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Child-hood memories (2010-08-18)
I believe few people might have issues over the lack of special effects. Though, nobody told you to buy something and expect special effects. Do little more research on something before you buy it. So you either A. Don't get what you wanted. B. Complain and write on here how its not like Disney version which of course its not it was like almost 20 years before even Disney made theirs. Last but not least C. All the above stated.

Now to people who actually remember this as a child or had fond memories of seeing this when it aired on PBS have usually high regards to this adaptation from the BBC. That is one thing I really do miss is quality entertainment but since the average intention spans has been mutilated by all things electronic then yes kids lose interest fast.

This series was the best so far to screen adaptation. The animated version of the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe was pretty poor. Then you had this adaptation which actually used humans and not entirely depended on animation. Then you had Disney version which was mostly computer generated animation. Which I guess for some people think equals quality entertainment. Though, I rather watch this then the Disney any day of the week. If you have a hard time watching a play then maybe this version is not for you. It has the atmosphere of sort of like play rendition in which the props and the background. Though, really they do superb job on the background,costumes, and etc. Also, I think read awhile back how people thought the White Witch who is played by Barbara Kellerman as poor choice saying she is not pretty enough to be Jadis(White Witch). I disagree entirely as a kid thought she was very beautiful and did a wonderful job as portraying Jadis. Even today when I look back and watch the show again I still think Barbara was beautiful in this and did better than any one could of considering they were tight on money for production of this. It's not like this was funded by major productions at the time it was shown on TV. Enjoy this and would recommend this edition more than Disney's trial & error of trying to create Narnia.

Review from Cyprus (2010-07-05)
I ordered this set for my godson, age 7; he has seen numerous times the 'Hollywood' version of the Prince Caspian movie and has played countless times the PC game. We also bought all 7 books and we are slowly slowly reading them - not very easy as he has just learn to read.
At first, this set did not appeal to him as the relatively recent high tech production of Prince Caspian. Kids today are spoiled with all the state of the art effects they are exposed to. He thought that Asslan moved his mouth not in line with the sounds and some of the animal-figures were not cute/successful enough and rather unattractive. He also felt that Lucy was 'too fat' and smiled too much! Suzan was also not attractive enough compared to the one he 'met' already!
However, he sat on the sofa and glued himself to the screen - and forced me to do the same, as I had to be tranlating from English to Greek - and watched the entire set in one go (afternoon/evening......)! needless to say I do not want to watch another Narnia movie for a long time!
I do reccommend this set of movies - it may be 'old fashion' in production but is worth seeing if what you are after is also the content and messages and not just the effects - which you can see in any commercial movie of this type these days.

narnia the old fashioned way (2010-04-20)
In comparison to the more modern production, this set of videos might seem a bit "hokey". Its special effects are basically equivalent to a stage production. There are almost NO film based special effects, and the few that are, are very low tech. The "Animals", are done by pure costuming.

That being said.. The Stage has not died out in the world yet! There is still something of value to it.
It sticks fairly closely to the lines in the book. A few are snipped for time reasons.
The biggest lack is really that of a missing narrator. For some obscure reason, lines that are clearly "narrated" in the book, have been shoe-horned into speaking lines by the actors.

Oddly, the other large let-down I had, was that the White Witch was supposed to be stunningly beautiful in the book; but in this film, was somewhat ugly. So it does not show the attraction of evil.

Other than that, its still a fairly good film set for children 10 and under, who arent too jaded by expecting hollywood level special effects.

British Broadcasting not as good as Disney (2010-02-14)
I was disappointed after I received Chronicles of Narnia. It was not the Disney production I saw in the theater. The story was pretty much the same; but, the special effects were not so special.

Want to See After Prince Caspian? (2009-10-03)
BBC TV drama series is noted as faithful adaptation of the novel though the special effects particularly animation were not well organized. It's sometimes painful to see the stuffed human actors which might be a letdown even for the eyes of the children. But the episodes of "Voyage of Dawn Trader" and "Silver Chair" are well produced and are thrilling. Silver Chair in particular, the quest lies more in the characters mindset and challenging even for readers and viewers.

1 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
There aren't so much striking difference between this TV version and recent film version. TV series may seem poor in the use of animation and special effects. Just be patient and view it to remember what the story was like before getting into the later episodes.

2 Price Caspian: TV version may seem too brief compared to the film one. But in this series Caspian is a boy about the age of Susan, Peter, Edmund and Lucy. I still don't see why the movie version changed the setting as an adult Prince.

3 The Voyage of Dawn Treader
That's very imteresting story, full of adventures visitng various unique islands. I cannot wait to see the coming 20 century fox version due around next year.

4 Silver Chair
It's another of great adventure story. The lead role for this story seems to be Jill Pole, performed by Camilla Power, now one of the major British Actresses. If Century Fox pursue the film adaptation who will play the role of Jill Pole may be the key. The Ending part reminds me of 1984 film version of Neverending Story.

Even the BBC series could not cover THE LAST BATTLE the last of the Narnia series because it would be too difficult to show it on the film at that time. Now techonological deadlock might be eased but I doubt the film will see the light of day.

Verdict: Faithful Adaptation
Rating: 85 out of 100
Recommended for: Narnia fans young and old.