Movie Info:
Writer: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus
Director: Andrew Adamson
Cast: Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Sergio Castellitto, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis
Rating: PG
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Info:
DVD Release Date: December 2, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $24.99
Every now and then, a movie comes along and completely takes me by surprise. This year one of those movies was Prince Caspian, the sequel to the huge family hit, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This is one of those rare movies that will work for every member of the family. Caspian offers a good dose of romance, plenty of action, and it is based on a blockbuster classic book series. The funny thing is I originally only put this in the player because I had to review it and because my son wanted to see it. Now, I’m glad that he wanted to and I had to, because otherwise I wouldn’t have taken the time to watch it. I didn’t see the first one, but now it’s in my Netflix queue and I’m looking to catch up on what I missed out on.
If you didn’t see the first one you will be able to watch this with little problem. I didn’t have to see the first one to understand the second one. I would love to see it though because I am sure that it will add so many little things that I missed out on without seeing it. Still, it works well independently, which was a smart move on the part of the filmmakers. This ensured that the movie, which some people feel should be relegated to older children, works for a broader audience and does not rut itself with only those that have seen the first movie.
One of the things I was most interested in was rating the performances of the people in the film. With exception to Liam Neeson and Peter Dinklage nearly everyone in the film was new to me. With the majority of the leading roles being younger people I looked forward to seeing how they would perform. All of them did a wonderful job, though I feel like the actor that plays Edmund, Skandar Keynes showed excellent promise despite being underutilized. I look forward to the third installment, which includes the younger Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy (Georgie Henley) without their older brother and sister.
Speaking of the older kids, of the two my preference was for Peter (William Moseley) over Susan (Anna Popplewell) though I think it was meant to be that way. Susan is a good female character that appears headstrong and independent. If the series remains true to the books Susan’s days in Narnia are numbered. Some say this is the fault of CS Lewis being sexist. I couldn’t disagree more. I think it’s entirely about Susan being the most independent and the most likely to want to grow up and move on. I don’t think it had as much to do with sexism as it does with a writer being true to their characters. For that I applaud him.
I am also proud to report that the entire notion of these films being filled with Christian references is entirely false. Whoever said this must have been looking for a way to ruin a good franchise. If there are any religious symbols here they are so obscure that the non-religious won’t pick them up and they will pass over children’s heads altogether. After awhile, I found myself looking for them and still, nothing obvious was presented. Parents looking for secular entertainment can rest assured that Prince Caspian isn’t as based in religion as has been claimed and if it is it’s not obvious enough to count.
When it comes to the claims that Caspian was much darker and more violent than the first I really wouldn’t know. I have heard numerous claims that it’s too deep for young children, but that’s really all based on preference. We watched it (the second time around) with our four year old nephew and he loved it. He favored the fighting scenes more than anything, but when he grows up he wants to be a pirate so that is to be expected! As an adult, I wouldn’t hesitate to watch Prince Caspian again. I found the movie to be well acted, beautifully shot, and much more entertaining than I originally expected.
The The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Plot
Prince Caspian begins on a gloomy note. It’s been about a year since Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy have in London and away from Narnia. Just when the four start to fall apart at the thought of being away from their home they are called back by Prince Caspian, who is the one that just happens to blow Susan’s magical horn.
Blowing the horn, which he found on accident when being chased by Telmarine soldiers and held by Narnians, summons the Ancient Kings and Queens of Narnia. Of course, when they arrive everyone is shocked to see that the Ancient Kings and Queens are modern day children and teenagers. Luckily though, these kids know a thing or two about Narnia.
When they arrive, the Pevensie children are shocked to see that their home is no longer where it had been. In the one year that they were gone, centuries had passed in Narnia. In that time, plenty had changed. The trees forgot how to dance, the Narnian’s were thought to be extinct as they had been led to slaughter, and Aslan (Neeson) has gone into hiding where not even Lucy can find him. These changes are just the beginning of what could be viewed as the end of Narnia. The Kings and Queens soon find out why they were brought to Narnia.
It is learned that Narnia has been taken over by Telmarines. These fierce people that have come from another world took over and sought to rid the world of all Narnian people and creatures. It was so bad by the time the Ancient Kings and Queens were summoned that Narnians no longer came out of hiding and the Telmarines all assumed that they were extinct. Prince Caspian and the other Telmarines realized that this was not true though, when he ran into the Narnian forest in an attempt to save his life.
Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) runs into the forest late one night because his Uncle Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) is attempting to have him assassinated to ensure that his newborn son will be the air to the thorn. Caspian heads into the forest thinking the soldiers won’t follow him, but he gets a shock when he learns that Narnians are not as extinct as he thought. Together with the help of the Narnians he seeks to gain control of the land and let the Narnians live in peace once again. Though the Narnians are skeptical at first, Caspian is a good man and they can see that.
It is up to Caspian, the Ancient Kings and Queens of Narnia, and their loyal subjects to overthrow Caspian’s Uncle and the Telmarines. In order to do this the Kings and Queens will need to work with Caspian, Caspian will have to work with the Narnians, and everyone will have to be strong and faster than the incredibly vast Telmarine Army. It will be a hard task, but the Narnians are willing to fight for what they believe in.
Book purists won’t prefer the tame love story that never existed in the books. It was added in on the side and showed offered little importance other than to show that Susan wasn’t like the other Pevensie children. It’s harmless in its attempt to entertain, but nothing important enough to truly complain about. The movie was amazing and this one small flaw was a forgivable one. It actually added a good deal of tension between High King Peter and Caspian, which was more interesting watching than the love affair.
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Audio/Visual:
Prince Caspian is available in three versions, this one, a standard DVD, and the Blu-ray set, which we previously reviewed on Blu-ray Authoritay. Both versions of this movie are absolutely gorgeous when it comes to video and audio. The video comes in an anamorphic widescreen version with an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The colors are bright and vibrant, but it is the detail that will capture your attention and make it impossible at times to look away. This is about as sharp as it gets from a standard DVD. The picture was as near flawless as it could be and the picture was free of compression errors, noise, grain, or other annoying issues.
There is a number of audio options for Prince Caspian. The main audio option is English Dolby Digital 5.1. This is the audio that most people (especially the ones reading this review) are going to use. The sound manages to be both dynamic and easy to hear all at the same time. A lot of times, overly dramatic sound ends up being too loud at times, but that is not the case with Prince Caspian. The dialogue remains steady and easy to understand and the music and other effects come through like something you’d expect to hear in a movie theater. Other audio options include Dolby Digital 5.1 in both French and Spanish.
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Bonus Features:
This three disc set is chalked full of special features. The first set includes an audio commentary with the director and several of the actors. This is an enjoyable way to start the special features off. Everyone seems to get along well and they are all interesting to listen to. I was surprised how informative the commentary would be. A lot of important topics were discussed along with basic commentary that goes with the film. The commentary is the only special feature on the first disc. The third disc is just a digital copy of the film, which leaves the second disc where the bulk of the special features are held.
The second disc is mainly filled with featurettes. Information on all of them are listed below:
“Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns:” This documentary is a casual making of that helps you to learn more about all of the various people that worked in or on the film. Some of the most interesting topics revolve around the weather, working with the international cast members, and dealing with location.
“Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to Life:” At 24 minutes, this featurette deals with what it took to take Prince Caspian from book to screen. CS Lewis offered little description, which left things wide open for filmmakers. The designers talk about how they created the sets based on various book passages.
“Big Movie Comes to a Small Town:” The small town of Bovec, Slovenia must have been all abuzz when 1,200 people rolled into the area to shoot a movie. Considering the town is only made up of 1,600 people as it is this was probably a huge thrill ride for them. This featurette talks about what it was like in town, what the people were like, and it also discusses the history of the town along with other interesting town facts.
“Previsualizing Narnia:” Interestingly enough this feature is all about how the filmmakers animated the film prior to actually shooting the film. This was done in order to plan how the special effects would need to be handled.
There are several short features, “Talking Animals and Walking Trees: The Magical World of Narnia” is a five minute featurette that takes a look at the various creatures of Narnia, “Secrets of the Duel” is dedicated to the fight scene, and “Becoming Trumpkin” which looks at the work of Peter Dinklage. The final featurette is “Warwick Davis: The Man Behind Nikabrik” and it looks at the life of Warwick Davis and the three hours’ worth of makeup that it took him to transform for his role.
The features are rounded out with some deleted scenes, bloopers, and a few Easter Eggs that are accessible at the bottom of the menus.
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Bottom Line:
Prince Caspian was one of the surprisingly great movies of 2008. This would hit the spot as a stocking stuffer or as a smaller present for any Disney lover. It’s perfect for the whole family or works good for an action lover, too. It’s not too graphic or too violent and it’s got a nice lesson. Prince Caspian is definitely worth checking out. If you’re a literary snob or a book purist you might want to rent this first, but otherwise I highly recommend buying it when you have a chance.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: DVD Review, Disney, The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, Epic Battle, Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Sergio Castellitto, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis
Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.
