**Comparing Narnia and LotR**

[Legolas]

some of the humor in LotR bordered on too forced or too corny (coughGimlicough).

This is great news to me. I was very unhappy with the treatment of Gimli and a few other moments in Lord of the Rings because of the forced, corny humor...it's made me worry about other 'epic fantasy' type books-turned-movies. You've calmed my fears.

[Boromir88]

I would say that the casting of the Narnia movie was overall better than that of LotR. Just about every single one of the characters I could look at and say "That's Peter" or "That's the White Witch" - as much as I love the LotR movies, I can't say the same thing about Elijah Wood's Frodo or Orlando Bloom's Legolas, for example. The acting was pretty strong all around, I thought (I'm not the greatest judge of acting, though),~Firefoot

That's interesting, considering I have really heard any well-known names in Narnia (though that doesn't mean they aren't good). LOTR I thought was cast very well, though I do know what you mean in that there were weaker roles and you just think "Hey this isn't Gimli, or this isn't...etc"). I guess I'll have to wait and check it out to see.

[davem]

I'm in two minds about seeing this. I've read some positive reviews (though Metro, while giving it a very good write up overall, did say that the battle scenes were like Peter Jackson's epic recreated with fuzzy felt).

I don't care about the Narnia books in the way I care about LotR, but still, I wouldn't want to see them spoiled. I have read a rumour that rather than doing all 7 books they're planning another two movies covering the main storyline of the rest of the books (so that would probably mean no Magician's Nephew, no Horse & his Boy & probably as with the BBC adaptation some years back Prince Caspian & Voyage of the Dawn Treader run together. The BBC didn't adapt The Last Battle either, I remember.

[arcticstorm]

Originally Posted by davem

I have read a rumour that rather than doing all 7 books they're planning another two movies covering the main storyline of the rest of the books (so that would probably mean no Magician's Nephew, no Horse & his Boy & probably as with the BBC adaptation some years back Prince Caspian & Voyage of the Dawn Treader run together. The BBC didn't adapt The Last Battle either, I remember.

I have checked up on this rumor and I am glad to say that the plan is to make seven films depending on how well they do.
http://www.narniaweb.com/content.asp?id=2

[Kuruharan]

I think I can say without fear of contradiction that in the Avoidance of Stupid and Incomprehensible Plot Deviations category The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe wins hands down.

including the effects that come from the same workshop

It is funny you should say that, but there were some pieces of armor (I'm particularly thinking of the helmet of Aslan's centaur general) that just had LOTR influences all over them. On the whole, I admit that I generally prefer the armor designs in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as being more in character than some of the stuff that appeared in LOTR (which in some cases was rather silly in my opinion).

I do think that the humor in the Narnia movie tended to be better done and more fitting in the movie - some of the humor in LotR bordered on too forced or too corny (coughGimlicough).

Amen. The Beavers were hilarious...even Maugrim had a bit of a giggle or two. I found the exchange between Edmund and Philip to be pretty funny as well. It was one of those, "Oh yeah, that's right!" moments. (Those who have seen the movie will know what I am talking about.)

LotR is definitely the more dark in tone between the two (four?) movies, which I suppose is to be expected. While both movies depict a good vs. evil struggle, Narnia isn't quite as dire about it.

I think that while Narnia does have a more lighthearted tone, it may also have something to do with Narnia already having suffered the worst and not having any place to go but up. In Middle earth the heroes were trying to preserve and protect. In Narnia the heroes were trying to overthrow an already established tyranny and start fresh.

If there was anything I was “disappointed” about was that Liam Neeson would not have been my choice for the voice of Aslan. I would have preferred somebody with a deeper voice.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

I found the exchange between Edmund and Philip to be pretty funny as well.

I thought it was a perfect little offhand addition, in line with Lewis' themes, understated-- unlike some of the additions that made it into PJ's movies. It was like a foreshadowing of The Horse And His Boy... really well done.

Originally Posted by davem

What interests me is the way Evangelicals have grabbed onto Narnia but didn't bother with LotR (ok, some did, but not to any extent in the same way).

Heh! Latecomer.

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Lal

Ah, but according to the same writer, LotR is also evil:

Those articles evoke nothing so much as pity. I mean, you have to be pretty out of it to think that this little bit of satire is the real deal.