Customer Reviews

The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Preparing for their summer, Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund suddenly find themselves summoned back to Narnia. A lot has changed since they were last there, centuries have passed, and many humans of Narnia no longer believe in Aslan, dwarves or talking animals. Among those who do, though, is Prince Caspian, future King of Narnia. Caspian's uncle is trying to kill him, and he needs the children's help. [Color, originally aired in 1989, with a running time of 1 hour.]

The second story picks up Lucy and Edmund visiting their cousin Eustace. When the three children are drawn into Narnia, they join an adult King Caspian on his quest to discover the fate of seven of his father's counselors who were banished under the regime of King Miraz. Adventure and lessons await the children and the crew of the Dawn Treader! [Color, originally aired in 1989, with a running time of 2 hours.]

These movies (actually three television episodes) appear to be based quite closely on C.S. Lewis's books of the same titles, though I must admit that I haven't read the books for a long time. Overall, I found the acting better in these movies, and the special effects much better. (Also, the character Reepicheep is played by Warwick Davis, the star of the movie Willow.)

Once again, I liked the lessons that these movies taught, and the Christian themes that run through it. My children enjoyed watching it (an important consideration), and we all liked discussing it. I think that this is a great family movie, one that I highly recommend to you!

Granted, the special effects in the BBC's adaptation of the C.S. Lewis Narnia series are minimalist. The animatronics of Aslan, the original lion king, are less than what Abraham Lincoln was doing in the Hall of Presidents at Disneyland forty years ago. But somehow in the final analysis that does not really matter for enjoying either "Prince Caspian" or "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." All of the kids who end up in the magical land of Narnia treat Aslan as if he was real and the production has great costumes and above average sets. Beyond all that, the stories are enthralling enough that the limitations of the special effects end up being rather inconsequential.

"Prince Caspian" finds Lucy (Sophie Wilcox), Edmund (Jonathan R. Scott), Susan (Sophie Cook), and Peter (Richard Dempsey) return to Narnia, not through the wardrobe but in response to the call of Prince Caspian (Jean Marc Perret), the nephew of the King Miraz, the despot who is now ruling the land. The evil king wants to kill Caspian, the rightful heir to the throne, and it is up to the four siblings to take up arms and magic potions to help those who follow Aslan's banner to set thing to right.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" begins with Lucy, Edmund, and their annoyingly obnoxious cousin Eustace Scrubb (David Thwaites) being drawn into a painting of the Dawn Treader. Aboard they find Caspian (Samuel West), now King of Narnia, who is on a voyage to find the seven lords of Narnia that were banished by the evil Miraz. Consequently we have a series of visits to various islands offering a whole variety of adventures, which makes this the much more ambitious story of the pair on this video (and twice as long). The major subplot is getting Eustace to grow up, stop acting like a spoiled brat, and accept the fact that this is Narnia and there is no British Consul to be found.

Some people will not be happy with the limitations of this television production, but it is a television production and certainly in keeping with the grand tradition of other BBC productions we have seen in the past. Aside from the special effects the look of the production is totally appropriate. The children tend to act like children for the most part, even when they are dressed up in armor and whacking at people with swords (think about it; that is rather hard to carry off). Yes, this production is not as good as the books they are based on, but we knew that going in boys and girls. For those who need special effects to be first and foremost, a new production is coming out soon that may rectify that supposed deficiency. But hopefully it will have the heart and soul of this one.

In the December, C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" will follow in the footsteps of Lewis' pal Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings Trilogy," with a gleaming new big-screen adaptation, full of top-notch CGI, costumes and settings.

In the months before it's released, however, it might be time to dust off the 1990 BBC adaptations of "Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader," crammed into one long movie. The first half suffers from the hokey production of the first film, but the second half blossoms into a fantastical sea voyage.

