Yes, I'm definitely ready for Markus and McFeely to go. But I don't think you can shift all the blame off of Apted. If you read any of his interviews, you can see that he has little faith in the stories, that it was partially his idea to make all the changes, etc. This film was definitely his film.

I think it is Apted as well. I have never seen a film that he made that i thought was a good film. He doesn't make good films. That is a problem. In VotDT the problems were basic problems of dialogue and pacing and editing that made it a bad film. In PC it was the kiss and the dumbing down of Aslan which ruined it for me. I know what you are saying that it is embarassing to be a Narnia fan and this little part of me wants them to go on just because i want to see even the echo of Narnia, but these films certainly PC and VotDT are not Narnia. Not to me.

I haven't seen the film yet (exams) but I believe that, even if this movie is terrible, the two next ones, SC and HHB, are very straight forward adventure stories, with no structural problems whatsoever. I don't see a reason not to make them. Fox has the rights of two very adaptable, known books with lots of original and meaningful content. VDT isn't doing great at the box office, but it isn't doing terrible. In 10 days it grossed more than the entire budget. Why not do it?

Hello fellow Narnia lovers,

I'm just wondering if any of you are like me, that we're so fed up with the VODT debacle, that you don't ever want to see what they will do with the Silver Chair. I mean if you don't get if the first time around with PC that people don't like you straying away from the books why are you gonna get in the second time.

I'm at the point were I feel embarresed to be a Narnia fan. I can't even bare to think about how bad they screwed this movie up and with this trend going on I seriously hope that they do not make the Silver Chair. It would just be another movie that would be a stab in the back...

I am not totally to this point. If they plan to mess SC up as much as they messed VotDT then I don't want a SC. But if they plan to keep it like the book I am OK with it. Though VotDT made me extremely infuriated.

I am always embarrassed when people come up to me and ask what made up parts from the movie are like in the book. So I guess I am starting to become embarrass at certain aspects of being a Narnia fan.

As much as I would like to see all of the Narnia books in movie form, I have to be honest that the chances of that are becoming quite slim.
VoDt spent too much time on special effects and lost sight of telling the story that needed to be told.

The bad reviews in the mainstream media only makes matters worse. If SC is to be made it will probably be on a shoestring budget and the movie should not be released during the summer or winter seasons where it will again get lost under the pile of other movie blockbusters scheduled at that time.

I think that in a way, VDT is a bit hard to adapt, because they don't think it has a "oh, we have to save the world" sort of feel.

Think about it:
In LWW, the kids have to stop the White Witch from taking over Narnia
In PC, the kids have to stop Miraz/Telmarines from taking over Narnia
In SC, the kids have to stop LGK from taking over Overworld/Narnia
In MN, the kids have to get the apple to keep the WW from taking over
In HHB, the kids have to get to Archenland to warn of the approaching Calormens who wish to then take over Narnia
In LB, the kids have to fight and attempt to stop the Calormens from taking over Narnia

Every book in the Chronicles, other than VDT, deals with the protagonists trying to prevent the antagonists from taking over Narnia.

Actually there are some variations to this:
In SC, the kids are on a quest to find the lost Prince. They don't know until the very end that the Green Witch has plans to take over Narnia.
MN starts off with Digory going to the Wood Between Worlds to rescue Polly, then both 'touring' Charn, then the Witch in London, before they witness the Birth of Narnia; and Digory goes to find the apple to plant and protects Narnia and his mother... It's not a straight story at all.
HHB is an 'Escape!' story that turns into a 'Race to Save Archenland & Queen Susan' half-way through.
LB ends with the battle being lost and everyone dying...

If everything is cut and tailored to fit the 'Fight To Save Narnia' mold, we are going to sacrifice a lot of what makes the books so original and unique. My favourite thing about the Narnia books was that they did not follow a fixed pattern. Unlike Harry Potter, the protagonists changed from story to story. Unlike Nancy Drew, they grew older. Unlike just about any other story I can think of, you even had some stories that started in Narnia (HHB & LB) that completely defied the 'Children From Our World Fall Into Narnia And Have Adventures' formula.

For an example of what I am talking about, imagine 'Prisoner of Azkaban' if the film-makers had tried to shoe-horn Voldemort at the end.

I would love for SC to be made, but I have lost all trust in the director, scriptwriters, composer... At this point I'm really just hoping that they remake all the movies in twenty years (although, I really did love LWW, and PC wasn't too bad) and hire people who actually know what they're doing.

