The books were great. I hope the movie lives up to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58X4o_41Frc
http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

4/29/2007 12:41:34 AM

http://www.theopencritic.com/?p=21

Just read a synopsis.

Sounds like it's pretty hardcore.

4/29/2007 1:22:29 AM

THERES GONNA BE A MOVIE?

These were my favorite books when I was younger, they are still very very good.

[Edited on April 29, 2007 at 1:31 AM. Reason : EDIT: Nicole Kidman is Coulter? Thats pretty cool]

4/29/2007 1:25:26 AM

I liked these books a lot, but come on, a movie?

The second book, and moreso the 3rd book got so far out there I cant imagine them being very good when done by Hollywood.

The settings were all alien, the huge battle scenes, the castles, etc.


But I do want to see the armored polar bears wreak havoc

4/29/2007 11:47:29 AM

Great set of books, but I'm worried about the movies.

The third movie is a huge problem with fundies if they keep the war on God (and the underworld, for that matter) in it, and a huge problem with fans if they don't. Aside from the idea that you'd have to make the last movie completely in CGI (at least for the parts with those rolly wheel creatures), of course.

[Edited on April 29, 2007 at 1:54 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2007 1:54:02 PM

haha i was like oh god dont let it be dakota fanning

and the chick's name is dakota, of course

4/29/2007 6:14:20 PM

I'm reading The Subtle Knife right now to try to finish up the series (read the Golden Compass quite some time ago but never found the rest of the series in the public library). Anyway, I think it's gonna be really interesting to see what they do with these movies--- I have a feeling that they are going to steer away from as much religious controversy as possible but that's going to be pretty hard. I'm sure the producers will take pissing off fans over inciting angry mobs of church fundamentalists any day. But hey, making a movie about a controversial children's book that confronts religion deserves a lot of respect in today's market, even if it is watered down significantly.

Even if they gloss over the majority of the religious controversies, there is still a lot of blood/death/violence in this series for a children's movie. And even if they leave most of that stuff out as well, just think of all the angry fundie parents whose kids check the books out of the library and start asking them questions about original sin and the bad ol' church!

4/29/2007 7:44:29 PM

Trailer is online now!

http://www.ifitsmovies.com/2007/05/21/the-golden-compass-trailer-hits-the-net/

I'm so excited about this movie! I liked the books as a kid and still do.

5/23/2007 12:59:24 AM

well shit, now I'm giddy about going to see a movie with talking bears in it

5/23/2007 2:18:03 AM

Wow I'm excited to see this. I hope they did a good job and I'm hoping it's better than the Harry Potter band wagon movies.

5/23/2007 10:56:43 AM

Pretty good trailer during Harry Potter, but I didn't see any daemons...

7/23/2007 12:10:08 PM

they had scenes or Lyra's Pantailamon (sp?) changing into a smaller lynx and getting growled at by a larger cat.

so they are definitely in the movie

7/23/2007 12:38:00 PM

I'm about halfway through The Amber Spyglass right now and I have to say I'm pretty excited about this movie.

Phillip Pullman has taken an active part in the production of it to make sure they get it right. Since New Line is banking on this being the next LOTR and seems to be doing a good job of marketing it so far I think it'll at least do the book justice.


The website is pretty sweet too:

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

7/23/2007 1:39:35 PM

This is a series I tell my friends about who are fans of Narnia/Harry Potter/LOTR, etc and get politely dismissed every time I mention it. I can't wait to see how fast they go out and buy the books after the first movie hits.

7/23/2007 2:35:34 PM

i'm reading The Golden Compass right now, and this is so much better than Narnia. i'm not sure if a comparison can be made to LotR though.

7/23/2007 5:08:31 PM

^^I think it's a lot darker than any of those series (while I do indeed like all of them), and I think that's one of the reasons I like it so much. I think it's the antithesis of Narnia as far as the religious stuff goes, too.

7/23/2007 5:16:21 PM

^^
I'm not comparing Dark Materials to any of those series, I just think that if they like those series, they would like this one as well.

[Edited on July 23, 2007 at 6:49 PM. Reason : .]

7/23/2007 6:49:21 PM

i read the book awhile ago but my memory is shot so i am reading it again before the movie comes out so i can be like wtf it isn't anything like the book.

9/9/2007 7:29:15 PM

i've watched the trailers for these, and i have to say that i'm super excited. they look really good, and i LOVE the choices for actors/actresses. nicole kidman, daniel craig, sam elliot, and eva green are all perfect for their parts. at first i was kind of put off by lyra and the voice of pan, but after watching the trailer a second time i kind of changed my mind. can't wait for the movie!!!

