The Golden Compass (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)

As a viewer that hasn't read the book yet, I enjoyed this film very much. So much so that I have already purchased the books so that I can get the full picture and continue the tale. There are very few films that can match the quality and story of the novel they are based on. So, it's important to keep expectations at a reasonable level. Hundreds of pages do not shrink to less than 2 hours without losing something. After speaking with some of my friends who read the book, I think they kept to the spirit of the story if not the letter. Ironically, the film made far more money in Europe where the books are much more popular. However, I wasn't watching this for life lessons or implied religious themes. I wanted an interesting story, engaging characters and a fun adventure. They delivered all three with some awesome special effects to boot! The acting by the adults in the film was a little over the top, but fit with the grand adventure style of story-telling. I completely bought Nicole Kidman as a snobby elitist who lives by "the ends justify the means." I liked that good actors were placed even in bit roles (such as Sam Elliot), but the young star and the animals truly stole the show. Lyra's character will appeal to fans of Hermione Granger and other smart little rebels. I found myself cheering for her and her daemon. The producers did a great job with the talking animals. They blended with the story very well. I never felt like they were zooming in on every animal every time - "see, the animals are talking!" This helped them feel more like characters in the movie than CGI stunts. The dialog between Lyra and Pan was much like between any two good friends at that age. And I loved the polar bear. Who wouldn't get excited about a massive polar bear wearing armor!? And voiced by Ian McKellan, priceless. The subject matter is a little more grave than other movies of this genre. The PG-13 rating was deserved, though much less so than movies like "Alien vs Predator"! The ending was a little abrupt, but seeing as it's based on the first book of a trilogy, I can't complain. The filmakers didn't leave viewers with a killer cliffhanger, just in case the second film isn't made (which I truly hope it is). This 2-disc DVD set is nice. The extra features have a nice variety with your usual "making of" and behind the scenes stuff, but also a feature on the book and adaptation. The packaging is standard, though I really like the outer sleeves that so many special editions come with these days. There is no chapter insert - just an advertisement for the World Wildlife Fund and their promotion based on the film (adopt plush animals that represent endangered animals depicted in the film). I'm happy I bought the 2-disc set. Overall, I thought this was an entertaining film, with great special effects and a unique story. I am glad I bought the DVD as I will certainly rewatch it. Though I missed seeing this in the theatre, I would definitely see the sequel on the big screen. Highly recommended to movie fans who haven't read the book and love a good adventure, and book fans who are open-minded about adaptations.

Beautiful visuals and solid acting. Great fantasy adventure with depth. A little slow at first, but worth it.

IF you like fantasy movies, you'll probably like this movie.

I never heard of the books but then as far as i knew young Mr. Potter was all the rage. I had to give this film a pass when it first came out even though I wanted to see it. Life got in the way and many moons later I finally viewed the film on DVD, a rental to boot. I have to say, I'm not sure why this film has so many mixed reviews when I, my wife and college age daughters all loved it. Why? Because we did. We found the characters to be both complex and sympathetic. The story is very intriquing and well paced. I'm glad it was rated PG13 because it had a few rough spots (the polar bear warriors fighting was particularly savage). As I don't own this film (a problem I'll rectify soon) I have to forego with explicit descriptions and character's names since it has been a few weeks since we viewed the film. Despite that it left its mark on me. The young lady (Lyra?) was a treat. She was payed with just the right amount of precociousness and innocence as well as drive to make her the perfect foil for adults who disregard youth as simply precocious and naive. Her rescues, escapes and minor triumphs are all worthy of acclaim. Her friends (rescuers and defenders) may have their agendas but they also sincerely help her. The polar bear warrior king was (voiced by Ian McKellen) was perfect as her loyal protector with a history that needed to be resolved. I've read the complaints about this film and was prepared for the worst. It's too bad their noise prevailed in making this film so unpopular. Now, thanks to that rabble, I'll have to read the books to get to the finish of the tale. That's not so terrible but this franchise deserved better than it received at the box office. I'm sure the nay-sayers are delighted in their results. As for the complaints that this film (and the books?) impugned "mother church", well, I saw no such evidence to validate those claims. No surprise there.

You’ll be disappointed if you’ve read “The Golden Compass”, book one of Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”. This is a précis version which leaves so much out - by the necessity of movie-length time - and commercial movie making. If you’re watching HBO’s tv series then this movie takes you to about series one, episode six, in a very rough way. On the other hand, for a Cliff’s/Cole’s notes version, it has high production values and is wonderfully cast, especially Sam Elliott as Scoresby and Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter, but all actors perform more than credibly well. As always, I love Eva Green in this. Good direction and sets. Mrs. Coulter’s house is very Laura Ashley in the book, but not in this movie, and especially not in the HBO television series. The weakness of this movie is that it has only 110 minutes in which to perform a book with a somewhat bulkY plot. This means that the movie becomes a Readers’ Digest version. I felt that they did their best to follow the text up near to the end of Part One with some of later books thrown in - in the three part book. If you write a book that gets put into visual media, you really want a multi-episode big budget television adaption rather than a movie. Movies are too short to do most works justice. Certainly true here. You just can’t get a feeling for the Pullman trilogy from this, but you can get a feeling for the characters of Lyra, Lee Scorsbey, Serafina Peccola, & Mrs. Coulter. But truly, if, despite the high production values, sets, costumes, acting, etc., you have doubts, this actually is worth watching, but you need to read the books and/or watch the HBO series “His Dark Materials”.

Very good

His Dark Material is so much better.

I read the book series decades ago, and barely remembered the story line... so watching the film, I didn't have expectations of seeing the entire story, since I can barely recall the story. That said, there were enough familiar elements to feel like it was true to what I remembered. The books were controversial at the time, because they appeared to be critical of religion. The 'daemons' were the manifestation of a person's soul, but in the books, they were physical and the person could talk to them. The books I had thought were a secular answer to the Narnia series, which were allegories of religion. The religious elements were muted, and you could easily see this as a typical 'good vs evil' fantasy movie, with no parallels to our world. Every single visual was stunning, the 'daemons' were so realistic and well done CGI, the acting was superb, and of course the caste all star. The action played at a breakneck pace, and because it was so dense, if you looked away, you missed something. As an older adult, I still enjoyed watching it, and I would have LOVED this movie as a child. The only unfortunate thing, but which couldn't be helped, was the ending... which immediately makes you look forward to the sequel. A sequel that was never made. That's the only shame of it.