Lightning and Lightning Bug - The Dialogue

[Narnian_Badger]

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
--Mark Twain, in a letter to George Bainton.

We've looked at individual lines in the Favourite/Least Favourite threads, but what about overall? Which film is a veritable gold mine for clever banter? Which one is filled to brim with greasy, cheesy lines? For the lines that were done well, what was it that made it work? Was it the timing? The way the actor/actress said it? Or was it something inherently perfect about the line itself? And for the cheesy lines, what could have made them better?

Dialogue can make a film sink or swim in the official reviews--and rise and fall in our own thoughts, even if we don't recognize it at first. So when voting, think of all the aspects of dialogue: how fitting it was for that moment, how well it was spoken, whether or not it fits that character's personality. Remember, sometimes even a cheesy line can be in character, and a brilliant speech can be out of character.

[Ithilwen]

I voted for LWW. Many of the lines were quite funny, and it seemed to run very smoothly to me.

Whereas, with PC -- and especially VDT -- the cheesy dialogue definitely took me out of the movie. I think it spoiled those movies for me quite a bit.


~Riella

[Louloudi the Centaur]

Okay, VDT is out of the question, but I'm not too sure actually, so I voted unsure.

LWW and PC seemed about the same to me dialogue wise. They both had very good moments, and some rather "ick" moments. I haven't seen LWW in a long time, but I've seen PC a few times as of late, so it's kind of hard for me to judge at the moment.

[wolfloversk]

I'd say LWW had the best dialogue and VDT had the worst. In LWW there were very many excellent conversations between characters, where as the lines in VDT were typically very cliche and cheesy. PC was in between but closer to wardrobe, over all it had good dialogue, but there were many cheesy lines.

[Movie Aristotle]

While I object to how they changed the story and characters in Prince Caspian, I think that movie's dialogue made the most sense. I can't think of any lines that felt really out of place once you accept the premise of the movie.

People will think I'm crazy, but for the same reason, I don't think the dialogue for Dawn Treader was that bad. Yes, the plot was terrible and the character choices didn't make a lot of sense, but even so, the individual lines fit the story they were telling. There seemed to be a flow to them. There wasn't a lot of lines that took me out of the story in this film like there were in Wardrobe. It was the plot itself that took me out of the story.

*Take into consideration that it has been over a year since I watched the movies.

[Lilygloves]

Again, it's been a while since I've watched LWW. I think there were really good quotes in it. Many of them were inspiring, emotional, and really summed up the awe of coming into Narnia and meeting Aslan.

I also really liked the dialogue in PC. The most memorable lines were the funny ones, such as "You people have no imagination!". However, there were also a couple of "did they really just say that?" lines (most notably, "you might need to call me again").

As for VDT, most of the dialogue was pretty cheesy, although Will Poulter did have good lines and delivered them well. And some of the lines were inconsistant, such as "HIGH KING Edmund". There was a whole scene in PC explaining that!

[7chronicles]

I have come to learn over the years, that the script can be just as important as the acting!
It can kill a film, with good actors in it.
I think LWW had the best dialog. It flowed really well and it felt real.
My main problem with PC is that the dialog sounded to modern at times!
Most of it was fine, but those moments of dialog would just pull you out of the idea that this was taking place in the 40/50's.
VDT, like I said the script can kill a film.

[fantasia]

I honestly wasn't blown away by the dialogue in any of the three movies. Perhaps I was too spoiled by LotR where they quote directly from Tolkien many times throughout the movie, so I was looking for direct quotes from Lewis in the Narnia movies.
Direct quotes were few and far between and about the only one I can think of off the top of my head was at the end of VDT.
I felt like the filmmakers went out of their way to put their own spin on the popular book quotes and succeeded in missing the mark on the meaning behind those quotes entirely (nor were they as good as they were in the book).
As far as the rest of the dialogue, any good bits were outweighed by the inclusion of cheese imho, so I voted None of Them.

[Varnafinde]

I felt like the filmmakers went out of their way to put their own spin on the popular book quotes and succeeded in missing the mark on the meaning behind those quotes entirely (nor were they as good as they were in the book).

That might be why I found that there were many times where the lines resembled the book lines, but were not quite there - something was missing or added or changed. And the changes were never for the better.

I wasn't sure whether any of the movies were better or worse than the others in that respect, so I voted Unsure.