It's been months since the Pevensies went to Narnia through the wardrobe, and now they waiting for a grim summer vacation. But they don't know what changes have gone on in Narnia. Young Prince Caspian has been raised by his cold uncle King Miraz (Robert Lang) ever since his father's death, with only an old nurse and an aged part-dwarf professor as his friends.

But when Miraz's queen has a baby son, Caspian finds himself on the run, and is taken in by the "Creatures in Hiding," talking beasts and magical people. But that isn't enough to ensure victory. Caspian blows the Horn of Queen Susan, and the Pevensies are whisked back into Narnia to assist the young Prince and his ragtag army in reclaiming his throne.

No sooner have Lucy and Edmund gone to their "awful cousin Eustace"'s house, than a painting on the wall draws them in -- and deposits all three kids beside a giant Narnian ship. Caspian, now a young man, takes them on board and explains that he's on a mission to find some loyal lords who Miraz exiled from Narnia.

But the voyage only gets more dangerous, with the group being captured by slavers, consumed with greed over "gold water," taken captive by invisible creatures, attacked by sea serpents, and Eustace is even turned into a dragon when he greedily claims a treasure trove. But the greatest threat is ahead: the very edge of the world.

It's a tricky thing to take two books and mash them together into one big movie, and it's a credit to the BBC that these stories aren't completely unwatchable. In fact, they unfold at a quick but steady pace, paying plenty of attention to the individual characters. The first half has several flaws, but the second half makes up for that in drama and severity.

This is less fantastical and more battle-oriented than the first movie of this series, especially given Peter's rather flat duel with Miraz right before war breaks out. But the filmmakers take time out to dwell on the minor characters like the sailors, Reepicheep the warrior mouse, and the lovably skeptical dwarf Trumpkin. You gotta love someone called "Big Mick."

Unfortunately, the movies do suffer from some decidedly hokey special effects; dragon-Eustace shifts size and looks absurd, and Miraz's army is clad in Ye Olde Dungeone and Dragone Armoure, complete with black bat motif. Very "Batman goes to the Renaissance Faire." The special effects are redeemed somewhat with a dazzling Dawn Treader, creepy Sea Serpent, and a centaur that still looks better than "Harry Potter's."

Barbara Kellerman still cackles and squeals, and Sophie Wilcox still whines all the time. But the two Caspian actors do an excellent job with their roles, both as a young naive boy and as an experienced king. David Thwaites is the breakout role here, taking Eustace from a whiny brat who gets under everyone's skin to a mature young man who thinks of others first.

Two stories in one -- the first rather flat, the second graced with some genuine chills and heartwarming moments. "Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has some serious flaws, but it's definitely worth watching.

These two books come to life are better than the first attempt, with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Perhaps because special effects are less called for in these two books, the poor quality of the movie effects is less visible than it was in the first movie. But there are definite improvements too. The costumes look much more real- I don't think that's a person in a badger costume, I think that's a rather large badger, albeit still primitively done. It helped that in some cases they used shorter people in this movie. The centaur is superbly done, as a computer is actually used, planting a human body over a horse. There is thankfully very little of the rather silly drawings on the film that were so common-place in the first movie. And it is always a challenge to do a movie on water. With such a low budget, I was thinking they would not be able to do a convincing Dawn Treader. But it is very convincing, and very like the book's description of a small boat that can service 40 men.

The children's acting, while good in the first movie, has also improved. And the new actor, playing Eustace, greatly adds, as you feel he is a total prig, but then also feel his deep emotions as he becomes a dragon and changes through his whole being.

While most of the sets look like they are some place in England, frankly, in Lewis' mind, they probably were someplace in England. That's how he writes most of his books, from his imagination growing up, and what he had seen.

