Stars:
Warwick Davis, Kenny Baker, and Tom Baker
Writer:
Alan Seymour
Based
On “The Chronicles Of Narnia” By: C.S. Lewis
Directors:
Marilyn Fox and Alex Kirby
Approximate
Feature Length: 8 hours and 40 minutes
Extras:
An Excerpt On C.S. Lewis From “Bookworm,” A BBC Television Literary
Magazine, A Recipe For Turkish Delight, Trivia Games, Still Galleries
Languages:
English Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
N/A
Packaging:
Three-Disc Alpha Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 26/27/26
Sound:
Monaural Sound
Years
of Television Broadcast: 1988-1990/DVD Release: 2002
Home
Video Distributor: Home Vision Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: N/A
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
For
a century the evil White Witch had ruled over “Narnia” creating a
never-ending winter with no Christmas. Then four mortal children who had been
sent out of London because of the bombings during World War II find themselves
magically transported to this alternate world through an old wardrobe closet
belonging to the professor whose country estate the children were staying. Two
brothers and sisters are immediately recognized by the unusual residence of
“Narnia” as the sons of “Adam” and the daughter’s of “Eve,” who
prophecy tells will bring an end to the reign of the White Witch, restore the
countryside, and under the guidance of the great lion Aslan, become the future
Kings and Queens of “Narnia.”
Their
legacy from the first adventure yields yet another where our four children
return a year later to find centuries have past in “Narnia” and a corrupt
King now occupies the thrown. However the rightful heir whose heart knows the
true legacy of Narnia leads a crusade to restore the land to its former glory
with the help of the return of the first great Kings and Queens of “Narnia,”
who of course happen to be our four returned young heroes from the previous
adventure. Later the youngest brother and sister together with their cousin
Eustace return to “Narnia” once again to assist the now adult King Caspian
find the lost seven lords who had been banished by his corrupt Uncle after his
father’s death aboard “The Dawn Reader.” Their voyage takes them to
several islands as well as the very edge of the world.
Finally
Eustace and a fellow student named Jill return to “Narnia” to rescue Prince
Rilian from The Emerald Witch who rules the underworld and restore him to the
thrown as heir the late King Caspian.
C.S.
Lewis’ “The Chronicles Of Narnia” are a wonderful series of seven novels
that have delighted both children and the child within for decades. He was a
friend and colleague of Author J.R.R. Tolkien and it has been said that the two
Oxford Professors greatly influenced each other and provided moral support for
each other and their literary endeavors. Tolkien helped convert Lewis to
Catholicism after Lewis, who was an Atheist, grieved for his father’s death.
Lewis later married Poet Joy Gresham as dramatized in the play and feature film
“Shadowlands,” which starred Anthony Hopkins as “C.S. Lewis.”
In
1979, an animated adaptation of “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” aired
on American television and was followed nearly ten years later by the live
action BBC dramatization in 1988 and in turn was followed by two more
dramatizations from “The Chronicles Of Narnia,” which were “Prince Caspian
And The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader” and “The Silver Chair” in 1990. All
three of these live action films have since aired in America on PBS as well as
various cable networks. The stories were completely shot on analogue video with
a combination of makeup, costume, early animatronics, and animated effects.
Despite how crude some of the effects might appear when compared to their
Hollywood magician counterparts, for the most part I found that I was able to
suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy all three films so much that I wish the BBC
dramatized the rest of Lewis’ “Narnia” books. The only eye sore in the
series are the mix of hand drawn animation and live action that appears
particularly in “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe,” but the quality of
these productions are so entertaining that one can easily overlook the
shortcomings and the animation is for the most part used only sparingly and one
can see that in the dramatizations that followed in 1990, the hand drawn
animation is nearly non existent.
For
the first time ever, the BBC production of C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles Of
Narnia” are coming to DVD-Video courtesy of Home Vision Entertainment in a
beautiful three disc set or sold individually in three volumes. The three-disc
set is the way to go if you are going to buy all three films. It features each
adventure on its own dual layered DVD with disc two divided into two parts for
“Prince Caspian” and “The Voyage Of Dawn Trader.” Within the packaging
is an insert containing liner notes and “Narnia Facts,” a cardboard insert
with colorful illustrations by Al Brandtner, and a recipe for “Turkish
Delight.” All three discs feature still galleries and interactive trivia games
that yield a special code for access to prizes online at the Home Vision Narnia
Web Page. Disc one also features a 9-minute excerpt from the British Literary TV
Magazine Program “Bookworm” on C.S. Lewis.
Each
program is presented in the original (1.33:1) BBC broadcast aspect ratio and
while the quality is not perfect, it is quite good and all three discs feature
English Two-Channel Monaural Soundtracks. Unfortunately there are no captions
for the hearing impaired encoded on to these discs, which I think is a sad loss
for young viewers who despite a hearing impairment could have enjoyed these
fantastic stories on screen as well. Watching all three of these discs I could
not help but wonder if Author J. K. Rowling was inspired by C.S. Lewis when she
started writing her popular “Harry Potter” novels?
The
BBC dramatizations of “The Chronicles Of Narnia” will debut in a three-disc
set or each volume sold separately on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 from Home Vision
Entertainment and I think this is a great addition for anyone’s fantasy film
DVD library and I also highly recommend it for families and children and the
child at heart.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
The Top Ten TV On DVD-Videos Of 2002 As Reviewed At GENRE ONLINE. NET