User Reviews

Possibly one of the most underrated films of all time, The Golden Compass Still today stands on its own, without a sequel, without anything to lead it on, and no I'm not counting the Terrible Netflix Show. This film Has Outstanding music, Outstanding Visuals, Outstanding Storytelling and characters, and it still holds up in 2024. How we have not gotten a Sequel to this is such a missed opportunity to not only the film industry but also to Humanity(This is how I feel). I am Giving The Golden Compass a 9/10, why? Because it is incomplete. If James Cameron can make 3 Avatar Films that are roughly the same, then This Deserves at least a sequel...I'll Probably be dead by the time this happens, or perhaps I'll do it myself. But what ever happens I hope one day we get to see such a Film get treated with the respect it deserves.

The Golden Compass is lovely to look at, I mean I really liked the costumes and the scenery. The problem is that the plot of the film is a bit muddled. I haven't read the book by Phillip Pullman but I've heard from my brother it's very good. Back to the film, there were some scenes where the action felt rushed, and others got a bit confusing plot wise. I think that director Chris Weitz was trying to cram too much into a 108 minute film, and because of that, the script became increasingly uneven and contrived. Though on a positive note, I really liked the acting. Dakota Blue Richards gave a spirited performance as Lyra, and Nicole Kidman looks beautiful and manipulative as Mrs Coulter. And Ian McKellan did a superb job with the voicing of the polar bear, and the polar bear fight was definitely one of the better scenes of the movie. The only casting problem was that of Daniel Craig, he just seemed out of character. All in all, an enjoyable film, with a 7/10. Bethany Cox.

This was an astonishingly good film. Without getting into any comparisons with its pop-culture-ordained rival, The Chronicles of Jerusalem (I mean Narnia), I will say this is the best fantasy movie to hit the shelves since Lord of the Rings. The story is explosive, dynamic and startlingly accurate if viewed in a historical sense. Dakota Blue Richards is the most talented child actress I have ever seen and is sure to become a huge star in the next ten years. She embodies courage, fearlessness, bravery and intelligence in a way that would make Harry Potter or even Hermione Granger blush. Her character is a forceful blend of guts and intelligence to the point that several of her actions throughout the story made my jaw drop to the floor, thinking "wow, this girl is CRAZY!" in awe and admiration of her strength and courage. For those of you who have not seen this movie, if you want to see a child actor rival virtually every A-list blockbuster star in Hollywood, Dakota Blue Richards is your girl. I was also happy to see Daniel Craig in this film, as he was great in Casino Royale and it was interesting to see him in such a starkly different role. He was stern, adamant and intelligent to the point of lunacy - and I'm looking forward to seeing his character more in the two sequels that are sure to come, despite what the crybabies and naysayers might think. Nicole Kidman put forth her best role to-date as the terrifying Marisa Coulter - a woman so cold and conniving and yet eerily welcoming it will make your skin crawl. She is as also as beautiful as she has ever been, which never hurts either. All in all, the only real complaint with this movie is that it could have been 30-45 minutes longer, but I only say that because we've been spoiled with the 2-3 hour epic journeys on which the LOTR and Harry Potter have taken us. But on a blank slate, this was an incredible 90 minutes of my life and this movie has permanently put itself on a pedestal in the history of film making. An absolute MUST watch.

This is the adaptation of "Northern Lights", the first of a collection of fantasy books named "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman, a writer famous for having atheistic, anti-Christian and anti-religious thoughts that are very evident in the book. Chris Weitz (director/screenwriter) made a huge effort to moderate that, already anticipating criticism from religious audiences, but the truth it is very difficult to make a good and moderate movie from a book that is bad, extremist and that seems to have been written as a kind of "childish doctrinal propaganda", to educate children towards secularism and atheism... so I don't think it's surprising that boycotts and criticisms have happened anyway. The story takes place in a world where people's souls live outside their bodies, accompanying them in the form of animals called "Daemons". The similarity between this word and the term "devil", of clear anti-Christian connotation, shouldn't be coincidental. In this world there is an authority called "Magisterium", of dictatorial and totalitarian contours, which seeks to hide the existence of other worlds, other realities and truths that aren't convenient. The choice of a word in Latin for the name of this political-religious entity is an attack on the Roman Catholic Church, which is often accused of obscurantism and of not accepting some scientific and philosophical innovations. From this base, totally distorted by the personal opinions of the author of the book, a complex script is born, which the film isn't able to explain to the public. The film assumes (wrongly) that public knows the original books but, since this didn't happen to me, I felt enormous difficulty in understanding it, even having to do some research to understand everything. With regard to the cast, there are several stars here but not all had characters to match them. Daniel Craig, for example, only has some protagonism in the beginning of the film. Then he disappears, making only a few episodic appearances. However, his character is one of the most important and is still mentioned in the dialogues even if it does not matter to the actor, who had little work here. Ian McKellan is excellent at giving voice to the polar bear Iorek Byrnison and Nicole Kidman is elegant and pleasantly malicious, but also had no room to develop a great villain. Eva Green makes a small cameo, in that it only appears punctually, in another witch role. Dakota Blue Richards, a small child actress, is the big star. She does a good job, shows some ability but, of course, this will not be her "magnum opus" if she continues her career. The film has great visual effects, good CGI work and good sound effects that make everything reasonably digestible, but cannot erase the serious script errors and subliminally biased tale of the story. The soundtrack is totally forgettable, which is detrimental to a good fantasy film. Finally, there is only one more problem of this film, evident in its open end: there should have been a sequel to close the story, but the critics of the religious public, who even tried to boycott the film, and the very few box office results condemned at birth any follow-up initiative. Some people still talk about that, but the truth is that it's been ten years since the movie debuted, so I think it's more likely that this sequel will not happen any more. Perhaps this is a good thing, given the bias of the original material.

