I just saw the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe!

[Dennis McClung]

It was amazing. The movie was over two hours long and when we walked out of the theatre, it was as if no time had passed. Humm...

I was concerned about what Hollywood would do to the story, and sure enough, they made some changes. Someone has to be pretty arrogant to think they can improve upon the writing of C.S. Lewis. I'm happy to say, however, that the changes did not weaken the fundamental Christian message.

Every single seat in the theatre was taken and all of the evening showings were already sold out by 3:00 pm. The audience clapped and cheered at the end. It was that good.

Now, my son Samuel is going through every closet in the house, searching for concelled countries. I'm not surprised. He does this everytime we read the book.

[Barbara Moulton]

It was amazing. The movie was over two hours long and when we walked out of the theatre, it was as if no time had passed. Humm...

I was concerned about what Hollywood would do to the story, and sure enough, they made some changes. Someone has to be pretty arrogant to think they can improve upon the writing of C.S. Lewis. I'm happy to say, however, that the changes did not weaken the fundamental Christian message.

Every single seat in the theatre was taken and all of the evening showings were already sold out by 3:00 pm. The audience clapped and cheered at the end. It was that good.

Now, my son Samuel is going through every closet in the house, searching for concelled countries. I'm not surprised. He does this everytime we read the book.

I am at my daughter's dorm and logging on through her computer. We LOVED IT!!!!! When Aslan stepped out of the tent I cried.

I didn't think it watered down the Christian message at all. And where there were things added, it didn't detract from the story.

The Beavers were wonderful as was Mr. Tumnus.

But Aslan...ahhh...Aslan....was magnificent and I thought his death was incredibly moving.

Look forward to hearing from others when they see it.

By the way, we were in a huge theatre and it was totally full too.

[Marilyn Lawson]

It was totaly awesome!!!

We took the guys from work!!

And then had a discussion about the movie with one of my other staffers.

I was on the end of my seat all night.

It was so true to the story - I can't wait to see them do other books to the series!!!!

Oh yeah

I am seeing it again tomorrow with kids from my area!!
Marilyn

[Alex Manly]

Awesome awesome awesome. This is destined to be a classic for sure. I had never even heard of the book before, (I wasn't much of a reader until recently) but I definately plan to read it now.

[Marilyn Lawson]

Awesome awesome awesome. This is destined to be a classic for sure. I had never even heard of the book before, (I wasn't much of a reader until recently) but I definately plan to read it now.


You have to read the whole series!!

It is the Chronicles of Narnia - 7 chapter books in all.

They are not to long and so overpowering - especially the last book.

You will love it!

Marilyn

[Wanda Van Winkle]

Thanks for the reports. It makes me want to see it even more now. Sometimes movies don't come up to the standard of the storyteller; it sounds as if this movie comes through!

[LeEtta Felter]

I was so surprised how much I loved the movie! I now consider it among my favs! Here is a website that my father-in-law created: http://www.geocities.com/ideabridges/

It has a link to a Christian review of the movie. It has some interesting insights.

For those of you who haven't seen the movie I would highly recommend it! Go see it! The more people that purchase tickets to this type of movie....the more Hollywood will create movies like this one!

[Alex Manly]

Thank you for that review...that strengthens my desire to read the books.

If you haven't read the books and don't know anything about the story I'd wait to read this review as it contains a few spoilers for the movie.

[Gina Stevenson]

... sort of ticked me off, reading his very negative review, after reading all yours. Besides its lacking "gore" [called it "Lord of the Rings, lite"] -- hey, it's PG, not R, for pity sakes! -- he spoke of it as tho' it were all fantastical "fluff" and "eye candy," because of all the unusual critters, etc. NOT ONE MENTION of its having any message of any sort ... not one ... sad. Too bad another one who has mentioned such things before wasn't the one assigned to review it; perhaps an editorial mgmt decision as to the "who" reviewing it to discourage too many viewers from coming and helping to make it a hit ... ?? or is this a rather skeptical statement?

anyway, that sort of bugged me, since I'd read your reviews. He even spoke as tho' he'd read the books prior to seeing it. He did!? hmmmmm ....

