The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (DVD, 2006, 4-Disc Set, Special Edition)

Director Andrew Adamson brilliantly brought the timeless story of "The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" to the big screen in December of 2005. What he accomplished was a masterful film version of this classic story. Set during World War II, a group of British siblings leave their war-torn hometown to go and stay with kind, elderly Professor Digory Kirke (Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent) at his country estate. There, the children discover an old wardrobe filled with winter coats. Making their way through, they enter the world of Narnia, which is cast in a spell of winter. They encounter a faun named Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy), and a couple of talking beavers. They also meet Jadis, the white witch (Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton), who holds Narnia in an eternal spell of winter. Everything changes when they finally meet Aslan the lion (voiced by Oscar-nominee Liam Neeson). The overall scope of this film is beautifully executed from start to finish, bringing to the screen a masterful variation of the classic C.S. Lewis novel. This 4-disc extended DVD release has a lot of great features. In addition to the bonus material included with the previous DVD release, there is a special segment called 'The Dreamer Of Narnia', a previously unreleased film about C.S. Lewis, plus additional featurettes. And, an extended 150-minute version of the movie in its original widescreen format. This set comprises the definitive 'Narnia' DVD experience. "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" is an excellent family film that will appeal to people of all ages.

When I was in 6th grade, many years ago, I chose to read the book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" for a class reading assignment. From the moment I opened the book, I was drawn into a fantasy world any child would love to discover! I too, as a youngster wanted a wardrobe like the one Lucy discovers while playing hide and seek with her siblings. To this day, this story has remained with me as a close friend and reminder of childhood dreams and imaginations!

I bought this particular DVD because I love the story, and the film adaptation and glorious special effects. I am certain that I will love this special boxed edition with more Narnia!

I really can't find anything negative to add...Two Thumbs Up!

Evil has reigned for 100 years...

A spectacular movie adaptation of C.S. Lewis' beloved classic. The adventure follows the four Pevensie siblings - Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter - in World War II England who enter the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe in the country home of an elderly professor. They find a land inhabited by talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs and giants that has been cursed to eternal winter by the evil White Witch. Under the guidance of the lion Aslan, the children fight to overcome the White Witch's powerful hold over Narnia in a battle that will free Narnia from her icy spell forever!

It's a classic tale, and I recommend it to anyone who loves adventure, fantasy and the magical world of C.S. Lewis!

Prepare to enter another world when Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present C.S. Lewis' timeless and beloved adventure. With the stunningly realistic special effects, you'll experience the exploits of Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter, four siblings who find the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe while playing a game of "hide-and-seek" at the country estate of a mysterious professor. Once there, the children discover a charming, once peaceful land inhabited by talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs, and giants that has been turned into a world of eternal winter by the evil White Witch, Jadis. Aided by the wise and magnificent lion Aslan, the children lead Narnia into a spectacular climactic battle to be free of the Witch's glacial powers forever! The Chronicles of Narnia, Narnia, and all other book titles, characters and locales original thereto are trademarks of C.S. Lewis Pte Ltd. and are used with permission. © Disney/Walden

CS Lewis' classic children's book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe holds a special place in many readers' hearts, usually alongside Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The authors, in fact, were long-time friends who (as members of a literary group called the Inklings) even critiqued each others' work. The parallel between the two books continues in the fact that the narrative power and visual appeal of both these stories beg for them to be brought to the screen... and that the very nature of the stories made this difficult to do well. That is, until computer-generated animation came of age in moviemaking. Now we can have believable fauns, centaurs, giants, and lions inhabiting a gorgeous fantasy landscape; we can (if it's done well) have a Narnia (as we had a Middle Earth) that allows us to see it, at least to some degree, the way we have imagined it.

The film does one other thing that warms my heart for its authenticity. It starts off the Narnia series as it should be: with the first book that Lewis wrote, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the past few years, it has become a new fad to re-order the seven Narnia books in internal chronological order rather than publication order, thus placing The Magician's Nephew, the next-to-last book, in first place. This is a really, truly dreadful thing to do, because The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the book that introduces us to the world of Narnia, just as the four children are introduced to it. In The Magician's Nephew, many of the mysterious magical elements of Narnia are explained... but unless you've experienced the preceding five stories, you don't know why these particular elements are special and interesting. Furthermore, this ordering of the books spoils some of the events in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Why did we all get put into such a mess? The official word is that this is Lewis' preferred order, but in fact it is not – and as a scholar of literature who did her dissertation on the fantasy novel, including Lewis' novels, I've done the research and I know where the problem arose. Years after the books were all published, one of Lewis' young fans wrote a letter to him suggesting that it was a good idea to put the books in internal order. Lewis wrote back saying he thought that was a fine idea. (And it is – if you've already read the books and want to re-read them in a different light.) But I don't think we should consider this one offhand comment as an indication that Lewis genuinely thought it was the best order; in fact, while Lewis was alive, it stayed as just that, an option that readers could take for themselves. (My 1970 printing of the series has the spines numbered correctly!) Only in recent years has the fad for reordering them taken over, much to my dismay.

So I have to give a big thank-you to the filmmakers for proving my point, and the point of all the other devoted Narnia fans: the best way to start out experiencing Narnia is with this story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

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This movie is a wonderful story that will warm your heart and open your imagination.

It is the story of four young children that find a magical land in a wardrobe. The land of Narnia has been under the rule of a wicked white witch who made it always winter, but never Christmas.The first of the children to fall into this land is Lucy, a girl of about 8.She is befriended by a faun, and then goes back into the real world where none of her siblings belive her. That night, to make sure it wasn't a dream, she goes into the wardrobe, followed by her brother, Edmund. Edmund meets the Witch, who persuades him that she's good. Later all four children fall into Narnia and learn that there is a prophecy that they will be king and queens and overrule the White Witch, but first they have to get Edmund out the clutches of the witch.