List Price: $28.98You Pay Only: $16.99 You Save: $11.99 (41%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0794043120114
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: New Line Home Video
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: New Line Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Running Time: 113 minutes
Sales Rank: 1197
Studio: New Line Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: December 07, 2007
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
A fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia film franchises, The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe where each human's soul is embodied in a companion animal called a daemon. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who's lived most of her life among the scholars at Oxford, is intrigued when her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), announces his plans to travel north to investigate the source of some mysterious particles called Dust. Lyra has little hope of following her uncle until a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, at her most icily beautiful) asks Lyra to travel north as her personal assistant. All is not as it seems, however, and the disappearance of Lyra's friend Roger (Ben Walker) sets her on a dizzying adventure. She does have an alethiometer, or golden compass, that can help her see the truth, and a number of companions, including her shape-shifting daemon, Pantalaimion (voiced by Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), polar-bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Craig's Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green). Even before its release, The Golden Compass was the subject of controversy over its perceived anti-religious themes. While it does involve an oppressive institution called the Magisterium, it's not overtly religious, particularly to a young viewer. The movie's PG-13 rating should be taken seriously, however. Suitable for an older audience than Narnia (though younger than The Lord of the Rings), it deals with complex concepts, violence (though largely bloodless) and implied death, children and animals in peril, and an unrelentingly ominous and unsettling mood.
Despite a few changes and rearrangements, the overall plot of the movie is remarkably faithful to its source material, the first installment of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It doesn't finish the book, however, and--much like The Fellowship of the Ring did--leaves the viewer hanging in anticipation of the next film, The Subtle Knife, due in 2009. So even though The Golden Compass is impressive--especially with its spot-on cast and terrific visual effects--we probably won't know its full emotional impact until the story is complete. --David Horiuchi
Product Description:
In a wondrous parallel world where witches soar the skies and Ice Bears rule the frozen North a young girl sets out on a quest to save her friend.System Requirements:Running Time: 113 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 794043120114 Manufacturer No: 1000037811
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Deez Movie Review
This movie is fantastic! The screen writers followed the book as closely as possible. There are a few minor changes but nothing that altered the storyline. If you haven't read the books, read them because they will explain some of what you see in the movie and prepare you for future movies in the series.
Rating:  - A complete waste of time
This movie is real dull, without much of a plot or story. The worst thing of all is that THERE IS NO CONCLUSION. A real ripoff. I guess they expect us to wait with baited breath for a sequel to finish the story? There were also some good actors totally wasted in this drivel, like Christopher Lee and Derek Jacoby. I also wasn't expecting this to be children's movie, but that is what it is. Oh, by the way, they ripoff Chronicles of Narnia. They wish they were 1/100th as good as Narnia. Even the voice of the ice bear was a ripoff of the talking lion of Narnia.
Rating: - The big story about nothing
In some (nearly) parallel universe, things are quite different. Human beings walk alongside their "demons", almost tangible avatars of their souls. The war between church and academia (irrational faith and enlightened reason) has virtually been lost to the "Magisterium", a workable stand-in for organized religion. The only hope for freedom is an understanding of "dust", some quasi-cosmic substance that flows into humans through their demons. The Magisterium sees Dust as a threat to their rule (if only because it's not found in their scriptures, and nothing that powerful can remain outside their control) and plans both covertly and in the open to cut man off from it.
Lyra Belacqua, a precocious 12 year older living in some otherworldly version of Oxford, finds herself at the crossroads of this conflict. Her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) mounts an expedition to the North where the Aurora Borealis reveals a cascade of Dust flowing to a man through his demon. Marissa Coulter (Nicole Kidman in seduction-overdrive), an agent of The Magisterium, takes an extreme interest in Lyra and offers to take her on an expedition North. Before leaving (and once Coulter's odiousness has clearly emerged from her charming demeanor) the master of her school gives her the last remaining Alethiometer - the Golden Compass - an instrument which she doesn't understand. The master's commands are simple - keep it secret, keep it safe. It is only after Coulter virtually imprisons Lyra in her London ... Read More
Rating: - If you like CGI
If you want a clean movie the whole family can watch and enjoy, this one fills the bill. If you appreciate CGI, don't miss this movie. It has some of the best CGI of any movie I have ever watched. You will have a hard time believing the animals and birds that accompany the characters in the movie are not real. The bonus DVD that accompanies the movie is almost as entertaining as the movie and if you are curious as to how such movies are made, maybe more interesting!
Rating: - Clever But Confusing
I found the animated animal spirit companions to the human characters extremely enchanting. I thought the computer animated renderings of the animals were very beautiful and believable. But I agree with some of the
other reviewers in their assessment of the plot. Unless having read the book first (and I haven't), it's difficult to determine exactly what "dust" is, what threat it holds, and the purpose of the Coulter character and her vendetta against children. I also found the fights between the bears and the other animals to be quite violent, as was the scene where Coulter slapped her daemon so hard he flew across the room. I realize children are exposed to far more violence than this in films today, but I think it warrants comment. The acting was decent, but not a stretch for any of the performers involved. The ending, not surprisingly, left the heroine on a continuation of her journey to reunite with her uncle, which undoubtedly calls for a sequel. Perhaps the second installment will do a better job of clarifying many of the shadows cast in this first film.
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