I feel as though it stole most of the spirit and soul of the original book. The discrepancies between it and the book really did bother me. Somehow in the end it still managed to be semi-entertaining despite my annoyances however.
i watched this movie because when i saw the front cover...with the polar bear on it!! the polar bear reminded me of World Of Warcraft and ever since i watched it i adored it ever since! it is such a breathtaking exciting film!
I really enjoyed this movie. I hope the next two films are as good and the characters remain as cool as they have been. Like the Lord of the Rings, this is fantasy at it's best, and this is just beginning.
I really enjoyed this movie, certainly one for the whole family and the ending certainly left it open for a sequel, hopefully there is one :). If so, I can't wait to see the continuation of The Golden Compass.
Highly enjoyable movie for those who like fantasy films [moi!] - the visual effects and settings were very cool & great performances from Dakota Blue Richards & Nicole Kidman.
The story left me wondering a little (haven't read the books & I'm guessing they had to pick & choose how much detail they could fit into the movie).
The ending was abrupt and unexpected but then you know there's going to be a sequal.. which I now really want to see!
Overall Excellent Movie, one for all the family!
I was thoroughly unimpressed with this film. The best character was the armored bear. The story, I thought, was not very well thought out - scattered and hard to follow. And the ending? Suffice it to say that what could have been the best part (Lyra reuniting with her father and going on to save ALL the worlds) was sadly omitted.
As far as the "Anti-religion, anti-God" aspect some people saw in this film. I don't see that. I saw it as more anti-men trying to play God, by controlling the will of other men. Maybe I'm way off on this, but I'm glad I didn't pay $9 to see this in the theater.
Not quite as good as I thought it would be. The tension seems to be missing in these fantasy movies, though the whole 'war against religion' theme is well worth exploring.
I've read, and reread all three books, starting with The Golden Compass at age 13.
Where to start? Much MUCH better than I expected this to be handled; I was very relieved, trust me. I'd always wondered who they would cast as Serafina Pekkala (though in the books SHE is blonde and Mrs. Coulter has BLACK hair!) and Eva Green could not have been more perfect. The cast of actors, really, is perfect, and Lyra's accent even has the "en't" I was hoping to hear.
The knife scene - I was crying. While most people point to the atheist connotations (and to be sure, there are), I personally feel that the main point of the movie is that the Authorities choose not only to ignore, but encourage and support rampant child abuse. I live in Ontario, Canada, and that is one of Ontario's biggest, darkest, dirtiest secrets. Maybe that is why I identify with both the movie and the books so well.
But... at the same time... It feels like there was some small little thing missing from it, and I don't know what...
Have you ever wondered what your daemon is? I know mine! :D
Don't ever believe the hype (or star power). This movie was well made and well acted. I do have to say that I am just about over the special effects of this computer age (I digress). I felt cheated really, the story did not have an ending. Even if it was a chapter. I can tell this was made for one purpose,$$$$. Sequel and another hype job. Over it really. Would not see any others.
Apparently it's good if you haven't read the books but I thought it was quite disappointing. They just skimmed over everything briefly, tamed the religious storyline down and they cut off the whole end of the book!!!? Why!??? Grrrrr!
EDIT: Watched it again and it's much worse than I remembered. 3 stars? No way - how could they ruin such a good book like that??? How??? And that little girls acting - eurghh! Not just her though but she is the main character so it's most noticably horrid with her *cringe* This movie is quite possibly the most annoying film ever made. Worse than grrrr - it makes me want to throw stuff through the TV and claw my eyes out and ram a fork through my ears. HOW!!!!! COULD!!! THEY!!!!????????? AAARRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
This movie was horrible. The previews made it look interesting, but I lost interest as soon as it came on. I thought there would be more excitement. I was very bored. However, I am a big fan of Nichole Kidman. She played her role very well.
I found this movie to be very entertaining. I love the armored bears. Nicole Kidman was suitably intimidating. It is visually stunning. My only gripe is that if they did not make enough money to warrant making sequels then the film is pointless and doesn't stand on it's own at all. It has a to be continued kind of ending. Hopefully they will at least make one more to wrap it up. I feel I will enjoy this series much more than Narnia which it is often compared to.
Resoundingly not that bad. despite some awfully bad buzz and the prospect of ruining one of the more defining books of my early teenage years, i came into this expecting the very worst.
I am relieved to say that it is mostly okay, even great. it just ends awfully, shrinks away from any form of semi-realistic violence and plot holes like a sieve.
Lyra's casting is absolutely astoundingly perfect, as is much of the casting. Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee seemed to be severely wasted on this film, but their prescence was great. Ian McKellen could have been avoided though... far too obvious and cliche nowadays.
The digital effects are obvious but entirely stunning in several sequences. big props.
It did seem quite short. can't really understand what was thought to be wrong with the book's ending.
all in all, I just really hope they go on to adapt the next two books in a totally uncompromising fashion, despite the poor box-office returns on this one.
This was a great family movie, great actors. One of a very few that I actually watched 2 times. I hope that they will do a sequl a s I have heard the book series is very good.
one word once again stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupid !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i mean trying to kill god are they crazy he is the most almighty thing that ever lived and thats the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it was no doubt real interestin but wht was disappointin was da fact tht it had an incomplete ending.. wch was a bit frustrating.. otherwise dakota as anew actress gave promises 2 a gd career ahead of her
horrible, violent, does not explain what is really going on, you don't know whether they are telling the truth or not?? very confusing make no sense and does not end.