An item from today’s Wellington Dominion Post.
I wonder whether the UK will be able to match the spectacular New Zealand landscapes that were a feature of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Well, a lot of the really spectacular winter stuff was filmed in the Czech Republic, not New Zealand. I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to find something equally impressive. Scottish Highlands?
There wasn’t too much of New Zealand showcased in the first film. The big battle scene was just a bunch of plains with some mountains in the background. Not really too unique, I think. And I’m a New Zealander myself. Lord of the Rings showed off NZ a lot better.
I don’t know what Prince Caspian would require for its locations, but I’m sure there are loads of places in Europe that would suit. Plus digital matte paintings can fill in the blanks.
Why is the quality of the landscape even important? Believe it or not, the Narnia books are not about landscape.
And films had spectacular landscapes before Jackson decided to spotlight his native country.
I am rather surprised they decided on filming in the UK, though. It was my impression that location shooting in the UK was costly and the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe didn’t do well enough to justify keeping the funding up. I would have expected more Czech locations this time around since they’re known for the low shooting expenses.
Oh, and if any film is going to kill the franchise it’s going to be the next one: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Filming on water is where you really consume a film’s budget and since the entire thing is a sea voyage…
Boxofficemojo gives a worldwide gross of $744 million ($291 million domestic), and a budget of $180 million. So, it did pretty well.
Hopefully by then they’ll invent some kind of technology that will allow the filmmakers to create like, I don’t know, some kind of effects, that are, you know, special. I’ll bet computers will one day be found to be useful for something like that. Who knows? With the magic of technology and human ingenuity, maybe someday we’ll be allowed to fulfill the impossible dream of having movies that take place at sea. Until then, I guess, we’re stuck with such dreary landlocked movies as Abandon Ship, Above us the waves, The Abyss, Action in the North Atlantic, Action in the North Atlantic, Adrift, Adventure, The African Queen, Against All Flags, Aguinaldo’s Navy, Aliki sto Naftiko, I, All Hands, The American Navy in Vietnam, Amistad, Annapolis Farewell, Anything to Survive, Assault on a Queen, Away all boats, Battle of the Japan Sea, Battle of the River Plate, Battleship Potempkin, Bedford Incident, Beneeth the twelve mile reef, Bequest to the Nation, A, Big Monitor Miantonomah Leaving the Navy Yard, The Big Sky, Big Wednesday, Billy Budd, The Black Swan, Blackbeard the Pirate, Blood Alley, The Blood Ship, The Blue Peter, The Boatniks, Bon voyage, Boston Navy Yard, Botany Bay, Bridges at Toko Ri, Britannic, Brown on Resolution, The Buccaneer’s Girl, The Buccaneer, Cabin Boy, The Caine Mutiny, Canada’s Navy, Cappy Ricks, Captain Blood, Captain Horatio Hornblower, Captain January, Captain Kidd, Captain Ron, Captain Salvation, Captains Courageous, The Case of the United States Navy Adventure, Casey of the Coast Guard, Chesty Anderson, USN, Christopher Columbus, Coast of skeletons, Combat Seals, Command Approved, Convoy, Corvette 225, Corvette K-225, Crash Dive, The Crimson Pirate, Crimson Tide, The Cruel Sea, Cutthroat Island, Damn the Defiant!, Dan mornarice, Das Boot, Dead Calm, The Deep Six, Desperate Journey: The Allison Wilcox story, Destination Tokyo, Destroyer, Destroyer, Devil and the Deep, The Devil’s Triangle, Divers at Work on the Wreck of the ‘Maine’, Don Winslow of the Navy, The Dove, Down periscope, Down to the Sea in Ships, Duke of the Navy, Emden, Endless Summer, The Enemy Below, Ensign Pulver, Eric the Viking, Eskimo, The Eternal Sea, Eyes of the Navy, Fair Wind to Java, Farewell My Lovely, The Fighting Coast Guard, The Fighting Coastguard, The Fighting Lady, The Fighting Seabees, The Final Countdown, Flat top, Flollow the Fleet, Flottans kavaljerer, Flying Missile, For Those in Peril, For Your Eyes Only, Forever England, Francis in the Navy, French Line, French Line, Frenchman’s Creek, Further Up The Creek, G.I. Jane, The Gallant Hours, Gangway for Navy, The Gift Horse, A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob, Glencannon, Godfather 