NO SUSPIAN!

Just kidding.

No I'm not.

Anyways...
People have often referred to PC as the last cinematic book in the series. I think it has the potential to be very cinematic - it just needs to be given the right treatment.

Especially if it's a series, the events will definitely be more impactful if given the right breathing room. This includes finding a creative way to show Caspian's backstory without skipping over it (like the Walden film did) or whatever the heck that juxtaposition was in the BBC series (going back and forth between the Pevensies at the train station and Caspian in Narnia -seriously, I never understood that).

Also, both versions rather butcher the scene where Lucy sees Aslan and nobody else believes her, in my opinion.

While I have my misgivings about an episodic format, but if they where to go that route it would allow them to stick with the structure of the book.

The way the story is structured didn't really lend itself well to film, I think the way it was restructured for the Walden film: eliminating the flashbacks and shifting the timeline worked pretty well. But as a consequence they had to cut basically all of Caspian's backstory and some memorable scenes like the Dancing lawn and Caspian and Cornelius on top of the tower. With a miniseries you could dedicate an entire episode or two to Caspians backstory.

I've just been re-watching Prince Caspian for the first time in forever on Disney Plus, and im genuinely surprised at how well the movie holds up! (once you get over the kind of awkwardly jarring opening scene)

All of the scenes with Miraz, Glozelle and Sopespian are just genuinely just fantastic, with political intrigue and scheming that wouldn't feel out of place in an early Game of Thrones episode. I absolutely love the performance by Sergio Castellito too, so good. In a way, its a shame this movie came out 3 years before Game of Thrones mania really hit as I feel like audiences would really have responded well to this sort of complex scheming villainy nowadays.

Another really solid point for me was that the movie was largely shot on location, so its not like a lot of other modern films with ugly matte paintings and CGI vistas which date badly (LWW has a few). All the props and sets are also top notch - really high quality stuff. Admittedly, some of the early scenes in the Narnian forest feel a bit flat and lifeless, and could probably do with a tiny bit of CGI augmentation to make them feel more visually interesting, but on the whole you just can't beat real location shooting, i'd worry if Netflix could possibly support that on such a scale.

The editing, cinematography and all that sort of stuff are also pretty tight still (ropey looking "day for night" shots at the start aside). I was a bit worried that modern cinematic storytelling would have left the movie behind, like when you watch an old James Bond movie and the camera work, lighting and framing are all so dull and lifeless, but there's a lot of really interesting shots in Prince Caspian, and some great dynamic camera work in the fight scenes that really add to the tension.

I'd also forgotten how much of a great action set piece the Night Raid is, which again culminates in another heart-breaking scene which wouldn't of felt out of place in a Game of Thrones episode (Peter abandoning the Narnians trapped behind the portcullis to get slaughtered). I also really like the way it then dovetails into the White Witch ritual - another scene substantially upgraded from the book to really dramatic results.

All in all, watching this movie makes me all the more sad that they didn't continue with the path they were on, and I think any Netflix version of Prince Caspian would do well to borrow an awful lot of the modifications and upgrades they made to the story structure.

If they go with an episodic structure like they've talked about, PLEASE take a note from the Focus on the Family Radio theater! It does follow the book pretty to the letter, but the way the "chapters" are broken up to fit on the original CDs may actually give a good structure to start with.

Or do something like introduce the Pevensies, transition to Narnia, and then use Trumpkin's story about Caspian's past and flesh it out in it's own segment. That way there's time to delve into the history of the Telmarines and how Miraz got there in the first place.

It would also allow the girls being separated and with Aslan to be it's own storyline and show how that develops into the arrival on the battlefield.

It would also allow the girls being separated and with Aslan to be it's own storyline and show how that develops into the arrival on the battlefield.

I love that!

I also think it would be really cool to expand on Pattertwig's journey to Lantern Waste, and whom/what he found there, and how he may have arrived at the Second Battle of Beruna with reinforcements (potentially even Naiads/Dryads).

I re-watched PC tonight and I agree, icarus! It holds up wonderfully and is a really beautiful-looking film. The first two films weren't perfect adaptations, but I would have been interested in seeing what Andrew Adamson would have done with the other five books...

Jumping onto the idea of fleshing out some of the backstory... what if there were two episodes - one about Caspian IX and Miraz, where we see Caspian IX being killed and the other lords being done away with, and the next would be basically the four chapter flashback. That would mean we wouldn't get to the Pevensies until the third episode.

I'm a little leery about expanding on Miraz's backstory because I'd be worried they'd try to turn it into knock-off Game of Thrones, but it could be interesting if done well...

what if there were two episodes - one about Caspian IX and Miraz, where we see Caspian IX being killed and the other lords being done away with, and the next would be basically the four chapter flashback.

That would allow them to start developing the plotline of the seven missing lords pretty early. Personally, I'd prefer the different stories of each book to feel like their own story and not part of one big story. But if they're doing a tv series, that ship has already sailed arguably (no Dawn Treader pun intended ) and I'm sure expanding on the seven lords could be done well.

