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Old 12-09-2007, 09:52 AM
 
Location: Tucson, AZ
4,975 posts, read 11,657,319 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dullnboring View Post
I don't know anything about the film and it probably would've gone off of my radar had religious groups not created such a furor over it. Now that they have, I'm interested and want to see it .
I really don't understand what the big deal is. It's just a movie. Besides, when Passion of the Christ came out, I don't recall Atheists protesting it. Come to think of it, I don't ever recall non-believers protesting any of the tons of Christian-based movies out there. Live and let live, people!
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Old 12-09-2007, 01:59 PM
 
Location: SoFlo to SoCal (Hacienda Heights)
1,510 posts, read 5,055,469 times
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I've not seen the movie yet, I'm reading the book though. Trying to finish it before I watch the movie, even though I already know the ending, but I dont know, I feel like I should finish it first, I've got like 4 chapters to go. I'm looking forward to watching it though. The only reason why I started reading it was because of the whole controversy.. wanted to see what the fuss was about.
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Old 12-09-2007, 02:43 PM
 
Location: Kentucky Bluegrass
28,840 posts, read 30,069,778 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DragonOfIllFaith View Post
I've not seen the movie yet, I'm reading the book though. Trying to finish it before I watch the movie, even though I already know the ending, but I dont know, I feel like I should finish it first, I've got like 4 chapters to go. I'm looking forward to watching it though. The only reason why I started reading it was because of the whole controversy.. wanted to see what the fuss was about.
so now that you've read the book, what is the fuss about? Do you know?

I mean, to me, it was another Narnia movie...Good vs. Evil, and the Evil Priest...well gosh, an evil priest, who woulda thought?
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Old 12-10-2007, 01:22 PM
 
Location: SoFlo to SoCal (Hacienda Heights)
1,510 posts, read 5,055,469 times
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Ok I watched the movie now. Its definitely a more watered down version. And it was interesting to see how they mixed up certain parts of the story because of the time constraints and all. Usually when they do this, like they always do in Harry Potter, its annoys the hel* out of me, but I think it really worked in this movie.

I loved Dakota Blue as Lyra, I thought she was brilliant and couldnt have been better. I wish Mrs. Coulter wouldve had dark hair, but oh well.

Overall I liked it. But I prefered the book, because of all the details in the story. I've ordered The Subtle Knife so I can continue.

Quote:
so now that you've read the book, what is the fuss about? Do you know?
The book is a lot more.. blunt, I guess you could say, when it comes to talking against the Church and God. The books quotes the Bible and turns it against God in a way. But it really happens more towards the ending of the book.
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Old 12-10-2007, 04:03 PM
 
Location: Bike to Surf!
3,080 posts, read 11,029,268 times
Reputation: 3022
Thumbs down The Golden Compass: Terrible! D-

I saw The Golden Compass two days ago, and I found it to be a complete letdown. I would rate it as the worst fantasy movie in recent memory, with a D- grade overall. For reference my ratings of recent fantasy/fairy-tale movies would be:

Pan's Labrynth: A+
LOTR: A
Stardust: B+
Current Harry Potter: C+
Narnia: C
Brothers Grimm: C-
Early Harry Potter: D+

I'll start with the few positives.
Technically, the movie wasn't bad in terms of direction and eye candy, and that's perhaps it's only saving grace. The special effects were thorough and enjoyable.

I did take exception with the fully CG animals, because they simply don't look lifelike nor believable. It was like watching a splicing of Shrek or FF:The Spirits Within with a live-action film, and very disconcerting. It would have been far better to involve fewer animals but have them be the genuine article. Speech could've been handled the same as it was with "old school" animal films like Babe or Milo and Otis. Skillful directing could have made up for the limitations in using live animals and their handlers. The bears would have been more difficult, and perhaps required CG.

The acting was, likewise, skillful and well-executed. Though the story brought together a wide range of characters, the actors managed to skillfully blend their various types of speech and mannerisms into the overall film to deliver a believable product.

