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Buy This DVD Set and UMD Video For PSP Now
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Title: The Chronicles Of Narnia: The
Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe: Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition &
UMD Video For PSP
Region:
One
Genre:
Fantasy
Stars:
Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Poppewell, Tilda Swinton,
Jim Broadbent, and James McAvoy
Starring
The Voices Of: Liam Neeson, Rupert Everett, and Ray Winstone
Writers:
Andrew Adamson, Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, and Stephen Freely
Based
On The Book By: C.S. Lewis
Director:
Andrew Adamson
Feature
length: 135 minutes
DVD
Extras: Kids & Director Commentary, Filmmaker’s Commentary, Bloopers,
Creating Narnia Featurettes and Documentaries, Creatures, Lands & Legends
Explorations, Previews
UMD
Extras: Bloopers and Previews
DVD
Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Sound Home Theater Mix, French And Spanish Language Dolby Digital
Surround Sound
DVD
Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language
Subtitles
UMD
Languages: English Stereo Sound
UMD
Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired And French And
Spanish Language Subtitles
UMD
Packaging: UMD Keep Case
DVD
Packaging: Single Size Two-Disc Keep Case Within A Cardboard Slipcase
DVD
& UMD Chapter Stops: 24
DVD
Sound: DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound Home Theater Mix, Dolby Digital Surround Sound
UMD
Sound: Stereo
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2005/DVD Release: 2006/UMD Release: 2006
Theatrical
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media
Home
Video Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
After
the success of “The Lord Of The Rings” trilogy and the continuing “Harry
Potter” books and feature film adaptations, perhaps among the best known and
universally beloved fantasy stories from the mid twentieth century finally began
a successful jump to the big screen in December of 2005 with the U.S. theatrical
release of “The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.”
There have been numerous adaptations produced for television that include a
1970s animated version and a popular BBC adaptation from the late 1980s and
early 1990s that not only included “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe,”
but also featured “Prince Caspian”, “The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader”,
and “The Silver Chair.” However with the advances in special effects and a
renewed interest in faithfully capturing the essence of fantasy fiction for the
big screen due to the success of both the “Harry Potter” and “Lord Of The
Rings” films, the time could not have been better to bring Aslan, the great
lion King above all other Kings of Narnia and the Pevensie children destined to
participate in incredible adventures therein on film with Writer and Director
Andrew Adamson (Shrek & Shrek 2) behind the helm for his first live action
motion picture.
C.S.
Lewis’ “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” focuses upon four siblings,
Peter (William Moseley), Susan
(Anna Poppewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley), who are
sent out of London during the Blitz to live under the care of Professor Digory
Kirke (Jim Broadbent) at his estate on the English countryside. Amidst the
emotional turmoil of being separated from their parents and uprooted from their
home, the four Pevensie children seemingly stumble into another world through a
mysterious wardrobe within the Elderly Professor’s home. The first to arrive
there is young Lucy, who meets a faun named Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy) she
innocently befriends and later learns about the century of oppression that has
gripped Narnia in a never-ending winter with no Christmas. In this snow covered
world populated with mythological creatures that include centaurs, satyrs,
giants, dwarves, as well as talking animals and wicked creatures of legend that
serve the evil White Witch Jadis (Tilda Swinton), there is a prophecy that
foretells the coming of two sons of Adam and two Daughter’s of Eve that will
signal the end of Jadis’ rule and the return of Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson),
the true King of Narnia who will restore freedom and peace. So she seduces
Edmund into serving her and then through intimidation, forces him to serve her
while the other three siblings race with the help of Narnia’s loyal followers
of Aslan to seek his assistance and in the process accept their destiny for only
through Aslan can they hope to save their brother and with him save this world
in an epic struggle between good and evil.
The
more familiarity one has with “The Chronicles Of Narnia” as is the case with
“The Lord Of The Rings,” the more viewers can enjoy rich tapestry of
Lewis’ masterpiece, but in many ways “Narnia” is more accessible to the
uninitiated than “Middle Earth” because “The Lion, The Witch And The
Wardrobe” follows an archetypal structure that is easily recognizable to
anyone familiar with Judaic and Christian imagery as well as mythology ranging
from Greek and Roman culture through to images that are very much a part of
American culture as well. Who cannot imagine a lion as being the Lord and
Creator of a magical land when we are all raised with the idea that the lion is
the King of the jungle and for nearly a century, generations of children have
marveled and shuddered with fear in the story of Dorothy’s confrontation with
the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1930’s classic film adaptation of “The
Wizard Of Oz.” “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” is also a lot more
kid friendly because like J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” the story was
originally intended for children, but found an audience of all ages worldwide.
