BLU-RAY REVIEW

Chronicles Of Narnia, The: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe

Featured In Issue 133, July/August 2008

Picture4.5
SoundNR
WSR Score3
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
561498
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
For battle sequences and frightening moments
(Retail Price):
$34.99
(Disc Type):
2 Disc: BD-25 & BD-50
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
143
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A, B & C
(Theatrical Year):
2005
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
05/13/08
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Andrew Adamson
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby Digital 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

Four siblings are sent to an ornate mansion to seek refuge during World War II. During a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy Pevensie (Henley) ducks into a wardrobe and finds that it leads to the world of Narnia. There she meets a faun named Mr. Tumnus (McAvoy) and learns a little bit about this strange land. Before long, she returns to Narnia with her brothers Peter (Moseley) and Edmond (Keynes) and sister Susan (Popplewell), and discovers that Tumnus has been arrested by the white witch Jadis (Swinton). Making their way through Narnia, the Pevensie children meet talking animals and mythical creatures, and join forces in the good fight with the benevolent lion Aslan (voice by Liam Neeson) to save Narnia. But sacrifices will have to be made, and a traitor among the Pevensie children will carry a grave burden. The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is based on the novel by C.S. Lewis. (Stacey Pendry)

Special features on Disc One of this two-disc set include a five-minute blooper reel, a feature trivia track, two audio commentary tracks—the first is the Filmmakers Commentary and the second is Director & Kids' Commentary, and previews. Disc Two contains a Battle For Narnia game, a 195-minute five-part making-of featurette Creating Narnia, and a 23-minute two-part featurette Creatures, Lands & Legends.

The 2.35:1, H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc® features nicely rendered details, with fine textures resolved well. Black levels are somewhat milky, though, with understated color saturation. Shadow delineation is nicely rendered though, and fleshtones generally look natural. Edge enhancement is not a distraction, but occasional source element artifacts can be noticed from time to time. (Danny Richelieu)

The uncompressed linear PCM 5.1-channel soundtrack features a very aggressive mix, with a solid use of the surrounds to create a believable soundscape and a well-incorporated LFE channel for deep, penetrating bass. In fact, each of the full-range channels contribute to the soundtrack's bass output, with good detail and speed. Phantom imaging is nicely defined, and while dialogue generally sounds impressive, there are times when it can sound flat and lifeless. (Danny Richelieu)