The Golden Compass

[Bells]

I'll certainly be one to go and see this film out on 5th December - it's one of those films that can be enjoyed by everyone, I'd have thought. It does require interest in fantasy/adventure, and it would be interesting to see it for those who have read His Dark Materials.

[~Kizwiz~]

Ohhh I recommended the trilogy in the book club :bouncy:

[Red Moon]

Looking at the trailer it looks really good. It's a shame they have tried to fit it all three books in one film. I bet they will have to cut out a lot of good stuff.

[Wasted]

My aunt bought me the trilogy for my birthday last year. I've only read the first of the three so far but it is a very good book and I'll read the other two whenever I get time just to read a book. I might have to read the first one again anyway because it was a while ago when I last read it.

I want to read the books before seeing the film though, if they're fitting all 3 books into one film then watching it will spoil it for me!

[Shaun]

Am organising a big cinema trip as I speak, haha.

[Bells]

Originally posted by Red Moon
Looking at the trailer it looks really good. It's a shame they have tried to fit it all three books in one film. I bet they will have to cut out a lot of good stuff.

No way, I didn't know that! I thought it was based on just the first one. I haven't even finished reading the trilogy yet.

[MarkWaldorf]

I'm seeing this today. I hope it's good.

[MarkWaldorf]

What a brill film, a lot better than I thought it'd be. The special effects were really good, but the battle scene at the end was just outstanding.

I wanna read the books now. :sad: LOL

[Callum]

I saw this today as well! It was amazing, the books are fabulous too. Can't wait for the others to come out!

[MarkWaldorf]

It will be years before the next comes out.

[Kate..]

I saw it yesterday! It's great!!!! The graphics are really good but for some reason i don't like the girl that plays Lyra

She's almost over acting...

[Ross]

I'm going to see it at 7:30.
I hope you're all right, you've got me excited! :thumbs2:

[XxShortyxX]

It doesn't really look that good to me, a movie about a compass :shrug:

[Ross]

Originally posted by XxShortyxX
It doesn't really look that good to me, a movie about a compass :shrug:
A golden one! ;)

[MarkWaldorf]

Originally posted by XxShortyxX
It doesn't really look that good to me, a movie about a compass :shrug:

It's not really about a compass, it's about;

The story concerns Lyra, an orphan living in a fantastical parallel universe in which a dogmatic dictatorship, the Magisterium, threatens to dominate. When Lyra's friend is kidnapped, she travels to the far North in an attempt to rescue him.

It's pretty good.

[XxShortyxX]

Originally posted by MarkChap©
Originally posted by XxShortyxX
It doesn't really look that good to me, a movie about a compass :shrug:

It's not really about a compass, it's about;

The story concerns Lyra, an orphan living in a fantastical parallel universe in which a dogmatic dictatorship, the Magisterium, threatens to dominate. When Lyra's friend is kidnapped, she travels to the far North in an attempt to rescue him.

It's pretty good.



Oh right, me Nan would like tha film, she likes all that kind of stuff.

[Ross]

IT'S AMAZING!!!! :thumbs2:

[MarkWaldorf]

LOL I want to see it again. :sad:

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by MarkChap©
LOL I want to see it again. :sad:

I hope the reviews are wrong.... it looks great.

A Golden Compass that lost its way
Rating: **

Verdict: It loses its bearings

The first major family film of the Christmas season is meant to launch a series of blockbuster fantasies on the scale of The Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter, but I can't imagine it finding nearly as big an audience.
Many fans of Philip Pullman's novel, which in the UK was called Northern Lights, will be disappointed or even angry that so much has been left out.

Those who see it without having read the book will find it difficult to follow the story, still less care about the characters.

Its saving grace is that on a big screen it looks terrific, but is that enough to prevent it from being an expensive flop?

It all begins in an alternative Oxford, where orphans and the ragamuffin children of travellers are being kidnapped. Our heroine is a naughty 12-year-old called Lyra (played by British newcomer Dakota Blue Richards).

She has been brought up in the architecturally impressive Jordan College on the orders of her supposed uncle, the dashing explorer Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig).

First, she saves him from being poisoned by Simon McBurney, as a creepy emissary from the mysterious Magisterium, which rules over the world by controlling free will, tolerance and inquiry.

Then two of her best friends, Billy and Roger, are stolen. And she is whisked off to London, to stay with the beautiful but sinister Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman).

Lyra learns that Mrs Coulter is part of a conspiracy to part young children from their daemons (animal spirits which represent their souls or consciences), and make them obey the Magisterium, the leaders of which are Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee.

