A different way of telling a story

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

When I was in 7th grade, we watched this. I thought it was pretty good. Then, when I watched the new version, I thought that it was very good. Now, about 8 years later, I watched the original version. It is no where near as good as the new version. For one thing, the special effects were horrible. None of the animals looked real. Also, the actors were horrible. The actors also looked like they were all about the same age. In the new version, you can tell easily that they are none the actors are the same age. It's one of those movies that only people who watched in when they were young and have fond memories of it, will like.

C S Lewis died the day before the first ever episode of Dr Who was broadcast and like Dr Who this version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has excellent production values but low budget special effects. I think the animatronic of Aslan must have absorbed quite a lot of the special effects budget. The two-dimensional animations of the various creatures contrasting with the three-dimensional Aslan mar the impact of an otherwise good production as do the rather humanoid beavers and wolves. But Barbara Kellerman is every bit as good as Tilda Swinton and the four child actors playing the Pevensie children are excellent. Thanks to the films of more recent years and a DVD promotion by the Daily Mail this BBC version of the second Narnia book will have gained a new following. It might lack the special effects and spectacular New Zealand locations of the 2005 film but I still recommend it highly.

So the BBC did not have a multi-million dollar budget. In fact, I doubt it even had a million dollars on its hands to make this movie. People who need an action scene to be entertained will not enjoy this movie. But any Narnia aficionado would be proud to call this 1988 edition of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe the TRUE adaptation of Lewis' masterpiece as opposed to the cheesy & flashy one that was released in 2005.C.S. Lewis was clearly a genius; the producer of the 1988 film obviously recognized this and chose to keep the script of the movie as faithful to the text itself as humanly possible. The producers of the 2005 movie, however, clearly thought that they could come up with something better than his words. Guess what? They were wrong.The criticism of Sophie Wilcox that runs rampant on this site is vomit-inducing. Young Sophie portrayed the role of Lucy with poise and grace, and she delivered each line with the ability of an Academy Award winning actress. All of the comments about her buck teeth and weight are simply not necessary; Wilcox has overcome her awkward preadolescent years and emerged into a beautiful butterfly (check her resume and pictures on google).While there may be some merit to the comments about the cartoon drawn animals and "subpar" acting of other members of the cast, I think it is the imperfections of the movie itself that make it so worth watching. For without the random yelping of Richard Dempsey (Peter) and awkward pauses between scenes, this movie would not provide the comedy or family fun that many seek when renting a film.Overall, this movie deserves a 10 out of 10 for its genuine acting, great story, and comedic relief.

The BBC adapted four of the Narnia books over the course of three epic-length miniseries. Each one got better than the previous installment. Here's the first in my three-part review of each: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE Definitely the weakest, despite easily being the one most regularly seen, due to the popularity of the book. Sadly, the superior Walden Media version has now made this one completely obsolete, except maybe for some nostalgia value.Okay, there're some good things: the musical score is very gentle and pretty, Ronald Pickup has a great presence as the voice of Aslan, and the series is very faithful to the book, bringing just about every single scene and line of dialogue to the screen. Each of these positive attributes carried over into the later BBC entries.The production value being what it is, you eventually forgive them the quality of the visual effects (most notably the fake-looking Aslan, the Beavers whose suits don't look anything like beavers, and the cartoon characters that populate Narnia with the rest of the gang).The series makes up for this with acting, and Edmund and Mr. Tumnus in particular are very good. In fact, I know a large number feel the original Edmund is superior to Skandar Keynes. But there're two clunkers. First is the White Witch; Barbara Kellerman does not how to do anything but overact, and every single line is screamed. "We shall sneak up suddenly and BUST UPON THEM!" Or how about: "Come to me, all EVIL!!!!" The campiness of that line's delivery should go down in history with "No wire hangers, ever!" from Mommie, Dearest.And then there's Lucy. Almost everyone I meet who brings up this version always says: "Remember the fat girl that played Lucy?" I think the problem with the actress isn't just that she's chubby and buck-toothed; she just has a bossy attitude that comes through in the character people don't like. And she's WAY too old for the role. Lucy's supposed to be like 8 or 9, and she looked 12.Finally, the entire series is extremely slow-paced. I realize most BBC productions tend to be this way so that they can be extremely faithful to the source material, but I think 3 hours is just a lot for a relatively short book. Many scenes drag.WEAKEST MOMENT: Each of the BBC entries has one scene that is laughably bad. In the case of LWW, it is when Giant Rumblebuffin is fighting against cartoon goblins, and simply shakes his hands in the air like some kind of fake karate chop. Oy vey! So I don't think there's much question that LWW is the weakest of the BBC series. Fortunately, they would improve, but as far as the story of LWW goes, I doubt I will ever watch this version again, as the new one has surpassed it in every single regard, except perhaps for Edmund.Feel free to contact me for further discussion on Narnia, and check out my reviews on the two other entries.