Trailer Screening at Taylor University (Jun. 5) *SPOILERS*

[Pattertwigs Pal]

All of the islands are tied together by the plot to find the 7 missing lords! All of the islands either have a lord on them or they find news of the lords (with the exception of burnt island which they could skip in the movie). I don't see how changing the plot from finding the missing lords to finding the missing lord's swords makes the story any more or less episodic! In fact, I think that changing it to looking for the swords makes the entire voyage seem quite shallow. "Who cares about the lords? We just want their swords!" -Is that what we want? Doesn't that seem a bit messed up to you? ... VDT is complete as is. The chapters are tied together very nicely. Claiming that the story is too episodic and needs to be changed sounds like a poor excuse to fiddle with the plot. It reminds me of the old line that PC's flashback makes the story "uncinematic." I'm sorry, but in the hands of a skilled director, the flashback in PC would have worked just fine.



OK, sorry, but I needed to vent a little. I am in need of some hot chocolate.

I completely agree. I don't think VDT need anything to tie it together. When you put it that way, looking for the swords does sound a little shallow. Of course if it is more "bring the lords back if you can but if you can't at least bring their swords" it wouldn't be so bad. I also think flashbacks would have worked just fine in PC. I totally understand the need to vent. Unfortunately, I don't know how to make hot chocolate so I can't offer you any. We might have a mix somewhere ... at the very least I think we have some coco powder. (My dad is the only one in the family that likes chocolate) We do have some chocolate ice cream (and a lot of other varieties).

Well, what to say... it seems to be confirmed that they are in Cambridge at the start so that is good. I guess the idea of Lucy's looking in the mirror is a good one; it just kind of took me off guard. Maybe I'll like it when I see it, but the whole snow out of the magician's book thing seems odd and out of place. As of now, I'm also not crazy about the idea of Eustace shouting "Mother" instead of "Alberta." I don't like the idea that Reep is "paunchier and slightly gray." I never pictured him as old or even middle aged. He seems to active and alive for that.

Early in their voyage, the crew will arrive at an island that is nearly deserted, because people have been disappearing from it. Gael’s parents were among those who disappeared. Apparently, finding the seven lords and seven swords will help recover the missing individuals.

I can handle the idea of people disappearing from an island, especially if it is tied into the slave trade on the Lone Islands. I may change my mind when I see it, but as of now the part about finding the lords and swords in order to help find the missing people sounds very odd and very unnecessary.

As of now I'm also not crazy about the idea that RD is the star they follow and that she has a glowing blue sphere in her body. It just sounds odd. I never thought of her as being a star. I always imagined her as being half star i.e. having a human mother. I'm glad the meaning of the part at the end is same but I was counting on it as being exactly the same as in the book. (Yes, I know I'm picky ).

I never thought of VDT as being any one person's story. I really hadn't thought of any of them in that sense, although I would say that SC has a lot to do with Jill and MN has a lot to do with Digory. VDT, in particular, is not any one person's story. Reep, Caspian, Lucy, and Eustace all go through some kind of change or challenge. Edmund hits some rough spots but he seems a bit more like he is along for the ride rather than to learn something. (He learn quite a bit in LWW after all). Reep sticks to his ideal of nobility and fighting, but he changes enough to throw his sword away at the end.

[daughter of the King]

I don't like the idea that Reep is "paunchier and slightly gray." I never pictured him as old or even middle aged. He seems to active and alive for that.

ditto! I never thought of Reepicheep as old.

As of now I'm also not crazy about the idea that RD is the star they follow and that she has a glowing blue sphere in her body. It just sounds odd. I never thought of her as being a star. I always imagined her as being half star i.e. having a human mother.

Is RD the star? I'm wondering if Ramandu himself is the star. And RD could be glowing because she's half star or something like that. I can't imagine her being the star they follow and appearing to them in human form.

I never thought of VDT as being any one person's story. I really hadn't thought of any of them in that sense, although I would say that SC has a lot to do with Jill and MN has a lot to do with Digory. VDT, in particular, is not any one person's story. Reep, Caspian, Lucy, and Eustace all go through some kind of change or challenge. Edmund hits some rough spots but he seems a bit more like he is along for the ride rather than to learn something. (He learn quite a bit in LWW after all). Reep sticks to his ideal of nobility and fighting, but he changes enough to throw his sword away at the end.

Me either. I think it probably belongs mostly to Caspian, Eustace, Reepicheep, and Lucy, but that's still several characters.

[Pattertwigs Pal]

Is RD the star? I'm wondering if Ramandu himself is the star. And RD could be glowing because she's half star or something like that. I can't imagine her being the star they follow and appearing to them in human form.

