Better than PC, but not as good as LWW:

LWW was a nice adaptation. Not flawless, but very good, and even with the changes, they kept the spirit of the original in there.

Caspian was a frustrating experience for me, because they really messed up Peter's character & changed some of the themes; and it moved so slow to me that when I was not frustrated, I was bored. After additional viewings, I was no longer bored and liked it more, but never appreciated the changes they made. I loathe what they did to Peter.

VDT is somewhere in the middle to me. It is a very good movie, that stayed true to the idea of the spiritual life and temptations. It had several changes from the book, most of which I did not care for, but did not harm the movie. They did create unanswered questions with the changes they made, all of which can be explored on other threads on this forum. I was never bored. During the sea creature scene, even though I knew it would all work out, I was still on the edge of my seat. It was thrilling to see it all on the screen. The end was very moving. They kept some strong themes of faith. I think it was close to LWW, but not quite as good. If they did not leave several open questions or make some unnecessary changes, it probably would have been equal to or better than LWW.

I think Prince Caspian was better. Although it had many changes, I agreed that most of them were necessary to translate the book into a movie. I also felt the second one spend more time building your interest rather then just quickly cutting from scene to scene. The themes, characters, and battles were all developed better in PC.

While Voyage of the Dawn Treader did a better job at capturing the spirit of the novel, Prince Caspian was simply a better movie. VotDT suffered from heavy editing, lack of development (and therefore the audience's involvement with the characters), and an unclear Dark Island plot. I also felt the messages were either rushed or forced down your throat.

I'd put it somwhere between "hmm"...Okay and "it was good".

better than PC, but does not trump LWW

It will appeal to audiences way more than PC, as for me it was just simply more entertaining, and more of a childrens movie, with more fun, magic and adventure (less extended battle scenes :/ ).

The visuals of the movie for me were...simply stunning . set, CGI, costumes and props all combined flawlessly to at times, literally take my breath away (I actually gasped as certain islands and scenes where revealed, and some of the shots of the dawn treader itself where just mind-numbingly awesome).

The acting was so-so, with stunning performances from ben, and to a slightly lesser extent skander. Georgie Henley was annoying as I knew she would be, however slightly less than I was expecting which was good (she did have some awful dialogue to deal with though, poor girl). Eustace was brilliant, his 'obnoxious face' was a tad monotonous...but that's as far with the criticism as I'm gonna get. I REALLY REALLY look forward to seeing him in SC

It does not however, trump LWW, as it has far less of the magic in it...and to be honest the main diving line between the two is the plot. In VotDT, I am sorry to say, but the description of the plot as 'convoluted' is very accurate. This, and frankly some quite awful dialogue definitely separate it from the majesty of LWW. however, it terms of the franchise, I think that hopefully it'll be quite a nice save, and should, fingers crossed, get things moving again, appealing to families and sucking children into the world of Narnia

Better than PC, not as good as LWW. PC was too far away from the spirit of the book to make a good adaptation. VDT is much much closer. LWW is much more faithful to the book material as a whole which is what gives it an edge over VDT. VDT's faithful to the book material in the parts that do not include the seven swords. LWW didn't have an "added" plotline in it. But it was definitely a good movie. I've already talked a couple people into seeing it and am hoping to talk a few more into seeing it.

I'd be tempted to vote for "Worst Narnia Film Yet!", because in the most literal sense it is. However i wouldn't like to label it with such a tag as it sounds unnecessarily harsh - i just didn't think it was as good as the previous two films.

I generally find Prince Caspian to be the most well rounded and solid movie as a standalone piece of filmmaking (and also the one that most captures the look and feel of Narnia as a real world from my imagination) and although i don't particuarly care for LWW as a movie, i do appreciate its charms and faithfulness to the source material.

There is a lot to love about VDT (when its good, its very good) but it also has alot of very frustrating deficiencies from a cinematic standard, and lacks in many areas as an adaptation and realisation of CS Lewis' work, and so yes, i would have to rate it behind both PC and LWW, and go for "Hmm, Only OK".

