Book Fan? Or Movie Fan? Or both?

I'm sort of torn on this one. I think the books are brilliant with the exception of The Last Battle, but as a whole I think CS Lewis should have stopped the series after the Pevensies were no longer in it. Eustace and Jill felt like attempts to recreate them while Digory and Polly were unique in their own right and more believable. Then again, I consider The Magician's Nephew my favorite and the best so it could just be I really liked them.

As far as the films go, I felt LWW was superb, a faithful while expanded adaption, and beautifully done, and I love it every bit as much as the books. PC, however, stunned and horrified me, and while I enjoyed VOTDT in it's own right it just didn't feel like Narnia to me.

So I guess I loved half the books, think the others are ok, love the first film, dislike the second, and enjoy the third. Sort of complicated.

I voted that I’m mostly about the books but I enjoy the movies, but I would like to qualify my answer. All the Narnia books are lovely in their own way, and I couldn’t imagine the series without any of them. There are so many rich characters whether they appear in only one book like Puddleglum or in several books like the Pevensies. Characters like Eustace and Edmund are allowed to have serious flaws but are also redeemed and transformed into real heroes. Some characters like Uncle Andrew are portrayed as weak and cowardly, but not entirely unsympathetically, and are excellent comic relief. The books give us a variety good characters to admire and quite a spectrum of evil characters to think about. They are also just great adventures with strong morals, and it’s so rare to find books that are both exciting and ethical So, I have no qualms about saying I’m all about the Narnia books.

The qualifications come in when I discuss the movies. I will say that I really loved the LWW movie. Georgie had the exact personality that I always envisioned Lucy possessing, and Liam did a great job with Aslan’s voice—the deepness and the gentleness and the seriousness of it brought shivers to my mind. Liam’s voice reads all of Aslan’s lines when I re-read the Narnia books now. I also liked the inclusion of the air raid and the train ride out of London. It felt like a good way to ground modern children in the World War II climate that Lewis alluded to in the opening pages of LWW. I also liked how it was the unintended breaking of a window that caused the kids to flee into the wardrobe, rather than just keeping out of the way of a house tour. It felt like a stronger motivation for the kids to run and hide, so, for a cinematic adaptation, I think it was a good choice that didn’t really change the message or plot of the movie in a negative way.

I also liked how the LWW movie dealt with the strained relationship between Edmund and Peter. I felt like the good and bad sides of both the boys were shown. I think we understand Edmund’s bitter feelings well in the movie, and we also understand Peter’s aggravation with his brother’s behavior (and his sense that he is responsible for keeping his family safe). Their arguments feel very real, and their reconciliation is sweet without being, in my opinion, unbelievable. The beautiful characterization of both of them and the nice exploration of their relationship (consistent, in my opinion, with the spirit of the book) was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

That segues quite smoothly into a movie, Prince Caspian, that I do have qualms saying that I enjoyed. The movie version of PC does a complete butchering of Peter’s character made all the more inexcusable by the fact that they, in my opinion, did such a good job portraying him in the previous movie. His flaw in the book was doubt, but in the movies they decided it was arrogance, and they decided to make him a crazy alpha male always fighting with Caspian to rule the pack. The touching moment in the book where Peter assures Caspian that he has come to help Caspian get the throne not to take the throne from Caspian was lost completely, in favor of silly squabbling.

Then we also had to deal with the fact that the Telmarines were speaking in faux Spanish accents the whole time. That bugged me to no end because, one, Caspian is described as blond in the books, so the Telmarines (in Lewis’ mind) are likely not to be based on Spaniards, and, two, because why would an entire nation speak with those ridiculous accents? They would speak their native language to each other, not some sort of fake English. The faux Spanish accents added annoyance, not authenticity. Seriously, after PC came out, for a little while, when people during Icebreakers asked for my most embarrassing moment, I would say, “Well, in the Prince Caspian movie that just hit the theaters, there is a moment when the titular character in response to a question posed by a Mouse soldier, says that he is ‘Caspian de denth.’ I could only stare at the screen in horror, fighting the urge to throw my shoe at it. If they would just change that in the next edition, my most embarrassing memory could be the time when, in Latin class, I was asked to decline a verb, and I accidentally did so in Spanish.”

As for the VotD movie, I liked the boy who played Eustace, but I really did not like what was done with Aslan’s country. For some reason, it came across as rather bleak to me, when I wanted to feel more beauty and wonder. It just to me seemed that Aslan’s country should have created a lot more joy in me as a viewer, but at least Peter’s character wasn’t around to be butchered.

