Isn't that the truth. That birth scene was very calm and collected (and clean) compared to a real birth. And people, the movie was rated PG in the US. I think they can do a mild birth scene with that rating.

MOD NOTE: Please note that the topic of discussion in this thread is "The Official Trailer Discussion." Any topics which do not relate (i.e. Changes made in PC or LWW) should be discussed elsewhere, whether it be in a new topic or in another currently open. Thank you.

I'll always be a,
NL101

I don't have a problem with the birth scene. It was startling at first, because I wasn't expecting it, but for a birth scene it was very tame. I think it was a good way to start the movie, because the birth of Miraz's son really is the driving force behind the narrative. If the child was never born there would have been no reason for Caspian to flee.

Regarding the VDT trailer, I agree that in terms of a trailer, it really isn't great. It's not terrible though. As a teaser it does exactly what it needs to. It introduces the major players, and teases a bit of the story without really giving anything away, which is completely fine for a teaser trailer. All this trailer was meant to do was to alert movie goers that there is going to be a new Narnia film, and that it will bring back some of the magic lost in PC.

However, when the main trailer hits, I expect it to reveal more of the story, and be edited in a more linear fashion.

The footage in the trailer looks great. It looks to be a really beautiful film. I'm not sure how the trailer falls short, but in my mind it does. As some have mentioned, look at the new Harry Potter teaser trailer. From the trailer alone, it honestly looks like a insurmountably superior film to VDT. Although, I think in the end VDT will be a better movie.

I know this post probably seems kind of contradictory, but to sum up what I'm trying to say is that the trailer does what it needs to as a teaser trailer, but at the same time lacks something to really make it a really good teaser trailer. Hope that makes sense.

Also, not to go off topic, but I hope you (g_p) include your thoughts on why the Nurse was dropped and why Adamson kicked off the film with a birth scene. But, maybe these are changes you don't agree with!

Why some people have trouble with the birth scene, I'll never understand. It's part of everyone's life, people... there's nothing disturbing about that. Me thinks some posters around here may be a little too sheltered for their own good.

You seem confused. People aren't sheltered and thus disturbed with the concept of childbirth. Instead, they believe starting a "family" film with a screaming woman in childbirth is a little strange. Adamson seems to poke fun at the idea in the PC commentary, even though it was his decision. God forbid they follow PC (the book) in handling the birth of Miraz's son, which was kind of "behind the scenes."

That said, I think we're all pretty sure VDT won't start that way If the trailer is any guide, it looks like they'll start in England...kind of anxious to see how they introduce Eustace for the first time.

The Lone Islands:
The entire POINT of that scene in the book is that Caspian actually manages to free the slaves without raising his sword once...Does anyone think these are not valid arguments? If so, why? I'd love to discuss it (that's why I'm here, after all).

Hmm... When I've read the book, I've always thought the cool part is that Caspian retakes the islands without raising his sword. I'd always thought that the battle had been won (the metaphorical battle, that is) after throwing out Gumpas. The hard part was retaking the Isles, not freeing the slaves. After Caspian retook the Isles by power of his own authority, he then took that authority to the slave market and freed the slaves.

In the movie, I might be willing to allow a little scuffle at the slave market, as long as Caspian has already conquered the Lone Islands through diplomacy. It's sort of a "have your cake and eat it too" scenario. They use cunning and wit to defeat Gumpas, AND there is a battle to defeat Pug (for the general movie-going audience who can't imagine a fantasy film without a battle).

If the battle is to reclaim the islands, which at this point it looks like it is, then IMO the filmmakers have a lot of explaining to do.

The change of having action on the Lone Islands was expected. I do agree that what was cool about the scene in the books was that Caspian tricked them into taking control of the islands. I have been expecting a skirmish here though since we finally found out they were making VotDT.

Taking over the Lone Islands just screams "battle" for film-makers. You know hollywood, they want conflict and drama. I also expected a scuffle at the Lone Islands since the movie was announced, it just seems like a "logical" place for screenwriters to insert a battle

^ Ditto, two years ago when I was watching the Lone Island scene in the BBC's Narnia I was like "Oh yeah there has to be some battle placed in this scene for the new movie somewheres"

Iwarmed up to the idea over those years because I knew it was going to take place without a doubt.

This was my analysis of the first PC trailer (mostly very positive):

In the movie, I might be willing to allow a little scuffle at the slave market, as long as Caspian has already conquered the Lone Islands through diplomacy. It's sort of a "have your cake and eat it too" scenario. They use cunning and wit to defeat Gumpas, AND there is a battle to defeat Pug (for the general movie-going audience who can't imagine a fantasy film without a battle).

