First Official Trailer for Golden Compass
Posted on by Merlyn

SpoilersYahoo were the first to post The Golden Compass trailer distributed at Cannes and it has now spread online. Running at around two-and-half minutes, audiences will be able to see the trailer in theatres with the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, as we reported earlier. The trailer includes scenes from the earlier proto-trailer and the footage shown at Cannes as well as some new material. New Line seems keen on establishing the Lord of the Rings connection in the trailer’s opening, as the LA Times notes in its coverage of The Golden Compass at Cannes. We get our first glimpse of Bolvangar, fighting bears, and Lord Asriel’s device for opening the window.

We’ve embedded the trailer below for you to view. Post your comments, and join in the discussion on our message boards!


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113 Responses to First Official Trailer for Golden Compass

  1. Bebby says:

    I though the trailer was good improvement on the earlier one.

    I thnk as long as the effects are more Lord of the Rings than Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, I’ll be happy.

    It’s always difficult with film adaptions, things do need to be re-ordered (LOTR a good example), but is it a bit much that Mrs Coulter knows about the witches prophecy in Northern Lights? Didn’t Nicole Kidman sign up for Subtle knife? Because the main thing she does in the second book is torture witches to find out about that.

    Stuff it, I can’t wait for December, no matter what order they put events!

  2. DustDaemon says:

    wowowowowowowowowowowowoowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Skye says:

    “Stuff it, I can’t wait for December, no matter what order they put events!”

    Heh. My sentiments exactly! Though I love the books, the movie doesn’t have to be pure canon to be great.

  4. Fausto Vicente says:

    WHERE THE F*UCK IS PANTALAIMON?

  5. Rachael says:

    ok.. i just downloaded the HD version.. and the daemons are EVERYWHERE!!!

    i mean, when they are going towards the zeppelin, there are daemons all over the place.

    and when they show the artic, you can see the wolf daemons and the children’s daemons.. plus you see pan walking with lyra.

    Also, the entire thing looks sooooo much better when its clearer.. the first time i was excited.. this time, I want to find a time machine and go to opening night.. so if you can, download the hd one.. because its better.

  6. Rachael says:

    oh, and you can see the golden monkey when they are walking towards the zeppelin.. i just noticed it…

  7. lyra+will=love says:

    it showed a little bit of the daemons and they look
    pretty kool, and i know this is totally off subject
    but lost will be on tomarrow and i cant wait because
    its the season finally and kate and sawyer remind me a little bit of lyra and will and i am sososososo excited:O

  8. StarDragon411 says:

    Hey, where’re the daemons? I think I saw something that resembled Pan in one clip. I thought I would see more daemons in this trailer.
    Anyway, Iorek and Iofur look great!

  9. Vaka says:

    Regarding Mrs. Coulter’s knowledge of the witches’ prophecy…I hate to think this, but it could be the studio’s way of avoiding the whole “Eve” connection, by simply making Lyra the girl destined to “fall in love and save the universe” or something. This would make the prophecy important to the story but it would avoid the religious symbolism…

    What I’m HOPING is that, in the Subtle Knife film, Mrs. Coulter will perhaps find out that there’s more to the prophecy that she thought, and the revelation that Lyra is the next Eve will still be revealed.

    I’m confident that this will be a great movie either way…I’m still not blown away by the trailer, but I think it’s just because it’s typical Hollywood advertising, and the film will feel much more like the book. Like everyone else here I am counting down the days until December!

  10. adria says:

    people are saying the witch have no cloud-pine
    i completely agree with chris that their bows are them because,i too, noticed that the bows were twiggy and such.

  11. Chris says:

    yes the more i have watched it the more i have realized thier bows are the cloudpine. the witches seem to always have them when they are flying, and the close up shot of eva green flying with a sunset behind her you can really tell the bow is made of cloudpine! – if this is the case i thinks thats a really clever way of using cloudpine without giving the actors way too many props and restricting the flying by having a big bit of wood between thier legs! lol

  12. Chris says:

    i actualy really like the way iorek talks. He sounds exactily how i imagin a bear like him to talk.

