I t

The Movie

Cast | Director & Crew | Production Design | | Image Galleries | Discussion


Fan Reviews

Have you been to see The Golden Compass? We'd love to hear what you thought about it. You can email us your review at webmaster@bridgetothestars.net. The more the merrier, so don't hesitate even if your review is quite small.



Review by Jamie Sutherland

His Dark Materials: Northern Lights. What a poignant, mysterious title for a book. The Golden Compass? Well, it doesn't quite have the same impact, does it? The use of the American name of the book for the film really didn't bother me at first, but as early warning signs come, it doesn't get much more obvious than this; we should have guessed from the off that this was going to be a very different beast to the book.

As a huge fan of Philip Pullman's epic trilogy, I had been eagerly anticipating this film adaptation for at least a year; even more so because I was an extra in one of the scenes. I had fallen in love with the books a while back; not due to the fantastical elements, but due to the way it introduced this fantastical parallel universe to the reader in a slow, subtle, familiar way and made it feel real and tangible. The books are gritty, rugged and at times violent, and the stories' themes are philosophical and even spiritual in a way. It grieves me to say that the film misses the point; concentrating instead, on the fantasy, the action and the giant talking polar bears (panserbjorne).

The story is the same: it follows the exploits of a young orphan girl, Lyra, who lives among scholars at Oxford's Jordan College, in a world parallel to our own, in which every human is joined to a physical manifestation of their soul (daemon). One day Lyra hears hushed talk of an extraordinary particle which is rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there are those who fear the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Children are also being kidnapped left, right and centre, and Lyra's best friend, Roger, is among them. Catapulted into the heart of a desperate struggle, Lyra is forced to seek aid from witches, gyptians, and formidable armored bears, to help her save her friends from these evil experiments.

But the soul of the story is all but gone. Gone is the mystery; the slow, developing understanding of a person's bond with their daemon; and the gentle, calm introduction to each character and their entwining relationships. Granted, such a complex story was always going to be difficult to adapt, but surely restricting it to such a short-time span (114 minutes) to tell the story just increases that difficulty. By ripping out the very things that made the novel so spell-binding and original, we're left with an ultimately quite hollow, shallow and self-conscious movie, which is more interested in showing off it's (admittedly breathtaking special effects) than telling an interesting story.

The problem isn't that I've read the books. The problem is that this film is very nearly a complete disaster, even as a film unto it's own right; there is no character development, some of the dialogue is awfully contrived and the pacing is all over the shop. Virtually everything from the book is in there, in fact; it's just every scene flies by at a ridiculous pace. The characters are given no time to breathe or grow and concepts such as the daemons, Dust and the magesterium are explained to you via convoluted exposition rather than simply shown to you. The result is a rather detached feeling and thus you never care about any of the characters, which is a crying shame, considering the source from which the stories came.

Oddly, despite nearly being a disaster, the film could have gone the other way - some of it teeters on perfection even. For one, it is visual eye candy, with the design departments each paying extraordinary attention to detail in their creation of Lyra's world and it is not their fault that Weitz's (or New Line's) vision differs so wildly from Pullman's description. Also, the acting itself from almost everyone is very strong, with each actor portraying the characters from the books superbly. Daniel Craig owns both scenes he's in, as Lord Asriel does in the book; Nicole Kidman's magnetic, seductive beauty is perfect for Mrs Coulter; Sam Elliott charms and delights as Lee Scoresby; and Dakota Blue Richards is every bit the loveable rogue of the Lyra of the novel. (Had there not been the need for her to be so pleonastic, the audience might even have actually cared about her).

As far as entertainment goes, the whole film is actually pretty high up the scale; captivating and engrossing the audience throughout, who barely have time to catch a breath. It's a damn good spectacle, that's for sure. It's just an utter shame how great this could have been on many levels, and how as it is it's only a little better than your average family adventure film. Children from about 8-14 WILL love this, but it doesn't have the depth or layers of, say... The Lord of the Rings (the comparison was always inevitable), to not only entertain, but to excite, thrill, shock, scare, move, and even inspire viewers of all ages, like it could have done.

As far as summaries go, you need just watch the film, which is over in an instant and in fact runs very much like a summary of the book. It's worth watching for the entertainment value but you'll probably have forgotten about it by tomorrow.

It sounds like a pretty scathing review, but I still think the quality of the story shines through in the end, and most people will find something to enjoy on some level. It is certainly unlike anything you've ever seen: so very good and yet so very, very unsatisfactory.

Must do better.

7/10



Review by namster

Introduction

In short, this movie is excellent. It is a flawed picture, with the most unfortunate knife job of any film in motion picture history, but all things considered it is an excellent picture nonetheless. This parallel Earth is a fount of discovery and globetrekking and storytelling despite having no ending and more surgical cuts to its artistic freedom than the Lakota commercial guy. It's definitely not The Lord of the Rings on any level of ambition and it shouldn't have to be; it's a simpler pleasure. The Philip Pullman readership should be proud to have fanship over the most colorful and intelligent and infernal fantasy series the world has seen -- with a science fiction gloss, post-modern morality, theological jigsaws, and even quantum mechanics. This film will surely get new audiences to the bookstore and provides good value to old fans too.