oh, well ... looking forward to it. better go get ready! ;)

[Barbara Moulton]

... sort of ticked me off, reading his very negative review, after reading all yours. Besides its lacking "gore" [called it "Lord of the Rings, lite"] -- hey, it's PG, not R, for pity sakes! -- he spoke of it as tho' it were all fantastical "fluff" and "eye candy," because of all the unusual critters, etc. NOT ONE MENTION of its having any message of any sort ... not one ... sad. Too bad another one who has mentioned such things before wasn't the one assigned to review it; perhaps an editorial mgmt decision as to the "who" reviewing it to discourage too many viewers from coming and helping to make it a hit ... ?? or is this a rather skeptical statement?

anyway, that sort of bugged me, since I'd read your reviews. He even spoke as tho' he'd read the books prior to seeing it. He did!? hmmmmm ....

oh, well ... looking forward to it. better go get ready! ;)

There was a pretty strong message after Aslan had killed the Witch and said,
"It is finished."

[Alisa Stoll]

... sort of ticked me off, reading his very negative review, after reading all yours. Besides its lacking "gore" [called it "Lord of the Rings, lite"] -- hey, it's PG, not R, for pity sakes! -- he spoke of it as tho' it were all fantastical "fluff" and "eye candy," because of all the unusual critters, etc. NOT ONE MENTION of its having any message of any sort ... not one ... sad. Too bad another one who has mentioned such things before wasn't the one assigned to review it; perhaps an editorial mgmt decision as to the "who" reviewing it to discourage too many viewers from coming and helping to make it a hit ... ?? or is this a rather skeptical statement?

anyway, that sort of bugged me, since I'd read your reviews. He even spoke as tho' he'd read the books prior to seeing it. He did!? hmmmmm ....

oh, well ... looking forward to it. better go get ready! ;)

I just shook my head at our local reviewer because the paper gave it three stars - The Lord of the Kids and then the article associated with it called it COPY CAT Family-friendly fantasy strives to draw "Rings" audience and was mostly negative in tone. Where you folks talked about how moving Alan's death was - his comment "That act gives Lewis' work its stongest link to the New Testament, but the effect on the screen is like that of so many other children's movies in which a beloved character is thought dead - - but then isn't."

I had to wonder if the person giving the stars (3 of 4) and the person reviewing the movie actually talked.

Alisa

[Gina Stevenson]

have to go with all you guys who gave it a great big thumbs up! The local reviewer, in my estimation, is way off-base. But then I guess he has his right to be so, and write accordingly.

The battle scenes lasted a bit too long for my taste [but that's just me, perhaps], but did not detract from the total story/message, in my estimation.

[Barbara Moulton]

Has anyone else seen it yet? I am really looking forward to hearing more reactions.

Both my daughters and I cried when Aslan was sacrificed. It was pretty much exactly the way it was how I imagined it in the book.

[Gina Stevenson]

... was that professor [gathered it from reading some, but not being able to complete the book of 7-in-1 ($12 USD)] the one who'd bro't the fruit back from his trip to Narnia in its beginnings and then made that wardrobe from the wood from that tree? Tho't he most likely was, tho' I don't recall ever hearing his first name in the movie to connect it to that kid in the book that talks of Narnia's beginnings.

Since I read where there's a ticket contest, I'm going to see if it's still on; I'd not mind finding someone else [a friend went with me Saturday] who hasn't gone and go again, to see what I might have missed the first time.

[Dennis McClung]

Yes, the professor is Diggory and the Witch is Queen Jadis. I'm sure that will all be addressed in subsequent movies that I hope will be made.

[Gina Stevenson]

... and for reminding me of his name I'd already forgotten: "Digery," or however it's spelled. Which reminded me, when reading it a bit ago, of hearing something -- a kids' song? -- with mention of some "digery-doo."

'Know anything about that, too? :p

[Hans Deventer]

We'll be going on the 22nd. The film won't be released until the 21st over here, so we'll be pretty early.
I made my reservation.

[Mark Metcalfe]

Reprinted without permission, but Brad (not Mercer) would be cool with it.

Note: Wonderworks did the BBC version of Nanria some years ago.

