05-005 Screen adaptations of Narnia

05-005
Screen adaptations of Narnia 

Like many other epic fantasy works, The Chronicles of Narnia has been adapted many times. With a total of 7 books in the series and 8 screen adaptations in total, technically, all the books should have been adapted. But sadly, this is not the truth. Only 4 of the 7 books were adapted so far. The first book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was adapted 4 times. The second book, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia, 2 times. The third book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, also 2 times. And finally, The Silver Chair, one time. 

Map of The Narnian World

Below, I am going to talk about all 8 adaptations one by one.

 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (1967)

Many people do not know, The Chronicles of Narnia was first adapted back in the 60s. In 1967, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was adapted into a 10-episode children TV play. The show is in black and white. Each episode lasts for 20 minutes. Computer graphics did not exist in those days. The animals were all portrayed by actors in costume.

This TV play is now lost and only one episode can be found on YouTube. I heard some people are saying this is still the best Narnia adaptation ever made. I personally do not agree. You can watch it here. I leave you to judge.

 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (1979)

DVD cover of The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe animation

Image Source: IMDb

12 years later, we saw another attempt. The first book of The Chronicles of Narnia was adapted the second time. And this time, it is an animation.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an animated television program that was broadcast in two parts on CBS on April 1 and 2, 1979. The length of the film is 95 minutes in total. It is one of the few non-Disney animations that reached the length of a full feature film in the 70s.

I am not sure where you can stream this animation. But it is available on DVD. I got this on my bookshelf but never watched.

 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1988 TV serial)

DVD cover of BBC's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Image Source: IMDb

At the end of the 80s, we saw another Narnia adaptation coming to the small screen again. It is a BBC live action TV drama came in 6 episodes, with a total length of 172 minutes. And the adapted book is again, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was the third time seeing this book being adapted.

 

Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989 TV serial)

DVD cover of BBC's Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Image Source: IMDb

In the next year, we saw the second season of BBC’s Narnia adaptation coming out. It is again a 6 episodes live action drama. And it adapted the second and the third book, Prince Caspian & The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was also the first time seeing these 2 books coming to the screen.

 

The Silver Chair (1990 TV serial)

VHS cover of BBC's The Silver Chair
Image Source: IMDb

Fantasy goes on. In the next year, The Silver Chair was adapted. It is also a 6-episode live action TV drama. Up to the time of writing, this season of BBC TV serial is still the only screen adaptation of the fourth book, The Silver Chair.

I saw many comments on the internet saying the BBC adaptation is better than the Disney’s. I have the DVDs. I watched them before. They are not bad but I still like the Disney’s.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Movie poster of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Image Source: IMDb

After more than a decade of silent, we finally see another adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. And this time, it came to the big screen and was produced by the big boss, Disney. The movie was jointly produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. I believe if you like epic fantasy, you must have watched this movie. With all those modern style CG, handsome actors and beautiful actresses, the movie is really fantastic. It also created a great success in box office. With a 180 million budget, the movie grossed 745 million worldwide. Book shops were busy reprinting this decades old children classic. Narnia was a great hit by that time.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

Movie poster of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Image Source: IMDb

Business is business. Following the success in 2005, the next movie came out in just 3 years. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the second movie in the series. It is also the first sole adaptation of the second book. (The BBC TV serial combined the second and third book into 1 season.) However, it seems the hit was gone. With a 225 million budget, the movie only managed to gross 419 million in box office worldwide. It was not exactly a box office bomb. It earned money. But not as much as expected. Definitely not as much as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix earned.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix premiered 1 year before grossed 942 million worldwide with a budget less than that of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. And it happened that in 2008, there was no new Harry Potter movie coming up. People may just give Narnia a chance while waiting for the next Harry Potter movie to come.

Movie industry is cruel. Incompleteness of a story is never a concern of movie producers. With this kind of achievement, Disney jumped the boat, leaving Walden alone.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Movie poster of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Image Source: IMDb

Luckily story continued. Walden managed to get a new passenger onboard, the 20^th Century Fox. At the time of production, Fox was still a competitor of Disney. We saw the same actors and actresses reappearing. Everything looks good, except the box office.

Based on a 150 million budget, the movie managed to gross 415 million worldwide. Technically, that was not bad, but not good enough to keep the franchise going forward.

After the third movie, news of the fourth followed. News on the actors and actresses, the director, and the scriptwriter kept popping up over the following years. But nothing was materialized. Then in 2018, the license felt into the hand of Netflix. But still, nothing was announced. Only until last week, some news started floating up. Just hope that we can see another rebirth of the Narnia IP.