The Meat of the Movie

Any misgivings I have with The Golden Compass adaptation stem from cuts made by its studio, and when I say "cuts" I mean the kind that makes art bleed internally. This was a knife job for the ages. Newcomer director Chris Weitz -- presumably with a gun to his back -- reluctantly trimmed a nearly 3-hour epic down to 2 hours. That missing hour(?) included among other things the novel's original ending: an essential final act that brings all of the book's themes in perspective, shows us acts of creation and pitiless destruction, and is easily the most morally pandemonius climax to a novel that I ever want to know. All that is missing and more. To put it simply, these scenes were snipped with scissors, served in alfredo sauce, and eaten. So given the awful circumstances in which this movie was created, it really is quite amazing what Chris Weitz managed to salvage. The Golden Compass succeeds surprisingly well for a motion picture that has suffered more physical insults to its body than Jake La Motta. It could be better, but by that same argument it also could be a lot worse. It lacked a lot, but there was no lack of Chris Weitz's respect for the books. It's better to have a nice film that feels half-finished than a finished film that makes no sense.

Pacing is the first casualty in these running-time cuts; you will laugh at how fast it throws the story in your face, guaranteed. Weitz is forced to breeze by some of the author's more interesting ideas in his rush to clock in at 2 hours, but he does it in such a way as to make you interested in reading up more about it later, to pick up a book and fork over some money. You say, "That's an odd idea. How bizarre. I wonder what it could mean! How exciting." Pullman's mystical concepts stud this universe with mysteries that invite exploration. Yes, a lot of nifty ideas are glossed over in a sweat but Weitz keeps your curiosity on the plate, and that's the biggest fish to fry. Keep it in perspective, you with the kaleidescope eyes.

Given that nearly an hour of the film was cut, a lot of subtext from the novel is missing -- but that happens to all adaptations. The important point is that Weitz is a great fan of the books and he kept in more than enough of the story to make a good movie. His love of the books is his greatest asset and those elements that do make it into the film are deftly explained in no time at all. It is frequently argued that between the two of them Peter Jackson is the superior filmmaker, and in many ways they're right: he is. But Weitz's film has a more generous heart owing to the colorful universe that author Philip Pullman paints; he uses daemons to highlight character relationships and gives flesh to his heroine Lyra. A nobody perhaps, but Weitz has sense enough to eschew Jackson's melodrama and just put a heart at the center of his film, simply. It's been argued that the battles in this movie are bereft of danger. Does that matter? I didn't pay ten dollars to watch that fight anyways, I wanted to see the beginnings of an infinitely inventive, shapeshifting, physics-spanning adventure with an atheist bent. In many ways Philip Pullman himself eschews battlefields (our AntiTolkien), prefering to consolidate psychological and intellectual wars. Fans ought to be glad for the faithfulness of Weitz's script to the books. Author Philip Pullman is purring in his comforter as we speak, and for good reason because his brainchild is in good hands.

Thespians

Anything else I have to say has already been stated by a hundred-and-one other better reviewers than I: marvelous all-around acting, unprecedented visual effects, and so on. I won't repeat any of these points but just to bring home the point, know that actress Dakota Blue Richards is Lyra. It feels as if Weitz cut a hole in the fabric of space-time, found Lyra, pulled her into our world through a window in the other universe, dressed her up in trousers and a T-shirt and passed her off as Dakota Blue Richards. Her lack of any acting experience she more than makes up for with -- as she puts it -- her desire to just "be" Lyra. This is a girl happy to be Lyra, happy to play make-believe with her Pantalaimon and to befriend armored bears, and so refreshing in her grasp of the character's tics. She carries the endearing feminism-lite of His Dark Materials to a small measure of apotheosis, with no pomp nor ambition. This child -- almost effortlessly -- makes smoked meat sandwich out of the entire cast of Harry Potter, makes jellied meat out of Mortensen and Bloom, cooks Elijah Wood over a spitting fire.

In His Dark Materials, Pullman penned some of the most passionate and fleshed characters that I have ever known, and they are supported here by the strongest cast of actors in a fantasy series since Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring. And though they are not all given proper screen time, the supporting actors do such a remarkable job in the short time that they are afforded on screen -- which, for some, amounts to a shorter cameo than Alfred Hitchcock. Even the smallest voices have a delightful screen presence... and personality. You'll leave your seat wishing you'd seen more of these short-lived characters, and that's not really a bad feeling to have; it encourages me to see it all over again.

Attention Spans

Director Chris Weitz is at times clumsy, being a newcomer and all, but he deserves more credit than this; this is a cast and crew that has had to survive enough studio interference to roast a ham radio on a spit, and I don't believe for a second that Weitz et al had any creative control left by the time test audiences were probed. And judging by the studio's reaction, these test audiences must have been pulled from the furthest corners of intellectual paucity. Case in point: they convinced the studio to trim the ending because they mistook "parallel worlds" with "the Christian afterlife" and assumed that characters seen journeying to other parallel Earths in different universes were in fact dead and were going to Heaven -- and this despite numerous elucidations by every single character with a speaking line as to the nature of parallel universes. Maybe these people were adjusting the lid of their soda when character no.15 was explaining the concept of parallel Earths... again. Maybe they all had their souls removed prior to the test screening, hence their attention span of absolute zero. Or maybe these test screenings took place in a remote mountain village in Nepal, where no one speaks English. Viewers who are still confused by Pullman's universe despite the plot simplifications need to be medicated for attention deficits.

