His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass

Surprised there isnt a thread already on this. Unless there is and i have totally missed it. Anyway, if there is, THIS ONE IS BETTER.

So, Phillip Pullmans phenomenal Dark Materials Trilogy is finally been given the movie magic it so rightly deserves. And from what can be seen so far, it looks incredible.

The story starts with Northern Lights (Or The Golden Compass as it has been called in the US and the movie), the first book which introduces us to Lyra Balacqua, a girl who lives in a parrallel world to our own where all humans are accompanied by their souls who are in the form of an animal. This first installement focus's around Lyra's quest to follow her parents and venture north to rescue her father Lord Asriel.

In the film we have Nicole Kidman playing Mrs Coulter, a superb villian with more layers or twisted evil goodness than a giant onion. We also have Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel and an awesome supporting cast including Eva Green as the elegant witch queen Sefarina Pekalar. Lets just hope that Dakota Blue Richards will do a decent job in her first movie role as Lyra, judging by the guffins below, i think she will.

The series of books are an awesome read, full of philosophy, mythology, theology and some brilliant writing by Pullman. If you havnt read any of them, read them now so you can get the best out of the film when it arrives in cinemas this December. Pullman does such a great job of creating these awesome characters, that you really become invested in them, so hopefully this will transfer well to the film. Its an incredible story full of evil witches, cliff ghasts, ghosts, guillitines, talking polar bears, child snatchers, hot air balloons and enough excitement to bring tears to your eyes.

Chris Weitz is in the directing chair, but as his previous work amounts to About A Boy (which was great) we will have to see. However, check out the featurette linked below for some amazing footage of how it's going to look. If you love the books, you will love that link.











Anyone else as excited as i am? (I know Sammy is!!)

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I'm somewhat interested in this. As I'm sure is quite predictable, I don't much care for the "atheistic Narnia" thing that it's been labelled with (fairly or unfairly). That said, my girlfriend loves the books, and is quite interested in how the films turn out. Thanks for the pictures, blib; I'll make sure she sees them.

I am pretty psyched. Two of my friends are massive fans of the books. I guess I need to go ahead and read these now....

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Seriously guys, i couldnt recommend the books enough. (Don't tell JK, but i actually prefer them to Potter!)

And any references to an Atheists Narnia are toally way off the mark. I mean sure, Pullman blatantly hates the Chruch and anything to do with God, but by GUM does he do a good job of shaming the G man in these books. The plot is basically centred around a war with God. Awesome brain melting reading.

I have a feeling this film will be great...

Eh. Not to be contentious, and obviously you speak from a position of greater knowledge here having read the books and all, but if the author hates the Church, and God, and has written a series of fantasy children's books which shame and declare war on God, why would the "Atheist's Narnia" label be way off the mark?

I was thinking more in terms of the story when i read your post. I mean on an incredibly basic level, sure it can be labelled like that. But having read both, the stories, style of writing and incredibly complex plot of His Dark Materials couldnt be more different. And i was just basically putting you off that comment so you would pick them up and read them

I'm completely stoked.
I read the books last Fall and really enjoyed them.
There's definitely an agnostic bent to Pullman's own philosophy that reads loud and clear in the fiction, but the story is about so much more than that. I really hope it doesn't get derailed on those grounds. The philosophy of the books is very positive, I felt, about creativity and ability and ingenuity and such.

The casting looks excellent- Eric Bana was attached too, last I heard. It's an amazing cast. I'm even looking forward to Kidman, as I think this role will make great use of her ice-heart. lol Sam Houston is basically exactly how I pictured his character, as is Eva Green. Really, everyone looks great.

I like the look of the live-action art I'm seeing. I hope they continue to randomize the CGI, because right now that stands out (at least on pixilated ol' youtube) as a weak spot.

Can't wait for Dec 7th, though.
Thanks for the link to the video, blib!

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What blibby said. Also, Pullman describes is as "the anti-Narnia", but I don't think it so much mirrors the narnia story as it starts at a similar point (in a wardrobe) and moves in a totally different direction.

Ok, color me dumb.
I watched the Narnia story today (twice, mind you) and it has several common points with Pullman's story. I would say though, that Pullman's story is more realistic (for the genre) in how it deals with kids, and has a more healthy message.

The Narnia film is gorgeously done and brilliantly acted. It certainly sets a high bar and the comparisons will be unavoidable. But the message of the Lewis tale, highlit at the start and repeated at the end, is "do as you're told". Pullman's story puts forward the idea of using one's own mind to make decisions, and how intelligent people give each other room to do that.

The stories share several common points, but not wanting to be a spoiler, and with no idea what will make the final cut in The Golden Compass, I'll leave off here.

Wow. It feels like we weren't even watching the same movie.

There are certainly elements of "do what you're told" in the film, but that's certainly not the message. Throughout both the book and film, we're hit over the head with the idea of considering all possibilities; even the fantastical ones. Certain characters dismiss supernatural possibilities out of hand, and if the main characters were to "do what they were told," they would have ruled Narnia out completely. Not to mention that they have to disobey Ms. McCreedy just to find Narnia.

And this is all setting aside the fact that any number of things were changed from the book for the film, of course. And this is off the top of my head.

