Maybe it was a San Diego City Schools thing, but ComicsOnline Editor-in-Chief Kevin Gaussoin reports that years earlier, he had nearly the same experience in school.

When I was a child I was always an accelerated reader, and every year in elementary school, I was placed in the accelerated reader group in my classes. Every year they seemed to pick the same books. Now needless to say I loved these books so much that I enjoyed the chance to read them at every chance I got, during each school year and between. These books were The Chronicles of Narnia, not one book, but all seven every year in publishing order. These books influenced my child hood, and made me want for a secret passage way to a secret land somewhere in the back of my closet. I looked for those for most of my childhood. Now that I am grown up, Disney Films and Walden Media are making these childhood fantasies of mine, and millions of other children come to life in a series of live action films. The latest one to be released on DVD is The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and it has been released in a three-disc edition with the digital download taking up the third disc.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the second story in the adventures of Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy Pevensie. This time when they return to Narnia, even though it has only been one year for them, it has been 1300 years since their 13 year reign as the kings and queens of Narnia. Since their reign, the Telmarines have conquered Narnia, and seemingly wiped out the inhabitants of Narnia. Prince Caspian Escapes from his uncle, Miraz, who wants to usurp the Telmarine Throne. As he assumes that he is being captured, Caspian blows Queen Susan’s magical horn, calling the old kings and queens back to Narnia. The Pevensies arrive back in Narnia, and come to find that Cair Paravel , their old castle, was destroyed some time ago, but the treasure vault where their weapons are stored is still intact and unmolested. They then come across Trumpkin, a dwarf on the side of Prince Caspian who is gagged and about to be drowned by two Telmarine Soldiers. As soon as they prove that they are the kings and queens of old to Trumpkin, they take off to find Caspian to help him regain the throne. This is only a short segment of the film, but I will let you see the movie to learn the rest of the plot.

Bonus Features

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian has a ton of special features on the discs, most of them are located on disc two. On the first disc, aside from the movie is a commentary track with the director and actors. On the second disc are all the rest of the features. The disc has a feature about the making of the new movie, and talk a little about the last film. Next is a feature about the sets of Prince Caspian. Following that is a feature on the filming of the bridge sequence in Bovec, Slovenia. They also have something on the previsualization of the movie, and “Talking Animals And Walking Trees: The Magical World Of Narnia” where they discuss the creation of all the Narnians that must be created digitally. There are ten deleted scenes and a gag reel called ”The Bloopers Of Narnia”. They have a feature on how the duel was created and filmed. And finally two features on the lead dwarves of the film Trumpkin and Nikabrik, the men playing them, and the process of creating them.

The Blu-ray features include all of the above, but in 1080p resolution HD video. Beside the now-standard 1080p video and audio that is better than you can possibly get on DVD. In this instance, we’re talking a respectable 5.1 Dolby Digital on the Blu-ray Special Features, and an awesome 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, meaning you’re getting 24 bit sound at 48KHz, meaning you get awesome clarity out of all 8 speakers in your home theatre (You do have 8 speakers, don’t you? If not, get the same 7.1 surround sound system that we use for reviews at ComicsOnline!).

Perhaps the most important Blu-ray Bonus Feature on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is that because this is a Disney Blu-ray disc, you get access to the Prince Caspian BD-Live site and all the online Bonus Features that are available now or will become available in the future. With a DVD version, what you get the day you buy it is all the Bonus Content you’re ever going to get, but with Blu-ray, especially from advanced studios like Disney, more live content can continue to be published indefinitely.

This Blu-ray release also has another exclusive Bonus Feature that you will not find on the DVD release: Circle Vision Interactive: Creating the Castle Raid.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a great DVD set of a great recent movie. It even feels like the world of Narnia should. This is destined to become a classic on the order of The Lord of the Rings. The DVD has a wealth of special features, and last quite a few hours. This set is really worth the money that it costs, and if you feel the extra features disc and digital copy disc are unnecessary for you or your family, there is also a Single-Disc Edition. The only downside is the fact that at times the font on the bonus disc menus on the DVD version is a little unreadable, especially the first time that you look at the menu. But, all in all I would recommend The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to anyone who loves fantasy, grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia, or just has kids. This movie is for everyone.

ComicsOnline gives The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 3-Disc Collector’s Edition on DVD 4 Reepicheeps out of 5.

ComicsOnline gives The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 3-Disc Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray 4.5 victorious battles out of 5.