Should they have made Narnia movies?

yes well i am glad now that they are making the movies...no matter how old i am i shall see all the narnia movies (that is if they make all 7)
 
thats what i was afraid of, that they'd mess them up. i've read books and then seent he movies made about them and been sooo dissapointed...i havent seen the movie yet but my bro saw it in the theatre and he said it was good; so all my feras were basiclyt unfounded. But i can understand why some people were upset about the movies, but personally i feel that as long as one person becomes saved or changed because of the movie, eveyrhting else is worht it.
I only hope they don't ruin the true image of Aslan in the movies to come.
 
As I am reading through the thread I realize that being a fan of the books doesn't take away from anything if one is also a fan of the movies. Nor does it mean that one has to accept the religious ideals that the books talk about in order to appreciate these stories. I am one such individual who has long since dismissed the religious alligories, probably starting from my childhood.

For me, the Chronicles are stories and yes they teach us about the love that comes through unconditionally. They teach about moral standards, of that I can appreciate, but for me they are nothing more than well written children's stories, and that is how I specifically interpret them. I do understand the Christian allegory, however, but I don't read the stories for that, nor do I feel that one has to necessarily 'embrace' them in order to appreciate what Narnia has come to represent. To further my point, I do know of Agnostic individuals who have come to appreciate the moral ideals and values that are present in these stories.

As for the books being made into a movie, I think that I can appreciate the chronicles more through the movies because the visual images feed into my fantasy. Yes, I like the Harry Potter books and movies as well as liking Narnia, and can appreciate the books as well as the movies (although I did not like the Goblet of Fire). The point is, all fantasy books do have something that appeals to me on many levels.

As a writer myself, I can also understand the discouraged individuals who say 'it's not like the books' or 'it wasn't true to the books'. Yet, I also hear these same people who claim to be diehard Narnia fans saying that the BBC version of it stunk because of the effects (or lack thereof), but that version was truer to the books than the recent Disney/Walden film.

Moving on, just because something is put out by Disney doesn't automatically make it cheesy or stupid. Back in 1939 when 'Snow White' was released as a full-length feature film, it was massivly innovative. Disney, whether we like it or not, was one of the front running companies with special effects as well as CGI (working alongside Pixar). I happen to like some of the stuff Disney has put out, one of my favorites being the spirituality that seemed to postively emanate in 'Brother Bear'.

I know that sometimes Disney can go over the top with their sequels, but I also think that given their reputation with feature films (not just animation). I can honestly say that they have become of a mark of credibility, whether positively or negatively viewed. But, someone had to make the movie and Walden could not have done it alone. Disney did give the film some credibility, but as I was watching it in the cinema, I never once thought about it being a Disney movie, I saw it as being a very innovative film with a load of work put into it. I also found that a lot of the movie did not really scream Disney, but instead screamed about the handling of overall story, directing, costumes, etc. It was this handling that sold the film, not the companies that backed it.

Just my two cents worth. :)
 
My sister also wishes that LWW wasn't made, and in my mind, she loves the books more than any oneI know! They alowed her to use her imagination, even when people would tell her that she shouldn't. When she saw the movie, whatever creativity of the imagination she had, was destroyed to her. Whenever she reads the LWW, or thinks of it, she'll invision what the movie screen had created, not what she had thought at first. So her view was damaged, I don't know if u guys will understand that, but please dont' ridicule what i just shared.
 
OH...well hang it all! I wish i never made this thread..i regret making it. It made me cry (and i mean literally) that they made some changes in the narnia movies and that ppl only like narnia cuz it is a 'disney' movie. my sis for an example. And i cried for like 15 mins! and kept reading LWW the book

I know Im weird. no need to mention it. But i really, really love narnia..i can never stop thinking about it. and i know 1 day i will get to narnia....
 
I agree with Namaste. People say the movie was not how they saw it, but no one will have the same feeling. I found the movie powerful. No one will agree 100% on whether they liked it or not. Some people wanted more religious themes, some wanted less, some wanted it to be exactly like the book, etc. I actually liked the added scenes, like the one on the river. That is just how I feel about it personally.

