The Golden Compass (2-disc Extended edition)[Blu-ray]

very good film, watched it twice.many thanks

Great film

The film is fine, clearly the books are so much better. It hasnt aged well and the names in the film are sleepwalking their way through the scenes.

The Golden Compass extended's better than the theatrical version.

The film is well directed by Chris Weitz, and he gets an endearing performance from newcomer Dakota Blue Richards. However, New Line Cinema became worried about how the film would perform at the box office in the USA, partly because of the story's anti-religious themes; so it re-edited the film, chopping away a lot of scenes including the story's end, and swapping some scenes around. Weitz lost control of the project, and the film lost much of its coherence. US audiences didn't take to it much, and - despite stronger box office takings overseas - New Line Cinema cancelled its plans to complete the trilogy. Ironically the film received criticism from religious and secular institutions alike. This is the story of how a studio, as is so often the case, destroys a film because of its lack of faith in the film-going public.So the themes of the film, together with some of its characterisations and plot points are a bit of a dog's dinner. The prophesy about Lyra is extremely condensed, taking up about thirty seconds of screen time, meaning that we don't really understand her significance in the film. The full horror and implications of intercision are missing because the religious aspect of it is downplayed. A lot of the supporting roles (e.g. Lee Scoresby, Serafina Pekkala) feel merely like cameos, and much of Daniel Craig's performance as Lord Asriel ended up on the cutting room floor. The action scenes are not balanced by reflection scenes, meaning that we lose interest in what happens to the characters. Why do the Samoyeds take Lyra to the bear-king instead of to the Experimental Station? They are mercenaries after all, and their explanation that she is a 'gift to the bear-king' doesn't really cut it. The ice bridge across the ravine has been used as the passage to Bolvangar when it was clearly originally intended to be used as the passage to Lord Asriel.Why tone down the religious references anyway? Why are they tolerable in book form but not in film? Is it because more people - especially children - watch films than read books? New Line Cinema's self-censorship destroyed The Golden Compass, thereby undermining the freedom of thought/expression that Pullmans' trilogy is all about.None of this was Chris Weitz's fault, and it is a credit to his skill as a director that the film is still watchable and enjoyable.

I all the movie

Please, do not immediately stop reading- I am not the person who watches the films instead of reading the books, and then judges the author for a crap storyline. I usually hate book-movie films, such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings (which were all drivel compared to the books).However The Golden Compass (Northern Lights as the book is called) steps forward as an amazing step to adapting books into films. I personally though the casting was superb- I could easily see and feel which character was which instantaneously. The acting was really good, the special effects were great, and the Daemons were done incredibly well! It was gripping and every aspect, from the sad to the action scenes were amazing.As far as the proper story goes (as in the book), the film follows is almost PERFECTLY. Everything bar TWO scenes in the film were 100% exactly how they were in the book. Even 90% of the key conversations were WORD BY WORD adapted from the book to the film (trust me, straight after I saw the film, I reread the books, and they were bloody identical!I was SO pleased with this film from every minute of it! Looking forward to the next 3 (probably.- this is because I think they are cutting the ending of the book out of the film, and saving it for the next film- so as to make 1 extra film for a bigger franchise? Who knows..?)Anyway, if anyone has kept reading through all of my rambling, hope you found it useful! Cheers all.

This review is of the Bluray Extended 2 disc.There are no additional scenes. It's the theatrical release with some extras, making of etc.The Dark Materials trilogy is a major work of modern fiction and it is hard to see how such a beautifully crafted novel could ever really be made into a movie that reflects the subtle artistry that Pullman gave it. Having said that, this sanitised adventure version is not that bad.Cast is very good, especially the delightful Dakota who almost steps our of the pages of the novel - at least visually.It is a crappy ending like they'd run out of money or were so sure that they were creating the first instalment of a franchise.Weitsz seems sincere as the writer / director and so it may be that the studio pulled a fast one on him with regard to this. Though I would have thought a lover of the books would fight for the integrity of his adaptation.All in all it is a nice looking film, well acted and an enjoyable watch - unless you are a Pullman die-hard, in which case it wil be a species of torture.