2, The Great Impostor, Grey Lady Down, Guns of Navarone, Halifax Explosion, Hawaii, The Hawaiians, He’s in the Navy, Hell below, Hellcats of the Navy, Hellship Bronson, Here Come the Navy Bands, Here comes the Navy, Here Comes the Navy, A High wind in Jamaica, His Majesty O’Keefe, Hold 'Em Navy, Holiday of a Lifetime, Hooligan Navy, Hostile Waters, Hot Pursuit, Hot Yachts Cold Water, The Hunley, Hunt for Red October, I Sailed to Tahiti With an All-Girl Crew., Ice Station Zebra, Il Lupo dei mari, Imperial Navy, In Harm’s Way, In the Navy, In Which We Serve, Inferno at the Morro Castle, Ismail Yassine fil ustul, Jason and the Argonauts, Jean Lafitte, Jerry Saves the Navy, John Paul Jones, Johnny Frenchman, Josser Joins the Navy, Juggernaut, K225, Kaikoku danji, The Key, Kidnapped!, The King’s Pirate, La Terra Trema, The Lady From Shanghai, The Last Voyage of Sinbad, The Last Voyage, Lawrence of Arabia, Les amamnts de Brasmort, Let’s Go Navy!, Lifeboat, The Long Ships, The Long Voyage Home, Lord Jim, Lost!, The Luck of the Navy, Lucky Lady, Luke Joins the Navy, The Maggie, Maitre après Dieu, Maitre après Dieu, Man of Aran, The Man who never was, Marina de razboi româna, The Master of Ballantrae, McHale’s Navy, McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force, Meet the Navy, Men of Honor, Men of the Lightship, Men on Call, Men Without Women, Merchant Seamen, Message in a Bottle, Midnight Crossing, Midway, The Mighty Navy, Miss Jackie of the Navy, Missing-The Indianapolis, Mission of the Shark, Mister Roberts, Moby Dick, Mon ami Pierre, Morgenrot, Morning Departure, The Mouse that roared, Mr Roberts, Mr. Lucky, Mutiny on the Bounty, Mutiny on the Elsinore, Mystic Nights and Pirate Fights, Nate and Hayes, Navy Blue and Gold, Navy Blue Days, Navy Blues, Navy Born, Navy Bound, The Navy Comes Through, The Navy Lark, Navy Log, Navy Nurse, Navy SEALS, Navy Secrets, Navy Spy, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters, The Navy Way, Navy Wife, The Navy, Neal of the Navy, The Nelson Affair, The Nelson Touch, News for the Navy, A Night To Remember, The Norseman, North Sea Patrol, Nothing for Granted, The Odyssey, Old Ironsides, The Old Man and the Sea, On the Beach, One Crazy Summer, The One-Man Navy, The Onedin Line, Operation Pacific, Operation Petticoat, Our Fighting Navy, Our Invincible Navy, Our Navy, Our Navy in Action, Out with the Tide, Outbreak, Outcast Of The Islands, Overboard, Para Handy, Pearl Harbour, Perfect Strangers, Perilous Expedition, Pile Driving, Washington Navy Yard, Pirates, Pirates of the Caribbean I&II, The Pool of London, The Poseidon Adventure, Pride of the Navy, The Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell, PT 109, Pursuit of the Graf Spee, Q Ships, Racing with the Moon, Rainbow Warrior, Raise the Titanic, Reap the Wild Wind, Remember the Maine, Rengo kantai, Riddle of the Sands, Ride the Wild Surf, Roar, Navy, Roar, Robinson Crusoe, Rocky, A Romance of the Navy, Rulers of the Sea, Run silent, run deep, The Russians are coming, Saboteur, Sailor Beware, San Demetrio: London, The Sand Pebbles, Saps at Sea, The Sea Chase, Sea Devils, The Sea Gypsies, The Sea Hawk, Seawife, The Sea Wolf, The Seafarers, Seagulls over Sorrento, Seas Beneath, Secret of the U110, Serpico, She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal, Ship of Fools, The Ship that Died of Shame, Shipwrecked, Shogun, Si tous les gars du monde, The Silent Enemy, Silent Running, Silver Strand, Sinbad the Sailor, The Singapore Mutiny, Sink the Bismark, Sinking of the Andrea Dorea, Sinking of the Lusitania, Six Hundred Days to Cocos Island, Skimpy in the Navy, The Skipper, Small Boat Navy in Vietnam, Smuggler’s Island, The Snow Goose, Soldier, Sailor, Son of the Navy, Souls at Sea, The Spanish Main, The Splendid Road, Splinters in the Navy, Stand By For Action, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Submarine Command, Submarine D-1, Submarine Patrol, Submarine Raider, The Suicide Fleet, Summer Rental, Survive the Savage Sea, Swashbuckler, Sweetheart of the Navy, Swiss Family Robinson, Task Force, The Big Blockade, The Caine Mutiny, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, The Cruel Sea, The Deep Six, The Fighting Coastguard, The Frogmen, The Key, The Long Voyage Home, The Navy Way, The Sharkfighters, The Shipbuilders, The Weaker Sex, The White Ship, They Were Expendable, This Man’s Navy, Three Men in a Boat, Titanic, Torpedo Alley, Torpedo