better than before and I liked the supporting performance by Peter Dinklage (he plays a dwarf that befriends the kids). But, like the first one, I felt the characters were one-dimensional (Hamlet, I mean, Prince Caspian is a bit of a twerp), we get little to no emotional attachment to either the characters or the plot, three of the four kids still can't act to save their lives and the action scenes really don't have much oomph to them (fair warning: prepare to hear soccer moms bitch about the violence in the film). And honestly, do these movies really need to be 2 1/2 hours long?

To sum it up: if you liked the first one, you'll probably like the second one. I wasn't thrilled by either, unfortunately. I'd give it a weak two and a half stars (out of four) at best.

 

[Brandon Conway]

For sake of reference: Have you read the book, and if so, what's your feeling about it?

I find the "one-dimensional" complaints about the characters in the Narnia films somewhat humorous due to the fact that they are exactly that in the books. Everything is very much on the surface in order to keep it simple for the intended young audience. I know kids can and often do enjoy multi-dimensional stories and characters, but Narnia has never really been that, aside from the faith thematics.

 

[Sam Favate]

Looking forward to seeing this over the weekend. Thought the first film had a lot of imagination, even if it didn't reach the depth of the Lord of the Rings movies. I know they are working on a third Narnia as we speak, but are there plans for books 4 through 7?

On a related question, does anyone know if the Lion, Witch & Wardrobe Blu-Ray disc contains all the extras (and the extended cut) of the 4-disc extended DVD?

 

[Shawn.F]

Read Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe back in the third grade, but that was about it.

As for the one-dimensional characters, if they got some kids who could actually act and the screenwriters made an effort to flesh out their characters even the slightest bit, even if that risked the chance of diverting from the source material, that would have gone a long way to making things a bit more tolerable. When one sits in a theater not giving a toss about anyone on screen for nearly 150 minutes, it kind of makes it difficult to recommend it.

EDIT: I did forget to mention that I enjoyed ReepiCheep, the mouse voiced by Eddie Izzard. He was very funny. I would also add Liam Neeson's Aslan to that, the only thing is that Aslan's screentime is on the brief side (I am guessing it was in the book as well).

 

[Shawn.F]

Hi Sam,

I heard that if the films continue to do well, they will continue to produce the films. Also, the cut on the Blu-ray is the theatrical cut. Not sure about how many of the extras were ported over from the SD releases, but I believe there is a review on this site for the disc that should be able to tell you.

 

[Brandon Conway]

They actually did add depth to the characters. The book has very, very little conflict between Peter and Caspian, absolutely no flirting between Susan and Caspian, it says nothing of what the 4 Pevensie kids feel about going back to earth after having been kings and queens. By your standards, the kids as written in the book are half-dimensional.

About the only real conflict in the book is when the other kids don't believe that Lucy has seen Aslan and when they debate resurrecting the White Witch. Otherwise, everyone is working together against the Telmarines.

Aslan is not in the book much at all. It's part of the main theme of the book (the whole faith factor).

Aslan is in Voyage of the Dawn Treader even less. Aside from LWW, Aslan appears only occasionally in the books. His screentime should be similar to Prince Caspian in the remaining films.