Customer Ratings & Reviews

Since I have not read any of the books related to this movie, I have to judge it based on my experience with the movie, and without any expectations related to the books. Here is one more story about kids who have powers beyond what you and I have, and all of the adults around them give them free rein to do what ever is necessary to move the plot along. Everything about this movie was average, and did little to keep me awake.

Really good movie for adults, but the movie was targeted for kids and proves too hard to understand for kids 14 and under would be my guess. Special edition is slow to develop, so the 12 and 14 year olds lost interest before the plot ever got going.

The concept for the plot was interesting enough and the CGI was OK. The decor in the sets added to the feel of the period, but the ending was a bit abrupt. Not sure I'd sit through a sequel even if they made it.

An entertaining movie, maybe not one of the best, but still fun for the whole family. Good actors, not matched well to the characters, but still pretty good.

I like the movie, my kids didn't so I bought it for me! It was a good price for the kind of movie it is and the fact that it is a blu ray.

I had not seen this in a long while and wanted to see it again. The availability of it in bargain rack meant I could see it again.

My son loves this movie. It's actually pretty good cast. I thought there was suppose to be a sequel.

Here's a film that should be much bigger and bolder than it turned out to be. Released by the now-defunct New Line in the wake of said studio's mammoth success story that was "The Lord of the Rings," Chris Weitz's "The Golden Compass" was obviously engineered to be the heir apparent to Peter Jackson's landmark fantasy franchise (the original teaser trailer began with a golden ring, tossed up into the air, transforming into the golden compass). But despite the best intentions of all involved, "The Golden Compass" fails to capture the qualities of its wonderful source material. What could have been a daring, thought-provoking, and thematically interesting cinematic experience instead devolves into a nice-looking but ultimately flat screen journey. The frustrating part is that there's a good movie in here somewhere. Weitz obviously has the chops to elicit strong performances all around, the script is tight, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the effects are generally impressive - if not wholly convincing. The film also gets bonus points for the pitch-perfect casting of Sam Elliott. But "The Golden Compass" ultimately feels like a product of compromise. The tone of the film is all over the place, several characters lack depth, the dialogue is spotty and often a bit too on the nose, and then there's the ending - it's a tragedy that, despite having been filmed, the conclusion was both left off the film entirely and out of the special features section of the Blu as well. The novel's ending, if included, would have provided the kind of strong, emotional punch that the rest of the film too often lacked. C'est la vie. As far as the Blu-ray set itself: impressive package. Iorek's roar will threaten to shatter your windows and the picture is as clear as when I saw it on the big screen some 5 or 6 years ago. The supplementary package is equally great, with in-depth featurettes on everything from Pullman's conception of the story to the casting of Lyra to the special effects wizardry required to create an admirably convincing fantasy world. A little less compromise and a little more fine-tuning, and "The Golden Compass" may well have been the satisfying blockbuster New Line hoped it would be. Instead, it now sits as one of many post-LOTR misfires with few distinguishing characteristics of its own and a whole lot of potential unrealized.

Good cinematography but made you want to see the entire story if you've read the books!