when did you first watch the BBC version and what was your reaction?

Into the Wardrobe said:
That sounds awesome Jonny! I wish I could have been there.

Vickjillpole...did you know that the guy who played Reepicheep and Glimfeather in the BBC productions is the same guy playing Nikabrik in the new version. Warwick Davis.

The BBC is better on a regular screen rather than on YouTube. Much better in my mind. I have the DVDs too and I love sticking them in and watching for hours.
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Really?????????????????????????????????
No, I didn't. Wow! That guy is VERY lucky cuz he'll be working at Narnian sets more than once, which (for me) would be just AWESOME! and more if I love Narnia, as I do. That, my friends, it A BLESS!!!!!!!
 
I saw BBC's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", "Prince Caspian & the Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "The Silver Chair" in 1989, 1990 and 1991 respectively and fell in love instantly. We taped them off TV when they aired back in the day and I used to watch those tapes religiously all throughout my childhood and in my teens.

I own the DVDs now :)
 
liljentuva said:
I saw BBC's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", "Prince Caspian & the Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "The Silver Chair" in 1989, 1990 and 1991 respectively and fell in love instantly. We taped them off TV when they aired back in the day and I used to watch those tapes religiously all throughout my childhood and in my teens.

I own the DVDs now :)
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YEA! You can join myself and Waterhogboy (Jonny) in that as well. BBC forever!!! :D:):D
 
waterhogboy said:
*high fives*

It's SO true. I'm still excited bout the new ones but they will never exceed my view of BBC. They're too unreliable.
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*high fives* :D

I totally agree with you and I feel the same way. I'm excited about the new films but I know that they will always disappoint me, at least in some aspect. With the new LWW it felt as though they were so caught up in making such a visually fantastic film with all the CGI that they forgot the very heart and soul of the story. And the added Americanization and Hollywoodification just made me cringe.
 
Great! I watched not the whole thing, I just choose the parts I can compare. It was after Walden released two Narnia films, LWW and PC, and I found it emotional, especially during the battle (ironically, I think it was a good battle!) and Lucy looked so cuute looking up at Aslan. Not long ago I found out that all the five main children were TEENS (:eek:) during the shooting!
 
I was a kid when these movies came out and I loved them. They were special and meaningful to me and they still are. When Disney/Walden announced a new series, I was excited. But that has been increasingly disappointing. I go back to the BBC versions. In fact, I think if I had to part with one version of the DVDs, it'd be the new ones.

There is just something so real and natural about the BBC versions. I think my favorite is The Voyage of the Dawn Treador. Get this, it follows the plot of the book! And it feels like a real voyage. I prefer real, natural scenic environments to fake CGI. In the BBC version, on every island, you can hear the sound of the sea roaring. It's like you're really there. People's hair is blowing in the wind. The music is amazing-so heartfelt. Love the strings/violin. Anyway, yeah I totally prefer BBC VDT over Fox/Walden. Big time!
 
Yes, I very much enjoy the B.B.C version of LWW, PC, VDT and SC, and think it is a pity that they didn't dramatise the three remaining books (MN, HHB and LB). I thought Barbara Kellerman was excellent as Jadis, although I also think Tilda Swinton was really great in that role too. The only aspect of the B.B.C films I was disappointed with was the death of Jadis, which I thought was rather unsatisfactory, but that is just my personal opinion. It might well be argued also, that a different actress should have played the part of the Green Witch in SS.
I also have audio versions of MN and LWW in which Rosemary Martin gives a very creditable performance as Jadis. I also saw a B.B.C version years ago (early 1960s?) of LWW. I cannot remember which actress was cast as Jadis, but I do recall that, whoever she was, to a pre-teen Corin she did a very good job!
 
I grew up watching the BBC versions on VCR (remember the days before DVDs when we also had phones with cords and phone booths since everyone didn't have cell phones) with my siblings. We really enjoyed them and watched them over and over. We didn't really mind a lot of the school play aspects like Mr. and Mrs. Beaver being taller than the children, or Aslan kind of looking like a puppet. We just fell into the Narnia magic and didn't notice those things. Oh, and I remember that we were terrified of the White Witch. She gave us nightmares, which means she did a good job as an actress:D
 
Surprised I hadn't posted here yet. (Wow, first time I've signed in in months and months.)