Jumping onto the idea of fleshing out some of the backstory... what if there were two episodes - one about Caspian IX and Miraz, where we see Caspian IX being killed and the other lords being done away with, and the next would be basically the four chapter flashback. That would mean we wouldn't get to the Pevensies until the third episode.

I'm a little leery about expanding on Miraz's backstory because I'd be worried they'd try to turn it into knock-off Game of Thrones, but it could be interesting if done well...

That whole paragraph in PC where Doctor Cornelius explains to Caspian how Miraz came to power could be an episode's worth of court intrigue, honestly.

I think it could work, though, if you also developed other characters like Caspian's Nurse and Doctor Cornelius. (Where did the Nurse learn the old Narnian stories and how did she end up caring for Caspian? What about Doctor Cornelius's ostracization and his friendship with Caspian's mother, e.g. "the only Telmarine who was ever kind to me"?) Light to balance the dark.

It would also provide an opportunity to develop the Telmarine culture and show just how messed up Narnia has become under Telmarine rule. The sameness, dullness, joylessness, rigidity. You're not even allowed to talk about fairy tales! That would beautifully contrast with the wonder of Caspian discovering the old Narnians and ultimately the reawakening and renewal of Narnia at the story's end.

On the whole I love the Prince Caspian movie, but I think there are some things Netflix could do better.

1) No romance between Susan and Caspian (or involving any of the main characters).  This just doesn't work as well when you get to Dawn Treader and Caspian marries Ramandu's daughter.  It makes him look shallow, like he so quickly forgot about Susan.  It also distracts from the main plot.  Also, I think it's important for kids to realize they don't need to be romantically involved to fit in to society or to fit in at school.  The Narnian characters are often great examples of role models for this.

2) No crazy arguments between Caspian and Peter or having Peter think he's better than everyone else.  Remember that he ruled Narnia already for 15 years- during the golden age.  He has almost certainly learned how to be a proper and noble king by this point in time.  And the books never set up jealousy as one of his flaws, in fact I feel it would counter his character arc and growth.  There can be disagreements, sure, but I think they should remain respectful and civil, even if loud yelling or some anger is involved.  A sword should never be drawn and a fist punch should never be thrown.  And it certainly shouldn't take him the entire movie before he treats Caspian with the respect of a fellow King.  It wouldn't be very "Magnificent" of him if he did.  His character traits should match his title.  It's okay if he struggles with suddenly being a kid again after having been grown up and been king for 15 years, but I feel a rift between him and other characters would not/should not be the way in which he struggles.  He is too mature for that as a character.

3) The celebratory romp with the Telmarine citizens/Narnians, Bacchus, Silenias and the trees should be shown.  (Though not necessarily involving wine or alcohol.)  It shows a) that some of the Telmarines were suffering as much as the Narnians were and therefore it's also good for them that Miraz is overthrown and Caspian becomes King and b)  the old magic of Narnia has returned.  Both of these elements were lacking in the 2008 movie, which made it seem bleaker to most audiences than it really was.

4) Show a bit more of Caspian's backstory.  This isn't as necessary as the first three points, but I think it would be good to set up how he was forbidden to learn about the old Narnia yet he still found out thanks to his nurse and Cornelius.  This helps to show how much trouble the Narnians are in if he's not even allowed to know that they exist.  That being said I like that the 2008 movie restructured it to happen in real time rather than a large flashback, I feel most future film adaptations should follow this concept.

I think improvements could be made. While I think the girls could still have more interaction with Caspian, can't Caspian and Susan just be like really good friends? They don't have to get into a romantic relationship. The idea of a coming of age story, where Caspian learns about what means to be a king is a great plot. You could argue it's a retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet (except there isn't a ghost of Caspian IX appearing to Caspian, telling him you needs to take his rightful place as king or take vengeance on Miraz). Even having Aslan freeing the school children would be a great addition.

Obviously, no romance between Susan and Caspian. Can they just not already?

I also think they failed on the whole Lucy seeing Aslan and not going with him. That is a very central moment in the book and then Edmund mumbled off a line about trusting Lucy this time in the movie and that could have been done a lot better. I liked the dream aspect of Lucy and Aslan speaking, but the older kids were overly harsh instead of being having a real thought about maybe it was a wild lion like the bear. Also Lucy just gave in without really arguing and Edmund didn't really sick up for her. That scene was a fail for me.

There was a lot that worked for me. I liked what they did with Peter. I know people don't but that worked for me. They didn't do enough with Susan and Edmund at all. Anything Susan got was wrapped up with Caspian which should never have happened and took away any chance for her to have a plot. The stuff with Lucy was not enough. She should have gotten mad at some of those moments.

Also Aslan was not enough. They didn't do enough with him because they don't get that and never will. I did like dream scene and the big jump scene, but really they could have done more.

I do think that the movie stands up even with the mistake they had with the Lucy follow Aslan moment. The Caspian and Susan stuff is what makes me think the movie isn't good. It just created such a problem even though i know it was to nod at Susan growing up just like with Peter's plot. It just annoyed me.