CS Lewis' 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' has always been one of my favourite books, read it again fairly recently and the magic just keeps coming back. It has also always been my personal favourite of the 'The Chronicles of Narnia' book series, and part of me really does wish that all of the books were adapted (three of the seven haven't). The story is timeless and the White Witch is a villain that one remembers for a long time after.
BBC's version of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe', the first of four BBC Narnia adaptations, was a big favourite in our whole household when younger. We particularly remembered the main music theme, the music overall, Aslan, The White Witch, that scary ending of the second episode, the first scene between the White Witch and Edmund and Lucy's dream sequence. Have been watching it again every now and again and am still quite fond of it and it still has the memorability factor, but there are elements throughout the adaptation that don't hold up and the faults have been more obvious through adult eyes.
This starts the adaptation off very nicely and does well in introducing one to the characters and the story. This is the episode actually that has the least amount of flaws.
Maybe a bit slow in spots and once Lucy leaves Narnia the episode isn't quite as strong.
Some of the costumes in Lucy's dream sequences did to me come over as under-budgeted.
However, did like the production values on the whole. Narnia looks both wondrous and foreboding, which is the exact effect it should have and one would be very happy living in that manor house. The second world war period detail is suitably evocative too, and it's all nicely photographed. Coming off most memorably here is the music. It is a beautifully orchestrated and charming music score, that comes off best in the introduction to Narnia and the dream sequence. Making even more of an impression is the theme tune, one of those childhood main themes once heard never forgotten.
From this very first episode, it is a very faithfully adapted adaptation. Almost word for word, though the line delivery tends to vary, and all the crucial scenes intact. Lucy and Mr Tumnus is one of the book's highlights and is here, the best thing about this episode. The ending to the episode always leaves a big impression on me too, talk about evoking the chills without saying a thing. The storytelling has a nice charm to it and always has engaged me.
Performances vary, though have never had anywhere near as much of a problem with them as others do. Jonathan R. Scott comes off best of the Pevensie children. Despite being too old for Lucy, am not going to join those who make very personal comments about Sophie Wilcox. The best performances of the episode belong to Michael Aldridge (know him best as Seymour from 'Last of the Summer Wine'), perfect as the professor, and Jeffrey Perry as a similarly textbook, in a good way, Tumnus. Maureen Morris is quite creepy as Mrs MacReady.
In conclusion, nice start to a childhood favourite. 8/10
BBC's version of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe', the first of four BBC Narnia adaptations, was a big favourite in our whole household when younger. We particularly remembered the main music theme, the music overall, Aslan, The White Witch, that scary ending of the second episode, the first scene between the White Witch and Edmund and Lucy's dream sequence. Have been watching it again every now and again and am still quite fond of it and it still has the memorability factor, but there are elements throughout the adaptation that don't hold up and the faults have been more obvious through adult eyes.
This starts the adaptation off very nicely and does well in introducing one to the characters and the story. This is the episode actually that has the least amount of flaws.
Maybe a bit slow in spots and once Lucy leaves Narnia the episode isn't quite as strong.
Some of the costumes in Lucy's dream sequences did to me come over as under-budgeted.
However, did like the production values on the whole. Narnia looks both wondrous and foreboding, which is the exact effect it should have and one would be very happy living in that manor house. The second world war period detail is suitably evocative too, and it's all nicely photographed. Coming off most memorably here is the music. It is a beautifully orchestrated and charming music score, that comes off best in the introduction to Narnia and the dream sequence. Making even more of an impression is the theme tune, one of those childhood main themes once heard never forgotten.
From this very first episode, it is a very faithfully adapted adaptation. Almost word for word, though the line delivery tends to vary, and all the crucial scenes intact. Lucy and Mr Tumnus is one of the book's highlights and is here, the best thing about this episode. The ending to the episode always leaves a big impression on me too, talk about evoking the chills without saying a thing. The storytelling has a nice charm to it and always has engaged me.
Performances vary, though have never had anywhere near as much of a problem with them as others do. Jonathan R. Scott comes off best of the Pevensie children. Despite being too old for Lucy, am not going to join those who make very personal comments about Sophie Wilcox. The best performances of the episode belong to Michael Aldridge (know him best as Seymour from 'Last of the Summer Wine'), perfect as the professor, and Jeffrey Perry as a similarly textbook, in a good way, Tumnus. Maureen Morris is quite creepy as Mrs MacReady.
In conclusion, nice start to a childhood favourite. 8/10
