The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
by Chris Weitz
List Price:
Our Price: $21.99
You Save: $13.00 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $12.97 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ben Walker (IX), Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Freddie Highmore, Nicole KidmanDirector: Chris Weitz
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Icelandic (Original Language); Russian (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-29
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: If you've read the book, you'll hate the movie
Summary: 1 Stars
I have read the complete series of His Dark Materials books, including the Golden Compass. I was very excited to see this film when it came out in theaters, and even though I knew they would make the book into a children's movie - the movie was horribly disappointing. If you have read the book, you will NOT want to buy this movie.
The movie is jumbled, includes characters that don't show up until later books, characters are not developed, the sequence of events is mixed up, and it's only an hour and 45 minutes.
I was extremely disappointed in this film.
Summary of The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
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
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.
Action & Adventure DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Witchy Movies
Bell, Book and CandleRelease date: 2000-03-28; DVD
Best price: $14.74
Price in other shops:
The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Widescreen Edition)Disney; Release date: 2006-04-04; DVD
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops:
The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $22.99
Price in other shops:
The Craft (Special Edition)Release date: 2000-09-12; DVD
Best price: $5.23
Price in other shops:
Bewitched (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2005-10-25; DVD
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops:
The WitchesWarner Brothers; Release date: 1999-06-22; DVD
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops:
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (30th Anniversary Edition)Release date: 2001-03-20; DVD
Best price: $9.24
Price in other shops:
Practical MagicWarner Brothers; Release date: 1999-02-16; DVD
Best price: $6.58
Price in other shops:
Simply IrresistibleRelease date: 2002-08-27; DVD
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops:
Hocus PocusRelease date: 2002-06-04; DVD
Best price: $5.92
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Widescreen Edition)Release date: 2008-03-04; DVD
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
Alvin and the ChipmunksRelease date: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
No Country for Old MenRelease date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $13.47
Price in other shops:
Juno (Single-Disc Edition)Release date: 2008-04-15; DVD
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops:
Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)Release date: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $17.98
Price in other shops:
Beowulf (Unrated Director's Cut)Release date: 2008-02-26; DVD
Best price: $11.35
Price in other shops:
Enchanted (Widescreen Edition)Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $11.95
Price in other shops:
The Water Horse - Legend of the Deep (Two-Disc Special Edition)Release date: 2008-04-08; DVD
Best price: $13.78
Price in other shops:
I Am Legend (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition with Digital Copy)Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $15.83
Price in other shops:
National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)Release date: 2008-05-20; DVD
Best price: $22.99
Price in other shops: