Posted on 05/17/2008 3:52:14 AM PDT by paudio
My Christian friend took her 6 yr old and 9 yr old—said the violence was pretty bloodless—she said a sword was withdrawn from someone’s side at one point and it looked like it had just been polished!
I will take my 9 yr old and my 11 yr old, not my 5 yr old.
In all my years of reading C.S. Lewis, this is the first time I've ever heard this. It's probably another delusion dreamed up by Walter Hooper and finally "discovered" amongst the mythical pile of Lewisiana rescued by the noble Hooper from Warnie's bonfire.Lewis wrote the Narnia Chronicles so that they would express the qualities of the seven heavens of the medieval cosmos, which he deemed "spiritual symbols of permanent value." "Caspian" was his Mars book.
Learn something new every day . . .
I took on the research; Wikipedia directed my attention to the above book. Like I say, learn something new . . .Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Michael Ward (Hardcover - Jan 15, 2008) Product Description
For over half a century, scholars have laboured to show that C. S. Lewis's famed but apparently disorganised Chronicles of Narnia have an underlying symbolic coherence, pointing to such possible unifying themes as the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins, and the seven books of Spenser's Faerie Queene. None of these explanations has won general acceptance and the structure of Narnia's symbolism has remained a mystery.Michael Ward has finally solved the enigma. In Planet Narnia he demonstrates that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings (including previously unpublished drafts of the Chronicles), Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets - - Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn - - planets which Lewis described as "spiritual symbols of permanent value" and "especially worthwhile in our own generation".
Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the Chronicles so that in each book the plot-line, the ornamental details, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality. The cosmological theme of each Chronicle is what Lewis called 'the kappa element in romance', the atmospheric essence of a story, everywhere present but nowhere explicit. The reader inhabits this atmosphere and thus imaginatively gains connaitre knowledge of the spiritual character which the tale was created to embody.
Planet Narnia is a ground-breaking study that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the Chronicles, but of Lewis's whole literary and theological outlook. Ward uncovers a much subtler writer and thinker than has previously been recognized, whose central interests were hiddenness, immanence, and knowledge by acquaintance.
My friend took her four children to see it and they LOVED it. The youngest was a little girl, 3. The oldest was 9. They weren’t disturbed or scared and my friend is very protective of them. Even the 3-year-old was spellbound and clapped at the end. My friend said it was the best movie she saw all year and she goes at least 2-3 times a month.
Very appreciative of that information.
Have a four year old great niece - but not sure this would be good for her or not.
I am going to see it tonight with some friends - adults - and will decide about appropriateness for the four year old. Maybe wait on it for her.
Thanks to all who have contributed to this review thread.
I'd never heard that before! I know C. S. Lewis wrote a Space Trilogy, the first two books of which concentrating on Mars and Venus, I haven't read the third one, so I'm not sure about it.
It's rated PG. Our kids went to see it yesterday, and our son said there was a lot of stabbing, slashing, but no blood. There was a decapitation, but it was sort of assumed, with the sword coming down, and the guy's head looking a little off to the side, but not too gory. I'd think that kids 8 and up would be OK with it.
There are battle scenes, but no bloodshed; fantasy violence. I'd think it would be OK for 8 years olds and up, especially if the parents attended too, and could talk about it later with the kids.
earth, its about earth
This film is already in trouble.
19.3 million opening Friday.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/
To put this in perspective, this is how it stacks up against the opening days of its genre competition:
Harry Potter/Order of the Phoenix: 44 million
HP/Goblet Of Fire: 40 million
HP/Prisoner of Azkaban: 38 million
People, you need to start seeing this film pronto. If it earns in the 120-140 million range for final gross, like its pacing to do, it’ll be a franchise killer.
I didn't know that - that's interesting!
That said, when I think back on the movies I saw as a child (in the late 50s, early 60s), I think you're right. 8 year olds would be fine. When I was 7-8, I went to serials in a broken down movie theater in California where we saw various old sterling old hits such as Ivanhoe. People were always getting slaughtered, and you never saw much blood - but you realized that the bad guy was over and out.