All I know is that the report said the following:

Dr. Brown also suggested that the “blue star” the Dawn Treader is told to follow may actually be Ramandu’s daughter. If I remember correctly, in her bodily appearance to the crew later on in the trailer, Ramandu’s daughter is seen with a glowing sphere of blue light inside her body, so this connection seems very likely to me.

Stars in Narnia do have a human like form.

[daughter of the King]

Stars in Narnia do have a human like form.

Yes, but they don't travel back and forth from sky to land except when they grow old and retire (or get punished in Coriakin's case). Of course, this could have been changed.

[decarus]

Wow, this seems like a big change. The more we find out about this Gael and her island and finding the swords to save people. This just sounds so bizarre. This adaption could be worse then PC which i didn't think was possible.

[DamselJillPole]

I personally don't care if RD aka Lilliandil is the star that Caspian and his crew follow. It makes perfect sense to the idea in the leaked script that Caspian has dreams about a star girl. If this is part of their romantic storyline then I'm not bothered by it at all.

[Bookwyrm]

I'm fine with everything but the seven swords nonsense and everything we've been hearing about Ramandu's Daughter and her magic glowy star powers. The more details about her I hear, the more I think she's going to end up looking like this in the movie

[Reepi]

Seeing Star Girl as a blue star guiding the Dawn Treader to Ramandu's Island was also in the leaked script, just like people disappearing from islands

I might add the finding seven swords bit in the leaked script had the reason "to break an ancient curse on Caspians forefathers", I hope they changed that since then...

[Aslans Country]

^ I certainly hope not. (edit: oops, my arrow is pointing to 2 post above)

Personally, I'm happy to know a bit more about MLGael, and I'm not to bothered about the addition to the story in itself. It just worries me because if they have that much of a subplot, it's going to take up time that could be better spent elsewhere. Which means other stuff will get cut. Also, didn't we hear that 7 islands were reduced to 5? If the "disappearing island" counts as one of them, then would it be fair to say that there will be only 4 of the islands based in book VDT? Or is the disappearing island simply part of one of the 5 islands (ie. the Lone Islands)?

I'm not too keen on the Seven Swords, simply because it sounds like a useless addition. What's the point? It seems strange and unnatural. I mean, what are they going to do? "Oh, we've found another Lord. Now.. *looks around* where's his sword?" And how exactly does collecting swords help recover vanished people?

There are a couple of really nice touches that I can't wait to see, so I guess it all balances out and my feelings about the movie are.. roughly the same.

10 days until the trailer!
(will the trailer be here on Narniaweb on the 18th? - I probably should have asked this question elsewhere.. but )

[Bookwyrm]

Maybe the Seven Swords unlock the entrance to the Giant!Soul-Eating!Snake! cave?

[decarus]

See you joke, but who knows what they will do. I just hope they get the Eustace being undragoned scene right. Aslan has to do it because Eustace can't do it for himself. That is sort of my only hope at this point.

[Reepi]

That is sort of my only hope at this point.

I guess experience has shown that it's best not to have any hope whatsoever

And who knows Bookwyrm I wouldn't even be surprised. I mean, the chances that the invented reason for the swords is a good one that makes some sense is really slim by now.

[InklingsNut8472]

One thing I neglected to mention in the spy report was that before we saw the actual trailer, Dr. Brown showed us a short clip of an interview with Micheal Flaherty of Walden. In the interview, he talked about the story, and he was clearly concerned about the spiritual implications of VDT.

In fact, Dr. Brown related an anecdote about Mr. Flaherty that I found to be pretty enlightening. When they were filming "Amazing Grace," Mr. Flaherty insisted that they keep an important line of dialogue by John Newton (I may be paraphrasing here): "Two things I remember. I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior." In fact, if I remember right, Mr. Flaherty said he would quit if this line wasn't left in.

That may mean little to those of you who are disturbed by the changes made to VDT, but I think it at least shows the sincerity of the filmmakers (one of them, at least).

The undragoning will certainly not be left out, because the super trailer has a bit where you can just barely see the shadow of a dragon flying across the screen. This was pointed out in the earlier report:

http://www.narniaweb.com/2010/05/narnia ... onference/

All that to say this. The filmmakers are not as stupid and insensitive to the fans as you may think they are! I for one am very hopeful for this film!!!

