The Golden Compass [Blu-ray]

The Golden Compass [Blu-ray]

The Golden Compass [Blu-ray]

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2008-04-29
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product features:

In a parallel universe where witches rule the skies and armoured bears are the bravest warriors, young Lyra Belacqua journeys from her home among the scholars at Oxford to the far North to save her best friend. Based on the first book in the Carnegie Medal-winning series, His Dark Materials. Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 Age: 794043120442 UPC:&n

Movie Reviews of The Golden Compass [Blu-ray]

Movie Review: The Golden Compass is the most amazing Blu-Ray title yet
Summary: 5 Stars

After being disappointed with several Blu-Ray titles and nearly regretting ever buying a player, this title excels with clarity that I demand. You really see the detail with the 1920x1080p resolution (on a 1920x1080 LCD). Every strand of hair and snow particle was absolutely clear (even when not in the center of the screen) and defeats the theatrical experience.

I saw this movie five times in theaters, but when I viewed this on Blu-Ray, I noticed two new details. They also perfectly cleaned up the 4-5 seconds of graininess of when Lyra enters the conference room at Jordan that was horrid in theaters. The only minor complaint I have is the added grain during the New Line golden company intro (the first 3 seconds). Any other grain during the film was absolutely minimum. That was surprising considering the numerous dark scenes.

The content of the movie itself is as amazing as it is charming. My girlfriend and I quote the movie all the time. We dread the possibility of the studios not doing the sequels. If they can complete the trilogy with the same quality as this one, I will hail it as the best trilogy ever. That's not a small feat as I defend the LOTR trilogy as the best thus far and likely the best in my lifetime.

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Summary of The Golden Compass [Blu-ray]

In a parallel universe where witches rule the skies and armoured bears are the bravest warriors, young Lyra Belacqua journeys from her home among the scholars at Oxford to the far North to save her best friend. Based on the first book in the Carnegie Medal-winning series, His Dark Materials.

A fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia film franchises, The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe where each human's soul is embodied in a companion animal called a daemon. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who's lived most of her life among the scholars at Oxford, is intrigued when her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), announces his plans to travel north to investigate the source of some mysterious particles called Dust. Lyra has little hope of following her uncle until a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, at her most icily beautiful) asks Lyra to travel north as her personal assistant. All is not as it seems, however, and the disappearance of Lyra's friend Roger (Ben Walker) sets her on a dizzying adventure. She does have an alethiometer, or golden compass, that can help her see the truth, and a number of companions, including her shape-shifting daemon, Pantalaimion (voiced by Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), polar-bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Craig's Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green). Even before its release, The Golden Compass was the subject of controversy over its perceived anti-religious themes. While it does involve an oppressive institution called the Magisterium, it's not overtly religious, particularly to a young viewer. The movie's PG-13 rating should be taken seriously, however. Suitable for an older audience than Narnia (though younger than The Lord of the Rings), it deals with complex concepts, violence (though largely bloodless) and implied death, children and animals in peril, and an unrelentingly ominous and unsettling mood.

Despite a few changes and rearrangements, the overall plot of the movie is remarkably faithful to its source material, the first installment of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It doesn't finish the book, however, and--much like The Fellowship of the Ring did--leaves the viewer hanging in anticipation of the next film, The Subtle Knife, due in 2009. So even though The Golden Compass is impressive--especially with its spot-on cast and terrific visual effects--we probably won't know its full emotional impact until the story is complete. --David Horiuchi

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