Rating: PG
Starring:
Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie
Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie
William Moseley as Peter Pevensie
Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie
Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian
Sergio Castellitto as King Miraz
Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin
Warwick Davis as Nikabrik
Vincent Grass as Doctor Cornelius
Pierfrancesco Favino as General Glozelle
Damián Alcázar as Lord Sopespian
Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepicheep
Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan
Special Features:
Audio Commentary with Director Andrew Adamson and Actors
The Bloopers of Narnia
Deleted Scenes
Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns
Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to Life
Big Movie Comes to a Small Town
Previsualizing Narnia
Talking Animals and Walking Trees: The Magical World of Narnia
Secrets of the Duel
Becoming Trumpkin
Warwick Davis: The Man Behind Nikabrik
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.40:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French and Spanish Language Tracks
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 149 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the official DVD description:
“The magical world of C.S. Lewis’ beloved fantasy comes to life once again in ‘Prince Caspian,’ the second installment of ‘The Chronicles Of Narnia’ series. Join Peter, Susan, Edmund Lucy, the mighty and majestic Aslan, friendly new Narnian creatures and Prince Caspian as they lead the Narnians on a remarkable journey to restore peace and glory to their enchanted land. Continuing the adventure of ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ with more magic and a brand-new hero, Prince Caspian is a triumph of imagination, courage, love, joy and humor your whole family will want to watch again and again.”
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is rated PG for epic battle action and violence.
Mini-Review:
I enjoyed “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” but I have to admit that I wasn’t all that enthralled by “Prince Caspian.” Don’t get me wrong – I liked it. I just didn’t love it.
One of the problems with the film is the pacing. The audience already knows everything going on quite early in the film. For the first half of the running time you wait for the characters to catch up to you. It takes the kids about 15 minutes before they realize they are in Narnia’s future, but we know that before we walk in the theater or turn on the DVD player. They don’t even run into Prince Caspian until the 1 hour mark.
Things show sparks of getting cool with the introduction of Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin and Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepicheep. They both deliver fun performances and add great characters to the Narnia mythology. But the movie doesn’t kick into high gear until they raid the Telmarine castle. This takes place a bit after the halfway mark of the film. That’s a long time to gather steam for a movie. However, after that raid, things slow down again until the big climactic battle… which isn’t all that different from the big climactic battle of the first film. I don’t really blame the filmmakers for the pacing issues. They were just following C.S. Lewis’ novel. I just hope they have better luck with “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” which, I think, is a much more exciting novel.
“Prince Caspian” is still a great looking film. The design of the characters, costumes, weapons, and settings is still fantastic. The New Zealand location serves as a beautiful backdrop for Narnia. The creature effects are still impressive. Overall it’s very well made.
If you saw the first “Narnia” film, then this is still required viewing. It’s an essential chapter in the saga which, I believe, they’re still continuing. And it still has enough positive aspects to make it an entertaining moviegoing experience.
As for the bonus features, the 3-Disc Collector’s Edition has enough extras to choke a centaur. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) It has the usual stuff like an Audio Commentary with Director Andrew Adamson and some of the actors, bloopers, and deleted scenes. It also has the usual behind the scenes featurettes covering the sets, pre-visualization, shooting on location, the stunts, and the creatures. The more unique offerings among the featurettes are “Becoming Trumpkin” and “Warwick Davis: The Man Behind Nikabrik”. They follow the actors through the makeup process, a typical day on set, and other cool stuff. It’s a unique look behind the scenes with healthy doses of humor to boot.
