Who's In It: Tilda Swinton ; Liam Neeson ; Brian Cox ; Georgie Henley ; William Moseley ; Skandar Keynes ; Anna Popplewell ; Rupert Everett ; Dawn French ; James McAvoy ; Patrick Kake ; Elizabeth Hawthorne ; Jim Broadbent ; Ray Winstone ; James Cosmo ; Michael Madsen
Who Directed It: Andrew Adamson

When Can I Buy It: NOW (Region 1)

Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe - Extended Limited Edition Gift Set (4 Discs) - Reviewed by: Chad Langen

• Bloopers
• Discover Narnia Fun Facts
  
• Kids' & Director's Commentary
  
• Filmmakers' Commentary
  
• Creating Narnia
  
• Creatures, Lands, And Legends
  
• C.S. Lewis: The Dreamer Of Narnia
  
• Visualizing "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe"
  
• Anatomy Of A Scene
  
• Art Of Narnia Gallery

This could be one of the most time consuming DVDs I’ve watched since the extended editions of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. I’ve never read the books that ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ series is based off of, at least not until a few days prior to viewing the film. What I enjoyed so much about the film is that it stayed very true to the story. In fact, I can’t recall a single element that was left out of the film that wasn’t in the book. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the ‘Harry Potter’ films and as for ‘The Lord of the Rings’, well, lets just say I never found the time nor the interest to actually sit down and read any of them.

‘The Chronicles of Naria’ is nowhere near as dark as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ or ‘Harry Potter’ for that matter which was kind of a bummer, but it still didn’t really effect the outcome of the film enjoyment wise. I think it was the effects that were a bit too childish, but I guess that’s Disney for you. They’re all about pleasing the children.

Four children are sent away from London where World War II is taking place. They find themselves living with a wealthy professor who doesn’t socialize with the children much. On a rainy say, the children find themselves bored out of their minds and decide the mansion is a perfect setting for a game of hide and seek. As the children set out for the perfect hiding place, young Lucy winds up in a wardrobe that leads her to an unsuspecting world known as Narnia, a place masked by a beautiful surrounding, however, something more sinister is present. Lucy comes across Mr. Tumnus, a faun who she instantly becomes friends with. Though Mr. Tumnus is vastly friendly, Lucy immediately senses that he knows something about Narnia that she doesn’t.

Back at the mansion, Lucy re-enters through the portal where she thinks she’s been gone for hours, however, she quickly discovers that she’s only been gone on Earth for a few minutes. Excited with disbelief, Lucy quickly tells the others of her discovery only to be dismissed as a liar. This upsets Lucy, but eventually the others find themselves in Narnia where they learn that White Witch controls everything in Narnia down to a tiny speck of dirt. Confronted by a couple of beavers, the children are told that they were sent to Narnia for one purpose, to free Narnia from the witch and save the creatures trapped in a land where Christmas never takes place.

The children find themselves on a long journey to find Aslan, a lion who portrays what Jesus does to the human race now. He’s the only one who can guide them to victory, but it won’t be easy. The White Witch has an army thousands of times larger than his, and if that’s not bad enough, little Peter (one of the children) is captured by the White Witch and held hostage. Do the children save Naria? Or do they have a terrible fate in store for them? You’ll just have to see for yourselves as I’m not one to ruin a film.

The atmosphere is absolutely brilliant. The fog, the snow, it all makes for great scenery that reminded me very much of that present in Gore Verbinski’s horror film entitled ‘The Ring’. ‘Narnia’ director Andrew Adamson is by no means Verbinski, but he has his own visualization that could definitely land him far in the film business.

I don’t do much bragging about drastic number of films I’ve viewed, but I’m going to say that out of the films I’ve seen, I never been huge on child actors. Though the children’s performances in ‘Naria’ past my expectations, overall, they still weren’t anything special. Plus, being a Disney film and all, this is a studio that doesn’t really promote child actors as well as other studios in my opinion.

So did I like ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’? Yes I did. It was a mythical journey that I find myself caught up in until the conclusion that wasn’t real startling seeing that I’d already read the book prior to viewing the film. I would recommend this one to movie fans alike as it has some pretty stunning action sequences and at times, brilliant special effects.
There are four discs on this special extended edition of the film.

- Feature Commentary with Director Andrew Adamson
This commentary is one of the longer ones that I’ve sat through seeing how long the film actually is. But it was very entertaining. I didn’t find myself bored once due to Adamson’s explanation of how he loved the C.S. Lewis series and what his view was for the film. An excellent commentary and feature for that matter. This is definitely worth your time.

- Extended Motion Picture with Additional Scenes
There are tons of deleted scenes and new scenes in the extended edition that weren’t present in the theatrical release nor on the original DVD release of the film. Some of the deleted scenes were better left deleted, but there are a few that might have helped the film to have a better outcome.

- Bloopers
A nice reel of bloopers, however, it’s definitely not as fun seeing children screw up as you would expect that, but it was still entertaining to watch.

- Narnia Fun Facts
A few fun facts, but you don’t have to buy this extended edition to learn them as a lot of them are listed on IMDB. But if you want them at the tip of your fingers anytime, then the purchase might be worth it.

- Commentary with the Children of the Film
The children who starred in the film speak their thoughts on the film, what they liked about the film most since they’re children and they really don’t see the negative side of things just yet.

- An In-Depth Look at the Two Worlds of Narnia
Here they show you how Narnia was created as well as the real world such as the mansion, the war scene, and such. Very entertaining feature that is definitely worth veiwing. This contains some cast commentary as well as how the creatures were created and the costumes were made.

- C.S. Lewis - Dreamer of Narnia
This is a little film that explains the history of the author of the series and what his reason for writing the stories actually was. There’s some interesting facts here that might be worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series.

- Visualizing The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: The Complete Production Experience
Here, you’ll find more production details about the design, effects, casting, and more! Definitely worth checking out whether you’re a fan of the film or not.

- Anatomy Of A Scene: Behind the Battle
This is a inside look on how the final battle present in the film was created from start to finish. It includes a look at how the effects were created, the costumes, weapons, and more!

- Art of Narnia Gallery
A huge picture gallery for the film that has some pretty cool stills, but really nothing you couldn’t find browsing online.

I would say that this DVD is moderately entertaining and not worth the price you’d have to pay to get it, but the price is actually very reasonable and nowhere near as expensive as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ extended editions. I came across this film at my local Wal-Mart for $34.99 which is very reasonable.

FILM GRADE: B
DVD: B

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