Thought the albatross was a nice nod to the book fans. At the appearance, the tide shifted into the climax and pushed a bit of hope into the scene. I didn't think the "Courage, dear heart" line was even needed to get the point of the appearance across.

I thought the albatross was idiotic. Lucy prayed, the albatross came, and what happened? It flew away. Nothing happened. There was no point. It came on, it went, they kept fighting.

In the book, the albatross's purpose was to lead the Dawn Treader and those aboard out of the Dark Island. It's like a lifeline to lead them out of danger, not to merely give them hope. It's a tangible, visible, immediate thing to follow to get out of the dark. It's an important and powerful moment in the book.

In the movie, the albatross didn't do anything. It appeared, disappeared, and then they fought the sea serpent. Yip dee doo. Everything was defeated by the swords, and everyone was still afraid at the point that the albatross came, so what was the point? It didn't need to be there. I really dislike mere "nods" to book fans that don't further the point and the story of the film. It's lame.

Just saw the movie again last night, and now I'm really sure that the albatross flies in and then flies after Eustace. It didn't bring the light, as I thought earlier, but it really does fly after Eustace

Actually (sorry if someone else said this because I've yet to read all pages) I was under the impression thatr they were following the albatross and that the serpant followed them, so it wasn't a sign of false hope has the others had said. Yes the serpant attacks them again but now they've been given the courage to fight it, and an idea of how to kill it.

wait... so the albatross follows Eustace to the beach... and then the albatross (Aslan) would turn back into his usual form as a lion, and then Eustace's undragoning occurred..

^^ Yes, I'm really quite sure that's how it goes

well that makes sense! hmm.. in that case, I kind of like it! it was like Eustace couldn't come to Aslan, Aslan had to come to Eustace!

If that's the idea they were trying to communicate onscreen, they failed dismally because I (and many others here) didn't see the albatross as anything but a cameo for the book fans.

Yes, that's true.

It didn't make any sense until I saw it several times, which is something Douglas Gresham suggested we should do Then again, it still might mean something different; that's just the idea I got from watching the movie again. Here's even more detail on how it all goes:

- Dragon Eustace can be seen flying away into the smoke away from the ship
- Lots of things/organization going on on the ship
- Lucy, in the midst of it all, says her prayer
- Shot of the albatross
- Shot of a surprised Lucy
- Shot of the albatross flying away into the clouds
- (A single) shot of the dawn treader crew rowing like crazy
- Shots of dragon Eustace flying out of Dark Island and crashing on the sandbank

The battle with the sea serpent continues until the crew manages to smash it against the rock. Then the undragoning occurs.

If that's the idea they were trying to communicate onscreen, they failed dismally because I (and many others here) didn't see the albatross as anything but a cameo for the book fans.

Ditto. They don't need to rub the significance of ideas in our face, but we shouldn't have to muddle along and research the movie in-depth to understand a point that should be clear already.

I saw it two times...and the albatross scene still looked really random to me.

The albatross is merely there as an easter egg for book fans. It's significance is never explained in the movie and it doesn't appear to do anything except fly across the screen. It's pretty apparent that in the film version of VDT, the 7 swords are what destroys the Dark Island, not Aslan.

Actually, During the entire film I felt like a lot of stuff was cut out. Could be because of Fox, they ask productions to shorten the film during post-production before. Maybe the Albatross scene was actually longer, but when they had to cut it, they left this bit in as an easter egg.

That's true, adamie! I'm under the impression that most Narniawebbers think a lot was cut from the film prior to it's current form (I myself cannot voice an opinion on this, as I have no idea what to compare it to.) Anyway, if this scene is meant to be longer, this may very well explain why we are so confused, and feel as if we are missing something.

Whatever they were trying to do with the albatross, it failed horribly. It felt completely random and pointless. It was almost like the filmmakers were going to make it accurate to the book, then changed their minds last minute, but forgot to edit the albatross out.
If it was supposed to mean anything, then it was done very vaguely.

Haha, at first I thought it would turn out to be the seagull that Eustace had talked to.

~Riella