{

We just went to see it this afternoon (price for 3 tix, including a tub 'o' corn & 2 large DPs: $11 ... it's great living out here).



Anyway, the Wonderworks movies are *significantly* better in terms of character development. There is a weird affectation with Susan in this movie - almost as if the producer went out of the way to make sure she was *extremely* visible - which threw her out of character (IMO). The beginning was better than Wonderworks, as they went into detail as to why the kiddies were shipped out of London ... but that's about where it stops in terms of being better.



SFX were good, but smelled greatly of WETA (and therefore Lord of the Rings). There were some CGI pieces that looked like they were directly lifted from LOTR battles. There were also pieces that were obviously cut out - e.g., Giant Rumblebuffin gets his own entry in the film credit trailer, but is not even mentioned (much less featured) in the film. No badgers either. Feels like scenes were intentionally dropped to up sales of the (future released) DVD. Too bad Wonderworks couldn't have had Disney's budget.



In terms of actors: White Witch was substantially more menacing (IMO) than the Wonderworks White Witch (who always reminded me of some overwrought senator from New York). Apart from Susan, the principal child actors did a nice job. Liam Neeson (Aslan's voice) was good ... and the centaur who was Peter's 2nd in command kicks some serious hind end. Beavers were a little too comic relief to be true to the book, but still very good. Morgram was - well, weak (imo). Mr. Tumnus was good, but poorly developed (due to writing & film edits, not due to time). No one else sticks out as being particularly noteworthy.



Aslan's character was particularly not well developed. This is very similar to LOTR in that if you hadn't read the books (or in this case, seen the Wonderworks stuff) before hand, you might be left wondering where all of this came from.



The movie could have taken twice as long and been better (and worth the extra time).



I'd give it a 6 (I gave LOTR 8.5).



Enjoy,



b

}

[Dennis McClung]

Anyway, the Wonderworks movies are *significantly* better in terms of character development. There is a weird affectation with Susan in this movie - almost as if the producer went out of the way to make sure she was *extremely* visible - which threw her out of character (IMO). The beginning was better than Wonderworks, as they went into detail as to why the kiddies were shipped out of London ... but that's about where it stops in terms of being better

I suspect that the decision to begin the movie with the bombing of London and the way Susan's character received an inordinate amount of camera time was all focus group driven. I bet they showed it to kids, who didn't know about the Battle of Britian and the relocation of children from the cities. I also bet the marketing data showed that they were scoring low in the teenage girl demographic, and they increased the attention given to the Susan character because of this. I still think it's a lot better than Wonderworks, where you can see zippers on the back of the beaver costumes.

[Mark Metcalfe]

I still think it's a lot better than Wonderworks, where you can see zippers on the back of the beaver costumes.

I haven't seen it so I cannot comment vis-a-vis the movie but no doubt
that CGI has come a long way in 20 years. (By the way, I think Brad's
comment was about character development and not about special effects
- lack of zippers.)

What I appreciate about my friend's comments was that it wasn't
over the top glowing and over the top panning but seemed to be
a more objective review. Mind you, one never has to agree with an
objective review (let alone a suibjective one)! And I routinely like
movies that other people (especially my wife) hate! (e.g. Mystery Men,
Koyanisqatsi)

Mark

[Hans Deventer]

The header is correct, we just came back. Having read the book only once, I certainly enjoyed the movie. I think I agree with Tolkien that too much allegory isn't my cup of tea. And it is more of a children's tale than LotR is. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable evening and worth every penny.
My very subjective 2 cents.

[Wesley Smith]

My wife and I went to see the movie yesterday...matinee. The place was absolutely packed, which I found interesting since the movie has been out over a week.

It has been 25 years or so since I read the book. Movies are usually a good time for me to catch a nap. I trust Colleen to give me a push if I start snoring! Didn't even come close yesterday. The story line kept me rivetted to the screen for the entire two hours. Loved the characters. Loved the amazing animation. Found the interplay between the actors and the animation to be fascinating and fabulous. We will go back to see it again soon because we know there were things we missed.

Aslan was magnificent. SO much "symbology!"

