The Golden Compass

PG-13

Released Dec 7, 2007

1 hr. 58 min.

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Adventure

List

42%

196 Reviews

Tomatometer

51%

250,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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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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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

Audience Member

After 15 years this was a good try even if it did end up failing so quickly Adapted from His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman it centers on witches, pirates, magic, talking animals, and religion starring Daniel Craig, Eva Greene, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliot, the late Christopher Lee, and Ian McKellan Dust is sacred to many of the inhabitants of this alternate earth where everyone has a spirit animal (daemons) that talks If the spirit animal dies the human lives but if the human dies so does the spirit The focus is on a girl named Lyra played by Dakota Blue Richards A powerful ruler called the Majesterium or a pseudo-Catholic Church in a reality that never enjoyed the benefits of the Reformation is after an item called the Golden Compass that points to wherever the holder needs to go and Lyra is given the compass which makes her run away Lyra will need the help of her daemon, armored bears, witches, and pirates to solve the compass's mystery and stop the Majesterium The dust particle itself in this story threatens all the strict teachings of everyone who mentions it, it's deemed blasphemous since it brings up alternate universes without rulers The film has a cool steampunk feeling to it along with some impressive CGI and I enjoyed the fantasy aspect It's insanely violent in parts It had an impeccable cast, too plus the daemons act out the humans and their inner turmoil The issues however stem from director Chris Weitz having so much cliched dialogue and exposition in here but it does come together near the end There's lots of stuff in here about religious heresy which of course isn't surprising since this movie offended the Roman Catholic Church Freethinking, heretics, and putting aside centuries of teachings because of new discoveries are many of the main elements the story attempts to tackle Much of the movie's controversy from religion and authority as well as the source material killed a potential franchise This also tried to follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings Plus this script is unfortunately crammed with so much stuff it barely leaves enough room for the characters to be developed Even if the movie is considered an underperformer it did help necessitate New Line Cinema’s absorption into the Warner Bros. Discovery plus The tv series thankfully did a much better job adapting these books so it wasn't all for nothing

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/08/23

Full Review

D D

Fun movie. Normally not the type of film I would like...but I enjoyed this one.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/01/23

Full Review

Kristen L

Did anyone actually read the book? Strong casting, but such a disappointment against the book trilogy.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/04/23

Full Review

Shaun E

Having recently watched the BBC/HBO series of Philip Pullman's books, it is quite difficult to not make direct comparisons, but instead to focus on critiquing this film on its own merits, but I will try. As a standalone film, it is entertaining enough to pass the time and to feel that I had watched a complete story, even if the ending sets itself up for a sequel that does not come. The special effects in the film are pretty good and I would say that visually, the film excels. While many films feel padded out to make up the time, this one suffers from the opposite problem. There is too much happening, too quickly. There is not enough time for any character development and it is really difficult to relate to any of the characters, even Lyra. And because things happen so quickly, scenes that need build up and tension are done in a flash. It is a wam bam and done movie. The Magisterium might be the big bad wolf of this film, but you never get the feeling that they are a really danger to anyone. The film errs on the side of the sugar coated too much. Good for an adventure, but not a great film that you can feel invested in, sadly.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

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Chris Weitz

Director

Nicole Kidman

Mrs. Coulter

Dakota Blue Richards

Lyra Belacqua

Daniel Craig

Lord Asriel

Sam Elliott

Lee Scoresby

Eva Green

Serafina Pekkala

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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

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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
Executive Producer: Robert Shaye, Michael Lynne, Toby Emmerich, Mark Ordesky, Ileen Maisel, Andrew Miano, Paul Weitz
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
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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