The Golden Compass

[Mister Qwerty]

Or Northern Lights, whatever you want to call it.
New Line Cinema have turned the book into a film, the book is quite frankly, brilliant, and I will definetly see the film. It has a fairly decent cast, with Ian McKellen as the voice of Iorek Byrnison, and Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel. But what do you think of the book, and would you go see the film? (http://http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808718640/video/2778562/standardformat/)

[GorillaBearBear]

http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showthread.php?t=44439&highlight=golden+compass

[allfalldown]

Give the guy a break, that thread is nearly six months old.

On topic, I will very likely be seeing this film. I suspect that parts of it won't be much like the book, and that will be probably get worse as the trilogy goes on (assuming they make the other two). It should still be worth a look though.

[feeshy]

Mhm, I'm just not sure. My first big gripe...

ITS NOT CALLED THE FRIGGING GOLDEN COMPASS, IT'S CALLED NORTHERN LIGHTS! IT ISN'T A COMPASS AND WE'RE NOT IDIOTS.

Ahem...

But anyway. The books are great, but considering how much they bastardized Harry Potter (ie, missing out important sections, shoddy acting) and that this series is so much more complex (in a good way) I'm not really sure it will work, especially if you've read the books.

But Daniel Craig... Mmm. Although if I recall, he has a beard which I'm not terribly keen on. And he isn't likely to get his kit off either.

[GorillaBearBear]

I'll just post what I put in the other thread quickly:

Just watched the trailer. I am probably one of the only people who fully expects that they would enjoy the film more than the book, because I think it's a great story with some interesting, if laboured, ideas (or certainly the first 2 books, the third starts to get a bit silly), but think the writing is abysmal, and unsubtle as well. So yeah.

However, looking at that Trailer, I am starting to think maybe this is just not something I should bother seeing. The things that grabbed me the most were the costume design (Asriel and Scoresby look pretty fantastic) and, much much more so, the locations they've synthesised for this movie. The images of Oxford that were seen looked absolutely bloody breathtaking.

However, there are things that just looked...meh. The concept of the witches...well, I can't remember how I imagined it, but a lot more could have been done with that, and I think for the Daemons to be convincing and at all striking, the effects used for them are gonna need to be a hell of a lot more stylised than they are. Similarly with the Bears, just not as captivating as they could be.

No doubt it will be enjoyable, but I don't think it will have the crossover appeal it could have done, except into those people who admire the technical aspects of some of the set and character design-work.

I don't think I really have much more to say than that. I fully expect the film to mediocre, but I think the book is less than mediocre so I suppose that's a fairly big hurdle for me to cross.

[Thomp]

I just hope they pull Pantelaimon, Iorek and Scoresby off well. If they do that, then they'll be half way towards a great film.

[Bobfaces]

I am really annoyed that they have called it The Golden Compass, it's not a compass it's an alethiometer for Lord's sake. It will probably be just like the book; if the book had been dropped on the floor, thrown in the toilet, dragged through the mud and then jumped upon by a million monkeys who are wearing golf-shoes which explode every 5 seconds.

It will be bad, maybe so bad that it's impossible to make the 2nd and third ones. I have seen this happen before (Eragon, it was so bad, the sequel wasn't made by "popular demand").:bb:

[allfalldown]

I almost certainly said this in the other thread, but Nicole Kidman is going to be perfect as the character she plays whose name has temporarily eluded me.

[katt]

I will not see the golden compass. I read the pullman series and read some interviews pullman has given and found his attacks on poor ol c.s. lewis to be unpleasant.

the c.s. lewis books could be enjoyed as a non-religious story (the religious messages were well hidden allegory) but pullman's ended up turning into one of those ham-handed sort of messages.

although i do admit the golden compass held a lot of promise... but the later novels were very bleak in outlook in my opinion

[Ozzylator]

the c.s. lewis books could be enjoyed as a non-religious story (the religious messages were well hidden allegory)

I'd dispute that the Chronicles of Narnia could ever be enjoyed. They were really dull :)

[Rook]

Mhm, I'm just not sure. My first big gripe...

ITS NOT CALLED THE FRIGGING GOLDEN COMPASS, IT'S CALLED NORTHERN LIGHTS! IT ISN'T A COMPASS AND WE'RE NOT IDIOTS.
To join in briefly...