What Controversy?

References to the church are remarkably untouched. Derek Jacobi describes the Magesterium's motives towards Lord Asriel and it screams out "Galileo!" with all the subtlety of a loudspeaker. Several other scenes touch upon an important theme from the books about what is inherently wrong with centralized "political" religion -- that is, its members preach the truth but secretly fear it, and the inclusion of that theme makes the superficial disappearance of the word "church" from the script look trivial. Most importantly, Nicole Kidman hints at Genesis: the implications for the Magesterium's intercision are clear. We put faith in Chris Weitz and he made good on his promise, make no mistake. Regarding the ending: by moving the final three chapters of Book I to the beginning of the second movie (The Subtle Knife), Weitz hopes to have more autonomy to keep Lord Asriel's damning exposition scenes in the next film. I miss the original ending to The Golden Compass terribly, but there's the promise of seeing it in greater splendor in The Subtle Knife and that's something worth waiting a long time for. But non-atheists shouldn't balk at Philip Pullman's themes, because he attacks the misuse of science as strongly as he attacks the misuse of religion, and I say that with all honesty (read his books again and look for the subtext). In his novels it is the combined perversion of church and science (or one can argue human hubris in general) that is pillaging the universe. So cheer up.

Last Words

A flawed movie? Absolutely, but one that deserves our respect for the strengths that it does have. And these are important strengths, strengths that are lacking in so-called "better" mainstream pictures. I forgive any and all problems with this film translation simply because it is so strong on other points. In allegory, this production has been cut up with scissorhands, had a poisoned martini, was tossed from a moving train, locked in a trunk and thrown into the sea -- the film not only survived these abuses, it's remarkably alive. There's discovery, metaphysical wonder, earnest characterizations, and enough plot to stun a golden monkey in this more-faithful-than-most adaptation. Keep an open mind, there's a lot to love in this movie, and less to hate about it than you'd think...

- Namster



Review by beysccr

GOOD: In my opinion, all the special effects for this movie were amazing. The ice-bears were a highlight, they looked very realistic. I also really liked the daemons. Visually, this movie is pretty much an A+. The actions scenes were also amazing and exciting. Nicole Kidman was not the Mrs Coulter I imagined in the books, but she was great: maybe even better than I imagined. I loved Eva Green as Serrafina Pekkala. I loved Ian McKellen's voice as Iorek. Richards as Lyra was good enough, but not great. Craig was great, although his screen time was limited.

BAD: Everything leading up to the end of the book was much too rushed. It all seemed like it happened way too fast. But this may be because i just finished reading the book before I watched the movie. Also, the thing that irked me the most was how they cut out the ending they clearly shot, as I can see from the previews. They ended in the balloon with Lyra saying something like "We'll get them, just let them trying to stop us" to Roger. It made almost everything seem pointless, the big finale in the book, finding out what Roger was used for and what Asriel did with him was so important. It would have been amazing to see it on screen.

IN SHORT: This movie is no doubt a good movie. It had great acting, and completely AMAZING special effects and action sequences. What would have made this movie amazing would be an added 30 minutes used to explain more, and give it some unity and, of course, keeping the ending. The movie was under 2 hrs, so this would not be a stretch.



Review by Knick

Overall, the film was a great time at the movies. Gorgeous awards-worthy visuals and tech production gave the film such great style. The cinematography, art direction, and visual effects are just stunning. Desplat delivers with one of the best scores of the year. It's classic Desplat, with some mystery and intrigue, and it's delightful.

The beginning of the movie was quite slow and tedious, but understandably so. I'm thinking Weitz wanted people wanted to get people unfamiliar with the plot to get acclimated. But the second half sure did pick up, with some intense battle sequences. The plot may be confusing to many, but Weitz did his best in simplifying it, while maintaining integrity. And is the religious context in the movie? Not so much. But we must remember that The Golden Compass isn't about religion, but rather focuses on the growth of Lyra Belacqua. The ending leaves a bit of a cliffhanger, which is sure to upset some.

And the acting was great, all-around as well. And a great debut from Dakota Blue Richards. She played Lyra with such convincing spunk and genuine emotion. What a fine choice by the casters at New Line. Nicole Kidman was perfect as the evil Mrs. Coulter. You can tell she had fun with the villainous role. With such an interesting and complex character, Nicole Kidman should have her hands full with the role in the future (box office pending). Daniel Craig, Eva Green, and Derek Jacobi do good work in the limited appearances they have.

Is it as good as LOTR? Probably not. Is it better than Narnia? Definitely so.

In the end, The Golden Compass is a great fantasy movie for kids and adults alike, and it brings you along for a thrilling ride.



Review by Mockingbird

The main feeling the movie evoked in me was FRUSTRATION. Will, in his intial review for BridgeToTheStars was absolutely right when he said that the movie is not more than the sum of all its parts. It was absolutely maddening because nearly all of the parts were wonderful. I was frequently surprised at how truly deserved the praise for all the fantastic aspects of the movie was--It really was darker, more mature, and more beautifully rendered and acted than I could have imagined.

