The Golden Compass Trailer

Post by **Alatar** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:48 pm

Here's a few different versions and sizes.

Media Player Small
Media Player Large
Quicktime Small
Quicktime Large

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:00 pm

Alatar, that looks spectacular!

It showed very little of the performance of the girl playing Lyra, though, and that's going to be a key element.

Post by **Jnyusa** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 1:06 am

I'm actually looking forward to this movie, though I haven't read the books.

Post by **Pearly Di** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:19 am

I am so seeing this movie.

The trailer is AMAZING, I saw it in the cinema a few weeks ago. Wow!

I don't care how true it is to Pullman's books. I don't like Pullman, he's a pompous ass who snarks about Tolkien and Lewis

But Daniel Craig as Lord Azriel! I'm so there.

And while I don't care much for Nicole Kidman as a rule, I do think she is extremely well cast as Mrs Coulter.

I did enjoy the first two books in the series, actually - Pullman does have an amazing imagination. But the relentless atheist preachiness began to SERIOUSLY get on my nerves. It will be interesting to see if New Line have been brave enough to take that on ...

One suspects not.

But Lord knows they need another decent film to their bow. They've not made anything worthwhile since you-know-what!

Post by **Alatar** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:33 am

New Trailer... and can i just say,

Oh Yes!

http://pdl.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/ne ... Med_dl.mov

Compass Ending Reworked

Chris Weitz, director of the upcoming The Golden Compass, wrote on his official production blog that he has reworked the ending of the movie, which is based on the first volume of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Specifically, Weitz said that the end of the first book will now constitute the beginning of the proposed second movie in what is hoped will be a troika of films.

"For the past three years I (and a gigantic cast and crew of fans of the books) have been working to adapt The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights)," Weitz wrote. "As you can imagine, the process can be both exhausting and exhilarating and full of both challenges and surprises. Sometimes you discover reasons to modify the chronology or narrative path of the books in a way that serves the movie and the trilogy better."

Weitz added: "I have decided, along with Scholastic and New Line and, most importantly, Philip Pullman, to shift the concluding three chapters of Book I of His Dark Materials to the beginning of the second film of our trilogy, The Subtle Knife. To me, this provides the most promising conclusion to the first film and the best possible beginning to the second."

Weitz said that he has consulted regularly with Pullman about the movies. "I would not be doing this without his approval," he wrote. "As Philip has said, His Dark Materials is not three stories but one story: the story of Lyra. And where we pause to take a breath in the telling of it is a matter of choice and taste. But I hope that when fans see the film, they will find their fears put to rest and their hopes fulfilled. For the film to be judged on its own merits is all that I can ask for." The Golden Compass, which stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, opens Dec. 7.

Post by **Pearly Di** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:20 am

Pearly Di wrote:But Lord knows they need another decent film to their bow. They've not made anything worthwhile since you-know-what!

I take it back. New Line produced the hugely enjoyable 'Hairspray' remake, with adorable Nicky Blonsky, Michelle Pfeiffer in superb form as an uber-bitch, the ever-lovely Queen Latifah and, of course, the unmissable John Travolta in drag as Tracy's mom. Hilarious.

Well, it's good to know that the people making Pullman's stories into films have the courage to stick to the author's meaning.

I've only read the first two, actually. Tried to get into the last one but it began to aggravate me.

I'll give it another go sometime.

Post by **Alatar** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:46 am

My aplogies:

Here's the correct links:

Quicktime
http://pdl.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/ne ... Med_dl.mov
http://pdl.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/ne ... igh_dl.mov

Media Player
http://pdl.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/ne ... Med_dl.wmv
http://pdl.stream.aol.com/newline/gl/ne ... igh_dl.wmv

Post by **Northerner** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:46 am

Lovely.

Saw this clip on Fox the other day- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,300737,00.html

And 'they' were worried about Harry Potter.

Funnily enough, there are also protests that the 'anti-Catholic' nature of the book has been 'castrated' in the film.

Can't win.

*swoons for Daniel Craig*

ahem

fans self

Post by **Teremia** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 8:07 am

Northerner, that interview is an astonishing thing!

GIBSON: Father Morris if a movie is pushing atheism, should it get a PG rating?

MORRIS: Well, this is the point John, you know coming to the belief that there is no such thing as transcendence, there is no such thing as heaven, there is no such thing as destiny, that's a big deal. Now if that's an issue that adults come to in a very serious way, it should be presented in a serious way among adults. Putting a PG rating on it I think is saying this is a conversation that's worthy of kids. And that's my problem with this film.

!!!!! Only movies that take heaven literally should receive a G/PG rating?

And another great moment:

MORRIS:These books by Pullman, is — they're fiction of ideology. And ideology is a big thing. It distorts minds of kids. Have you ever met a really happy kid who is an atheist? I mean, give me a break.

1. anti-atheism is itself not an ideology??
2. I could introduce Morris to some "really happy" non-believing children.
3. I think Pullman is terribly heavy-handed when it comes to religion (plus his plotting is inconsistent -- I threw The Amber Spyglass across the room!), but reading this interview, I could almost see why he gets so overheated about it all.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:48 pm

Yes, it's so discouraging to have actual believers actually advocating points of view that I'd have thought were surely straw men if I heard about them from, say, Pullman.

I still haven't read AMBER SPYGLASS, though it's sitting on my shelf--but it keeps sliding down the list. I don't like throwing books; it knocks the flocking off the wallpaper.