IT'S NOT GOLDEN, IT'S ACTUALLY MADE OF GOLD, THUS IT'S 'GOLD', NOT 'GOLDEN', WHICH IS JUST FOR GOLD-LIKE THINGS.

...but that's just me being a grammar nazi.

I probably won't see it either, since I agree that if they can't pull off harry potter well (I quit watching those after number 3, they annoyed me so much), they probably won't mange with this. There's hope, but not much.

I don't mind the books so much; I actually really liked them, despite their being viewed as 'anti-Christian' by some (such literature always amuses me, since it's more often actually anti-establishment, and the authors simply choose the orthodox church as the subject, even if anti-Christian sentiment was their motive. As such, many such works support Christianity, though without realising it. Hence, ensuing hilarity. There are so few real anti-Christians*, you can't help but feel amused**).


*Yes, I know that doesn't mean everyone is for Christianity, just that few people hate it quite as much as they think they do.

**This may also be a good time to point out that I value irony as one of the most absolutely hilarious branches of humour, tying first with situational comedy, which is often the same thing anyway.

[katt]

I'd dispute that the Chronicles of Narnia could ever be enjoyed. They were really dull :)

I no longer view them as particularly thrilling either. i remember being very bored in the theater watching the lion the witch and the wardrobe except for the james mcavoy parts.

however, as a child they were wonderful to me so i still hold them in high regard.

pullman seems to have written his dark materials series just because he had a thing against lewis and the venom showed far too much in the end for them to be enjoyable (at least for me) I thought the series was so foolish when the characters killed off god at the end of the last book. as if an omnipotent being could not sense a plot to murder him coming hahaha

[Rook]

Except the idea of His Dark Materials is that God is a big fat liar and not, in fact God; just the first angel, and in reality no different from his subordinates, except for being vastly more powerful than many of them.

Also, he's more vulnerable at the end, as most of his power has been given to Metatron.

[katt]

well why refer to him as "god" or give him the role of "god" in the stories then? i think it was a very sneaky way of trying to attribute foppishness to the idea of god (and the idea of god traditionally includes omnipotence etc).

Regardless of whether this 'god' was the creator 'god' or not i still think the idea of him being murdered is silly

[Rook]

well why refer to him as "god" or give him the role of "god" in the stories then? i think it was a very sneaky way of trying to attribute foppishness to the idea of god (and the idea of god traditionally includes omnipotence etc).
Because he styled himself as such, and got away with it for ages because he existed before anyone else. Thus, when other angels appeared, he told them he'd created them and everything else.

But basically yeah.

[Jimmy]

I'm not going to see it, as I loved those books and I don't want the movies to ruin what I remember as being in the book.

[the last sheika]

I'd like to think I can forget about the movies when I read the books, so I suppose I will be seeing it. I've seen the stage version (Which was surprisingly awesome) so I have high hopes for this.

[ZekeyLizard]

The trailer is bland as hell.
Nichole Kidman looks like she's not even trying to act.
All the special effects look fake.
Looks like fail. Thanks hollywood.

[allfalldown]

If I remember right, when god actually died, they didn't murder him. They just opened that box thing he was in and he just died because he was so old and weak he couldn't deal with it any more. When that happened, I think it was Lyra and Will who were there, I'm not even sure they knew who it was.

This thread is filling up with spoilers quite quickly :p

Oh yeah, about the Narnia thing. I didn't find those books very interesting either. The first one was best, in my opinion, and it was all downhill from there.

[Mister Qwerty]

I almost certainly said this in the other thread, but Nicole Kidman is going to be perfect as the character she plays whose name has temporarily eluded me.
Marisa Coulter.

[feeshy]

Just watched the official trailer again, and I know it only shows little bits of the film etc, but I was also annoyed somewhat by the almost complete lack of daemons in it. Considering a big point in the film is 'they can't go very far from you unless you're a witch or special', you would have thought they might have stuck to it a bit.

[allfalldown]

I remember the first trailer I saw didn't have many daemons in it (only one shot I think, and there were no humans in the shot). The one I saw in the cinema recently had quite a few though. There was Mrs Coulter's monkey, Asriel's Stelmaria (I think have the name right), and probably others I missed. I don't remember seeing Pantalaimon.