But even though I went to the movie as fully aware of the potential flaws, namely the choppy editing, I was so disappointed at how it ruined what could have been a breathtaking adaptation.

Here is an example:

At the end of the scene in which Lyra and Coulter fight over Lyra's shoulder bag--and it was a brilliantly taut scene, marvelously acted, rife with undercurrents of deeper tension--Coulter says to Lyra 'Now kiss me.' And instead of showing the kiss, the editors cut away to Lyra slamming the door of her room! That kiss should have been shown, it would have put a cap on all the rebellious anger that Dakota displayed in spades and all the malevolence that Kidman reeked. I felt cheated, and continued to feel cheated in this manner during the whole movie.

I hate New Line...but I still love Chris Weitz. Here is an example of why:

Asriel is showing the scholars at Jordan his Dust photogram and he says (with perfect emphasis, by the way), 'There are worlds in which there is no Magisterium. And no Authority,' and Fra Pavel says quietly (and also perfectly) 'That is blasphemy.' To general audience members, that sentence meant 'no authority' but to book fans, it meant 'No god'! That's more subversive than the first book was, and executed with such subtlety. I can only repeat that I would really love to see his script in its original state.



Review by Mr-Subtle-Mouth

Well I’m no great writer but I shall do my best to convey what I thought of it without being biased. I am a huge fan of the books, and as such I think I am a lot more picky about what I wanted to get from this movie.

So I decided the best thing to do was go in expecting the worst. So I watched the film in that mindset… and I was literally blown away. No joke!!! My advice to all book fans now is to see the film expecting the worst, do your best to be gloomy about the whole affair, and you will absolutely love it.

The film opens in true cinematic fashion with a lushly vocal voiceover by Eva Green explaining the nature of dust and parallel worlds. It explains no more or less than what was covered in the first book. To be honest I think it was easily digestible for anyone who is a non-familiar. I’m glad this wasn’t skipped over like early suggestions predicted it might be. Next we move into what is really our own world, the true Oxford of London. Then all of a sudden in a seamless and beautiful effect, a wave of light shimmers across the screen, and we enter Lyra’s Oxford in a fashion like something out of Doctor Who. The whole parallel world is put into perfect context by Greens voiceover. It’s a visually stunning opening that suggests great things lie ahead. Science fiction geeks will lap it up.

Next we are thrown into a classic wild children romp like something out of Lord of the Flies, with Lyra, Roger and pals against the Gyptian kids. And here enters the real star of this movie. Forget the A listers because I’m talking about Dakota Blue Richards. From the start to the very end of the movie she almost perfectly embodies all the cheek, all the spunk, all the inquisitiveness, all the curiosity, all the fight, all the courage and most importantly, all the heart of Lyra. I do not exaggerate when I say she is the heart of the movie and the best thing in it. What follows in the whole Oxford section of the story is some of the best scenes in the movie. No big action sequences just intimate moments between the characters. Lyra and Rogers deep love and respect for each other is made abundantly clear. Daniel Craig is on superior form as he presents his findings at Jordan college, dominating the room just like Pullman described in the book. The gruff and rough early exchanges between himself and Dakota are lifted straight from the book. Fra Pavel is also very effective in this scene. As for Mrs Coulters entrance and icy exchange with the Master, it sent chills down my spine. The brief clip that we saw was only the start of it. What follows is a series of harsh stares and icy tones as they talk about Lyra. Mrs Coulter wants to take Lyra with her, the Master doesn’t think it’s a good idea, Mrs Coulter says she needs a mother, the Master says we need to consult her Uncle. Then Kidman delivers the line, “Let me deal with Asriel” with such unbelievable venom.

Nicole Kidman has been burdened by a few flops recently. I can happily report that this iconic actress is back where she belong. She completely and thoroughly embodies the character of Mrs Coulter, being both terrifying and stunningly beautiful at the same time. Its not a stretch to believe Pullman wrote the character with Kidman in mind.

In my opinion the movie is going down a path of perfection right up until Lyra’s escape scene. This is where the story starts moving very quickly. To illustrate my point; Lyra runs away, gets attacked, is saved by the Gyptians, asks the Gyptians to take her North and its all aboard the ship in about the space of 15 minutes. This is all very exciting and full of adrenaline but as a book fan, it makes no sense to me why they are in such a hurry. You know what I mean? From this point the movie continues to move along at a quick pace, like an episode of 24, barely giving you time to breath. If I’ m being honest this is both a good thing and a bad thing. You could say it’s a good thing because as a result your constantly having to pay attention to keep up, it holds your interest. However non book readers would be easily lost if they decide on a 2 minute loo break. I’m a fan of thrillers so I like frantic and quick paced, however in the case of this movie it would have been nice if they had just slowed things down now and again, because like the Oxford scenes proved, intimacy between characters is Weitz strong suit.

