I am very glad this plot element was added.

In fact, I think the movie would have been a very poor film if something like the seven swords/green mist plot was not added.

It seems to be the general sentiment that anything "extra" (not in the books) automatically detracts from the movie. But in the weeks leading up to the movie, I reread the book and found myself thinking, "I sure hope they find a better way to make this plot work than there is in this book."
Whether totally devoted book fans want to admit it or not, the story in the book was far, far too episodic and disjointed to make for a good movie. The movie needed some kind of glue to hold the unrelated adventures together that was stronger than the vague idea of finding out what happened to seven lords (characters whose backstory and significance are never adequately explained enough to make them a good basis for the plot).
There had to have been some overarching problem or threat to give the plot more direction and purpose.

And the green mist/swords served this purpose perfectly well. Clearly the writers behind this movie made the central theme temptation, and the mist provided an excellent means to support this theme, as it tempts the characters throughout the movie. It allowed the temptations of the different characters to be drawn out and significant, instead of short and quickly forgotten.

It could have been better and there could have been more elegant solutions, but this plot alteration worked excellently.

If the intention of the movie is to tell the story about the green mist and 7 swords, then it was not done well.

But, really they are macguffins in a film meant to tell a story about the spiritual life and temptations. In that sense, neither mist nor swords bothered me that much. The main gist of the film remained intact.

You probably summed it up best: macguffins. I too felt the main gist of the story was there.

One thing to remember is Lewis was basically taking older archetypes and bringing them to a new audience (circa WWII)... this film takes it to a new new audience in a new millenium, obsessed with flashy effects and high tech. to get the age old message across, you might have to throw in a few flashy macguffins. As long as they don't get in the way of the real story, I'm fine with it.

So if the Dark Island was around and dangerous back during the Golden Age, why didn't Aslan have the Pevensies destroy it? Where were these special swords hanging out for over a millenia? If the swords were so special and magic, why did Lord Bern keep his with him when he knew the other lords were going off to kill the Dark Island? Why did the other lords let him keep the sword when they knew they needed it to kill the island? .

I was suggesting that Aslan gave someone these swords so that in the future they can be used for this purpose. It is sort of like Susan was given the horn and later it was used to pull the Pevensies back into Narnia. Also when they say the golden age, i know that we all think of the golden age as the years in which the Pevensies reigned in Narnia. I do need to see it again, but in the film i am not sure that is the case. They may have meant the golden age as simply before Miraz. I am not saying that makes sense. I don't think that it does, but i think that is possible.

I think it was horrible and completely ruined the movie I just hate that part, cringe every time it is mentioned. The whole idea if you ask me is stupid. It was the one thing that really spoiled the movie for me. I think the movie would have been just fine, if not better without it. Why add a plot to an already finished story, there is no sense it it (at least I think that). I am very upset about the whole seven swords thing, and the green mist was even worse

It seems to be the general sentiment that anything "extra" (not in the books) automatically detracts from the movie.

I disagree with your basic premise there - i have seen hardly anyone so far with the "it's not in the books, therefore i hate it" mentality. If anything i would say the general sentiment so far here has been split between those people who disliked it because they thought it was flimsy and nonsensical and failed to achieve the objectives for which it was added.... and those people who were indifferent towards it because they thought it was flimsy and nonsensical and therefore didn't really impact upon the events of the book.

It seems to be the general sentiment that anything "extra" (not in the books) automatically detracts from the movie.

I disagree with your basic premise there - i have seen hardly anyone so far with the "it's not in the books, therefore i hate it" mentality. If anything i would say the general sentiment so far here has been split between those people who disliked it because they thought it was flimsy and nonsensical and failed to achieve the objectives for which it was added.... and those people who were indifferent towards it because they thought it was flimsy and nonsensical and therefore didn't really impact upon the events of the book.

Well, that isn't actually a premise. It's just a feeling I got. I still have the same reasons intact for why I think the plot worked whether or not it's true that people think that. But I certainly have met a lot of people who seem to think that way.

My feelings on the Seven Swords Plot...hmmm.
On one hand I didn't hate it, but I do wish that they'd fleshed it out a bit more! If they had to add a plot to the original story-line, they could have at least filled the plot holes you can drive a bus through.
For example- why do seven Telmarine Lords, who supposedly hated Old Narnia, have seven Old Narnian swords? And what is the Green Mist exactly? Why were they feeding slaves to it?
I'm still confused about it. On another note, I can understand why it was added, because of the book's general lack of villain, but I would be a lot more open to it if it was well explained. And looking at the leaked script, it could have been a whole lot worse (Lucy and Caspian, anyone? ) so I'm thankful for that at least.

OH MY ASLAN THE SEVEN SWORDS PLOT WAS SO AWESOME!
that's how I think of it.....

I'm going to view this movie again because I'm still in confusion of the seven swords plot line.

I was just like I thought. When the Dawn Treader pulls into the Dark Island, they pull up next to Rhoop stuck on that rock... Sure enough. "Caspian, the seventh sword!"

Nevermind about Rhoop, we need that sword!!!!

And that, my friends, is for me the single most representative line of the movie (albeit, I'm quoting from memory, but the point remains). Caspian and co. care about collecting swords, not finding lords. So lame.

The green mist was worse in that it actually represented Temptation. Where is the subtlety in that?! It was horrendous.

Filmmakers are SO silly! They insist over and over again that the story HAD to be changed for cinematic reasons. Yet, when you see the result the ONLY BAD THING about the movie were the changes. The dynamics were good: acting, CGI, sets (except Coriakin and his island. Period.), pacing...but all the changes to the story were unnecessary. I would LOVE a longer movie, where you can go in-depth into each island's story and adventure, and where the characters REALLY develop.

A silly script hinged on the most idiotic MacGuffin of all time ruined any chance of that.

Go back and watch The Lord of the Rings. What are the parts that work the least? Faramir taking Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath for NO REASON other than that Sam can make an emotional speech, Faramir get teary, and the hobbits go back to exactly to where they were before. It made zero cinematic sense. I remember watching that scene in the theater and going "WHA---?!"

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was a well-made travesty. It had NOTHING to do with what Chronicles of Narnia is or is about. It was about chasing a green mist across the ocean. Coriakin was horrid. Caspian's speech was cliched. Aslan was Jumbo Simba.

I definetly don't think it added anything positive to the movie. What mainly bugged me was the green mist. It was horrendously cheap, and icky. But thankfully I was still able to enjoy the movie.

Jumbo Simba? That's it, never going to able to rewatch a Narnia movie without that popping into my head.

Filmmakers are SO silly! They insist over and over again that the story HAD to be changed for cinematic reasons. Yet, when you see the result the ONLY BAD THING about the movie were the changes. The dynamics were good: acting, CGI, sets (except Coriakin and his island. Period.), pacing...but all the changes to the story were unnecessary. I would LOVE a longer movie, where you can go in-depth into each island's story and adventure, and where the characters REALLY develop.

This pretty much hits home for me, except for that I think the worst parts of the movie were that the green mist and seven swords were unexplained. They said some vague la-tee-da bits about them, but I never really understood why they were there or why people had to sacrifice other people to the mist. What the heck?

I think that the character development and story development were really lacking. Plus I had to keep myself from digging a hole in the floor to hide for shame when the green mist came out. Yeah, totally subtle. I honestly don't see how it knit the plot together, and it wasn't developed enough as a story, anyhow.

I didn't understand one thing, why did Peter's sword turn blue when all the seven swords are lain at Aslan's Table? That was kinda odd .

Green mist...