Here is our review of the Two-Disc set, due in stores on April 4, 2006. We’ll start by looking at the packaging. After that, we’ll take a look at Disc One; which is pretty much the exact same disc as the Wide screen Single Disc Edition, save for a disc I.D. number on the disc imprint. Finally, we’ll look at disc two, with an in-depth overview of what you’re going to find there. Now, without further adieu, here’s our look at the package of the set.
The Package
Upon unwrapping the plastic covering from the disc, DVD Box, you’ll find what is very similar to the Special Edition of the soundtrack, that was released in December of 2005. The shield on the front, and the text, is raised up, and you can feel it when you run your fingers across it. You may be tempted to open the box on the right, like I was, but do fight that temptation. That is not the proper way to remove the DVD from this box. You open up the front flap, which has a small Velcro snap.
The first thing that you’ll see on the left side is a page that says “Immerse Yourself in the World of Narnia.” It has descriptions of the features on the second disc, as well as a picture of what you’ll find inside the package.
On the right, you’ll see the front of the Wardrobe. This is where you can take the DVD out. The DVD is in a good plastic keep-case, with the added security snaps on the right side. You slide the DVD out to the left. Both the front and the back of the case are the front of the Wardrobe, and the side of the case has the logo for the film. Behind the DVD case, on the package, is a photo of Lucy standing next to the Lamppost in Narnia.
Upon opening the keep-case, you’ll find two pieces of concept art that were done long before the film was shot. One is of Peter, Susan and Lucy’s first meeting with Aslan, and the other is Edmund’s first meeting with the White Witch. You’ll also find a small booklet with a list of scene selections and a map of the features on each disc. The discs both make use of Disney’s new trend of Holographic artwork.
The Menus
When the disc starts, you are confronted with a few trailers, but those are easily skipped. You then have a few options at the bottom, and see a mountainside moving across the screen. From here, you can play the movie, set up the sound, the special features, and the scene selections. On Disc two, you see the wardrobe, until you select where you want to go, at which time the wardrobe door opens and you enter the menu for that area.
Disc One
Acclaimed Motion Picture: (film: 2:13:14 | with credits: 2:22:54) The picture and sound are both fantastic on this release. I watched this film on a nice Wide screen HDTV, with 5.1 Surround Sound on, and it was simply stunning to look at and to feel. The film is the same one that you saw in theaters. There are no deleted scenes added back in, or anything like that in the features on the DVD set, so don’t expect that until the announced extended edition is created and released. We’ll be writing about what we’d like to see in an extended edition of the film later on, so stay tuned for that.
Bloopers: (4:35) The blooper reel is a humorous look at the mistakes and fun moments that, not only happened while filming, but also full of pranks and funny moments from the filmingof the movie. They are pretty hilarious, but sometimes confusing to people, as very few know what the mirror ball is for, that people on the set are using to capture the scene for special effects and stuff. Other than that, though, there are some great moments, and also some inside jokes that might have been funnier if we were actually on the set with the cast.
Discover Narnia Fun Facts: (2:11:27) This feature is very informative, as facts appear throughout the film. They sometimes cover up all of the action on the screen, but you’re watching the film for those facts anyway. I enjoyed watching with this feature on, as it has a lot of information that is very interesting and adds to your enjoyment of the film and the story.
Kids’& Director Commentary: (2:13:58) This is a fun commentary, as each of the children relate stories from the set, and you can tell how much of a family they had actually become. Andrew talks about a lot, and helps steer the conversations back to the movie, when it tends to get away from anything relevant, but overall, it’s a fun look inside the world that they lived in, when they were filming it.
Filmmakers’ Commentary: (2:13:33) After watching the Kids’ Commentary, there is a lot here that Andrew repeats, but he does go a bit more in-depth with the information. You also get great facts about the production from both producer Mark Johnson, and production designer Roger Ford via the telephone. On the whole, this commentary is good and informative.
Disc Two
Starting with the Intro/Main Menu, you are faced with two choices: Creating Narnia and Creatures, Lands & Legends.
We’ll start by looking at Creatures, Lands & Legends:
Creatures of the World (11 Chapters): (14:16) This feature is actually accessible from both sections from the Main Menu. It features looks at each of the creatures in Narnia. The difference here, though, is that it talks about them, based on the books, giving you an in-depth look at the different characters in their own world. If you select the wardrobe on the screen, the menu changes to concept art and features all new videos about each of the creatures from the standpoint of both the actors that portrayed the creatures, to those that created the creatures. This was confusing, until I tried out the videos and noted that they were different videos, even though the change wasn’t completely visible.