I also got the impression at times that there where scenes missing, like it was filmed to be longer, but either by Weitz hand or by New Lines, some scenes where lost. This is probably a convenient time to mention that people who have followed the progress of this movie from the start, like myself, will notice the reported meddling by New Line. One such scene that comes to mind is Lyra crossing the Ice Bridge. People who have read the book will know that Lyra crosses the bridge in pursuit of Lord Asriel and Roger. In the film this bridge now leads to Bolvanger. But it was evident to me that when they filmed the scene, it was still leading to Lord Asriel and was more than likely intended as a farewell scene to Iorek.

Overall the scenes I loved the most were the Bear Fight, its so bloody amazing I’m not going to discuss it because I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Though I would like to highlight one complaint. While the animation of Iorek and Ragnar is astounding, unfortunately a few of the surrounding bears who watch the fight appear to have been rushed and not given the same time and love as Iorek and Ragnar. Though this is a minor complaint because most of the time your attention will be totally focused on the fight, I’m just saying if you care to look in the background, its not quite as pretty as the foreground. All the Oxford scenes are pure perfection, the scene of Lyra riding Iorek and finding the severed form of Billy Costa which is brief but chillingly effective, the battle at Bolvanger which is suitably brutal and action packed and of course the final scene. While I still missed the books climax, the movies end is still very satisfying. On board Scoresby’s balloon we are treated to a heart wrenching scene between Lyra and Roger. Roger exclaims with all his sincerity that he would travel to the ends of the world with his beloved Lyra, and Lyra says just let them try and stop us. Book familiars will know why this is heart wrenching, because we all know Rogers fate. I am not ashamed to admit that I struggled to hold back my tears. The films conclusion worked because the re-union of Lyra and Roger was emotionally satisfying, but as a fan of the books, obviously I think the books climax would have lifted it to the realms of perfection. Its sad when I, an amateur film student can see that, while the New Line executives cant!!

What I didn’t like; it was too short, Kidman and Craig don’t really get enough screen time, Mckellens voice I just wasn’t a fan of, rushed at times, evidently missing scenes and the Magesterium just isn’t sinister enough no matter how many Christopher Lee’s and Derek Jacobi’s you put amongst there ranks.

To conclude, without a doubt it is my favourite movie of year. A fantastic fantasy adventure romp that will be enjoyed by one and all. What more do you want from a holiday season movie. Its just a little aggravating knowing that it could have been even better if the New Line executives had any balls!! I would also like to say that it is infinitely better than both Narnia and Potters first cinema outings. Why do I say this? Well the Daemons are so much more full of life than the talking creatures of Narnia. If you have a good eye you will notice that the Daemons are rarely ever static or simply shot fillers in a scene. They are always doing something. The original material of the book is much better realised and visualised than Potter. But they are not the most important reasons. For me it is the young lead(s) that makes all the difference. The Potter trio were not great and the Narnia kids were agonising except for Lucy. But when it comes to Dakota Blue Richards I just cant praise her enough. She really is the heart and soul of this movie, never once being showed up by the A listers around her. A real revelation and star of the future. Talent must run in the name of Dakota. It would be a sin if this movie doesn’t have huge success and 2 and 3 don’t follow!!

FINAL VERDICT:
A hugely enjoyable and entertaining movie, with astounding visual effects, perfect performances from the cast and action packed. Dakota is the absolute star of the show.
Lays a strong foundation for the next 2 movies.
If it had been 30 minutes longer, book ending kept in, more screen time for Kidman and Craig’s excellent performances and New Line executives who have balls, it would have been a masterpiece!!

4/5
(Without the quality that Dakota Blue Richards brings, it would have been a 3. She really does make all the difference. If you don’t believe me then just wait till you see her!!)

At the end of the day fingers should be well and truly pointed at New Line, not anyone else!!! Their meddling saw what could have been a masterpiece become just an enjoyable but traditional Blockbuster. For football fans who understand my meaning here, its like Michael Owen when it could have been Ronaldo. Its great but its not quite world class.



Review by Andreas

Almost a year ago, the first photo from The Golden Compass was released. Since then, I've followed the production closely, read all articles, seen all clips and seen all pictures. My expetation, even with the altered ending and the other changes, was sky-high. But the chance of being very disapointed was also big. But oh my god! It was fantastic!

I'll start with the bad thing. Cause there were only 1. The movie was simply to short. NLC should have done as they did with LOTR, and made a three hour movie. That would have made room for some more character introdution, some more settling for the audience and the real ending. When the movie was over, I sat there thinking: When did I last see a movie bee over so quick? Almost 2 hours was gone before the movie even had started. So it felt!

But that indicates, which leads me to the good things, 2 hours of great entertaining! A lot of talk about the religious elements being removed, all I got to say is, yes, if you haven't read the books, it's hard to spot them. But when you know what the Magisterium really is, it isn't hard to imagine what Lord Asriel means when he talks of a world with no authority, or when Mrs. Coulter talks about our grand grand-fathers who betrayed the Authority and thereby created Dust....

The acting is simply great! When the first pictures were released I was one of those who thought, that Dakota was to 'nice' to be Lyra. Now, I have no doubt that she was the best girl they could have chosen! Nicole Kidman is creepy and slik, and her perfomance is one of her best ever! Daniel Craig plays a very small part now the ending is gone, but his carisma and attitude is SO Lord Asriel! Sam Elliot and Eva Green also tributes with great perfomances!

