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The Golden Compass [DVD] [2007]
 
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The Golden Compass [DVD] [2007]

DVD ~ Nicole Kidman
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.04 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Golden Compass [DVD] [2007] + Stardust [DVD] [2007] + Up (1 Disc) [DVD] [2009]
Total RRP: £59.97
Price For All Three: £17.99

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  • This item: The Golden Compass [DVD] [2007] DVD ~ Nicole Kidman

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  • Stardust [DVD] [2007] DVD ~ Michelle Pfeiffer

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  • Up (1 Disc) [DVD] [2009] DVD ~ Ed Asner

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The Golden Compass [DVD] [2007]
89% buy the item featured on this page:
The Golden Compass [DVD] [2007] 3.0 out of 5 stars (161)
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Product details

  • Actors: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ben Walker, Freddie Highmore
  • Directors: Chris Weitz
  • Format: Anamorphic, PAL
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Entertainment in Video
  • DVD Release Date: 28 April 2008
  • Run Time: 109 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0010X8FLM
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,301 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Perhaps it didn’t ignite the box office in quite the way it’d been hoped, but that’s little reason to pass over the qualities of The Golden Compass now it arrives on DVD. Based on the Phillip Pullman novel His Dark Materials--itself the start of the Northern Lights trilogy, the film isn’t without a few problems, but emerges as a quality adaptation.

And you certainly can’t fault The Golden Compass for sheer ambition. The story, for those new to the series, is primarily that of 12-year old Lyra, who is in search of her friend who has been kidnapped. Naturally, this proves to be quite a challenging adventure, not least because it’s through Pullman’s vividly imagined world, crossing dimensions as Lyra travels. The film, while toning down and fiddling with some elements of the source material, stays quite close to the book, and it proves to be a good, if not Lord Of The Rings-standard, adaptation.

What helps The Golden Compass, on top of the strong effects work and scope of the production, is a solid cast, featuring the likes of Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards. And it certainly whets the appetite for the next instalment in the series. Whether the muted box office returns put pay to that remains to be seen: for now, at least, The Golden Compass is a good, solid family movie that’s easy to enjoy. --Jon Foster

DVD Description

Based on Philip Pullman's acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy of books, The Golden Compass follows the epic adventure of Lyra through this dimension-crossing family movie.
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Customer Reviews

161 Reviews
5 star:
 (35)
4 star:
 (28)
3 star:
 (31)
2 star:
 (33)
1 star:
 (34)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (161 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A quality HD transfer, shame about the movie, 19 Jun 2008
By Vinman666 (Essex, U.K.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Golden Compass [Blu-ray] [2007] (Blu-ray)
The high definition transfer to this Blu-ray disc is excellent: rich saturated colours and awesome levels of detail. Sound quality is equally good and although I don't have the ability to play the uncompressed DTS HD soundtrack the dynamic rangeis apparent even in standard stereo. In this respect it's one of the best Blu-ray discs I've seen so far.

That was the good news (and reason for the 3 stars); if only the conversion of book to movie had been even remotely as good. The special effects are very good and Lyra's Oxford is well realised; Mrs Coulter is also subtly played by the excellent Nicole Kidman and...unfortunately that's about as far as I can go with compliments.

The strengths of the book(s) are Philip Pullman's expert story-telling, allied to a complex - but accessible - plot and wonderful characters.
Of course condensing everything from the book to a 2 hour film would be impossible but what we are presented with is a series of action sequences linked by ham-fisted exposition. For example, the episode with Billy Costa (who has merged characters with Tony Macarios), once found separated from his Ratter, should emphasise the relationship between human and daemon and build the requisite tension to what is happening at Bolvangar but the opportunity is wasted. Then there is the pointless re-naming of Iofur Raknison to 'Ragnar' (one can just imagine the Focus Group brainstorming a generic scandinavian name: "Ooh I know, how about Ernest Borgnine's name in The Vikings!") and the weakening of Iorek Byrnison (why not rename him too: Erik the Ice Bear, anyone?) by having him (1) expelled from Svalbard as a coward and (2) almost killed and only just saved by Lee Scoresby. Iorek's character is supposed to be the practically indestructible rock that underpins Lyra's (and, later, Will's) resolve for what follows. Those are just 2 examples of many.

