Eustace Scrubb
New member
Cheesy? Whaaaaaat?
Okay, granted, they are a little cheesy at times. Remember though, that these were made 15 years ago and the technology and funding to make effective modern movies did not exist back then.
Personally I love the old series. I think they hold such a Narnian charm for me, that was just completely missing in the new movie. The BBC Pevensie children were all decent enough actors, and I loved Jonathon R Scott's smarmy, spiteful portrayal of Edmund. Sophie Wilcox was a little whiney as Lucy, but she was a good actor and was essentially (in nature at least) what Lucy was supposed to be. Richard Dempsey as Peter was great; pomous in a way, very regal in his bearing and speech and without doubt the leader of the four children. Sophie Cook wasn't as strong in her performance, but she was playing Susan as Susan is written in the books; she was meant to be gentle and placating, not argumentative and "logical".
Barbara Kellerman who played The White Witch was pantomimic in her portrayal, over-bearing and overly dramatic, but at least there was a real menace there; she was always threatening and dangerous. It was also a nice touch that it was the same actress who continued to pop up as the evil figure in every production after that; Prince Caspian, VotDT and Silver Chair, signifying that it was the essence of the same White Witch only manifested into different forms.
As for the setting... I loved it, because it was actually Britain! Narnia always had a British feel to it, so I was very disappointed when they announced that they'd be filming the new Narnia movie in New Zealand. Narnia was British, not Middle-Earth-ish. The snow scenes in BBC Narnia were all filmed in Scotland, and they looked so authentic and freezing cold. The trek to the stone table showed some beautiful country-side, and while the last battle was pretty dodgy and small-scale, at least it wasn't filmed on the Rohan fields.
Well, that's my two bob's worth.
Okay, granted, they are a little cheesy at times. Remember though, that these were made 15 years ago and the technology and funding to make effective modern movies did not exist back then.
Personally I love the old series. I think they hold such a Narnian charm for me, that was just completely missing in the new movie. The BBC Pevensie children were all decent enough actors, and I loved Jonathon R Scott's smarmy, spiteful portrayal of Edmund. Sophie Wilcox was a little whiney as Lucy, but she was a good actor and was essentially (in nature at least) what Lucy was supposed to be. Richard Dempsey as Peter was great; pomous in a way, very regal in his bearing and speech and without doubt the leader of the four children. Sophie Cook wasn't as strong in her performance, but she was playing Susan as Susan is written in the books; she was meant to be gentle and placating, not argumentative and "logical".
Barbara Kellerman who played The White Witch was pantomimic in her portrayal, over-bearing and overly dramatic, but at least there was a real menace there; she was always threatening and dangerous. It was also a nice touch that it was the same actress who continued to pop up as the evil figure in every production after that; Prince Caspian, VotDT and Silver Chair, signifying that it was the essence of the same White Witch only manifested into different forms.
As for the setting... I loved it, because it was actually Britain! Narnia always had a British feel to it, so I was very disappointed when they announced that they'd be filming the new Narnia movie in New Zealand. Narnia was British, not Middle-Earth-ish. The snow scenes in BBC Narnia were all filmed in Scotland, and they looked so authentic and freezing cold. The trek to the stone table showed some beautiful country-side, and while the last battle was pretty dodgy and small-scale, at least it wasn't filmed on the Rohan fields.
Well, that's my two bob's worth.