All in all, the movie is fantastic! After all, this result is close to perfect, and the things keeping it from LOTR-level is very few, and depending on TGC's succes they could easily be fixed in the following movies, so I think fans should be proud of the TGC-team, and turn their anger against NLC! Cause the movie is great!



Review by Gabriel

The film is a wonderful illustration for the book. The production design and costume design are lush, the effects are gorgeous (explosive bursts of dust make for beautiful accents in all the battle scenes) and the the acting from the adults is superb. However I feel it generally fails as a stand alone film. I went with a friend who had never read the books, and he felt there were many holes, and I would tend to agree. The pacing of the film was way off, and felt very episodic. There were many truncated scenes, which ended in an abrupt finale. I much preferred the first half of the film, but perhaps that is because I am so visually minded. The meticulous creation of this other world was quite impressive. The costumes have a quirky, timeless feel to them, coming from someplace between 1900 and 1930s. The first half of the film had the amount of detail and measured pace that I wish could have been carried into the parts in Svalbard. Once we arrive in the North, everything begins to feel rushed.

Some of my favorite little things to watch out for:

-Lee Scoresby and Hester's joint head-tilt
-The tropical island mural
-The labels on the intercision apparatus
-The anbaric orbs (OK, so they made anbaric energy more sci-fi, but it is quite lovely!)
-The signs in the North
-Plastic seats
-Ragnar's daemon doll
-How does Iorek get his armor on?
-Billy Costa's furry daemon substitute.
-Is emotional scarring due to domestic violence the reason the Golden Monkey is mute?

Overall, as long as you keep your expectations low and let the visuals wash over you, you will have a rip-roaring good time!



Review by Anon

I loved this film straight from the very begining where they show the drifting dust. Lyra is absolutely perfect and all of the acting was top. With loving any book that turns into a movie you must go the the film realizing that there will be differences and things will be cut out. But with that said I was pleased at how much they did have in and am very impressed at how well adapted it was from the book. Yes, at the ending I did want more. It was difficult being cut short knowing what is to come; especially for Roger and I wonder why they felt it neccesary to cut it short... but the sign of a good movie is to want it to continue! And I can't wait for the Subtle Knife and to meet Will...hopefully they will make it!

I hope that viewers will go see this movie a lot so we can get to the next ones.



Review by Lyra fan

Overall, the movie scored a 6 out of 10. It had excellent graphics and outstanding acting, but the story is what ruined it all. If you have not read the book, I could see how you would give it a 10. But cutting out the end was a brutal mistake, as well as cutting out many other important details. I can sort of see a reason for why they did it, but if I was Philip Pullman I would sue.



Review by Sarah DiZio

For all of you who are fans of the book, I'll go there. I am also a fan, I tracked the production of this movie obsessively for years, so I knew what changes to the story were coming. I do not think that by themselves they amount to cutting the soul of the story out. It is my opinion that in order to do a wonderful job capturing the story you would have needed a lot more time in this movie, something like Lord-of-the-Rings-esque three hours, and no kid is going to sit through that happily. Many of the almost-major characters (Lee Scoresby, Serafina Pekkala, Iorek Byrnison) follow our protagonist for unclear reasons. Iorek is a disappointment, and Ian McKellen was a terrible choice for his voice (and normally I love Ian McKellen, but he is no bear!) The daemons are AMAZING. The religious issue was handled perfectly.

But most important thing to be aware of is how this stands as a movie in itself, and I am sad to say that it does not. True, it does not make many of the mistakes that films aimed at children make. There is no moral that they beat you over the head with throughout the film. The acting is superb - Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards were spot-on choices for their roles and they do an incredible job. The special effects are well done.

The biggest problem is the script. It shows that Chris Weitz's ego got in the way of his better senses when he decided to write the screenplay. Many of the events are disjointed and feel like they were thrown in there for the benefit of following the book but NOT for the benefit of crafting a good movie story. I went to the cinema with friends who had not read the books and they did not particularly care for the movie. There is no doubt that it shows many of the elements that made the book incredible. But what it lacks is the wry humor and master storytelling that made these books more than just your ordinary fantasy series. There are many mediocre fantasy books and movies that feature incredible creatures - witches, multiple worlds, aliens, talking animals etc - but Pullman's tale was one of growing up, told with wisdom. It has disappeared, you might say that it has undergone intercision.



Review by Alyssa

I have no idea why everyone on here believes this movie was so great. The Golden Compass was the WORST film adaptation of a book I have ever seen! I only found a few positive aspects of this whole fim: the actresses Dakota and Nicole were great as Lyra and Mrs. Coulter, the daemons were portrayed well visually, and the bear fight was surprisingly graphic. Other than that, here are my complaints:

First of all, Weitz should never have been in charge. The man who created "American Pie" should have kept his filthy hands off His Dark Materials. Obviously, he was too cowardly to include the religious aspects of the books, the entire essence of Pullman's work. Religious bigots were never going to see this movie anyway, and Weitz ruined the movie for the real fans instead. Just because you dress the leaders of the Magisterium like fancy priests, does not mean your audience will understand that this is a critique on all organized religion instead of totalitarian states.

Secondly, as soon as Billy Costa called his daemon "Ratter," I groaned. The entire Tony Makarios episode was utterly mutilated. The film did not even show his death! He was supposed to be found in a town, not in the middle of nowhere. This combination of characters just created confusion and frustration.