[NightRunner]

I have so many issues with this film. The golden compass thing has been said already (bloody Americans) but other things include:

- The bears are supposed to be massively huge, so why have they just CGIed a polar bear with armour?!
- Mrs Coulter is not the leader of the Magisterium, she is the leader of the General Oblation Board (gobblers) (see latest trailer)
- Lee Scoresby isnt an old man.
- The witches have Pine branches(?) that they fly on, they're not f***ing superman
- Why do the gyptians look like Vikings?!
- Why cant the kid playing Lyra act?! (again see trailer and 'whats it for' line)

The only good thing is Nicole Kidman, excellent casting for Mrs Coulter, althought I still have problems with that, namely hair colour and such (Its the little things that matter).

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/ Thats the website with the newest trailer.

I have little hope for this film especially as (from what I've heard) they've basically cut the Church and God out of it. I don't understand how they're gonna do the next films if they've cut that out, cuz if they cut that then they would have to cut the angels and thinking about it, they've generally pissed all over the storyline and set it on fire.

It will be bad, maybe so bad that it's impossible to make the 2nd and third ones. I have seen this happen before (Eragon, it was so bad, the sequel wasn't made by "popular demand")

I sincerely hope this happens.

[Ozzylator]

I can't even remember what happened in the books, tbh.

[eidderf]

I haven't read the books (although I have the first one for some reason) so I'm just judging the film on what I've seen of the trailers and it all looks kind of average to me. I mean the trailers don't make much sense, I'm kind of bored of seeing any kind of talking animal now, the animals themselves look kind of dodgy and it all looks kind of narnia/harry potterish. If it's on TV one Christmas I'll watch it, but I not going to see it at the cinema.

[feeshy]

I have little hope for this film especially as (from what I've heard) they've basically cut the Church and God out of it.

See, there's the thing, even if they don't cut it completely there's no way they can portray Christianity as it is shown in the book, which is a pretty darn major aspect of the plot.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Despite it being common knowledge that they cut the church stuff out, there sure was a lot of talk of heresy and the like in the trailer.

I want to see it, but then I had a few issues with the books. The constant repetition of surnames had better not have made it to the film, or I might actually scream and kill one of the cinema staff. And as for the witches, I don't have a problem with them floating without their sticks, but I do have a problem with the fact that they have all the flying prowess of a rabid swan. Seriously, it looks like the sort of ungainly crap we got pre-Christopher Reeves' Superman. Could they not have made them a little more graceful?

The daemons, what there was anyway, looked very well done indeed though.

[Norbington]

I'm kind of bored of seeing any kind of talking animal now

I agree.

Although talking armoured polar bears = awesome.

[allfalldown]

- The witches have Pine branches(?) that they fly on, they're not f***ing supermanWhen I first saw the trailer, I thought that they held the branches in their hand, but on closer inspection that was a bow. Is there any reason that couldn't be made of pine though? :p

[woody_tng]

Yes. Pine is too soft and not very flexable so it would snap. Usually they use willow.

[Fishmonster]

So I'm seeing a lot of hate for this. Now I am a fan of the books. Well. the story and characters anyway. The writing is rather iffy. And I think this film could at least be a better representation of the story than most other book-film adaptations we have to endure.

It will never stand up to the stage version though. That was fantastic.

Just to add to the whole Golden Compass thing. Anyone who has seen the trailer will notice that they actually refer to the alethiometer as a golden compass. I could cope with the terrible name but this is just insulting no?

[doctor_fruitbat]

But they do also call it the alethiometer at some point, so that's alright.

[Fishmonster]

But they do also call it the alethiometer at some point, so that's alright.

They do?

I thought they did but I can't pick it out in the latest trailer. I do so hope you are correct.

In other news. Lee Scoresby looks like my father.

[allfalldown]

They definitely called it an alethiometer in one of the trailers. I remember we had a discussion about how it was pronounced.

[Mister Qwerty]

They definitely called it an alethiometer in one of the trailers. I remember we had a discussion about how it was pronounced.
Al-eth-ee-om-ett-er. That's how I pronounce it anyway.

