Narina's Battle Scene...Clip

Joker · Nov 25, 2005

Well this lowered my expectations of the movie. Which is a good thing because if I go into a movie with low expectations I should be pleasantly surprised.

Klaus · Nov 25, 2005

Why, oh why are tigers always on the side of the bad guys?

This clip left me a bit underwhelmed. The cheetahs and tigers running with the armies struck me as awfully out of place (yes, I know Aslan is a lion). The summer blue sky and full daylight seemed very anticlimatic (specially when compared to the turmoil-ridden skies from Lord of the Rings).

The unicorn-riding knight looked very cool (and it's about time we see a classic armor in a fantasy movie). The centaurs seemed too... unarmored. I'd imagine the centaurs would be wearing full plate armor/barding.

The minotaurs looked very cool, and I am rooting for them.

But why must the tigers be bad guys?

Truth Seeker · Nov 25, 2005

1. More armor on the Centuars, means less speed to move, but I know, in some books will say different. But keep in mind, the writer's mindset back then, and the idea of heavy armor to him, might not have sit well with him, at all.

2. The tigers are the opposite of the Lion, thus someone had to be the bad guy.

Klaus said:
Why, oh why are tigers always on the side of the bad guys?

This clip left me a bit underwhelmed. The cheetahs and tigers running with the armies struck me as awfully out of place (yes, I know Aslan is a lion). The summer blue sky and full daylight seemed very anticlimatic (specially when compared to the turmoil-ridden skies from Lord of the Rings).

The unicorn-riding knight looked very cool (and it's about time we see a classic armor in a fantasy movie). The centaurs seemed too... unarmored. I'd imagine the centaurs would be wearing full plate armor/barding.

The minotaurs looked very cool, and I am rooting for them.

But why must the tigers be bad guys?

Klaus · Nov 25, 2005

Truth Seeker said:
1. More armor on the Centuars, means less speed to move, but I know, in some books will say different. But keep in mind, the writer's mindset back then, and the idea of heavy armor to him, might not have sit well with him, at all.

2. The tigers are the opposite of the Lion, thus someone had to be the bad guy.

Yeah, the tigers are taking one for the team in this and in Jungle Book.

Now for a tiger interlude:

The Tiger
By William Blake
1757-1827

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Back to the regularly scheduled Narnia discussion...

Storm Raven · Nov 25, 2005

Klaus said:
Why, oh why are tigers always on the side of the bad guys?

Not just tigers, but white tigers - probably symbolizing winter.

This clip left me a bit underwhelmed. The cheetahs and tigers running with the armies struck me as awfully out of place (yes, I know Aslan is a lion).

Talking animals in general are a big part of the Narnia stories. Big cats are in most of the large battle scenes described in the books. For them not to be running with the armies would be out of place for a Narnia story.

The summer blue sky and full daylight seemed very anticlimatic (specially when compared to the turmoil-ridden skies from Lord of the Rings).

In the context of the story, it is the only environment that would make sense. I could give a bunch of spoilers as to why this would be so, but that would probably annoy people who haven't read the books.

David Howery · Nov 25, 2005

Klaus said:
But why must the tigers be bad guys?

not just the tigers.... you did notice that the wolves were bad guys here too, judging from that "take them" remark in the trailer.

Today, we think of tigers as nearly extinct creatures to be pitied and saved. 75 years ago, no one really thought like that. Tigers were occasionally a real menace to Indians in the colonial era. Some of them them turned maneater and killed hundreds of Indians. One tigress, the Champawatt Tigress, is thought to have killed and eaten 436 people in two countries. Does this mean tigers are evil? Of course not... no animal is. But you have to realize that when Lewis was writing his books, tigers were not thought of as severely endangered animals, but as a creature that was all too prone to be maneaters...

Storm Raven · Nov 25, 2005

David Howery said:
not just the tigers.... you did notice that the wolves were bad guys here too, judging from that "take them" remark in the trailer.

The wolf quoted was almost certainly Fenris Ulf, the Captain of the White Witch's secret police. So, yes, the wolves in the story are mostly bad guys.

KenM · Nov 25, 2005

SO its got lions, its got tigers, but does it have bears?

oh my

barsoomcore · Nov 25, 2005

Colour me underwhelmed. I can't say I'm impressed with either the effects or the direction. Very flat, very dry, very lacking in tension.

I'll still go see it. But my expectations have been revised downwards.

Klaus · Nov 25, 2005

KenM said:
SO its got lions, its got tigers, but does it have bears? oh my

Judging by the poster, the White Witch drives a chariot pulled by polar bears, so...

Lions, tigers and bears! Oh My!

http://www.runemasterstudios.com/ltb.php

I just watched a 9-minute clip of Narnia on the Disney Channel, and it felt very... flat. Yes, there are stunning visuals (griffons, centaurs, satyrs, minotaurs and other DnD staples). Yes, the kids walking around with bows and shields strapped onto their backs was very reminiscent of the DnD cartoon. But it felt so... hollow. I couldn't bring myself to be moved by it. Certainly not to the extent of LotR (mind you, I only read LotR a few months before the movies were released).

As for the tiger thing, Storm Raven, it was not a criticism to the movie or the author. It's just a comment, since tigers are my favorite animals (and my Chinese sign). This is a reason why I liked White Wolf's Bastest so much. The werelions (Simba) were brute savages and the weretigers (Khan) were honorable paladins.