The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

This big screen adaptation of C.S. Lewis' classic fantasy—beloved by children, fantasy nerds, and Christians (although the allegorical stuff Lewis incorporated into his good-vs.-evil tale far predates Christianity)—is warm, sweet, funny, scary, gorgeous, and utterly charming, thanks to the tiny details that lend even the most fanciful aspects of the film a rock-solid reality. Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek) found a little treasure in then eight-year-old Georgie Henley, here playing Lucy Pevensie—youngest of the four Pevensie siblings sent from London to the quiet English countryside during the German bombing raids of World War II—who hides from her brother in a large wardrobe, and mysteriously stumbles out the back into a war-torn snowy fantasy realm. Even in the face of friendly talking beavers, menacing talking wolves, messianic talking lions, and one of the best villainesses this side of Cruella de Vil (Tilda Swinton as the White Witch), there is never a moment of disbelief that we must suspend. Highly recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, or a two-disc widescreen version, DVD extras on this “Two-Disc Collector's Edition” include two audio commentaries (one by director Andrew Adamson and young costars William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley; the other by Adamson, production designer Roger Ford, and producer Mark Johnson), an option for viewing “Discover Narnia Fun Facts” pop-up trivia during the film, a 55-minute “Cinematic Storytellers” production documentary on the creators of the film, an 11-part 54-minute documentary on “Creating Creatures,” the “Chronicles of a Director” documentary (38 min.), “The Children's Magical Journey” (27 min.), the 12-minute “Anatomy of a Scene: The Melting River,” five minutes of bloopers, an “Explore Narnia” clickable map with five locations and information on each (5 min.), a five-minute “From One Man's Mind” featurette on author C.S. Lewis, a “Legends in Time” timeline, and trailers.  Bottom line: a whopping extras package for this critically-acclaimed and popular fantasy film.] (M. Johanson)[DVD Review—Dec 26, 2006—Walt Disney, 4 discs, 150 min., not rated, $42.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Four-Disc Extended Edition) sports an excellent transfer on this extended edition of the film (which runs about seven minutes longer). DVD extras on the first two discs are identical to the original release's, except for a short introduction by director Andrew Adamson, while the third disc contains an exclusive 76-minute “C. S. Lewis: Dreamer of Narnia” documentary, and the fourth disc features the mammoth 140-minute “Visualizing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Complete Production Experience” production documentary, an “Anatomy of a Scene: Behind the Battle” featurette (8 min.), and the “Art of Narnia” art gallery. Bottom line: while the new extras are solid, the $42.99 price tag make this upgrade purely optional.][Blu-ray Review—May 27, 2008—Disney, 143 min., PG, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe looks amazing and features a 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack. New to this two-disc edition is the exclusive “Battle for Narnia” Blu-ray game, while the other extras are almost identical to the original two-disc standard DVD release (the “Legends in Time” timeline is missing), including two audio commentaries (one by director Andrew Adamson and young costars William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley; the other by Adamson, production designer Roger Ford, and producer Mark Johnson), an option for viewing “Discover Narnia Fun Facts” pop-up trivia during the film, a 55-minute “Cinematic Storytellers” production documentary on the creators of the film, an 11-part 54-minute documentary on “Creating Creatures,” the “Chronicles of a Director” documentary (38 min.), “The Children's Magical Journey” (27 min.), the 12-minute “Anatomy of a Scene: The Melting River,” five minutes of bloopers, an “Explore Narnia” clickable map with five locations and information on each (5 min.), a five-minute “From One Man's Mind” featurette on author C.S. Lewis, and trailers. Bottom line: a stunning edition of a contemporary fantasy classic with nearly all of the original DVD extras intact.]