If I had to describe the violence this movie, I'd say it was like pre-1950s movie violence, just a lot more high-tech.
Michael Ward's imaginative depiction of what he imagines took place in Lewis's mind is still just that, an imaginative depiction.
Book got awfully good reviews, including from heirs of C.S. Lewis. One of the reviews suggested that skepticism was an appropriate starting point in reading the book - but said that his own skepticism had been demolished by the author's arguments.Sounds like something I'd enjoy reading . . .
I confess I hadn't noticed that the author of the article starting this thread and the author of the book I referenced were one and the same. At any rate, my mind is open on the subject.
Yep. That's why I posted this thread... Surprised that I didn't find any review of the movie when I did search. I want to see all the movies get made.
A lot of viewers on Amazon are saying it was crummy, too.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JPH2
Examples:
The Dumbing Down of Narnia! C. S. Lewis Would Be Spinning In His Grave!
Average film in an average franchise
Lots of effects, but where's the magic?
A letdown
Good and bad
We had a lousy time
I saw Prince Caspian last night with two young adult males. We loved the message and the cinematography. One of the young men thought the role of Peter is miscast but overall, it’s very well done and I’d highly recommend it if you like the fantasy genre. I think it’s too intense for children under nine, especially if they don’t usually see violent movies. Kudos to Disney for continuing to take on these especially challenging projects of good vs. evil with demanding special effects requirements.
From Ted Baehr’s Movieguide site:
http://www.movieguide.org/index.php?s=reviews&id=7764
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN
Fantastic Epic Adventure THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN
Quality: Four Stars —Wholesome
Released: May 16th, 2008
Starring: Georgie Henley, Skandar Kernes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage, Pioerfrancesco Favino, Sergio Castellito, Warwick Davis, and the voices of Liam Neeson and Eddie Izzard
Genre: Adventure Fantasy
Audience: All ages
Rating: PG
Runtime: 140 minutes
Content:
(CCC, BBB, VV, N, M) Very strong Christian worldview stresses the appearance and faith in the Christ figure of Aslan with very strong moral elements of sacrifice, loyalty, honesty, truth, and justice extolled; no foul language; strong action violence but no blood includes archers shoot pointblank, many battle sequences, people dying in battle sequences, hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, catapults, and a full range of military and martial arts displayed, man slaps dwarf, witch cuts man’s hand, drownings, assassination, people hit and beaten, creatures and animals attack people, and people attack and kill creatures and animals; no sex; upper male nudity for male centaurs, minotaurs and mythical creatures; no apparent alcohol; no smoking; and, evil king kills brother, conspiracy against evil king.
Summary:
PRINCE CASPIAN is the second book in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C. S. Lewis, which tells how Aslan comes to the aid of the Pevensie children, who are helping a prince lead Narnia in a fight against his evil uncle who is trying to kill all the Narnians. PRINCE CASPIAN is a very exciting, redemptive epic in the tradition of LORD OF THE RINGS.
Review:
PRINCE CASPIAN is a very exciting, fantastic epic in the tradition of LORD OF THE RINGS. Right up front it needs to be noted that the book has been re-imagined to make the movie. In most cases, this re-imagining has helped the drama considerably. Better yet, the filmmakers have kept the integrity of and even highlighted the theological points C. S. Lewis was trying to make. One would hope that C.S. Lewis would be happy with the cinematic changes, although he was very critical of movies in general.
There are, however, a few minor divergences where media wisdom is required. So, don’t expect to see the book when you come to the movie. Expect to see a wonderful movie that retains the faith of the book.
The movie opens with Prince Caspian learning that his evil Uncle, Miraz, who killed his father to get power, has just had a son. Now that he has an heir, Uncle Miraz can kill Caspian. Caspian’s tutor, Dr. Cornelius, hastens Caspian out of the castle and tells him to ride for the woods because the human Telmarine soldiers are afraid of the Narnian creatures in the woods. This time, however, they pursue Caspian into the woods.
