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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: DVD Brand: Warner Brothers EAN: 0794043120435 Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: New Line Home Video Manufacturer: New Line Home Video Number Of Items: 2 Publisher: New Line Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: April 29, 2008 Running Time: 113 minutes Studio: New Line Home Video Theatrical Release Date: December 07, 2007 Sales Rank: 3758 MPN: 1000038167
Product Description: In a parallel universe where witches rule the skies and armoured bears are the bravest warriors young Lyra Belacqua journeys from her home among the scholars at Oxford to the far North to save her best friend. Based on the first book in the Carnegie Medal-winning series His Dark Materials.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY UPC: 794043120435 Manufacturer No: 1000038167
Amazon.com: A fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia film franchises, The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe where each human's soul is embodied in a companion animal called a daemon. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who's lived most of her life among the scholars at Oxford, is intrigued when her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), announces his plans to travel north to investigate the source of some mysterious particles called Dust. Lyra has little hope of following her uncle until a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, at her most icily beautiful) asks Lyra to travel north as her personal assistant. All is not as it seems, however, and the disappearance of Lyra's friend Roger (Ben Walker) sets her on a dizzying adventure. She does have an alethiometer, or golden compass, that can help her see the truth, and a number of companions, including her shape-shifting daemon, Pantalaimion (voiced by Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), polar-bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Craig's Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green). Even before its release, The Golden Compass was the subject of controversy over its perceived anti-religious themes. While it does involve an oppressive institution called the Magisterium, it's not overtly religious, particularly to a young viewer. The movie's PG-13 rating should be taken seriously, however. Suitable for an older audience than Narnia (though younger than The Lord of the Rings), it deals with complex concepts, violence (though largely bloodless) and implied death, children and animals in peril, and an unrelentingly ominous and unsettling mood.
Despite a few changes and rearrangements, the overall plot of the movie is remarkably faithful to its source material, the first installment of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It doesn't finish the book, however, and--much like The Fellowship of the Ring did--leaves the viewer hanging in anticipation of the next film, The Subtle Knife, due in 2009. So even though The Golden Compass is impressive--especially with its spot-on cast and terrific visual effects--we probably won't know its full emotional impact until the story is complete. --David Horiuchi
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Can negative reviews kill what could have been a fantastic series?
Unfortunately, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials never gained the
fame and mass following of JKR's Harry Potter. But his series was one
of my favorites as a child, and now this first movie ... Read More
Rating: - Um, somebody forgot to finish the movie...
I read His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) (suffered through it to be more accurate). Then I watched the Golden Compass. I was grateful that it left out ... Read More
Rating: - Very good.
What a movie. Kidman, Craig, and Dakota Blue Richards portraying the main characters. Excellent acting, really good special effects. The movie follows the book closely, however, it could've been a bit longer ... Read More
Rating: - Rushed and disjointed
How disappointing. The story is rushed and disjointed, trying to fit way too much material into the time allowed. Since I had read the books, at least I knew what the story was supposed to be. If you didn't read ... Read More
Rating: - Atheist blather
The author made no effort to hide his anti-catholic and atheist viewpoint. While the movie itself made for decent science fiction, the story line will definitely feel like a slap in the face to any person well versed/educated ... Read More
- Can negative reviews kill what could have been a fantastic series?
- Um, somebody forgot to finish the movie...
- Very good.
- Atheist blather