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The Golden Compass

Play trailer Poster for The Golden Compass PG-13 Released Dec 7, 2007 1h 58m Kids & Family Fantasy Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
42% Tomatometer 195 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) lives in a parallel world in which human souls take the form of lifelong animal companions called daemons. Dark forces are at work in the girl's world, and many children have been kidnapped by beings known as Gobblers. Lyra vows to save her best friend, Roger, after he disappears too. She sets out with her daemon, a tribe of seafarers, a witch, an ice bear and a Texas airman on an epic quest to rescue Roger and save her world.
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The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass

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Critics Consensus

Without the bite or the controversy of the source material, The Golden Compass is reduced to impressive visuals overcompensating for lax storytelling.

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Critics Reviews

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Debbie Day Premiere Magazine "The Golden Compass ultimately fails as a film in its broad strokes and inadequate scene development." Rated: 2/5 Nov 3, 2016 Full Review Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: B+ Feb 18, 2012 Full Review Hank Sartin Time Out Rated: 2/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Solid entertainment, but of the repetitious kind - as if it was the sequel to something else, even though it is obviously the first of a potential series. Rated: 7/10 Nov 24, 2020 Full Review Cinemanía Staff Cinemanía (Spain) Dazzling. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/5 Oct 14, 2020 Full Review Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) This uneven and muddled affair is too compressed and compromised to please viewers of any persuasion. Rated: 2/5 Jul 17, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alex H Great film great story just some of the cgi didn’t look right for me in this film other wise a great story and actors Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/18/24 Full Review Blu B The editing isn't good here and is the biggest problem here. It makes sense barely enough and does stay focused on Lyra for the most part to it's credit, but it feels like there are chunks missing because so many ideas are just underdevloped, rushed, or just forgotten about. We really don't get any backstory on Lyra, her father, brother, or anyone. They just assume we understand the spirit animal connection with no explanation at all, the realtionship with her family is just forgotten about, and her bonding with the polar bear is so rushed it's not even funny just to name a few. This alternates netween underdevloped stuff and plot expose scenes for most of the runtime. I'm not familiar with the source material but the climax is just nonstop CGI action and it just sort of ends like how the first LOTR did which was a letdown. The pacing just ins't good in general. The acting is alright thanks to a seasoned supporting cast but most of the time there just used for plot expose and forgotten about. That's another thing this just keeps throwing new characters at you nonstop even past halfway. Daniel Craig is forgotten about after the 30 minutes, Sam Elliot appears out of nowhere in the middle, Ian McKellan's bonding is so rushed out of nowhere past halfway, Kidman is forgotten about halfway, and I'm sure here are others. This can never keep a steady supporting cast but they do help because Dakota Richards isn't good at all. She is so emotionless, wooden, and robotic the entire time. She is so boring whenever she is on screen and the supporting cast helps make it watchable. The cinematography isn't good either. The direction is so basic, the lighting is dull, there is so much CGI in this it borders on oversaturation at points. There is tons of production value, nice set designs and special effects galore but it just adds up to a whole lot of nothing. Neverending Story this isn't. This needed to be more tangible with it's effects and be less dull in the practical ones it does have. The music is just boring and forgettable as well. Skip this. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/17/24 Full Review Andrew L The polar bear is the only likeable character in this film. That alone should tell you something. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/17/24 Full Review Audience Member its a poor trilogy of a great book. Does not deserve more than 2 stars Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/05/24 Full Review Adam P I think this is very good Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/25/24 Full Review Katerina M It is a wonderful movie which kept my children and me entertained a few times already. It is just as well made as Harry Potter. I wish they continue with the entire trilogy! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Golden Compass

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Cast & Crew

Stardust 77% 86% Stardust Watchlist TRAILER for Stardust The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 94% 86% The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Watchlist Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 78% 81% Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Watchlist The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 95% 95% The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Watchlist The Brothers Grimm 38% 39% The Brothers Grimm Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) lives in a parallel world in which human souls take the form of lifelong animal companions called daemons. Dark forces are at work in the girl's world, and many children have been kidnapped by beings known as Gobblers. Lyra vows to save her best friend, Roger, after he disappears too. She sets out with her daemon, a tribe of seafarers, a witch, an ice bear and a Texas airman on an epic quest to rescue Roger and save her world.
Director
Chris Weitz
Producer
Deborah A. Forte, Bill Carraro
Screenwriter
Chris Weitz
Distributor
New Line Cinema
Production Co
New Line Cinema, Depth of Field, Scholastic Productions
Rating
PG-13 (Sequences of Fantasy Violence)
Genre
Kids & Family, Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 7, 2007, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 30, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$70.1M
Runtime
1h 58m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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