 

No, they are only fan-made posters.

The Last Queen of Charn (2021) – a Narnia fan film

The fandom of Narnia is not as big as that of Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. There are not many Narnia fan films ever produced. Most of them are fan trailers or teasers. However, there is one that worth watching.

The Last Queenof Charn adapts a two-page passage from C. S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew and brings it to life in a short fan film. Before there is any official adaptation of the first book in chronology order, this film is all we had on hand. It is less than 2 minutes long.

 

Screen adaptation watching order

Since The Magician’s Nephew and The Horse and His Boy were yet adapted, watching order of the Narnia screen adaptations is rather straightforward. Just watch following their release date. You can watch the BBC TV serials or the Disney/Fox/Walden movie series.

However, if you just want to enjoy the storyline, this is the watching order I would suggest:

• The Last Queen of Charn (2021) – a Narnia fan film
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)
• The Silver Chair (1990 TV serial)

Yes, forgot about the 4 decades old animation or the ITV black & white TV dramas. BBC is also outdated. Stick to the modern movie adaptations. For The Silver Chair, we have no choice so watch the BBC’s. If you are serious on Narnia like me, watch the remaining. If not, then these 4 adaptations and the 2 minutes long fan film are all you need.

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05-004 The Chronicles of Narnia

05-004
The Chronicles of Narnia

Every morning, I need to wake up at 6 to catch the morning bus to school with my kids. It is never an easy task. To make life easier, I will switch my TV on, play some children programmes and the kids will wake up quite automatically.

Mid-November is the exam week of my kids. In this week, I used The Chronicles of Narnia film series as the “wake up” movie, hoping that my kids can get some blessings from Aslan. As I am now re-watching the movies every morning, I think after King Arthur, I should also write something about Narnia.

So, where to start? Let me talk about Narnia in general and how popular Narnia is in my city. Then, I will talk about those screen adaptations.

7 books, some 17 years ago 

I do not have much time to read books. The Chronicles of Narnia is an exception. I have read all of its seven books. I also enjoy those screen adaptations. Its medieval settings with knights and swords, castles and kings, dragons and others mystical creatures, witchcraft and magic, backed by different old legends, Narnia is exactly my cup of tea. I just like epic fantasy.

"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,

At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,

And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

 

It is also not a secret that there are a lot of Christian symbolism hiding inside Narnia. C. S. Lewis is a devoted Christian. Christianity is also my religion. But this is not the reason why I have finished reading all the books of The Chronicles of Narnia but not those of the Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. It is just because Narnia is not as long as the other two. And the main reason is, I was reading them before I got married. Men can be very efficient when their wives or kids are not around. 

Aslan, do you know his identity in our world?
Image source: IMDb

Wikipedia said, “The Chronicles of Narnia is considered a classic of children's literature and is Lewis's best-selling work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages.” I think this statement is quite true, at least in the Western world. I found in one of the Chinese translations of The Chronicles of Narnia, there is a quote from J.K. Rowling. In the quote, Rowling said she decided to write 7 books for Harry Potter is because when she was a kid, she read a children story that comes in 7 books. Literally, she was referring to Narnia. I am not sure if the quote is truly from Rowling. I cannot find any source of the saying. But she definitely has admitted Narnia is one of the books that has inspired her creation of Harry Potter.

Peter Pevensie, High King Peter the Magnificent Emperor
Image source: IMDb

Narnia may have inspired many modern-day epic fantasy works. However, it was not widely heard in my culture. My first heard of Narnia is because of the Disney movie that premiered in 2005. Some churches uphold a strong opposition to Harry Potter, saying Rowling was promoting witchcraft to our next generation through her work. Some Christian schools in Hong Kong ban their students bringing any Harry Potter to school. And when Narnia came to the big screen, those passionate church leaders were overjoyed. “Finally, there is something that can fight with the devil. An epic fantasy movie based on the story of our beloved C. S. Lewis! We should encourage our kids to turn away from the satanic Harry Potter to the godly Narnia!”

Susan Pevensie, Queen Susan the Gentle Marksman
Image source: IMDb

My church did not say that. I personal do not think this argument makes any sense at all. If magic and witchcraft are big no-no, then there are also magic and witchcraft in Narnia. Anyway, every Christian bookstores at that time were flooded with The Chronicles of Narnia. Other bookstores are following, hoping to make another fortune following the hit of Harry Potter. 

