The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) or, Just Plain Narnia

9/23/2014

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) or, Just Plain Narnia

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Fantasy of the Year + Best Adaptation of the Year + Best Blockbuster of the Year + Best Poster of the Year

The adventurous, beautifully crafted poster for Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

QUICK REVIEW:

During the Blitz in WWII in a London suburb, a flock of 4 siblings are sent to stay in an old house, which contains a wardrobe that is a portal to the strange country of Narnia. Here, an evil witch and a lion named Aslan rule.

The adaptation of C.S. Lewis' (The Pilgrim's Regress (1933)) 1950 book seems perfectly suited to Disney, who have co-produced the film with Walden Media, (whose biggest hit this still remains.) It is, in my opinion, Disney's most distinguished job to adapt novels and themselves come up with stories such as this one, to spin gripping and highly entertaining stories with good, Christian morals, (Lewis' authorship is highly influenced by his side-career as a lay-theologian and convinced Christian.) The cast and crew carry out the ambitious project in the most exquisite fashion.
Narnia, which also has two lesser successful sequels, (Prince Caspian (2008) and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)) offers sweeping CGI and practical effects, - it won the Best Make-Up Oscar for its remarkable achievements in this area, - some sweet kids in the leads, and an evil Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)) as the witch:

Tilda Swinton is great as the evil witch in Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a highly recommendable adventure fantasy movie that appeals almost equally to kids and adults alike: It is a magnificent film full of wonder, awe, originality, ideas and sound values, blighted only by the smallest of weaknesses. - Without question one of the best films of the year.
It is directed by New Zealand-born Andrew Adamson (Shrek (2001)), who, amazingly, took on Narnia as his first live-action feature.

Related post:

Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Aslan the lion, - voiced by Liam Neeson, - and Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie in Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Cost: 180 mil. $
Box office: 745 mil. $
= Huge hit
[3rd biggest global smash of 2005; Walden Media's biggest hit to date; Disney's 5th largest opening to date (the biggest at the time); Narnia also impressed with 12.4 mil. DVD copies sold by 2008, accruing an additional 353.5 mil. $. This wholesome, mainstream-adventure that especially appeals in Christian markets the world over won both the hearts and minds of critics and audiences alike, in a way which none of its two sequels were able to.]

What do you think of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
And of the two sequels, if you have seen them?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

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9/23/2014

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) or, Just Plain Narnia

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