Interesting theory. I see what you're saying. That wouldn't be nearly as bad. But I still love the anti-climax of the book. You're expecting a battle, but Caspian manages to do everything without a battle. Slightly comical perhaps, but brilliant.

Ok, I just saw the trailer, and I thought it was really cool. But I also read the book. Why are Peter ans Susan doing in the movie trailer?

-"Pay attention, and you might actually learn something."

well, FallenGlatorian, we just need to wait and see what they will do there! .

The White Witch's appearance is, imo at this point, not a creative decision. It is a purley commercial decision. As is evidenced by the fact that they are showing her in the trailer even though we know her appearance is very brief. I think the reason they put her in the movie is that they wanted to put her in trailers and on posters to market the film. Tilda Swinton is now an Oscar-winning actress, and the White Witch was the villain in the first fillm which made over $700m.

I was thinking about this today, and whilst i agree with the many people who have suggested that showing an image of the White Witch is a good way to visualise the entire concept of a nightmare (a much more cinematic piece of imagery than you would get if you tried to visualise any of the nightmares described in the book) i would still have to agree with what glumPuddle said above.

From a purely artistic decision you would surely choose Miraz rather than The White Witch to represent a nightmare on the Dark Island, since not only is Miraz far more relevant to this story than The White Witch ever was, but it would also be far more likely in the context of the character developments and overall series narrative for Caspian to have a nightmare about Miraz than it would be for Edmund to have a nightmare about The White Witch.

I think that because of her strong connections to LWW (a movie they seem desperate to remind us of at every point of the marketing campaign so far) and the fact that Tilda Swinton is now a big name Academy Award winning movie star (and thus a bigger box-office draw) is surely the main reason why she, and not Sergio Castellitto, is the one returning here.

First of all, FallenGlatorian, welcome to Narniaweb!

I hate the idea of a battle but the movie scene will build up a whole lot of tension for nothing to happen and that just doesn't work in a movie. Living with Hollywood's "need for battle" issues just might be a small price to pay if it gets people up and reading the "beloved masterpiece" or "epic masterpiece" or whatever else they call the books we all adore, of course that's not very likely either since most people won't read the book if they've seen the movie.

In short I don't like the idea of a battle in the movie, but I can let is slide.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I have a feeling that the line "You have an extraordinary destiny..." won't be in the movie.

From a purely artistic decision you would surely choose Miraz rather than The White Witch to represent a nightmare on the Dark Island, since not only is Miraz far more relevant to this story than The White Witch ever was, but it would also be far more likely in the context of the character developments and overall series narrative for Caspian to have a nightmare about Miraz than it would be for Edmund to have a nightmare about The White Witch.

That's an interesting thought about Miraz. Of course, for all we know, Caspian does see Miraz. I doubt they would show him in the trailer. Tilda Swinton is a much bigger box office draw.

It's the same reason the trailer shows Lucy and Edmund being reunited with Reep instead of Caspian, even thought meeting Caspian again is a much more important plot point.

The more I talk about this trailer, the better I feel about the film. Because it's becoming more and more clear that this is just a piece of commercial junk that shouldn't be trusted (at least, not very much) when forming an opinion about how the film will turn out.

I hate the idea of a battle but the movie scene will build up a whole lot of tension for nothing to happen and that just doesn't work in a movie.

The tension comes from now knowing if Caspian's plan is going to be found out. He's pretending he has more ships, but we aren't sure if Gumpas is going to buy it. Caspian and the other Narnians are incredibly vulnerable....but will Gumpas figure that out? That's tense.

Have you seen Inglourious Basterds? At the end of the movie, everyone has to pretend to be someone else in order to sneak into a movie premiere to blow it up. It's really really tense, because we're not sure if the Nazis at the party are going to buy their story, and their disguise isn't very good. There are actually many scenes like this throughout the movie. The opening scene is just two guys talking to each other for twenty minutes, but it's incredibly tense because one guy is hiding Jews, and the other is a Nazi interrogating him about it. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay

I'm not sure exactly why, but I have a feeling that the line "You have an extraordinary destiny..." won't be in the movie.

Like "Everything you know is about to change" (which was in the movie, sure, but spoken by and to different characters in a context where it actually made some sense). Wasn't there also some stupid line in the LWW trailer that didn't make it into the film?

The more I talk about this trailer, the better I feel about the film. Because it's becoming more and more clear that this is just a piece of commercial junk that shouldn't be trusted (at least, not very much) when forming an opinion about how the film will turn out.

This is kind of why I started the "Audience reactions" thread. The trailer doesn't make me worry about the movie. It makes me worry about the success of the movie (and by extension, the future of the franchise) because I don't think it does a very good job of selling it. As a fan, I was excited by the trailer (just for the fact that there was new Narnia footage) but I just can't see it doing much for a non-reader.