BBC Version in Germany

[Namaste]

Well, my DVDs from this came in the mail today, and Gadzooks, I should have left well enough alone!!! I started watching it today and they edited it to the hilt, it was absolutely AWFUL! Half of the Tumnus scenes were edited out and so stupidly edited!!!

Imagine this: Tumnus is talking about the Narnian Summers and telling her about it, then suddenly it cuts, and she's jumping up 'I have to get home'. The whole section where he's playing his flute is cut out!!! Then, if that wasn't enough, after he's telling her about the White Witch, they cut to him waving goodbye to her at the lamppost. The whole section is completely cut out. Anyone who has even half a brain would catch this and talk about the crappy editing. I am positively fuming about this! It's an outrage, and I spent 24€ (about 35-38 US$) for this. I am so tempted to write to the company that put this out and gripe them up one side and down the other about this. What an absolute outrage! No wonder Ebay has over 50 auctions going on with this. :mad:

If any German folks are reading this, don't buy the BBC version on DVD. Go and buy the VHS tapes of it if you want to see it. They may wear out, but at least they are unedited.

[Charn_Tim]

Wow, that really sucks. Sorry to hear that...

[Matko]

I bought BBC version of LWW on DVD for 40 euros. I bought unedited version of BBC tv series with six episodes. It's great! I could watch it over again and again! :)

[Maiden of the woods]

I never buy cd's or dvd's off ebay because they turn out to be con's or rubbish copies. Sorry to hear about that Namaste. I got my BBC dvd's from woolworths, it's a safer option. If your english then I recomend that you get your cd's and dvd's ordered cheap with free delivery at: www.play.com
I have never had a problem. :D

[Namaste]

My guess is you haven't seen the original BBC in the unedited film format (that is no six parts, but one entire film). I have this on VHS tapes, and it is from the Family Group in the UK that put it out. I bought it several years ago through Amazon.de and love every one of the films. This is why I'm so disgusted with the terrible editing job they did on the German DVD set.

If you watch the unedited version, just after Tumnus tells Lucy that it is winter, she then asks some rather disturbing questions, and he sidetracks these questions by reaching for his flute and beginning to play, she in turn falls asleep, and you see visions of animals, nymphs, dryads and other mystical creatures as though in a dream sequence. She is awakened by a crack in the fireplace and then says 'I must go home, the others will be wondering what happened to me'. The German DVD goes from Tumnus talking about the winter straight to Lucy's saying 'I have to go home' and then he starts to cry. There's no mention in the German version about his playing the flute and using it to lull her to sleep, nothing. It comes across to me, after having seen the unedited version of the film as being choppy and silly. Why would he cry after talking about winter? It doesn't work, and even in the German translations of the books, the scenes are present.

The second part was after Lucy begs him to let her go home, the unedited version is pretty much like in the book, Tumnus agrees to let her go, and they run back to the lamppost where he asks her if he can keep the handkerchief and then sends her home. This is a very significant point in the book, in my opinion, because that handkerchief is later mentioned, but yet the German DVD cuts that part out too, and from the point of Tumnus saying 'I never knew what humans were like until I met you', the next thing you see is her running back to the wardrobe and Tumnus waving the handkerchief at her. You don't even see him asking her if he can keep the handkerchief, you just see her running. Usually when someone offers a cloth handkerchief to another to wipe their eyes with it, it's polite to return it to them before parting company. Again, really bad editing.

I guess if people who don't know the original unedited version of the BBC story, the DVDs are OK, but to me the whole scenario feels choppy at best, and really does the overall production a great deal of injustice. This isn't the fault of the BBC, but it is the fault of the companies who edited the original to go on these DVDs. Because of this, I will never sell my unedited and uncut versions that I bought as VHS tapes, but I hope that I can at least find an unedited copy of them on DVD before they die. :(

The DVDs I have are the exact same as one buys in the store. I got mine through ebay, but it is exactly what one would get at full price at the store. I checked thoroughly on this before I bid on it, but even in the store one cannot ascertain if they are going to get a poorly edited DVD.

[Matko]

But I have this scene with Lucy's dreams, my dvd has 6 episodes of length 30 minutes each. ;)

[Namaste]

Is this the newer German DVD or is it an older separate copy? I have the set, that was put out by Universum. They call it the 'collector's edition', but it is exactly what I see when I go to the DVD shops here...this is rather baffling to me.

[Matko]

My DVD is made by "Universal", in 2003.

[Namaste]

That explains a lot, we have different versions obviously, mine is copyrighted in 2005 by 'Universum Film' (not Universal, another entity), and the BBC and this collection has the four BBC stories as well as the Bonus material on the fourth DVD. DVD 1 LWW, DVD 2 is Prince Caspian / The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and DVD 3 has The Silver Chair.