The chapters here are: White Witch (1:26), Aslan (1:28), Tumnus (1:02), Wolves (1:16), Centaurs (1:21), Minotaurs (1:24), Ankle Slicers (1:10), Ginarrbrik (1:29), Beavers (1:17), Satyrs (1:02) and Goblins (1:17).
Explore Narnia: This is the map of Narnia, on which you can find the many locations that are found in the film. When you select one, it turns the map into 3-D, much like when it happens during the film. A narrator then talks about the location, offering more information about the location, as found in the book.
Locations you can visit are: White Witch’s Castle (1:00), The Lantern Waste (1:57), Cair Paravel (1:07), Battlefield (0:55) and The Stone Table (0:57) and you can also find a link for “Credits,” which just tells us that the book is available in stores.
Legends in Time: Watching this, you can get an idea of the time in Narnia, compared with time on Earth, and features a narrator telling the story in summary form. It’s a good feature, but will be much cooler after all seven films are complete. (here’s hoping!)
Creating Narnia features three options:
Chronicles of a Director: (37:43) Described as a personal and compelling diary of the making of the film from the perspective of director Andrew Adamson, this is just that. It’s interesting to see what he went through with the filming of the movie, and how much he felt that it should have been him to do the movie. He wrote twenty pages of director’s notes based on his memory of the book and what he would do with the characters, the music, and everything. They knew they had found the right man with the vision required for creating Narnia. It then goes into the selection of the children and the other actors. From there, it goes into Creature effects, and then visual effects.
The Children’s Magical Journey: (26:23) Here, you’ll go through the filming of the movie, through the eyes of the children. It starts with the filming of Lucy’s first entrance into Narnia. A fitting beginning to this particular documentary. It then goes into how the four Pevensies felt as they were going through their individual auditions for the film. Then, it shows their welcome to New Zealand in June of 2004. The boys talk about learning swordplay and horseback riding, and Anna talks about how she was trained by an Olympic archery expert. It then takes you through their journey toward the last shots on the film.
Evolution of an Epic: This option brings up another menu, taking you deeper into the creation of Narnia, from the writing of the book, to the creative team and the creation of the creatures that bring the world of Narnia to life on the screen.
C.S. Lewis: From One Man’s Mind: (3:55) This is the history of C.S. Lewis, as told by a narrator. It explains how Lewis began creating stories, and what happened after his mother had died. It is a very intriguing look at what happened up until he wrote Narnia, and how he saw an image of a faun carrying packages in the woods and a witch in a sleigh, and created Narnia based upon that.
Cinematic Storytellers (8 Chapters): (55:05)
The Chapters found here are: Richard Taylor – WETA Workshop (6:35), Howard Berger – KNB Creature Shop (5:27), Isis Mussenden – Costumes (7:43), Roger Ford – Production Designer (8:10), Don McAlpine – Director of Photography (8:03), Sim Evan-Jones – Editor (6:47), Harry Gregson-Williams – Music Composer (6:26) and Mark Johnson – Producer (5:52).
Richard Taylor, from WETA Workshop, worked on concept design, armor and weapons, and scannable creatures for three years. They worked hard to create the cultures of each of the cultures, so that they could create their armors based on the communities they would have had in Narnia. They also made the weapons and armor look aged, and used, so that Narnia looks more lived in. He talked about how cameras reflecting in the armor caused a big problem, so they spent time creating armor with just the right reflective qualities to still look majestic on screen, but not to reflect the camera or anything else. He also talked about how, when a movie starts to wrap up, it’s not a great experience, because all of these people you’ve come to know are going to be moving on, and it’s like you’ve been on this amazing holiday with a group of friends, exploring an amazing world, and now you have to go back to work.
Howard Berger, from KNB Effects Group Inc. They decided all of the inhabitants of Narnia. All of the good guys, and the bad guys. Twenty-three species, and a hundred seventy individual characters. They’d wake up bright and early to get people ready. He talks about what it’s like inside the mechanical heads and the suits. It would take three guys to control a mechanical head, like for a minotaur. For General Otmin, for example, it was four men, creating that one performance. Originally, Otmin didn’t have any lines, but they added them while they were filming. He talks about the difficult days on the set as well.
Isis Mussenden, the costume designer. They tell the story through the clothing that the characters wear. They aren’t fashion designers, they design things that characters will wear that will bring things to life. She mentioned how they shot the movie in continuity, and how it felt like they made three different movies, and how they went on that journey with the kids, from English clothes to Narnian clothes. The third part of the journey was shooting the battle. Her favorite part was when they shot Mr. Tumnus’ house, when Mr. Tumnus plays the Narnian Lullaby.