What separates “The Chronicles Of Narnia” from “The Lord Of The Rings”
is that Tolkien’s story is more of a fantasy intended for adults or at least
more mature children while like J.K. Rowling’s
“Harry Potter” books, which were probably inspired in part by C.S.
Lewis’ fantasy work, “The Chronicles Of Narnia” appeals to viewers on a
number of levels so that age is in some ways less of a factor. Having seen the
film twice in the theater this past holiday season and having seen all of Peter
Jackson’s adaptations of “The Lord Of The Rings,” I noticed the audience
for Narnia appeared to be filled more with children and usually an older
sibling, such as a Sister, Aunt, or Parent just as excited about seeing the film
as the kids were and among the twenty to thirty year old viewers, there were a
lot more groups of women attending the screening than there were groups of men.
Yet any guy who has ever seen the film or an earlier adaptation or read the book
cannot deny the universal charm of the story. My parents, who are senior
citizens and not particularly open to new films, absolutely loved “The
Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” so this is a film
that reaches into the heart no matter what the age of the viewer watching might
be.
While
the comparisons are hard to avoid, I think that it is a marvel that both
Tolkien’s and Lewis’ series of fantasy epics are both quite different and
these men were friends who critiqued each other’s work while writing the
stories we now so dearly love. Personally I like them all and I think Adamson
for the most part captured the same essence of “The Lion, The Witch And The
Wardrobe” the way Jackson’s cinematic vision of Middle Earth for lack of a
better expression just felt right. Narnia in the film looks exactly as I
imagined it and it is and should be distinctly different from Middle Earth. At
the point of my writing this combined DVD and UMD review, Adamson and much of
the cast and crew from “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” are in
pre-production on “The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and I hope that
all seven books in the series will be produced as well so that alongside our
text publications of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and J.K. Rowling, we can have
all of the cinematic “Lord Of The Rings”, “Chronicles Of Narnia” and
“Harry Potter” adventures besides each other on whatever the home video
format of choice is in use should these all come to fruition. They are certainly
among the finest fantasy stories ever told from the United Kingdom in the last
century.
Walt
Disney Home Entertainment has released “The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion,
The Witch And The Wardrobe” to DVD in separate single disc widescreen and full
screen versions and a special two disc collector’s edition as well as a
widescreen single disc release on UMD Video for Sony’s PlayStation Portable.
The extra value features on the single disc widescreen and full screen DVD
releases of “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” are identical to the
first disc included on the widescreen “Special Two-Disc Collector’s
Edition” of the film. So aside from the fact that the full screen version is
formatted for (1.33:1) aspect ratio televisions, the widescreen discs for both
releases and extra value materials found on the first disc of the collectors set
are the same and thus I think it’s safe to say that if one is curious about
the differences between the separate DVD releases, they need only purchase the
“Special Two-Disc Collector’s Set” or read a review to know what is on the
single disc version. Due to the physical constraints of compressing materials
onto the smaller UMD disc, the only extra value material found on the UMD
release are a reel of bloopers that is on all three DVD releases and some
trailers for other Disney titles now available on UMD for PSP. As a fan of the
portable disc format, I think there are advantages to buying both the two-disc
DVD and the UMD for PSP releases if you have the required hardware and I will
detail my reasoning here in this review.
