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| The Golden Compass [2007] | ![The Golden Compass [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BkTzME3xL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Chris Weitz
Actors: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ben Walker, Freddie Highmore
Studio: Entertainment in Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £6.98
You Save: £13.01 (65%)
New (29) from £6.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  87 reviews
Sales Rank: 80
Format: Pal
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Running Time: 109 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5017239195600
ASIN: B0010X8FLM
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: April 28, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Perhaps it didn't ignite the box office in quite the way it'd been hoped, but that's little reason to pass over the qualities of The Golden Compass now it arrives on DVD. Based on the Phillip Pullman novel His Dark Materials--itself the start of the Northern Lights trilogy, the film isn't without a few problems, but emerges as a quality adaptation. And you certainly can't fault The Golden Compass for sheer ambition. The story, for those new to the series, is primarily that of 12-year old Lyra, who is in search of her friend who has been kidnapped. Naturally, this proves to be quite a challenging adventure, not least because it's through Pullman's vividly imagined world, crossing dimensions as Lyra travels. The film, while toning down and fiddling with some elements of the source material, stays quite close to the book, and it proves to be a good, if not Lord Of The Rings-standard, adaptation. What helps The Golden Compass, on top of the strong effects work and scope of the production, is a solid cast, featuring the likes of Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards. And it certainly whets the appetite for the next instalment in the series. Whether the muted box office returns put pay to that remains to be seen: for now, at least, The Golden Compass is a good, solid family movie that's easy to enjoy. --Jon Foster
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| Customer Reviews: Read 82 more reviews...
Gobblers & Golden Gobbledegook September 18, 2008
Shape-shifting demons, abducted chidren, a disappearing uncle who is in fact Lyra's father, an evil society woman,'Egyptians', polar bears, beautiful witches and Cossacks bursting into flames when slain...It can't be entirely the film-makers' fault, surely? Pullman's oeuvre seems to have a great following, but that means nothing nowadays when crowds go mad about the most idiotic books. The film is a cauldron of complete confusion, the plot and ideas are utterly preposterous. YET, perversely, the whole surreal spectacle is oddly compelling to watch -- as something dreamt up by an opium-eater or a psychiatric patient. Hence the high rating.
 Dreadful mess September 4, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
OK I'm not a big fan of the book but was interested to see how this compared with LoTR & Narnia films. It doesn't.
The script is awful - full of expository speeches rather than genuine dialogue, hence Craig and Kidman deliver what must be some of their most wooden performances ever. No one could make that script come to life.
Some changes are inevitable when a book come to the screen, but the changes to Iorek Byrnisons character make him much less interesing.
Overall I struggled to keep my attention, however my kids (8 & 11) loved it, so perhaps that is the target market.
Shame could have been so much more.
 Terrible mish mash August 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the most poorly constructed and unengaging fantasy films I've ever seen. Also a showcase for demonstrating just how many good actors and actresses you can waste in one go. There are way too many problems with this film to go into, so im just going to say it is a total waste of your time any money.
It should have lived up to the hype the story is worth it! August 28, 2008
Watching this in the cinema, I was genuinely gripped until the ending, but I find the more I watch it the less I think it's worthy being connected to Pullman's His Dark Materials at all.
I'll start by reviewing this single disc release, but there's not much to say! It is very sparse on extras, just a few sneak peaks, no documentaries, no commentary. I would recommend people who like the film get the two disc version.
For the film itself I'm left feeling let down, it wasn't treated as I would of liked; the characters although acted rather well and nicely cast are not written appropriately, the majority are nothing like what is created in the books, Lord Asriel at one point, beseeches "can we not discuss this like gentlemen!" which is completely out of character and Iorek is portrayed as tired downtrodden and older than he should be. Lyra herself is very well cast and acted well by Dakota Blue Richards her and Eva Green as Serefina Pekkela are the only two I felt played their parts convincingly.
Pullman handles Lord Asriels war with the authority without shame, I can't say the same here, it's down played and if they do make a second film I can't conceive of the changes they will make to accommodate releasing the film in America when they've made enough pointless changes here. The film is little over 1hour and 40 minuets long, it could have easily been 20 minuets of not half an hour longer and therefore been true the books narrative, which is far superior in both intelligence and depth. So much has been fiddled with, moved around and re-written (without sounding like a moaning fan) that doesn't need to be, why put the scenes at Salvbard before Lyra goes to The Station, why have it be Billy Costa that has his demon removed, why have the drama and gritty action deteriorate into light skirmishes, why completely re-write the entire second half and ruin the poignancy of the ending.
My main problem was with the ending, as the ending of the book encapsulates perfectly the feeling of youthful distrust and injustice that Lyra feels towards the adults of her world and a major recurring theme of innocence sacrificed for knowledge. But the sickly and irrelevant Hollywood ending obliterates any possibility of retaining the books depth, I was left feeling confused and pulling a grimace at the idiotic end song "Lyra whose face is full of grace". I understand the reasons for ending the film this way, it was done because it was unclear at the time whether the second book would be made into a film and they didn't want to end with a cliff-hanger, which is fair enough but it only re-enforces the crux of my problem with the film: its creation, which was led by a studio and therefore it will never have the power of the Lord of the Rings as it wasn't filmed with passion for the books and a love for the stories and characters but to further a franchise. All in all this was disappointing, I feel similarly about the Narnia films, there is a lack of genuinely expressed love for the narratives that weaken film releases.
But I can't completely write this off, even ignoring the books this still isn't a brilliant film but it's good enough to entertain and it got so many people reading the books, I worked in the book shop at the time of its release and it was astonishing how many people came in looking for The Golden Compass (using the American name did have me grumbling though!).
Books were great, film is dreadful August 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The trilogy on paper was great but this film is absolutely dreadful and the actress playing Lyra comes from the "Wooden School Of Acting" populated by Harry Potter film stars.
Major disappointment.
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