 Tagline: Evil Has Reigned For 100 Years... Prepare to enter a world beyond your wildest dreams. Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media invite you to experience C.S. Lewis' timeless and beloved adventure as never before on a two disc Bly-ray edition. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter, four siblings who step through a magical wardrobe and find the land of Narnia. There, the they discover a charming, once peaceful kingdom that has been plunged into eternal winter by the evil White Witch, Jadis. Aided by the wise and magnificent lion Aslan, the children lead Narnia into a spectacular, climactic battle to be free of the Witch's glacial powers forever! And now, the stunningly realistic special effects are even more breathtaking in the astounding clarity of high definition. Meet talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs, giants and more! Meanwhile, every sound - from the roar of Aslan to the echo of battle trumpets and the gentle rustling of leaves - comes alive with spectacularly enhanced audio quality. Live the adventure of a lifetime as it for the very first time with Disney Blu-Ray - Magic in high definition. Storyline: When the Pevensie family are evacuated out to the country, they are unaware of the adventure they will encounter. During a game of hide and seek, the youngest daughter, Lucy (Henley) discovers a wardrobe which transports her to the land of Narnia. Covered in snow, Narnia is full of weird and wonderful creatures, but is watched over by the evil White Witch, Jadis (Swinton). When all four Pevensie children end up through the wardrobe, they discover that it was meant to be, as two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam must join with the mighty lion, Aslan (Neeson) to defeat the evil White Witch. Written by FilmFanUk Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, May 6, 2008 -- Always winter, never Christmas. It's been a long winter. Not only is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe a sensational movie, a truly epic-in-scope-and-scale action/fantasy/drama film depicting the simple yet timeless story of good versus evil, but it also serves as a template for how to make a fantastic movie adapted from a cherished childrens' novel. Time and again we've seen films that may recreate a book, but fail to capture its spirit which the author so methodically placed on paper, but in this case, the transition seems easy and flawless, nothing about the movie seeming out-of-place, phony, tedious, or forced. Of course, when filmmakers are working from a novel that is timeless and timely, beloved, and awe-inspiring, written by one of the great authors of his time (C.S. Lewis), it's almost imperative that the film become the story, not simply retell it. In this case, it has, and this first film based on The Chronicles of Narnia series is not only a visual and aural feast for the senses, but it represents a leap forward in special effects, style, grandeur, and grace, arguably the finest fantasy novel turned film, competing only with the Lord of the Rings trilogy for that title. At the beginning of World War II, shortly after the Nazis begin their nighttime bombing raids of London, four children -- Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are evacuated to the countryside. The four are relocated to a large estate populated by only a maid and a reclusive old professor, an estate where nothing is prepared to entertain children, so that Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy must create ways to pass the days, such as asking one another the origin of words out of the dictionary. On one particularly boring day, a game of hide-and-seek becomes an adventure they never hoped for. Young Lucy finds and hides inside a large wardrobe in an otherwise empty room, only to suddenly find herself in a serene, snow-laden forrest, and soon to make the acquaintance of a Faun named Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy, Becoming Jane). Mr. Tumnus invites Lucy to his den. There, the two will share a delicious snack of tea, cakes, toast, and sardines. In a fit of guilt, Mr. Tumnus informs Lucy that he's kidnapped her under orders from the White Witch (Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton), an evil queen determined to rule Narnia. The faun helps Lucy escape back to the wardrobe from whence she came. Lucy relates her tale to Peter, Susan and Edmund, who find her story preposterous, not to mention impossible, since she only hid in the wardrobe minutes ago rather than the hours she recounts with the faun. Soon enough Edmund follows Lucy back through the wardrobe and meets the Witch, but upon his return through the wardrobe nevertheless denies Narnia's existence when confronted by Peter and Susan. It's not long until all four children find themselves in the wardrobe and therefore Narnia, a consequence of needing a place to hide after a squarely-hit cricket ball smashes through a window. Once inside, the children meet many brave and friendly creatures, as well as some bent on their destruction. Ultimately, under the guidance of the wise and brave lion, Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson, Batman