Post by **TheWagner** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:58 am

Teremia wrote:3. I think Pullman is terribly heavy-handed when it comes to religion (plus his plotting is inconsistent -- I threw The Amber Spyglass across the room!), but reading this interview, I could almost see why he gets so overheated about it all.

Well, Pullman is a bit heavy-handed, but, then, it is tough to not be heavy-handed in a story like this in many respects: "authority" does not lend itself to subtlety!

And as for happy non-believers, I could find plenty of those! In my youth, it was the kids forced to go to church (particularly, but not restricted to, Catholic) who were miserable! Heck, I consider it a form of child-abuse, to be brutally honest: and the fact that I've never met anybody raised Catholic who remained religious says something. (And I've met quite a few, it seems....)

I am hoping that the movie does not pull punches where religion is concerned. I'm not sure that I'm too hopeful, though.....

What I'm really looking forward to is Iorek: he should be cool if done properly! Lyra looks a bit "clean" in most of the trailers, but Hollywood dirty is a smudge of dirt. So, I guess that I'll have to standardize. And watching Nicole Kidman never hurt my disposition any, either.....

Post by **Teremia** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 2:03 pm

Funny -- I'm quite allergic to Nicole Kidman. But it might be OK here, since she's the Baddie.

Just the other day, I found myself thinking, "hey! It's almost December! Golden Compass coming soon!" So I must be at least slightly hopeful about this movie.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:31 pm

That's funny, Teremia—I have the same reaction to Kidman. I find her icy and artificial. Which may fit her very well for this particular role.

Post by **vison** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:07 pm

Got this email from Tay's school the other day:

MEI Middle School wrote:A "HEADS UP" FOR PARENTS:
It is not normal practice for MEI Middle School to comment on current media releases. However with the upcoming release (Dec. 7th) of a movie called the “The Golden Compass”, we would like to encourage parents to do some research prior to allowing their student to attend the movie/debrief their viewing of it. Your family may see some conflict with the worldview which you hold in your family or may find that it contains material that is unsuitable for your child. Here are some websites that comment on this movie:

http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005672.cfm
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

Now, I am not going to respond to this email, although I certainly would "like" to.

I haven't read any of this man's books.

I've seen the trailer at the theatre twice now, and it looks, IMHO, very ho-hum, nothing in it attracts me at all. SFX-fest and since I don't know the story, I will probably pass on it.

Taylor wants to see it because at the moment he is a pretty hardcore atheist, and he says he's heard at school that in this movie "they kill God" and I said, "Come on, Taylor, how can 'they kill God' if the guy who wrote the book doesn't believe in God and neither do you?" So I've been doing a bit of reading and this evening we are going to have this conversation. I am a bit of an atheist myself, but I hate "tracts" and that's what this sounds like. So more research is required.

And, I've heard the movie is a stinker, too.

Post by **Alatar** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:49 pm

Got a fairly positive review from Catholic News Service.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/07mv242.htm

Post by **vison** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:08 pm

Hey, thanks, Alatar! I shall post that review to the school.

The thing is, what drives me bats, of course, is the idea that kids might, you know, ask questions? Jeez. Your religion is so feeble and frail that a mere question is going to destroy it? Your faith cannot bear discussion?

I won't get drawn into any discussion, well, I doubt that any will be offered, but I will send this review to the school, just for their information!!!

Post by **tinwë** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:22 pm

I didn't know anything about this movie, never read the books, didn't know the story, only ever caught snippets of the discussions here and elsewhere, but some friends invited me to a sneak-preview of the movie last night and ... I really liked it! There were parts of it that I didn't quite comprehend, but I felt like I probably understood more of this movie then I would have from LOTR if I had seen those movies without having read the books. If that makes any sense.

I thought it all looked fairly real - the CGI-SFX was obviously there, but it was well done and not overwrought. I thought Dakota Blue Richards did a great kob as Lyra, very mature for a girl her age. I could take or leave Kidman, which is to say she wasn't great, but she wasn't horrible either.

My friends loaned me the books, so when I get a chance I'll read them and find out what the movie was really supposed to be about

. In the meantime though, I would have no problem recommending the movie to anyone. I certainly did not see anything in the least bit controversial from a religious standpoint. (Killing God? What's that all about?).

Post by **vison** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:13 pm

Killing God?

Apparently Mr. Pullman has made it his mission to "kill the idea of god". I don't think he's going to succeed!!!

But the chat around Tay's school is this bit about killing god. Man, if you want to make kids want something, tell them it's wicked.

These people never learn.

No doubt I will have to see it, since the kids want to. And I also have taken the initiative to discuss it with the kids, pointing out the absurdity of killing something you don't believe in -- and that Pullman didn't say he was going to kill god, but the idea of god.

Everyone knows you can't kill god, so why worry about it?

Post by **tinwë** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:23 pm

If this movie is one of the tools he's using to "kill the idea of god", than I agree he's not going to succeed. Honestly, I didn't see anything in the movie that even remotely suggested such a notion. It's just baffling to me.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:41 pm

They softened that aspect of the books enormously, from my understanding. I've read the first two and remember nothing about "killing God," but there is a powerful organized church with strong parallels to the Church of England that is pretty much entirely evil in its actions and intentions.

So, being businesspeople, the studio insisted that this be considerably lightened in the script. Pullman stated publicly that he had no problem with this—which leaves me unimpressed with him. While the books were coming out he talked quite a bit about how essential the anti-religion theme was in the story, but apparently that brave artistic stance stops when it endangers the money.