[cybus443]

:mad:i dont wanna see more fantasy

[allfalldown]

:mad:i dont wanna see more fantasySo don't see it. Come back when you have a better-crafted opinion.

As for the alethiometer pronunciation issue, I say it: a-lee-thee-om-et-er. Someone get Philip Pullman on the phone, we'll get to the bottom of this :D

[the last sheika]

I thought it was what Allfalldown said, but the stage version used what Mister Querty said, so I guess that's most likely.

(Wii Browser-no C+P, and I can't be bothered typing them myself.)

[Mister Qwerty]

If the film's good then I'm gonna get the game for Wii.

[the last sheika]

If the film's good then I'm gonna get the game for Wii.
I'm going to have to kill you for saying that.

[Mister Qwerty]

Explain.

[Timmeh]

These were some of my favourite books when I was younger. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this and am not in the least surprised they're leaving bits and themes out. The story has to be cut down to fit into a film and they might as well slice out and dilute the bits that'll alienate a fair chunk of their potential audience. Obviously I'd much prefer a story completely accurate to the books, but it's all about making money so that wasn't exactly likely from the outset.

[Norbington]

As far as I can tell this film may not be very good but I will definitely be going to see it 'cos i love the book.

Hurrah and all that.

[Mister Qwerty]

As far as I can tell this film may not be very good but I will definitely be going to see it 'cos i love the book.

This is precisely the reason why I see book/game - film conversions. Paul WS Anderson though...I will never forgive you for what you did to Resident Evil...

[TheSheep]

i really dont like film versions of books. so often theyre so disappointing. and all over the place (billboards and tube adverts etc.) i just see 'The Golden Compass' which just seems like such a crap and boring name to me that i just dont want to see the film.
if Pullman had called his books by a name like 'The Golden Compass' im sure they wouldnt have done so well

[doctor_fruitbat]

Explain.
Because it's a half-arsed cash-in riding on the back of the film and doesn't deserve the shelf space that better games could have. Just like every movie tie-in ever, except Goldeneye and Chronicles of Riddick.

[allfalldown]

Yeah, if you think films of books or films of games are bad, they have nothing on games of films. They are almost always utter shite, and rely entirely on the franchise name to sell well.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Films of games do come pretty close to taking that title. Bob Hoskins claimed that Mario Bros was the worst thing he ever did.

I was surprised to find out today just how many video game adaptations are in the works: Hitman, Far Cry, Fear Effect and Driver in 2008, Gears of War, Kane & Lynch and Prince of Persia in 2009... A few of them have potential, I guess.

[allfalldown]

I'd love to see a Prince of Persia film. The people who made The Mummy (the Brendan Fraser one) should work on it. I also think Antonio Banderas might make a passable Prince, but probably someone younger would be better.

This is getting off-topic now, if it carries on we should make a new thread.

[Tiode]

A hit man film would be alright i reckon, aswell.

[Rook]

Have now seen a [good] trailer for the [on-topic] film; I think I'd like to see it as a film in it's own right. Maybe. But mostly just for the [inexplicably] steampunk cityscapes.

Talking of steampunk, someone finally bought the movie rights to the Mortal Engines series. So long as Reeve is plenty involved, they should be really good, since the initial drafts were written specifically to be adapted as a screenplay. They'd just better not take inspiration from the US book covers though. Clearly drawn by someone who heard the word 'fantasy' and stopped listening. Google them; I nearly threw up. [/pet peeve]

[allfalldown]

A hit man film would be alright i reckon, aswell.It's already been made. There's been trailers on the web and on TV for quite a while now.

That Mortal Engines thing sounds good too.

[gembird]

Prince of Persia will be so awesome if they get it right- the only problem is that they will blatantly cast Orlando Bloom in it because he's fairly young and he knows what he's doing with all that jumping about and so on. I mean, he's pretty and everything, but I'm fed up of seeing him pop up in everything cool.</offtopic>

As for The Golden Compass, I liked the books, but they weren't such a big deal for me as Harry Potter was, so it's unlikely that I'll be too pissed off if it's shit. But why is the title staying American? Surely for the first Harry Potter they had the film as Sorcerer's Stone over there and Philosopher's Stone over here because that was what people were used to? It isn't that hard really. Anyway, I do find that as a fantasy nerd nothing ever really works as well on-screen as it does in my head. I'm a massive fan of both the films and the book of Lord Of The Rings, but there's so much detail that they had to leave massive chunks out- and then they left Saruman's death out of the normal version because there was no room, despite there being plenty of room to drag out the last few scenes of Return Of The King for about half an hour.