The fact that the Narnia film both begins and ends with the refrain "do what you're told" sorta gave me the impression that it WAS at least part of the message, since the character it was said to (both times) is the 'bad kid' who doesn't do what he's told, gets into a big mess because of it, and then finally gets into step with his siblings.



Ennyhoodle, this is fun.

Hmm, I might have to check these books out.

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Started listening to the audio book of the Golden Compass a few weeks back. Was into it and then I broke my headphones. Was interesting stuff, no doubt. Greatly looking forward to the flick and hopefully, soon, a teaser.

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I'm a bit wary of comparing the Narnia books with HDM trilogy. Those were different times, a different place for children all together, and Lewis a much different thinker to Pullman.

Abyway, I'm looking forwards to the film, even if it should be called Northern Lights

You can't tell from that trailer what the kid Dakota is going to be like, but Nicole Kidman looks the part and Daniel Craig too - I always had Terence Stamp in my head for Asriel when I was reading the books, but Daniel Craig has the same bright blue eyes.

As long as they get Iorek Byrnison right and that magnificent fight, then I'll be happy.

This looks amazing!

The second instance of Peter saying "do what you're told" is sarcastic, and comes after Edmund has saved the day by disobeying. It is, then, actually saying the opposite. Moreover, it's saying it in a such a way that almost refutes the first time it was said.

And, of course, there's all the larger, more prominent themes that pretty much overwhelm the "do what you're told" meme, which is really an aside at the most, and not really in conflict with independent thought.

"Saved the day by disobeying"?? How so?
If he had, then I could see it, but basically it seemed to me that he eventually falls into step with his siblings. Not at all bucking the system.

I'd like to see if the way you do, I just don't.

During the climactic battle (just before the 2-hour mark), Peter tells Edmund to run away, and to take the girls with him. Mr. Beaver immediately yells "you heard him: let's go!" Edmund sees Jadis walking towards Peter, and draws his sword. Mr. Beaver reminds him: "Peter said 'get out of here!'" Edmund replies "Peter's not king yet," and rushes back into battle 30 seconds after being ordered not to. He bravely charges Jadis (who is making a beeline for Peter) and breaks her wand just as she lifts it over her head, presumably to turn Peter to stone. Edmund's actions stop this, and also deprive the Witch of her most dangerous weapon.

For his trouble, Edmund is stabbed by the Witch. After the battle is over (2 hours, 4 minutes in) Edmund wakes up, thanks to some of Lucy's cordial. Peter hugs him, and, while clearly laughing (and crying a bit), asks "When are you going to learn to do as you're told?" Edmund smiles and they all hug. Awww. Anyway, the line is clearly meant to be ironic.

Even in the earlier instance in which it is not meant ironically (2 minutes, 50 seconds in), Edmund's disobedience is still portrayed sympathetically. He runs back inside their house to retrive a picture of their father before running into the bomb shelter. This sympathathic tone continues when Peter confesses to Aslan that he helped drive Edmund to his betrayal, which also illustrates that Peter's authority is far from infallible.

Also, as I mentioned before there are other instances of rebellious behavior that would appear to undermine a "do what you're told" moral. Most prominent is that they stumble into Narnia because they're running away from Mrs. Macready (around the 40-minute mark), who they fear has discovered that they've broken a window. There are some little things, too, such as Susan and Lucy disobeying Aslan, who tells them not to watch him being sacrificed.

All that said, sure, Edmund is eventually forgiven by Aslan and the other children -- but he's forgiven for outright betrayal, which has nothing to do with thinking for yourself or doing what you're told, unless you're told "don't betray your family" -- which ought to be a pretty controversy-proof message.

I think the the only way someone could come away with the idea that this film was instructing viewers to do what they're told is if they were fully aware of the Christian influences throughout the film, and regarded the religion itself as somewhat authoritarian. Whether that's true or not, I don't see any real evidence of it in the film, and quite a bit of evidence to the contrary.

the poster looks fantastic. its a lot flashier than i imagined it but its really PRETTY. Iorek is awesome looks like its gonna be a good holiday movie.
however i did not picture mrs coulter as a blonde nicole kidman... well she looks beautiful AND evil in the pictures ive seen, but... blonde? i thought marisa coulter had jet black hair. and she only looks evil cuz i know she is. meh...


well it IS a disney movie after all (right? im not sure anymore)... i dont imagine disney movies are much interested in breaking stereotypes and making things more realistic. they're always very manichean (systematically opposing good to evil, with no real space in-between). i've also read narnia and i thought the story was mostly well-translated onto the movie. despite the common points i think the dark materials trilogy is way more captivating, just because its maybe meant for an older audience. narnia seems like the easy-reading type of book for chilidren - everything is so simple, and its almost like a fairy-tale.
my favourite book of all time is the golden compass, just because of the narration, the adventure... its such a beautiful world in there. so consider me biased :P

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Just finished the Golden Compass.

Good stuff with some potential for some really great scenes if handled right. Some very grown up material in these books (pun not intended).

Even if handled poorly, I'm fairly certain this will put a hurt on the Narnia franchise - the story and characters are far, far more compelling.