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Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green ... see more see more... , Christopher Lee , Tom Courtenay , Derek Jacobi , Ben Walker , Adam Godley , Simon McBurney , Jim Carter , Nonso Anozie , Charlie Rowe , Clare Higgins , Jack Shepherd , Steven Loton , Magda Szubanski , Edward de Souza , John Bett , Ian McKellen , Ian McShane , John Franklyn-Robbins , Freddie Highmore , Jonathan Laury , Kathy Bates , Paul Antony-Barber , Kristin Scott Thomas , Jason Watkins , Hattie Morahan , Jay Rawlings , Joao de Sousa , Tommy Luther

A young girl embarks on a perilous journey to rescue her best friend and fight the forces of darkness in director Chris Weitz's adaptation of the first installment of author Philip Pullman's best-sell... read more read more...ing fantasy trilogy. Screen newcomer Dakota Blue Richards stars as young heroine Lyra Belacqua, Casino Royale star Daniel Craig appears as Lyra's ruthless adventurer uncle, Lord Asriel, and Nicole Kidman assumes the glamorous guise of the villainous Mrs. Coulter. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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55% liked it

321,913 ratings

Critics

42% liked it

190 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 53 min.

Directed by: Chris Weitz

Release Date: December 7, 2007

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DVD Release Date: April 29, 2008

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Stats: 39,974 reviews

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Dakota Blue Richards The Golden Compass serfina pecalla Pantalaimon (voiced by Freddie Highmore) in the movie in the movie The Golden Compass. Golden Compass attractive Dakota Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter Daniel Craig THE GOLDEN COMPASS Nicole Kidman-The Golden Compass Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter The Alethiometer from the movie in the movie The Golden Compass. Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Armored Bear The Golden Compass
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Flixster Reviews (39,974)

  • jmanard52
    June 5, 2008
    jmanard52
    Stylish, slick, and unfortunately troubled by another studio forcing a writer and director to try and cut a movie down so its more income friendly. In the end you get some quality acting and some sweet visuals. Heres to the sequel getting a shot.
  • scottgreen96
    March 24, 2012
    scottgreen96
    Its basic, nothing is explored to make this film something that the youth in modern day will enjoy and... They haven't.
  • aquateen2
    March 1, 2012
    aquateen2
    It's deeper, darker, and much more engaging than the likes of fantasies like the Narnia franchise. The Golden Compass is beautifully made with effects that will leave you in awe, backed with impressive acting and a magical and ambitious fantasy storyline that blew my mind. It was... read more never going to be a perfect adaption (it isn't). It's only jaw dropping and incredible if you've never read the books (apparantly), I didn't. The Golden Compass is not a bad movie.
  • phubbs1
    February 9, 2012
    phubbs1
    To be honest I just didn't follow this, its like a cross between 'LOTR', 'Narnia' and 'Harry Potter' and frankly I'm getting so bored of it, there're just all the same. There's nothing new here as its all been done with 'Potter', magical animals, spirits, witches etc I just can't... read more see how it can be rated. Sure the effects are nice and the animals look cool but that's it.
    The cast is pretty awful, or at least Kidman and Craig anyway, the rest is a top notch bunch of English actors but again that has been done with 'Potter' and 'LOTR', its seems to be the same classical English actors repeating themselves in a variety of silly fantasy films. I'm sure kids will like it, maybe, it is long and I think its boring so maybe not. Without knowledge of the book its all double dutch haha and I have never heard of it before the film.

    Best bit was the polar bear fight er...and that's it, I could almost see a legion of elfs and Hobbits coming over the hill hehe 'yawn'.
  • thmtsang
    January 8, 2012
    thmtsang
    Great fantasy movie. A bit like the Chronicles of Narnia - full of talking animals and special effects. Nicole Kidman is her usual frosty self. Daniel Craig didn't feature much in the movie. Children are kidnapped from their families and need to be rescued by the heroine - an orp... read morehan girl with special abilities to read the golden compass. Unfinished ending so definitely open for a sequel.
  • DreamExtractor
    August 1, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    Talking animals, warrior polar bears, magic compasses, clearly supporting atheism, and 2 hours of complete special effects...... what could go wrong, almost everything. In another universe, there is a world far different then our own where a place called the Magisterium plans to... read more take over everything and everyone. In this world people are trusted with a Deamon, a spiritual talking animal that is your trusted partner and whatever injuries happens to your Daemon happens to you. In a college, a young girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) has a daemon named Pan (voice of Freddie Highmore) and a best friend named Roger (Ben Walker). When Roger is taken by people called Gobblers to a place where children are experimented on, Lyra is then taken in by a mysterious woman who seems to have eveyone scared, when the woman turns out to be named Mrs. Coutler (Nicole Kidman) she seems to grow a liking of Lyra and lets her live with her and work with her. When Lyra discover shes in charge of the people who took Roger, she runs away and a group of Gyptians take her in. She begins a long ourney to save her friend, which will end with the truth of her familys history. The plot of the film is probably one of the most ridiculous and stupid stories I have seen in a long time, I don't care if it is based off a book it is still stupid to me, it clearly also is trying to support atheism, for some people that may be fine but as a Catholic I felt insulted when they were comparing the evil Magisterium to the Catholic church which does nothing but try and help people, at least in my opinion I feel this way. The story also is just a ripoff of classic stpries like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and even my personal favorite Harry Potter. The acting wasn't good either in my opinion, although Nicole Kidman plays a interesting villain, the rest of the cast just seemed to be secretly reading a script during their scenes, espically the cowboy guy, I mean WTF? Roger Ebert thought this film was perfect, and much deeper than the Harry Potter and Narnia films, I find this very ignmorant seeing as its 2 hours long and Narnia and Harry Potter films have explored the worlds for many films and even the first films of each of those franchises made a little sense and kids could understand this, im an adult and I might have to watch it twice to understand all the crap they throw at me in this. But even through all that, I will admit the effects are breathtaking, they did deserve the Best Effects Oscar, but I still wish Transformers had won it, but the effects in the film are truly the best thing about it, even the Directors said that in a statement. Overall I disliked the film, but it had amazing effects and Nicole Kidman was a very good villain.
  • erika250
    July 8, 2011
    erika250
    The golden compass was about a girl who went on a journey to save her best friend and to fighting dark forces.
    Pros
    Good plot
    Good acting
    Good Visual Effects
    Cons
    Hard to follow at times
    Dull at times.
  • hunterjt13
    October 17, 2010
    hunterjt13
    Unless Christian critics were complaining about the quality of the film, I don't see why they were so upset. Of course, I see the rather innocuous parallel, which condemns organized mind control, but this could just as likely refer to governmental bodies as it does religious.
    ... read moreRegardless, as a film, The Golden Compass fails to entertain. The major flaw is the script's incredibly expository dialogue. The characters fail to be motivated to speak by any intention except to explain obscure, unimportant details to the narcoleptic audience.
    The ending of the film is worse because very little is resolved. I won't give anything away, but suffice to say that this film only serves to set up a sequel, which I hope will never come.
  • bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    July 29, 2010
    bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    a really imaginative movie. B
  • lewiskendell
    May 18, 2010
    lewiskendell
    An the award for the most boring children's fantasy movie in history goes to...The Golden Compass. And boy, did it earn it.