Friend,

Wes

[Barbara Moulton]

Aslan was magnificent. SO much "symbology!"



I have seen the movie twice and both times I have been touched by the sacrifice of Aslan. As the scene unfolded, you knew that with just one sweep of those massive paws, Aslan could have wiped out those who jeered, shaved his far and bound him in preparation for his death.

His willingness to endure all this for the joy set before him...that was beautifully captured.

[Barbara Moulton]

And it is more of a children's tale than LotR is.

Very true Hans. The people who will truly love this film are those who loved Aslan when they were little. One lady said to me in the line up (the first time I went to see the movie) that while she was excited to see the movie she was very protective of Aslan, concerned as to how he would be portrayed. Like me, she had been captured by the spirit of Narnia when she was very little.

In truth, I don't think that anyone who reads the books for the first time as an adult, can fully appreciate the impact that Aslan has on a young child. As such, raised in a Christian home, I was always told I should love Jesus. But Jesus was abstract to me at that time. How could I love Him?

In Aslan, the qualities of Christ were presented in a form that could capture the emotions and imagination of a child. Aslan helped me to love the person of Jesus when I was still too young to experience love for the Jesus I was taught about in Sunday School. To use the words of C.S.Lewis, I was "surprised by joy" and experienced the transcendence of a religious experience.

Therefore, watching the movie was not, for me, like watching other movies that have been made of childhood classics. It was a means for spiritual connection to a significant religious experience from my past.

To see the Aslan of my imagination portrayed so magnificently on screen, brought me back to those moments of sacred wonder that I experienced as a littel girl.

[Barbara Moulton]

We will go back to see it again soon because we know there were things we missed.



For example did you notice this? When Edmund is in the White Witch's castle, he draws glasses and moustache on a stone lion he sees.

In the coronation scene, that lion is in the crowd, now brought back to life...but he is still has those markings in his fur. Cute.

Another, when the White Witch has her audience with Aslan to demand Edmund's blood, watch for the dog in the crowd just behind Edmund. Cutest expression you've ever seen on a canine :-)

Finally, watch the Witch's eyes before she kills Aslan, after his death and just before her death.

[Hans Deventer]

Very true Hans. The people who will truly love this film are those who loved Aslan when they were little.

I think you are right, Barbara. I only read the Narnia books this Summer for the first time. They were good and I enjoyed them, but I never really understood why to some they had such an incredible appeal. This may very well be the reason.

[Barbara Moulton]

I think you are right, Barbara. I only read the Narnia books this Summer for the first time. They were good and I enjoyed them, but I never really understood why to some they had such an incredible appeal. This may very well be the reason.

I think it is exactly the reason. While good children's books can be enjoyed by people of all ages, they are indeed written for children.

No matter how in touch we are with our "inner child" we can never truly experience the same wonder that we did when we were little. Aslan filled me with wonder which prepared my heart in a way no church service could to embrace the love of Christ.

[Dennis McClung]

I only read the Narnia books this Summer for the first time.
I didn't fully appreciate the books the first hundred times I read them.

[Gina Stevenson]

Barbara said: "No matter how in touch we are with our "inner child" we can never truly experience the same wonder that we did when we were little. Aslan filled me with wonder which prepared my heart in a way no church service could to embrace the love of Christ."

Yes, Barbara, I've felt for years that my "inner child" has not been totally lost ... when adults wonder how children can act/say/do certain things, I figure they're forgotten things I still remember ... we need to keep some childlikeness ... not forget how to play, etc.

HOWEVER, I felt that -- having learned of Chronicles of Narnia as an adult [tho' they were around when I was a kid, and I wasn't made aware of them, in spite of how much I read] -- I was just going to miss something when seeing the movie that would be present, had I read the books as a child. Feeling this, before I went, I tried to psyche myself up to really "get into it" ... "forget all around me and concentrate" ... so I could perhaps catch at least some of that "childhood/childlike wonderment."

So, it was interesting to read your comments about the same ... and I did come away from the movie, as good as I tho't it was, feeling I'd somehow been "cheated" not having seen the books as a kid, because there wasn't that, "Oh, yes! I remember how I felt when I read that long ago!" feeling.