Begins), the children will learn their destinies, the secrets of Narnia, and battle forces of evil to save their new friends in this strange, mystical land. I learned a lot by watching The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. First and foremost, as a war movie fanatic, I now find myself yearning for a modern, true-to-life film about the Nazi Blitz of London. My favorite genre has definitely found itself on the upswing since Saving Private Ryan, and the opening moments of this film left me wanting more, much more. I also gleaned that blood and guts alone don't make a battle scene. The epic and climactic sequence at the end of the film is about as far away from something like Braveheart one could possibly imagine while still depicting exhilarating and well-choreographed combat scenes. Flair for the dramatic, an eye for just the right shot, and great-looking effects (not to mention some hellacious-looking monsters thrown in for good measure) more than makes up for the lack of the red stuff, and many viewers probably won't even notice that it's not there in abundance. I also learned that CGI effects are getting very good. There were times when neither my wife nor I could figure out if some of the wolves seen in the movie were real or fake. Talking Beavers, Fauns, or Centaurs never looked so good. Finally, the right score can elevate a great movie just as much as the acting, writing, direction, and all the other imaginative ingredients that go into making a movie stand out. For my money, Harry Gregson- Williams' (Gone Baby Gone) score is utterly fantastic, right up there with John Williams' work as heard in Star Wars and Superman. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is probably best-known for its parallels to Christianity, though discussing them here would result in spoilers for the movie and won't be brought up. Needless to say, said parallels are here, though veiled, and certainly not overt or demanding. Viewers will perceive what they choose in allegorical films. There is no denying the message of salvation here, paralleling that found in New Testament Scripture, which was C. S. Lewis' reason for writing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Watching the film purely for entertainment, any significant overtones are simply played as part of a magical and mesmerizing tale, one that's hard to believe but difficult to forget, a story of love, courage, loyalty, forgiveness, belief in oneself and in one another, and most importantly, the will of goodness to prevail over evil. That's the central theme here, a theme we've seen countless times in any and every movie genre from Commando to 3:10 to Yuma to The Lives of Others to Ice Age, but never quite as powerfully spoken and displayed as it is here. A truly remarkable achievement, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a film for all ages, and one for the ages. Obviously one of my favorite movies from 2005 (or any year for that matter), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first film based on a series of books I grew up reading, wowed me in many ways. The film is brilliant in its simplicity; elaborate special effects are seamless, as is human interaction with them; the story never gets bogged down in anything extraneous or dull; the well-written adaptation is performed grandly by all the leads; the epic battle at the end left me breathless without a churned stomach. Fantasy and swordplay movies are not exactly amongst my favorite genres, but the timelessness, brilliance, and simplicity of this tale and its wonderful film adaptation makes this one a surefire exception to the rule, leaving me not only satisfied with the experience, but having me feeling like a child all over again, yearning to one day open my wardrobe and find a mystical land inside. Thankfully, Disney has provided what is arguably the finest Blu-ray set yet. Visually, the disc is a treat. It's easily 5-star material throughout, but once combatants don the armor and go into battle, the quality spikes yet again, easily becoming the most brilliant sequence yet on a Blu-ray disc. The audio is equally superb, creating a living, breathing environment from the first frame to the last. Finally, the supplemental package is wonderful and detailed, the only blemish being that the majority of the extras are not presented in high definition, a shame considering most were placed on a second, standalone disc. Still, Disney has truly hit this one out of the park, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe receives my highest recommendation. Cast Notes: Georgie Henley (Lucy Pevensie), Skandar Keynes (Edmund Pevensie), William Moseley (Peter Pevensie), Anna Popplewell (Susan Pevensie), Tilda Swinton (White Witch), James McAvoy (Mr. Tumnus), Jim Broadbent (Professor Kirke), Kiran Shah (Ginarrbrik), James Cosmo (Father Christmas), Judy McIntosh (Mrs. Pevensie), Elizabeth Hawthorne (Mrs. Macready), Patrick Kake (Oreius), Shane Rangi (General Otmin), Brandon Cook (Boy on Train), Cassie Cook (Girl on Train). IMDb Rating (08/01/10): 7.0/10 from 100,662 users
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