King Edmond the Just
Image Source: IMDb

Years passed. Hope vanished. After 3 movies, The Chronicles of Narnia film series terminated. The hit has gone completely. Narnia is almost a dead IP now. And Harry Potter went on till, at least, 2022. In the west, Narnia is at least a classic that many children have read the books. There are still a group of Narnia fans. In my city, Narnia was totally forgotten. But my kids like it. They have not heard of Narnia in school or from their friends. But when I played the DVD, they liked. I am happy to find someone sharing my interest. 

Queen Lucy the Valiant
Image Source: IMDb

Published Order vs. Chronological Order 

The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the first novel series to introduce the idea of prequel. For those who are not familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia, here are some explanations. 

7 books were published from 1950 to 1956, at an interval of 1 book per year. Their published order are as follows: 

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and His Boy
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Last Battle

However, their chronology order is different. To follow the storyline of Narnia, the 7 books should be read in this order: 

1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle

The first book in the chronology order is the sixth published book, The Magician’s Nephew, took place in year 1900 of the “real world”. It is a story of Digory Kirke, who wandered into the Wood between the Worlds, using his uncle’s magic rings. He witnessed the creation of Narnia.

You can consider Narnia as a parallel universe, different from our own world. And The Magician’s Nephew took place in year 1 of Narnia.

Digory Kirke, his own story was not told until the 6th book
Image source: IMDb

Then it comes the first published book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The story took place in year 1940 of the “real world”. At that time, Narnia has passed 1000 years. The 4 children of the Pevensie, Peter, Susan, Edmond & Lucy were evacuated from London in 1940, to escape the Blitz, and sent to live with Professor Digory Kirke at a large house in the English countryside. There, they entered Narnia through the wardrobe. Digory Kirke is the only connection between The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

Jadis the White Witch, the main antagonist from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Image source: IMDb

The fifth published book, The Horse and His Boy, does not take part in our “real world” but solely in Narnia. The story is a set happening during the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is more or less a standalone story with minor connections to the Pevensies. 

Prince Caspian
Image source: IMDb

Then it comes to the second published book, Prince Caspian. Story took place in 1941 while London was still at war. The Pevensies went back to Narnia and found that Narnia has passed another thousand years. It was year 2303 in Narnia and all Narnians appeared in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe were long gone. The story surrounds a new character Prince Caspian and the Pevensies. 

Eustace Scrubb and Reepicheep on the Dawn Treader

Image source: IMDb

Story then follows by the third published book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Only 3 years have passed in Narnia. It was year 2306 and this time, only Edmond and Lucy went back to Narnia. But they brought along his “lovely” cousin, Eustace Scrubb. They met Prince Caspian in the middle of the sea and the story started from there. 

Jill Pole, in a 4:3 small screen
Image source: BBC

The fourth published book, The Silver Chair, happened in 1952 of our “real world”. 50 years has passed in Narnia and Prince Caspian became an old man. None of the Pevensies appeared in the story but Eustace. He also brought his classmate Jill Pole there. 

The last book in the publication order is also the last book in chronology order. It was year 2555 in Narnia. Everyone came back for The Last Battle, except Susan Pevensie. And they all … well, you read the book.

If you are not familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia, I hope this post can give you a brief idea of this marvelous work. I also told you how I walk with Aslan in all these years. 

In the next post, I will talk about the screen adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia.

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01-023 Glory to Ukraine Tarot

01-023
Glory to Ukraine Tarot

Earlier this week, I received a package from Zaporizhzhia. No, I have no friends living there. It is a mail order, a tarot deck made in Ukraine. I found the deck on Etsy. Payment was made on the 24th Oct and the package arrived at my desk on 9th Nov. The parcel was delivered by UkrPoshta, Ukraine’s national post. Despite the current situation in Ukraine, mail tracking was available along the way.

Glory to Ukraine Tarot

I think I am not the only one who have not heard of Zaporizhzhia, at least not until the outbreak of Russo-Ukrainian War. Or to be more precise, not until when the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was being attacked.

Postmark of Zaporizhzhia

Although our Beijing government seems to be tending more to Putin’s side, the majority of Hongkongers are not. We stand with Ukraine. But at the same time, Ukraine is a faraway country to us. Our knowledge in Ukraine is more or less bounded to Chernobyl. Other things like their history, the reason of the conflicts, the mindsets of Ukrainians, the relationship between the civilians of both countries, we don’t know much.

