The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

[Kenai]

Well weekend estimates are in and Narnia took $67,064,000 according to Box office Mojo.

as the French say C'est un success! ( well sort of )

Wow, these estimates come in earlier and earlier now.

Well, good for Disney. Another no.1. Luke seemed to have the right idea about the "one-two punch" for the end of the year for them. I'm hoping King Kong doesn't take away too much of it's business next week.

[PatrickvD]

I think the sunday estimate on boxofficemojo.com is a little low. Sunday isn't over yet and I've heard of all these church groups going to see them after church. I hope it can come close to $70 million and hopefully beat The Incredibles to become Disney's biggest opener ever.

[PixarFan]

Well, often I judge a movie by weather or not I want to see it again the next day. Yesterday I saw this movie, and before I even left the theater I wanted to buy a ticket for the next showing, so I guess they did a pretty good job! I have to say, it was amazing! The acting, the photography, the script, the CGI, the music, everything! It was spectacular. I loved how they even worked in the little details from the book (for example, Lucy leaving the wardrobe door open, and Edmund slamming it shut). There were, of course, things that lacked a bit. I thought Aslan was almost a little too tame (plus, I wanted him to be more sad walking to the stone table and more excited when leaving it). Certain lines or portions of scenes that I really liked that were in the book were either cut out or felt rushed. There was one scene that felt uncomfortable because the script for that scene didn't really flow. I thought that "flower" woman who brings a message to Peter was a bit odd (and I don't remember anything of the sort in the book). Also, the songs that played during the credits didn't really fit (at least, I didn't think so).

But, all of the things that I mentioned were very small and didn't bother me too much, and I couldn't even begin to mention all the things that I loved about the movie. I can't say I was disappointed at all. Jadis was really convincing, and Lucy was simply amazing! She was so sincere in her acting that you felt all the emotions she was showing. I hope to make it the theater at least once more during it's theatrical run, and I will definitely be buying this as soon as it's out on DVD.

Haha...halfway through the movie I recognized the dwarf that drives Jadis' sleigh as Elijah Wood's scale double in Lord of the Rings, and from that point on he did not look like a dwarf to me...

Overall rating: 4.9/5

Oh, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but for those who haven't seen the movie: Don't leave as soon as the credits start. There's another small scene afterward.

[The Little Merman]

Oh, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but for those who haven't seen the movie: Don't leave as soon as the credits start. There's another small scene afterward.

Oh my god, I just learned this today in my city's paper's review of the film. They said the epilogue was disappointing, but the promise for more was a wonderful thought. My I were so excited to 1.) Go to the bathroom and 2.) Run to Borders and pick up the novel (we had rented the series at the library - time to pick them up!!)

*tlm

[Hogi Bear]

I have a question, where did they do the animating for all the CGI characters? Was it done at Disney studios or where? And I'll say again, they did a fantastic job with them.

No Disney shut down The Secret Lab. The CGI is done by WETA Digital (Peter Jackson's company).

And Sony Pictures Imageworks and Industial Light and Magic (ILM). So it was done in New Zealand and in the U.S.

[Kenai]

Just came back from seeing this again with another friend. It's weird because, well duh, I knew what to expect. So some of the scenes didn't catch my attention for too long, like a bit of the beginning and I still spaced out on the epilogue at the end (I did see it of course, but I spaced out on the last little bit of conversation).

[MickeyMousePal]

I just can back from seeing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and I have to say it was wonderful. Narnia was a great entertaining movie from beginning from end. But the only thing I didn't like was that Lucy went to talk to a complete stranger (Mr. Tomas).

I also saw the preview of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest which also looks very good.

Grade A- since the end wasn't completed and we didn't know what happen to their parents.

[GhostHost]

This is one of the year's best movies, if not the best.

[snowbot]

Anyway, I saw the new movie last night, and add me to the list of enthusiastic reviewers. It was a very full movie theatre; not quite sold out, but crowded nonetheless. Three of the showings that I know of sold out...which I think is rather impressive since I saw it at AMC Pleasure Island...so people were taking their vacation time to see it, and that's cool.

Hey, I was there too! I saw it at 7pm Friday night at AMC Pleasure Island in the Digital Projection theatre.

