IGN have posted an exclusive couple of clips from The Golden Compass movie. The first video is of Lyra at Trollesund, talking to Iorek (voiced by Ian McKellen) about his armor; the second shows the beginning of the fight between Iorek and Ragnar (Iofur) for the kingship of the bears. These are uninterrupted scenes from the film, so are more like spoilers than anything we’ve seen before – if you want to go into the film totally fresh, consider not watching them.
I was afraid Ian McKellen was not going to sound enough like Iorek. But I think he’s doing something right. He sounds like Iorek.
That was AWESOME!
Still hate Weitz for cutting Roger’s death. Who cares about dumb people’s comments on preview screenings? If he had kept the book’s spirit, left the ending intact and rip off that futuristic look, this movie might have won awards. And if New Line dropped the project because it didn’t won money because of the ending, Chris could have searched for another studio, just like Guillermo del Toro did with Hellboy. I’m 12, but I still think he shouldn’t care.
My problem with it is: it’s too “nice” looking, not dark and sinister enough for what I was expecting. The fight doesn’t look very brutal (hopefully it will get more powerful, but there was no feeling of impact or power) and Lyra’s meeting with Iorek has no sense of danger.
My other problem is Dakota Blue Richards and Ian McKellen. I don’t want to be harsh on Dakota, as she’s young and it’s her first film, but she didn’t look great in this scene. As I’ve said a million times before, Ian McKellen’s voice is completely wrong for Iorek; he sounds too English and not exactly powerful or dangerous. I also didn’t feel like Lyra was talking to Iorek – they felt removed from each other (as they were, obviously – Iorek is CGI!!).
Lyra looked completely superimposed on the scene with the panserbjorne (obviously she was, but I’ve seen better).
All in all, though, it looks like a decent “family adventure” (much to my annoyance). Oh well, let’s hope they take more risks with The Subtle Knife eh!
It looks lovely. Love Dakota! But I don’t like the part when she crosses her arms, it looks kind of wierd, but otherwise, PERFECT! The animation and effects are amazing and it looks very realistic!
always imagined the fight was at night. but eh…YEAH!! bears look great!
*SPOILER*
…I really don’t want to criticize judging by just a couple of minutes, but the scenes look too bright and watered down! When I was reading them in the book they were so much more gripping and dark. >.
…I really don’t want to criticize judging by just a couple of minutes, but the scenes look too bright and watered down! When I was reading them in the book they were so much more gripping and dark. >.
Hmm, Dakota’s facial expressions are very very good considering this is her first acting job, but I’m still not convinced on how she’s giving the dialogue. The line “I was ever so excited and scared” actually made me cringe a little. I think it will probably be better in context though.
*Lyra looked completely superimposed on the scene with the panserbjorne (obviously she was, but I’ve seen better).*
The bear fight looked good to me, and while Lyra does look superimposed, I’ve yet to see a film where you can’t tell this is the case in these sort of CGI shots. In my opinion other big budget film such as Star Wars and Kong have been just as bad if not worse (the scene where the characters were running amongst the dinosaurs legs in Kong was quite frankly terrible).
I think that it all looks very nice, although not as nice as I’d have hoped, especially from watching the trailer.
1) I too felt, that Lyra and Iorek were not really talking together in the scene – am I right in stating, that it seems she´s looking in the wrong direction compared to where he would stand in the reverse shot?
2) Maybe they should´ve gone with Nonso as the voice of Iorek. I think Ian does it a bit too gravely and high-strung. It almost sounds like he´s talking in verses. Not something a fierce Panserbjørn would do in my opinion: ´And I am an armored BEAR´ (“The dark fire will not avail you, flame of ûdun”. Gandalf? anybody?)
3)I think Dakota does a nice job – I was expecting the worst after having seen the trailer where she talks to the Master of Jordan (´But what´s it for?´) – on the other hand I will say I was very impressed with the `I´ll never be yours´ line from the end of the trailer. I think she was great. I can only imagine being 12 and beginning to grasp the responsibility resting on Dakota´s shoulders. It´d freak me out, so I think she seems to do great.
4)Dakota looked very superimposed in the bear-shot. For some reason I liked it. It looked sort of polished, and I think that the CG-integration will always be hard to judge on a low quality web-clip. I find that many films that I thought had great effects in the cinema seem to look worse when compressed to DVD even, so I´m still believing in the CG. Also in the bear-fight sequence I was more focused on the music which I loved! I can never stop thinking about what a Howard Shore-score or John Williams-score would sound like, but I thought the music very appropriate and dramatic. We´ll see about the whole score.
