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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE GOLDEN COMPASS
The Golden Compass

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The Golden Compass (2007)

42%
54%
57%
N/A
N/A
N/A
42 %
Reviews Counted: 185 Fresh: 77  Rotten:108 Average Rating: 5.6/10
 
Consensus: The impressive visuals can't quite compensate for lax storytelling. Without the bite or the controversy of the source material, The Golden Compass is reduced to impressive visuals overcompensating for lax storytelling. more
 
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Theatrical Release: 05-12-2007
Synopsis:
THE GOLDEN COMPASS is an adaptation of the first book in the beloved but controversial fantasy series by Phillip Pullman. The story opens with Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) an orphan girl who lives in an alternate world that is similar to earth, but where people's souls exist outside of... [More]
THE GOLDEN COMPASS is an adaptation of the first book in the beloved but controversial fantasy series by Phillip Pullman. The story opens with Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) an orphan girl who lives in an alternate world that is similar to earth, but where people's souls exist outside of their bodies in animal form. The people are ruled by a shadowy and oppressive council known as the Magisterium, which is doing it's best to keep everyone from getting information about what is called "Dust." Lyra's Uncle Asriel (Daniel Craig) has been researching Dust, and he has seen to it that Lyra is given safe shelter at Jordan College. But when the visiting Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) arrives, she asks Lyra to accompany her on a trip to the North to meet the Panserbjorne, a race of armored bears. Before Lyra leaves, the Headmaster gives her a golden compass, a device which only she can read, and from which she can intuit the truth. Lyra leaves with Mrs. Coulter, but when she learns that her friends have been kidnapped by "Gobblers," she heads out to find them, and soon joins forces with the nomadic Gyptians, some witches, and an armored bear called Iorek Byrnison (voice by Ian McKellen). Lyra finds her friends, and so discovers the evil plans the Magisterium has cooked up for the world's children. By the film's end, she has vowed to track down her Uncle Asriel, and to discover the true power of Dust. Hollywood had a tricky time of taming this tale, as Pullman's books portray religion - the Catholic Church in particular - in a less than flattering light. The film version carefully steers clear of these themes, and instead puts its enormous budget into creating visually stunning effects. While fans of the books may find fault with this streamlined version, children are sure to revel in the many talking animals and whimsical airships. [Less]

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Daniel Craig

Director: Chris Weitz
Screenwriter: Chris Weitz
Producer: Deborah Forte, Bill Carraro
Director: Bob Shaye
Screenwriter: Toby Emmerich
Producer: Ileen Maisel
Screenwriter: Paul Weitz
Composer: Alexandre Desplat

DVD Info

Release:

May 4, 2010

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Widescreen 2.35

Audio:

  • DTS-ES 6.1 - English
  • Dolby Surround 5.1 EX
  • Dolby Surround 2.0
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Exciting and entertaining, although the complicated array of characters makes it sometimes hard-going.

Full Review | Comment
12/12/07 11:25 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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In the end The Golden Compass is another expensive mishmash of CGI 'magic' and widescreen spectacle: well-acted, as you would expect, but more or less empty of anything to provoke the curiosity and intelligence of a young audience.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 10:16 AM
Anthony Quinn
Independent
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Almost nothing remains at the end – not a glimmer of mystical inquisition, not a teasing loose-end of space-time speculation – to lure a Pullmanite towards a sequel.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 09:56 AM
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
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An enormous scrap at the end, involving witches and warlocks, does little to illuminate, or leaven, this pudding.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 09:44 AM
James Christopher
Times [UK]
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When the dust settles on the religion row The Golden Compass will surely be remembered as one of the best children’s adventures of the year.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 09:38 AM
Sun Online
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Thrilling, moving, visually spot-on and featuring a great cast, this is another impressive fantasy film, although one that rushes headlong through many of the important nuances of its source material.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 09:10 AM
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
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Maybe we were all expecting too much. While competent, The Golden Compass joins that catalogue of so-so Narnia/Potter wannabes whose members include Lemony Snicket, Eragon and the recent Stardust.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 09:03 AM
Daily Mirror [UK]
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Approach this not as a lesson in the facts of life, just a bit of childish escapism.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 08:47 AM
Stella Papamichael
BBC
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Kidman’s glittering villainess, gorgeous CG design and a bolshy, 11-year-old heroine can’t entirely rescue this franchise gamble from a shuddering outcome. Not a failure by any stretch, but Compass leaves its future hanging in the balance.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 07:53 AM
Total Film
Ratings Image

While The Golden Compass doesn’t have time to clarify all the book’s complexities it’s as welcome a retreat from this old England as Hogwarts, Narnia or Middle Earth.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 06:34 AM
Elliott Noble
Sky Movies
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A crushing disappointment for fans and a scuppered opportunity for a cinematic event. That the first book has been so mishandled doesn’t bode well for the (already greenlit) more complicated ones to come.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 06:21 AM
Olly Richards
Empire Magazine
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Bland, bloodless and bereft of magic.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 07:53 AM
Nigel Floyd
Time Out
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The special effects are marvellous, but the magic is missing.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 07:50 AM
James Christopher
Times [UK]
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It certainly looks wonderful, with epic dash and a terrific central performance from Nicole Kidman, who may come to dominate our children's nightmares.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 07:48 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Is it any good? Definitively, yes. A beautifully made, spectacularly designed family movie, it dares to ask serious questions about good and evil, free will and adolescent sexuality.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 07:47 AM
Liz Hoggard
This is London
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The film works splendidly. It's big-screen entertainment at its best.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 07:45 AM
Baz Bamigboye
Daily Mail [UK]
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Fans of Philip Pullman's acclaimed novel The Golden Compass may not approve of this new film adaptation, but it can't be faulted for excitement.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 07:44 AM
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
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The final battle is reminiscent of a ruck at a football match, with many characters joining in for seemingly no other reason than to have a good punch up.

Full Review | Comment
05/16/08 05:15 PM
Chris Laverty
Mansized
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This plot may sound somewhat ludicrous on paper, but Pullman has created a logical, well-thought-out world that Weitz has brilliantly translated to the big screen.

Full Review | Comment
05/01/08 05:28 PM
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
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This kid film noir touching on magic dust substance abuse, cranky clerics, worrisome wizards, goth grownup child abusers and computer-generated homicidal polar bear throat slashers, is less likely to dazzle the senses than exhaust minds of all ages.

Full Review | Comment
04/30/08 10:39 AM
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
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