The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – Blu-ray Review

November 24, 2008 – 11:21 AM --- by: Brendan Surpless

Tags: Adam Adamson, Anna Popplewell, BD-Live, C.S. Lewis, Digital Copy, Disney, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley

has an average rating of 7.2 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio
BD-Live, D-File and Much More!
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– 2008
– 144 minutes
– Disney
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Overall Verdict – Okay Film/Excellent Disc

Buy it for $22.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Brendan Surpless —

The Movie Itself is directed by Andrew Adamson (known for directing the first film). Where we ended the “Wardrobe” on a high note, “Caspian” begins by showing us a land of tumult, war and general disarray. The rightful Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) has fled from his kingdom after King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto has better plans for him. Miraz’s wife has just bore his a son thus giving making the son the eventual next in line for the throne. Upon fleeing Caspian sounds the horn calling for the Narnian’s to assist him. Little does he know that this actually calls our four main heroes from the first movie back to the land of Narnia.

Peter (William Moseley), Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edumund (Skandar Keynes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) are back living in good old London when they are magically transported to Narnia. At first glance they clearly remember the lush, vivid beaches and greens of the forest. But something doesn’t exactly look that right. Upon meeting up with Caspian, we learn that many years (compared to their one year) have passed in the land of Narnia. Asalan (Liam Neeson) is no longer around and the Narnian’s face defeat by Miraz and his group of warriors. Obviously not wanting to see the land they love dearly collapse into nothing, the four siblings band together with the Narnian’s and Caspian in hopes of taking down Miraz thus securing Narnia’s place in history. What results is a film that is good enough but certainly is nowhere near the magic of the first.

Perhaps like most big fans of the original, I went into “Caspian” with high hopes. After all the first was simply put everything that fantasy should be about. Imagination, fights, love, visuals, effects and acting. While the second doesn’t per say lose any of these qualities there with just something that didn’t quite jive with me. Perhaps it’s how the first film brilliantly combined all these aforementioned positives into a movie that was just amazing. And how this second movie falters for pretty much the first hour only becoming something I enjoyed during the second part.

The issue revolves around that the back story of Miraz and his kingdom wanting to take over Narnia. This plainly felt so forced. Never did the character of Miraz, despite good acting by Castellitto, raise himself above that standard villain who wants more and more power. Certainly maybe this how C.S. Lewis wrote the character (this I’m not sure of as I’ve never read the books so correct me here folks if he is more fleshed out in the novel), but I don’t imagine this so as all four of our main characters are fully explained (heck even smaller roles like that of one timer Caspian are drawn out).

With that said I will easily admit that once the second half of the film begins (right around 1h20min after the first attack) the movie fully had my attention. Turning from some type of standard king wanting more land to every aspect that I loved about the first (pure imagination at its finest), this is where “Caspian” brought me back. The effects are simply first rate adding to this imagination. Items like this we only think of in our minds as we read the words of Lewis. Thanks to these effects the words literally jump off the page into our eyes creating a truly amazing sequence of shots (my favorite is the water effect that Aslan creates).

Is “Caspian” a bad movie? Definitely not. Is it as good as the first? Definitely not. Is it enjoyable? Definitely. Fans of the “Wardrobe” should look at “Caspian” in this light. View the movie as sort of a somewhat shorter look at the rebuilding of Narnia (basically from 1hr20min to 2hr29 min the final run time). If fans view the film in this light, I’m confident in saying that you’ll come out with the same feelings I did.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte Blu-ray Disc). Having been filmed using Carl Zeiss Lenses according to iMDB, the 35mm film print makes a great transfer to hi-definition. At first glance the color palette showcases somewhat muted colors due to the darker shots of the castle and night sequences. This made me wonder if “Caspian” was going to contain as great a transfer as “Wardrobe“. Well low and behold the answer is a resounding yes. Once the four heroes are transported to the land of Narnia, the image contains amazing “3-D pop” and all around excellent detail. Want proof? Simply pause any shot where the four are running around the beaches and try and look for any defect in the image. Here the color palette contains rich and vibrant yellows and blues of the sand and ocean respectively. There is no color that runs too bright. Detail is also quite excellent throughout. Take a look at the sequence with the water god that Aslan summons toward the end. Even though this is obviously a CGI creation, the detail in the bridge and the actual faces of the warriors is stunning. Fleshtones are also accurate and don’t appear to have been overly pumped up. Contrast levels are fine as well. All in all this is a perfect transfer that screams hi-def. An easy “5 Star Rating” giving the folks at Disney two big holiday wins with this and “Wall-E“.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Dialogue is kept in check with no instance of drop out or muddled dialogue. Dynamics are active throughout the film even during some of the more quieter moments. The soundfield is also great with constant 360 degree activity giving us a real sense of atmosphere and a ‘you’re there’ feeling. Speaking of a ‘you’re there’ feeling, take a listen to the scene where the ground collapses. The LFE in this sequence is powerful giving us a quality boom, boom, boom. One of my all time favorite demo sequences comes when the second battle begins. As the catapults launch stones into the lands of Narnia, I was taken back to a similar catapult launching sequence from “Kingdom of Heaven“. Both of these scenes featured an excellent LFE with deep, booming bass. The film’s score is once again done by Harry Gregson-Williams. Here Williams provides us with another truly great score, one of which captures each and every theme and emotion in great unison. All in all this earns a solid “4.5 Star Rating“.

Bonus Materials are presented in full 1080p High Definition video with English Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio.

Disc 1 contains:

• “BD-Live“: While not available at the time of this writing, the BD-Live content promises to include many interactive features.

• Circle-Vision Interactive: Creating the Castle Raid: Having seen this feature demoed out while in Hollywood, CA this past October, the main purpose behind Circle-Vision is to give the viewer an in-depth look at the big battle. The way this feature works is that the viewer can click on numerous parts of the screen. Information is given via behind-the-scenes clips and cast interviews.

• Audio Commentary with Director Andrew Adamson and actors Ben Barnes, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes and William Moseley: All five participants sit down for a rather engaging track. Mostly filled with ‘remember that day’ moments instead of technical aspects of the film, fans will enjoy this track.

Disc 2 contains:

• The Bloopers of Narnia: At 3min6sec here we get the standard run of the mill bloopers.
• Deleted Scenes: Here we get 11min15sec of deleted scenes with optional introduction by director Adamson. Most of the scenes are actually quite interesting but one can understand why they were cut out of the film’s already length 150min runtime.
• Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns: At 34min45sec this is an excellent feature that chronicles (pun intended) the journey of creating the second film in the series.
• Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to Life: At 23min44sec in length here we get a look into how the words of C.S. Lewis were adapted for the big screen.
• Big Movie Comes To A Small Town: Running 23min19sec this feature looks into how a small town (Slovenian town of Bovec) was transformed when a big Hollywood film came to town.
• Previsualizing Narnia: Running 10min9sec this feature gives us a look into how the use of CGI and various technologies helped capture all the elements of the movie.
• Talking Animals and Walking Trees: The Magical World of Narnia: At 4min51sec here we get a look into how the various creatures and effect shots were accomplished.
• Secrets of the Duel: At 6min46sec in length here we get a look into how the duel between Miraz and Peter was shot.
• Becoming Trumpkin: At 4min48sec this feature shows us how actor Peter Drinklage became Trumpkin.
• Warwick Davis: The Man Behind Nikabrik: At 11min8sec this features glances into how the actors felt while creating and shooting the film.

Disc 3 contains:

• D-File: This is Disney’s digital copy of the film, which works on either Windows Media Player or iTunes.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.