So, balancing my love of LWW movie with my less warm feelings toward PC movie and my mixed reaction to VotD, I say overall that I enjoy the movies, but I love the books much more.

Sopespian said:

Actually that's exactly how we speak. How do I know? I am a Telmarine, and I think I know how I speak.

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Then maybe it is a good thing I never could find my way into Narnia, after all. I'd be driven mad in a day

Well, I have to say I absolutely prefer the books. I simply love them and the movies are simply not as half as good. I like LWW very much though, while I think PC is an offend for the book. I haven't seen VDT yet, but that may change this evening. I'm rather fond of the BBC movies though. The effects may be awful, but the acting, the script and the costumes are simply lovely. The Disney movies are nice to watch (and LWW is a great movie), but Caspian (movie and character) ruined them a bit. But, I have to say: I'm mostly about the books. Really.

EDIT: Watched VDT this afternoon. It's very far from the book, but it was pretty enjoyable. Eustace and Reepicheep were great. I didn't like the changes, but the characters were good (except of Caspian maybe, but he was WAY better than in PC).

This is a hard one for me, for I like both the books and the movies.

I think what makes it difficult for me is that the LWW movie actually brought the books into my life. I had never read Chronicles of Narnia, and quite sadly, never paid much attention to it. I didn't even care to see the movie either until many years after it was released.

My family had bought the movie and loved it, but being the moody pre-teen that I was, I didn't want to watch it and I never did. Until about the time the PC movie was coming out and they were playing LWW on tv while promoting PC future release. I started to watch it out of pure boredom and found myself falling in love with it completely. I don't know how many times I've watched LWW.

I saw PC before I read the books as well. And while I liked it, there were some things I could care less about. Even more so once I bought the books and fell in love with them.

So while I love the books, the movies (specifically LWW) have a very special place in my heart, because ultimately the movies brought me to the books.

So I voted that I like both equally.

SweetWaters said:

I like the movies in the same way I enjoy good fanfiction. They are someone else's interpretation of Narnia (and I may not fully agree with them), but they can be interesting and enjoyable in their own right.

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Yeah, that's how I feel about it, too. The books are definitely my favorite.

But LWW the movie was what introduced me to Narnia, though I actually started reading the books before I saw the movie.

I LOVE the books. I am also of the opinion that the book is ((almost)) always better than the movie. (The one and only exception I can think of is Meet the Robinsons.) I thought they did a pretty good job on the first one and still love the music, but I strongly dislike Prince Caspian and Voyage. I'll watch Prince Caspian on rare to the extreme occasions just to mock it, but Voyage is too painful. I have seen it once and will never see it again if I have anything to say about it. I also will not be watching the Magician's Nephew or the Last Battle if they decide to make them. I'll watch the others to mock them, though.
OK, I'm good. I should be able to keep my ranting to a minimum now.

Books always win these sorts of discussions, which I guess make sense, but to me the movies are usually just as good almost every time.

I often like movies as much as books, sometimes moreso than the book. Big Fish was one example of a movie that I saw, and then I read the book, and I liked the movie more.

One thing I liked about the movie version of LWW was the way it depicted Aslan waking up the statues. I may be remembering incorrectly, but the book version, to me, left something to be desired.

The movie only really depicted Tumnus being awakened. The book showed many, many statues being awakened. I liked the description in the book better regarding how the awakening looked (like flames exposing the real flesh underneath), but the movie was perfectly acceptable.

MrBob

I think you mean that the other way around. We definitely see way way more people than Tumnus being awakened in the film. There's at least one more significant focus on a centaur.

Aslan first awakens a lion, followed quikly by a dawrf, naiaid,, rabbit, and two centaurs. Unicorns, dogs, birds, and foxes are all shown, and all of this in the courtyard before they even get into the castle. A giant was one of the first in the castle, followed by many unnamed multitudes of animals and creatures, including finally Mr Tumnus.

MrBob

I remember vividly Tumnus awakening to the exact same pose he was in as a statue. I don't recall that when I read the book. Perhaps it was just the mere fact that the movie visualized it for me.

That is both a great asset and detriment when you watch the movie of a book you already read. The movie, when it really focuses on a scene that was missing or barely described in the book can become so clear that you become surprised when you reread the scene in the book. The Tumnus scene in the book is just passed by while in the movie, since this was so important to the emotion of the scene, they focused on Tumnus thawing out.

MrBob

That's why I favor movie adaptations filming stuff that wasn't even in the book.

Definitely books.

I've been watching LWW like religiously since it was released.