Fridge Brilliance: Caspian's ship is named "Dawn Treader". And the crew's journey is to ultimately find the Utter East that both their king and Reepicheep long to see... thus, when they finally arrive at the Utter East, the "Treader" quite literally treads the very Dawn of a new day.
In the fog of nightmares, Eustace mentions hearing "a huge pair of scissors opening and shutting." After about 1998 or so, this is likely to remind readers of a certain other story with a Nightmare Sequence featuring giant scissors. After about 2001 or so, it might remind readers of yet another story with a Nightmare Sequence featuring big scissorsnote or ordinary-sized gardening shears, as the case may be — this time caused by a nightmare-inducing mist to boot! (That is, assuming a given reader actually saw the latter movie.)
After Reepicheep jumps into the water of the Last Sea and is pulled out by Lord Dinian, he's constantly chanting "Sweet, Sweet, Sweet" to Drinian's annoyance. The movie would have Drinian played by actor Gary Sweet.
While Coriakin himself turns out to be a Cool Old Guy, Lucy's walk up to the magician's study can get pretty unnerving—walking up a flight of stairs and down a hallway in complete silence, with strange carvings and paintings on the walls, doors that won't shut, and a minor Jump Scare in the form of the bearded mirror.
Strangled by the Red String: Caspian, who is one of the few fully-developed characters outside of the Pevensie children, ends up marrying Ramandu's unnamed daughter, with whom he shares all of two paragraphs' worth of interactions before Lucy is teasing him about how happy he'll be to see her again. While no one walks into a Narnia novel expecting grand romance, Aravis and Shasta prove that C.S. Lewis can write convincing chemistry, and it's disappointing to see an iconic character like Caspian end up with someone the audience barely knows.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Eustace. Apparently we are supposed to not like him, and the long list of reasons why are often told rather than shown through a Lemony Narrator. Thanks to Values Dissonance, at least some of them can also sometimes seem almost like Lewis was just trying to make Eustace hated. Then The Silver Chair comes in and now, Eustace is treated positively—though this was subsequent to his rather extensive Character Development throughout Dawn Treader.
Values Dissonance: Many people today may not find too much wrong with Eustace's family, as was described in the beginning — though others may argue that the issue was with "faddism" as the likely motivation behind their lifestyle, and how their progressivism did little for Eustace's character or imagination, rather than with their lifestyle per se.
Values Resonance: Caspian's argument against the pro-slavery ruler on the Lone Islands. While almost everyone already agreed that slavery was bad at the time of writing, at least in the "Western" world, the Governor's advocacy of ruthless profit-seeking and economic development at the expense of human dignity touches on larger issues which were not as widely current then, and modern audiences are likely to find Caspian's smackdown of the same at least as satisfying as the original readers.
The BBC series:
Growing the Beard: It's agreed that the series took an upswing in production values when adapting this book. The child actors had become more comfortable in their roles, with more veterans like Samuel West and Warwick Davis to help carry the story. Voyage of the Dawn Treader is also a very episodic book, making it a good fit for a TV adaptation.
Hilarious in Hindsight: The discussion of Fairy Tale Motifs at Ramandu's Island takes on amusing tones when you realise that Gabrielle Anwar played two fairy tale characters in Once Upon a Time. One of which is Rapunzel, and she appears here with long golden hair.
Narm Charm: There still manages to be a sense of wonder and adventure in this version, despite a lot of the cheesiness.
Took the Bad Film Seriously: Warwick Davis manages to convince you he actually is a heroic talking mouse, and not just wearing a dwarf-sized mouse costume.
The movie:
Broken Base: This evokes this even more than the other two adaptations. Detractors don't like it because it adds an antagonist that didn't exist in the book, a Gotta Catch 'Em All plot involving swords and also a shorter running time. There's another subset that don't like it because it has a different director and therefore a different style from the first two. On the flip side, its fans argue that it needed some kind of narrative to help it flow better as a film (the book being a Random Events Plot) and they also enjoy the increased screen time for Edmund and Lucy. Some fans also like the addition of a proper antagonist giving the story more tension as well as a proper climax also helped give the story a more natural closure.
Cliché Storm: The mist and sword plot created for the movie is this for some.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Liliandil was warmly received, and the name she got in the film is taken as canon, helped by the fact that it was coined by Douglas Gresham, the stepson of C.S Lewis.
Fridge Brilliance: With Word of God confirming that the green mist was caused by the Lady of the Green Kirtle, it makes sense why she murders Liliandil in the next book. Liliandil was the one who told the Pevensies how to stop her first plan.
Fridge Horror: Lord Rhoop, the one found on the rock in the middle of Dark Island, has likely been constantly fighting his worst nightmares with no food and no rest for years.
Ho Yay: There's a bit of it between Caspian and Edmund, though the film does point out that Caspian views Edmund (and Lucy) as his family.
I Knew It!: A small one. Fans expected that Ramandu's daughter would get Named by the Adaptation (as it had happened to a few other characters in previous films). Liliandil is accepted as canon.
It's Short, So It Sucks!: When the film was released, it received complaints about being notably shorter than its predecessors despite the adventure theme.note The first two Narnia movies had a runtime of 143 and 150 minutes respectively, while Voyage comes short of two hours at 113 minutes.
Nightmare Fuel: The sea serpent especially when it splits open!
Special Effect Failure: The movie is probably the best looking of the Narnia movies, but it still has a few off areas.
The first appearance of the green mist looks cool but also very awkward, it being in broad daylight unlike every other appearance likely lends to this.
The CGI quality for dragon Eustace turns into looks extraordinarily bad for something in a film that came out four years after Eragon. The good animation at least helps make up for it.
Take That, Scrappy!: The Dufflepuds are selfish and annoying little creatures that violently took some of the characters hostage in the book to force them to end the curse that made them invisible, despite their nasty methods they were Easily Forgiven and faced no punishment. The movie on the other hand gives them more of a comeuppance in the form of being humiliated when their true forms are exposed and Coriakin scaring them off.
Tear Jerker: Reepicheep's farewell and subsequent departure into Aslan's country.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Needless to say, a lot of fans did not like the added plot about gathering Aslan's swords. Whilst they don't feel forced into the story, most fans think there wasn't really a need for them in the first place due to Caspian already having a perfectly good goal in the book. The Green Mist is also rather divisive, though less so due to fans feeling the addition of an overarching antagonist helped raise the stakes.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The subplot of Lucy being jealous of Susan is nonsensical and unneeded, but it does include a good message about being herself. However, when she uses Susan's bow and arrow rather than her own knife against the sea serpent during the climax, that message is ruined.
Liliandil suggesting she change form if they find it too distracting, Edmund and Caspian shouting "no!" and Lucy rolling her eyes. It was in every trailer.
To a lesser extent, the minotaur making Eustace faint and saying "was it something I said?"
Visual Effects of Awesome: You don't have to like the adaptation to admit that it's very pretty. In particular Reepicheep, Coriarkin‘s magic, the sea serpent, and Aslan’s Country still look stunningly good.
