The Chronicles of Narnia DVD Review
By: Chris Shelton

C.S. Lewis' imaginative and compelling story of four siblings who take a journey to a magical world by venturing through a wardrobe has finally arrived on DVD. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe had a very successful tenure while in theatres and the DVD has been packed with some pretty nice features and extras to make the purchase worth it whether or not the viewer has seen the movie in the theatres.

The movie lacks a little in terms of acting and doesn't contain the big name stars of most big Hollywood movies, but the package comes together extremely well through the work of excellent scriptwriters and set designers. The story stayed right on track with the novel and contained most of the underlying Christian themes that were portrayed in C.S. Lewis' classic book series. The dialogue was superbly done and the interaction of characters and plot development moved extremely smoothly.

But the real star of the show was the environments in which the scenes were placed. Great set designers, green screens, and on-sight filming combined to grasp all of the majesty of the vast fantasy world of Narnia. C.S. Lewis' vision of the magical world was brought to life in amazing fashion and kudos goes out to those who put in all the hard work to make everything happen.

The movie carries a PG rating and, although it contains a few action scenes and one big climactic battle at the end, the violence was held to a minimal and blood was withheld for the most part in order to hold that PG rating. The younger crowds will be enticed by the fantasy setting and relatable characters and the older crowds who have read the Narnia novels will want to see the world and story portrayed accurately and done proper justice.

The bonus features included in the DVD include two commentaries, three featurettes, deleted scenes, and dozens of other features. These extras and bonus features are truly outstanding and make the purchase of the DVD well worth it even for those who took the trip to see the movie while it was in theatres.

The DVD version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is simply an excellent release that all fans of the movie and the book will want to be able to own and enjoy. The bonus materials are well worth it and the quality of the movie itself make revisiting it and watching it again well worth it.