DVD : The Golden Compass (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)

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The Golden Compass (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ben Walker (IX), Freddie Highmore
directed by: Chris Weitz

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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0794043120114
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: New Line Home Video
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: New Line Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Running Time: 113 minutes
Sales Rank: 1299
Studio: New Line Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: December 07, 2007

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
In a wondrous parallel world where witches soar the skies and Ice Bears rule the frozen North a young girl sets out on a quest to save her friend.System Requirements:Running Time: 113 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 794043120114 Manufacturer No: 1000037811

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

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- The Golden Compass review
I hadn't read the novel before the movie, so I enjoyed the condensed version on screen, but my teenaged son lamented that so many parts had been left out from the book. It's nearly impossible to capture the full spirit and flavor of a book, or include all the chapters and details in the movie version, but this tale has plenty of great fantasy fiction and I found it very entertaining. A young girl with a good heart has her determination fully tested when she attempts to rescue her kidnapped friends. ... Read More

Rating:

- Amazing
Pros: Excellent story, amazing animation, fast moving, realistic story given that it seems to be based on a re-mix of our own history.
This is a replacement for Harry Potter since that story (movie sequence) seems to be wrapping up.

Cons: This story is going to span about 3 movies which is a good thing if you don't mind waiting for the remaining films.

Rating:

- In The Not-Too-Distant Future...
Once upon a time, there was a show called Mystery Science Theater 3000. The premise of this show was to take bad movies from bygone days and riff snarky comedy off of them.

Watching MST3k (as it was known by its fans, the MSTies), I was always led to wonder about the original films. For most of them, presumably, there was a day when the movie was taken kind of seriously. I mean, maybe not Manos, but some of those others -- they had writers, directors, and actors who wanted to produce a ... Read More

Rating:

- One of the best and most beautiful fantasy films in a long time!
I absolutely loved this film! Between the narrow-minded religious righters, and the hardcore book fans, this movie was bound to get a lot of negative reviews. But it is smart, well acted, well written, and stunning to watch. Most of all, it is a wonderful and brilliantly thought out mythology. One of the most creative and thorough I have seen.

I find it funny that half the negative reviews say it moved too fast, and the other half say it was too boring. I thought it was just wonderful, ... Read More

Rating:

- Lots of "telling" and no clear character motivation
This movie is fun to watch for the CGI world, and the acting is generally fine, but those are the only good parts. The overall storytelling is terrible, and the characters' motivations are never explained.

It starts in the narration at the beginning when we're told that the Magisterium wants to preserve their truth so they've destroyed all the alethiometers (which reveal hidden truths) and banned the mention of dust. What does the Magisterium fear from dust?? We're never told. And what ... Read More

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