Funny thing, my one grandma -- a Christian as long as I can remember -- bought me tons [well, not tons, but gobs ;)] of books, but not those. Perhaps when they were first written, some people to whom they had not been explained saw the title, "The Lion, the Witch, and ... WHAT!? There's a witch in those books!? No way!"

Oh, well ... now I'm at least aware enough of them to let others know about them before they're no longer a child. ;)

[Hans Deventer]

I didn't fully appreciate the books the first hundred times I read them.

Dennis, then at least, you must have had a reason to continue reading that went beyond the judgement "nice story". I don't presume you have the habit of reading all your books a hundred times :basic03

[Dennis McClung]

Dennis, then at least, you must have had a reason to continue reading that went beyond the judgement "nice story". I don't presume you have the habit of reading all your books a hundred times :basic03

Actually, there are a number of books that I read over and over again. For example, I've read The Catcher in the Rye nearly as many times as the Chronicles of Narnia. You are right, however, that it's more than just a nice story to me.

[Mark Metcalfe]

I liked it. I didn't love it.

Since a child, I have compared Narnia to Middlearth and although I found both
stories engaging, I have always found The Lord of the Rings to be a hands-down
favorite. So no matter how good the Narnia movie was, it did not reach
(and probably could not with me) the accolades I give to LOTR.

On the plus side, no blood. Like an old western where people got shot and fell
down dead, the battles showed fighting and stabbing and killing, but no blood,
and all the good guys are restored in the end. So it shouldn't be as scary for
kids (as say LOTR).

It also held to the story well. I liked most of the characters (even the
White Witch).

It was obvious to me that the audience was full of Christians, who
applauded the movie and gasped with delight everytime Aslan appeared,
because they knew he was an allegory for Jesus Christ. I wondered what
many of the unchurched would think of the movie - if they would know the
references to Christianity in the script - and would they care? I know I care
when a Disney movie is overtly sending a politically correct message in
movies (such as Sharks Tale, for example).

If Lord of the Rings is a 10, I would give The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe a 7.5. Of course, this is a
subjective opinion, and my son gives it an 8.5.

It is worth the money to see it now, then buy the DVD later.

Mark

[Jenny Mitchell]

We took the kids last night to see it, and, boy, was i impressed! I've loved the books, and usually when I love a book, I don't love the movie, but this one I did.

[Jill Mickelson]

Wow! We went to Narnia tonight! When Aslan appeared the first time, I was surprised that both my Husband and I instantly GASPED, AND took a deep breath. I didn't expect that response to Aslan! Especially both of us! Often I "felt" the Lord while viewing this movie. As we were walking out of the theater, an elderly lady asked what the Professor threw at the children at the end of the movie. I didn't know either and had earlier asked my daughter, so I could tell the lady the answer. As we were talking, walking out, one of the men working in refreshments told us that the movie wasn't over! The credits had been running. We went back in and caught the last couple minutes of the movie and I'm glad that we did! MOST of the people in the theater missed it! Anyhow...as we walked out the second time, the elderly lady told me she missed a lot of the speaking in the movie.

[Barbara Moulton]

Wow! We went to Narnia tonight! When Aslan appeared the first time, I was surprised that both my Husband and I instantly GASPED,


As I have expressed before, I too was deeply moved when Aslan appeared. When his paw first came out of the tent...great moment.

[Brad Mercer]

Okay, I finally got to see the Narnia movie late last week (December 29, 2005, I think).

On the positive side:

I got misty-eyed when Father Christmas distributed the gifts to the children, because I knew how they would feature later in that book and others. I got misty-eyed when Edmond voted to stay and fight rather than agreeing with Susan that they should go back to the safety of the English countryside. That represented the totality and sincerity of his transformed character. Finally, I shed a tear or two at the coronation scene. The audience broke into applause once during the movie and once at the end.

