The Golden Compass (DVD)

...night I decided to give the Golden Compass a go. Released in December 2007 this film was based on Phillip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' books. There was a huge amount of hype and publicity surrounding the release of this film but did it live up to it's hype? In my opinion no! ==The Plot== In this film humans souls are carried outside the body in the form of an animal called a 'demon'. These demons take many forms ranging from dogs to rats and accompany ...
...are portrayed in the film as each humans best friend. The Golden Compass is based around the story of a young orphaned girl called Lyra who resides at a college in Oxford. Many of the local children have been mysteriously disappearing and Lyra tells stories of Gobblers who she believes are responsible. Lyra's uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) is with Lyra at the college at the start of the film but he departs on a voyage to the Artic Circle to find ...

withers1979 22.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...world where people's souls take the form of animal companions known as daemons, so they are never alone. Lyra is an orphan living at Jordan College, Oxford. When her best friend Roger disappears, she knows it is the work of the mysterious Gobblers and is determined to find him. She decides to do so with or without the help of her mysterious uncle Lord Asriel or the enigmatic Mrs Coulter. But Lyra is a very special young girl whose abilities are wanted ...
...in order to get to the frozen north. There she encounters mysteries that lie at the very heart of the human soul… Writer-director Chris Weitz has had a varied career that has included gross-out comedy with "American Pie" and Hugh Grant vehicle "About a Boy". So he seemed an odd choice to helm this fantasy adventure. I had serious reservations about his involvement, but I must admit he has acquitted himself admirably. He has created an entire world ...

afy9mab 09.12.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

The Golden Compass is based on the book Northern Lights by Philip Pullman , the first in a triology called His Dark Materials. I read all three books quite a few years ago so I was very interested to see how the story would be depicted on screen. It is a good adaptation but when you consider that the film is only 113 minutes long and the book has about 450 pages, there is obviously quite a lot that is missed out or skimmed over! You don't have to ...
...although for me, having read the book first added to my enjoyment of the film. I think that some people might find the film a bit confusing without this background knowledge. The story is set in a parallel universe which in many ways looks exactly like our own. One major difference though is that everyone has their own daemon. This is their soul which, rather than being on the inside, accompanies them everywhere and takes the form of a creature. ...

kingfisher111 15.02.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...to see this film at the cinema with virtually no preconceptions apart from what I had seen on a trailer at a previous film. Normally I know a good bit about where the story came from and who I was going to be watching on screen but this time I just went and saw it as a movie. We went as a family, age range of five to fifteen to us oldies so I think I have a pretty good idea of what the film means to different ages, more on later. To the story:- ...
...are two ways of watching the film, firstly as a journey through a fantasy world, a most enjoyable flight on the wings of imagination. Or there is the analytical way, looking at the antiestablishment, anti religious undertones, something that would go over the heads of younger viewers and not a few older ones as well perhaps. Of course the third way would be to know the backdrop but ignore it and enjoy the film just as a story. Perhaps the third way ...

docpov 17.12.2007 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...film, “The Golden Compass” with the prowling and flapping and slithering and fluttering. The animals, most of which are called daemons and are manifestations of the human soul, hover at the side of their people and near the story’s edge, where their coos and barks mix with the surrounding clatter and clangs. Sometimes an animal leaps forward in alarm, its fur raised in alarm, its feathers fluttering in flight. “The Golden Compass”, a novel that ...
...great storyline, and interesting characters. The main character is Lyra Belacque who embarks on the hero’s journey with her shape-shifting daemon, named Pantalaimon. Pantalaimon is a friendly daemon, yet he is a courageous and determined daemon at the same time. This film is based around Lyra and her sophisticated daemon finding Lyra’s best friend Roger as he has been kidnapped, as well as children all over the globe. Lyra gets given a special ...

darkwind160 08.06.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...worlds. As with anything unknown the discovery is feared and many of those aware of it's' existence want it destroyed and kept secret. Along her journey, Lyra meets an array of wondrous creatures some good who wish her well and offer their help, others not so good who are intent on hindering her on her quest. With the help of a golden compass only a select few are able to read to guide her on her way Lyra sets off on the adventure of a life time. ...
...only 12 years old at the time of filming, and you certainly see no signs of this being her very first acting job. She commands the viewer's attention with her performance and she challenges us to feel her struggles and triumphs as she experiences them. It is a testament to her talent that, when sharing camera time with the likes of Sam Elliot or in fact Nicole Kidman, she steals the focus. I look forward to seeing more from this bright star Nicole ...

ally2kc 06.01.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

The Golden Compass is the 2007 film directed by Chris Weitz based on Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials: Northern Lights. The Plot In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua is a mischievous girl under the tuition of the Master of Jordan College, Oxford, sent there by her uncle, Lord Asriel, intrepid explorer. She overhears a presentation by her uncle about 'Dust', a mysterious substance which seems to be entering via another world and floating ...
...people. Asriel's findings go against the Magisterium, followers of the Authority, and are considered heretic. Meanwhile, children are disappearing, taken by the Gobblers, and, when Lyra finds out that Dust and the missing children are all rumoured to be in the North, in Svalbard, home of the Armoured Polar Bears, she sets off on an adventure with the Gyptians, fleeing from the sinister Mrs Coulter, and in search of the missing children, aided by ...

pmcds 08.05.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...physical body - they take the shape of an animal that walks by their side. These souls are called daemons. When Lyra's best friend is taken by evil Gobblers, an organisation that is responsible for stealing children in order to perform terrible experiments on them - and she herself ends up in the clutches of Mrs. Coulter, a member of this organisation who seems to have a particular interest in her - Lyra manages to escape, and is saved by a clan ...
...given a golden compass by the Master at her school just before her departure with Mrs. Coulter, Lyra discovers, from the Gyptians, its true purpose. Supposedly, the golden compass allows those with the 'gift' to see the truth, to look into the past and the future, and Lyra possesses that 'gift'. During her voyage to the North, Lyra learns how to read the compass, and uses it to help people along the way... including Iorek Byrnison, an armoured bear, ...