But one thing we are sure of, prayers are important but not always enough. Physical support to the Ukrainians is needed. No, we did not fly there to join force with them. We make donations. But again, Ukraine is too far from us, and the compassion faded very soon. I personally did not donate any money to support Ukraine. And just like many others living in this busy city, Ukraine did not always come up in my mind for months. Not until recently when we heard from news that Putin is now threatening to use nuclear bomb, as well as the nationwide power shortage that is happening now. Things seemed to be getting worse. “Something needed to be done,” I told myself.

Instead of donating money through those big charitable organizations, I decided to pay directly to their local small businesses. I googled Ukrainian products, and the page led me to Etsy. Inside are plenty of Ukrainian art and craft products. Most of them are from small businesses or local artists. They are all very attractive to me. However, I don’t want to just purchase something that are attracting my eyes but will end up as another dust collector in my tiny little house. I wanted to purchase something that I will actually use. After struggling for a few weeks, I decided to go for this very special tarot deck.

Price of a tarot deck varies. If I turn to China, I can get a pack there from as low as 5 US, with fair quality. A decent pack of tarot can cost from 30 to 60 US dollars. This pack is within this price range. I did not know its quality and could not comment if it is decently made or not. But if talking about supporting Ukraine, I can spare this amount for the pack. And the seller is so kind that she gave me 10% discount. I put a link below if you are also interested. Reminder, the price includes shipment.

Glory to Ukraine Tarot, 78 Cards Tarot Deck
https://www.etsy.com/hk-en/listing/1293997139/glory-to-ukraine-tarot-78-cards-tarot

My struggle is not because of the price but of my religion. As a Christian myself, I am not supposed to purchase anything that are dedicated for cartomancy. Yes, I mentioned in my previous post that tarot is originally designed for games. And even up to today, there are still some card printers producing designated tarot decks for gaming, like Tarot Bourgeois and Tarocco Piemontese. However, the majority of tarot decks available nowadays are mainly for cartomancy. Their larger in size and lacking corner pips makes gaming with them difficult. They are designed for being laid out on the table for divination.

Luckily, these articles that helped me out. Using a Rider-Waite tarot deck for gaming? How interesting! As a way to support Ukraine, as a way to understand more on Ukrainian culture, and as a way to try some “exotic” card games, I took out my credit card and now the deck is on my desk. 

HOW TO PLAY CARD GAMES WITH RIDER-WAITE TAROT CARDS
https://sageslanterntarot.com/how-to-play-card-games-with-rider-waite-tarot-cards/

Can you play poker with tarot cards?
https://pokerfortress.com/can-you-play-poker-with-tarot-cards/

About the deck

So, how about the deck? To me, it is really nice. The 78 cards came in a very nice and though cardboard box, together with a bilingual instruction booklet for beginners. The slogan “Glory to Ukraine” is clearly written on all 6 sides of the box. The bottom of the box explains what does “Glory to Ukraine” mean. It is an old Ukrainian greeting.

This tarot deck was created in Kyiv bomb shelters in March 2022, during the shelling by Russian troops. Cards are colourful with unique theme, printed on thick cardboard. Size of the cards is 67 mm x 118 mm, with round corners. The only minor drawback is that they are not plastic coated. Sorry, I know I am spoiled by Mattel.

All cards bear unique artworks. It follows the Rider-Waite pattern. Some of the Major Arcana cards do not have numbers on them, these include the “Joker”, “The Magician”, “The Empress”, “The Hermit”, “Justice”, “The Death”, “Temperance” & “The Devil”. I am not sure if this is because of the card design or just their numbers were forgotten. But this is rather hard for a beginner, like me, to pick up.

Due to copyright issue, I cannot show you the whole deck. I picked several samples which I think they are “meaningful”. The instruction booklet explains the meaning of the artwork chosen for each card. This pack is not only a tarot. From it, you can also learn a lot on Ukrainian culture.

From left to right

• 0. Joker (The Fool) – The picture shows Anonymous hackers who declared a cyber war on Russia over its attack on Ukraine.
• XII. The Hanged Man – The picture shows a scarecrow shaped like Putin in Odessa.
• XIV. Temperance – The picture shows a cloud in the shape of angel over Kyiv.

First row, from left to right

• XV. The Devil – The picture shows Putin riding a tank.
• XVI. The Tower – The picture shows the building of Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a symbol of evil and war.
• Ten of Cups – The picture shows bottles of incendiary mixture used by Ukrainian guerrillas.