Regarding the Chronicles of Narnia... I don't like them much, other than The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. They just seemed a bit wimpy, I pretty much ignored them as Harry Potter was getting big just as I started to read fantasy. Mr Tumnus was fucking brilliant though, he was wasted on those kids.

:edit: Lol, mern mern mern.

[Tyris]

if Pullman had called his books by a name like 'The Golden Compass' im sure they wouldnt have done so wellWeeeeerrrl... you say that, but look at the titles of the trilogy:
1. Northern Lights
2. The Subtle Knife
3. The Amber Spyglass
Northern Lights is actually the odd one out. Calling it "The Golden Compass" makes a certain amount of sense from a consistency standpoint even if all the other reasons are headbangingly stupid...

[doctor_fruitbat]

Especially Amber Spyglass, whose title related to a plot strand with absolutely zero significance except for one point that could have been incorporated into another part of the book.

Seriously, how superfluous was that spyglass? Very, if I remember correctly.

[the last sheika]

Especially Amber Spyglass, whose title related to a plot strand with absolutely zero significance except for one point that could have been incorporated into another part of the book.

Seriously, how superfluous was that spyglass? Very, if I remember correctly.
The spyglass was superfluous. Superfluousness oozed out of the spyglass' superfluous spying glass.

Interesting side-story, though.

[allfalldown]

I thought the spyglass was a necessary part of the story, but not important enough to name the whole book after.

[wiggle_queen]

Keeps you guessing though... because I for one can't stop reading a book until I figure out what the title's all about! Also, I don't think 'The alethiometer of gold' makes a very good book title, so old PP was probably right to ruin the symmetry and have, shock horror, a different title for the first in the trilogy! I expect his publishers would probably agree, they do tend to have something of a hand in making titles nice and snappy.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Interesting side-story, though.
When a storyline resorts to giant seagulls shitting on houses to fill up a few pages, it's probably best to do away with it, interesting or no.

[Insanity is fun]

I am looking forward to seeing this film, loved the books

[Smokey]

I think the film will turn out similarly to The Da Vinci Code in the sense that i really enjoyed the book but found the film lacking since I already knew the plot. Other people who had never read the book said it was excellent.

I'm hoping to go see it on Thursday.

[Mister Qwerty]

I think the film will turn out similarly to The Da Vinci Code in the sense that i really enjoyed the book but found the film lacking since I already knew the plot. Other people who had never read the book said it was excellent.
This. The film totally ruined everything about the Da Vinci Code. I hope that it doesn't happen for The Golden Compass Northern Lights.

[the last sheika]

I think the film will turn out similarly to The Da Vinci Code in the sense that i really enjoyed the book but found the film lacking since I already knew the plot. Other people who had never read the book said it was excellent.

I'm hoping to go see it on Thursday.
I've never read The Da Vinci Code, and I thought the film was crap.

[GorillaBearBear]

I never saw the film, but the book was awful

[Smokey]

Well I wouldn't recommend you two read/watch the book/film then.

Plenty of other people liked them though.

[GorillaBearBear]

I don't say this often about things that a quite clearly about opinion, because it would be foolish, but I think this is one instance where I will go out on a limb and say it.

The were wrong.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Plenty of other people liked them though.
Plenty of people like Heat and the Daily Star. I have little respect for them either.

[the last sheika]

I just went to see it. I loved it, but I wish they hadn't cut the very end of the book from the film. I expect The Subtle Knife (If it's made) will just start with just an explanation of the portal thing being opened, rather than it actually being shown.

I loved the Daemons and the Armoured Bears. The Dust disappearing off the Daemons when the people died was a great effect, IMO.

(Do I need spoilers, or not? It seems most people've already read the books)

[NightRunner]

I would suggest you spoiler it, although the majority of people have read the books, theres still some things that they wont want to know about the films, so just play it safe.

[basstard]

I also saw it yesterday.