    How in the world can a movie featuring talking, FIGHTING polar bears, be this dull? The only bit of mild interest came in the beginning, as I was learning ... read moreabout the world and its mythology. After that, it was just a parade of one uninspired and completely predictable scene after another. I'm not asking for some revelatory cinematic experience, but The Golden Compass felt like a movie a that I had already seen fifty times before, and never particularly liked in the first place.

    None of the CGI or special effects were particularly eye-catching, and at times I thought that the armoured bears looked almost bad. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the effects budget was spent on the swirling golden Dust that seemed to pop up every few minutes.

    The majority of the actors seemed completely miscast or incapable. Daniel Craig was ok for the five minutes he was in the film, but to say that Nicole Kidman (who I usually have a strong inclination to like) was on autopilot would be an understatement. The kid they have playing Lyra was decent in some scenes, and completely lost in others. Eva Green was wasted on a throwaway character (though I assume she would have been focused on more in subsequent movies). The rest were a total disaster of odd, cliché, or ridiculous.

    This was the perfect example of how NOT to do a book adaptation. Either The Golden Compass was utterly unsuited to film, or the book was placed in the hands of people who had little idea of what to do with it. I'm leaning towards the latter.

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Critic Reviews

Peter Travers
December 13, 2007
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The Catholic League thinks it's anti-Catholic. Admirers of Philip Pullman's 1995 His Dark Materials trilogy think the film guts the backbone of the book. Me, I just think it blows.

Richard Roeper
December 10, 2007
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

Some of the material is wildly imaginative, some of it is just kinda silly. But it all looks good, and the kids are likable, [and] Kidman makes for an intriguing villain.

Peter Rainer
December 7, 2007
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

The Golden Compass is a blatant attempt to duplicate the success of the Harry Potter franchise. The only thing missing is richly imagined characters, a comprehensible story line, good acting, and sati... Full Review

Geoff Pevere
December 7, 2007
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

With its rushed, jargon-pumped exposition, surplus of quarter-baked characters, stray narrative strands and generously dropped hints of things possibly to come, The Golden Compass is a movie that wear... Full Review

Mick LaSalle
December 7, 2007
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

An aura of disappointment takes hold midway into Golden Compass and becomes undeniable by the finish. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
December 7, 2007
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

A pretty good fantasy -- with different bits of Potter and Jules Verne and Narnia all mixed up together into something new. Full Review

Jack Mathews
December 7, 2007
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

Represents the year's biggest gamble -- and it delivers the year's biggest and most ambitious fantasy. Full Review

Colin Covert
December 7, 2007
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

The action is crisply paced, the cast is committed to playing it straight, and if the script is pulling its punches, that doesn't weaken the story's headlong energy. Full Review

Adam Graham
December 7, 2007
Adam Graham, Detroit News

A mishmash of half-baked ideas, loud special-effects and disjointed imagery. Full Review

Amy Biancolli
December 7, 2007
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

Weitz's film is short, punchy and efficient, and it's full of engaging spectacle. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Lyra Belacqua: We'll set things right. We will. You, and me, and Iorek, and Serafina Pekkala, and Mr. Scoresby. And my father. We'll set it right, Pan. Just let them try to stop us.
    • Lord Asriel: I propose to discover a world much like our own in a parallel universe.
    • Fra Pavel: That is heresy!
    • Lord Asriel: That is the truth.
  • The character of Lord Asriel is played by Daniel Craig in the film adaptation, while in the theatre version, the part has been filled by Timothy Dalton. Both actors also share a common character role: the British superspy, James Bond.
  • Ridley Scott turned down the offer to direct.
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The Golden Compass Trivia

  • The actors who play Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter in The Golden Compass (Northern Lights) also star together in which movie?  Answer »
  • What is the title of the Phillip Pullman adaptation soon to be released?  Answer »
  • Which Philip Pullman children's novel will soon be on the big screen?  Answer »
  • Name two movies that Daniel Craig and Eva Green act in together...  Answer »
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