The Golden Compass (2007)

In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.

Director:

Chris Weitz

Writers:

Chris Weitz (screenplay), Philip Pullman (novel)

Stars:

Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicole Kidman	...	Marisa Coulter
Daniel Craig	...	Lord Asriel
Dakota Blue Richards	...	Lyra 'Silvertongue' Belacqua
Ben Walker	...	Roger
Freddie Highmore	...	Pantalaimon (voice)
Ian McKellen	...	Iorek Byrnison (voice)
Eva Green	...	Serafina Pekkala
Jim Carter	...	John Faa
Tom Courtenay	...	Farder Coram
Ian McShane	...	Ragnar Sturlusson (voice)
Sam Elliott	...	Lee Scoresby
Christopher Lee	...	First High Councilor
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Stelmaria (voice)
Edward de Souza	...	Second High Councilor
Kathy Bates	...	Hester (voice)

Storyline

It was no ordinary life for a young girl: living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing unsupervised through Oxford's motley streets on mad quests for adventure. But Lyra's greatest adventure would begin closer to home, the day she heard hushed talk of an extraordinary particle. Microscopic in size, the magical dust- discovered in the vast Arctic expanse of the North -was rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there were those who feared the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Catapulted into the heart of a terrible struggle, Lyra was forced to seek aid from clans, 'gyptians, and formidable armored bears. And as she journeyed into unbelievable danger, she had not the faintest clue that she alone was destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle...

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Plot Keywords:

friend | children | college | girl | rescue | 

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Taglines:

There are worlds beyond our own - the compass will show the way.

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [fr] Newine Cinema [us]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Icelandic Russian French

Release Date:

7 December 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

La brújula dorada

Filming Locations:

BCE Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$180,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£7,243,984 (UK) (7 December 2007)

Gross:

$70,083,519 (USA) (29 February 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Ingenious Film Partners, Scholastic Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen were cast at the insistence of New Line Cinema executives, who hoped to replicate the studio's success with the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

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Goofs

When Mrs. Coulter is about to deploy the small robotic bugs to seek out Lyra, she says, "They'll seek her out like bees to honey." Bees do not seek out honey, they seek out the nectar and pollen to make honey. Nonetheless, "like bees to honey" is an old expression based on the affinity of many bees for anything sweet, to which those with an unguarded hummingbird feeder can attest.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Serafina Pekkala: There are many universes and many Earths parallel to each other. Worlds like yours, where people's souls live inside their bodies, and worlds like mine, where they walk beside us, as animal spirits we call daemons.
Stelmaria: Are we going to see the child?
Lord Asriel: I should think so.
Serafina Pekkala: So many worlds. But connecting them all is Dust. Dust was here before the witches of the air, the Gyptians of the water, and the bears of the ice. In my world, scholars invented an alethiometer - a golden compass - and it...

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits have rolled up the New Line Cinema logo appears in a golden light (instead of the standard blue light) accompanied by an ice bear's roar

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Connections

Referenced in Starz Inside: Fashion in Film (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Lyra"
Written and Performed by Kate Bush
Featuring The Choristers of Magdalen College Choir, Oxford
Conductor: Bill Ives
With Thanks to Andrew Halls
Kate Bush appears courtesy of Noble and Brite Limited / EMI Records Limited

User Reviews

Impressed and Very Satisfied

I am about 2 thirds of the way through the book when I decided to go to the limited engagement sneak preview of The Golden Compass. I feel that the film exceeded my expectations regardless of the structure change made by the film adaptation.

The story was changed moderately, but not too much to take away from the mood of the book, and was in no way detrimental to the flow of the story. Otherwise, this movie was a roller-coaster ride from beginning to end! The effects exceeded my expectations. The flow of the daemons in the film was almost completely convincing, however there were times when the speech of the animals had that typical "computer animated falseness" that you see in the cg cartoons. Other than some minor CG blemishes, the realism is some of the most convincing I have seen! The polar bear is completely lifelike and the animal morphing I felt was simply spectacular.

The flow of the film is very fast, which is a negative and a positive. While it really leaves us guessing or feeling unfulfilled in some of the crucial story elements, it also sets the pace for an exhilarating fast-paced adventure story that keeps you on the edge! The broad range of characters prevents the film from truly developing the characters that we really WANT to know. Since the book is a 3 part series, hopefully these characters will develop further in the next 2 films.

I must say that there were several parts in this film that surprised me, considering this is marketed as a family film. This is a dark film. This could frighten some small kids. I feel this film definitely belongs in the pg-13 rating, and might even be a bit much for a 13 year old for the more sheltering type parents. Not only can it be conceived as very violent, there are some very adult themes that could be considered questionable.

Overall, this is a film I would like to see again, and I am DYING to see the next film in the series. I walked out of this film excited, satisfied and wanting more. Might want to leave the young ones at home, but you won't regretting fighting for front row seats on a Friday night for this flick.