Prince Caspian
Mar. 15th, 2009 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
verity83Well, the dude and his friend who were to come at some point today have yet to show. He called me last week to say he needed to get measurements for his best man so they could know what size they needed to order. First of all, I think that's just bizarre, because anywhere you rent a suit, I would THINK the proprietors would take care of the sizing for you. Second of all, he lives in Bend and I'm clueless why his friend, who apparently lives here, can't just come on his own?
I'm kind of hoping he doesn't show up, because it's really a pointless job for me. Still, it's annoying to have to hang around waiting for him to appear.
We did a double feature. We did a slightly strange double feature. We rented "Prince Caspian" (the Disney one from last year) and then watched the BBC version of "Prince Caspian".
I'm fascinated by the contrast. While I felt the BBC was generally more faithful to the book inasmuch as I can remember, it was insanely short. Still, I think it takes talent to condense into about half an hour what Disney told in grand, lush glory in two and a half hours.
Disney's, naturally, was chock-full of special effects and Lord-of-the-Ringsian-ness. I was like, what's with making Caspian look like a copy of Elijah Wood? CASPIAN WAS BLOND. Thank you. And very young. Still, I was surprised that it actually was quite good with Christian themes intact. The story was pretty close to the book, but it was massively rearranged to suit the flow they needed for all the additional battle scenes they decided to throw in. Aslan was pretty good. I could tell he was animated, but he was certainly no worse than BBC's stuffed one. Liam Neeson was a good choice for his voice, that's for sure.
Biggest complaint? The retardedness of Susan/Caspian having the gazing fests, and also the song that played at the end, which seemed to belittle the reality of what just happened.
The scene where they called up the White Witch... I actually found the Disney one less bothersome on that scale, weirdly enough. Perhaps because it really brought home the point that sin is seductive and alluring. BBC rushed through the scene and repeatedly used the term "calling up". Okay, so that's what they did in both versions, but less emphasis on the spiritist-calling-up aspect is good by me, thanks.
Between the two, I'm not sure which I'd choose. The simplicity and straightforwardness of the BBC version appealed to me, but there were certain things about the Disney one that were excellent as well.
I know they're planning to release Dawn Treader either this year or next. We're curious whether they plan to do the entire series. Does anyone know? BBC stopped at "The Silver Chair". I'm thinking that if they plan to do all of them, they should really do "The Last Battle" and "The Horse and His Boy" soon before the kids all get too old for the parts.
I'm kind of hoping he doesn't show up, because it's really a pointless job for me. Still, it's annoying to have to hang around waiting for him to appear.
We did a double feature. We did a slightly strange double feature. We rented "Prince Caspian" (the Disney one from last year) and then watched the BBC version of "Prince Caspian".
I'm fascinated by the contrast. While I felt the BBC was generally more faithful to the book inasmuch as I can remember, it was insanely short. Still, I think it takes talent to condense into about half an hour what Disney told in grand, lush glory in two and a half hours.
Disney's, naturally, was chock-full of special effects and Lord-of-the-Ringsian-ness. I was like, what's with making Caspian look like a copy of Elijah Wood? CASPIAN WAS BLOND. Thank you. And very young. Still, I was surprised that it actually was quite good with Christian themes intact. The story was pretty close to the book, but it was massively rearranged to suit the flow they needed for all the additional battle scenes they decided to throw in. Aslan was pretty good. I could tell he was animated, but he was certainly no worse than BBC's stuffed one. Liam Neeson was a good choice for his voice, that's for sure.
Biggest complaint? The retardedness of Susan/Caspian having the gazing fests, and also the song that played at the end, which seemed to belittle the reality of what just happened.
The scene where they called up the White Witch... I actually found the Disney one less bothersome on that scale, weirdly enough. Perhaps because it really brought home the point that sin is seductive and alluring. BBC rushed through the scene and repeatedly used the term "calling up". Okay, so that's what they did in both versions, but less emphasis on the spiritist-calling-up aspect is good by me, thanks.
Between the two, I'm not sure which I'd choose. The simplicity and straightforwardness of the BBC version appealed to me, but there were certain things about the Disney one that were excellent as well.
I know they're planning to release Dawn Treader either this year or next. We're curious whether they plan to do the entire series. Does anyone know? BBC stopped at "The Silver Chair". I'm thinking that if they plan to do all of them, they should really do "The Last Battle" and "The Horse and His Boy" soon before the kids all get too old for the parts.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-16 01:23 am (UTC)Out of the BBC versions, I have only seen "The Silver Chair" so I really cannot compare them to the Disney ones.
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Date: 2009-03-16 06:18 pm (UTC)I agree on Dawn Treader... excellent. I'm interested to know what makes "The Horse and His Boy" stand out to you - that was the one I found hardest to get through. I really liked parts of it... but other parts seemed slow.
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Date: 2009-03-16 06:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-16 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-19 06:54 pm (UTC)It was weird seeing Caspian so much older; but again, they made it work. (Except for the Susan thing, which WAS weird.) I really liked how the Telmarine culture was so clearly Spanish-descended. As descendents of pirates, it's totally believable. And, although it may have an overal LotR feel, the Spanish culture was one of the few that those movies did not use in giving each Middle-earth culture its own look. For my brothers and me the difference was marked, a subtle and excellent thing.
The White Witch scene... I liked it. It was intense and horrifying, as it should have been. (I have a higher threshold for bothersomeness.) When the book was written, most of its audience would have had an ingrained cultural horror of witchcraft; the mention of "calling up" a spirit was just about enough. The culture nowadays really has no such taboo, so the wrongness of it must be communicated differently. I thought that it worked extremely well in that sense, for the viewer can feel both the terrible attraction and the fear and danger.