The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Special Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
June 2006 Reviewed by: Mischa Hayek Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the first of the seven famous children’s novels by Christian writer C.S. Lewis and the latest of their film adaptations by director Andrew Adamson. According to C.S. Lewis, his novel is often mistaken as an allegory of the life of Christ rather than his fantasy of how Jesus Christ would save another planet -- if he had to, in this case the mythical land of Narnia, a once beautiful world now covered in ice and snow under the frigid domination of an evil white witch, Jadis.

It’s wartime England. And four children, Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley), are sent by their mother to live in the country with a reclusive scientist, Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent), to escape the bombing of London. Professor Kirke’s house is huge with many rooms to explore. During a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy Pevensie hides in a wardrobe, but not an ordinary wardrobe! As Lucy goes deeper in, she backs out through pine trees into the snowy world of Narnia. There she meets a faun, Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy), as well as a magical lion and other friendly creatures. Eventually, all the children journey to Narnia. We learn that Jadis (Tilda Swinton) wants to kill them all because an ancient prophesy has foretold that four humans will appear and drive out the white witch. And so the plot unfolds as the children fight Jadis to save Narnia from endless winter.

C.S. Lewis did not want his Narnia stories made into movies because he feared his mystical, mythological creatures would look absurd or horrific on film. But Adamson’s The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe looks beautiful, and the special effects make the creatures warm and realistic. I suspect that C.S. Lewis would approve.

The Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition is loaded with extra features. On the first disc are two commentaries: one with director Adamson and the child actors (which will be more interesting to children) and another with Adamson, producer Mark Johnson, and production designer Roger Ford. A third commentary feature, "Discover Narnia Fun Facts," displays pop-ups during the film providing facts about content and author Lewis. There are bloopers, too, showing humorous screw-ups.

The second disc contains features about the making of the film, design of the Narnian creatures, the director’s experiences, and a short biography on C.S. Lewis.

Set-up features on the first disc are numerous: English Home Theater Mix 5.1, English DTS 5.1, French and Spanish language, plus subtitles in French or Spanish, and English captions for the hearing-impaired.

The picture is bright and clear, as we have come to expect of Disney. The sound mixes are very different: the DTS is more pointed, focused, and crisp; the Disney Home Theater Mix in Dolby 5.1 is much warmer, a little less specific in the front soundstage, and more prominent in the surround channels. Both are state-of-the-art examples of current cinema sound production.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe also comes in fullscreen and widescreen single-disc releases with the same features as on the first disc in the Special Two-Disc Collector’s Edition.

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