The DVD Set
Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s “The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition” comes housed within a handsome cardboard slipcase with Peter’s shield featuring the lion that signifies Aslan on the cover. This covering opens up like a book to reveal a detailed text with photos of the set’s contents on the right side and on the left side one can see the wardrobe, which holds the single size two-disc keep case that slips out. Once the case is out of the packaging, one can see the image of Lucy beside the Lantern upon first entering Narnia as if the consumer was peaking inside the enchanted wardrobe itself. There was a great sigh of relief upon taking out the keep case, which is beautifully illustrated to reveal the outer woodcarvings of the wardrobe itself. It is easy to mistake the packaging from the outside as a cardboard Digipack style release, but like the wardrobe itself, inside the set comes the surprise of the keep case and within are other materials that show that some thought and care was put into this DVD release set and it was not just slapped together in a factory with the sole aim of selling it to consumers. This set is meant to show respect to both the material on the discs and the fans that will buy it. Inside the DVD keep case there is a booklet with the words “Immerse Yourself In The World Of Narnia” on the cover. Within it is a fold out guide with photographs detailing the bonus features on both discs and then when you open up the insert booklet some more one will find tree like diagrams detailing the locations of the submenus and content on each disc. The backside of the booklet has the scene selection information for disc one. This might not seem like a big deal for some, but as a reviewer and a DVD collector since the format first debuted nine years ago, it has been somewhat disheartening to see the quality of the packaging and content become more homogenized over the years to a point where something as simple as the booklet Walt Disney Home Entertainment has included here feels like a gift and thankfully it is not clogged up with a bunch of advertisements for tie-ins and such. Walt Disney Home Entertainment remembers what a special edition should be and I hope the studio never forgets. Also within the packaging are two postcards with concept art used for the development of the film. As noted above, the first disc in the set is more or less the same DVD contained in the widescreen single disc release.
The transfer looks quite beautiful in part because much of
the action takes place around bright backgrounds in both the snow covered
sequences and the epic battlefield sequence too. There is a bit of loss of
detail noticeable early on in the film particularly in the scenes that take
place between Lucy and Mr. Tumnus inside his house, but otherwise this is a very
nice standard definition DVD picture. “The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The
Witch And The Wardrobe: Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition” presents the
film in an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio with a nice English Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack that has been especially mixed for home theater
systems as well as my own person preference, an English DTS Digital 5.1
Theatrical Surround Soundtrack. Both soundtracks are clear and take great
advantage of the increased fidelity found on contemporary receivers and even
sound great if they are artificially processed for Dolby EX and DTS ES Surround
Sound too. French and Spanish Language Dolby Digital Dubbed Surround Soundtracks
and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired as well as
French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the disc as options too.
There are also two feature length audio commentary tracks and
a pop up video like Narnia facts text commentary complete with a voice over
introduction by C.S. Lewis’ stepson Co-Producer Douglas Gresham. While one can
switch between audio tracks while the film is in progress, one can only activate
and deactivate captions, subtitles, and the text comments by going back to the
interactive menus on disc one. The text comments, anecdotes, and facts give the
viewer added background into the fantasy world backstory of the film, such as
how the lantern came to be in Narnia as well as information related to Lewis
himself. Actors Georgie Henley,
Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Poppewell and Co-Writer/Director Andrew
Adamson participate in an entertaining feature length audio commentary that
reveals among other things how much the kids have bonded with each other during
the making of the film and how much Adamson enjoyed working with them. Georgie
Henley, who plays Lucy in the film is my favorite commentator because she has so
much excitement, wonder, and energy, and as a result she reminded me of what I
used to do when I was a kid. She struggles at times to get her thoughts out and
talk over the other speakers on the track and to their credit, everyone seems
quite respectful of each other and understanding and while I do not know Mr.
Adamson personally, I have to give him credit for being quite genuinely
interested in what the kids have to say as well as patient too. The second audio
commentary track has Director Andrew Adamson, Production Designer Mark Ford, and
Producer Mark Johnson going into great detail about the more technical aspects
of bringing “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” to the big screen. There
is also a reel of letterboxed bloopers (4:35) on the first disc and previews for
other Buena Vista/Disney films and DVD releases (8:21) that include “The
Little Mermaid: Two-Disc Platinum Edition”, “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead
Man’s Chest”, “Glory Road”, “Eight Below”, “Cars”, “Brother
Bear 2”, “Air Buddies”, “Lost”, and an Everest attraction at Walt
Disney World. Sadly, the theatrical teaser and trailer for “The Lion, The
Witch And The Wardrobe” are not included on either disc of the Special
Collector’s Edition nor can it be found on the widescreen and full screen
single DVD releases or the UMD for PSP version. Personally I feel trailers for
the film one watches on a DVD should always be included on the disc especially
on a special edition release. This is my only caveat with the set and I really
have to ask, would it really have hurt to drop one preview for a film or DVD
that has nothing to do with “Narnia” so that the trailer for this film could
be included in this set as it should be?