Even with its great visual effects, an exemplary art direction, The Golden Compass is nothing more than just a medium movie, bad characters and a very weak plot.

This is a great movie based on even better books. Unfortunately, Christians only like freedom of speech when they agree with it. When they do not agree they whine like young children and demand censure.

Not the best movie in the world, but still reasonably good. Just because the protagonist is a child doesn't mean it's some kiddie movie about going off to beat the bad guys. The story is actually a lot more complicated than that. Interesting context, quite realistic, but quite a lot missed out from the book, a bit of an oversimplification. Also, it makes me cringe every time someone says something stupid in the script (not just this, almost ALL films have a few annoying lines). Other than that, it's not that bad.

Really liked the movie and bumped out that there's no sequel made, or atleast it's plans are still "on hold". I don't quite get the bad reviews either, as everyone's just trying to compare it to "Lord Of The Rings". It's not even meant to be anything like a 'next Lord of The Rings". Man, wish there was a sequel :)

The Golden Compass’ grand and epic scale and spectacular visuals don’t make up for the weak presentation. Fans of the books can rest assured that the story is left mostly intact but non-book readers will be confused. The characters are underdeveloped as all they do is explain what their role is and what’s going on while the story moves so quickly that various scenes and elements are not explained well. The film both over and under explains its characters and world at the same time making it hard to connect to anything in the film. When its all over The Golden Compass mostly works as an adaptation, minus a questionable decision in regards to the ending, but as a film it’s a bit of a mess that will baffle anyone unfamiliar with the story.

I remember the end of the movie. I remember the credits rolling. And I specifically remember saying; "That's it?" The movie is one slow ride with no resolution, continuity, or congruity. I have never read the book. But doubtless all those book critics couldn't be that off. The movie is only amazing in one aspect; the special effects. And the cinematography. The acting is dull, as is story. And all the animal-human bondage I just found to be unpleasant and incoherent. So slow and faulty it'll break down midway and you'll be stuck until the end. Unless you want to jump out. That's a pretty good decision.

a very disappointing adaptation. the last time i felt dejected halfway into the movie was with tim burton's PLANET OF THE APES, before which this film feels like a total abomination. despite Dakota Blue Richards' Lyra and Nicole Kidman's Mrs. Coulter, and the visual effects, this film really is nothing. probably the fact that i read the book first and loved it made all the difference and in fact, i suggest you all do the same. avoid this film if you can and read the book. the book has a proper narrative with exemplary character development and plotline, all of which this film lacks. the only thing keeping this film together is the visual effects and nothing more.

This movie was breathtaking and beautiful. It was supposed to be a trilogy but unfortunately due to the economic crisis in 2008, the sequel was eventually cancelled. Moreover, the church went against the movie for an invalid reason. Overall, it was a good movie no matter what you haters claim... just go look at its Box Office rate. Us, the fans, are gloating over the haters because this movie was such a success financially.

As children's escapist fantasy goes, the film is not terrible, but does have an unfinished air about it. Also suffers from occupying similar ground as the Narnia, Potter and Rings films (over saturated), extra marks for bagging Kate Bush to sing on the credits.

The movie itself is quite impressive. However, the story is way too bizarre and complicated for a child even an adult to follow. it tries to be the next huge movie series, but doesn't fill the excitement with good characters.

While it is not perfect, it is still a fun filled fantasy that boasts of grand visuals, a cool and interesting story, awesome music (Alexandre Desplat, again he is amazing) and great direction. I enjoyed this film, and oh, it is not anit-Christ. If the novel was, this film is not. It is a pretty and interestingly great film.

Besides the horrible acting,the lazy writing and the stupid plot twist, the thing that bothered me most about this movie was the **** not going to spoil it but its really lazy. They literally ended it saying "We are going to make a trilogy and not conclude this movie right now because we are SOOOO sure it wil be succesfull!" Well thanks God it wasn´t because this movie deserves to die in silence.

