I have now seen the movie 3 times. I LOVE it! it's my favorite Narnia movie and my favorite movie ever!
I just totally love it!

I did appreciate it better the second time. I might venture a 3rd viewing. Part of me actually loves certain bits of VDT a lot better than LWW. Each movie did have its good points for sure.

I finally got to the theater to see Dawn Treader. . .my initial and final reaction: it was good.
Honestly, this was the first of the Narnia films that I have really enjoyed. True, there were deviations from the book, some of which I could forgive (like the increased importance of the Dark Island, Ramandu's daughter being the ship's guiding star, Eustace remaining a dragon far longer than the book). Other change like shortchanging the Dufflepuds, Gail, Caspian and Edmund not being among the rowers did not sit well with me; but on the whole it was a well-told story that flowed smoothly.
Will Poulter stole the show with his Eustace, Reepicheep was all I could have asked for and, surprisingly for me, I loved Caspian! I was extremely displeased with him in PC, but here he was the perfect blend of awe and pride that makes Caspian one of my favorite book characters.
At the very least the final goodbye scene was well worth the price of the ticket and the eventual cost of the DVD.

it gets better every time I see it!

This is what my mother thought of the movie:

I totally loved this movie. I know some people are disappointed that it strayed so far from the book, but I have not read the book since I was a kid, so I was free to enjoy the movie as it is. I loved the character development and theology, but I also loved that it was Narnia. The way it treated Aslan, faith, bravery, temptation, evil, it could have been written by C.S. Lewis. It felt like the Narnia books I loved as a child and it felt also like the Lewis I read as a young adult (Space Trilogy and Screwtape and others). The green mist was such a great visual representation of the theology of evil and temptation in Screwtape. The focus on bravery in battle also reminded me of that book. Such great spiritual lessons - the biggest battles are fought within and good Christian friends are so important (Eustace and Edmund had the same temptation for gold, but Edmund had Lucy to save him, and Edmund realizes "I shouldn't have left him alone.") My favorite aspect of the movie was the characters. Eustace was just perfect - such a great actor. His relationship with Reepicheep was really neat. Lucy was so likable. Though the movie was about young adults, the temptations they faced were real for all of us - the desire to be pretty, rich, important, powerful - greed and jealousy. I loved how it treated Lucy's dream about becoming Susan and therefore losing herself and Narnia - what a beautiful response by Aslan that Lucy then passes on the little stowaway girl. I feel inspired to be braver and fight harder. Mostly I want to keep in mind the beautiful scene of Aslan on the beach. And learn to be like Caspian to focus on what I have been given rather than what I have lost.

^^ I love your mom she said excatly what I think about it! yay!
can you please tell her thank you for me?

Mod Notice:

Accusing people of being blind slaves to peer pressure or questioning their ability to understand the book because they don't share your opinion of the film is rude. That goes for both sides on this debate. Please refrain from doing so in the future.

I voted “It was ok” and “The worst Narnia film yet”. I just felt it was very meh and retained very little of the original spirit of the books. The plot felt very rushed, and things were not explained properly. Even having loved the book and the BBC Version of this film for years there were still so many questions as to what exactly happened. Where did the green mist come from? How did it communicate that it required sacrifice? So it required a sacrifice only to keep the prisoners in the exact same state they arrived in? These questions were never answered. Things like this hurt the movie.

However I really enjoyed nearly all the characters this time around. I was not a fan of Edmund but he wasn’t too bad. Like others have said Eustace and Reepicheep stole the show and I really enjoyed them both. I felt that Eustace was the most true to the book character and they did a good job of making me both hate him and feel sorry for him at the beginning of the film. Reepicheep was much better then in Prince Caspian and I feel that he changed from a Puss in Boots lets kill everything and everyone character to a more noble knight of Narnia.