The main draw back to the movie is less authenticity and faithfulness to the texts. It happens when you put two books into one 2 hour movie. There are major sections of Prince Caspian missing, and parts that feel rushed and unexplained, leaving the first half somewhat more boring. The climatic scenes in which Aslan makes everything in Narnia set right again are missing- but again, this would have required a bigger budget to create, with trees winding over bridges and tearing them down. There is no explanation of how the humans came to dominate Narnia, or where they go afterward (as there was in the book). Some of the best theological bits from Dawn Treader are missing- as when Lucy eavesdrops on her sister, and learns from Aslan that no man is given to know what might have been. Or when Aslan has to dig his claws into Eustace the Dragon to remove the skin that Eustace can't remove himself. Two longer movies could have made these adaptations even better.

Prince Caspian (Narnia)
The Silver Chair

The story of Caspian was exceptionally good along with the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but this volume in the series is not as good as the other two. The story is worth the price -- if available and usuals keeps children interested, but is quite different than the books. Overall, the videos for Volume 2 are well worth the price, but be sure to get The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first. The entire cast of this video is quite interesting. Edmund, Lucy, Susan, and Peter are all joined to meet Prince Caspian as they have aged by several years... unfortunately Susan and Peter are not allowed to return to Narnia after they have rescued Prince Caspian from his uncle.....

-This review pertains to the original DVD release, not the remastered edition-

In 1989, the BBC produced the second and third films in their four-film series adapted from the books The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. For the most part, these films serve as faithful representations of the classic children's stories despite their miniscule budgets. The films lack the elaborate special effects of later fantasy films, but this is a very minor complaint. The series, which first aired in America as part of the WonderWorks television program on PBS, has become a fondly remembered family favorite.

Prince Caspian
One year has passed for Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy since their adventures in Narnia. While waiting for their train to arrive at the station, the four children begin to feel strangely, as though they were being beckoned to some other world. They find that they've been magically transported back to Narnia and in their absence a thousand years has passed in Narnia. Their castle lay in ruins and all those that they knew are long gone. The children come across their old Narnian possessions and then journey out into the vast forests, hoping to discover the reason for their being summoned. As they pass the river, they rescue a curmudgeonly dwarf named Trumpkin, from being drowned by villainous soldiers. Trumpkin explains that young Prince Caspian has summoned them to help him reclaim his throne from his wicked uncle, King Miraz, who killed Caspian's father and usurped his throne. Trumpkin leads the children to the hiding place of Prince Caspian and the small army of creatures that remain loyal to the young prince. The Children and the Narnians prepare for battle and arrange a duel between Peter and Miraz, and to the victor goes the throne. With the help of many creatures and talking beasts, including the brave and noble mouse Reepicheep, the Narnians defeat King Miraz and restore Caspian to the throne. But the victory is bittersweet for Peter and Susan are told that they will never return to Narnia again.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
After Edmund, Lucy, and their obnoxious cousin Eustace are pulled through a painting of a ship and land in the Narnian sea (this occurred in the last few moments of Prince Caspian), they are rescued by King Caspian who is on a voyage. King Caspian's mission is to discover the fate of seven noble Narnian lords who were sent into exile by Caspian's evil uncle, Miraz. Edmund and Lucy are thrilled to be reunited with Caspian, as well as the courageous swashbuckling mouse, Reepicheep. Eustace, on the other hand, does nothing but complain and instigate conflict with members of the ship's crew.
On the first island that they reach, Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheep are taken captive by a group of uncouth slave traders. The traders sell Caspian to a nobleman, who is revealed to be Lord Bern, one of the seven missing lords. With Lord Bern's help Caspian rescues his friends from the slave market and abolishes the slave trade.
Shortly after leaving the island, they weather a terrible storm only to have the wind die down completely, leaving them drifting in the middle of the sea. As their rations dissipate and hope of reaching an island before they starve fades, a great wind carries them a great distance and they reach another island. While everyone else searches the island for provisions, Eustace, unsurprisingly too lazy to help in any way, wanders off to avoid work. He falls asleep in a cave, which turns out to be the lair of a dragon, and when Eustace awakens he's stunned by the realization that he's become a dragon himself. After using his newfound strength and his ability to fly to aid Caspian and the crew, Aslan shows Eustace mercy and transforms him back into a human child. The crew discovers that the Lord Octesian perished on the island, either devoured by a dragon or having turned into one long ago. They leave the island behind and continue their journey to find the five remaining lords, but Eustace is far more pleasant company than before. One night a giant serpent attacks the ship, but thanks to Reepicheep's quick thinking no one is hurt. The next island they arrive at is enchanted and the water turns everything that it touches into gold. Edmund and Caspian are momentarily consumed by greed before discovering that the water claims the lives of anyone who bathes in it. They find the third Narnian lord turned into a golden statue and abruptly leave the accursed island behind.
After that they beach on an island inhabited by strange invisible creatures that want Lucy to help them become visible again. She must find a magician's spellbook and break the enchantment. After doing this she meets Coriakin, the venerable magician, who turns out to be a jovial wizard and he helps the crew repair the damage done to the ship by the sea serpent. Caspian and the others depart Coriakin's island and continue their voyage further into uncharted waters. Then they reach a deep impenetrable fog-enshrouded island where nightmares become a living reality. The crew barely escapes with their sanity intact and having rescued Lord Rhoop, whose mind is exhausted from years of living in abject terror.
Next they reach an island where a banquet table awaits them... with the three remaining lords sitting there fast asleep. Fearful of a dark enchantment, no one dares to eat from the table, but then a beautiful princess tells them that the table was put their to reward travelers with the courage to have sailed so far. Caspian, determined to revive the three sleeping lords, asks the princess how he might restore them. They are informed that they must travel to the ends of the Earth and there leave behind a member of their party. The princess introduces them to her father, Ramandu, a retired star. But the question remains: who shall be left at the world's end?