Second row, from left to right

• Five of Pentacles – The picture shows refugees from Mariupol, the city destroyed by Russian invaders.
• VIII. Strength – The picture shows a sunflower, the symbol of Ukraine, which is stronger on its own land than the bear, the symbol of Russia.
• Eight of Swords – The picture shows windows sealed with the scotch tape when the Ukrainian cities are shelled. 

Apart from political topics, other cards are about Ukrainian culture.

From left to right

• VI. The Lovers – The picture shows Ukrainians’ wedding traditions presented in a collage of paintings by famous artist Maria Pryimachenko.
• Seven of Cups – The picture shows “Menorah”, the world’s largest Jewish cultural center situated in the city of Dnieper.
• Ten of Pentacles – The picture shows a traditional Ukrainian house.

Buying experience from this shop is technically the same as from any other mail orders. The seller speaks English. I paid by credit card through an international recognized website. Price is in EURO. Package is nicely wrapped, with computer printed labels and barcodes on top. Mail tracking is available all the way through, and I got constant mail update from Etsy. And most importantly, my item arrived in less than 3 weeks and in good shape. I just could not imagine it was sending out from a war-torn country.

If you are standing with Ukraine, if you like card game, this pack is highly recommended. It’s worth.

General Information

Player	1
Playing Time	10 mins
Age	8+
Year Released	2022
Designer	?
Publisher	Pentagram Tarot Studio
Family	Divination
Score	5 stars (Etsy)

Specifications

Card size	67mm x 118mm, 2.64" x 4.65"
Deck size	78 cards
# of suits	5 – Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles & Trumps
Details	The deck follows the theme of Rider-Waite Tarot, which includes 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards in 4 suits. The deck shows us Ukraine through the eyes of the artists, it touches upon the long history, culture and traditions of the Ukrainian people, it shows famous places, and of course, talks about the present, about the events and participants in the war of independence. There are 2 blank cards and an instruction booklet.

Game Play

Below is a video showing how to play card game using a divination tarot deck.

Where to buy? 

Etsy.

05-003 Earnest Arthurian adaptation

05-003
Earnest Arthurian adaptation

As a father of two, there is not much of time for me to read books. To learn more on King Arthur, I turned to those Arthurian screen adaptations. Below are some of my selections. They are all earnest creations with settings in the medieval period. They are adaptation of the original Arthurian legend with storyline mainly follows Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d'Arthur.

Excalibur at London Film Museum
Image Source: Wikipedia 

The Sword in the Stone (1963)

The first Arthurian movie that I watched in the 1963 Disney The Sword in the Stone. I read other commentary saying, for most people, this classic cartoon is their introduction to the Arthurian legend.

I am not sure of the accuracy of this saying. Maybe this statement is true for Westerners. But for a person that grew up in Hong Kong, I cannot remember I have watched this cartoon before. But anyway, I got Disney+ at home. So, why shouldn’t I give it a chance? To my surprise, there is a Cantonese dub for this movie.

The Sword in the Stone

Image Source: Disney

The movie begins with a 3-minute song that briefly explains the death of King Uther Pendragon and the mystical appearance of the sword in the stone. Then we saw Merlin, preparing a cup of tea for Arthur to turn up in his hut at any time. Meantime, Arthur, an orphan, was hunting with his older foster brother. He accidentally scared off a deer and his brother forced him to go inside the forest to retrieve the lost arrow. Arthur found it stuck on a branch. While climbing up the tree to get back the arrow, he felt onto a hut below, broke the roof and dropped directly onto a chair in the dining room, unhurt. And it happened that it was the very hut where Merlin lives, and the tea was just ready. Yes, it is Disney. What can you expect?

The remaining of the movie is about how Merlin trained up Arthur, though numerous humorous ways and magic mishaps. Just 10 minutes before the ending, Arthur arrived in London with his foster brother, and he accidentally pulled out the sword from the stone. Arthur was then crowned to be the king of England and the movie ends there. No Lancelot, no Guinevere and no round table.

This is an enjoyable movie, but it just merely touches the core of the Arthurian legend.

Excalibur (1981)

Movie Poster of Excalibur

Image Source: IMDb

Excalibur is one of the “most faithful” Arthurian movie ever produced. Story starts from King Uther Pendragon, then follows the birth of King Arthur, the pulling of Excalibur from the stone, the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere, the incestuous birth of Mordred and the quest for the Holy Grail.

Merlin and Uther Pendragon, with the Excalibur on his hand

Excalibur is filmed at a time when computer graphics were generally nonexistence. The movie is no way visually comparable with those modern-day epic fantasies, like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Golden Compass, etc. Critics also criticized its plot. Nevertheless, Excalibur is still a quick walkthrough of the story Le Morte d'Arthur.