----------

The movie was fantastic, I've been thinking about it a lot since then. What particularly stuck with me was the underlying parallels to the Christian story. I thought it was very effective the way that Edmund was "seduced" by his appetite for power and pleasure, only to find out he had been deceived. Also, I liked how Aslan was there with the children to help them with all the hard stuff (like Edmund returning to the camp, Peter fighting his first battle, etc). Good stuff!

P.S. I'm currently studying theology and culture in grad school, and in January I'm attending a small weekend seminar called "Faith and Film: Into The Wardrobe Through The Medium of Movies", near Baltimore. The featured speakers will be Mr. Michael Flaherty (president of Walden Media), Dr Terry Lindvall (C.S. Lewis scholar), and Dr Drew Trotter (director of the Center for Christian Study). It should be interesting! (It's open to all if anyone else is interested).

[Pluto Region1]

P.S. I'm currently studying theology and culture in grad school, and in January I'm attending a small weekend seminar called "Faith and Film: Into The Wardrobe Through The Medium of Movies", near Baltimore. The featured speakers will be Mr. Michael Flaherty (president of Walden Media), Dr Terry Lindvall (C.S. Lewis scholar), and Dr Drew Trotter (director of the Center for Christian Study). It should be interesting! (It's open to all if anyone else is interested).

Well I just saw the movie. I've never read the book(s) and I am not a Christian (I was raised for a time as a reformed Jew after I turned 7 and my mom married a Jewish man, but I am just an Agnostic now - ironically my parents and my sister have all turned into Athiests) Anyway, the point was that I have never read the Bible so I don't know it well enough to know the stories, but it just dawned on me that Aslan was Jesus Christ as he sacrifices himself and then is reborn, correct? The witch is the devil.... The one brother Edmund (the jerk) he's supposed to be the brother who betrays the other brother in the story of Caine and Abel, correct? These parallels, seem rather obvious to me but perhaps this only seemed obvious because of the early media coverage saying it was a "Christian movie," so the seed was already planted in my brain to look for these parallels?

An aside, I thought the movie was really tremendous but was very intense for me, especially the battle scenes and the killing - I broke out in a sweat and almost felt like I was in the battle! I think it is too intense for young kids. How does the intensity level in Narnia compare to the Harry Potter movies? I just caught one of the Potter movies on the (Disney's) ABC Family Channel last weekend when they were playing them. I've never seen a Potter movie in the theater and watching on TV is probably no guide to how intense something may seem in a theater. But I thought that the audience for Narnia must be older children who could handle some of the frightening sequences - I thought maybe it is targeted toward the same audience as Lord of the rings which I thought was an adult fantasy. There was a couple with 2 small children sitting in front of my husband and I and also another mother with her young kid sitting behind us - the movie seemed too intense in my opinion for 5 to 7 year olds...

Narnia is based on a series of books, correct? so we should expect a series like the Potter series if this does well?

We were told by the gal who worked behind the counter that Disney execs came to this theater to see the movie. It is funny because I live in "Disney town" (Glendale where alot of Disney's back-office and studio functions are stashed) and well aware of all the previews they had for the employees - they had a free showing at El Capitan, they had one at AMC Burbank at 8am in the morning on a Saturday and I guess they must have had a special showing for Disney execs at this Mann Theater in Glendale on Maryland Avenue. This is the same theater that they had Chicken Little in 3-D at (very few theaters in Los Angeles County showed it in 3-D and this was one of them).

[brownie]

It was also awesome that when the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest trailer started, before they showed any film footage and all you heard was young Elizabeth singing "Yo ho...yo ho...," everyone went NUTS. And then they cheered and applauded AGAIN at the end of the trailer when the screen reads "Captain Jack is back...July 7"

It certainly was awesome. I almost felt like jumping out my chair and screaming my little heart out when I heard young Elizabeth singing! I've seen Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl soooo many times, and it's still entertaining to watch!


Anyway, I saw this movie last night. My mom and I went to this small theater a few blocks from our house, but we missed the show at 6:30, so we had to go to the show at 9:35! We arrived home at midnight.

I agree with what Disneykid said. It did not seem like a very long movie at all, and I never felt sleepy throughout the film, even though I probably would have dozed off at any other movie..

Easily in the top 5 movies of the year for me..maybe top 3, I'm not sure.

Improvements could have been better, more subtle music (I did not enjoy the woman who was singing).