The second disc contains material that is exclusive to this
special collector’s edition. Under the heading “Creating Narnia” are
several featurettes and documentaries that give the viewer an in-depth look at
the making of this masterpiece beginning with a video diary about the making of
the film “Chronicle Of A Director” (37:08) continuing onward with a
documentary that shows the viewers behind-the-scenes of the making of the film
with the child stars entitled “The Children’s Magical Journey” (26:33).
Next are a collection of film diaries from eight different members of the film
team detailing their point of view and contribution to making the movie come to
life. These profiles can be watched individually or collectively through a
“Play All” option (55:05) and feature insights with Producer Mark Johnson,
Production Designer Roger Ford, Costume Designer Isis Mussenden, Editor Sim
Evan-Jones, Composer Harry Gregson-Williams, KNB Effects Group Co-Founder and
Makeup Effects Wizard Howard Berger, Weta Workshop Visualist and Creative
Supervisor Richard Taylor, and Director of Photography Donald M. McAlpine.
This is followed by an Anatomy Of A Scene featurette (11:31)
detailing the melting river sequence and a profile of C.S. Lewis (4:14). The
next feature is similar to the Cinematic Storytellers collection detailed above
entitled “Creating Creatures.” Here viewers can learn either individually or
collectively (53:58) about how eleven creatures from the film were brought to
cinematic life. Featured are Jadis, The White Witch, Aslan, Ginarrbrik, Mr.
Tumnus, Wolves, Minotaurs, Goblins, Beavers, Satyrs, Ankle Slicers, and
Centaurs. This feature also offers an alternate route appropriately through a
wardrobe icon to the companion “Creatures Of The World” (14:16) that gives
information about the various characters from the film as it relates to Lewis’
story. This feature can also be accessed under the “Creatures, Lands &
Legends” submenu that also includes a three-dimensional map of the locations
in Narnia from the film as well as a comparison of the events that occur to our
young heroes in Narnia time as Professor Kirke checks to see what has happened
in Earth time. The interactive menus on disc one feature the sweeping vistas of
Narnia while the menus on disc two feature the wardrobe itself and all of the
menus are easy to navigate.
The UMD For PSP
The UMD for PSP version of “The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” presents the film in a widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio that looks as though it is a true anamorphic transfer specifically adapted for the (1.78:1) mini LCD screen on the PSP. The picture is striking in its detail and very colorful, but once in a while there is a bit of a visible lag between certain scenes with fast movement and the PSP’s ability to accurately follow that action. The trouble seemed most noticeable in the scenes that took place within Mr. Tumnus’ home, which might be a general problem with the mastering process to standard definition video from film in general and not necessarily a defect of either the DVD or UMD for PSP. The Soundtrack, whether it is through the earbud speakers or a docking station solution that provides a virtual surround sound option, is excellent. At times I actually felt I noticed sound effects that I did not pick on in the DVD counterpart. Besides the English Stereo Soundtrack, the DVD features English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired as well as French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the UMD as options. The letterboxed reel of Bloopers found on the DVDs is included on the UMD along with UMD for PSP previews for “Herbie Fully Loaded” and “Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl.” The interactive menus are fully animated with motion scene selections and are easy to navigate.
If
you already own a PSP and like me, enjoy the added portability of watching films
on UMD while on the go and so forth and are a fan of “The Chronicles Of Narnia:
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” then I think purchasing the UMD is well
worth it because even if you may have a portable DVD player or laptop, I have
found that many UMD titles look better than their DVD counterparts on portable
players and the PSP is smaller and easier to carry than a laptop. Besides, you
can take the UMD with you and enjoy the film while having the DVD safe and sound
with your other DVDs in your home video library. So if you have a PSP, buying
the UMD as well as the DVD is well worth it in my opinion.
“The
Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” is available now
on DVD as a part of the “Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition” DVD set or
in separate widescreen and full screen single disc versions as well as on UMD
for PSP at retailers on and offline courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
THE
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, NARNIA, and all book titles, characters and locales
original thereto are trademarks of C.S. Lewis Pte Ltd. And are used with
permission. © Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Walden Media, LLC. All rights
reserved.
“The
Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: Special Two-Disc
Collector’s Edition” DVD Set and UMD For PSP Combined Review At GENRE
ONLINE.NET © Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera. All Rights Reserved.
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