I never cared about who made the movie either, Disney or not. It was good and that should be what matters. You can't please everyone, and mostly what I have heard is positive. I am happy they made the movie and I think that CS Lewis would have been pleased with it as well (his family stated that they thought he would be too).
 
TrueNarnian said:
OH...well hang it all! I wish i never made this thread..i regret making it. It made me cry (and i mean literally) that they made some changes in the narnia movies and that ppl only like narnia cuz it is a 'disney' movie. my sis for an example. And i cried for like 15 mins! and kept reading LWW the book

I know Im weird. no need to mention it. But i really, really love narnia..i can never stop thinking about it. and i know 1 day i will get to narnia....
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You don't need to feel guilty each time people disagree with you. We're all different people with different backgrounds, and with different upbringings. So, all of that is going to affect how we think of certain things.
 
TrueNarnian said:
OH...well hang it all! I wish i never made this thread..i regret making it. It made me cry (and i mean literally) that they made some changes in the narnia movies and that ppl only like narnia cuz it is a 'disney' movie. my sis for an example. And i cried for like 15 mins! and kept reading LWW the book

I know Im weird. no need to mention it. But i really, really love narnia..i can never stop thinking about it. and i know 1 day i will get to narnia....
Click to expand...

You know, it is a matter of disagreeing, which is OK. No one is trying to make you cry. Good heaven's I'd feel positively horrid if my posting evoked that sort of reaction. I have to say that I was not only responding to your words, but to the words of others as well.

I love Narnia probably as much as you do, I grew up reading the books and from my childhood on, they were my favorites. I never once thought as a young person that the books should be made into movies, although in 1968 (thereabouts) there was a series about it in the UK, which was before my time. Sadly, this series is not available on VHS or DVD, which is a crying shame. But, to love Narnia is such a wonderful thing, and the books are truly what started everything. I think as long as things are done in the spirit of the original, then all should be fine with the world, but that's just me.

Even with that said, it was the movie that sparked an interest here in Germany. Imagine some of your contemporaries here finding the books and reading them because of the movie and thus, becoming fans of these books themselves. The movie has brought about the idea that even here, one can find these books and read them. Five years ago when I was looking for a decent German translation of the Chronicles, that was not the case.

I would literally go from one bookstore to the other and ask about the Chronicles and the workers there generally had no idea what I was talking about. I would get the range of 'never heard of it', to dumb looks that generally read as: 'Huh?'. For the most part, the bookstore employees were positively clueless about the books, some had no idea that they even existed. I met another bookstore worker who wanted to have a good English language copy of them and even with her computer experience, she couldn't get her hands on one. So, I went home, grabbed my copy that we bought while in England, and I showed her the ISBN number of the book I had so that she could order it herself. Today, that very same book is available here as a German translation. Without the movie, that would never have come to pass.

So, I am really glad that there is a movie, to introduce a whole slew of new readers to the stories. Without that, the German fans of the Chronicles would never find each other, nor would the books get the credit they deserve. By releasing the movie, it has literally opened the door for a lot more people to be introduced to the wonderful works of CS Lewis. And I think that even in the US and Canada, the movies are going to bring in even more new enthusiastic readers.
 
I agree with Namaste, TrueNarnian. Like you, I was extremely skeptical about the movie, fearing another Lord of the Rings debacle. For my part, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie (which, incidentally, is not a "Disney movie" - they only helped with marketing.) I thought they stayed largely true to the actual storyline and very true to the spirit of the book.

Namaste makes the telling point: this movie will get people reading the books. It isn't like Harry Potter, where people have to wait years to find out what happens next. If they like the movie, they can rush right out and get the whole set - which will expose them to Lewis. If they're wise, they'll then pick up the Interplanetary Trilogy, and perhaps then move on to The Great Divorce, and so from there.

I haven't read this whole thread, but please don't feel like people are upset with you. You've a right to your opinion, and it doesn't seem to me that you were expressing it in a denegrating manner. I have all kinds of people who think I'm crazy because I deplore what the Jackson LOTR films became, but I stand by my statements. Namaste and I at least, both childhood lovers of the book series, stand by you.
 