Caspian gets knocked off his horse into the hands of two dwarves, Trumpkin and Nikabrik. Through the dwarves, Prince Caspian meets the creatures of Narnia. In the process of his escape, he blows Susan’s horn, which calls the four Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, back to Narnia from World War II London, and even calls Aslan.
The children find their Narnia castle in ruins. 1,300 years have past in Narnia time since they ruled in Narnia, although only one year has past in earth time. The evil Telmarines are destroying Narnia. It is up to Prince Caspian and the four kings and queens to take the small ragtag army of Narnian creatures and fight against the fascist armies of the Telmarines. They are hoping and praying for Aslan to come to their aid. Aslan, for those who don’t know, is the Christ figure, the son of the Emperor Beyond the Sea.
The message of the book is the message of the Book of Acts: How does one have faith in God, in the person of Jesus Christ, after His ascension. The book’s strong faith message remains in the movie, but it has been re-organized so that Lucy is the only one who sees Aslan until a critical point in the story, unlike the book where each one meets Aslan in his own faith walk. Some of this reorganization makes it appear as if the battles are within the province and capability of the Pevensies, Caspian and other Narnians, but ultimately, it is God who determines the course of the Narnian civilization.
C. S. Lewis believed as the Bible says that through Jesus Christ God is redeeming all Creation. He sees the creatures as being redeemed along with the people. The creatures have their faith battles too. The movie clearly rejects evil, in the person of the bad Miraz and in the appearance of the White Witch, who was defeated in the first movie. The movie contains a lot of sword fighting and action, which are reminiscent of the swashbuckling epics of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The most problematic point is the fact that Susan and Lucy fight in the movie. C. S. Lewis believed that women should not fight, but the good news is that the filmmakers have chosen to be discreet about the women’s battle sequences. Even better news is that I had a long conversation with writer/director Andrew Adamson, and he decided not to use the wild party that Bacchus throws in the book. Andrew rightly believed that it was not appropriate to show children drinking wine at a raucous feast.
Despite some minor loose ends in the movie, the plot points are clear, the emotion is intense, the audience cheered and laughed at the right points, and even hard-hearted critics loved the movie. PRINCE CASPIAN should be a tremendous hit since 100 million copies of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA have been printed.
MOVIEGUIDE® commends the filmmakers for being faithful to the book’s themes. They turned a difficult plot into a terrific, exciting epic adventure.
In Brief:
PRINCE CASPIAN is loosely based on the second book in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, the great fantasy series by C. S. Lewis. Told in chronological order, the movie shows Prince Caspian escaping his evil Uncle Miraz, who killed Caspian’s father. Through two dwarves, Trumpkin and Nikabrik, Caspian meets the creatures of Narnia. In the process of his escape, he blows Susan’s horn, which calls the four Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, back to Narnia from World War II London. The children find that Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines, led by Miraz. While praying for Aslan, the Christ figure, to come to their aid, Prince Caspian and the children lead a ragtag army against the Telmarines.
PRINCE CASPIAN is an exciting, fantastic epic in the tradition of LORD OF THE RINGS. Despite some loose ends, it re-imagines the book’s story, which is about having faith in God through the Christ figure of Aslan. Ultimately it is God who determines the future of Narnia. MOVIEGUIDE® commends the filmmakers for being faithful to the book’s spiritually uplifting, redemptive themes. They turned a complex plot into an exciting adventure.
Address Comments To:
Robert Iger, President/CEO
The Walt Disney Company
(Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films)
Dick Cook, Chairman
The Walt Disney Studios
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
Phone: (818) 560-1000
Website: www.disney.com
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Andrew Adamson
Executive Producer: Perry Moore
Producer: Andrew Adamson, Mark Johnson and Philip Steuer
Writer: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
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