The Golden Compass (2007)
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 190
Fresh: 80 | Rotten: 110
Without the bite or the controversy of the source material, The Golden Compass is reduced to impressive visuals overcompensating for lax storytelling.
Average Rating: 5.4/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 23
Without the bite or the controversy of the source material, The Golden Compass is reduced to impressive visuals overcompensating for lax storytelling.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 321,913
Movie Info
A young girl embarks on a perilous journey to rescue her best friend and fight the forces of darkness in director Chris Weitz's adaptation of the first installment of author Philip Pullman's best-selling fantasy trilogy. Screen newcomer Dakota Blue Richards stars as young heroine Lyra Belacqua, Casino Royale star Daniel Craig appears as Lyra's ruthless adventurer uncle, Lord Asriel, and Nicole Kidman assumes the glamorous guise of the villainous Mrs. Coulter. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Cast
-
Nicole Kidman
Mrs. Coulter -
Dakota Blue Richards
Lyra Belacqua -
Daniel Craig
Lord Asriel -
Sam Elliott
Lee Scoresby -
Eva Green
Serafina Pekkala -
Christopher Lee
First High Councilor -
Tom Courtenay
Farder Coram -
Derek Jacobi
Magisterial Emissary -
Ben Walker
Roger -
Adam Godley
Pantalaimon -
Simon McBurney
Fra Pavel -
Jim Carter
John Faa -
Nonso Anozie
Iorek Byrinson -
Charlie Rowe
Iorek Byrinson -
Clare Higgins
Ma Costa -
Jack Shepherd
Master -
Steven Loton
Tony Costa -
Magda Szubanski
Mrs. Lonsdale -
Edward de Souza
Second High Councilor -
John Bett
Thorold -
Ian McKellen
Iorek Byrnison -
Ian McShane
Ragnar Sturlusson -
John Franklyn-Robbins
Librarian -
Freddie Highmore
Pantalaimon -
Jonathan Laury
Younger Fellow -
Kathy Bates
Hester -
Paul Antony-Barber
Bolvangar Doctor -
Kristin Scott Thomas
Stelmaria -
Jason Watkins
Bolvangar Official -
Hattie Morahan
Sister Clara -
Jay Rawlings
Passing Scholar -
Joao de Sousa
Hunt -
Tommy Luther
Daemon Puppeteer
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The Golden Compass Trailer & Photos
All Critics (193) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (110) | DVD (9)
The Catholic League thinks it's anti-Catholic. Admirers of Philip Pullman's 1995 His Dark Materials trilogy think the film guts the backbone of the book. Me, I just think it blows.
Top CriticSome of the material is wildly imaginative, some of it is just kinda silly. But it all looks good, and the kids are likable, [and] Kidman makes for an intriguing villain.
The Golden Compass is a blatant attempt to duplicate the success of the Harry Potter franchise. The only thing missing is richly imagined characters, a comprehensible story line, good acting, and satisfying special effects.
With its rushed, jargon-pumped exposition, surplus of quarter-baked characters, stray narrative strands and generously dropped hints of things possibly to come, The Golden Compass is a movie that wears its franchise ambitions on its sleeve.
Weitz's movie remains ultimately remote. It ends mid-adventure, so blatantly setting the stage for a sequel that the whole thing suddenly feels like a preamble.
An aura of disappointment takes hold midway into Golden Compass and becomes undeniable by the finish.
The Golden Compass isn't bad, it's cast is too good and it's too well made, but something fundamental to good storytelling - heart - has been lost, leaving a final product as icy and impossible to care for as Mrs. Coulter herself.
Excruciating pap
An engaging fantasy adventure that, albeit no masterpiece, is hardly the disaster one might have imagined.
I realize that when you make a book into a movie you cannot include every single detail, but it seems like Weitz purposely tried to take all of the magic out of the story.
This plot may sound somewhat ludicrous on paper, but Pullman has created a logical, well-thought-out world that Weitz has brilliantly translated to the big screen.
This kid film noir touching on magic dust substance abuse, cranky clerics, worrisome wizards, goth grownup child abusers and computer-generated homicidal polar bear throat slashers, is less likely to dazzle the senses than exhaust minds of all ages.
...if I hadn't liked Pullman's books so much, I probably would have liked this movie version more than I did.
Will it be enough to satisfy fans of Philip Pullman's widely read 'His Dark Materials' trilogy? Hard to say. But for the uninitiated this is an engaging adventure, even when Chris Weitz's screenplay lacks the compelling clarity of Pullman's prose.
Sam Elliott shows up as a cowboy, who would normally be a pick-me-up, but with Golden Compass I just wanted to find my direction home.
The Golden Compass should be fun, but it rarely is. It should sweep you away, but it rarely does. For a film suffused with magic, it is, regrettably, far from magical.
No, I didn't read the novel before seeing the film, and nothing in this shimmering disaster made me want to read it, either. Made me hate polar bears, and I used to love the darned things, so that's saying something.
Read this review, skip this movie, and instead read the excellent books. Poor Dakota Blue Fanning is the perfect Lyra in a terrible adaptation.
A beautiful, thought-provoking fantasy film.
Lyra surpasses the timid drone of Pan's Labyrinth or the Pevensies' do-gooder sap, she's brave, smart, and the best liar in the universe.
This Compass points to the end of a would-be franchise.
Suggesting at once Mrs. Coulter's devotion to her Magisterial mission, her fears of soulful and sensual embodiment, and yes, her own split self, her slap-and-hug of her damon all but stops the film's action.
Deus ex machina ... is the only driving force.
koyrastika amihani kai sygkehymeni kritiki sto thriskeytiko systima, den parehei oyte kata dianoia arketo allothi gia toys ano ton 16 na asholithoyn idiaitera me aytin tin yperparagogi, poy ehei aytapates megaleioy tin ora poy pashei sto rythmo kai ti syn
The Golden Compass is an entertaining blend of feisty pre-teen girl heroine, CGI animals both adorable and fierce, and the usual suspects on the human side ...
The Golden Compass bears the brush strokes of a film produced by a committee of people intent on trying to make some money rather than a good movie.
Audience Reviews for The Golden Compass
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Lyra Belacqua: We'll set things right. We will. You, and me, and Iorek, and Serafina Pekkala, and Mr. Scoresby. And my father. We'll set it right, Pan. Just let them try to stop us.
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- Lord Asriel: I propose to discover a world much like our own in a parallel universe.
- Fra Pavel: That is heresy!
- Lord Asriel: That is the truth.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Why is Ian McKellen not included in the cast ? | 4 months ago | 1 |
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Movie: ID: 494046103 Title: The Golden Compass Release Date: 2007-12-07 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 3 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- A la croisée des mondes : la boussole d'or (FR)
