Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) Well this was one of the hardest parts of the book series for me to read and even as a motion picture it was kind of slow. I think all the children did a better job performing in this movie than in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The animated effects were of greater quality in this installment of the miniseries as well. Again the filmmakers were very true to the story penned by Lewis and deserved commendation for that. Again my kids enjoyed the story but since it was painfully slow and at times the film didn't hold their attention quite the same as The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

I will start off by saying I love The Chronicles of Narnia books. They have fascinating characters, interesting stories and the enchanting world we know as Narnia. Now I grew up with these BBC adaptations, while I am more familiar with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there are many good things as well about Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I do agree it is an uneven adaptation, with Prince Caspian being inferior to Voyage of the Treader, but there is a lot to like.

There are certainly improvements over The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. One is that while Susan is given little to do, Edmund's voice takes a while to get used to and Lucy has a tendency to whine, the children's acting is vastly improved. Two, the special effects while nothing special are an improvement as well, some looked dated in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but some here looked nicely done. Both though do respect their respective stories, while Prince Caspian is too short and rushed, the details are there.

I also loved the sets and costumes here, Narnia here is almost ethereal, and out of all the costumes I loved Reepicheep's and the Magician's most of all. The music is great as well, the main theme is something I have known since forever and I am surprised at how it doesn't strike me as boring over 12 years later since first hearing it, and I loved the beautiful, haunting and elegiac quality in Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I thoroughly enjoyed the acting, even Barbara Kellerman as the Witch. Warwick Davis is really likable and refreshing as Reepicheep who has the best lines I think,a nice contrast to David Thwaites's obnoxious Eustace, and Geoffrey Baldon and John Hallam are great in their respective roles as well. In Prince Caspian, I still love Aslan, such a great character, beautifully designed and impressively voiced by Ronald Pickup. My favourite scene in Prince Caspian has to be the one in the cave with the hag and the werewolf, that is classic.

However, the adaptation is too short, so some scenes felt skimmed over, depriving them of their power. Especially in Prince Caspian, which felt very rushed as well, the duel between Peter and Miraz was a disappointment almost being completely devoid of suspense. On a plus side, I liked Jean Marc Perrett's spirited portrayal of Prince Caspian but Samuel West is even better as a more valiant King Caspian. Robert Lang is adequately menacing as Miraz as well. Voyage of the Dawn Treader though I feel is much better paced and more carefully written.

Overall, uneven but it is well worth seeing. 7/10 Bethany Cox

What is the problem with this movie?? Not the acting, which is fantastic. Not the special effects, which are quite good. Not the general feel, which manages to truly capture the spirit of Lewis's books. No, the one problem with this fairly (if not entirely, but I am a nitpicker when it comes to faithfulness) close adaptation of Lewis's classic is its length. Prince Caspian is give hardly anytime at all to unfold, and seems more of a prologue to Dawn Treader than anything else. Dawn Treader is perhaps the best adapted of the four books, as it was easily the hardest and yet done exceedingly well. However, this is unbalanced by the shortness of Prince Caspian, which is nothing if not unmemorable. For anyone who has read the books, I think most would agree that the book Prince Caspian IS a weaker entry, but still, it needed more time than this. The whole thing is rushed with so little development that people who aren't familiar with the books won't know what is going on. So, here are my ratings: Prince Caspian: 2 out of 4 stars Dawn Treader: 4 out of 4 stars Combined: 2.5 out of 4 stars

Truly, these two were much better than The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I thought was dull. Why does Caspian look so different in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader than he did in Prince Caspian? The book says it was only three years between the two events in Narnian time. In the movie, it looks like he has aged three times that much. I was picturing him to look mostly the same, a little more world-weary perhaps, though. I thought that the boy that played Caspian in Prince Caspian overdid it. On the other hand, I thought the guy that played him in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was quite good. But, alas, the action will always be the same- mediocre. The stunts were acceptable, but certainly nothing better than that. I do not like how Aslan just breathes on people or things to make them be fixed, such as Reepicheep's tail. The reason for this is because in the books, when Aslan fixes something, it just happens. Besides, when Aslan does that breathing rubbish, it looked like he was yawning. If he does have to do the breathing, at least make it look good. I would never have guessed that Reepicheep was Warwick Davis. I'm sure the cast regretted their decision to be in this movie when they found out they would have to have a mouse as a castmate, even if it was Warwick Davis. But again, the filmmakers did the best they could with their tight budget. Besides, it was '89, and not everybody can do it as good as Star Wars can!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a film was much easier to follow and understand than Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The books are even easier to understand if I put it that way. I did understand the basic elements of the movie, though, and I also thought Samuel West (Prince Caspian) was pretty attractive, so, I said "What, the hell, I might as well.) 7.8 out of 10.