'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' has always been my personal favourite of CS Lewis' fabulous 'The Chronicles of Narnia' series. Ever since being a little girl, the story captivated me and it still does. The characters are timeless too, Aslan and the White Witch especially, and actually find the book more fascinating, with the allegorical and religious elements more noticeable through young adult eyes.
As said before, the 1988 BBC version of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' was a family favourite growing up (actually was fond of all the BBC 'Chronicles of Narnia' adaptations, with this being my most watched). Still have a soft spot for it, but its flaws are more apparent now. While outweighed by the good things in my view, the flaws are not small or easy to ignore. There is a lot to like about this fourth part, but for me this is one of the weaker parts of the adaptation and with fairly similar reasons to the previous part.
Once again, the beavers costumes look ridiculously goofy and it has always been difficult to take the characters or their performances seriously properly. The second half is better than the first, which tended to drag and takes a little too long to get going.
Barbara Kellerman's performance was definitely memorable as a child and she actually struck me as scary when younger. Seeing the adaptation when older, she still has the memorability factor and mostly she doesn't come off too badly in this episode. She looks wonderful and looks the part of a chilling ice queen that one doesn't want to mess with, though she is not without moments of lack of subtlety, the character is not a subtle one but have always found the scene with her fury at the animals dining over-acted in an unintentionally campy way.
Enough of the episode looks fine however. The Narnia scenery is still wondrous and foreboding as ought and the witch's castle still looks freaky today. Of the costumes, the White Witch's is the clear standout. It's nicely shot again. The music is still gentle and haunting, and the main theme unforgettable.
Like the previous three episodes, the dialogue and storytelling are very close to the book. The momentum does pick up after a start that is on the slow side. Maugrim journeying to the hut (accompanied by some of the best music of the adaptation), him inside it and the Father Christmas scenes are the episode's standout moments.
Jonathan R Scott, though Richard Dempsey, Sophie Cook and Sophie Wilcox (who does not deserve the personal comments made about her) got better and better with each episode, and Martin Stone stand out here and did think apart from one scene that Kellerman is better here than in the previous episode. Father Christmas' acting is spot on too.
Summarising, good. 7/10
As said before, the 1988 BBC version of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' was a family favourite growing up (actually was fond of all the BBC 'Chronicles of Narnia' adaptations, with this being my most watched). Still have a soft spot for it, but its flaws are more apparent now. While outweighed by the good things in my view, the flaws are not small or easy to ignore. There is a lot to like about this fourth part, but for me this is one of the weaker parts of the adaptation and with fairly similar reasons to the previous part.
Once again, the beavers costumes look ridiculously goofy and it has always been difficult to take the characters or their performances seriously properly. The second half is better than the first, which tended to drag and takes a little too long to get going.
Barbara Kellerman's performance was definitely memorable as a child and she actually struck me as scary when younger. Seeing the adaptation when older, she still has the memorability factor and mostly she doesn't come off too badly in this episode. She looks wonderful and looks the part of a chilling ice queen that one doesn't want to mess with, though she is not without moments of lack of subtlety, the character is not a subtle one but have always found the scene with her fury at the animals dining over-acted in an unintentionally campy way.
Enough of the episode looks fine however. The Narnia scenery is still wondrous and foreboding as ought and the witch's castle still looks freaky today. Of the costumes, the White Witch's is the clear standout. It's nicely shot again. The music is still gentle and haunting, and the main theme unforgettable.
Like the previous three episodes, the dialogue and storytelling are very close to the book. The momentum does pick up after a start that is on the slow side. Maugrim journeying to the hut (accompanied by some of the best music of the adaptation), him inside it and the Father Christmas scenes are the episode's standout moments.
Jonathan R Scott, though Richard Dempsey, Sophie Cook and Sophie Wilcox (who does not deserve the personal comments made about her) got better and better with each episode, and Martin Stone stand out here and did think apart from one scene that Kellerman is better here than in the previous episode. Father Christmas' acting is spot on too.
Summarising, good. 7/10
