Chronicles of Narnia

[EricJ]

Whatever, Eric. I’m not even going to waste my time.

Did you even OPEN them before deciding I was apparently trying to "insult" you? Just ftr.

[Ben]

Yeah, um, Vi...you should check them out.

[ShyViolet]

No, I already had. Actually yeah, they definitely were helpful. So thanks for posting, Eric. I guess I just wasn’t sure what you meant by “Karma”...? Well, anyway, I guess I misunderstood your intentions, so apologies for that.

[Dacey]

Speaking as someone who's watched all the films being discussed here multiple times...the Disney one is by far the best. Not even a debate for me.

Yes, the BBC one had limitations due to budget and when it was made, but that was no excuse for Mr. and Mrs. Beaver being absolute abominations of terror when something like puppets would've worked fine for them. It's kind of embarrassing, especially given the "prestige" factor the BBC name brings to the game. (The sequels they made, for what it's worth, are far more decent, especially "The Silver Chair")

[EricJ]

I guess I just wasn’t sure what you meant by “Karma”...?

As in, "Oh, for all the YouTube links WE'VE had to put up with... "

Yes, the BBC one had limitations due to budget and when it was made, but that was no excuse for Mr. and Mrs. Beaver being absolute abominations of terror when something like puppets would've worked fine for them. It's kind of embarrassing, especially given the "prestige" factor the BBC name brings to the game. (The sequels they made, for what it's worth, are far more decent, especially "The Silver Chair")

You'd think Warwick Davis in a mouse suit as Reepicheep would be humiliating even for the "Leprechaun" star, but he pulls it off just by going with the book-fan spirit and throwing himself into it.
Didn't think it worked quite as well with Fenris and the Beavers (particularly the Beavers' painful attempts at a Somerset accent, which the comic '05 CGI characters aced), but, again, it's that whole Classic Doctor Who vibe, where every live-soundstage corner cut just feels more like a British Christmas stage-pantomime, which makes a fantasy feel more "real" than anything more slickly photo-realistic.

As for the Silver Chair, they make a good stab, capture all the good points, and guess Tom Baker is close enough, but oh, that ending:
In the book, CS Lewis wanted to make an allegory about the false promises of Atheism, and the Prince under enchantment is callous, trivial, a bit of a jerk, and dresses in depressing black "in a way that reminded Jill of Hamlet", but here, he's a snarling menace in a Phantom of the Opera mask. Also, the sad fatalistic underground Gnomes ("None return from the shadowlands") were also under enchantment, and when the spell is broken, turn out to be friendly, happy folk grateful for our heroes' work and say, "Now we can go back home, to the center of the earth!"...Instead, the BBC skips over that for time, and we see nightmare-fuel shots of the gnomes leaping into hellish lava. Umm, okay.