Episode 59: One Year To Go
Running time: 31: 21
One more year to go! And Fantasia Kitty joins the Council for the first time as she, Rilian and glumPuddle give their overall assessments of where the film is going and what expectations they have for the film itself and for its box office performance.
Also, see the corresponding article where other NarniaWeb staff have their thoughts.
And in the comments, say A, whether you like Rilian’s impression of Peter Jackson and B, who you want him to try and slip in next.
Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
I too have often wondered whether or not i'm the only person who thinks Prince Caspian is a much better movie than LWW. Evidently though there are plenty of other people who agree. I've never been one for getting into heated debates over issues which can only ever be matters of opinion, but perhaps its the sort of thing that does need to be said once in a while, just in case anyone at the top is watching and thinks we all think one particular way. So for the record – i think Prince Caspian is a far superior movie to LWW, not just as a standalone piece of cinema, but also in terms of its overall "Narnian" quality, i would choose it every time.
ya quiero ver su pelicula de Narnia 3
PC is more well-made than LWW for sure. In terms of production values at least. I also thought the dialogue was a lot better. And even though far more changes were made (most of them necessary), I felt like it captured the spirit of the book more than LWW did.
I actually listened to the podcast on the day it came out. Usually it takes months or weeks. I disagree that PC is better than LWW. I found LWW much closer in spirit than PC. I just had to say that. If VDT is closer to the book than PC was, I will be as happy as I can be with a film from a book that isn't extremely accurate.
As an adaptation, I liked LWW less because it missed almost all the important emotional beats. Like Aslan's death, for example. Not very powerful in the movie, because they never established that Aslan was Narnia's only hope. Instead, they made the Pevensies Narnia's only hope. So instead of "we are doomed, our only hope has been killed," it was just "aww poor lion."
PC got most of the emotional beats right. The violent jerk back into Narnia. Lucy's nostalgic reunion with the trees. Caspian's shock upon seeing Old Narnians for the first time (the myth becoming fact). The bitter-sweet farewell, but promise of return.
I'm far too attached to PC the book to prefer the movie (I'm one of proabably very few for whom PC was their favorite book), but I do agree that they stayed closer to the overall themes than in LWW. So I though it was a decent movie, even if there were a few too many LotR deja vu moments. If only they hadn't completely trashed Peter's character…
Btw, spot on Peter Jackson, Rillian. Can't wait to hear the next impression 🙂
glumPuddle made an interesting comment about how "they" like to make films contemporary. I am in total disagreement with this. My reason: above all things I don't want Narnia to become a LOTR or Harry Potter nock off. I remember that we were recounting in the forums what we thought were the most cheesy moments of Prince Caspian. Someone made the comment that when Edmond falls off the roof and lands on the Gryphon, it was cliche because a very similar thing happened when Gandalf fell off the roof and landed on the Eagle. Stuff like this makes me cringe because I don't want the public at large to get the impression that Narnia is the latest LOTR clone. I said a key word in the last sentence: public. Why should these films be made but to get the public exposed to Narnia and enthusiastic towards it? "We" have already been exposed to Narnia by the books and have our little Narnia corner in our hearts. Unfortunately, the public at large has only the movies. As a result, it is very important what impression the films give.
Personally I'm very exited for the VDT because it is a seafaring adventure and the possibilities that it will be a LOTR nock off are very slim.
I could have predicted you would have something to say to my post,glumPuddle. I do agree that they put too much importance on the children and not enough on Aslan. I suppose since I know the story I felt the significance of his death. (The Father Christmas / spring part was pretty bad). Still, for me, the character changes in PC make it worse than LWW. I can agree with your first two examples about PC, but I don't think they got Caspian's first meeting with the Old Narnians right. It was shock but completely without the delight that was in the book.
A. As for B., I would love to hear Rilian try his voice at Vizzini from Princess Bride. 😀
It was nice to have Fantasia_Kitty, I always enjoy it when a guest gets to lend their voice and opinion. Way to say her real name, GP. Too funny.
Ahh… Vizzini is one of my favorites that I do.
😀 No way. "The Cliffs of Insanity!"
A. Yes, B. Andrew Adamson
I really enjoyed this podcast and I can't wait to hear the one considering the Ambassador's wife and Peter's stand-in.
A. Yes B. Jack Sparrow
glumPuddle – you say my thoughts everytime. (Except I'm not quite as merciful toward PC.) My problem with the series so far (though I enjoy it) is that it is just too conventional. I agree that they seem to be trying to follow the fail proof formula for a successful fantasy movie. I would love to see them take a few risks.