Run, Torpedo Squadron, Move Out, Treasure Island, True to the Navy, Trust the Navy, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Twilight of the Gods, Two Years Before the Mast, U-571, Under Ten Flags, The United States Navy Band, Up Periscope, Up The Creek, The Viking, Vivent les Dockers, Voyage, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wackiest Ship in the Army, Wake of the Red Witch, Waters of Time, Waterworld, We dive at dawn, We Joined the Navy, We’re in the Navy Now, We’ve Never Been Licked, Western Approaches, White Squall, Wind, Wind in the Willows, Windjammer, The Windjammer, Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich, The Wings of Eagles, Wings of the Navy, Wolf Larsen, Wolf Larsen, The World in His Arms, The Wreck of the ‘Maine’, Wreck of the ‘Mohican’, Wreck of the ‘Norseman’, Wreck of the ‘Vizcaya’, Wreck of the Battleship ‘Maine’, The Wreck of the Dunbar, Wreck of the Grosvenor, The Wreck of the Hesperus, The Wreck of the Julie Plante, Wreck of the Lady Elgin, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, Wreck of the S.S. ‘Paris’, Wreck of the Schooner ‘Richmond’, The Wreck of the Singapore, Yangtse Incident, Yankee Clipper, Yellowbeard, The Yeoman’s Wedding, YMS-504 subyeong, You’re in the Navy Now, and Your Fighting Navy at Work and at Play.
You forgot Carry On Jack.
Holy crap
I never said it was impossible, just very expensive to do well. Many of those films you ran through were extremely expensive to make; in fact you’ll note that your list includes several films that when they were made were the most expensive films ever. It’s tough doing that when you’re filming one movie by itself; but if TLtWatW is anything to go by the Disney is going to have a really hard time justifying the outlay for a nautical film.
Special effects aren’t a solution. It’s only in the past couple of years that CGI can do water convincingly enough for sustained shots, but you’re talking about a movie that would have to contain a majority of effects shots. Saving money from not shooting on the water, perhaps, but not as convincing and still not cheap.
BTW, instead of just listing movies with “Navy” in the title, you might want to consider what the film was about; many of the movies you listed also had very little water photography.
Dude, my point is that movies about the sea are a HUGE tradition in filmmaking. *Dawn Treader *will be absolutely nothing new in that regard; it will be part of a long tradition. To say it will “kill the franchise” is ludicrous.
17% of those titles include the word “Navy.” Not freakish, considering the subject is . . . movies about the sea.
And then there’s the fact that a fair slice of the action in Dawn Treader takes place not at sea but in the Scrubbs’s house, on the Lone Islands, Dragon Island, Burnt Island, Deathwater Island, the Island of Duffers, the Island of the Star, and the shore at the end of the world. Also, the scene at Dark Island could as well be shot on dry land for all anyone can see of the sea.
lissener, I agree with your point regarding seagoing movies being a staple, and that’s an impressive list which I only had time to glance over (undoubtedly worth a second look later…)
But — Lawrence of Arabia? With 5 seconds footage of a ship in the Suez canal, consuming probably 0.001% of the budget? Not a good example of seafaring celluloid, unless I’m blanking on other scenes. I’d say if you want Palestine-related movies with ships, Exodus is a better bet (still not very nautical, but at least the ship is the title character).
Sounds interesting…
And The Perfect Storm.
(I think)
I also don’t notice Master and Commander or the Horatio Hornblower series…
I’m just worried that they keep pushing the release date of Prince Caspian back–they were shooting for the summer of 2007, if I remember rightly, and now it’ll be in 2008…
I would guess that only about 15-20 minutes of footage in Dawn Treader need be done at sea. That would take a few days, since most of it will be overall shots and wind up on the cutting-room floor anyway.
Are they using the same child actors? 'Cause they must be growing up fast. The actors who played Peter and Susan must be of university age by now. I realize that the Pevenseys and Eustace and Jill age some in the books (until everyone but Susan stops aging altogether), but the kids are going to be too old for the roles very soon. I want to see that endearing little girl who played Lucy again before she hits adolescence.