The Golden Compass

[Relambrien]

Hey, so the movie version of The Golden Compass was recently released, and I wanted to get FFR's opinion of it, to see if it's worth going to the movies for.

As a bit of background information, "The Golden Compass" was originally a book: the first in a trilogy called His Dark Materials, by the author Phillip Pullman. The other two books are called "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass." It follows the story of a girl named Lyra, who exists in a world similar to, but not exactly like, our own. I won't spoil any of the plot, but I will say that divinity and the supernatural are the focuses of the trilogy, as well as exploration and explanation of the unknown.

The book series is amazing, and I'd recommend it. But as for the movie, I haven't gone to see it yet, so what's everyone's opinion?

From what I can see in the commercials, the actress playing Lyra (I can't think of her name right now) seems a bit too young for the part (particularly for the final book in the trilogy, but by then she'll have grown significantly anyway), and things seem a bit...cartoonish. Like, there seems to be a lot of computer-generated graphics and not all that much real acting, but considering what the book consists of, that doesn't surprise me.

I just don't know how realistic and powerful the movie can feel when it's like that, so there's one thing I'm asking.

And this may seem like a strange question, but what of Pantalaimon (I hope I spelled that right; it's been a few years since I read the books)? Does his voice make you want to strangle a kitten or is it actually decent?

And then of course, the computer-generated graphics and animations. How smooth are they, and how noticeably different are they from the real shots? There's only so much you can tell from commercials, you know, which is why I'm asking.

Basically, for anyone who's seen the movie, would you recommend it? And for anyone who's also read the book, how good of an adaptation is it? Will I feel disappointed or does the movie do a pretty good job?

[ninjaKIWI]

I thought the movie was great, but they ended it before when the book ends, which I thought was stupid. otherwise, Amazing movie IMO.

[Relambrien]

Originally Posted by ninjaKIWI

I thought the movie was great, but they ended it before when the book ends, which I thought was stupid. otherwise, Amazing movie IMO.

Really? Wow, that's surprising.

Spoilers:
You mean they didn't show the part where she actually enters the bridge or whatever, leading to that hub world? (Wow, it really has been forever, I can't remember these names or anything)

[TD_m0nster]

i loved the movie. i wouldve loved it just as much if i werent under the influence too. daemons man.... so awesome

[sjoecool1991]

The books are incredibly anti-religion, but the movie is not, odd.
It was ok, in my opinion, it was not really good, but was not bad either.


PS: Whoever did the music is a genius, the music was incredible.

[Squeek]

Ok here's the deal.

Movies should not end on random scenes regardless of their basis on a book. If you're basing it on a series of books, at least get to a point that you can end the movie.

The movie ends right when she's in the airship heading to her father whom she heard will be killed. Stupid.

I have no interest in seeing a second or third movie like this. The entire plot was haphazardly thrown together and most of the time, they just expect us to believe that it's all an original concept.

The main character is never genuinely surprised. It seems right from the get-go that she knows her role and never once questions it. Not only that, but she knows exactly what to do right away. The supporting characters just kind of show up and befriend her immediately, and she's never suspicious of them even after being stabbed in the back twice.

Terrible movie.

[foilman8805]

OMG bear cavalry

[arsonistsgetallthegirls]

Foil!
That's exactly what i was thinking the entire movie!

[devonin]

I had heard that it was nowhere nearly as anti-religion as the books. And here I was hoping for a nice contrast to Chronicals of Catholici....er....Narnia.

[jewpinthethird]

Originally Posted by devonin

I had heard that it was nowhere nearly as anti-religion as the books. And here I was hoping for a nice contrast to Chronicals of Catholici....er....Narnia.

For the record, the Chronicles of Narnia was Protestant, not Catholic. Lord of the Rings was catholic.

[sjoecool1991]

Well, in The Golden Compass, the evil organization was obviously supposed to be the Roman Catholic Church, which was really like that, trying to rule everything they could.

[Relambrien]

So basically, the movie has been "kiddiefied" so as to appeal to younger people? With the lack of believable character behavior (according to Squeek), and the elimination of the anti-religion aspect of the book (according to sjoecool), that's all I can think of. Pretty animations, epic cavalry, and a loosely-defined story without any real deep meanings? Sounds like they took a leaf out of Naruto's book.

[Reach]

I liked it.

I haven't read the book. Although I would definitely say it was a very good movie, it could have been *very very* good if they had have given it some more time. Especially early in the movie, it was too fast, jumping back and forth a little too much for my liking. Another 30 minutes or so would have made the pace much nicer, as many parts of the movie were really good, and the plot was good.

[Xx{Midday}xX]

Never watched the movie. Cried during the resolution of the Amber Spyglass. According to crowd around here, the book is better.

[Relambrien]

Originally Posted by Xx{Midday}xX

Cried during the resolution of the Amber Spyglass.

I read the whole series in seventh grade, and I cried too, or came very close to it.

Spoliers:
So tragic that Lyra and Will couldn't be together. Stupid Dust leakage/Specter creation/window for dead people. Oh well, midsummer's day at noon, right?