    I also really really really love the design of the films. the idea of incorportating circles is a beautiful idea. the desing of the vehicles is wonderful. Its like taking victorian styles and designs and then adding modern technology like motors. i really love the carriage , it does perhaps look a little shiny, but i am starting to think thats its metal, so its car like and therefore would be shiney. i just think its such a clever way of creating a recognisable world that is not so much set in the past from our but just moved in a different dirrection with slightly different physics. it just looks so original, but in the later films when we eventualy we will hop from ours to lyras etc, we will recognise the similarities and the differences, so we will always know what world we are in even though they are sort of the same place.

    i just wanted to say how much i liked it, even though it may not have been exactily what was in my head. i just love good design and originality.

  13. charlie says:

    Will the second,I agree. no critique of religion will rob the plot of its most resonant message. I still have high hopes for this film even though the thematic core and Victorian milieu have been seriously comprimised, The Sci fi approach for me makes the idea of the soul’s personification as a deamon less plausible than in the book which brilliantly evoked a world where Technology played a secondary role. Magic of some indefinable sort suffuses Northern Lights and where is the magic in a technological world? Ours has very little which is why we love alternative reality stories. Russian and Chinese history are too complicated to be dealt with on this forum and there are distinct themes that in the book are specific to religous dogma (the church’s attitude towards physical pleasure for example) that a critique of pollitical oppression doesn’t cover, pollitics being pragmatic and faith being idealistic and righteous.
    That’s my two pence worth

  14. Zelda_Dude92 says:

    YES! They say Lyra as LIE-ra not LEE-ra!!!!! I always knew it was Lie-ra not Lee-ra, but my friend wont give in, and thinks it LEE-ra. IM SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was kind of freaked out by the lack of cloud pine branches, because that is how she knows she’s the girl of prophecy…and also the lack of deamons! I saw Ms. Coultor and Lord Asriel a lot, but there was no snow leopard or golden monkey!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope they add them in soon! I’ve waited about 3 years for this trailer, and Im so happy its here!

  15. rats_rox says:

    No no NOOOOOOO!!!!!!

    They have used the music from gladiator at the end!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

  16. Amneris says:

    I actually quite like the look of the movie. DKB seems like a pretty good actress and her voice and body language are perfect. As she acts more her facial expressions will become better. Maybe she should do some theatrical work to have a balance of experience in the 2 very different areas. It also helps confidence to act onstage but I really like the lok of this movie, although I wasn’t originally looking forward to it… now i’m DEFINATELY going to see it!

  17. Magicalstikllama says:

    I love it, but Iorek is too CG for me =(

  18. Brian says:

    It looks interesting, although like most trilogies won’t get as exciting until the sequel. The scenes of the city and buildings are gorgeous.

    Does anyone know who is doing the score for the movie? The ending music is obviously not Gladiator, but it’s definitely Lisa Gerrard’s voice. If she is doing the music for the series, I am going to poop my pants.

  19. spade06 says:

    I am excited.

    However, I remain dismayed about having Kidman as Coulter. She just is not Mrs. Coulter. Not to me.

    I do look forward fully supporting the film when it is released, and to seeing it many times in theatres.

  20. Carlye S. says:

    I thought it looked awesome!

    Just one problem…Serefina doesn’t look like she’s on a broom. I thought thats an important factor considering that’s how they find out Lyra is who she is.

  21. Amy says:

    Virgile: Yes, now you mention it, Iorek does look like the Coca-cola bears. I really really really hope that they improve the CG on Iorek. The only shot of him that looked decent was at the end.

    P.S. In the book, Iorek’s armour provides ample protection from bullets… but in the movie look how little coverage he has!

  22. Driger says:

    I loved it, but Iorek… I was expecting something more… well, more!

  23. Ashe says:

    CGI isn’t finished yet, guys. There is still TONS of post-production left to do. They probably just wanted to quickly get this trailer out to play with Pirates because they knew a HUGE amount of people would see it and start to become aware of the series.

