I'm one of those oddballs who pretty much loves every film adaptation more than the book itself. VDT is (out of the first three movies) my favorite book, and it was BY FAR my favorite movie. I think Will Poulter as Eustace, Dragon Eustace, and Reepcheep absolutely MADE the movie. And I'd be lying if I didn't say that this was my favorite of all the Narnia films.

Better than LWW, not as good as PC.

VDT's only real flaw (IMO) is its aggresive pace, which can be theoretically fixed with an extra 15-20 minutes (crosses fingers for an extended edition). And even then, it still doesnt move too quickly, but slowing down a bit would be nice. I loved the slow pace of PC as it allowed the fleshing out of its plot and characters.

And yes, I guess the purist in all of us wishes that the seven swords plot hadn't been added, but I felt that it was executed well enough.

I definetly enjoyed it. There were a couple things that I DIDN'T like, but overall it was good, and captured the feel of the book.
When I went into this movie tonight, I was a little nervous because *so* many NWebbers, especially Moderators, it seems, don't like it. My hopes were for something that felt "Narnian", something that captured that feel of the book, something that made me long for Narnia, and something that was technically sound.
Well, it surprisingly lived up to my expectations...on almost all accounts.
I'll start with the Negatives:
The only thing that absolutly made me recoil with horror during my viewing was the green smoke. Really, really, really horrendous. Not even just cheesy, it looked...cheap. I kind of just stared, not really believing what I was seeing. However, I found that this part was easy to forget as I got caught up in the story and everything.

There were several scenes from the book I really missed in the movie, and that I feel would have improved it. It disapointed me that they weren't included, I don't know why the film-makers wouldn't think they'd be good (the Lone Islands book-versions, Lucy reading the story in the Magician's book, "Dearheart", just to name a few). But again, I found that compared to the positives, these disapointments didn't turn me away from enjoying the film as a whole.

There were definetly some cheesy moments---anything green smoke wise, swords wise, was a little gimicky. I'm mostly just plain confused that the book romance between Caspian and Lilliandil wasn't shown. Don't movie makers LOVE a romance?? That just confuzzled me
Positives:
Acting: Eustace, wow. I was expecting GOOD. He was even better. Will Poulter is a seriously talented actor. He managed to bring a spunkiness and originality to the character. His expressions were priceless and he delivered each line perfectly.

Reep: Much, much more dignified and Narnian then in PC. He didn't have the "disney" feel so much. He also didn't crack cheesy jokes all the time, and wasn't the punch line. You really cared about him and felt like you knew him by the end, instead of him just being a funny talking mouse that added in a comedy factor. His friendship with Eustace was really touching, and poignant.

Caspian: Again, BETTER then PC. Much better...more Kingly, less "I...am...Prince Caspian"

Edmund: About as good as PC, in my opinion. Not bad or anything but I didn't think he was noticeably better.

Lucy: I think she handled the new challanges to her character really well. She played the part of a girl who is slightly insecure and trying to "Find herself" without making it seem nausiating and without a personality. The scenes were she envisions herself to be Susan are pretty impacting, I thought.

Messages: I thought the messages the film put forward were relevant, and something that you could take away with you. I suppose the whole "be yourself/find yourself/believe in yourself" gets a bit old, but between Eustace needing to step outside his fears and worries to be able to help the others, to be able to learn to be, well, not a brat, and Lucy needing to realize that she was perfect just the way she was (something that a lot of teen girls can really relate to), I thought it was good. Sure, we could have used a bit more about Aslan and all, but considering everything else they changed, I didn't find that a travesty.

Overall story: Let me get this straight: I DO wish they'd kept more of the book storyline, I think it'd be awesome in movie-format. But even though as I was watching it I'd be missing the scenes where Caspian deceives Governor Gumpas, I was still enjoying the fight scene at Lone Islands. I don't think it was cheesy...it had an almost light-hearted feel to it, in a way.

The very beginning of the movie opens with Edmund being a tad angsty and trying to sign up for the army. I found this a bit over acted. I think it's better to show things, (like Lucy looking wistfully at the soldier with his girlfriend, trying to arrange her hair like hers), rather then saying it outright (Edmund saying "He treated me like a kid! And I was a king!! etc).

Then they arrive at Aunt Alberta's house. There's a funny moment with Eustace and Edmund that had be in stitches. Then they make their way up stairs, reading a letter from Susan, and they notice the Narnian painting. And Eustace notices them noticing it...and the rest is history.
I thought Dragon!Eustace was perfect. He actually kinda *looked* Eustace-y. And I've heard some people say they feel the way it was done that he "Earns" his redemption, but I didn't see it that way at all. He's saved by Aslan because he's learned his lesson, and deciding to be brave and help fight the sea serpant was the climax of his learning to think outside himself, and to help others. I do wish the un-dragoning could have been a bit more, well, obvious. I wasn't a huge fan of the way they did it. Although you hear Eustace talk about it more in depth toward the very end of the movie.

The whole swords-for-the-Lords thing was a bit cheesy. Not AWFUL, (not like the green smoke) but definetly not great.

The ending was the perfect ending. I was in tears. Eustace looking at Reepicheep and saying "I don't understand. Won't I ever see you again??" while tears are running down his face was just soso perfectly sad. Lucy and Ed realizing they won't be coming back to Narnia, Aslan's important quote (absolutly word for word like the book, btw) about "there I have another name...", Caspian saying goodbye, Lucy hugging Reep, and then Reep sailing away.

And then they're back in the spare room and the water is quickly draining (which was a cool effect, I thought), and Aunt Alberta is informing Eustace that Jill Pole has dropped by for a visit.

