The Chronicles of Narnia 8/27 (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Gantt]

Home Vision will be releasing the BBC TV adaptations this August.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader
and
The Silver Chair will be available either individually or in a boxed set, simply titled The Chronicles of Narnia. The DVDs will also include a few text extras and trivia games. The set is already available for pre-order. VHS versions of the series will also be rereleased. No word on whether the uncut episodic versions or the cut compilations will be used.

 

[Dan Brecher]

Oooooh, gone giddy at the prospect of being able to own these on DVD. Wonderful, I hope they are done well!

Dan

 

[David Lambert]

Wait 'til my wife heats THIS!...

 

[Cees Alons]

Ha, ha. That's the next set of VHS-tape boxes that can go to my sister.

Cees

 

[Peter Overduin]

Great news indeed!
On a much more ominous note, this series is slated for a whole new release by Disney, and from what I hear, they want to "de-christianize" it for broader appeal. This is one of the stupidest things i have ever heard, and anyone familiar with CS Lewis and this trilogy in particular, understands that this would utterly destroy the story.
The BBC version is a wonderful telling of this story. What is it with the Brits anyways? They're such great story tellers; why can't they play hockey or baseball worth a hoot?!

 

[Eric Paddon]

It would not be the first time that C.S. Lewis has suffered the ignoble fate of being "de-Christianized". One need only compare the marvelous 1985 BBC version of "Shadowlands" with Joss Ackland and Claire Bloom to its inferior 1993 cinematic remake with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. Which reminds me, the 1985 version with Ackland and Bloom deserves a DVD release too!

 

[Brandon Gantt]

August is going to be one hell of a month!
Are You Being Served?
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Jeffersons
The Fog
The Revenge of Frankenstein
Return of the Vampire
more Doctor Who
MGM Midnite Movies
I'll never be able to leave the house!

 

[Anne M]

Hooray! I've been wanting to own these on DVD for the longest time! Now I can throw away those horrid copies I taped off of PBS. Wonderful news!

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm aware of the BBC versions of the Narnia books, but have never seen them. As a huge fan of the books, are these really that good?
Looking forward to whatever responses I receive!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's been years since I rented them from the public library, but as I recall they were good. I know that their centaurs were atleast better than the one in Harry Potter.

 

[Brandon Gantt]

In a word: YES
It's a real shame that BBC TV didn't adapt the three other stories. It was mostly because of cost (to realize some of the scenes in the last 3 books would have been beyond the typical 90s BBC budget), and religion (the Christian themes become even stronger in The Last Battle). The religious aspects pretty much killed any further seasons.

 

[John Bryant]

What is the length of these? For $70, they better be pretty lengthy.

 

[Peter Overduin]

540 minutes

 

[Brandon Gantt]

BTW
The BBC did finally adapt all seven stories. Between 1988 and 1997 BBC Radio presented
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
and
The Last Battle as full-cast dramatisations, with added music and effects. Typical of any BBC production, radio or otherwise, the dramas all featured high quality actors. Included were such well known English performers as, Maurice Denham, Norman Bird, Martin Jarvis, Sylvester McCoy, Mary Wimbush, Bernard Cribbins, Timothy Spall, and John Sessions. The plays were dramatised by Brian Sibley and are very faithful to C.S. Lewis' original text. The BBC Radio Collection released the dramas on double CD's in 2000 as part of NARNIA's 50TH anniversary. Their all over 2 hours and can be purchased individually or as The Complete Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set. Their only available on import but are absolutely worth it.

 

[Eric Paddon]

There have also been additional radio dramatizations that are available on CD and cassette by Focus On The Family Radio Theater of the first four books chronologically (Magician's Nephew being #1). Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson, does intros, while such notable performers as Paul Scofield (Narrator) and David Suchet (Aslan) have taken part.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The religious aspects pretty much killed any further seasons.

I find it hard to believe that these adaptations were stopped in mid-stream by the BBC due to the often allegorical nature of these excellent stories. They surely knew what they were getting into from the start.

Is there any evidence to back this up?


Michael
(non-Christian)

 

[Adam_S]

Our library has these on vhs and I must of checked them out a dozen times when I was younger. I clearly recall that they were distributed in the US by a company called WONDERWORKS that seemed to specialize in adaptations of children's literature to film. other wonderworks our library has includes Jacob Have I loved (with a young Bridgit fonda), Bridge to Terabithia, girl from the Limberlost, Konrad, the Hoboken chicken emergency and many mroe I can't begin to remember. does anyone know if these were all made for video films and what happened to Wonderworks? is there any chance of their releasing some to dvd, I'd especially like Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob have I loved.

thanks
Adam

 

[Anne M]

Mike, to answer your question, I think they are quite good. They are extremely faithful to the books, the acting is solid, and I find them very magical. Now, by any reasonable standard, the special effects are downright ridiculous, but if you can overlook that, they're wonderful adaptations of wonderful books.

 

[Brandon Gantt]

What is the length of these? For $70, they better be pretty lengthy.

I'm sure the price for Deep Discount is wrong. Even though theres no retail price for the boxed set listed at HV e

, the individual volumes have a SRP of $24.95. Based on this I'm guessing the set would probably retail for $69.95. Now since DDD doesn't sell at retail prices this is most likely a mistake. Since DDD is the only e-tailer that has it listed at the moment, I'd hold off ordering for awhile. It'll probably get a lot cheaper.

 

[Brandon Gantt]

Is there any evidence to back this up?

While the Christian aspects were alluded to in the first six books, its quite clearly spelled out in The Last Battle that Aslan is God. This is something the BBC didn't want to touch. Also the downbeat ending in which everyone is killed, and the fact that the children playing the actor were getting older, scuppered all plans for further television seasons. (Although the BBC did consider adapting The Horse and His Boy). As for evidence I'll post a lnk if I can find it, or you can simply look it up yourself.
Brandon
(non-Christian also)