Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Blu-ray

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third in the Narnia series continuing the adventures in the mythical land where animals talk and the children who travel there are heroic figures of legend.

Film making 18/25
Video 20/25
Audio 22/25
Bonus Features 18/25
Total 76/100

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader reprises the roles of the four kids who travel to the magical fantasy land of Narnia but only two are allowed to return. Lucy and Edmund along with newcomer Eustace travel to Narnia to join Prince Caspian in a search for the seven missing lords and their swords.

Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes return for the full film while Will Poulter stars as Eustace, a brat who stands out as one who wants nothing to do with the fantasy world he now finds himself in. Soon he is turned into a dragon which is an original story plot, but the swords the crew collect are not part of the original novel.

Lucy and Edmund along with cousin Eustace are transported to Narnia and join Prince Caspian in his search for seven lost lords. The tale he tells is the lords were banished and now Prince Caspian has set out with his crew and Reepicheep to save them.

They find some of the lords alive but need to find their swords to free people from a mysterious mist that they have been sent to by slavers. The crew simply need to lay the seven swords at the table of Aslan and the mist will be cleared and the people who were sent there for years will be freed.

This is the start and the main problem with the film version of the classic Narnia novels, a major plot point is skipped and rehashed into something close but not quite the same. The lords are not saved but their swords are in the film adaptation and at the end Reepicheep asks Aslan to be allowed into his land instead of the original where a member of the crew had to be left in order to free the lords.

The Chronicles of Narnia has already been faced with a change in distribution from Disney to 20th Century Fox and a big change in story just added to the controversy and problems. Chasing around finding the swords of the seven lords is a lot different than finding the lords and misses a great chance for the film.

The film had a lack of character development and losses a little something in urgency when the chase is not to rescue the lords but to find their treasured possessions. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was worth viewing just as the previous films of the series were but for fans of the novels this is probably going to be a disappointment.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader I received contains the Blu-ray copy, a DVD edition and digital copy along with a ten postcard book in a terrible cardboard package. I hate when a company tries something different and uses a slide in packaging instead of the traditional and usable snap in disc cases.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on Blu-ray has some very good but less than perfect video and audio with video being slightly lower in quality of the two. Video is crisp and clear with great color but occasional contrast and over exposure problems do mar some brighter scenes.

While the film is vibrant and good looking I did notice during viewing that several scenes in bright daylight seemed a bit too bright and a little washed out. This was not a problem just a slight lowering of the rating in my opinion that did not ruin the viewing experience but merely was noticeable.

Other than this slight problem the film on Blu-ray looked great and video was also up to the great standards we expect from Blu-ray. Voice is clear and the effects like the rush of the ship through the water or the creak of the ships timbers as the crew rushes to raise sail is great.

Audio is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track, a slight letdown from the theatre 7.1 version, that is clear with great surround use for a well done sound track. The sound and surround is well highlighted like in the invisible Dufflepuds scene but even the beginning with Spitfires roaring overhead you get a sense of a great sound experience to come.

Audio and video are both great and well done for the Blu-ray transfer even though they did not use the available 7.1 track or the slight washed out appearance on occasion. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has a good amount of bonus content but I did expect lengthier features instead of a lot of short ones, quality over quantity.

Most of the bonus features are short clips on each island of the cruise of the Dawn Treader along with a good audio commentary. Much of the clips are very short, less than a minute while the audio commentary is really the only piece of the extras that is worthwhile.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is one of those scandalous film adaptations that readers dread because it did not follow the story close enough. While the movie is good and the presentation is great there was just something missing, probably the majestic battle scenes of the previous films.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a good film and well worth owning if you have the previous ones for a set without one film is just incomplete. If you have no wish to own the series than a rental is definitely worth your time and money as the film is good and very entertaining for fantasy fans.