9/29/2007 8:34:32 PM

Sam Eliot makes any movie better.

9/29/2007 8:53:21 PM

^^Pullman said he thought Dakota was absolutely perfect for Lyra, so I'm confident she'll do a good job.

9/30/2007 3:45:39 AM

wow.... what a let down

anyone else catch the sneak preview?

I didn't care for it.

Thought the pacing was awful.

12/2/2007 1:02:24 AM

christians are freaking the fuck out

12/2/2007 3:28:57 AM

I haven't heard one thing first hand from any Christians I know about this movie.

The people I know who "freak out" about movies were more worked up about Harry Potter than this. And were about to get worked up about the DaVinci Code until they realized that the movie sucked and nobody was going to watch it anyway.

12/2/2007 3:42:09 AM

If this movie doesn't blow, I might read the trilogy. But as a Christian, I don't think I'm going to suddenly start burning Bibles. Hell my wife has read every fucking Harry Potter book, but she doesn't believe magic house elves are around here or any of that stupid shit. I guess I just don't understand how people can't seperate fiction from their daily lives and religious beliefs and just read a book as a work of total imagination.

Great LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia had religious symbolism and undertones. But I didn't run to church that night and thank God for such beautiful movies. Likewise, Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, etc. have all been read by me, but I know they are fucking made up and don't bother me what the offer is trying to make the readers believe as long as its good.

12/2/2007 11:24:34 AM

Quote :

"Chronicles of Narnia"

you didn't run to church after that one because it WAS christian.


and I'm with you on that. My mom hates all this nonsense but to me its just enjoying the imagination. Only the weak minded are influenced by such things.

12/2/2007 12:08:24 PM

^No, that WAS my point. It was Christian, just like Lord of the Rings to a lesser extent, but it didn't get me worked up into such a religious fervor that I immediately ran down to church and had myself rebaptised.

[Edited on December 2, 2007 at 12:24 PM. Reason : ]

12/2/2007 12:23:55 PM

there are many a facebook group and foxnews stories hating this movie already

12/2/2007 5:20:11 PM

Quote :

"If this movie doesn't blow, I might read the trilogy. "

You should read the book, and then if it doesn't suck, see the movie. It shouldn't be the other way around.

12/2/2007 7:10:51 PM

SO. EXCITED. what a great way to end this horrible week of writing papers.

12/2/2007 7:21:05 PM

i'm kind of scared the movie will suck, although pullman seems to approve of everything. the director, chris weitz, also directed About a Boy and the chris rock film Down to Earth, which was horrible. he adapted About a Boy's screenplay, but he also wrote the screenplay for The Nutty Professor II and Antz.

i can't imagine what the film would be like with sam mendes directing tom stoppard's script, though. holy shit.

12/2/2007 8:45:51 PM

I kinda thought it should be in reverse on watching the movie or read the book. That way when you watch the movie your not so caught up in how it compares to the book that you don't just enjoy the movie for what it is.

12/2/2007 10:49:29 PM

It's got giant f'ing armored polar bears. You know it's going to rock.

12/3/2007 12:04:12 AM

So... I've never even heard of the books or the movie, either in a negative or positive sense. First time was when I saw a bunch of facebook groups against the movie, but I wasn't even sure what the fuck they were getting outraged over. Is it some sort of anti-religion version of Narnia or something?

12/3/2007 1:05:42 AM

Quote :

"I kinda thought it should be in reverse on watching the movie or read the book. That way when you watch the movie your not so caught up in how it compares to the book that you don't just enjoy the movie for what it is."

But they openly admit to needing to alter huge amounts for the movie in order to please the fundies. I mean, I bet it's a completely different series from what we're going to see on screen.

^ There's a plot in the third book of the series in which a huge battle for heaven takes place. The invaders eventually win, and "God" is just a wisp of smoke in a box, which they basically kill. It's much more complicated than that in the story, and it involves angels, the underworld, special magical dust, windows to other dimensions, etc. But of course a bunch of people are getting their panties in a bunch over a metaphor.

[Edited on December 3, 2007 at 2:50 AM. Reason : /]

12/3/2007 2:33:21 AM

I've never read the book and all I ever hear is "ooooooh, fundies are going to haaate this!"

Anyone want to contribute any specifics as to why that is? Is it just the typical pop-culture event centers around magic so the people that hate Harry Potter and Halloween have an excuse to bash it or is there something more specific? What's this movie going to say to attack religion that religious people haven't already heard a million times anyway?