Guys I love narnia and I love the mythology and the books. I enjoyed this movie but I didn't feel like I was in Narnia like I was in the others. I felt like I was on a boat... or an island, or about 40 mins from my house where it was filmed Point is the real atmosphere was missing... that was right till the end and one scene saved it for me.
I really was afraid I'd walk away feeling a little unmoved by the film till the characters were speaking to Aslan at the end and I think it was the most true translation of the books I have ever seen.
Regardless, the one thing that could have made all the difference was a lense filter to add a little more atmosphere to the world. As it was, the scenes were too clean and crisp and I felt like I was watching a home movie. I did love it and I would probably see it again and I loved what they did with Reep, not so much the dragon. See if for yourself and make your own mind up.
I think everyone agrees we were all hoping for a more immersive experience in narnia. I missed what could have been done with the visuals and world and instead was distracted by the annoying green mist.
I've focused on the negatives here, but the positives were great too. I think if you go looking to be a little disapointed you'll come out pleasantly suprised but don't expect it to be what we all hoped it might be.

-How good was the film?
-How good was it in comparison to PC an LWW?

Quite good, nothing special.
PC was the better movie, LWW was the better adaptation. This had some elements that make a good movie and some parts that make a good adaptation. Sadly the two rarely met.
VDT - 7/10

I really enjoyed it, LWW is the best however. I do think this was better than PC- in terms of adaptation at least which made me enjoy it more.

LWW will always be good, because it was the ever first in the series and so is the special one . However since the films are moving along I have to say I LOVED this film of the series and put it down as great. I give it an 8/10 and makes me look foward to SC!

Wow... what a ride... and not a very good one. I definitely am going to see it again, in 2D this time. I need to process it all again. But here is my overall first impression/reaction.

In comparison to the other two films, I think this is definitely inferior. I don't think it was a terrible film, but it could have been so much better. I saw it's potential in Eustace's character and his relationship with Reepicheep, so well done and so powerful. Much of the movie left me feeling unsatisfied. It was too rushed from one island to another, without taking the time to show us the lessons the characters learned instead of hitting us over the head with them in one or two lines of dialogue. The film did what it had to to get by with being pretty entertaining and throwing in a few life-lessons. But the audience, the story, and CS Lewis, deserve so much more than that.

I saw it in 3D, and I think it would help to see it in 2D again, because things are sort of different when you watch in 3D. Half the time you are looking for things to be 3D . At any rate, here are my opinions from a half-boggled-young-lady-who-stayed-up-till-midnight-and-didn't-get-enough-sleep. (But it was worth it .)

This movie was OK. Not good, not too bad, but not spectacular. Definitely not the "Return to Magic" they keep hyping about. It actually made me really like PC the most as a movie. LWW I felt was somewhat boring after the first viewing or so (you have to take a long break before you watch it again), but with PC you get Reep and all of Edmund's amazing stunts and you can skip all the stuff you don't like. Plus, Sergio/Miraz was drop dead fantastic. He gives me the chills he's so. good. perfect.

I think Eustace is good in this film, but I think the film really has pacing issues. The green mist really bugged me too. No one says where it came from or what exactly made it go away. It seemed kind of stupid and silly, because suddenly you have a misty wormish thing wiggling around on screen and it's like *bink!* someone's about to be tempted! I really felt the temptation theme was stressed far too much and was really overly obvious.

I also miss Harry Gregson-Williams music. David Arnold is good, and it works, but the music is so much more of a background thing. It does not rouse emotions.

I know this is Fox, not Disney, and Apted, not Adamson, but this film felt really different from the other two. It makes the first two look really similar to each other. This one was just so different. The music started after the film-story part was COMPLETELY over, not like The Call and stuff which began during the end of the film (I missed that). I also missed how they don't have that introduction with "Narnia" at the beginning and then say all the actors' names. Or maybe they did and I just missed it.

