I have seen The BBC narnia And...

[Valkyrie]

I like it.

I haven't seen it as a child and watched it for the first time as of recent when I purchased the box set on a whim. now of all the reports I have heard of the film it should have been absolutely horrid. But it wasn't.

Why do you think everyone hated it so, because they compare it to the recent film? I think it's great for the time period it was made, I loved Dawn Treader of the three the most. I didn't like the animated animals and felt they could have done without, but otherwise they were great.

[Hermit of Archenland]

I agree that for it's time it was quite well done. I guess the new film scores because it's on such an epic scale, and the special effects, being more modern and on a bigger budget are much more impressive. Also the actors seemed to fit the parts better; to me the Beeb version of Lucy never really looked right.

Have you seen the cartoon version of LWW? I know the animation is a bit basic and they made some changes to the story, but I still think it's the version most faithful to the spirit of the book.

[umbrellaxscenexcore]

being faithful to the spirit of the book and to the book(if its not the same thing..) is what i look for most...you know, i think that the best movie ever (also also made) was the wizard of oz. now that was crazy for it's time. i can't think of one ting i didn't like...

[*Princess Rose*]

This may be a leetle too general..... it may be locked.

[Sir Benjamin the Lion]

I have seen it too. I actually own Prince Caspian.

[Aravis_Tarkheena14]

ive seen them i own lww and pc and sc..... i used to watch them like everyday when i was younger....there on vhs so there really old lol but i still love them even though there old and they dont compare to the new one..... those movies are like my childhood

[stronger_WM]

The reason people didn't like it as much is probably just because of the new technology. As a kid, i would watch it everytime i got sick, and whenever we rented it from the Library I would be SO happy. I just think that since the technology is better and the new one's out, people are comparing the two, without thinking about how they relate to the technology that was avaliable at the time.

I'm sure that in like...twenty or so years, if they make another Narnia movie, like a remake, they'll diss the one made in 2005. Even though, we know it's amazing.

I do love the BBC version though, since I grew up with it. It's like, everytime I see it, it brings back memories.

[Tsukiko]

I absolutely HATE it when people look down on the BBC's and the animated sometimes. I personally like the BBC's and watch them every now and then. yes, the new Disney/Walden Media LWW is better, but the I still appreciate the BBC's.

All because of the poor technology they had back then when they filmed these, that ppl automatically hate them, and some I've heard that they havent even seen the films and say they're horrible because of what they have heard.

[Valkyrie]

I watch these old movies and can only IMAGINE how fantastic the remakes will be. I cannot wait for Dawn Treader and Last battle especially. It makes me wish I had a time machine to go see them right now. LOL.

I don't like how prince caspian runs into Dawn treader and then ends so you have to start the dawn treader one. the BBC prince caspian should either just keep going (into the dawn treader movie) or end at an appropriete time and let dawn treader pick up from there.

That's my only complaint about that DVD.

[shortangel]

i recently rented the wonderworks version of the silver chair from the libiary :) it was preety cool i might watch it again i'm not sure :)

[DestinyLies]

I saw them I didn't like them as much as the new one because the beavers were like in costums and 5 feet tall and stuff but I like them! My favorite was probably the Dawn Treader

[Into the Wardrobe]

I agree that they weren't that bad. The special effects were horrid, but considering the budget they did quite well. The BBC series is around 20 years old as well...the technology to do what Andrew Adamson did wasn't around then.

LWW was great. PC, lots left out but what was done was ok. VDT...I was disappointed in the last lines of Aslan....or lack thereof. The most and in my opinion best part of the chronicles were left out in the loss of that speech.

The costumes weren't nearly as good overall. Some of the guys were...but the girl's weren't. Again, budget probably had something to do with it. It told the story. My little nieces reacted more to this version than the other one. I do have to say that the White Witch was a bit overdone...but there it is. She got her point across.

Overall it wasn't that bad.

[Jake]

Quote:I didn't like the animated animals and felt they could have done without, but otherwise they were great.

What's wrong with the animated animals in Aslan's camp?Ok, the technology and all that, but I thought the pegasus(winged horse), the griffin, the cockatrice(head and legs of a chicken, body, tal, and wings of a dragon) were cool!How else could they have made those type of animals without the hassles and expences??

[Into the Wardrobe]

Quote:I didn't like the animated animals and felt they could have done without, but otherwise they were great.

