The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy (Golden Compass/Subtle Knife/Amber Spyglass) are some of my absolute favorite books in fantasy. I was extremely psyched when I heard that a movie would be made of the first book, but never got around to seeing it until it was out on DVD.

Lyra is a young orphan girl (roughly 11 or 12) who has been raised by the scholars at Jordan College in Oxford (similar to England). Lyra's world is very like our own, except for one distinct difference: people's souls, or daemons, can be found externally in the form of various animals. Lyra accidentally overhears her uncle Asriel, some Jordan College scholars, and a representative of the Magisterium talking about Dust. Dust seems to be a hot topic in her world - Lord Asriel is trying to find a way to get to parallel worlds to learn more about Dust; the Magisterium, with the aid of the mysterious Mrs. Coulter, is trying to suppress Dust; and children are going missing in freaky experiments involving Dust. When Lyra's friends Billy and Roger are taken, she sets off on an epic adventure to save them.

Overall, the movie stays very true to the original novel, and it's beautifully done. The special effects (flying witches, talking bears) are well done and not cheesy at all. The acting is superb and, in my opinion, the movie itself is excellent.

Some things could have been confusing for viewers not familiar with Pullman's trilogy. Daemons are sort of explained in the beginning, but in addition to being part of someone's soul, they're also a physical manifest of someone's personality, so the animals of the adults are very telling about their character. That's also the reason why the children's daemons keep shifting; their "permanent" personalities are still being formed. They're also very personal entities, which is why it freaks a person out when their daemon is handled by another person (and there's an unspoken taboo about it in Lyra's world, too). I know they can't put all of that in a movie, but those little tidbits, found in the book, are extremely helpful to understanding the movie.

I did wonder about the ending - they chose to end it on a hopeful note instead of the dark, dramatic one in the book. I had heard rumors that, depending on how well "Golden Compass" did, they weren't necessarily going to make the second movie, so the cliffhanger ending from the first book probably had to get shuffled aside. It certainly makes me curious about how they're going to handle it in a sequel.

There was a lot of fuss when this movie was released because the books are, in tone, fairly anti-religious. These books (and movie) are pretty dark with some heavy philosophical questions. They aren't intended for children necessarily, even though the protagonist is a child. (Which always makes me wonder why they're shelved in the children's section?!) However, Pullman doesn't pull out the heavy anti-religious stuff until book three, and I have to wonder how the script writers are going to handle it, because you can't really tweak it without changing the entire story line. But we don't have to worry about that for right now, since movie two hasn't even been released yet.

Overall, a great movie, beautifully done with a great cast. Definitely worth checking out, even if you've never read the books. If you're thinking of watching this with young children, definitely heed the PG-13 rating.

The Golden Compass is a great film that is based upon a awesome book trilogy. This film stars Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliot, Ian McKellen, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Philip Pullman, and Ian McShane.

While some of you may disagree with me, I liked this movie better than Narnia. There is supposed to be a sequel coming out 2009 and I can't wait to see it! Though there is some protests against a sequel (mainly the people of the Catholic Church), but I doubt that those "highly" religious people will stop the making of the sequel.

With a great story, special effects, and actors & actresses, The Golden Compass will eventually become an instant classic. I suggest anyone who wants to be entertained to buy this DVD. It's affordable and entertaining.

Either way, you always get your moneys worth in the end.

Wow- I have to be honest and say this is the Worst movie I have seen to date. I had heard about the controversy about this movie & religion...and on a 13 hour flight from Australia back to LA- I thought it would be good to watch. I mean the cast alone- had to be decent. It also would give me a chance to watch it before I showed it to my 6 year old. WOW- was I glad I watched it first! First off- do not let you 6 year old watch this movie. IT IS NOT A SMALL CHILD'S MOVIE. A) It is scary. It has deamons in it - that are vicious. Not only that the kids are being kidnapped - stolen. Ok- what child ,and parent for that fact, would not be freaked out by that. Seriously - if I let my kids watch this movie- they would be sleeping with us for the next week. Trust me- not for elementary kids.
B) It's dumb. The movie goes very fast- and apparently leaves out the majority of the information that a person who has NOT read the book needs in order to figure out what the heck is going on. If you have read the book- then you will get it. The rest of us- just still trying to figure all the weird scary stuff in the movie by reading reviews on Amazon;)
Overall- the movie was VERY DISAPPOINTING. I am not even going to mention the entire controversy with the relgion aspect of the movie. That is another can of worms. Bottom Line - Save your precious time - and go rent Narnia. You'll be happy you did. I am still wishing I could get those 2 hours of my life back that I wasted watching this movie.

A Hollywood studio spent millions of dollars making a movie that sucks the life out of a fantastic book--what a surprise!

This movie has a fine cast, lavish production values and great special effects. All it lacks is a soul.

By all means, read the book, and the remainder of Pullman's wonderful trilogy. But don't waste your time on this pointless exercise.

"The Golden Compass" made a decent fantasy movie. Most of the characters in it were very good (I found Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison to be especially likeable). It also had a very unique environment that departed from the normal medieval-ish confines of the fantasy genre. Unfortunately, the story in it seemed quite predictable and uninspiring. I never found it terribly exciting. It held my interest the entire time, but I don't see myself standing in line to wait for the sequels. "The Golden Compass" is a good work to have in your fantasy collection, but there are many better works of fantasy out there.