Four siblings — Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Lucy (Georgie Henley), Peter (William Moseley), and Susan (Anna Popplewell) — are sent from their London home to the country estate of an eccentric professor in order to ensure their safety during World War II. The house is very dull, except for a large, ornate wardrobe discovered by young Lucy during a game of hide-and-seek. Venturing inside of it in the hopes of finding a hiding place, Lucy is transported to a snowy alternate universe: a magical world called Narnia. The land is populated by talking animals and ruled over by the benevolent lion god Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson), but sadly, the world is also in a state of perpetual winter. The white witch Jadis (Tilda Swinton), lustful for power and governed by narcissism, has cursed Narnia with a tyrannical decree that it will always be winter but never Christmas. Now, the children must fight alongside Aslan for the salvation of Narnia, but one of them, seduced by the charisma of the white witch, may choose to fight on the wrong side.
Title: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Release: December 9, 2005
Genre: Family-Fantasy
MPAA Rating: PG
Based On: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Writer: Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Director: Andrew Adamson (also credited as a writer)
Music By: Harry Gregson-Williams
Produced By: Mark Johnson, Philip Steuer, & Douglas Gresham
Distributed By: Walt Disney Productions & Walden Media
Run Time: 139 minutes
Lately there have been tons of “fantasy” type film series based on books like Lord of the Rings, 
Harry Potter, and most recently The Chronicles of Narnia which are to be based on the books by C. S. Lewis. So far only one has come out, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe but the others are currently in production (Prince Caspian comes out in May 2008!)
I have to admit, I’m one of the people who saw The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before I had even thought about reading any of The Chronicles of Narnia. I simply adored the movie and when I finally did read the book I was amazed at how closely it followed the original story and the changes made were very few and far between (I have a post on the book here). 
My favorite characters were of course Mr. Tumnus, Aslan, Peter, and Lucy in the book and in the movie but the Beavers were such brilliant comic relief (the voices fit so well!) that I can’t help but love them as well. Everything about this film was perfect from the actors to the special effects I can only hope the rest of the movies will live up to the standards that this one has set.
~The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Links: Wikipedia entry and imdb.com entry.
There are tons of interviews with the cast online.
Trailer:
Related Reviews:
Prince Caspian: Return to Narnia (2008)
It was a fun movie. I'm looking forward to seeing the next in the series when it hits the big screen. It certainly looks promising!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this movie too.. and you are right the movie producers are all cashing in on the fact that harry potter made so much money!
ReplyDeleteOf course, right now they released the Golden Compass, one called The Water Horse is due out this month, and Inkheart comes out in March.
I remember when I was young (stone age) the amount of "real fantasy movies" were far and few between. I guess it wasn't until Legends that they realized it could be done even before "special effects"
Nice to meet you! I am a Japanese college student.
ReplyDeleteI watched this movie, too. I like these fantasy type film series. I watched both of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but the stories that I read is only the book of Harry potter.I am really looking forward the next in the series of Narnia.