What's wrong with the animated animals in Aslan's camp?Ok, the technology and all that, but I thought the pegasus(winged horse), the griffin, the cockatrice(head and legs of a chicken, body, tal, and wings of a dragon) were cool!How else could they have made those type of animals without the hassles and expences??

I agree. Even if we don't think about expenses, the technology just wasn't around then to make those types of creatures. It was good in the sense that it told the story. The story is what the majority of us fell in love with. The books are so dear. The BBC stayed faithful to the books more than most movies based on books generally do. We will all be waiting on the edge of our seats to see what Walden/Disney does with the rest of the series. If there are too many changes I'll just stick with the BBC versions of the stories to share with others. They did the best they could with what they had...and considering it all they did a great job with it. CG technology wasn't around then so the characters who were talking animals had to be played by people in costumes.

LWW was done fairly well overall by Walden/Disney. I'm hoping that the rest will do that well...hopefully even better. As long as they stick to the story and the spirit of the characters as they were intended...they should be fine. The less liberties taken, the better.

[SlpNarniaQueen]

I thought it was cute. Since the technology wasn't so up, it was just like watching a play, because you wouldn't have CG for that. I think they could have done fine without the little animations, but it was pretty good for the technology they had. I didn't like how they made Lucy fat, it was WWII in London, sugar was rationed if you could even find it! You wouldn't be fat if sugar was rationed!

[.:Maggi:.]

I agree, it was cute. I didn't like the Lucy in it either and you're right, at the time Narnia is set how could you possibly get fat! :) But I have to say those beavers make me laugh every time! It's great, I mean sure, the animals aren't exactly realistic but whatever. At the time it was made it was good and today it's good for a laugh. I would seriously watch it just for the beavers they're Awesome! :D

[Copperfox]

SLP is exactly right to compare the BBC versions to stage plays. It's just like what you had to get used to with "Doctor Who": instead of getting to _see_ a realistic spaceship flying through space and then landing on a planet, you would have to settle for hearing a character _say_ "I just arrived on this planet, my spaceship's on the other side of that hill."

Even William Shakespeare had to deal with a low special-effects budget. For his play "Henry the Fifth," which deals with huge battles, he resorted to having a narrator say directly to the audience, in effect, "It isn't physically possible for us to bring whole castles and cavalry charges onto this little stage, so you're just going to have to agree to _pretend_ that those things are present in the action."


Joseph Ravitts, author of fanfic "Southward the Tigers"

[Son of Adam]

I really enjoyed the BBC productions of the books. My only negative thoughts on the whole thing was that Peter and Susan looked too young in the LWW, but other than that it was a good film for the time period. As has been said, CGs hadn't been in operation yet, and BBC really couldn't have afforded it back then. These were low budget films but they were faithful to the books even more so than the Disney film.

The BBC films as well as the earlier animated LWW really stuck with the original story line and all that was spoken in the books. Of course, that said, I still have to say that the Disney film is by far, in my opinion, a better done film but only because of the CGs, and the talents of the actors and crew. Of course I love the battle scene in the film the best and in the book and the BBC edition, the battle didn't last as long. The Disney film was more the way I thought a real battle in Narnia would have probably looked like.

[Aslan son of the Emperor]

They were good but I think the movie is better. But then again they probably had a much bigger budget on the movie then they did for the series.

[Into the Wardrobe]

They were good but I think the movie is better. But then again they probably had a much bigger budget on the movie then they did for the series.

Yeah, a bigger budget and 20 years more of technology. If the BBC version script were to be used and put together on the scale of the new movie, with the technology that was used on the Walden/Disney movie...it would be tough to beat.

[fernshirehobbit]

I think alot of the problem with the bbc version is that people are comparing it with the technology of today. They aren't new releases. they came out years ago, so for the time period that they came out, they were made pretty well. When we are evaluating things, i think it is good to consider the era of what we are evaluating.

[Into the Wardrobe]

Agreed Fernie, 20 years makes a huge difference.

[QueenHelen]

I liked the BBC versions when they came out (my children were small). I agree that they did a good job with the technology available. Of course, last year's LWW was exponentially better, but there's so much more available to work with now. We got our first IBM PC back in 1983, and it was cutting edge, with a 5 1/4" floppy (no hard drives yet) and we upgraded to 64K (yes K) of memory!

I never have been much of a fan of the animated version, though.

Fernshirehobbit - I love your banner. When KingFrank and I are in Tolkien mode we are Sam and Rosie.

[Twilightdryadhobbit]

Of the BBC versions, I like The Silver Chair the best. In there the kids seemed to fit thier parts, and Puddleglum stole the show. In LWW, PC and VDT Lucy killed it for me. She's too old, and she's not a great actress, I think she's trying to play beneath her age, and not everyone can succeed there. She doesn't. I'll agree, we can't judge them merely on the basis that thier special effects stunk, because that has to do with the time period. However, I think they could have tried a bit harder on some things... The sock puppet snake in the Silver Chair just makes me laugh really hard... Some clever puppetry would also probably have been better than wispy cartoon animals, but I do understand budget constraints. Overall, they weren't horrible for the time period, and I thought they were cool when they were the only thing we had. But I think they're closer to larger stage play acting than movie acting.

[Lookintoforever]

*barfs
I saw LWW and PC and the acting was pretty badddd

[borntofly]

I love the BBC Narnia. Other than Lucy being fat anyway. I'm still in love with their version of Peter...he was perfect...William Mosely on the other hand was terrible.

I grew up watching these movies--they are simple true to the books. Sure the animations were kind of tacky, but the movies are still filled with the same wonder the books hold.

[Tsukiko]

Grr..nothing can get more annoying when you're watching the BBC Voyage of Dawn Treader in your parents room then your Dad walks in and says: "What is this? It looks cheesy"

and I just mumbled "Narnia" :rolleyes:
thats why I absolutely HATE watching the BBC's around my family..they just laugh at it and it gets me annoyed. :(

though the PC one was awful. They did it waaaaaaaay tooo fast...and man..Peter was like literally running away from Miraz while they were fighting. they did it too fast..shoulda slowed down on it.

[borntofly]

though the PC one was awful. They did it waaaaaaaay tooo fast...and man..Peter was like literally running away from Miraz while they were fighting. they did it too fast..shoulda slowed down on it.

Yup, thet left out a bunch of really good stuff, but at least Caspian is still a kid in these movies.

[Tsukiko]

Yeah, I was upset they left out Bacchus and Silenus parts.

[Into the Wardrobe]

I wish they could have done PC and VDT seperate. Ah well, the parts that they did were done well overall. It stuck to the story and that's what's important. All the special effects in the world can't come close to making Narnia movies great if they don't stick to the story.

[Tsukiko]

Yeah, that'd been better if they did them separately. I thought they did a fantastic job on SC. Thats my favorite one.

[umbrellahead]

oh they're the only movies i watched when i was younger.
they're so incredible, i loved em' so much more then the newer movie.
it just made it seem so real. which you know, it is of course.
maybe it's just a personal bias, though i'm sure there are many who agree.

[Into the Wardrobe]

I do agree. They are wonderful. I know that many cannot get past the low budget or the lacking production value, but they're still incredibly done in my mind.

[PeterHighKingofNarniaetc.]

they were well done and acted better i think then the new one and all though i do beleive that the production was lacking the movies are still enjoyable and very well done for the time and budget that they were made with time period not time constraits just to be clear:)

[Narnian_Lady]

It's never bothered me that the older films have such a low budget. To me, it was like watching theater and I love that. Perhaps the acting at times was a bit stinted, but it has a charm to it that is lacking (for me) in the newer film. Of course I will see Prince Caspian and probably buy it when it comes to dvd just because I'm a narnia nut.

[subjectofthehighking]

I grew up with the BBC version of PC, VDT, and SC. I didn't see LWW until my early teens. That series is one of my nostalgic childhood memories. I smile every time I remember the opening theme song that plays as the map rolls across the screen. I would sing it here if there was a way to do it on a forum thread:) anyway, you know how it goes, so sing it to yourself if you like.

Its by far the best version in the area of accurately portraying the spiritual aspects of Narnia that Lewis intended. It has good acting (well, most of it anyway) and portrays the characters well, especially Samuel West as the adult Caspian.

And yes, the animals are weird. But hey, what could they do?

[Eärendil]

I watched the BBC series when I was.....good grief....I dunno...when I was younger, and yeah, they were pretty good, even though the animals did look funny.:DBut what was one to do? They didn't have good digital effects then, mainly because the PC had surfaced only a few years earlier.

[Lightrock]

i watched the BBC's Narnia when i was in grade 2, 3 and 4 in school. they were good, and well done. when i heard that they were redoing the movies i watched the BBC ones again.

[SlpNarniaQueen]

The BBC are pretty good for their time period. It'd be very good to follow for a play or something along those lines.