And everyone's talking about how hard VDT was to adapt...it's not that hard. Sure, it's not James Bond, but get some scriptwriters and a director who have read and love the books and they could do SO much better.

I have hopes for SC, as long as they keep the focus on Rilian and not on some Mystical Object of Power that must be placed in a Mystical Place to save the country.
And if they mess up Puddleglum and his speech....

I'm at the point were I feel embarresed to be a Narnia fan. I can't even bare to think about how bad they screwed this movie up and with this trend going on I seriously hope that they do not make the Silver Chair. It would just be another movie that would be a stab in the back...

I'm with you. I think I actually took the Narnia movies out of my "Interests" lists on certain websites, just so that people wouldn't get the wrong idea. As much as I love LWW and certain parts of PC; the rest of PC and, frankly, all of VDT makes me feel a bit... awkward. I hate to say it, but ever since the last two movies came out, being a Narnia fan is a sort of Seat-of-Ridicule to a lot of people I know. And, for the most part, I can see why. What it's become is not what C.S. Lewis intended.

I'm still willing to give SC a shot. Maybe. I'm very wary now. I never thought I could say no to a Narnia movie, but after seeing the last two...
If I see it getting bad reviews like VDT is getting, then I will most likely either skip it or rent it. But if people say that this time it's different, and actually has the real spirit and quality back, I think I would still give it a shot.

~Riella

You really like the word 'debacle' don't you? lol.

imho, VotDT wasn't nearly as off-base as PC. PC was a great disappointment to me. I quite enjoyed VotDT and that was my favorite book of the series. Granted, I haven't read it in a while, and I was a bit frustrated by the whole 'green mist' thing, but I understand them adding it in as something to run thru the movie as a continuing plot line. Overall, I thought they did a far better job with this one, and it was far from a 'debacle'.

I don't mind if they make SC, but I hope they don't make LB. That is my least favorite book and I think it would be VERY difficult to adapt. I mean, it can be confusing at times as a book - how on EARTH would they make it make sense to people who are only movie fans?

Alfonso Cuaron is another Mexican filmmaker like GDT. He directed HP 3. Just wishing he directs Narnia since this is a good showcase of his talent. Who knows? He might give SC a very dark twist like we've never imagined before!

ohhh I vote for him too! I mean, it looks like he's one of the few directors who really know how to make good adaptation and change things WITHOUT ruining the book essence. HP3 is my absolute most favorite adaptation of the Harry Potter books, and though a lot of people complain that Cuaron changes things around and deletes some scenes and all, IMHO he keeps scenes that are REALLY REALLY important and keeps the actors true to characters. And though I haven't seen his other adaptation "A Little Princess", I believe it's just as good from the reviews.

I liked PC (except for a few things like Peter's issues and Suspian.) I think overall it retained the spirit of the book. Neither LWW or PC are perfect though, but they are good enough for me. They satisfy and entertain me.

VDT makes me embarrassed. Its childish and cheesy. I still have hope for SC. If is gets messed up, then I probably will lose faith in the series. Especially because Puddleglum's speech is so important to me. If that gets messed up I will most likely lose me head.

Especially because Puddleglum's speech is so important to me. If that gets messed up I will most likely lose me head.

Me too. And Puddleglum better not be cheesy.
I actually thought that, despite all the changes, VDT was actually closer to the book than PC was.

Ok I have held my thoughts in long enough. I guess you'll just have to bear with me on this post. At first when narnia came out I was excited beyond words. I had always wanted to see a screen adaption of the narnia books, and even had dreams of being involved with making the narnia films. However I don't understand why the filmmakers don't trust C.S. Lewis??? Why all the rewrites??? Some of you will stop me right here and say its a movie. They can't film the whole book in 2 hours. Too true. I agree and understand that. However, it has been a hollywood trend for decades to take source material and change it. We do it to true stories. We do it to our own history. After awhile we've rewrittten our past to make it how we want it to be, not how it really is or was. It's sad that hollywood has lost it's golden age of movies. Adding CGI octopuses into a movie that is only there to gain fans or sell tickets is, in my opinion, one of the worst things you could do. Right now more of you are saying hold on!! I liked the narnia films. Just accept it as a movie or don't watch it at all. That's fine. People are entitled to there own opinion and if you like the films then enjoy them. I'm just surprised that filmmakers today have lost something. A filmmakers job is an extremely important one. They are the ones who tell stories true or not. At times however, and many times at that, it appears like many filmmakers just go their own way. Juicing up and adding things that are'nt necessary. It would be a privilege, an honor in fact to be a filmmaker. I would give almost anything to be a filmmaker today. They have the rare opportunity that so many other people cannot have. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking has been forgotten about. Many folks nowadays just want to see action, action, action. Regardless, if it stays true to the source material or otherwise. We don't mind if they change scenes, or if its even based on the story their filming. Just so that the themes are there even if their a bit sketchy at times, and our favorite actors are still playing their roles. At this point in time, in my opinion, I'd rather not see narnia continue. Not when it's going to be like this. I truly hope that filmmakers will wake up one day and realize this. This will most likely never happen though. I know I probably won't have a chance in my lifetime to make the narnia films. I truly wish that I could become a filmmaker some day. Maybe it will happen and I'll devote the projects I work on to be straight forward and faithful to the source material. Oh I want to clear up any doubts to any narnia fans and say that the books can be made into films just exactly the way they are. We just choose not to make them that way.