Please remember that a book and a film are two very different art forms, and one does not equal the other. We have to look at the film as a different form of the story. I say, thank God that the director stayed pretty faithful to the spirit of the book - I've read reports about another studio that had been planning to update the story to contemporary times! Can you imagine a bunch of modern-day brats going to Narnia and acting like a pack of divas? Or a strictly pop-music soundtrack? .....I say, thank God we got a film that respected the spirit of the book. I really feel that God can use the film in a different way, to reach people who don't want to read ......and that many people will get into the books because of the movie - this is all good! Narnia is to be shared.
As a side-note: in helping to promote the film in New York, I've encountered some really fine people who truly care about Lewis' work, film, art and God.
Aslan's on the move - Bert
 
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Bertman316 said:
Please remember that a book and a film are two very different art forms, and one does not equal the other. We have to look at the film as a different form of the story. I say, thank God that the director stayed pretty faithful to the spirit of the book - I've read reports about another studio that had been planning to update the story to contemporary times! Can you imagine a bunch of modern-day brats going to Narnia and acting like a pack of divas? Or a strictly pop-music soundtrack? .....I say, thank God we got a film that respected the spirit of the book. I really feel that God can use the film in a different way, to reach people who don't want to read ......and that many people will get into the books because of the movie - this is all good! Narnia is to be shared.
As a side-note: in helping to promote the film in New York, I've encountered some really fine people who truly care about Lewis' work, film, art and God.
Aslan's on the move - Bert
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Ok, I know this is a serious topic in many cases, but hearing the idea of it being made 'modern', and all those ideas made me laugh. I was glad that the music is mostly instrumental, because it fit. They stayed true to the movie and I think that while not the same EXACTLY, that is not possible. It is clear that the people that made this movie really did their research of the time period and kept Lewis' work as pure as possible.
 
WHY IN THE WORLD DID THEY CALL THIS AREA "I WISH THEY NEVER MADE NARNIA MOVIES??" That is an INSULT!!! Insult I tell you!! This should be for FANS of Narnia. Not people who hate it!!
 
Aslan-Edmund said:
WHY IN THE WORLD DID THEY CALL THIS AREA "I WISH THEY NEVER MADE NARNIA MOVIES??" That is an INSULT!!! Insult I tell you!! This should be for FANS of Narnia. Not people who hate it!!
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The person who wrote the initial posting here did not say they hated Narnia, they said that they didn't like the idea of them making Narnia into a movie. No one here said that they hated Narnia. I have read every last posting in this thread and it was not said by anyone.

There are a lot of folks who don't like movies being made from books because they fear that something is being taken away from the book for the movie. Movies are, after all, a director's interpretation of said book and one can either like or hate that director's handling of it. I don't mind it either way, but I do respect those who don't like the idea of them making movies from books.

And perhaps to start, you should not resort to shouting to make this point known. The use of caps lock in internet terminology is shouting. In order to emphasize something you can write it regularly and put it in bold print or italicize it, that way no one thinks you're 'yelling' at them.

For the record, I couldn't imagine coming to a forum for something that I can't stand...seems rather a waste of time.
 
i'm glad they are making the films its really more of a remake from the old films which were terrible from anyone who has seen them i laughed at alot of stuff in the old ones. the witch falling off a 5ft clift hiting a rock and some how dying haha and some other stuff but this one is good and PC will be good to and all the effects and graphics good stuff.
 
I kind of understand what they're saying.

I've loved Narnia since about 2nd grade. Until the movie came out, nobody here in my area (or at least almost nobody) had even heard of Narnia. So now it feels weird to me to see all of these Narnia fan sites and fans and stuff. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, I'm just saying it feels kind of odd with Narnia being so famous.

I know that Narnia has always been loved by a ton of people, but it's never really got attention until now.

But in my small town, many people still don't even know what Narnia is. :rolleyes:
 
Way I see it, it gets people interested in Narnia and gets them readin the books (hopefully); in the same way that the BBC version got people like me reading the chronicles. Which makes me wonder were people complaining about the BBC series being made almost twenty years ago now??
 
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