Thirdly, the special effects were unnecessarily complex. This is a fantasy series, not sci-fi. Horses pulled the carraiges in Lyra's Oxford, not ridiculous blue electrical orbs. The silver guillotine was ludicrous. There was no need to replace an already menacing metal blade, for fancy lights and sparks. If Pullman wanted the children's souls to get cut with a lightsaber, he would have included one.

Everyone else has already stated that the film was too short and too edited. Duh. The dialogue was also horrendous, the scenes were choppy, there wasn't enough background info, and Weitz wasted too much money paying Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee to be in this movie when other actors would have been just fine. In fact, I don't believe that anyone who has not read the books previously will have the faintest idea of what this series is truly about. I really hope they do not make a sequel, because I won't even be buying the DVD.

Pretending this film never came into existence,

Alyssa Jarrett



Review by John
Oh dear Authority, I am shocked and appalled.

After waiting for over a year (having literally checked bridgetothestars.net EVERY DAY since seeing production photos of nicole kidman on set), i got up early this morning to travel to london, meet my sister for a hurried wander round the new kings cross and then set off for the odeon on leicester square TO ENSURE that our first viewing of the film adaptation of one of the greatest novels in moden literature was THE BEST - but i regret to say we left sorely disappointed, felt as though we had died on the inside, and wanted to cry .

now my sister and I are such unbelievable fans of the books - they are a wonderfully inspiring and uplifting read that allows you to fall in love with every character. As it is, chris weitz' film adaptation is exactly that - an adaptation . it has been adapted to a very odd level, and yet in many ways an absurdly simplistic one . We discussed the disappointment over lunch and it seemed to us that simply, the entirety of the film's soul (ironic at how the film is literally about daemons and souls) was ruined . completely destroyed.

There were just little things that annoyed me - like the fact Fra Pavels daemon is now a green beetle (HELLO THATS FATHER GOMEZ) and u can so see where they're going to go wi that in the future! (fra pavels daemon was a frog in the books, parently a chameleon in the films accompanying books, but the final cut made it a beetle . urgh!) and like, the 3 blokes from the magisterium, christopher lee is said to be lord boreal, and yet his daemon was a barn owl! and the other bloke who didnt talk (who i thought from the trailers would be dr. lanselius) had a snake daemon! its like .. daemon inconsistancies! SO ANNOYING and otherwise, it was like theyve tried to squish in a good 3 hr film into however shortly long it is .

ANOTHER MAJOR issue i had was .. atchee theres a few . ok, theres too much music, the entirety of the way through . it got annoying and i didnt like it, i felt that the entire film was trying to be too harry potter and fantastical and pleasing for everyone, that they sorta forgot waht it was about . when in reality, it is a very naturalistic book, and shuda bin a naturalistic film - i wudahve liked t ahve ahd a few nice long silences for example on the boat, so lyra and pan can ahve some alone time .. do you get waht i mean? too rushrushrush

ok so also - the bear scene . and ... also every other scene, bt not as obviously . it was severely... watered down? im not sure on the right phrasing - but there was a lot of... well clumsy cutting i think is all it is . wehn mrs coulter bends down and says to lyra, now kiss me - it suddenly cuts away! even wehn i kno they filmed it - it seems a bit rubbish jus t cut out a simple thing as to let lyra kiss mrs c; and yet it shows the absurdity of the situation; her daemon has just attacked lyras, and yet she thinks itll all be fine after a simple kiss. that womans insane - it was portrayed well by the actress, INSANELY WELL :D but not by the editing .

the whole episode with the bears was JUST - TOO - SHORT ! not enough time ... there was nothing with iofur (sorry, RAGNAR) s absurd palace of gold and lace, and the way its described in the books, the revolting smell, the dead animals, the torches, the confusion of the bears not knowing if they are bears, and the doll that iofur has, it was all BARELY if NOT, touched upon! and the main point behind the entire bear battle is that LYRA TRICKED THE KING !!

and as we learn from iorek, you CANNOT TRICK A BEAR . but lyra did it . and "oh this is my special daemon mirror it lets me see the truth in my eyes" i mean ok ragnar may be able t be tricked by something believable but hes not stupid ! argh this bit i jus wanted t scream . and the lack of blood annoyed me too . there was none of the savage ritualistic life of the bears - iorek eating iofurs heart for example - and i think there was atchee no blood at all, even wehn the kings jaw was ripped off!

uhhhhhhhhhhhhh too namby pamby i think is the word - "for the kiddies" . and also way too episodic, as though it could ahve bin a television series, simply it was the little things, and some of the big things, that they left out that ruined it for me the man at the coffee stall, with the lemur daemon, dr lanselius the consul in trollesund, the terror of the villagers about tony makarios, the severed nurses at bolvangar, the able seaman, they all were gone . in their place was a load of flashy effects that indeed looked good, but at times went a little too far . some things in the parallel world i felt were just for the sake of it; blue postboxes and green fire, for example. its as if, a kid has skim-read the entire book, cut and pasted a bit, and gone "oh that'll do!" almost indeed, like weitzs first draft well i say to him, before serving and eating, put it back in for another couple months and wait until its done please .

