Chronicles of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian (2008)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Fantasy	Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	143:54
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (78:23)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Andrew Adamson
Studio Distributor	Walden Media Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Ben Barnes Georgie Henley Skandar Keynes William Moseley Anna Popplewell Sergio Castellitto Peter Dinklage Warwick Davis
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Harry Gregson-Williams

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Czech Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Slovak Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 1.0 (96Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Czech Hungarian Slovak Czech Audio Commentary Hungarian Audio Commentary Slovak Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Following on from the massive success of The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (which took more than $700m in global box office) there was always going to be another film made in the series and this film The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian is the result. This film is based on the second book published in the series of seven by C S Lewis although some would argue that the stories should be told in a different order to that in which the books were published. Strictly chronologically (from a story perspective) Prince Caspian is actually the fourth book and should follow The Horse & his Boy. Regardless, this story stands on its own, certainly in the way it is presented in this film. 

    There has been some controversy about the fact that the story here has been changed somewhat from the book to make it more action focused and less mystical/religious. I have not read the book myself so cannot comment, however, I believe the story here is told well and makes for an entertaining and easy to follow film. This film exceeds the quality of the previous film in the series, to my mind, as it is better paced and does not flag as the first film did from time to time.

    This time around chronicles the return to Narnia of the four Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund & Lucy (all played by the same young actors from the first film) after a short time in the real world but after 1300 years in Narnia. They arrive on a beach in Narnia and notice the ruins of a Castle on the cliffs above them. After entering the ruins they realise that it is the ruins of their palace from their first trip to Narnia, Cair Paravel. This is when they realise that much more time has passed in Narnia than in England. They also quickly realise that Narnia is no longer the glorious and happy kingdom that they left, in fact, it now comes under the dominion of neighbouring kingdom, Telmarine. That kingdom is ruled by a murderous usurper, Miraz who killed his own brother to take over the throne, although he is officially only the regent until his brother's son, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) comes of age.

    When Miraz's wife has a son of their own it is obvious to Caspian's tutor that his life is in danger and he sends the boy into Narnia with Susan's horn (from the first movie). It is the blowing of this horn which brings the four Pevensie children back to Narnia. Meanwhile, with the aid of some dwarves including Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), Caspian makes contact with the creatures of Narnia who have been driven underground by the Telmarines. He forms an alliance with them to rid the kingdom of his evil uncle and bring them out of hiding. Soon, he joins up with Peter and the others to form an army. Now, they must work together against big odds to rid the kingdom of evil and restore Narnia to its former glory.

    Whilst not quite as successful at the box office as its predecessor, this film still managed to rake in $419m at the global box office (#9 for 2008) and will certainly continue to earn revenue on DVD from sales and rentals. The combination of magnificent New Zealand and Eastern European locations with some excellent special effects and creatures makes this a rollicking fantasy adventure which is probably best suited to the young teen market and adults who remember the books with fondness or just like a good fantasy adventure film. The acting by the mostly unknown ensemble is very good with Ben Barnes doing a good job as Caspian is his first major film role.

    This is a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy film with exciting action sequences, some moments of comedy (watch out for the cat) and high production values. It is a worthy follow up to the first film and improves on it in some ways. I am certainly looking forward to the next one, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  

    Highly Recommended.

Video

    The video quality is excellent. There is absolutely nothing to complain about. Another excellent Disney transfer.

    The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture was extremely clear and sharp throughout.

    The colour was excellent and dark scenes showed loads of detail. The blacks were very deep and solid.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English, English for the hearing impaired, Czech, Hungarian & Slovak. The non-English languages also have commentary subtitles. They are clear, easy to read and very close to the spoken word

    The layer change occurs at 78:23 and is not noticeable.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is excellent despite a lower than optimal bitrate.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 384 Kb/s, the same in Czech, Hungarian & Slovak, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio descriptive soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s and a commentary Dolby Digital 1.0 track encoded at 96 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand although some of the actors accents were a little difficult to decipher.

    The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is wonderful, majestic and exciting.

    The surround speakers were in constant use for battle scenes and generally for creating an immersive sound field.

    The subwoofer was also used a lot for fights, horse carriages and the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    This is the standard one disc edition. There is also a two disc version with more extras along with a Blu-ray version.

Menu

    The menu included an intro, music and a very nice design.

Audio Commentary - Director Andrew Adamson with cast members Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley & Anna Popplewell

    This is a very good commentary track which is relaxed and good natured. There is a good mixture of light jokiness and interesting information such as shooting issues, stunts, locations, changes from the book, cut scenes, sets, construction and production design. Well worth a listen.

    The equivalent Region 1 release is exactly the same as this release other than language & subtitles differences.

    This title is also available on Blu-ray both here and in the US.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is excellent.

    This 1 disc edition only has an audio commentary in the extras department although it is a good quality one.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall