The Golden Compass: it could have been good.

[inspectorxero]

Sometimes, what is worse than a movie that just sucks, is a movie that has a good movie inside its frames, but it's stuck there, screaming to get out, held back by lack-luster direction, bad editing, and sloppy story-telling

Comments

[kingtycoon]

That book is just okay.

[melliemeal]

I've read the trilogy and I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of five. Maybe 4. I enjoyed it but it wasn't omg amazing.

I have yet to see the movie but I really wanted to until I started hearing all of these bad things.

Did they leave the end as a cliff-hanger? or was everything resolved? Because I wonder if that's why they put in that bit about "the Magisterium's plan to let asrial find out more info about alternate realities so they could move in and conquer them." From your description I find this to be a huge leap from the book. Were all religious aspects of the book taken out? About the Authority being god and Asrial wanting to destroy god?

I'll probably still see it because I've been looking forward to it.

[inspectorxero]

let's put this way: having never read the books, i had no idea asrial wanted to kill god. God is never mentioned in it. they use the word "the authority" once, and i thought it was in reference to the magisterium. and yes, it ends on a huge cliff hanger with lyra, roger, yorick, and sam ellitot's character heading off to give the golden compass to asrial for some ill-defined reason or another.

that's another thing, they say through out the movie that lyra needs to give the compass to asrial, but i'm thinking, "hell. the one scholar at Jordan had it all along, why didn't he just give it to him?" i understand that lyra is the apparently the only one that can read it...but still, asrial seems to think this already, why not give her the compass and take them BOTH with him to the north? whatever.

[inspectorxero]

yeah, i get that sense from what i've read on wikipedia and other's comments. but man, this film was rushed, clipped, and sloppy. if nothing else, the lackluster box office and so-so execution of the film means we probably will not see anymore of the series, which is a shame given how good (supposedly) the source material is.