DVD : The Golden Compass [2007]

Rating: - Better than you might have expected!
Forgive me for reviewing the reviewers, but some comments here seem pretty disingenuous. Yes, the book is unquestionably better than the film, but it's still a good effort and difficult to imagine a better job being done with material that most certainly doesn't lend itself to the big screen (it's actually pretty faithful to the plot, all things considered.) This is not a film that pulls many of its punches - only the extremes, like the bear fight. The narrated introductions might be annoying to some, but allowing for the fact that not everybody would have read the books, what else could they have done?

Pullman himself is quoted as saying that ending the film three chapters before the end of the book was dramatically the right move, especially given the expectations for a happy ending from Hollywood financiers. OK, I can live with that - so long as they make the second and third films!

And surely nobody could quibble about the special effects or the cast: Nicole Kidman is deliciously menacing, Dakota Blue Richards strikes the right note for Lyra, and a fine cast of supporting actors deliver the goods throughout.

So, not perfect but a pretty reasonable translation of a very complex and far-reaching world created by Pullman. Bring on part 2!

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Rating: - the worst film ever!!!!!!!!!!!
I am a hudge movie fan and i never have seen a film that i can not stand until now. The spechial effects where good so was the acting,but however the story was boring the charecters where pointless and i think the ending to this film was the worst ending in the world,it semed like it stoped when the film was half way threw,i no there is a sequell like harry potter but at least they have endings.This film is one word avoid!

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Rating: - Hollywood's Deathbed Cry!
This is a perfect example of inept film making at its worst and the blame has to lie at the feet of the Director. He obviously has no experience directing Actors and the sorry performances attest to it. I could not believe that this wealth of acting talent could uniformly deliver such appalling performances. From Tom Courernay to Nicole Kidman the acting is terrible.

The worst performances, if that is possible, are by the child cast. Dakota Blue Richards is a very bad actor. Period.

This type of mess is typical of what Hollywood has been producing since the new millennium and is the main reason that less DVDs are sold and less people go to the cinema. It is not because of file sharing or pirate DVDs, it is because the product produced by Hollywood is of such an low standard that people are finding or making their own entertainment.

This is proof that the people in charge at the Hollywood studios are ignorant and out of step with what the public wants. They need to be replaced by artists or else Hollywood dead, if it is not already.

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Rating: - Fascinating movie
Great cast. Well filmed. This is a sort of movie you can watch over and over again. It grabs attention and keeps it till the end.

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Rating: - Childrens Film which the whole family will enjoy!
You have to remember this is a CHILDRENS FILM. Yes it could have been better, but then it would have been a 15 rated film as it would have been to scary for the children that it was aimed at. The acting is great, there is excitment, so much that my 6 year old and 7 year old where on the edge of their seats (yes really!) The special effects are not to be sniffed at, a lot better than some of the recent offerings that have recently been out.
I have to confess, when I read the reviews it sounded a lot scarier and not suitable for children, the film distributors realised this and did some speedy editing (I would imagine)so I would love to have seen the version that the newspaper reviewers all saw, prior to the editing and the change of age rating.
Still enjoyable fun, if you loved Harry Potter you will love this one, and I hope that they make the next installment!