  24. eom kidman spain says:

    Esta película va ser perfecta¡¡¡¡¡¡ Y más si Nicole está a a la cabeza del reparto. Si sale Nicole es buena así que animaros y no os la perdais. Yo estaré en la puerta del cine para verla. NICOLE LA MEJOR ACTRIZ¡¡¡¡

  25. Bobby says:

    While I understand it is a teaser trailer, it was underwhelming and uninspiring to say the least. There was very little, if anything, about the trailer that would entice someone who has never heard of The Golden Compass to see this movie. Basically, the trailer was on par with Zathura’s, which does not bode well for the film. However, I believe this trailer will not be indicative of the quality of the film. I for one will hold my breath and see as this was teaser was less than desirable.

  26. Woooo says:

    Iorek talking was cringe-worthy.
    That Weitz has changed the story so much more than Jackson changed LOTR is also cringe-worthy.

    But I’m still soooo pumped.

  27. Becky says:

    1 word:

    WOW

  28. meaty says:

    Even if a movie follows the book exactly, it doesn’t mean that it will automatically be brilliant. It’s got to capture the essence of the book. I don’t mind movies changing a FEW things, as long as it gives you the same feeling. Harry Potter did not do that for me. I also hate when they cut out major parts and add useless things. This trailer looks good so far. I’m excited!

  29. Katja says:

    For those of you complaining about the Gladiator music, trailers often use music from other movies. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but the Davinci Code used music from LOTR in its trailer. Just because it’s in the trailer doesn’t mean it will be in the movie.

  30. Katja says:

    Oh yeah, and does anyone think it’s weird how in some scenes Mrs. Coulter has ringlets?

  31. Roxanne says:

    I was really disappointed with that trailer. Even though I am a big Harry Potter fan, I was much more excited for ‘The Golden Compass’ movie than I am for ‘Order of the Phoenix’. It’s hard to explain. I hated how they plugged LotR. I thought the rythm was too slow (which wouldn’t be such a problem if they hadn’t put battle scenes in the trailer), the music was boring, the scenes were weirdly organised, the lines were not interesting at all (the only slightly good one was Iorek’s “I have a contract with the girl” and I didn’t liked it that much). There isn’t any daemon in most of the trailer and suddenly, there is two of them snarling at each other. This seems like a random scene they put for the only reason that they needed at least one daemon to put in the trailer.

    The only good point is that Nicole Kidman seems great as Mrs Coulter and Iorek is cool. And the trailer is certainly different than most Hollywood trailers.

    I’m certainly less excited about TGC after seeing the trailer than I was before, although one shouldn’t judge a film by it’s trailer.

  32. Loiosh says:

    Here is the complete track list of music from the Golden Compass Trailer
    1. The Planets: Mars by Gustav Holst: Amazon
    2. Lady in the Water: The Great Eatlon by James Newton Howard: Amazon
    3. Future World Music Vol 4: To The Rescue by Future World Music: Future World Music(1) MP3 Preview
    4. Gladiator: Now We Are Free by Lisa Gerrard and Hans Zimmer

    #1: This music cannot be purchased. Future World Music is a company that licenses music for promotional use.

  33. Virgile says:

    In the orignal teaser / trailer part of the musical score was taken from ‘The Children of Dune’ Sci-Fi channel mini-series based on Frank Hebert’s epic Dune series. the composer is Brian Tyler (approximate spelling) and the soundtrack is available for purchase and worth it.

  34. seanie says:

    ah! watch the trailer again in quicktime… stop the frame on serafina… she has cloud pine… she’s holding it with her bow… sheesh. i suppose they just don’t sit on it like a broomstick…

  35. ugh says:

    ugh am i the only sane one here? the witches bows are not cloud pine… serafina is holding a seperate branch apart from her bow… in the same hand. look closely.

  36. okok says:

    well, i took some screens of serafina and outlined the cloudpine… see for yourself… the images are a little dark.. but it’s there… and it’s not the bow.