The Golden Compass is pure nonsense. The movie is a pathetic piece of trash that makes no sense because of all the meaningless jargon spewing out of everyone's mouth. A laughable film from the poor acting of the girl to the idea that kids would enjoy this. The movie is nearly impossible to sit through.

What a pathetic adaptation. The casting was good though. The bear looked ridiculous. The fight scenes were censored and the whole narrative was turned on its head. Even the ending was changed to suit children.

boring crap that makes no sense. With scenes that probably should've been there to explain things simply not existing. The whole thing feels a bit disjointed like somebody shot a movie that was supposed to be 4 hours long, but then cut like half of it. Pointless scenes of Daniel Craig that has no effect on anything else etc. This is 5 years too late, but I still want my money back.

I have never read the book or was any sort of a fan before I watched the film, I it certainly did not inspire me to want to read the books. In any case, "The Golden Compass" puts up a good fight trying to be a good fantasy epic, but it does not quite achieve that level or recognition. Some aspects of the film are very good, namely most of the technical aspects. Excellent production and costume design, along with a decent score and great visual effects provide for some of the films highlights. Unfortunately, the cinematography was totally off. It had this strange, airy quality to it, that made me feel as if I were watching a documentary or something. I cannot quite articulate it, but it definitely blocked me from being able to ever fully immerse myself into the story. It did not help how annoying the portrayal of the main character was by Dakota Blue Richards. Such an annoying kid. I've been told that she's supposed to be like that in the books too, but I just do not understand why. Who would want to read/watch such a miserable character. On the other hand, Nicole Kidman gave an amazingly appropriate, cold performance as Mrs.Coulter, which was another highlights of the film. But other than that, the film never quite tickled my interest to engage it fully, or be sad about the fact that the sequels have been cancelled.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Amazing! Roger Ebert and I agree for a change. If a film inspires people to go out and read the books (His Dark Materials) then it is has done its job. I am currently reading the books again because thanks to a group of silly devolved organizations based in the USA, the rest of the story will not be made into film despite the Golden Compass doubling its money at the box office. There is always going to be the book versus the film arguments "oh, the film is not like the book." Perhaps people who say things like that should read a single chapter out loud and time themselves. When they figure out an average chapter will take around 10 - 15 minutes to read properly, then perhaps they will understand a scriptwriters job better. Yes, the film is not like the book, but it has taken the essence of the story and made the Golden Compass into something different from the usual film fare. I very much hope the cowardly filmmakers in Hollywood lift a suitable digit at the silly organizations attempting to censor what the masses can see and hear.

Prepare to enter another world of the fantasy genre as New Line Cinema (the producer of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) presents Chris Wietz's "The Golden Compass". It revolves around Lyra Belaqua, a young girl living among scholars in Oxford's Jordan College. Her world may seem diverse, from physical embodiments of souls that take the shape of an animal, but similar with people around you to become friends and enemies. She is thrown into a perilous adventure when she overhears a conversation of an extraordinary microscopic particle, Dust. This particle is said to unite different worlds, and is feared by many who want to destroy it forever. As Lyra is flung into the middle of this horrible struggle, she meets wondrous creatures both big and small, and villains who are not what they seem. Gobblers, that kidnap children, will turn out in the most unexpected places. And a magical compass of gold that will answer any question if one is skilled enough to read it. Lyra's adventure continues throughout these three books, and the first is about to be told. The only problem that I had with this movie was the Anti-Christian overtones of the Magisterium during the film. I'm not with the Catholic Church, but I agree that the word "Heresy" was the only reason why the second and third movies would not be adapted into screen. That's it for my problem. The casting was great and the actors were very decent. Daniel Craig was solid as Lord Asriel despite the fact that he wasn't given enough screentime. Nicole Kidman was decent as Mrs. Coulter, but her hair is very different from the book counterpart as it describes her hair as blond. Ian Mckellen was amazing as the great armoured ice bear (also known as a Pansjorborne) Iorek Byrnison, and Dakota Blue Richards was very convincing and compelling as Lyra when it comes to actresses in movie adaptations and the rest of the actors turned out good. The sets were very creative, but at most times, they were quite dark due to the Svalbard place. The CGI on the animals are very damn impressive. The daemons (just like in the book despite the fact that it was mispronounced) were very visualized and the polar bears are also visualized. The action scenes were very epic and the direction from Chris Wietz was well-paced. The Golden Compass lacks in any depth, but it is a darker, deeper, and fantastic adaptation of Phillip Pullman's greatest fantasy series. 8/10

How do you destroy a book franchise with universal acclaim? How do you dissapoint readers by changing the books name for the film? How do you cast bad actors for important roles? You film the golden compass. The book is brilliant but the film is terrible. The kid playing Lyra is terrible,switching between cockney and posh! Make your mind up. The director goes as far as to mix the story up with a shocking polt change. Yes,the graphics are impressive and Ian Mckellen as Iorek is a good move but please,don't bother with the movie,just read the book (And the other 2 books in the trilogy!).