The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ben Walker, Freddie Highmore
directed by: Chris Weitz
directed by: Chris Weitz
List Price: $34.99
as of 09/02/2010 13:08 EDT
Amazon.com's Price: $31.49
You Save: $3.50 (10%)as of 09/02/2010 13:08 EDT
Product Description:
After a mysterious golden compass falls into her hands, a young girl learns she must enter a parallel universe to lead a fight against evil forces.
Amazon.com:
A fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia film franchises, The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe where each human's soul is embodied in a companion animal called a daemon. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who's lived most of her life among the scholars at Oxford, is intrigued when her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), announces his plans to travel north to investigate the source of some mysterious particles called Dust. Lyra has little hope of following her uncle until a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, at her most icily beautiful) asks Lyra to travel north as her personal assistant. All is not as it seems, however, and the disappearance of Lyra's friend Roger (Ben Walker) sets her on a dizzying adventure. She does have an alethiometer, or golden compass, that can help her see the truth, and a number of companions, including her shape-shifting daemon, Pantalaimion (voiced by Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), polar-bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Craig's Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green). Even before its release, The Golden Compass was the subject of controversy over its perceived anti-religious themes. While it does involve an oppressive institution called the Magisterium, it's not overtly religious, particularly to a young viewer. The movie's PG-13 rating should be taken seriously, however. Suitable for an older audience than Narnia (though younger than The Lord of the Rings), it deals with complex concepts, violence (though largely bloodless) and implied death, children and animals in peril, and an unrelentingly ominous and unsettling mood.
Despite a few changes and rearrangements, the overall plot of the movie is remarkably faithful to its source material, the first installment of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It doesn't finish the book, however, and--much like The Fellowship of the Ring did--leaves the viewer hanging in anticipation of the next film, The Subtle Knife, due in 2009. So even though The Golden Compass is impressive--especially with its spot-on cast and terrific visual effects--we probably won't know its full emotional impact until the story is complete.--David Horiuchi
After a mysterious golden compass falls into her hands, a young girl learns she must enter a parallel universe to lead a fight against evil forces.
Amazon.com:
A fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia film franchises, The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe where each human's soul is embodied in a companion animal called a daemon. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who's lived most of her life among the scholars at Oxford, is intrigued when her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), announces his plans to travel north to investigate the source of some mysterious particles called Dust. Lyra has little hope of following her uncle until a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, at her most icily beautiful) asks Lyra to travel north as her personal assistant. All is not as it seems, however, and the disappearance of Lyra's friend Roger (Ben Walker) sets her on a dizzying adventure. She does have an alethiometer, or golden compass, that can help her see the truth, and a number of companions, including her shape-shifting daemon, Pantalaimion (voiced by Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), polar-bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Craig's Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green). Even before its release, The Golden Compass was the subject of controversy over its perceived anti-religious themes. While it does involve an oppressive institution called the Magisterium, it's not overtly religious, particularly to a young viewer. The movie's PG-13 rating should be taken seriously, however. Suitable for an older audience than Narnia (though younger than The Lord of the Rings), it deals with complex concepts, violence (though largely bloodless) and implied death, children and animals in peril, and an unrelentingly ominous and unsettling mood.
Despite a few changes and rearrangements, the overall plot of the movie is remarkably faithful to its source material, the first installment of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It doesn't finish the book, however, and--much like The Fellowship of the Ring did--leaves the viewer hanging in anticipation of the next film, The Subtle Knife, due in 2009. So even though The Golden Compass is impressive--especially with its spot-on cast and terrific visual effects--we probably won't know its full emotional impact until the story is complete.--David Horiuchi
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- FAKE advertisement!
The Shipping was extremely slow and half week after estimated date, but what really bothers me is that it does not come with the golden extra cover, which was the main reason why I decided to ordered it from Amazon,It only came in a bloody standard blu-ray chase that does not even has the same picture as they announce it. Too cheap looking. This is the second time that they do not deliver the product as they show in their pictures and the last time that I order in Amazon!