[MrBob]

As I said elsewhere, I found the casting to be the biggest issue for all movies except for "Silver Chair". The characters of Lucy, Peter, and Edmund, I found, had the wrong actors for the parts. The overacting of BArbara Kellerman in the role of Jadis also affected the first movie.

I can forgive the filmmakers of the special effects. They did the best with the technology of the time combined with their probably limited budget seeing as how it was a television miniseries and not a theatrical release.

Overall, I loved how well they stayed with the books but I cannot give total approval based on the casting they had. But everything just came together the best in TSC.

MrBob

[Into the Wardrobe]

I'd agree with that. I think the guy who played Edmund sort of grew into the role, especially by the end of Silver Chair. He didn't do too bad overall, but I'd agree with the rest.

The faithfulness to the spirit of the characters and the dialogue was amazing! I look at the intent of the people who put together the BBC series to stay faithful to the books and it's wonderful! They didn't have a second agenda. They didn't want to embellish in any way to make it more exciting to viewers where it would greatly impact the story. I know the Walden/Disney crew said at Comic Con that they wanted to stay faithful to the books, but I'm not seeing that in the reports that we keep getting. The story is being changed again and it's so much the less. If nothing else I'll keep saying it: "We'll always have the BBC."

[subjectofthehighking]

It really is too bad that although we have people who have the ability to create life-like, realistic scenes with the technology we have today, they are somewhat overlooking what is really important, and that is C.S. Lewis' truths blended into the story and the characters. Yes, I am looking forward to the movies, but am nervous about how far from the books they will go. And yes, with most of the characters, especially the older Caspian, the BBC was excellent in capturing the characters of the books.

How do you feel about the Aslan in BBC? I loved him as a child, but now......yes, they didn't have the technology to produce a lifelike Aslan.....but even the voice, how he said the lines.... I was thinking "this is Aslan? The lion who is so terrible and beautiful?" He just didn't have a voice that would make me stand in awe, and his incredible speeches that Lewis wrote fell flat.
In my opinion, the best Aslan, even better than Liam Nesson, was David Suchet in the radio theatre production of Narnia. He was a great actor, and while I listen to him, I get the feeling that this is the true Aslan.

[64telmar]

I only wish that Wonderworks had filmed all 7 books and not just the first 4.

[Into the Wardrobe]

It really is too bad that although we have people who have the ability to create life-like, realistic scenes with the technology we have today, they are somewhat overlooking what is really important, and that is C.S. Lewis' truths blended into the story and the characters. Yes, I am looking forward to the movies, but am nervous about how far from the books they will go. And yes, with most of the characters, especially the older Caspian, the BBC was excellent in capturing the characters of the books.

How do you feel about the Aslan in BBC? I loved him as a child, but now......yes, they didn't have the technology to produce a lifelike Aslan.....but even the voice, how he said the lines.... I was thinking "this is Aslan? The lion who is so terrible and beautiful?" He just didn't have a voice that would make me stand in awe, and his incredible speeches that Lewis wrote fell flat.
In my opinion, the best Aslan, even better than Liam Nesson, was David Suchet in the radio theatre production of Narnia. He was a great actor, and while I listen to him, I get the feeling that this is the true Aslan.

Aslan was lacking mostly because of technology. I haven't heard the radio theater production to be able to speak to that one. However, even with the way he said the lines, the words held sooo much power in them. I prefer that dialogue to the newer one any day! I wish he'd just looked and moved like the newer one. It wasn't perfect and was sort of monotone, but it was still a better script.

[BarbarianKing]

I saw Prince Caspian and VDT last night! I was still disappointed on the talking animals, especially Reep who I thought was too big for the part but I still loved it and I still cried in some of the scenes!
And I love the dialogues because is so much more true to the book!

[waterhogboy]

The BBC are pretty good for their time period. It'd be very good to follow for a play or something along those lines.

It's interesting you say that. I once went to see a play of Magician's Nephew which was very good. I agree with you, I think those films could be done well as plays. Perhaps shortened a bit though...

[majorbase2]

Actually the puppet Aslan used in the BBC versions was extremely expensive and took up a large portion of the already low budget.

Considering it was just a puppet, and it had to be able to move, I thought it was pretty impressive, especially for a movie that was very lacking in special effects.

[Into the Wardrobe]

Regardless of how the puppet looked, they got the dialogue right which is the most important part. I wish that they'd stick closer to the dialogue in the new films. For the technology and budget they didn't have when the BBC series was done, I'd say they did very well.