Mark Vader Posted May 17, 2008 Posted May 17, 2008 Saw Prince Caspian today. Very good follow up to the previous Narnia film, although Caspian is much different than Lion. If you are familiar with the books, it is easy to see that this movie is far more loosely based on the book than Lion was. One of the more glaring differences in this movie, is how much of the magic is gone, and how much more dark and gritty this movie really is. What is surprising is how much of an action movie this turned out to be. The battle sequences are big and glorious. Fantastic CGI effects, and far more violence this time around. The story is told well also, with a very good beginning. The acting is quite good too. The kids are wonderful, as is the supporting cast, Ben Barnes as Caspian, Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin, and Sergio Castellitto as Miraz. Overall I found this movie to be very good. A worthy follow up to Lion, and definitely a more mature movie. This series has definitely carved it's own niche against the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films. I look forward to Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010.
GoodBye Posted May 17, 2008 Posted May 17, 2008 Saw Prince Caspian today. Very good follow up to the previous Narnia film, although Caspian is much different than Lion. If you are familiar with the books, it is easy to see that this movie is far more loosely based on the book than Lion was.One of the more glaring differences in this movie, is how much of the magic is gone, and how much more dark and gritty this movie really is. What is surprising is how much of an action movie this turned out to be. The battle sequences are big and glorious. Fantastic CGI effects, and far more violence this time around. The story is told well also, with a very good beginning. The acting is quite good too. The kids are wonderful, as is the supporting cast, Ben Barnes as Caspian, Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin, and Sergio Castellitto as Miraz. Overall I found this movie to be very good. A worthy follow up to Lion, and definitely a more mature movie. This series has definitely carved it's own niche against the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films. I look forward to Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010. Cool, I'm going to see this tomorrow.
Mark Vader Posted May 17, 2008 Author Posted May 17, 2008 WARNING: Beware of the "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" trailer.
John from Riverside Posted May 18, 2008 Posted May 18, 2008 I was very sad for the two older of the kids Peter and Susan at the end of the movie.....when you see it you will know what I mean
Buffal0 Bill5 Posted May 19, 2008 Posted May 19, 2008 I was not thrilled with the departures from the book. I thought the beginning left out alot of plot and character development that C.S. Lewis included. They knocked off a couple of chapters as I recall. I can see why they started where they did, as it is a more gripping intro than the book would have been, but some flashbacks to lessons with the teacher woud have been interesting. There is alot of intrigue in Caspian learning about "old Narnia" in the book, that was just left out of the movie. For me, the kings and queens figured out everything altogether too quickly after arriving in Narnia, as compared to how they piece together the clues in the book. I can't say it was a complete dissapointent, but, for me there were dissapointed moments. Another one being when Aslan assists reepecheep after the battle. The dialogue doesn't necessarily draw the same line as the text of the book does. I think as the series goes on, if they are commited to all 7 books, they will have to depart from the author more and more. I think in the books there is a signifigant drop off after Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Another factor is that these stories were unapologetically written by Lewis as stories for children. As the movies series goes forward, I look for more big screen effects, and action sequences to try and carry it.
drnykterstein Posted May 19, 2008 Posted May 19, 2008 C.S. Lewis is rolling in his grave. Wow that was bad I think I can list the things it has in common with the book real quickly... 1. The title 2. The names of the Characters: Peter, Edmond, Susan, Lucy, Caspian, etc. 3. The animals talked in both the movie and the book 4. There was a battle in both the movie and the book. Well I think that was about all they shared. Seriously, did the movie writers even bother to read the books? I gave the screen the middle finger several times out of frustration. Dangit that pissed me off.
rastabillz Posted May 19, 2008 Posted May 19, 2008 C.S. Lewis is rolling in his grave. Wow that was bad I think I can list the things it has in common with the book real quickly... 1. The title 2. The names of the Characters: Peter, Edmond, Susan, Lucy, Caspian, etc. 3. The animals talked in both the movie and the book 4. There was a battle in both the movie and the book. Well I think that was about all they shared. Seriously, did the movie writers even bother to read the books? I gave the screen the middle finger several times out of frustration. Dangit that pissed me off. Agreed. I thought they departed too much from the book and the ending was too hammy.
erynthered Posted May 19, 2008 Posted May 19, 2008 WARNING: Beware of the "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" trailer.
Mark Vader Posted May 19, 2008 Author Posted May 19, 2008 C.S. Lewis is rolling in his grave. Wow that was bad I think I can list the things it has in common with the book real quickly... 1. The title 2. The names of the Characters: Peter, Edmond, Susan, Lucy, Caspian, etc. 3. The animals talked in both the movie and the book 4. There was a battle in both the movie and the book. Well I think that was about all they shared. Seriously, did the movie writers even bother to read the books? I gave the screen the middle finger several times out of frustration. Dangit that pissed me off. As you already know I enjoyed this movie, but I do understand your feelings. I read the book Prince Caspian a long time ago. And what I saw on the big screen was not what I remembered. This movie made 56 million over the weekend, according to estimates. While that is a very good number, it is not what the prognosticators were predicting. After all the promotions and ads that were run for this film, the opening weekend tally is a disappointment. By contrast, The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe had an opening week tally of 65 million. This is odd when you consider that: Prince Caspian opened against no competition, critics gave mostly positive reviews, there has'nt been a major family film out since Horton Hears A Who, and this was a sequel that had plenty of distance from the previous film to have fans wanting more. So what happened? Are there more fans of the first story alone as opposed to the entire Narnia series? Are moviegoers just saving their money until Indiana Jones is released? Should Disney have waited until November or December to release this? Difficult to say. Still Disney is going ahead with Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which has secured the coveted first weekend of May in 2010, to release it. However, Sony & Marvel have taken the week before, April 30, 2010, to release Iron Man 2. Disney might want to reconsider their calendar placement.
drnykterstein Posted May 19, 2008 Posted May 19, 2008 Hehe, interesting thoughts on the movie market. I guess that is why I don't make movies. Never care about profits and opening weekend gross domestic product and all that crap. I just care if it's a good movie or not. If I was in charge, TCOF would have been a 14 movie series, each book being two movies. And, yes, there would be a lot of interesting but boring part following kids through woods. And if I was in charge there would definately be a narrative overlay voice which filled us in on all the details that the plotline could not show. ... but yeah, the movie gods would hate me or whatever. .. so... And is it just me, or is this scene in every movie ever .. you know .. the one where the good guy wins the single hand combat, then they have some semi witty dialogue, and then good guy lets the bad guy live because "I'm not like you" and then the bad guy gets up to stab the good guy in the back and some onlooker yells "lookout" and then the good guys turns around and kills the bad guy because he had no choice (he's "the good guy"). I hate that scene.
Buftex Posted May 19, 2008 Posted May 19, 2008 And is it just me, or is this scene in every movie ever .. you know .. the one where the good guy wins the single hand combat, then they have some semi witty dialogue, and then good guy lets the bad guy live because "I'm not like you" and then the bad guy gets up to stab the good guy in the back and some onlooker yells "lookout" and then the good guys turns around and kills the bad guy because he had no choice (he's "the good guy"). I hate that scene. I think it started with "Saving Private Ryan"....
drnykterstein Posted May 19, 2008 Posted May 19, 2008 I think it started with "Saving Private Ryan".... It was nice the first time. It's been done way too many times now.
cantankerous Posted May 26, 2008 Posted May 26, 2008 Saw it last night. Gotta say i'm another disappointed fan. Those damned kids are just so ugly.
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