The Golden Compass [2007]

---

---

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Perhaps it didn't ignite the box office in quite the way it'd been hoped, but that's little reason to pass over the qualities of The Golden Compass now it arrives on DVD. Based on the Phillip Pullman novel His Dark Materials--itself the start of the Northern Lights trilogy, the film isn't without a few problems, but emerges as a quality adaptation.

And you certainly can't fault The Golden Compass for sheer ambition. The story, for those new to the series, is primarily that of 12-year old Lyra, who is in search of her friend who has been kidnapped. Naturally, this proves to be quite a challenging adventure, not least because it's through Pullman's vividly imagined world, crossing dimensions as Lyra travels. The film, while toning down and fiddling with some elements of the source material, stays quite close to the book, and it proves to be a good, if not Lord Of The Rings-standard, adaptation.

What helps The Golden Compass, on top of the strong effects work and scope of the production, is a solid cast, featuring the likes of Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards. And it certainly whets the appetite for the next instalment in the series. Whether the muted box office returns put pay to that remains to be seen: for now, at least, The Golden Compass is a good, solid family movie that's easy to enjoy. --Jon Foster

---

Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-06-23 rating:
Good special effect, poor story.
Great special effects, but not a very good story, looks like it was trying to prop up the poor storyline with the special effets and the actors.
In all a disappointing movie.

---

review by: date: 2008-06-11 rating:
What's it all about, then?
I came to The Golden Compass without any expectations, having never read any of Philip Pullman's books. And what did I get? A visually beautiful film (hence the three stars) but one that is fundamentally unsatisfying.

I'm aware that Pullman is immensely popular and his books have been analysed both philosophically and scientifically, so there must be more to them than is apparent here.

The film poses far too many unanswered questions. It was not clear what the "daemons" represented (free will? conscience? Not a literal "soul", surely.....Pullamn is reputedly an atheist) or why it should be considered necessary to separate the children from them. What was the agenda behind the Magisterium's plans? Their world seemed pretty pleasant to me! And how did Daniel Craig's character escape? One minute he's surrounded and outnumbered, the next he's shown holed up somewhere remote, experimenting in a laboratory. We're told "he escaped", but that's really sloppy scripting. Why is Lyra so special, and why does Mrs Coulter behave as she does? What, exactly, is the point of the whole story? Why should we care?

The film (obviously in full expectation of a sequel) finishes virtually in mid-story. Very annoying. I'm not surprised that most Pullman fans seem disappointed with the whole thing. This non-Pullman-fan, expecting something with depth and imagination, was disappointed too

---

review by: Kate date: 2008-06-09 rating:
Great Movie!
Just want to share that "The Golden Compass" is one of my favorite movie. I can watch it over and over again and never be bored with it. It's filled with adventure 'till the end. Take a look at it and you will see for yourself.

---

review by: Albeback date: 2008-06-08 rating:
Heading the right way
Well, I haven't read the trilogy on the which this film is based so, I went in with an open mind.

I have to say I enjoyed it. I found it a very easy way to fill 2 hours. Overall, I thought the casting was excellent - apart from Nicole Kidman who, to me, seems to demonstrate once again how she graduated from the Plank school of acting.
I got a bit confused about Daniel Craig's disappearance early on until I was reminded - "this is a trilogy"

I particularly liked the daemons. A nice touch. As was the intriguing mix of technologies in this fantasy world. Flying on what appear to a sophisticated type of airship but, using sailing ships??

OK - the set piece action scenes weren't exactly Lord of the Rings. However, nothing could compare with the siege of Minas Tirith or the magnificent charge of the Rohirrim. However, I think the film did pretty well - especially the fight between the armoured bears!

All in all, I considered it to be a generally well acted, well written and enjoyable piece of fantasy. I would have no qualms about buying this or, (hopefully) the next 2 instalments.

I think it is possibly a bit unfair to judge the film according to what is in the book. I think the purists will probably have pre-judged & dismissed the film anyway. Perhaps I have an advantage here in not actually being influenced by the book.

I think artistic licence is inevitable. I have actually read Lord of the Rings. Obviously, Peter Jackson used a bit of licence but, I honestly do not believe the films suffered for it.All the esentials were there. He had to draw a line somewhere! I think the director of this film has had to do the same.


review by: Film & Book Fanatic date: 2008-06-05 rating:
Forgetting the book..
Many people have awarded this film with the 1-3 star rating, and after reading many of them have noticed one thing in common, they rely greatly upon the book to support their views. Now it is well known that many people do not read in England and so the audience that actually have read this book must be considerably smaller than that of whom went to see it or rented or purchased it! So why do we need to keep bringing the book into this? To most the book is completely irrelevant in context to the film, so i am writing this review for those who care about the film not the darn book!

Ok so too begin, the acting, well it is not a superb performance by all but there is some very strong and believable acting in this film, the main characters are engaging and very persuasive, if you haven't read the book you will not have preset picture in your mind of what YOU expect them to be like.

Ok so the graphics, well what can i say, they are truly magnificent, what more could you want, it was simple stunning, done to perfection i must say! If you like enhanced graphics then this is the film for you, it is so good the places could be real, as could the talking animals, i have to applaud them for this.

The storyline is also good, in parts the dialoge is a bit bland and often very descriptive giving irrelevant and obvious details, but apart from that the storyline is good and believable which makes it a much better film, i find many lack in a decent storyline but here it is definitely one of it's strong points!

So what else is there to say? Well to all those who have not read the book or have read the book and want to know what sort of FILM it is, it is very good, action packed and a great film for not only the family but also for anyone else looking for an epic night in. So please ignore the trash that fills these reviews, because when it all comes down to it, this is a film not a book, so please stop rating the film by the book and try and be more open minded!

Thank you for reading.

---

Similar products

I Am Legend [2007]
St Trinian's [2007]
National Treasure 2 - Book Of Secrets [2007]
Beowulf - 1 Disc Edition [2007]
Enchanted [2007]

---

Similar categories

Video . DVD . Categories . Action & Adventure . All Action & Adventure
Video . DVD . Categories . Children's DVD . Family Favourites . All Family Favourites
Video . DVD . Categories . Children's DVD . All Children's DVD
Video . DVD . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . DVD
Video . DVD . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . PG
Video . DVD . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 2000 and later
Video . DVD . Refinements . Region(feature_browse-bin) . Region 2
Video . DVD . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . Italian
Video . DVD . Refinements . Condition (condition-type)

---