5) In the same way, I can´t stop wondering what the movie would´ve looked like, had Peter Jackson directed it. Surely after Iorek demonstrates his powers and hatred of ordinary metal by smashing the steel gate in front of Lyra, Jackson would´ve made a frantic hand-held backwards-tracking camera movement to engage the viewer
Am I the only one here who´s hoping the movie will be as long as possible?
I’ve been following and looking forward to this film since I heard it got green lit and haven’t complained about one aspect of this film so far, but canning Nonso for Ian McKellan as Iorek was an abysmal choice on New Line’s part. I’m laid back and consider myself far from a fanboy, but I cannot express how angry I am after viewing that horrible read from McKellan. Don’t get me wrong I’m a fan of Ian’s work, but does he seriously have to be in every major motion picture trilogy of the 21st century? Nonso was pitch perfect for the role of Iorek and I was eagerly waiting to see his entire performance. Now everytime Iorek comes on screen I’m going to just let out a sigh.
PS cutting out the bridge to the stars at the end for the subtle knife…..i don’t even know if I put forth effort I will enjoy this movie.
I’m not watching these because I want a fresh view when it comes out in theaters… but judging from what I heard in the trailer, I also agree that Ian Mckellan isn’t what I thought Iorek would sound like. He sounds too wise and old. Iorek had subtle wisdom, but not poetic wisdom. Well, we won’t know until we see the whole thing in theaters will we? 😉
Lyra’s actor is not the strong and clever child she should be — Dakota is a pathetically shy wimp.
Also, I cringed when I realized that ‘alethiometer’ has been replaced by ‘golden compass’ throughout. The ultimate watering down. We’re supposed to watch three films using the word ‘golden compass’? It’s like calling elves ‘fairies’ in LOTR, unthinkable.
I liked it all, except Mckellin’s voice. Doesn’t work.
I hate Mckellen’s voice as Iorek, I love him as an actor but it’s just not right as an armoured bear. Nonso was perfect why ever they replaced him I don’t know.
I’m very impressed with Dakota, I was very apprehensive about how she would do after seeing little bits of her, but I was impressed in these clips.
The bear fight could be good when seen in context, here it does look a little too bright but in the film it could be a lot better and fit okay. I also thought that Dakota looked very superimposed on this shot, the blending of the two layers hasn’t been done well there imo, and I worry that if it’s that obvious on tiny little media player, how obvious will it be on a huge cinema screen?
Ugh, I’m so torn about how I feel about this film, I want to see it but not if it’s been sanitised in a bright kiddie movie, I want to love it.
“Lyra’s actor is not the strong and clever child she should be  Dakota is a pathetically shy wimp.”
How can you say that about a girl you’ve only seen in a few brief minutes of footage? And that’s downright cruel to call her a ‘pathetically shy wimp.’ She’s a 12 year old girl on her first ever acting job and from what I’ve seen I think she’ll do fine.
I think that’s exactly the problem: Dakota is like any 12-old-girl with no exceptional acting talent (sounds like she’s reading from a piece of paper with a fake accent). An overly soft person pretending to be tough — whereas it should be the other way round.
For the role, it was important to choose a slightly mischievous, ‘naughty girl’-type, with a good heart beneath the shell. Dakota is a typical ‘good girl’-casting, who wouldn’t frighten a fruit fly, and certainly isn’t the kind of girl to disobey anyone.
There are many good 12-year-old actors, for example Pan is a good example of a voice that works, coz he is a believable ‘naughty-boy’ type. Doesn’t fit Dakota, who is more like Goldilocks or Alice in the Wonderland — pretty, but fierce as a teddy bear.
Debbie, I share your fears that it’s going to be a generic, plasticky Americanised kid’s fantasy, like Potter-films. The bright Disney-glitter of the alethiometer looks idiotic.
Why couldn’t they hire Guillermo Del Toro or something? A stylish, dark ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’- feel is what we needed.
i liked it……….. guillermo del toro is a bril film maker……..
i think dakota’s acting skills there were poor……….. but it is her first film and her acting skills will grow through out the films……….
nick, i love the term u used, ‘can’t scare a fruit fly,’………..
Dakota isn’t my lyra either but we hav to put up with it……….