(on that, I think it was a kinda cool name drop, and I don't see how it would effect them in the SC. They could very well have been sort of friends. Eustace doesn't seem like the sort to have many friends, but perhaps they were going to study together, or maybe their parents wanted them to socialise. It's the sort of thing that can easily be explained).

I voted that it was a good movie, but the worst Narnia movie.

The reason is simple: all attention was given to added plot ideas, motives, etc that totally contradicted the reasons for the voyage in the book. They changed the focus of the story, and, surprise! made a different story that resembled its source VERY LITTLE in substance. The dynamics of the film (acting, directing, CGI, music, sets) were all very strong or fairly strong and worked. They just weren't directed for a Narnia movie. The movie really wasn't an Adaptation: it really was an Aptedation.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie immensely. However, while watching it (and therefore comparing it to the book and to my expectations) for the first time - I was a bit disappointed.

I must be honest here - it was midnight, I had just woken up barely prior to seeing the movie, AND I had read NO SPOILERS save for the MLG's (=D) appearance. After going to bed and waking again, I came to the conclusion that it was a GREAT movie, with a few weak points, some in the acting I suppose, but mostly in the feeling and speed of the movie. It went by too quickly, and there was the missing element of the sweeping and falling music that almost took front and center like in the other two movies... And sort of sat backseat in this one... Not that it wasn't great, of course, but still.. I miss it a little.

I feel almost bad giving a review. I've only seen it once and was so tired I probably imagined half the things in the movie. I am seeing it again this weekend LOL. SUCH a great movie!!! Eustace was perfect! Can't wait for the silver chair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite its many flaws, I think it's quite good actually, more than just OK. I enjoyed it more the second viewing. If anyone has ample time and nothing to do, feel free to read my longer review :

http://www.narniaweb.com/reviews/?id=109

Additional thought: I watched PC yesterday, and while I think it's a bad adaptation, I do think it's a better movie. It has more solid plot and more consistent theme, for one, and you can definitely feel Aslan's presence throughout despite him showing up only a couple of times in the movie. As i've pointed out in my review, Aslan is mostly relegated to the background in VDT: apart from Lucy, the characters don't seem to think much about him.

I agree with you, it's not that Aslan doesn't appear enough, it's just that I somehow felt that his significance was not so improtant. Again I could be wrong, that's just the feeling that I got while watching the movie. In the other two movies they couldn't have won any of the wars without Aslan, while here it seems that they got along quite well. I know that it was Aslan who undragoned Eustace, who in turn took the last sword to Aslan's table and thanks to that everything worked out. But somehow when watching that whole sequence of events you tend to kinda forget about Aslan (well maybe you don't, but I do ). Once more I could be wrong, that's just the impression that I got

Here are my Narnia movie ratings. LWW 5 stars, PC 2 stars, VDT 3 and a half.
VDT wasn't too bad. I just wish they didn't change the storyline, what was wrong with the original? they added so much, they had to take a lot of the original stuff out. I loved Eustace! they did him perfectly! When he turned into the dragon my friend (who has never read the books) said "at least we don't have to hear him complain anymore." It was a little much with Lucy and the beauty thing, yeah I liked that they added something before hand, asking Ed if she were pretty etc, but ripping out the page? come on! They made it look like the people on the dawn treader destroyed the dark island not Aslan. and they took out my favorite part when Ed talks to Eustace after becomes undragend! Ed was great, so was Reep. I really liked the ending! over all better then PC (stuck to the book a little more) but not as good as LWW. I hope they do better for SC.

(Edit-after watching PC again and thinking about it I would have to say that PC is better it sticks more to the book, yes i didn't like some of the changes but at least they didn't change the whole storyline like VDT! i have to say it is the worst narnia movie yet. i am very worried about SC )

I voted that it was good, and that it was better than PC but not as good as LWW.

My initial reaction to the movie was: That was awesome! I want to see it again!

My thoughts after thinking about it for a while: Can we have a redo?

Don't get me wrong. There was a lot of stuff about this movie that was absolutely fantastic. The colors and the style were just gorgeous, they nailed Eustace, the relationship between Eustace and Reep was beautiful, and the beginning and the end of the movie were wonderful. But there was a lot left to be desired. So much of what I love about the book was glanced over or left out of the movie! My favorite scene in the book, when Ramandu and his daughter sing to greet the Dawn and the birds come to clean Aslan's Table and place a fireberry in Ramandu's mouth, was left out completely! I've longed to see that realized on film for the longest time! I can see why they left it out, since it wasn't really significant to the plot or anything, but it had so much potential to become a truly breathtaking scene with magnificent music. So what makes me want a redo the most is so that we could have a movie, one that makes use of all of our current technology, that doesn't worry too much about the general audiences and has all of the scenes we love that were left out. I really wish they had given some more thought to all of them. I mean, I know it seems like a little thing, but a lot of the time things that were important parts of the book were only shoved in as "easter eggs" for the book fans. For instance, the Albatross. It was there, but that was about it. The audience had no idea that it was really Aslan, and it took no part whatsoever in helping the crew escape Dark Island. It got, what, maybe one or two seconds of screentime?

Anyways, while I was mainly satisfied with what they did with the movie, and while it'll probably end up being another one of my favorite movies (although definitely not as good as LWW), there were still a few things that were greatly missed.

Check out my full review.

It was great. Loved the story and how the story flows. The effects were an upgrade to the movie.

u know, liberty! you are SO RIGHT! it was SO epic! it felt like the movie just jump out the sceen!