ROTTEN TOMATOES: Trailer Bulletin: "The Golden Compass"

Trailer Bulletin: "The Golden Compass"

by Scott Weinberg | May 21, 2007

The last time New Line gave us a gigantic fantasy trilogy, things worked out pretty well. Well, here comes the trailer for their next one...

Click right here to check out the rather beautiful trailer for Chris Weitz's adaptation of Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass" ("Northern Lights" if you're in the UK.) It's a pretty cool-looking promotional clip, and one that features ample footage of Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, and a whole lot of nifty-looking effects work.

Also on board the epic adventure flick are Eva Green and Sam Elliott. Plus I've read that the director is a huge fan of the source material, and that often goes a long way towards making a fan-friendly adaptation. No word yet on what will happen with Book 2 ("The Subtle Knife"), but it probably has a lot to do with the "Compass" box office. Guess we'll find out on December 7th.

Source: Yahoo! Movies

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(1-13 of 13 posts) | Reply

Skankyoldwhore writes:
on May 21 2007 11:26 PM

John Hurt, Eric Bana and Kevin Bacon are not in this movie. You would think RT would know to check the facts. The studio denied their involvement last year when some publications copied and pasted Eva Green's interview of about 6 months old at the time when she named these actors as being in "consideration for some roles".

(Reply to this)

mbrocchi writes:
on May 22 2007 01:51 AM

Damn... I was getting quite excited about the prospects of seeing a movie with those actors along with Nicole involved.. reeked of quality.

(Reply to this)

Xhrix writes:
on May 22 2007 06:51 AM

It looks like overused CGI. I know nothing about the book, but the trailer didn't appeal to me at all

(Reply to this)

Scott Weinberg writes:
on May 22 2007 08:31 AM

Thanks for the correction, Skank. I'll try harder if you work on your manners. ;)

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Hot_Soup writes:
on May 22 2007 10:56 AM

[b]hey[/b]
Xhrix, it's a good book, they kill God in the 3rd one, oh yeah, spoiler

(Reply to this)

paperairplanes writes:
on May 22 2007 01:16 PM

I love the books, they're right up there with the Harry Potter series, but the trailer doesn't look that good, actually. The CGI does look over done. However, I do hope they make "The Subtle Knife," because that one was my favorite.

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SplendidIsolation writes:
on May 22 2007 03:14 PM

Indirectly relating a movie to a more popular francise (LOTR) is not going to get me to see this.

(Reply to this)

RexLaboro writes:
on May 22 2007 03:31 PM

[b]hhhmmm, What's this?[/b]
Looks like: The Phantom of the Potter Pirates in the Labyrinth of Narnia. Kewl.

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Bane Of Anubis writes:
on May 22 2007 03:33 PM

[b]Underimpressed[/b]
Just started reading this book b/c I'd heard it was Harry Potter-esque with more of an adult theme/orientation. So far, it seems like the author's trying too hard to be clever. The plotting and pacing are well done, but the intentional ambiguity in the writing/plotline/background is overutilized. Hopefully the movie does a better job of holding intrigue while maintaining a sensical flow.

(Reply to this)

LampEft writes:
on May 22 2007 05:36 PM

Sweet. Really looking forward to this, as the trilogy is one of my favorites series of fantasy books. Yeah, the CGI does look a bit overdone, but it's still early yet. It can, hopefully, be quite refined over the next 5 months or so.

(Reply to this)

Metafact writes:
on May 22 2007 07:55 PM

I love the books, but as far as films go, I think New Line dropped the ball on this potential franchise. Everyone is going to think (justifiably) that this is just another attempt to replicate the results of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Honestly, His Dark Materials should not be emphasizing snazzy visual effects. The books were fascinating and quite thought-provoking, but it looks as though that will be watered-down in favor of making a carbon copy of all the other fantasy epics made before it.

Shame, could have been awesome.

(Reply to this)

RexLaboro writes:
on May 24 2007 07:27 PM

Attaching the Lord of the Rings to the advertisement does the film a disservice. Its an unecessary distraction that kinda insults your intellegence. I think the film could gain peoples interest without trying to piggy-back an established property. Once the film has start going on its own, maybe THEN NewLine cenima can give themselves props for having a great trilogiy on their roster and a new one developing. Lord of the Rings are the best films I ever seen and I never heard of the Golden Compass but I'm interested in it. You dont need to flip the ring to get my attention with this film. Probably wont hurt the film but you probably dont want people rolling their eyes either when presenting your trailer. When all of this is done, my top dvd pile is going to be full of fantasy.

(Reply to this)

Morpheus X writes:
on Aug 12 2007 01:09 PM

In reply to this comment (#866345)
Agreed. The series is a great piece of fantasy/sci fi which had enough substance to stand on it's own. There was plenty to love about it and many directions they could have taken this project in to give it more depth and majestic breadth without turning it into another CGI-focused affair like LOTR. Drawing a comparison creates a certain kind of expectation and forces them to try to imitate.

I love 3D animation and special effects as much as the next guy but it's the underlying storyline and relationships that made the series the "last great fantasy masterpiece of the 20th century" as critics raved.

They really should not try to turn this into a special effects tour de force like the disastrous Star Wars prequels.
Some things - such as daemons, flying zepplins, the Witches, the Subtle Knife cutting windows into the other worlds and the armored bears, etc - yes, you'll need special effects for.
But much of the rest should be focused on the complex storyline and the prophesy which Lyra's is a part of.

This is good material - much better than the Narnias books, which I read as a child and re-read several years ago. They are fluffy with adjectives and little else in the way of substance or storyline.

His Dark Materials is controversial in a huge way, which is why they're omitting the church/Christian church references as the main source of evil in this movie.

In every imaginable sense, the series is a repudiation of the underpinnings of the Narnian stories, as it stands for the exact opposite.

This is a movie that deserves to be made WELL. Let's hope they grow some balls and brains before launch date.

(Reply to this)

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