The removal of the true ending of the book from the film and the general watering down of the religious undertone sums up what many fans of the book feared would happen: Hollywood has chickened out (again). The bar for intelligent fantasy book transfers to film has been raised by Peter Jackson, and this movie falls woefully short of that level.

The BBC Cover to Cover talking book, read by Philip Pullman with a cast providing the dialogue, is vastly superior to the BBC Radio dramatisation (I've got both) but even the latter is better than the film. If you haven't read the books, I encourage you to do so - the film is passable in a Dark Crystal/Hawk the Slayer action-fantasy genre but the books have so much more depth.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Waiting for the Director's Cut or a truly extended version, 16 Nov 2008
By Mr. A. J. S. Brooke - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Golden Compass (2 disc Special edition) [DVD] [2007] (DVD)
The film at the cinema was good, but rushed. The pacing was poor...they tried very hard to cram in as much as possible and you could tell. I am now waiting for the real extended version...NOT this one! Other reviewers have been good enough to point this out. If you've not seen the film yet, wait for the (hopefully) much longer version: the pacing is sure to be very much better which should make for a much more enjoyable experience all round.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A passable adaptation of an excellent book, 5 Jun 2008
By P. Baxter (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)   
This review is from: The Golden Compass [Blu-ray] [2007] (Blu-ray)
This is certainly a beautiful looking movie, and looks wonderful on blu-ray, no doubts there. However as an adaptation of Philip Pullman's excellent novel it falls rather short. Much of the commentary of the terrible evils of religion and their attacks on freedom, science, and knowledge, and specifically the catholic church have been removed or dulled hugely, changing the story from a multi faceted and complex tale into a simple adventure yarn.

Also, and this is particularly agregious, the final chapter was completely omitted, robbing the story of any closure at all, and given how this performed in the US box office, thanks to religious nut cases running a smear campaign against it I doubt the two sequels will ever get made.

My advice - read the books instead.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Execellent
I bought this film as my sons stared in it and he signed it for Blue Peter
Published 1 month ago by Mr. J. Walker

5.0 out of 5 stars golden compass
wow! i realy enjoyed this film and hoping there's a sequel. I thorght it to be a mixture of wizardry and fantasy that families would enjoy watching together.
Published 2 months ago by D. Pitt

2.0 out of 5 stars Leapt around all over the place
Animation good and an all star cast, but the storyline / adaptation jumped all over the place. Saw at the movies, but haven't bought DVD, as it was only ok and I wouldn't watch it... Read more
Published 2 months ago by D. Haigh

3.0 out of 5 stars Is UK release really 7.1?
This is my first and only Bluray with 7.1 surround sound - or so it says on the box. But it is not. On my system it plays as 5.1. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Paul Marshall

1.0 out of 5 stars Wake me when it's over
The CGI is impressive....that's about it really. If they do a second one the dull, unimaginative, nature of the series is really going to show.
Published 3 months ago by Ion Zone

3.0 out of 5 stars the Golden Compass
The item was received in time prescribed time and looked in good condition. As I have not had time to play the DVD I can not comment further.
Published 3 months ago by J. Butler

1.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing and fragmented adaptation
You have to applaud any director for being willing to take on this trilogy. Combining a set of novels which are at once intricately woven and simultaneously panoramic in terms of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Datta

2.0 out of 5 stars Loses its way
Coming to The Golden Compass cold without having read the books, it's easy to understand why this was met with relative indifference by the unconverted. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Trevor Willsmer

1.0 out of 5 stars What?
The Golden Compass is a very poor film. I was left with an overwhelming urge to ask what all the fuss was about. Read more
Published 4 months ago by MLA

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable fantasy flick!!
I don't think films ever match up to book versions of a story - I haven't read this book so watched the film objectively and though it was enjoyable escapism!!!
Published 5 months ago by Bluewaves

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