I am not sure what I think, to be honest and somewhat vague. It was reasonable, and not as bad as I was expecting it to be. I think for anyone who hasn't read the book it's a decent film.

However for those that have (or, like me, for those that are fanatical about the books) it's a bit of a letdown. The first 15 minutes of the film is basically a giant exposition dump, and gives the game away too early - whereas in the book it unfurls as you read it.

It's not that bad though, the effects were fantastic - and at the end of the Iorek vs King fight the whole cinema burst into applause. Silly French.

Other than that, hearing Ian McKellen's voice as Iorek was weird. And I kept thinking that the king of the Gyptians, was played by Brian Blessed.

[allfalldown]

[SPOILER]the Iorek vs King fight[/URL]Spoiler fail :p

Also, I don't think it's any secret that Ian McKellen is Iorek's voice.

[Dr S]

Right I was really upset by the ending

WARNING THIS HAS SPOILERS FROM THE TRIOLOGY NOT JUST THE FILM

I found this on IMDB

"The events which comprise the final portion of the first book had been already filmed, and brief portions can be glimpsed in the trailers. However, the scenes were removed. According to several reviews: "'There was tremendous marketing pressure for that,' Weitz said. 'Everyone really wanted an upbeat ending.'" These scenes will be the first portion of the sequel, The Subtle Knife, if/when that movie is made."

IMO putting it at the start of the next films really buggers it up as the whole point is when the subtle knife starts people are ment to be wtf who is this kid where is Lyra, also starting a film with the death of Roger is really depressing.

FAO Hollywood - you suck seriously do it right or don't do it at all

all in all however I found myself quite enjoying the film, the CGI wasn't as bad as I'd heard and the little lass did a brilliant job as Lyra and didn't annoy the crap out of me like all other child actresses

7.5/10

[charlieman]

I think they might have changed the end so it does all end on a happy note with lyra off to find her dad (who isn't a bastard) and saving roger. I think its bollocks that they did, they should have left it how the books play out but ending on the death of roger would be considered abit upsetting for kids who had not read the books.

You could really tell some bits were geared towards kids, what with the lack of blood ect. But I think they failed slightly on the account due to some of the long scenes of mainly talking.

Also, the girl who played Lyra was awful IMO. She was wooden for most of the time with little or no emotion, and occationally she would put on an awful accent trying not to seem too posh, but it wasn't constant at all.

Overall I wasnt too displeased but think some things could be done much better. Maybe 7/10

[Insanity is fun]

Also, the girl who played Lyra was awful IMO. She was wooden for most of the time with little or no emotion, and occationally she would put on an awful accent trying not to seem too posh, but it wasn't constant at all.
I thought this too, her acting was so boring

[gembird]

I saw it last night. I wasn't too keen, although that may just be over-exposure to stories that go 'small person with shiny thing is in a dangerous place but it's okay because there's this beardy guy who makes everything better and the evil people are all in black robes and there's this big fight scene and some people die and stuff the end'.

The girl who played Lyra was bad. Really bad. And they missed several opportunities to cast Brian Blessed. He should blatantly have been there. I did like Iorek though; I nearly had a row with the people I was with over whether or not it was Ian McKellen doing his voice. I was right :D

The daemons were quite good in the end- having heard that they weren't in it much, it was nice to see them there. Pantalaimon was pretty damn good, and Mrs Coulter's monkey freaked me out.

On the plus side, Christopher Lee!

[Mister Qwerty]

I have a dilemma, I'm supposed to go see The Golden Compass on Friday, but I really want to go out with some mates. Based on your opinions of the film, what do you suggest?

[Smokey]

Based on my opinions I'd say if you've not read the book it's a pretty decent film. Although if you have read the book you will probably sit there wondering why they did this, and why they missed out that bit, and then you'll come out feeling slightly disappointed.

The film was clearly edited so it could be relesaed as PG hence why Billy Costa didn't die. It's also the reason why the last chapter wasn't included.

Below are my views on the next film, The Subtle Knife so don't read if you haven't read the book. Fresh spoilers warning.

I'm hoping that the next film (assuming it gets made) will be a 12A since Roger dies at the start and then Will pushes someone down the stairs and gets his fingers chopped off. It's hard to have children dying and it still being a PG. Should be an improvement since they won't have to tiptoe around as much.