GoFigure 13.05.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...few nights ago! The film is centred around a girl called Lyra who is living with her Uncle Asriel (played by Daniel Craig) in a type of boarding school. Lyra along with all the other humans in the film have demons who walk alongside them. The Demons take the form of animals. Lyra is playing with her friends when they here the gobblers coming so they run off home. The gobblers are people who come and take children away and the children are never seen ...
...home and hides in the cupboard as she hears somebody coming. It is here where she manages to save her Uncle's life as one of the members of the Magisterian have poisoned his drink. Lyra hears a conversation about Dust whilst hiding and she is intrigued to know what it is but her Uncle says she is to stay at the school whilst he goes back North to try and investigate the last Dust finding. When Uncle Asriel has gone on his travels Lyra receives a ...

sewbizzie 23.01.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...film and brilliant for all the family to watch. The Plot - The story follows Lyra who lives in another universe where everybody has their own daemons, which are their souls and these are animals. There is a group of people who want to take away children's daemons and do this by snatching them away and separating them from their daemons. Another group want to stop them and Lyra is the only person who can read the Golden Compass which is also known ...
...this to find out where the missing children are to rescue them. There are numerous other events along the way to that all add to this great story! The Characters - I thought the characters were great and the actors and actresses who played them are very good in their roles. Lyra is played as a very inquisitive child who refuses to do as she's told. She is very outspoken and the girl who plays her is very good in her role. Nicole Kidman plays a ...

peteandcesca 29.04.2008 (01.05.2008) · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

To day I went to the cinema to see The Golden Compass. I had no idea what this was about apart from what id seen on the adverts on TV. So I will right the review based only on what I saw on the screen, no extra bits about who made it, the full cast list or how much money it made at the box office, just my honest opinion about what happened on the screen. Here goes, the film is set in a alternate dimension where every one has a demon guide in the ...
...they have no relevance in the film) the land is ruled by the "magistarium" a kind of monarchy who don't want any one to know about other dimensions (like ours) and oppose free thinking. This land is home to talking animal's witches and gyptians (these are like gypsies but like to travel by ship not caravan) amists all this is a young girls called Lyra. She is 12 years old and lives in a boarding school where her rich uncle sent her. She is hard to ...

chappo75 10.12.2007 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

he Golden Compass is the latest fantasy adventure to come our way. Like many of the fantasy films that have come out in recent years (Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia), The Golden Compass was originally a book. The Golden Compass (Northern Lights to many including myself) was the first book in Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials Trilogy. However, I believe it can be said that The Golden Compass did not do justice to its original medium. The ...
...restraints) meaning that some of the less superficial aspects of the story may have been over looked. The setting for The Golden Compass is an alternate world from our own, Jordan in Oxford. It is a world where people have daemons in the form of animals that are similar to our own conscience and soul. The story revolves around a young girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) who lives in Jordan College and is niece of Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig). The ...

shister_not 19.04.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

I watched this for the first time last night, and only because someone had bought it for my children. I'd spent a long time avoiding buying it because I do not like Nicole Kidman one bit. ~What is the Film About~ The film is based on a book called the Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. It revolves around a girl called Lyra in a world not dissimilar to our own, except everyone's souls live in a daemon which manifests itself as an animal. The daemons ...
...her uncle, he travels to the north to find evidence of 'dust'. Then along comes Mrs Coulter who wants to take Lyra under her wing and take her north as well, the school headmaster is reluctant, but eventually agrees that Lyra can go. Before she leaves he gives her an alethiometer (Golden Compass), which only certain people can read. The rest of the story follows Lyra's fight between good and bad, the introduction of Iorek Byrnison, fighting bear, ...

Fiver29 24.12.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

I have not read the book so my review will be based on the film adaptation alone. From the first minutes you are drawn into a parallel world to our own. It is a different world but at the same time it has similar elements to our world. The opening scenes are set in Oxford which brings an element of familiarity and puts you at ease somehow. The audience instantly connects. However, after a few minutes in the film, you start feeling a bit left out. ...
...I was quite taken by the creatures known as "daemons", which are animals (pets really) that reflect the soul of their owners. Some of the characters are interesting like the enigmatic Mrs Coulter played by the divine Nicole Kidman or Iorek Byrnison masterfully voiced by Sir Ian Mc Kellen. But ultimately it was the lack of charisma from the central character Lyra Belacqua as played by Dakota Blue Richards and the badly written script that made me ...

gijoe1974 26.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)

...a film I look into the background afterwards to see what I missed etc. To be honest I'm not going to waste my time with this one! Not to be too unfair there are some ok points to this film but straight away I think it would be so much easier to understand if you have read the book it's based on . I actually think the film is made in such away that it almost expects that you have ,as it doesn't go into much detail at all. You get a little bit of ...
...that's about it. I think the other reason for this is so they can market it to children. A brief summary is that Lyra the main character lives in an alternate universe to ours where the people souls are called daemons and these walk beside them in the form of animals. Children's daemons can shape shift till they find their true form adults cannot. The gobblers are an unknown entity (the film's bad guys) that are kidnapping children, for what reason ...

Tafdog01 17.08.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Golden Compass (DVD)