The Susan - Caspian romance I would not have minded at all had Caspian not be married to Liliandil/RD in VDT... I just hate it when a character falls in love with someone in one movie, and then falls in love fore some one else in another... It drives me crazy! If it had been anyone but Caspian, I wouldn't have cared as much.

Couldn't have said it better

In LWW, for example, I absoultely love the opening scene of the bombing of London. Sure, it's one line in the book, but the expansion of it in film is an interesting way to introduce the four main characters (we are thrown into the chaos with them).

The bombing scene was a terrific opener. I also rather like the opening of TDT, (war still going on, soldiers taking ornamental iron-work to melt down for the war effort, and the recruiting office, set the scene well) even though it was about as far away from the book as you can get.

Interesting topic... Good execution and a unified vision are key for a successful adaption.

Some people are purists and hate any changes. Some people don't mind some mild changes as long as it doesn't change the story by much. Some people don't mind there being some big changes, as long as it aids the themes of the books.

I'm the one who doesn't mind mild changes to the story. I'll be ok though if there are some big changes, as long as it aids the themes.

Most of the changes that made the PC movie not enjoyable for me was the change in the characters themselves. For instance, the filmmakers wanted to give Peter something he had to go through in PC. They probably never said they were going to make him act like a jerk. I think the execution failed with the dialogue from the script, as well as the director not understanding the character enough to properly direct the actor.

Actually, the script is where a lot of the changes to characters happen. Seriously, you would think for as much as these studios are paying for these movies that they would get better script writers to write appropriate dialogue. In PC, the characters are all rude and have a mean, teen angst-like attitude. Even Reepicheep tells someone to shut up. Really? Someone got paid to write that?...

I could have put up with most of the storyline changes, but trying to watch all these characters go at each other was too much... And the "Suspian" romance was just ridiculous and uncalled for. There's NO amount of execution to make that part work in the story. It was just a BAD idea from the start...

Anyway, I'll stop ranting now.

I won't even talk about VDT. Aside from some of the set design and casting Will Poulter as Eustace, the rest is badly executed.

The biggest changes in the movies, plot-wise, are the Castle Raid and the Green Mist. I think they're quite a study in contrasts! The Raid was well thought out, worked with the plot of the film, and turned out quite impressive. I'm happy with it.

The Mist, on the other hand, is the single largest mess-up in the history of the Narnia movies. It doesn't make sense, has no explanation, it doesn't hold the plot together, and it doesn't even look good!

Erm. Not a very intelligent analysis. I'd say the execution of changes is very important. The accompanying script and the acting can help the audience to buy a change, if done well. However, it is possible for a change to be not just poorly done, but irredeemable from the start. E.g., the green mist. No amount of good acting and dialogue could have saved that bizarre piece of work.

I'm certainly no purist, but for me, I prefer the heart and soul of the story and characters to remain intact. And I'm definitely more forgiving with story changes than I am with character changes. Lord of the Rings is a prime example of that. Sure there were a lot of things in those movies that I preferred the books over, but I totally understand that they had a LOT to cram into a 11.5 hour movie and so I'm good with the majority of the changes. But the character changes still drive me up a wall. Faramir, Frodo, and Aragorn being the top three.

Moving onto Narnia, I didn't find the romance between Susan and Caspian THAT far removed from the way their characters behaved in the books. The issue I had was the way all of the other characters reacted to the romance that looked on, particularly Aslan. So it was far too Hollywoodized and the foreshadowing and meaning that it could have had (particularly with Susan's character) was lost.

Peter was butchered, and for me, that was the most heartbreaking change in all three movies. There were so many ways they could have shown him miss having the authority of being a King without turning him into the biggest bully in the universe.

The green mist could have worked imho (though they would have had to do something pretty amazing with it for me to like it ), especially since I think they intended it to be a foreshadowing of the Lady of the Green Kirtle, but it was poorly planned out, poorly crammed into the movie, and made no logical sense whatsoever. Most people I know had one of two reactions, they were completely dumbfounded, or they fell out of their chairs laughing so hard at how absurd it was.

Most of the changes that made the PC movie not enjoyable for me was the change in the characters themselves. For instance, the filmmakers wanted to give Peter something he had to go through in PC. They probably never said they were going to make him act like a jerk. I think the execution failed with the dialogue from the script, as well as the director not understanding the character enough to properly direct the actor.

I think a lot of the character problems came from the directing/acting, even more so than the script. Script writers really don't get as much leeway as we think (which is sometimes a good thing, e.g. the leaked LWW script), and often have nothing more to do than fill in outlines given to them by the producer or director... not sure how much of the case that was in PC, but we know it was Adamson's vision to have Peter's character change. I think the change could even have been acceptable, if Will had played down the arrogance factor a bit. With a slightly altered tone, some of his lines could've gone over really well.

Moving onto Narnia, I didn't find the romance between Susan and Caspian THAT far removed from the way their characters behaved in the books. The issue I had was the way all of the other characters reacted to the romance that looked on, particularly Aslan.

Mm, good point, fantasia. Aslan's indifference towards that relationship hurt his character--there's no way, I think, that the book Aslan would have let that kiss slide.