Roger Ford, the production designer. They had a huge job ahead of them. They wanted to create imagery that was better than what the reader would imagine while reading the book themselves. You also have to look at how people live their lives, and you have to enjoy working with people. They did all of the props and furnishing of the sets. The professor’s house is dressed with furniture dating back to the 1600’s. They had decided that the houses should reflect the people living in them. Mr. Tumnus’ house would be dressed with books and papers, and the Beavers’ would be dressed with very little. His favorite scene was Lucy finding the Wardrobe. They decided that the professor knows something is special about the wardrobe, so he put it in an empty room, which is designed to draw your eyes to the wardrobe.
Don McAlpine, the director of photography is partially dyslexic, so it takes him a bit longer to read the scripts. When he reads a script for the first time, he starts imagining scenes, and when he reads it for the second time, he’s almost blocking cameras in his mind. He had to make the lighting look like there wasn’t lighting, and he wanted the movie to look like it wasn’t a movie, with no extreme camera work. He talked about watching the children grow up, over the year of filming it. There were a lot of days where they dealt with rain. He also talked about shooting stuff in the Czech Republic and what they shot on their sound stage was the most seamless they’ve ever done.
Editor Sim Evan-Jones had a long journey to get to film. He started in animation, and it took about twelve years. They stated editing on day two of the shoot. As soon as they had footage in the can. They had two million feet of film, and they look for the best performances. He revealed something that was very moving: the fact that the photograph of the Pevensie’s father is actually a photograph of his own father, in his RAF uniform. His own father was actually a pilot in the second World War.
Harry Gregson-Williams, the Music Composer. He was sent to Cambridge boarding school at the age of six. He said he could probably read music better than the English language. He spent months preparing music. He’ll go over the same scene again and again, composing again and again, until he feels the moment is right, and then he’ll call Andrew up, and see what he thinks. He talks about the scene when Lucy first enters Narnia, and what kind of sound to create, and what kind of feeling to create for people watching the scene. He also talked about some slight disagreements about some of the score. He had rewritten the scene many many times, when Lucy met Mr. Tumnus. He said that it was a difficult process.
Mark Johnson, producer. He looked at himself as the protector of the film, and had a goal of making sure that the director’s vision would come to light. That the film would be done properly. He did this film to see what a film of this scale would be like. He talked about the problems with production, from the inability to bring reindeer into New Zealand, and how much more it cost them to do computer generated reindeer as a result of that. When Lucy met Mr. Tumnus, he knew that they had a magical movie production, that was when he knew. He said that if he was told he’d only be paid 1/16th of his current pay to do the same job, he’d still do it, because he wouldn’t be able to find anything he loved as much to do.
Creating Creatures (11 Chapters): (53:20)
This is different from the “Creatures of the World” feature. This area contains videos about each of the creatures from the standpoint of both the actors that portrayed the creatures, to those that created the creatures. They are highly entertaining featurettes.
The chapters here are: White Witch (7:21), Aslan (9:39), Tumnus (7:15), Wolves (3:54), Centaurs (5:55), Minotaurs (4:09), Ankle Slicers (1:31), Ginarrbrik (2:10), Beavers (5:50), Satyrs (2:35) and Goblins (3:07).
Anatomy of a Scene: The Melting River: (11:31) This is a behind the scenes look at the creation of the River sequence, and everything that went into the huge set piece, and making things work and look authentic.
Easter Egg: (1:23) Select the director’s chair on the Evolution of an Epic screen, under Creating Narnia. You’ll see a yellow flower appear if you press the left button twice from “Anatomy of a Scene.” You’ll see a humorous video. Let’s just say that it involves Skandar Keynes and Turkish Delight.
There you have it, the Two-Disc DVD set. It is pretty spectacular. The Two-Disc set is well worth the purchase. The behind the scenes stuff is really fantastic and allows you to really get a greater understanding of the work that went into creating this film. I’m going to be updating this review later on, with pictures of the menus and and stuff like that. In the future, I’m going to start working on what I would love to see in the extended edition of the film.
DVD Grade: A
Special Features: A-
[Order the DVD today!]Coming Soon: THREE Contests will be announced later. A new editorial series, and more!
Our very own moderator ~Rogue~ arranged an interview with Skandar Keynes, the actor that played the role of Edmund Pevensie in the latest version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He is currently also signed to pick this role back up, when Prince Caspian starts filming toward the end of this year.
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