However, despite the technical feats of the actors and directors, the overall screenwriting was spectacularily awful. The overall pace of the movie was manically rushed from scene to scene without a single whit of character development. The audience wasn't given time to catch their breath and empathize with the characters between all the racing from one scene to the next. Likewise, in trying to cram so many dramatic events into such a short timespace, minor details were omitted, leaving glaring faults and holes in the overall plotline.

Characters did not seem like humans, but rather robots rushing from epic battle, to montage, to secret meeting. It gave the overall film a feeling of being Cliff Notes to the actual printed version of [u]The Golden Compass[/b]. By the halfway mark, I was bored with the epic special effects and wishing desperately for a chance to pause and get to know the characters we were supposed to care about. The climax of the action earned less than a shrug from me as I couldn't have cared less at that point which shallow group of plot devices prevailed in their epic battle. Instead, I started tallying up the death toll evidenced by the pretty showers of gold every time an actor was trampled, gored, bitten in half, or skewered. The final tally was somewhere around 75, if you're interested.

Harry potter--another series filled with events and deficient in character development and human emotion--had a hard time cramming each book into a 3-hour movie, and it showed in the low quality and rushed nature of the films, but The Golden Compass was far far worse than any of the Potter movies. The entire film felt like one extended special effects montage with a few snippits of dialogue thrown in. The screenwriters failed to lead me into caring about Dust, the Church (Magisterium), Lyra, or anything else other than when this bland fireworks show would be over.

My advice would be to skip this movie and read the book instead. You could save yourself 6 bucks by watching the trailer over and over again for two hours and get the same effect.

I haven't read the book. I wanted to before I saw the movie, but now I'm not sure if I could stomach slogging through all that junk a second time unless the author has done a better job of developing his characters than did the screenwriters.

Lastly, I'd like to comment on the negative effect of poorly-made liberal-minded movies like The Day After Tomorrow, The Golden Compass and Lions For Lambs. Stinkers like these are an embarrassment to progressive people everywhere and just give off-the-rails right-wingers and religious wackos an excuse to justifiably pummel the opposition parties.

It is my Christmas Wish that the progressive parties could rid themselves of the imbiciles, with more money than brains, who pick out scripts like those for the movies I've mentioned above and then produce them in a bungled attempt to mass market good causes/debates to the public at large. These idiots are doing irreparable harm to honest and important debates about climate change, religious influence, and war.

Please, if you don't know how to make a decently illuminating opposition movie/book/speech, go spend your money on Malibu mansions, designer handbags, and private islands and stop screwing things up for the intelligent and thoughtful members of the progressive community.
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Old 12-10-2007, 04:32 PM
 
93 posts, read 325,227 times
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As an avid fan of the books, I had highly anticipated this movie, and saw it as soon as I had the chance.

I was pretty let down.

If you haven't read the books, the plot is pretty muddled - there's just too much there to put in a two-hour movie and actually explain motivations. People just jump from action to action with no comprehensible reasons...
And if you HAVE read the books, you'll be disappointed not only with how much is cut out (to be expected) but how much is 'dumbed down'.

As for the anti-christianity (or more accurately, anti-church) overtones, I think the movie actually makes it worse. The books are written EXTREMELY well in that they create an environment where people's motivations - INCLUDING the 'Magisterium' - are understandable, even when they're doing things otherwise considered evil.

The movie, on the other hand, specifically focuses, from the very beginning, on making SURE you understand, the magisterium is EVIL, and that's all there is to it.

For example: In the book, at the very beginning, the master of Jordan College (no affiliation with the Magesterium) tries to poison Lord Asreal to stop him from doing his research.
You later find out it's because the master had come to love Lyra dearly, and learned from the aletheometer that if Asreal completed his research, Lyra would face years of horrible events and unimaginable peril. So yeah, a terrible act, but with a very understandable motivation.

In the movie, an agent of the Magisterium tries to poison Asreal because his research is heretical.

Changes like that are throughout the movie, and they really undermine what, in the book, was a well-stated point of view, just turning it into oversimplified silliness.

Needless to say, I'm pretty disappointed. Please, read the books, they're really good - but the movie doesn't reflect the quality at all. My son, eight years old and most of the way through the third book now, got up after the movie and said, with no prompting, "Wow. That was just wrong."