I too grew up with this and have very nostalgic memories of it. So I will have seen it in the very early '90s. Us children had the bumper video of 'Wardrobe' but some way along the line it got lost and that was upsetting for years, thinking I'd love to see it again but could not!

Then - wonder of wonders - it came out on DVD! Awesome! :D I still enjoy it. Yes, it is dated, but I enjoy old effects in TV programmes and films - why does something need to have wow-o CGI effects to be good? It doesn't. It had heart and warmth and stayed truer to the books. I will always have more of a place in my heart for this over the film. :)
 
Sir Cabbage said:
why does something need to have wow-o CGI effects to be good? It doesn't. :)
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You're right. A while ago I went to the movies with a group and we went to see a really bad movie with a bad storyline and bad acting but still, some people thought the movie was "awesome" so I asked them why. "Didn't you see the great special effects?" They asked. "Well, yes," I said, "I saw the special effects, but that didn't make the movie great for me." Everyone thought I was crazy!.
 
I first saw them when I was eight years. I thought they were really faithful to the books. I enjoyed the child stars who played Susan, Peter and Edmund. But I never could get into the girl who played Lucy. She just didn't seem like Lucy at all, or convey the spirit that Lucy did. I enjoyed the sound effects, the way the voices of the characters came across on screen, and the music. The animation was kind of weird and trippy in some parts. I thought Tumnus was alright, but James Mcavoy portrayed a better one. I liked Eustace and Caspian a lot in these versions. And the girl who played Jill Pole was brilliant.
 
HammerDoc said:
I have never seen the BBC versions. Are they available in the United States?
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My mom was able to buy them on VHS when I was a child growing up in the 1990's, but I don't know if they're available on DVD. You could probably always check Amazon to see what deals you can get. Also, I think some of them are available on YouTube. (Favorite free source of college entertainment for me, lol).

ETA: I'm born and raised in the USA, just to clarify in case that wasn't clear.
 
this is going to make me sound old I frist saw it in the 1990s. one thing I will say though and please dont shout at me is they were petty loyal to the books but yes the effect were not very good but that is what was available at the time. I still watch them from time to time but I do like The newer ones.
 
BarbarianKing said:
You're right. A while ago I went to the movies with a group and we went to see a really bad movie with a bad storyline and bad acting but still, some people thought the movie was "awesome" so I asked them why. "Didn't you see the great special effects?" They asked. "Well, yes," I said, "I saw the special effects, but that didn't make the movie great for me." Everyone thought I was crazy!.
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Palm-to-face on that! It does seem to be a problem with lots of films that they rely so much on the marvellous special effects, but actually the story is very dull or just silly.
 
Bbc

I saw the bbc's version and it was more true to the book but it was made for children as was the book but Lewis had a relgious meaning and a deep one. To kids it's a story about a lion defeating a witch, good against evil the same way the bible dose. In the bbc version it dose not say that Jadis is desended from Lilith Adams first wife or in the film only in the book, why was it left out? In jewish or Herbrew folklore Lilith was Adams first wife and she rebeled aginst them both Adam and God. Jadis was the first one to rebell in Narnia and was trapped there by Aslan.
 
Jadis-the-White said:
I saw the bbc's version and it was more true to the book but it was made for children as was the book but Lewis had a relgious meaning and a deep one. To kids it's a story about a lion defeating a witch, good against evil the same way the bible dose. In the bbc version it dose not say that Jadis is desended from Lilith Adams first wife or in the film only in the book, why was it left out? In jewish or Herbrew folklore Lilith was Adams first wife and she rebeled aginst them both Adam and God. Jadis was the first one to rebell in Narnia and was trapped there by Aslan.
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I don't know. Maybe the line was cut for time issues or because the script writers felt like kids might not know who Lilith was. I remember not knowing who she was when I read LWW as a kid. I never learned about Lilith as a child, just about Eve. So, I glossed over the line in LWW book until I was old enough to know who Lilith was. Maybe the scriptwriters thought including the bit about Lilith wasn't really necessary and might confuse some kids. That's all just speculation, though, obviously.
 
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