Definetly what truly affected the film was its pacing. Everything happened to quickly and the movie didn't gave you te to digest it, and it didn't gave itself time to explain many things. While it was ok (I went to see it twice), I fel more fulfilled with PC and LWW. This is, because they didn't gave the characters enough time to develope. I would say Eustace was te best witten of all the cast, but Caspian fate issues were never fully explained, Lucy's relatilnship with the Rhince's daughter was left aside, Edmund didn't have the conversation he had with Eustace afte he returns to be a human, etc... If the film had just added 45 min more of screentime to develope each character, by the very end you would have a great cast of charcaters. Not to say the acting was bad, and the writters didn't mess up with none of the characters like in PC, but some felt to bland. The potential was there, but not the time.

Speaking of the rest of the plot. The whole swords plot and the vil mist truly fell as an afterthought. The list and te evil they were talking about is never actually developed. I dont mind it, but the focus should have been the thrill of adventure and to rescue the seven lords. The movie was far to focused on irrelevant issues then focusing instead to develope the characters and give a rightful conclusion to the story. Nonetheless, I did like VDT, but the only true issue that hits me hard is the pacing. I really want them to release te extended version, because I would definetly give it a try.

Also, where was Ramandu? And no Caspias x Liliandil? The did Caspian x Susan and the left out a true canon couple?

I loved the film it was great!!!!!!!! I think it was done really good! I have to say I like it better than PC but LWW and VDT are pretty close in my vote! I love the narnia films! I can't wait to see the next one!
~Aslansoldier~

I think that they tried hard, and did well for what they were trying to do, but I was slightly disapointed.
First off, the tone. Because PC wasn't a runaway hit like Disney hoped it would be, they thought the flaw was with the film itself. I don't think that was the case. Trying to go back to a flawed idea of what LWW was about, and the film ended up too light and kid-ish, as well as completely discarding the direction PC started the franchise towards.
Second, the pacing. The film is the shortest in the series, and everything feels rushed. Part of the thing that makes TCON interesting, the 1940's london Earth, didn't get enough screen time (Which has been decreasing since LWW), and besides that, there is no time to slow down and get a picture of what life on the Dawn Treader is like.
Finally, Aslan. He got probably 10 minutes of screen time at most. It seems like they made the movie, then said, "Oh wait, what about Aslan?" He has three or four scenes in which he appears, and they seem very tacked on. Also, when Lucy asks for help and an albatross shows up and does nothing, it makes Aslan appear insensitive and unhelpful.
However, I think much of this is due to Fox trying to not risk anything on this film, (giving it the smallest budget of any Narnia film) but hopefully the film will have enough longevity to ensure at least SC. In general, I enjoyed the film, but primarily the later part of it, after the lone isles.

-How good was the film?
I think it was actually really good. I liked it better than I thought I was going to, because I did actually agree with a lot of Glumpuddle's complaints in his videos.
However, because I knew it was going to be different from the book and had mentally prepared myself so to say, I enjoyed it much more. And it wasn't nearly as shellshocking and "AHH! What did they do to Narnia?!" as my first reaction to PC was.
So yes, it was different, no I didn't like all the changes, but yes, I do think they captured Narnia. And yes, I did enjoy it. After walking out of the theatre I was near trembling just because of the sheer rapture of seeing parts of my special Narnia come to life before my eyes!

-How good was it in comparison to PC and LWW?
I liked it better than PC, which as I mentioned before, I was rather shocked by the changes (Suspian anyone?). After much musings and rewatches, I have come to like PC in it's own right. I still am not a fan of all the changes but I still like it as a movie. (The same could be said in part for VOTDT)
I think LWW was better than VOTDT, it was definitely more accurate, and I still think it was terrific and the best out of the three yet. (Though, thinking on it now, it does seem rather small and closed in, in comparison with VOTDT. Not that that's bad, just different)

So yes, overall I truly did enjoy The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie.

I just can't make myself not like the changes. I don't know what it is. I just love how they pulled the movie off and it makes me feel so happy!

Finally got to see Dawn Treader and I have to say that I don't get all the dissatisfaction from many members here. I absolutely loved this movie, it is my favorite of the franchise and I thought Apted did a wonderful job directing. Also, the look of the film was amazing considering the budget was cut drastically from the last one. Overall, just amazing and definitely more spiritual, which was an added bonus.

Yes! "It was great" is catching up to try to get to first place!! How awesome!!