on a lighter note, i LOVED the relationship between lyra roger and billy i LOVED mrs coulter, she was absolutely perfect in every way shape and form (tho the golden monkey, rather than inspiring fear and hatred, more inspired annoyance at it - though possibly the best scene in the film was coulter's self-harming ...) asriel was oriiite, though tbh i never really liked him much and he cudnt ahve justice done in this film regardless I LOVED LYRA, tho the bit wehn pan was touched cuda bin a bit better done - lyra cuda gasped (in short, as my sister and i discussed, touching a daemon is tantamount to someone pulling ones trousers down in public and grabbing their genitals) i think fra pavels character was done very well, especially in the way the magisterium was held generally i loved the cars and the zeppelins, they wer my fave and the best bit of the film was just as the silver guillotine came clashing down i ADORE lee, he came across so much better int film than waht i thought in the books, and i also loved serafina, tho an absense of kaisa COMPLETELY was VERY disappointing

i also loved the gyptians, tho they wer more like pirates than people of the canals . the bears were jus abit rushed and random - they didnt really contribute anything to the film and basically they either shud ahve DONE THEM REALLY REALLY WELL AND WITH JUSTICE, or just left them out completely .

anyway, rant over ... my opinion is my own, tho id be interested t know if people who hadnt read the books found it at all ... as suffocating as i did . hmmmmm ..... :) id still go and see it again . i just wont have as high expectations .

Thank you .
John [fanart] and Tesch [his daemon]



Review by Townie

Well, it was OK.

The casting was spot on. Full marks to Dakota, she did well (was it me or did she pronounce 'Banbury' wrong?) The Guy who played Lee was perfect. Sets, costumes, props and the cinematography were very good.

Special effects were spot on - they had to be. I liked the (Radcliffe Camera surrounded by office blocks at the beginning)

I liked Lyra and Billy's little stand-off at the beginning and laughed at Billy's "Your stupid college" comment. Also, Pan's little wimper when Iorek explains abo

ut his amour was good. However, I thought another half hour would have made and OK film into a good one. Things were too rushed and I imagine that viewers who didn't know the books would wonder just what was going on.

I was disappointed there was no cocktail party, Zaal meeting or much time at Bolvangar. Sad there was no Dr Lansalius and cloud pine and a pity we don't see Kaisa.

But it was passable.



Review by Silverfist

My review is fairly simple:

All in all, it was a really fun film to watch, noticing all those little details that I've followed on BttS for the past year and a half. Excellent acting by ALMOST all cast members. Dakota Blue Richards really is Lyra. It is obvious why Phillip Pullman liked New Line's choice. Nicole Kidman was a PERFECT Mrs. Coulter. Really, really well done. Daniel Craig also portrays Lord Asriel's character very well. I was not nearly as disappointed with Ian McKellen as the voice of Iorek as I thought I was going to be; he gave a good strong, powerful sound, quite like how I imagined Iorek's voice. I enjoyed watching Roger and Billy Costa at every scene, although Billy did need a bit more..."out of bodyness" in the scene when he is without his daemon. Eva Green had a totally unconvincing accent. Just terrible. They also had a very strange entrance for Serafina Pekkala.

I was quite disappointed with how much they cut out from the book. I knew that there would be some cut out, but this was a bit too much. Being much too short, it felt like a speed version of Northern Lights. One of the results of this is that the transitions were very choppy, and some scenes felt out of place.

Including the last three chapters would have helped a lot, but I figure that New Line had to give it a solid ending in case it didn't do well. However, I think it will do well. It was a well made film.

To round off the religion issues, I felt that there was MUCH too big a deal there, even for the book, and that if there was ANY complaining about anti-religion issues to be done, they should have saved it for a later film, (The Subtle Knife or The Amber Spyglass) when the religion views REALLY come in. I am not encouraging it, but saying that it was completely unnecessary.

But still,
See the film! It's worth it!



Review by Dmitri

Well... There are no claims to the camerawork, the combined shootings, etc - everything is great and qualitative,predictably. Perfectly traced daemons and armored bears, if you don't know that they are CGIs - you would not believe it. Marvellously, actors have precisely appeared on the places, especially Dakota - so all looks like it should...

BUT... All these positives are crossed out at one stroke by the plot. It is necessary to kill all who has made THIS from the magnificent epos!!!! 100 minutes for such a grandiose product - it is not simply a little, it is insignificant, it is not enough, the plot is chopped on separate pieces, crumpled, intertwined in a cord, and after that extended in a bed-sheet, smoothed and read by parts. It should be on screen word-by-word, but...

And some words about Russian dubbing-in - there are no words. Sorry, of course the words take place there, the emotions in them - no. - Are you familiar with a prophecy of the witches? - You think she is that child? Well, so she must be found, but if she won't be that doesn't matter...

That pronounces can be understood like this.

I wish to watch this film again, but now with original sound...



Review by Jonathon

"Awww, there in the balloon and ready to take on the world! I can't wait for the climactic ending! Wait, why's the music swelling cheesily? Don't swell! You haven't killed the boy yet. Kill the boy! KILL THE BOY! ......and.....it's over.......and what's with this song?!"