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Films

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Original poster

the golden compass

55 replies

essanel · 04/12/2007 23:49

you can view the first 5 mins of the film here movies.yahoo.com/feature/thegoldencompass.html?showVideo=1

OP posts:

Flame · 05/12/2007 23:09

Lol, tis normally Falme

I think I can sort of see the reasoning, it just felt unfinished, but then it only feels unfinished if you know it isn't the end iyswim

sensiblehead · 05/12/2007 23:25

Bunnyhunny, I second Flame - as I said before. Faithful enough, best with a gap between reading and viewing!

TheYoungVisiter · 06/12/2007 13:35

have you seen the website where you can find out what your daemon is? DH's was a mouse. He was not impressed...

Flame · 06/12/2007 14:18

Mine was a bloody spider

TheYoungVisiter · 06/12/2007 14:23

mine was a tiger [preen].

DH kept saying "I'm way more of a tiger than you!"

bunnyhunny · 06/12/2007 15:46

my daemon is called callum - for a mo I thought it said my daemon was a gollum!! He is a fox.
obv cos I'm so foxy ;)

MyEye · 06/12/2007 16:06

Film fell sooooo short of my imagination. It was so simplified that the plot didn't have anything to hold onto. Guess this is inevitable.
Lots of the effects look like... effects. I thought most of the daemons were crap. Esp Mrs C's monkey.
Nicole K is great though, exactly right, as is the London bit.
Daniel Craig is basically playing a cameo role. Same for Serafina Pekkala, she's barely there, and when she is, she has to say some terribly clunky lines.
Main problem for me is, you never get close to believing in the film as you do in the book. I even found bits of it quite boring. I can't imagine anyone who loved the book really wholeheartedly enjoying it, so this is all very interesting
Pullman is a very clever chap, isn't he, he has a lot of business nouse.

walkinginawinterBundleland · 06/12/2007 16:08

myeye, do you think dd1 woudl like it? she's desperate to go wtih lots of older boys on sunday for a birthday party...

cat64 · 06/12/2007 16:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MyEye · 06/12/2007 16:10

how old is she, I can't keep up? there's a very graphic polar-bear fight... even this sanitised version is quite dark and scary

Flame · 06/12/2007 16:19

I felt that the polar bear scene was fine - there was fighting but no blood which made it much easier viewing.

I think because I already know the depth etc that is why I could still enjoy - I'm not too sure how it works as just a film iyswim. You know the horror of someone touching your daemon etc - I was watching and enjoying it all happening in front of me, and probably adding in the rest myself

sensiblehead · 06/12/2007 21:11

I had to explain the fight too - they wanted to know what was "that thing that flew off" [eugh]!

I do think that having read it let you fill in the blanks whilst watching, like you say about the deamon contact Flame

roisin · 09/12/2007 16:04

We saw the film yesterday. Dh and I have read the book, so has ds1 (10), but ds2 (8) was seeing it cold iyswim.

Compared to 'regular' PGs the plot is relatively complex (despite simplifications/streamlining from the novel) and ds2 was clearly struggling to follow at times. But it maintained his interest for the length of the film, and that of many much younger children in the audience.

I thought all the plot changes made were justifiable in the interest of speeding up the novel for cinema purposes. When you consider how long the audio book is, I think they did a good job.

Nymphadora · 09/12/2007 16:30

my kids went yesterday (6&7) with their Dad otherwise the 6yo wouldn't have gone!
Both enjoyed it though.
I was planning on taking dd1 & friends for her b'day but have changed to Enchanted now.

OhGiveUsAPruniPudding · 09/12/2007 16:53

So I PP ok with the change of focus away from the message about organised religion?
I have to say it's a bit disappointing to me that he seems to be...of course the film would never get made with American money if it was faithful to the novel though.

roisin · 09/12/2007 20:17

We saw the trailer to Enchanted: looks great fun, doesn't it?!

Nymphadora · 09/12/2007 20:43

Looks ok , taking 4 8year olds so they'll love it anyway!

IorekTheRedNosedArmouredBear · 09/12/2007 23:08

Saw it this afternoon. Was on the edge of my seat for almost the whole thing, even though I thought the script was a bit patchy (a lot of plot-explaining through really clunky dialogue).

It's a really dense book in terms of plot - hard to imagine how it could have been translated really well to a feature length film, but it all just seemed a bit of a compromise somehow. Would love to get sight of Tom Stoppard's script that was apparently rejected by the studio.

But it looked amazing and the performances were fantastic, especially Nicole Kidman. Daemons were realised beautifully too. In fact I think they were the best thing in it.

Sure the kids will love it.

Hmm my daemon is a raven apparently. Was hoping for something a bit more like Lord Asriel's...

FairyTaleOfNewYork · 15/12/2007 18:38

am i missing soemthing?

i only read the book last week, and yes, i did notice the discrepancies, but they miised off a whole chunk of the book at the end.

dd1 enjoyed the film, says she wants to know what happens next.

was a bit disappointed myself though.

mind you, that was the most packed i have seen a cinema in years!

yorkishbirdy · 15/12/2007 18:56

I can't believe it is still packing cinemas! It has done really well!

Ooh, just found out my daemon is a snow leopard called Themius. Why am I so happy about that then?

yulemoonfiend · 15/12/2007 18:58

we went for dh's birthday en famille (youngest 7). The 7-yr-old was captivated!
We all enjoyed it very much though it canno compare to the books.
Thought Lyra was a fantastic little actress, very expressive face. Though thought the bit in the shack on the ice lake lacked conviction... (I sob and sob at that bit in the book).
I kept welling up at the film, though whether that was more to do with how the book makes me feel, I don't know. King Fa spolied it a little for me as the actor who plays him is so 'ubiquitous' in British tv dramas...

Loved Nicole Kidman as Mrs C. Even though in the book she is supposed to be dark, thought she was utterly perfect. Mind you, in the book, Lyra has dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes, but I still thought Lyra in the film was exactly as she ought to be!
Bit disappointed with the witches.

DarthVader · 20/12/2007 17:25

DD (8) & I LOVED this film!!!
Haven't read the book though.
It's in a different class to Mr Magorium which I saw today.

wohmum · 29/12/2007 00:40

I saw this with my 8 yr old son last weekend and he loved it - how will reading the books bear up now? he's recently become an avid reader but I suspect much will go over his head. better to try later when he can take them in or read them with him now while he's interested?

Twinklemegan · 29/12/2007 01:02

Oh is this a Philip Pullman book that's been dramatised?! I'd never have known from the title. Why do the Americans insist on changing everything?

Pan · 05/01/2008 00:52

just seen it.

Thought it was pretty good, esp. the quality of the Comp Generated Graphics for the daemons. Liked Lyra actress though Nicole Kidders was trying WAY too hard to be Catherine Deveneau. Thought it was good on the tension, and Sam Eliot as Lee Scoresby was brilliant casting!!

Now just have wait anotehr 2 years for the next one!.

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