In later books, the Magisterium emerges as an alternative version of the Catholic Church, which appears not to have moved on much since the Inquisition.

Some Christian groups have been up in arms about Pullman's novels, and for the cinema his loathing for organised religion has been toned out loathing for organised religion has been toned down for fear of causing offence.

However, it's in his later works that his hatred for organised religion (and a dying, pathetic God) really manifests itself, and much of his vitriol in the first novel is directed not so much at belief, as at the taking of political power by religious authorities, which in the light of modern theocracies Philip went college - Exeter Lord out light of modern theocracies such as Iran seems a reasonable position to take.

His religious critics should also take on board the fact that he is discussing an alternate reality, not precisely our own.

n visual terms, The Golden Compass is a triumph. The icy landscapes of the north look as magnificent as anything in The Lord Of The Rings. The big setpieces of the novel - especially the fights - are superbly realised.

The daemons are also lovingly created by the special-effects team. Lord Asriel's snow leopard and Mrs Coulter's ginger monkey are especially effective in bolstering the two actors' underwritten roles.

Imaginative, the film certainly is. The bad news is that it's virtually devoid of humour and charm. That means that it won't engage audiences who are not already hooked by the books.

The film is woefully deficient when it comes to lightness of touch - surprisingly so, since adapter-director Chris Weitz's background is in comedy.

A multi-textured book has been pared away to make an exhaustingly one-dimensional series of chases and fights.

It might have been better, and certainly more involving, had it dared to be just a little bit longer.

The film also faithfully reflects one of Pullman's biggest weaknesses, which is a lack of interest in story structure. Like most road movies - though this one travels mostly by sailing ship and balloon - The Golden Compass is very episodic.

Pullman's solution to the scrapes his leading character gets into is generally to send in the equivalent of the U.S. cavalry: an armoured bear, witches, helpful boat-gipsies, or - at the climax - all three.

The story is also told in an off-puttingly portentous way, with awful, explanatory, on-the-nose dialogue. Poor Eva Green has the worst of this as head witch Serafina Pekkala, who also narrates.

The strongest individuals are those who can create a big impression at once, such as the ballooning, sharp-shooting cowboy Lee Scoresby (played by the ever-dependable Sam Elliott) and the grouchy, alcohol-dependent polar-bear Iorek Byrnison (splendidly voiced by Sir Ian McKellen in his deepest baritone).

The actors in more complex roles do their best, but the film doesn't allow them interesting or plausible character development.

Nicole Kidman is glamorous but muted as Mrs Coulter, resisting the temptation to turn her into another Cruella De Vil - highly sensible, in view of the dramatic, and not always plausible, character-gymnastics that Mr Pullman puts her through in the second and third books.

Daniel Craig gives another guarded, secretive performance, for similar reasons. The child actors are unconvincing - certainly a step down in quality from the children in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

As Lyra, Dakota Blue Richards looks like a young Cate Blanchett, and is agreeably feisty.

But will audiences warm to her? I'm unconvinced.

And her 'off' quasi-Cockney accent seems OK when she's mingling with urchins, but slightly less appropriate when she is sitting at High Table with pedantic dons. Wouldn't she have learned to speak with two accents? Perhaps a British director would have picked up on this.

The visual strengths of this movie certainly deserve admiration, but its glaring defects are bound to spoil its performance at the box office.

Pullman's trilogy of novels has never done as well in America as it has in Britain, and while it may be tempting to say that's because American children are dumber than ours, I'm not sure that's true.

J.K. Rowling's playfulness and humour travel better than Pullman's more earnest, literary approach; and, while he is imaginative, the world he creates does not have the mythic resonance of Tolkien's, nor the childfriendliness of C.S.Lewis's Narnia.

Above all, The Golden Compass needed to be magical and stirring.

The film-makers should have had more confidence in Pullman's ability to transport us.
Source and Pictures: Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/reviews.html?in_article_id=498012&in_page_id=1924)

[Christina]

For a school trip we were taken to see this and i was really excited but as i go to an all girls school all i could hear was the people next to me chatting and laughing so i was tempted to join in but what i saw of it .. i loved it x

[MarkWaldorf]

^LOL When I went to see it all these kids tried sneaking up to our row on the premium seats and started yapping throughout.

[Christina]

Originally posted by MarkChap©
^LOL When I went to see it all these kids tried sneaking up to our row on the premium seats and started yapping throughout. Lol its so annoying isnt it .. luckily it was a really big cinema so if people were getting annoyed they could move... a man sitting behind us got annoyed and moved well away from us i felt a bit sorry for him as he was there first! x