Rating:
- Wonderful fantasy
Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is an orphan (or so she has always supposed) being reared and schooled at Oxford's Jordan College in a world where the technology is mostly late-Victorian, the clothing roughly 1920's, and the composition of human beings unique unto itself--each person has a "daemon," an incarnation of his or her soul and conscience that assumes the form of an animal (and for the first 10 or 15 years can switch between shapes at will--Lyra's Pantalaimon, known as "Pan," usually ... Read More
Rating: - a true mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses
**1/2
Based on the novel by Philip Pullman (the first of a trilogy), "The Golden Compass" takes us to a parallel universe where humans mind-meld with shape-shifting creatures known as daemons, children are kidnapped and "re-programmed" to live without those daemons, and society is ruled by a mysterious, all-powerful Magisterium that tells people what they are to think and how they are to live.Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is a feisty young orphan whose uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), ... Read More
Rating:
- Been a looong time since I couldn't finish a movie...
OK, for starters, automatic one star off for any movie with CGI talking animals. I've always believed that the ability to make animal's lips move does not preclude the need for good storytelling. And this movie has attention-deficit storytelling. This thing jumps all over the place. Since this film is aimed squarely at youth, it leaves little question as to the origin of "Attention Deficit Disorder" in kids. But then, the drug companies makes millions selling a drug to pill-craving Americans to "cure" ... Read More
Rating: - Not Just For Children
This movie, though targeted to younger children, is a great fantasy which many adults would enjoy.Just seeing the glamorous Nicole Kidman playing the role of a villian and Sam Elliott with his trademark, slow and comforting drawal, made watching a delight.I was raised on talking animals like Bambi, Buggs Bunny during the early Disney era and I found the "animals-as-people's souls", in The Golden Compass, quite more intriguing.The script and animation of the souls expressed each individual's character ... Read More
- FAKE advertisement!The Shipping was extremely slow and half week after estimated date, but what really bothers me is that it does not come with the golden extra cover, which was the main reason why I decided to ordered it from Amazon,It only came in a bloody standard blu-ray chase that does not even has the same picture as they announce it. Too cheap looking. This is the second time that they do not deliver the product as they show in their pictures and the last time that I order in Amazon!
Rating:
- Wonderful fantasyLyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is an orphan (or so she has always supposed) being reared and schooled at Oxford's Jordan College in a world where the technology is mostly late-Victorian, the clothing roughly 1920's, and the composition of human beings unique unto itself--each person has a "daemon," an incarnation of his or her soul and conscience that assumes the form of an animal (and for the first 10 or 15 years can switch between shapes at will--Lyra's Pantalaimon, known as "Pan," usually ... Read More
Rating:
- a true mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses**1/2
Based on the novel by Philip Pullman (the first of a trilogy), "The Golden Compass" takes us to a parallel universe where humans mind-meld with shape-shifting creatures known as daemons, children are kidnapped and "re-programmed" to live without those daemons, and society is ruled by a mysterious, all-powerful Magisterium that tells people what they are to think and how they are to live.Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is a feisty young orphan whose uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), ... Read More
Rating:
- Been a looong time since I couldn't finish a movie...OK, for starters, automatic one star off for any movie with CGI talking animals. I've always believed that the ability to make animal's lips move does not preclude the need for good storytelling. And this movie has attention-deficit storytelling. This thing jumps all over the place. Since this film is aimed squarely at youth, it leaves little question as to the origin of "Attention Deficit Disorder" in kids. But then, the drug companies makes millions selling a drug to pill-craving Americans to "cure" ... Read More
Rating:
- Not Just For ChildrenThis movie, though targeted to younger children, is a great fantasy which many adults would enjoy.Just seeing the glamorous Nicole Kidman playing the role of a villian and Sam Elliott with his trademark, slow and comforting drawal, made watching a delight.I was raised on talking animals like Bambi, Buggs Bunny during the early Disney era and I found the "animals-as-people's souls", in The Golden Compass, quite more intriguing.The script and animation of the souls expressed each individual's character ... Read More
