The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Christian entertainment

As a biblical allegory, the movie works quite well, making it's points more entertainingly and artistically than a straightforward bible story would. If, however, one wants to know how it works as stand-alone entertainment for a non-Christian child, you would be well advised to look elsewhere.
The Christian references are too obvious to be anything else, and the characters are created to be representative of a religious lesson instead of just a children's story, and it shows. The children are in many ways unlikeable and two-dimensional and the dialogue self-righteous. Tilda Swinton is riveting as a witch creepy and vicious enough to scare adults, let alone children. An older child will find both humor and adventure lacking, while a younger child will probably find all the violence frightening. July 8, 2008

a nice transfer, good blu-ray and an ok movie

I didn't enjoy this movie as much as I did the first time I saw it. However the Blu-ray is a very nice transfer and if you're a fan of the film, it won't disappoint. It's a very nice upgrade from the dvd. July 3, 2008

Another amazing BluRay from Disney

I have had this disc for a month, and am still working through the bonus features on it. Disney jam-packs their BluRay releases with Bonus features, and this one is no exception. When you have a whole extra BluRay (not DVD) of bonus features included.... I think the disc claims over 14 hours.

The video transfer is crip and sharp, and film grain is next to non-existant. Colors are vibrant, blacks are true - you would think that this film was shot with HD cameras rather than being a film transfer. The audio tracks will blow you away - just the bombing scene at the begining of the movie with the Dolby Digital soundtrack will work out your subwoofer - mine was bouncing off the floor. But there is more - like most Disney releases, this includes an Uncompressed PCM audio track, which, gratefully, the studio did not limit the disc to work only over HDMI. This is one of the few titles that I was able to export the PCM in 5.1 channels over my toslink cable!

Don't be fulled by the number of languages listed on the back of the package - there are WAY more audio tracks than this. Every major European language is represented on the disc, as welll as a few middle eastern and Asian languages. The audio comentaries are actually pretty fun on this disc - I think I had more fun listening to the audio commentary of the children and the director than I had watching the movie.

The only drawback to this disc is, like most Disney releases, it is a bit on the pricy side, costing over $25 at Amazon (don't even ask how much this thing costs at Best Buy, you are liable to have a heart attack). However, it was a nice addition to my BluRay collection, and I am sure any fan of this movie and the series would have happily paid twice this for the movie in HD. June 30, 2008

a child based fantasy story

stunning picture(reference)quality, and sound
good storyline(a bit childish but that,s ok
A perfect film for the whole family
a must have in your blu ray libery June 27, 2008

The best adaptation of this timeless classic

The Narnia books are fantasy classics. One of my all time favorite series was given justice in not just the adaptation, but now in this beautiful high def transfer.

Everyone knows the story, and by now, anyone who wanted to see the film already has. The question before us, is it worth getting this Blu-ray version? The short answer is, hell yeah.

The long answer is the reasons why. First and foremost is the clear and pristine transfer. For this type of fantasy film, where the colors are somewhat exaggerated and need to pop, the HD transfer helps make this film into a more memorable experience. The detail is there, just like you would expect from an HD transfer, and the blacks are rich and distinct enough so that there is no crush.

The special features are plenty - although I haven't done a comparisson as to how many there are versus the 2 disc DVD edition, from a quick glance, it has plenty to keep those who love special features satisfied.

Lovely film, lovely transfer. That's all a movie lover can ask for. Buy this, and make sure Disney keeps bringing great films to blu-ray. June 24, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...