9/10

[Wonderlicious]

I've just seen the film and I must say that I was somewhat disappointed by it. Just a little. Don't get me wrong, the pros did seem to outway the cons, and the visuals and performances were excellent, but it seemed as though, to an extent, the film was the result of corporate meddling, wanting a piece of Lord of the Rings pie. Sorry, but my respect is increasingly running out for latter-day Disney.

[Kenai]

I bought the soundtrack today and man, let me say it's just beautiful. Alanis Morissette's "Wunderkind" is a terrific song, her best yet. And I can't get enough of Imogen Heap's "Can't Take It In" which is yet another beautiful song. Man, I love it!

[TM2-Megatron]

The witch is the devil....

I wouldn't go that far. A "Satan" figure was introduced in later books. Jadis (the Witch) began life as a mortal, albeit an unusually powerful one, so she isn't really comparable to Satan. She's a representation of evil, for sure, though.

As far as the books go, Jadis is in fact older than the Universe Narnia inhabits. She came from another world, brought to Narnia by humans who had used magical rings to breach the barriers between alternate Universes.

In the book of The Lion, the Witch & The Wardrobe, the Beavers say that she's a descendant of Lilith; reported by some sources to have been Adam's first wife (before Eve). According to these sources Lilith was created from dust as Adam was, while Eve was created from Adam's rib. When Lilith refused to assume a role subservient to Adam, she willingly left the Garden of Eden. As such she was in a unique position among humanity; as one who left Eden of her own volition, and remained unaffected by the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the Narnian continuity, perhaps she not only left Eden, but left this Universe completely, and took up residence in Charn (the world Jadis originated from).

She seems to have begun as a Mesopotamian night demon, and appears as a night demon in the Midrash and Talmud. She translates as a "screech owl", for what that's worth, in the King James version of the Bible (as always, english translations of Christian documents prove useless in terms of real study).

[zack626]

this is one of the most amazing, best films of 2005... i loved it.. the effects were sooo good and the acting was excelent for first timers on a movie like this... im going to go and watch it again sumtime lol

[SofaKing381222]

OK, I just got back from my first viewing of the film. I have never read any of the books, and was only vaguely familiar with the story. Being a Christian, I can easily see the paralells beteween LWW and the Christian faith. Aslan can definently relate to Jesus. The CGI was freakin' awesome on Aslan. He looked so real! The fox and some of the other characters were lacking though. I loved the fight scenes and loved the Disney pushed it so far with still a PG rating. I liked the pacing of the fil, but the only complaints I had with the film wasnt the book-to-screen adaption but the actual story. I kept waiting for the kids to trully shine through. I wanted to see them as a hero. Susan got this cool bow and arrow set but she only used it once on a dwarf thing after the battle was over. Peter disappointed me. I really would have liked to see him do something that was worthy of a hero. He did kill the wolf, but the wolf more like fell on his sword rather than him killing it. SPOILER I also would have liked him to be the one who killed the witch. It seemed that he needed Aslan for everything, and couldnt do anything that he had actually set out to do. Those were really my only complaints about the film, its nothing they could have changed though, since the story comes from the books which have lasted so long. Overall, I give the film an A- 9/10

P.S. Cant wait for the DVD. Hope Disney doesnt completely screw it up.

[DaveWadding]

Susan got this cool bow and arrow set but she only used it once on a dwarf thing after the battle was over.

Father Christmas CLEARLY states "you are not meant to be in the battle, only use this if absolutely necessary."

That's just the way it goes.

[MickeyMousePal]

DaveWadding Wrote:

Father Christmas CLEARLY states "you are not meant to be in the battle, only use this if absolutely necessary."

That's just the way it goes.

Also Dave, Father Christmas also gave Susan a horn to blow when danger is near.

[SofaKing381222]

Yes, I know. But I still think that she should have had a larger role in the battle. But seeing as we cannot mess with CS Lewis' story there is not much they could have done.

P.S. After seeing th movie, I really wanna read the books!

[Kenai]

I might have to buy all the books as well.

Anyways, according to estimates, L,W&TW slipped to second place, suffering a 52% decline thanks to Kong, with 31.2 million. It's become the 17th film of 2005 to cross the $100 million mark and is on course for $200 million now. It's given the film about 112 million in 10 days.

Go Disney.

*continues to ignore ALL the Disney haters on IMDB's forums*