I finally got to see The Golden Compass, a movie based on the book Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. The book was fist published in 1995 and the movie released in 2007. It is considered to be a fantasy novel and film, set in a parallel universe from our own.
Image from Movie Cafe. Lyra and Pan in Oxford. I also loved the costumes of the time period very much, especially this dress.
Lyra Belacqua is the 12 year old who goes on an adventure in search for her missing friend and to find her uncle up in the far north. With the help of a talking Polar bear prince and many other lively characters to aid her.
I don’t want to ruin the ending, but I do wish the rest of the trilogy gets into production. There was a bit of a controversy when the film was to be released. The Catholic Church felt it was an attack on them. But I think it was much lighter, and the film reminds people to think for themselves as well as believe in themselves.
The characters are all unique and lovable, with interesting names. But the new actress, Dakota Blue Richards did a great job portraying the brave and intelligent young girl. The casting for her could not have been any better! And Nicole Kidman was beautiful and elegant, yet sinister. The book won the Carnegie Medal in 1996.
At first I would think it’s too much of a children movie or story. But it’s actually very entertaining and flowed nicely. It reminded me of something Miyazaki type of story telling. That may explain why the film grossed more in profits from Japan then it did in north America.
I hope they make the trilogy as I think there should be more films like this around. Great story telling and sense of adventure for the young and old.
10:59 pm on September 29th, 2009
This sounds like a good one, I saw that it’s PG13, is there any scenes there that might not be appropriate for younger kids that you can tell? I was wondering if I’d be too mature for Lee to watch.
7:20 pm on September 30th, 2009
The only violent scene is the two polar bears fighting. It’s actually much tamer then the book version.
They must have wrote it out to make this movie more kid friendly version.
11:39 pm on September 30th, 2009
Got to watch it all on Bluray player now-a-day. The quality is superb:)) Pretty good film, hoping for the other two as well, but you never know with Hollywood.
4:02 pm on October 3rd, 2009
Hi PaNoy,
I really do wish they make the trilogy. Part 1 was cut off a bit too abruptly for me and didn’t have a real closure.
Hi Nye,
The movie is also on Youtube if you like to “preview” it first.
7:52 pm on October 3rd, 2009
Cambree, thanks I’ll watch it first.
2:45 am on October 9th, 2009
Lee actually saw part of the movie with me, but I think it’s too complex for her and she lost interest, it was late and she got sleepy.
It’s interesting how they’ve demon as our soul, I guess more bold in the sense that it’s actually an animal and visible where as our soul is not visible, but we could feel it.
8:41 pm on October 10th, 2009
Hi Nye,
I would think having animals would make it more attractive to kids and they could relate better. But the story line does get complicated.
I agree, the idea of the demon as our soul is too imaginative. Anything is possible in a parallel universe.
Mostly I liked that it’s not commercialize like many movies are these days. The part I didn’t like was the abrupt ending. I guess they want to keep us hanging for part 2 and 3.