Both films, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, feature a talented cast (mostly of unknowns) including Richard Dempsey as Peter, Sophie Cook as Susan, Jonathan R. Scott as Edmund, Sophie Wilcox as Lucy, Jean Marc Perret as Prince Caspian, Robert Lang as King Miraz, Big Mick as Trumpkin, Warwick Davis as Reepicheep, David Thwaites as Eustace, Samuel West as King Caspian, Preston Lockwood as Coriakin, Gabrielle Anwar as The Princess, Geoffrey Bayldon as Ramandu, and Ronald Pickup as the voice of Aslan. Of the cast, Warwick Davis as Reepicheep is delightful, and David Thwaites is wonderful as the appropriately irritating Eustace.
Both of these classic BBC productions are sure to cast a spell on your family.

The DVD also includes a still gallery and an animated trivia challenge. All three DVDs containing the four Narnia films can be found together in a moneysaving box set, which includes beautiful artwork on the packaging. Also available is a newly remastered box set.

Also recommended:
J.R.R. Tolkien Animated Films Set
Robin of Sherwood: Set 1
Robin of Sherwood: Set 2
Alice in Wonderland
Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
Gulliver's Travels
The 10th Kingdom

I really enjoyed this televsion series when I was a young kid. The music is really inspiring, the puppets of the Lion (Aslan) and the dragon are very realistic. It doesn't have the modern 3D animation like today. But I feel the orignal film tricks and the realistic animals really made this classic C.S. Lewis's story come alive.

The DVD is in excellent condition and it is closed captioned which has made this hard of hearing person very happy!