The special effects were flawless. There was nothing CGI-ish about Aslan. They did a good job of capturing the personalities of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and Mr. Tumnus. All four of the children were much better actors than the kid who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies. And on a final positive note, although I haven't seen figures for Sunday, yet, it looks like Narnia will probably pass up King Kong for the number one slot at the box office this weekend. It's ultimately going to be bigger than Kong and possibly as big as the first Lord of the Rings movie or the most recent Potter movie. And all of that just means that yes, there will be more Narnia movies. I read yesterday that the script for Prince Caspian has already been written, the director of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has signed on to do it, and they were just waiting for the early box office numbers on the first one to get started on Caspian. So, in short, Yeah!

On the other hand, the negatives, for me, at least:

I didn't think they did a good enough job of developing the character and effect of Aslan. I thought the book did a better job than the movie of communicating the strength, power, wildness, fierceness, immovableness of Aslan on the one hand, and the wisdom, tenderness, love, grace and compassion on the other. Maybe you have to really know God like that to really create an Aslan like that. Aslan in the book communicates God as C.S. Lewis understood him. The movie is only communicating Aslan according to the book, without an apparent independent confirmation in the spiritual understanding of the director.

A couple of scenes from the book that are omitted in the movie contributed to that diminished sense of Aslan for me.

They omitted what were for me the two most crucial lines in the whole movie and one very theologically significant and entertaining scene. In the conversation with the children in the Beavers' home, Mr. Beaver at some point tells them that Aslan is a lion. In the book, this information naturally alarms the children and one of them says: "Is he safe?" To which Mr. Beaver responds gruffly: "Safe! Who said anything about safe? Of course he's not safe! But he's good, I tell you." In the movie, they omit that conversation entirely. In an exchange at the end of the movie between Mr. Tumnus and Lucy, they watch Aslan leaving. Lucy asks when or if he'll return. Mr. Tumnus says he will, but you can't know when because he's not a tame lion. Lucy responds by saying, "but he's good." That exchange is close, but it's not the same. The books do repeatedly make the point that he's not a tame lion, but the omitted exchange with Mr. Beaver goes deeper and says it more strongly, and it's a signficant reality of our spiritual lives.

The second omitted line is when Aslan comes back alive and explains the rule by which he could come back alive (essentially a substitionary theory of atonement). In the movie, Aslan just says that the witch misinterpreted the inscription on the stone table. In the book, though, he says something to the effect that, although the witch knew the deep magic that allowed her to take his life as a substitute for Edmund, "there is a deeper magic" still, that the witch does not know. Sin knows death and pain and desire, but it can't know, can't begin to suspect, the heighth and depth and breadth and power and fulness of life and love. God does, though. Satan, in any Christian school of thought, is at most only a creature of God, and never an equal and opposite yang to His yin. That "deeper magic still" line suggests that, in a way that the actual line in the movie did not.

Finally, there's a scene in the book and movie where Edmund draws glasses and a mustache on a stone lion which remain on the lion when he's turned back into a real lion near the end of the story. In the book, though, there's a great scene where Aslan is organizing all the restored stone creatures for their impending contribution to the battle against the witch. As he's telling the various kinds of creatures what they will do and where they will contribute to the battle, he assigns the lions their role with the words: "...us lions...." Aslan is certainly a lion, and yet he is so clearly, obviously an utterly unique creature, uniquely more and better than other lions, and infinitely superior to them. As a result, one of the regular lions responds with bounding, irrepressible, kitten-like joy, repeating over and over to whoever will listen: "Us lions! Did you hear that? He said 'us lions'! That's him and me! Us lions!" Christ does us the extraordinary honor of utterly identifying with us in the incarnation, allowing us to repeat after him, 'us men', 'us humans' with shocked, overwhelmed, awe and pride and joy. It's one of those classic Narnia scenes, silly and funny and hardly more than a passing, throw-away line, and yet it ought not to have been thrown away. It was always one of those scenes that made my kids laugh and made me cry when I read it to them when they were little. I was sorry to see it omitted from the movie.

Still, on balance, they did a good job. I'm glad it's a hit, and I'm looking forward to the rest.

Brad

[Danny Rester]

We went to Narnia back in December. It was totally awesome. Even my wife loved it - and she's not a Narnia nut like me. I've read all the books several times. I can't wait for the next movie and the DVD - hope it's soon!

[Kim Hersey]

I liked it. I didn't love it.


