The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1988)

Overrated

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I revisited yet another adaptation of Narnia that I watched as a kid and back then I actually loved it, I mean when I saw the remake by Disney, while I also liked that I thought "What? They already have this!" but... Not to hate on this movie but looking back, I prefer the Disney version.The plot, 4 children are taken into the country in World War 2 away from London, there they go to the house of a professor and when one thing leads to another the youngest, Lucy finds a magical world inside a wardrobe but the magical world is under the tyranny of a Witch that has made the world always freezing with snow and no matter how much time is spent there, only a few seconds will go past. Once she tells them all about this they don't believe her but soon they find it under other circumstances and must rise up against the White Witch.Okay my problems, for one Barbara Kellerman. In the Silver Chair I thought she was bad but passable but HERE... Every note she hits is loud and over the top evil. She's supposed to talk Edmund into betraying his family by getting him to prefer her with sweets and offering him the position of the royal heir but when she shouts, erratically gasps and acts completely insane - the scene comes off as hilarious the first time you're watching it.What else? As I may have already brought up the effects don't really hold up, stuff like the Beavers and when there are other people pretending to be animals (except Aslan, that effect does hold up even if they make no effort to lip synch it) it really shows the limitations they had and how it doesn't really work. Because when I think Beavers I think 6 foot tall people wearing obvious prosthetics and clearly rubber gloves. That and being that around about half of it is set in woods I think the sets, while they're okay I don't buy they're in a fantasy world after the woods. With that said some do stand out as being good like the Witch's castle, Tumnus' house and the beaver's hut. Mainly my problems are stuff like Care Paravel (I haven't read the books so I don't know if I spelled that right, if I read the books and it's wrong then it will change).Now onto what I liked. I enjoyed the story, even in some areas improving on the Disney version such as playing out Aslan's sacrifice as a complete gamble, even talking out battle plans with Peter to give them the best chance of winning, and as I said for the budget, Aslan looks pretty damn good and I don't have a problem with the actors all that much, aside from the one I mentioned But easily my favourite performance in the thing goes to The Professor. I want to know his story, he clearly knows about Narnia in this version in the sense of convincing the other kids that Lucy is telling the truth and saying he was once a King there as well, I wish he had more screen time as well. I also liked the 2D animation. It gives it it's own style that I think existed before the days of CGI.So in terms of watching it... I'd say it has more then it's fair share of problems but I'd say it can be worth it. As I said I do like the story and while I may be seen as unfair to the effects and sets I acknowledge there are some that are really good. I'd say it is worth it to fans of the source material and as a kid this was harmless. So I'd say while I didn't really like it, I can see why some people do.

Yes, it isn't perfect-: the special effects do look a little cheap, but because of the overall loveliness of the adaptation, with the scenery and costumes(and the faithfulness to the book), I can't help but like it. The whole production looks lovely(apart from the beavers' costumes and some of the animated mythological effects, Aslan though looks great), and there are some truly memorable scenes, like Edmund's encounter with the White Witch, Lucy's meeting with Tumnus and any scene with Mourgrim, helped by the sparkling and very faithful dialogue. Though, I do think that very young children will find Mourgrim a bit too frightening, because I did especially when the children learn of Mr Tumnus' arrest. The music is memorable, and sticks in your head for a while. Extremely beautiful too, especially the main theme, when Lucy is enticed to sleep and her dream, Edmund's entrance from the back of the wardrobe into Narnia and the escape from the beaver dam with the wolves on their way there. The performances from the youngsters are very good, especially Sophie Cook and Sophie Wilcox, but Edmund was too much of a brat and his change doesn't convince. I liked Michael Aldridge, from Last of the Summer Wine, as the Professor, at times he was very funny with a touch of mystery. Although one may compare him to Liam Neeson, Ronald Pickup acquits himself brilliantly as Aslan, and the beavers and the other animals were well performed. For me, the standout was Barbara Kellerman as the White Witch. One may think she was a little pantomime, but she did have a certain frostiness and menace that is needed, so much so it reminds me of Miss Hardbroom in the Worst Witch. Her costume and make-up were also incredible. All in all, despite the effects and some frightening scenes, a beautiful and well-acted adaptation of a great book! 8/10 Bethany Cox