I definitely hope they continue the series. I agree that VDT had some flaws. Most of those flaws, however, were with bad pacing issues, and bad dialogue. These are things that should be easy to avoid, which is why I understand it can be frustrating. However, they got so many scenes in the movie right that I have been willing to forgive the mistakes. Honestly, I don't think they changed the plot that much from the book. VDT,personally, was not my favorite book in the series, so maybe that's why i'm not upset. However I still like the book a lot. For me I feel that they have done a fantastic job on this series. It has had its flaws, but overall it has been very well done.

I'll devote the projects I work on to be straight forward and faithful to the source material. Oh I want to clear up any doubts to any narnia fans and say that the books can be made into films just exactly the way they are. We just choose not to make them that way.

Hey! I realize you've been on the forum for a good little bit now, but it looks like this is your first post so

WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!!! Hope you love it

Now, let me just say, I do believe you could make Narnia film adaptions that are closer than the ones we have now. But no matter how hard you try you will not please all the book fans. You just can't please everyone.

The books leave a lot up to the imagination and they are easy to interpret in many different ways, especially Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In making a film you would have to decide which parts of the book were most important and which themes/ scenes you were going to keep in and which you would have to cut for time's sake. In keeping the things you feel are most important, you will end up cutting out something someone else felt was vital to the story, or someone's favorite part. The books are short, but they contain so many themes and they have so much weight to them, they mean so many things to different people. You can't make a movie that captures the book. You cannot capture what is important to everyone.

I feel I should warn you that no matter how hard you try, no matter what you do, as a filmmaker adapting from source material, you will never please everyone. You will always have people pointing fingers and saying, "That director ruined my favorite story." There will always be people who don't like your way of interpreting what happened. All you can do is whatever you think is best.

If you're a person of faith, like Douglas Gresham, you may even pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you and let nothing be in your films which displeases Him. This is what Douglas Gresham has done for the Narnia movies. He's prayed over them, asked for the Holy Spirit's wisdom and guidence. Yet his fellow Christians are saying that these movies he's making are bad and displeasing to God. His fellow Christians are hoping that the franchise he has prayed over fails. This after people have come to know Christ from these movies. I remember reading an account where a boy came to know Christ through watching (not reading) Prince Caspian, which a lot of book fans didn't like. Some said they couldn't see the spiritual side of it, but apparently that boy did.

These movies are making a difference. Say what you will, but God is using them and I will not wish for a work of God to disappear and I will not hope against the good work that Douglas Gresham is trying to do.

If you would like to make film adaptions of Narnia in the future, I wish you well, but please don't go into it thinking people will love you for it or that you'll be successful. I'm not saying everyone will hate you or that you'll fail. I'm just saying you'll have to tell the story for the sake of telling a story rather than making people happy.

(Food for thought, chances are the filmmakers aren't sitting around saying "ooooh let's see... How can we kill Narnia and crush the hopes of every book fan out there???" Chances are they feel they're being pretty faithful to the source material overall. You can make a film and think it's a completely faithful adaption. That doesn't mean anybody else will think it's faithful. )

I think with these Narnia movies you have a mix of people who want to tell these stories for the sake of telling the stories and people who want to make money and want to be successful. I don't think there's anything wrong with either. I think they balance each other out. You have the people who would wish to keep every detail of the book and would have a 50 hour film and you have the people who think about the general audience and how they don't want to sit through 50 hours of Narnia therefore some things must be cut.

Anyways, that's all