Having said that, if you have read the books and tone down your expectations of the movie, it really is absolutely beautiful.
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Old 12-10-2007, 04:56 PM
 
Location: Kentucky Bluegrass
28,840 posts, read 30,069,778 times
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well for all you folks here who contributed thanks so much....

I gotta be honest and please don't take offense, but when I read a book and go to the movie, I view the movie as a whole different entity from the book...and leave any expectations open...that way I am not left down....there are very few movies of which, y ou can read the book and then go see it and have it be exactly like the book, there is just not enough time....
I am a movie buff and love to go....and I won't allow reading the book discourage me....and most of the times if you do so, it will, if you let it...
the movies are not going to be like the books.

I loved this movie, it kept my interest...but, well, it doesn't take much

just my thoughts....
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Old 12-11-2007, 05:32 AM
 
Location: in the southwest
13,396 posts, read 44,881,742 times
Reputation: 13599
Quote:
Originally Posted by cremebrulee View Post

I gotta be honest and please don't take offense, but when I read a book and go to the movie, I view the movie as a whole different entity from the book...and leave any expectations open...that way I am not left down....there are very few movies of which, y ou can read the book and then go see it and have it be exactly like the book, there is just not enough time....
...
I agree--at least, I *try* to view the movie as a whole different entity.

I do have to admit that there have been a couple movies I have skipped simply because I could not face the film. Only a couple, but still. (The Power of One and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil come to mind.)

I haven't read the book yet, but I have all of Pullman's books (they belonged to my kids) and plan to read it.
It's funny, my older son read all of the Sally Lockhart series (and I did too) and my younger son was into the Dark Materials, which I never read.

ANYWAY
I liked the movie okay.
Yes it was a bit rushed but it mostly worked for me. I loved the production design. Kidman was wonderful. Those bloodshot eyes, and that slap to the monkey-daemon. Ooh.

I thought the cgi animals were pretty good, too. And spunky Lyra.

Was I as entranced with the Golden Compass as I was with Pan's Labyrinth?
Probably not, and the pacing might have had something to do with that.
The movie did indeed take me in, the wondrous scenes, the cold blue colors, but maybe I wasn't as blown away as I could have been.
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Old 12-11-2007, 07:28 AM
 
Location: Journey's End
10,203 posts, read 27,045,902 times
Reputation: 3946
I do want to see this movie, and did read the books as I've stated elsewhere and frankly loved them.

And I know cil is the movie buff, and one of my advisors, but I might say in advance and in defense of movies made after a novel, and movies made from original material, is they differ widely.

Pans Labyrinth is one fine movie, but it is original and didn't need to attempt any facsimile. Perhaps that changes the outcome more than we realize.
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Old 12-11-2007, 07:44 AM
 
Location: Kentucky Bluegrass
28,840 posts, read 30,069,778 times
Reputation: 19016
Quote:
Originally Posted by cil View Post
I agree--at least, I *try* to view the movie as a whole different entity.

I do have to admit that there have been a couple movies I have skipped simply because I could not face the film. Only a couple, but still. (The Power of One and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil come to mind.)

I haven't read the book yet, but I have all of Pullman's books (they belonged to my kids) and plan to read it.
It's funny, my older son read all of the Sally Lockhart series (and I did too) and my younger son was into the Dark Materials, which I never read.

ANYWAY
I liked the movie okay.
Yes it was a bit rushed but it mostly worked for me. I loved the production design. Kidman was wonderful. Those bloodshot eyes, and that slap to the monkey-daemon. Ooh.

I thought the cgi animals were pretty good, too. And spunky Lyra.

Was I as entranced with the Golden Compass as I was with Pan's Labyrinth?
Probably not, and the pacing might have had something to do with that.
The movie did indeed take me in, the wondrous scenes, the cold blue colors, but maybe I wasn't as blown away as I could have been.
yanno, I have to say something that I've always wondered about...and this may sound dumb...but Kidman's eyes, I've seen them bloodshot like that before, and I wonder if there is a problem...it is unfortunately very noticable on screen, and if I hadn't noticed it before, I wouldn't have thought any different, but I believe she does have an eye problem....the right eye looks worse then the left....

I dunno, maybe it's just me?
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