Arthur, about to pull out the Excalibur from the stone

Lancelot and Guinevere

I personally found this movie quite “educational” also. As a non-Westerner, I am not used to medieval warfare, moment of truce, rite of military alliance, medieval joust, accolade of knight, duel over someone’s innocent, etc. This movie teaches me all these. Watching it is a real culture shock to me, but I enjoyed.

The Holy Grail

This movie is R-rated with some short yet unnecessary scenes of nudity. Don’t watch it together with your kids.

Lancelot du Lac (1974)

DVD cover of Lancelot du Lac

Image Source: IMDb

This movie is even older than me. It is a French movie, but I do not speak any French. I picked this movie is because I found some comments saying that it is one of the best Arthurian movies ever produced.

The Holy Grail (French version)

Lancelot du Lac is filmed in 1974. The version that I watched is digitally remastered in 2018. So, the picture looks better than that of Excalibur, which was filmed almost a decade later than this movie.

Gawain, Lancelot and King Arthur

Same as Excalibur, there was no such thing as computer graphic at the time of its production. And in fact, CG is actually not necessary at all. Lancelot du Lac is not an action movie. It is a romantic fantasy movie, retelling the love story between Lancelot and Guinevere.

Gawain and King Arthur, watching a joust

When we see the word “epic”, many may immediately expect to see something stunning and massive, with abundant fast action fighting, riding on dragon’s back, flying through canyons, and powerful magic casting that can blow up a whole castle in a second, etc. Lancelot du Lac is a good demonstration on how a non-action movie can become a part of an epic fantasy. Even at its final scene, the Battle of Camlann, the movie is just showing a group of knights riding their horses out of the castle and came back one after the other, dying. Not a single shot of battle was filmed.

Lancelot and Guinevere

I like watching different kind of movies. Although not exactly my favorite, I do watch romantic movies occasionally. However, because I don’t speak French, I need to rely on subtitles to understand the dialogues. And it is not easy to follow through the emotion of different characters from subtitles.

So, if you speak French, it is a movie that should not miss. If not, then watching this movie or not is up to you. It is only 85 minutes long though.

 

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Movie Poster of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Image Source: Wikipedia

Finally, we have something that is really “epic” here. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a 2017 epic action-adventure movie produced by Warner Bros.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is planned to be the first in a six-film franchise. Unfortunately, the movie turned out to be a box office bomb, causing Warner Bros. lost more than 150 million US dollar. Subsequent sequels were therefore cancelled.

The opening scene of the movie is gorgeous

Arthurian legend is an old school topic. Stories are well known and have been adapted numerous times by numerous production companies in numerous ways. Why Warner Bros. still wants to develop a new movie franchise on top of this already perpetual topic? Its production year may be an answer.

Just 2 years ago, Warner Bros. has enjoyed their success in the last movie of The Hobbit trilogy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. And The Lord of the Rings trilogy was already done a decade ago. Copyright for other Tolkien works maybe quite costly. Develop a new epic fantasy franchise base on the free-to-adapt Arthurian legends can be an economy and sensible way to keep up the passion.

Thanks for CG. A medieval London is beautifully reproduced

However, audience think otherwise. The plot deviates too much from the original legend. In the movie, there were King Arthur, his father Uther Pendragon & his mother Igraine. But also, a lot of new characters were introduced. Merlin was just mentioned but never appeared in the movie. Rumor said he was supposed to be the protagonist in the second movie of the series. All these settings were disliked by most King Arthur fans.

Kung-fu George, a character created for the movie.
As a Chinese myself, I am happy to have this character here.
But I don't think we guys travel so far at that time of the year.

However, maybe I was not grown up in a Western background, I do not have any presupposition on King Arthur. I can accept any modification on this legendary Briton king. To me, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a gorgeous movie with vivid computer graphics, lots of action fighting and spell casting, fast-pacing and attractive storyline. It is more like an Arthurian take of The Lord of the Rings. I quite enjoy watching it. 

The making of the Round Table and the movie ends here.
Merlin should join the party but unfortunately, he missed the boat.

That is all for this post. I will share more of my ideas on King Arthur when I dig deeper into this topic. Most works in the Arthurian literary cycle are in the public domain. Anyone is free to adapt and modify them. I hope one day we can see another take of Arthurian epic action adventure. Even though that would be another flop, at least we would have 1 more movie on hand.

Go back to the Lobby ...