[Edited on December 3, 2007 at 8:42 AM. Reason : -]

12/3/2007 8:41:24 AM

there's a pretty evil (or accurate, if you prefer) version of the church that seeks absolute control. in the third book, lord asriel plans to kill the Authority, although technically this isn't God.

12/3/2007 8:46:57 AM

I keep hearing about the third book. What about the first book? They just stick to the theme of a church trying to get control?

12/3/2007 8:52:15 AM

i believe its that the Church is horribly corrupt and uses its powers in a very misguided way, taking advantage of its followers. the main group of the story destroys the head of the church in the third book

i could be mistaken though

there's nothing in the first book

[Edited on December 3, 2007 at 8:54 AM. Reason : Stillfuschia said so]

12/3/2007 8:53:51 AM

So couldn't the protestants just look at that and say "see, that's what we were trying to get away from" and leave it at that?

I guess I'll have to read a synopsis.

12/3/2007 9:02:08 AM

Well after all the controversy, I went by one of my schools library and checked out this puppy. So far enjoying it.

12/3/2007 10:26:02 PM

From http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200712/religious-movies

He once dismissed the Lord of the Rings trilogy as an “infantile work” primarily concerned with “maps and plans and languages and codes.” Narnia got it even worse: “Morally loathsome,” he called it. “One of the most ugly and poisonous things I’ve ever read.” He described his own series as Narnia’s moral opposite. “That’s the Christian one,” he told me. “And mine is the non-Christian.”

As he told The Sydney Morning Herald, he was “saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.”



[Edited on December 4, 2007 at 5:26 AM. Reason : source]

12/4/2007 5:24:42 AM

wow, for someone so creative he sure is a fuckhead about other people's work

12/4/2007 6:44:14 AM

good goddamn.

40% on RT.com so far, although there are only 10 reviews.

12/4/2007 9:29:57 AM

From what I've heard the visuals are impressive as are the performances but it has huge problems with pacing. The most common complaint is that it feels like a series of scenes instead of a cohesive movie, if that makes sense.

I'm a fan of the books but I'll be going into this movie with low expectations.

12/4/2007 9:44:39 AM

Quote :

"He once dismissed the Lord of the Rings trilogy as an “infantile work” primarily concerned with “maps and plans and languages and codes.” Narnia got it even worse: “Morally loathsome,” he called it. “One of the most ugly and poisonous things I’ve ever read.” He described his own series as Narnia’s moral opposite. “That’s the Christian one,” he told me. “And mine is the non-Christian.”"

Note that Pullman never actually said "MORAL OPPOSITE." In fact, I don't think he's ever claimed that his work is morally superior to anyone else's. While he finds fault in Lewis's sincere attempts to brainwash children with Christianity (which really is a little heavy-handed), that doesn't mean he thinks that he's done better. But heaven forbid he write something based on thinking for yourself rather than an allegory for Christianity! YEAH GUYZ, FUCK HIM FOR HAVING AN OPINION!!! Or just read the first page of the article you posted without looking at the further discussion on similar topics in the other pages.

Try reading what else he's said. Namely:

Quote :

""Religion is at its best when it is furthest from political power," he says. "The power to send armies to war, to rule every aspect of our lives, to tell us what to wear, what to think, what to read--when religion gets hold of that, watch out! Because trouble will ensue." Pullman has even received warm praise from members of the clergy, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, for his exploration of spiritual issues. "I suppose if you are interested in religious questions, that makes you religious," Pullman muses. "I am. What I am not is a believer in the sorts of gods that seem to be on offer from the various major religions.""

Regardless of anything else, it's totally awesome for Narnia to be a Christian allegory but it's not cool for there to be a children's story that is non-Christian? Yeah, okay.

[Edited on December 4, 2007 at 11:52 AM. Reason : .]

12/4/2007 11:40:33 AM

I have not been impressed with the CG in the trailers. It looks very fakey. Much like the CG in Chronicles, which was BAD BAD BAD (on top of a horrible screen play and bad acting).

12/4/2007 12:41:59 PM

^ Even if they are, how bad can a bunch of fighting armed polar bears be?

12/4/2007 12:52:04 PM

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/video-watch-the-first-5-minutes-of-the-golden-compass.php

First five minutes of the movie!

Thoughts?

12/4/2007 8:14:14 PM

they definitely fudged some of the facts. in the books, as i recall, there are a few other alethiometers in the world. and lyra is definitely not the only person who can read them, although she learns it intuitively.

but nitpicking aside, the choice of lyra is pretty much dead-on.

[Edited on December 4, 2007 at 8:26 PM. Reason : asdf]

12/4/2007 8:25:40 PM