by tradition, most things made in the 80s i've seen have been pretty bad for this thing here bad acting, bad effects and a bad script all combine together to make an OK piece of film let's start with the acting. first of all the children are all completely miscast. Sophie Wilcox is far too old to play Lucy (she was 13/14 at the time and Lucy is meant to be 8 years old) and Richard Dempsey looked way too young (he looked almost younger than Lucy and Edmund). Jonathan Scott and Sophie Cook are passable as the other children. since these guys are children you expect the acting to be a little off but Richard Dempsey is easily the weakest of them. however poor the children might be they are blown out of the water by Barbara Kellerman playing the White Witch. if anyone has heard of the expression ham acting they will agree that she is the walking definition of it in this. not only does she overact to the point of being too bad to be funny she acts like her character has friggin bipolar disorder. the voice of Aslan speaks too slow and isn't nearly ferocious enough for a lion. the man playing Mr Beaver is just terrible too. i even hated him when i saw this as a six year old kid. don't worry, there are good actors in this. The Professor, the dwarf, Mrs MacReady, Mr Tumnus and a handful of extra characters are quite solid in their performances.there are a number of shots you see in this which make you wonder what the editors were smoking when they kept them in. like when Mr Beaver tells them Aslan has come, there is a slow shot which shows all the children looking up at the sky; Mr Beaver laughs at a comment Edmund makes and he turns away and makes an incredibly stupid sulky folded arms look and when the stone table cracks Lucy shouts "they're doing something worse to him" and then she says "come on" but she hops on the spot for a good few seconds before saying this.for effects, well this is the BBC so i'll be generous. they aren't as bad as you think aside from the fact that they have hand drawn animation mixed in with the live action. i guess it sort of works but it just adds to the silliness of the whole thing. of course one thing that CS Lewis himself hated was that all the animals are played by actors in costumes. as a result we have life sized beavers and ridiculous looking wolves. Aslan is played by a puppet and the effect for this is OK but you can still see the creases in the costume. one effect that does work is when Aslan turns the creatures back from stone. another is when they find a giant in the witch's castle, it looks very authentic.the script probably is what makes the acting look worse than it really is. they keep much of the old fashioned dialogue used in the book, perhaps realising too late that it just looks silly and cheesy. it really should have been updated like both the Disney and cartoon versions did. you hear Peter saying expressions like "by golly" and "by Jove" mingled with his high pitched posh voice and it makes you cringe every time.now let's move on to what's good about this series. first of all it is the most faithful of all the adaptations of the books. many scenes are done word for word from the book which can be good or bad, decide for yourself. second, as god awful as the White Witch's acting is, she has an excellent design and looks the part. the costume is very detailed. the battle scene is not as good as the cartoon and Disney versions but its still OK.

This is one of the finest children's shows I've seen (and wonderful for adults too). I felt as if I were part of this exquisite movie and when it was over, I was so immersed and hardly realized where I was. The children are perfect - Lucy especially. And the excellent diction of all the characters makes this British movie very clear and understandable by those of us in the US who don't appreciate the beauty of the language because we don't understand the words properly spoken. The show also gives a beautiful example for our children and grandchildren. They can see that the children in this movie are often tempted just as they are, and that they are imperfect. Yet they see that they are forgiven, still loved despite their mistakes. And they present a very close, caring family even though they have differences of opinion. This is part of what makes it so special. This movie, if we watch it with the children, is an opportunity to discuss values and goals we have for them and to bring out what C.S. Lewis has so cleverly done with the story. I can't say that there were no flaws at all, but I was very disappointed in the 2005 version after this one. That version made me feel as if I were outside of the story, looking at it as one might look at a piece of art. Here I was part of the story and I really want to share it with others. It's something to watch over and over and always see something more in it. The music, too, although sparingly used, fit the scenes so well. It was beautifully done. This is a definite 10, in my estimation.