Why couldn’t they hire Guillermo Del Toro or something? A stylish, dark ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’- feel is what we needed.
ahh if only they had!
the CG left me disappointed but it is very difficult to do and hard work so i give them that- they did a good job.
I agree with much of what was said above: Iorek’s voice is no good and the feel of the movie isn’t dark enough. I think Dakota does quite well, though. The conversation with her an Iorek will hopefully have a more realistic feel when the whole scene is shown. I was kind of annoyed that Farder Coram was there.
The bear fight wasn’t brutal enough. It has too many wide angles, so it doesn’t appear powerful. One god thing that struck me in the scene, though, was Lyra’s expression when they began to fight. I think she did a good job there.
Sorry for spelling errors above and here; I’m not used to this keyboard and I’m in a bit of a rush.
Also, the music in the bear fight scene is relied on too heavily to bring across the terror. The bears seem too mobile. It brings to mind a cat fight with compact and lithe animals rather than the kind of bear fight Pullman described that was all power and little speed.
“Lyra’s actor is not the strong and clever child she should be  Dakota is a pathetically shy wimp.â€ÂÂ
Dakota is a 13-year-old girl, only 12 when she did those scenes. You cannot expect her to be an experienced adult actress. She may not be a perfect actress but I think that she is excellent. Besides,it’s not the acting, but the encompassing of Lyra’s personality, which she is excellent at. And finally, if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. I sound like a first-grade teacher but Dakota doesn’t deserve that treatment.
I didn’t mean to describe Dakota as a person, but rather her skills of portraying Lyra: they are far from good. The encompassing of Lyra’s personality is even worse than the acting itself. I’ve performed as a kid myself on a music album and the Opera, and one must do well to earn respect. We don’t have to excuse bad acting out of pity, coz someone is 12-13 — they are not babies anymore and they get paid for it. Furthermore, good child actresses exist: Take Ofelia in Pan’s Labyrinth. It is the producer’s fault for not picking a better-suited actress.
I sure hope first-grade teachers don’t already silence ‘non-positive’ opinions… That would be a tragedy that Mr Pullman would very much oppose to.
I have high hopes for the soundtrack. Ok, now I said something good, so I’m excused. 🙂
If age is the main argument for Dakota, doesn’t that mean ANY 12-year-old would be just as good? So clearly this argument crumbles immediately.
Shanti, I agree with what you said about the bear fight having too many wide angles and relying on the music too much. I love the part where iorek is forced over backwards and the helmet flies off, though.
Speaking of music, sometimes I wonder WHY haven’t some movie makers and composers realized that NO music AT ALL in certain scenes can make the audience very tense. I always thought if Howard Shore had left the Shelob’s lair scene in Lord of the Rings silent, it would have had far more impact.
Yeah, Ian McKellen has too much emotion/theatricality in his voice. And the animation gives Iorek’s face too much emotion. What’s supposed to be compelling about the character is his lack of humanity and his blank, expressionless face. This allows the emotion when he does show it to be more meaningful…
Personally i think it looks downright amazing. I can never understand why people have such a problem with young actors. If you look at how Daniel Radcliffe has progressed each Harry Potter film its amazing. And think of how downright annoying those actors were in the Lion the witch and the wardrobe. The first review says it doesn’t have the whatever of Narnia. The less of Narnia it has the better. Also, both clips look terrific. The level of detail in the battle scene is excellent, and I think Ian Mckeellan has done a good job. Lyra seems great and to be honest, i don’t think we have anything to worry about. We’re lucky to have a film at all, so lets not nit pick
I think my main worry is exactly that it will be like the Harry Potter-films — cheap and worthless, that is!
I want something like Pan’s Labyrinth, instead. This is no cheap ‘witch school’-clone series, but a real epic legend, like LOTR. It shouldn’t be made into a glossy kid’s movie.
Dakota is a child, Lyra is a child… and this is how a child looks! this is how a child is serious, and though it may not sound like a fearless warrior, it’s a lot closer to reality… she shouldn’t at all sound like a grown up, and if you think that, then you have not understood a word from the book. I think it’s perfect, and Dakota is a fantastic lyra!
I think you misunderstood: I do agree that Lyra should be a child (although far less of a ‘kind bimbo’, and more of the ‘fiery in-your-face kid’-type).
As for the movie, it should not be a kid’s movie, any more than Pan’s Labyrinth — note that the main character is a child there as well.