It was obvious to me that the audience was full of Christians, who
applauded the movie and gasped with delight everytime Aslan appeared,
because they knew he was an allegory for Jesus Christ. I wondered what
many of the unchurched would think of the movie - if they would know the
references to Christianity in the script - and would they care? I know I care
when a Disney movie is overtly sending a politically correct message in
movies (such as Sharks Tale, for example).


Mark

Ok... I know I only quoted you in part... but I think I agree with your liked it, didn't love it... it was just a little too slow for me... and I read fast, so the book doesn't seem slow :basic02

But, I did see the movie with two teens who aren't Christians... and they liked it... and they didn't care that there was a "message"...

I also took a family who are just beginning to attend our church and have verrrry different tastes in movies from mine (they prefer suspense/ horror/thriller stuff... even the little kids watch it :() and they enjoyed it, weren't bored, and told their friends--who had turned down the invite to go-- that they shouldn't have missed it...

So, I'll give it the 8.5 along with your son, if the LOTR is 10 :)

Kim

[Brad Mercer]

Well, it looks like someone likes it besides just Christians. Here are excerpts from a news story this morning:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Domestic champion "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe" also ruled the foreign box office during the New Year holiday weekend as its global total roared to $450 million.

Now playing in 31 markets, the adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel sold $41 million worth of tickets over the weekend, taking its overseas haul to $225.5 million.

New markets for "Narnia" included South Korea (http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=South+Korea) ($5 million), Taiwan ($1.3 million) and Thailand ($1 million). In Australia, where "Narnia" opened on December 26, the family offering earned $4.8 million, taking its total to $11.2 million.
France showed no drop from its opening weekend, collecting $8.4 million for a two-weekend total of $21 million. No. 1 for four weeks in a row in the U.K., "Narnia" picked up $5.1 million for a market total of $57.7 million. Two weekends in Italy brought in $11.1 million; two in Russia, $5.9 million; four in Germany, $19.7 million; four in Spain, $16.4 million, and a full month in Mexico, $18 million.


So, I'd probably agree with that 8.5 rating, but it seems to be sufficiently entertaining to the rest of the world, too. It doesn't look like Disney needs to fear that the remaining six books will only appeal to a niche market. I read somewhere the other day, by the way, that the Narnia books have sold 100 million copies.

Brad

[Brad Mercer]

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" just received the Critic's Choice Award for Best Family Film. The Critic's Choice Awards is airing on the WB Network tonight, 1-9-06.

At the box office, Narnia is leaving King Kong in the dust, and is rapidly closing in on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Brad

[Gina Stevenson]

wonder if it will be on "normal" television, then, tomorrow? You see, some things that are on cable WB end up on regular TV the following night, such as "7th Heaven" [Monday, WB, Tuesday on Pax], "Gilmore Girls" [Tuesday, WB, Wednesday on Pax] ... which I don't see anymore since helping with ESL on Wednesday the last few months, leaving about 6pm, when that program starts.

Hopefully they might be on regular TV, too ... we'll check the schedule.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" just received the Critic's Choice Award for Best Family Film. The Critic's Choice Awards is airing on the WB Network tonight, 1-9-06.

At the box office, Narnia is leaving King Kong in the dust, and is rapidly closing in on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Brad

[Brad Mercer]

wonder if it will be on "normal" television, then, tomorrow? You see, some things that are on cable WB end up on regular TV the following night, such as "7th Heaven"....

It was on the regular broadcast WB channel in the DFW area tonight.

Brad

[Jeremy D. Scott]

The people who will truly love this film are those who loved Aslan when they were little.

This is a very good point. I realized it when at the end of watching it for the second time, I asked myself why someone who hadn't read the book would appreciate the movie. In my honest mind, it wasn't a great movie. However, I loved it because of my childhood memories of reading the books.

I will say, however, that the book has more meaning for me today than it did when I read it as a child. I read the book several weeks ago in preparation for the movie and I was surprised at the theological underlays onto which I never caught on.

This is the importance of narrative that Stanley Hauerwas and even many emergent proponents speak of today. We must realize the importance and the intricacies of narrative both as we read scripture and as we re-tell the messages of scripture.