The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Susan, Peter and Lucy step into a wardrobe and end up in a snowy wonderland.

Herald rating: * * * *

The parallels are obvious and have been drawn over the months: J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote the Rings trilogy, and C.S. Lewis, who wrote the Narnia stories, were friends, Oxford professors, pipe-smokers, drank in the same pub, and Christians. And Peter Jackson, who directed the Rings trilogy, and Andrew Adamson, who brought Narnia to the screen, are Kiwis who created the two English pals' myths and mysteries here in Aotearoa.

Lewis' tale, the first of seven books, is set in the 1940s as the Nazis blitz London. For their safety, Edmund and Peter, Susan and Lucy Pevensie are sent to live with a professor in a country manor-house (as happened to the then-bachelor Lewis).

Playing hide-and-seek, Lucy (Georgie Henley) slips into a wardrobe that opens on to a snowy land where she meets Mr Tumnus (James McAvoy), a faun, and the first of thousands of fantastical creatures that populate the tale, courtesy of Weta Workshops.

Mr Tumnus tells Lucy that she is in Narnia, which its ruler, the White Witch, has kept in constant winter for 100 years. The faun is supposed to take her to the witch but he lets her go home.

When Lucy jumps out of the wardrobe and tells her story, no one will believe her because no time has passed. Next into and out of the closet is Edmund (Skandar Keynes), who meets the witch (Tilda Swinton), who wants to make him a prince.

Peter (William Moseley) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) are still sceptical - until the four jump through to Narnia together. They meet Mr and Mrs Beaver (voices: Ray Winstone and Dawn French), who invite them home where they explain the whole gig.

Edmund goes off alone and is taken hostage. His only hope of rescue is through Aslan the god-lion (voice: Liam Neeson). To save Edmund, Aslan will have to die for his sins. Like Christ, Aslan will rise from the dead.

Narnia's future will be resolved in a battle that pitches all of the satyrs, centaurs, giants, minotaurs, griffins and dwarves, not to overlook cheetahs, tigers, beavers, wolves and rhinos, that have enchanted us for a couple of hours, against one another in the apocalypse of good and evil.

Adamson, the genius of Shrek, draws Lewis' fantasyland and cavalcade of characters to life, while pitching the morality tale of death, sacrifice, courage fairly at his young audience.

The film-maker and New Zealand take centre-stage in the two-disk set. He offers two commentaries, a light-hearted reminiscence with the children and a more technically oriented session with the crew, talking about the difficulties of shooting scenes on three sets across three continents.

Chronicles Of A Director is a 40-minute documentary that follows Adamson through the sets and shoot Downunder, showing him getting involved with all aspects of production, from casting to costume fittings. In The Children's Magical Journey, Adamson and the children swap anecdotes of the project (him: he was most afraid of working with the kids; them: they got to do fun things like archery, sword fighting and horse riding.

Anatomy Of A Scene shows each stage in the execution of a crucial episode, the melting river. The Creating Creatures menu has 11 features showing how Aslan and the rest of Narnia's mythical creatures were brought to life.

Weta workshop and the KNB Creature Shop get the limelight in eight behind-the-scenes profiles connected as Cinematic Storytellers. Lewis' stepson pays tribute to the writer in a feature on his life and work.

The rest of the extras are a guide to Narnia with character profiles, interactive map and a timeline of historical events. Naturally, you can travel through the bonus disc using a magical wardrobe.

* DVD, VIDEO RENTAL TODAY