The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: 4-Disc Extended Edition

Review By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com

Wow. The team behind last winter’s fantasy blockbuster The Chronicles of Narnia have gone all Lord of the Rings on us and have just released a four-disc box set, which features an extended version of the film and loads of special features. While the LOTR extended box sets featured two discs containing the movie and two disks of special features, Narnia’s extended edition fits on one disk, so we get three full disks of special features. It would take me ages just to name them all.

I did my best to watch all of the features, although I admit some were either skipped or abbreviated. I figured I could either write this review before the end of 2006, or I could watch everything and write the full review in roughly 2038.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m usually of the camp that likes his special features piled on. But all this? Dare I say it’s – overkill?

Well first, let me backtrack and talk about the actual movie. I saw it last year in theaters and loved it. Sure, it can accurately be described as Lord of the Rings Lite, but it’s meant to be a family film, and it wholeheartedly succeeds. I gladly allowed myself to be transported into the years of my youth when I first read the novel and was about the age of young Lucy. I really wanted to be a Pevensie brother. Hearing “Aslan” really did give me chills. The prospect of being turned to stone for all eternity really was terrifying.

It’s an extraordinarily well-made movie, which takes little risks – and let’s face it, in a story like this, that’s a good thing – and succeeds in moving us. The outer drama of Narnia is matched by the smaller drama of four children realizing that they’re a family. All in all, it’s a perfectly wholesome epic.

The extended version makes relatively minor additions, unlike the Lord of the Rings sets that add at least a half hour apiece. Upon watching the film, I must admit I didn’t particularly notice anything different. So I cheated. Online, the consensus seems to be that about eight minutes have been added, none of it particularly necessary. The review up at NarniaWeb.com reports additions such as “There are more shots of the Pevensies following Mr. Beaver, including a moment where Lucy gives Peter a nervous look.” Wow – I can’t believe I didn’t notice the difference.

In other words, talk of this edition being “extended” is pretty much a sham. What’s more, the two commentaries on here – one with director Andrew Adamson and the four Pevensie stars, and one with Adamson, production designer Roger Ford, and producer Mark Johnson – are all recycled from the original DVD release.

So we move on to the real treat ...