Preface: Although I have previously reviewed BBC's "The Chronicles of Narnia" as a series (sometime ago now), I will still be reviewing each installment individually, in order to give them all the detailed, and attentive critique they deserve.
Part 2: Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. With this second installment, a joint dramatization of two more of the seven chronicles, we gt two good stories for roughly the price of one. Each story ( and film) has its own strengths and minor flaws, but by and large, I feel these are sincere, and well-made (at least for the times) films.
First off, Prince Caspian. Although this story is not a personal favorite of mine try (LWW, Voyage of the Dawn Treader for that), this is a good dramatization. The acting really is first-rate. The four children Pevensie children all perform very well, with Peter perhaps more of a standout this time around (the others are good, Peter is just really involved in the story here, and stands out in my mind.) Jean-Marc Perret features in a highly convincing, very realistic performance as young Prince Caspian, while "Big Mick", and George Claydon come on as a pair of bickering dwarves in hiding from the evil King Miraz. Along with a speaking badger voiced by Johanna David (with Julie Peters inside the costume), they have brilliant on-screen chemistry, and each delivers a near-perfect, and very characterizing performance ( the characters have chemistry, the actors have KILLER chemistry. The actor portraying Dr. Cornelius (the prince's half-dwarf teacher) delivers with great realism, sincerity and outstanding quality of performance as well. Robert Lang, a British actor who has had a good number of major roles, co-stars as the aforementioned Miraz, and is both evil, and highly unpleasant in character. Though Lang's performance is not exactly the highpoint of the film, he does more than fine, and comes across as unpleasantly, if a little humorously (thanks to the dialog)evil. Finally, kudos go once again to Barbara Kellerman, and Martin Stone who return here, rather briefly, to play two evil doers in a cave. This is the greatest highlight of the episode, as Kellerman delivers with brilliantly high-pitched zeal, and Stone in fine form (watch also for a brief shot of Cornelius being attacked and partially strangled in an ensuing battle; this is the most adult, darkly dramatic thing in the entire series, in my opinion, and shows some real effort at drama.) Rest of the cast is fine (let's all say "Ronald Pickup is Aslan"), effects are not great, though less distracting than before (possibly due to lighter use), and the ending sword fight, and battle are exiting (even if parts of the battle do look a little like fauns playing an intense game of tug-o'-war!) and the sets, props, scenery and costumes, makeup, and hair on live action performers continue to look great. Photography, atmosphere, and even some nice lighting add to a production which thrives on gentle nuance. 4/5, not the best...
Voyage: This film is absolutely magnificent. A great story combines with beautiful imagery ( that big ship, anyone), costumes, sets, props scenery, hair, make-up, screen writing and acting to make just about the best film in the series. All acting is brilliant, with special mention to David Thwaites as Eustace, and Warwick Davis as Reepicheep the mouse.
Great performances, shipboard adventures, production design and visuals, and some fine props (the cliff) and surprisingly good sea monster, and dragon special effects make this entry an all-around highpoint for the series, well done indeed! Overall verdict:classic stuff, not be missed, especially for fans of the book series. 5/5;take a good, open-minded look at this pair films. Maybe, just maybe, you will enjoy them!

Part I, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," was spectacularly done; see my review there. If only the budget had been better, it would be a five-star film for all ages.

This combination of the next two books in C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia," however, stumbles over itself often, yet there are plenty of magical, memorable moments to recommend it. Also, it is often way too "talky" for smaller children.

Regardless of its shortcomings, with its uneven story-telling and the final half-hour that seems to drag to an end rather than be the glorious climax its subject would seem to demand, no Narnia fan will want to miss it. The tales of young Prince/King Caspian and his search for the talking creatures of Narnia, the war against evil King Miraz to regain the land for the spectacular lion Aslan (a type of Christ), and later the young adult Caspian's search for the seven lost lords of Narnia, provide plenty of excitement and enjoyment and object lessons, told by memorable characters all the way round. One can forgive the choppy pacing and smarmy-cheap BBC special effects, in the end.

Certainly one would not want to skip over this to proceed on to "The Silver Chair," the third and final film in the BBC-produced series, although it and tLtWatW are clearly superior.

This movie(or rather, movies, as there are two in the set) is really cool. The first one is pretty cool, but the second: Oh my goodness. It is AWESOME! Totally cool. Of course, this is no Lord of the Rings, and it's unfortunate they don't have a few orcs or goblins in here, but its still a really good movie. It's also faithful to the books. However, I'm drooling for the big screen presentation of these movies, starting with the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.