[Reepicheep775]

My thoughts:
*. Before the three kids are “washed” into Narnia, Lucy is seen staring at herself in a mirror. Dr. Brown believes this is a deliberate foreshadowing of Lucy’s temptation at the magician’s house, when she is sucked in by the beauty spell.
Awesome! Foreshadowing the magician’s book scene is a fantastic idea!
*. When the painting begins spewing water, Dr. Brown pointed out that in his fear, Eustace screams “Mother!” instead of calling her by her first name, as he is wont to do according to the book.
Oh well. As long as they nail Eustace, I won’t mind. It would’ve been a nice touch though.
*. When Lucy opens the magician’s book and snow begins to fall, the expression on her face is almost identical to the one she had when she first entered Narnia in LWW. A very nice touch!
That sounds like a neat idea. I wonder if the music will be similar.
*. Dr. Brown also suggested that the “blue star” the Dawn Treader is told to follow may actually be Ramandu’s daughter. If I remember correctly, in her bodily appearance to the crew later on in the trailer, Ramandu’s daughter is seen with a glowing sphere of blue light inside her body, so this connection seems very likely to me.
Ehh…okay. Not terribly upset about this, but I really hope it doesn’t come across as cheesey.
*. At one point, I think it’s the magician who says “To defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness in yourself.” This certainly happens with Lucy, doesn’t it?
Pretty cheesey line. I hope it’s only referring to Lucy and the beauty spell.
*. Dr. Brown pointed out that Reepicheep is paunchier and slightly gray. Since Reep is so concerned with personal appearance in PC, one might argue that this is a foreshadowing of his willingness to toss away his honor and dignity (in the form of his sword) at the end of the story. After all, how could a mouse concerned with dignity let himself go to seed like that? Only one who has learned a bit of humility, perhaps?
Could be, although I think they just want to show the passage of time (i.e. Caspian’s beard).
*. As reported at the earlier super trailer screening, Aslan utters his famous allusion to Christ that takes place near the end of the book. I tried very hard to write this down word-for-word, and I’m 90% sure I got it right.
Lucy: “Will you visit us in our world?”
Aslan: “In your world, I have another name. You must learn to know me by it.”
Just to compare, here is the line from the book.
Aslan: “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name.”
As you can see, very much alike! Nearly brought a tear to my eye, it did.
Super-sick!!
Early in their voyage, the crew will arrive at an island that is nearly deserted, because people have been disappearing from it. Gael’s parents were among those who disappeared. Apparently, finding the seven lords and seven swords will help recover the missing individuals.
Okay. This sounds like Burnt Island to me- and it makes me wonder again which islands have been cut and/or combined because all my old theories are pretty much garbage because I assumed Burnt Island would be cut. I wonder if the crew knows this before they set out, therefore being their actual objective, or if they find out during the voyage. If they find out during, Caspian’s motivations remain the same so I would prefer that. If this is the “Unfathomable Fate”, it is a lot better than I feared- at least it doesn’t involve saving the world although I would still prefer it not be there.

[AslanIsOnTheMove]

I wasn't particularly bothered by any of the information I learned at the screening. If you want a movie that's almost exactly like the book, you would have to film a miniseries ala A&E's 1995 adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice." Short of that, a person who's upset about any major change to the book should probably stick with the book itself.

Completely agree! I like surprises. IMO If a movie was just like the book it would be boring because I would already know what was going to happen. If I want the pure, unadulterated story in its entirety, I'll go read the book. (I could probably imagine it better than they could film it anyway. I can dream up all the cool effects without having to worry about a budget or whether it stays PG.) But I do like the surprises and I like that they have a different perspective on the story. I like seeing things in new ways as long as it doesn't get too crazy or lose the message of the book.

But, what worries me, is that I'm afraid they make it a Lucy film, which to me would be awful. Ever since I read the books as as a kid, Caspian was my favourite character, and while PC is a Pevensies book, VoDT is Caspian's story to me. It's Caspian's voyage, Caspian's test as a leader out of his land, Caspian's journey of self-discovery... Caspian's odyssey, so to speak. And so, I desperately hope it won't be turned into a Lucy story, I wouldn't bear that!

I see your point. I think, if possible, it does need to be sort of a group story. Lucy and Edmund are saying goodbye so it would be nice to have some focus on them,this is also Reeps farewell so I can see having the focus on him. Eustace and Caspian should be really important because they will be in the next film.

If there is one thing I actually hope they add to the story it's this: I want to see some sort of friendly bond between Caspian and Eustace. I want to know why Eustace feels it's his duty to help Caspian in SC and why he is so loyal to Caspian. That was something I didn't get when I read the book. I was thinking "Wow it didn't really even seem like they even really talked much in VDT." Maybe that's just me.

I would like to see more Caspian but usually when there is a ton of focus on the character that means the character has a lot of conflict going on and I would like for Caspian to be as peaceful as possible in this film because in the last one his uncle tried to kill him and then the next story is SC, really can't the guy be happy and peaceful for a bit

[DamselJillPole]

Yes I agree, Eustace did say "I am the King's man and loyal to him." I do want to see a friendship bond between Eustace and Caspian in VDT after he is undragonfied.

I know Caspian seems to be the only character that loses everything and never gets a break from it. I wonder how Rilian's life turned around when he was saved from underland?