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/seaniesharko2/serafina.jpg
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/seaniesharko2/serafina2.jpg

  37. ziggy says:

    Wow! I can’t wait for the film. The “I have to go to the north…to fight” would sound so much better without “to fight”- that sounds like a bit of bad editing. looks great though

  38. antonym says:

    I saw the trailer at a movie. It caught my breathe. Though it is glossy, I welcome a retelling of the story through some-one else’s eyes. If it encourages others to read the books then it is a good thing. However, I too fear that the Amber Spyglass will be diluted for American audiences.

  39. Kaneda says:

    damnit, im dissapointed.

    I still have high hopes for the movie, what im dissapointed with is their marketing strategy. It can do fine on it own, without using LOTR as a crutch.

    ALso they are going for the “epic fantasy” thing, which is a big mistake. After al these epic fantasies, and the suckiness of Eragon, people arent going to want to see just another epic fantasy. They should advertise it as what it is, a primarily personal and character driven story.

  40. Frjava says:

    That doesnt seem as great as I thought it would be. And through the entire thing, I’d not imaging yorek like that, (don’t as how i did imagine him) Dekotas voice is kinda anoying, but Craig looks brilliant! And Nicole Kidman suits the part perfectly!

    I just wanna see more!

  41. nyarr says:

    it’s a big mistake going for the epic fantasy thing?

    well… it is… an epic fantasy…

    uhhhhhhhhhhhhh?

  42. Sulaiman says:

    I went to the pirates of the caribean movie… but they didnt have the trailer on there… is it just me or did they really not show it…

  43. handyj443 says:

    It’s fairly clear at 2:12 that the witches bows are their cloud pine – you can see they have little twigs branching off. The “separate branch” she is holding in 1:19 and 1:58 are arrows.

    It makes sense from a film-making point of view. I can’t imagine Serafina doing graceful aerobatics while simultanously balancing on a piece of wood and shooting her bow! It’s a neat idea.

  44. cazzaline says:

    cool trailer sent shivers down the oul spine, only thing now is do i go see the film or stick with my own interpretation of it in my head?
    ps. i personally think the witchs look great without the pine, sorta banshee-esque.

  45. COULTER´S LOVER says:

    MMMMMM I AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE MOVIE THE TRAILER IS FANTASTIC

  46. Eva says:

    well I hope the movie comes out well, I find movies to sometimes ruin the books and the way I think of the characters and since this is the best book I have ever, ever read I hope that does not happen *sigh*

  47. Nazim says:

    Definitely needs deamons & humans observing their taboo and doing their own complimentary things. Imagine what you could do with daemons to cue scene transitions. Oxford & London are far too clean for fuel-burning technology. Coulter perfect but where’s her monkey?; Lyra more sophisticated than expected – half savage at least?; not sure about Scorsby – expecting a Tommy Lee Jones approach! Iorek’s mouth too animated; witches have too much clothing – they are supposed to be distracting; but then its not my interpretation that counts. Please make a final cut that the story deserves.

  48. Lunaticz says:

    I have been excited ever since they started working on the film. Of course I want to see a live version of my favourite book, but naturally I was afraid they would ruin it. I am not afraid anymore after seeing the trailer. I think the cast choices are brilliant, the unfinished CG effects look promising, the music is OK and the world looks more or less the same as I imagined it. I agree that the world could look a bit darker and more desperate, but that is just about the only thing that bothers me about the trailer. All in all I can hardly wait for December to see the finished and polished up version. ^_^

  49. Tonka says:

    I have seen this trailer so many times, I know it by heart and still I love it. The music is just so great, cast choice brilliant indeed, Nicole as Coulter… just perfect!! All I can say is that I can’t wait december (if it will be here in Croatia at all…)
    Of course it needs the editing, but I have faith in them, they’ve done a great job so far. Not like with Harry Potter, which is like totally ruined, those movies don’t do the justice to the books, but I think TGC might just be it.
    Can’t wait to see all those deamons!! yay

  50. cannotwaitforit says:

    The trailer is spectacular. I´ve been waiting for this filme for one year and a half, and it is finnaly coming on screen… well, em december, but´s ok, i´ll wait til then..