Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-28
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

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

DVD Description
Based on Philip Pullman's acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy of books, The Golden Compass follows the epic adventure of Lyra through this dimension-crossing family movie.

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 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 armoured 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 armoured 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.

Customer Reviews

Good special effect, poor story.
Great special effects, but not a very good story, looks like it was trying to prop up the poor storyline with the special effets and the actors.
In all a disappointing movie.

What's it all about, then?
I came to The Golden Compass without any expectations, having never read any of Philip Pullman's books. And what did I get? A visually beautiful film (hence the three stars) but one that is fundamentally unsatisfying.

I'm aware that Pullman is immensely popular and his books have been analysed both philosophically and scientifically, so there must be more to them than is apparent here.

The film poses far too many unanswered questions. It was not clear what the "daemons" represented (free will? conscience? Not a literal "soul", surely.....Pullamn is reputedly an atheist) or why it should be considered necessary to separate the children from them. What was the agenda behind the Magisterium's plans? Their world seemed pretty pleasant to me! And how did Daniel Craig's character escape? One minute he's surrounded and outnumbered, the next he's shown holed up somewhere remote, experimenting in a laboratory. We're told "he escaped", but that's really sloppy scripting. Why is Lyra so special, and why does Mrs Coulter behave as she does? What, exactly, is the point of the whole story? Why should we care?

The film (obviously in full expectation of a sequel) finishes virtually in mid-story. Very annoying. I'm not surprised that most Pullman fans seem disappointed with the whole thing. This non-Pullman-fan, expecting something with depth and imagination, was disappointed too

Great Movie!
Just want to share that "The Golden Compass" is one of my favorite movie. I can watch it over and over again and never be bored with it. It's filled with adventure 'till the end. Take a look at it and you will see for yourself.