I think it's an OK movie, just not as good as it could have been. I think the thing that would make me like it a whole lot more would be if they cut out the green mist.

The green mist really bugged me too. No one says where it came from or what exactly made it go away. It seemed kind of stupid and silly, because suddenly you have a misty wormish thing wiggling around on screen and it's like *bink!* someone's about to be tempted! I really felt the temptation theme was stressed far too much and was really overly obvious.

Having seen the movie I rather thought it might be the other way around. As if the existence of temptation and acknowledgement of it invites in the green mist, which then oozes in the atmosphere. In one part of the movie I noticed the green mist steals on board the Dawn Treader and everyone starts having nightmares. This was directly after Lucy's trying the spell to make her beautiful, having given in to temptation.

I wonder if so much discussion about the film prior to its release has also spoilt our perspective on it, so that, having already known about the green mist and objected to it so vociferously, we find it considerably more noticeable and irritating than we might have done. I am coming to the opinion that what the viewer brings to the viewing of a movie also influences considerably whether or not they will like it, as much as the film itself. This is why I rated the film good, not excellent, without going into comparisons with other movies, even the BBC ones, including BBC SC.

After all, all of my family enjoyed VDT the movie immensely, more so than myself, the only one who participates on these boards. This is the opposite reaction to PC when I saw it first, as we all enjoyed that one. I liked PC the movie, thought it was a great improvement on watching BBC PC, and later on when I joined discussion here, I couldn't understand the dismay and dislike shown not only by reviewers but also on board here, in particular about the Susaspian scene, the night raid, extended battles and the birth scene at the beginning.

There is another thing. As enjoyable and popular as was LWW, I hardly watch it or its BBC equivalent nowadays. I also separate LWW from the other Narnia books, since it is the 'famous' one, the one that is most truly the 'classic', and the one that not only has been shown in an animation version but also in live theatre productions, such as a puppet performance I saw in Sydney a few years ago. LWW was always going to be more popular than any other of the Narnia books, who differ in type as much as in stories. LWW is also the one most likely to be refilmed in a different version, like Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan.

The other night when watching PC after seeing VDT, I found it dragged somewhat, and that it was a little too long, which is less of a problem with this new movie. Now that I have seen VDT I find I would like to go back and see it again, and there is no doubt that I will acquire the DVD once it comes out when I will be able to compare these questions better.

It was only OK to me. The beginning of the film, up to the Lone Islands, I really loved. I thought it was done perfectly. Eustace, Edmund, Lucy, Caspian, Reep, all the main characters were just as I imagined them when I read the book...then came the Lone Islands. Blech! From there until the End of the World, the script was cheesy, the editing was choppy, and the green mist looked like a rip-off of the black smoke from LOST.

I did like Eustace & Reep throughout the movie, though. The new voice for Reep was much better than Izzard, I think. And of course, the End of the World was perfect, except that it sort of stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest of the film--it was drawn out, while the rest of the film flashed by at the speed of light!

Overall, I feel they got some things right, and totally ruined others. Much like PC, in my opinion.

I voted worst Narnia film yet, It can best be represented in a formula:
ANIME*HARRYPOTTER-COOLMAGICSTUFF+PC(SC)/VDT[arrow]SHIP=(-VDT)

The way I see it, they took everything they could and turned it upside down.Its too funny and Americanized. Also, in my opinion, the Mist is stupid. I didnt like Euctace, he was too skinny and mean and hopeless, I like the feeling that theres some good in him, and that he's chubby ( ) I hated that Eustace didnt even try to take the dragon skin off, and Aslan just did it for him in the easiest way possible, so I dont think he learned anything from that bit, apart from the dragon thing being pulled out almost to the point of cliche' I dont think Ill be getting this on DVD, and Ill probably not see it again in theaters after the Lion Party. I believe that if Lewis was alive, and he had ever met Chuck Norris there would be a severe beating.
*AsJ is unhappy*