Which was better, the movie or the book?
The book. Just like Narnia’s The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, it also involved in the adventure the Pevensie siblings. Once again the siblings were brought to Narnia, the land of wonders; of talking beasts, of dancing trees, of fauns, giants and other magical creatures and of the magnificent lion. However, when the four came, they were surprised to find out that the land they once ruled became very much of an alien to them. Many things have changed, many of the beasts ceased to talk, the trees became quiet like mere trees, there are only a few magical creatures present and the lion, Aslan was no where to be found. It was many centuries ago since they ruled the land! Sons and daughters of eve became the evil masters of Narnia. The Narnians, then were actually believed to be extinct. They will soon find a young king-to-be, Caspian, who was deprived by his greedy uncle of the throne that was rightfully his. There will then be a civil war that is evidently not favorable for them. However, at the end, the spirit of Narnia will awaken and help, the four siblings and Caspian win the war. The awakened spirit of the place will befriend the children of the Narnia, and at the end, the sons and daughters of eve will live harmoniously with the Narnians.
Let us now compare this with the motion picture of Prince Caspian that was released June 2008. The main plot of story was basically the same, although the movie had different ways of resolving things. An example of this is the fight between Caspian and his uncle that was shown in the movie but was not included in the book C. S. Lewis wrote. The relationship that developed between Caspian and Susan was also added in the movie to add flavor to the plot of the story, it romanticized the movie very much. The awakening of the spirit of Narnia was also presented in the movie; although, the way the spirit involved itself in actually finishing the civil war was different. In the movie, the spirit helped the warriors the kill; unlike in the book where they played with the children and captured Narnia once again.
These are only a few of the differences of the movie and book of Prince Caspian. The book that C. S. Lewis wrote was actually lighter than the movie; it was also softer and calmer than the movie. On the other hand, the heavier contents of the movie were able to bring more drama and excitement to the story. Both versions of the material were good in its own way. However, a conclusion should be made to discern the other from the other; it could be said, that the book will surely capture the liking of many children and the movie will enjoy the adoration of adults.