[TrevorS]

I really enjoy good fantasy movies such as Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter, and my focus here is the story, not the A/V (I personally don't feel great A/V make up for a mediocre fantasy story -- or non-fantasy for that matter

).


I've read a few negatives on Golden Compass "professional" reviews, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a real problem. Any opinions on the two films relative to each other -- if an either or situation, any idea which way you'd lean?


Thanks much -- Trevor

!

 

[FoxyMulder]

Both are good films but i personally enjoyed The Golden Compass more.


As a fantasy film i think The Golden Compass really works and the performance by it's young stars is on a par with the seasoned veterans indeed Dakota Blue Richards has a great future ahead of her if she can avoid the usual pitfalls that youngsters who find fame often fall into.


I found the magical world of The Golden Compass more enchanting than that of Narnia and it's characters slightly more involving.


Personally if i had to choose one or the other i'd lean towards The Golden Compass as i enjoyed it just ever so slightly more than Narnia.


I'd say 9 out of 10 for Compass and 8 out of 10 for Narnia as far as pure entertainment goes. Probably best to post this in the movie section since it's strictly about the entertainment levels and not about A/V quality which incidentally i found to be high on both releases although some will claim The Golden Compass has excess DNR but i think the softer look was done post production for the fantasy world in much the same way as they softened the fantasy world of Sky Captain.


Narnia has some terrific stuff going on there too though. Oh why choose one when you can have both ?

 

[Toe]



Quote:
Originally Posted by TrevorS /forum/post/15399156


I really enjoy good fantasy movies such as Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter, and my focus here is the story, not the A/V (I personally don't feel great A/V make up for a mediocre fantasy story -- or non-fantasy for that matter

).


I've read a few negatives on Golden Compass "professional" reviews, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a real problem. Any opinions on the two films relative to each other -- if an either or situation, any idea which way you'd lean?


Thanks much -- Trevor

!

I LOVE LOTR, and realy liked the HP series.....having said that, I found both the Golden Compass and Narnia movies to be good rentals, but glad I did not purchase either of these as the story in these movies is not the strong point IMO and would definately not watch either of these again just for the story which is your criteria. If you factor in A/V, it may be a dif story (no pun intended

). I would give these a rent first to see if you like them enough for repeat viewings considering story is your focus.

 

[TrevorS]



Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxyMulder /forum/post/15399220


Both are good films but i personally enjoyed The Golden Compass more.


As a fantasy film i think The Golden Compass really works and the performance by it's young stars is on a par with the seasoned veterans indeed Dakota Blue Richards has a great future ahead of her if she can avoid the usual pitfalls that youngsters who find fame often fall into.


I found the magical world of The Golden Compass more enchanting than that of Narnia and it's characters slightly more involving.


Personally if i had to choose one or the other i'd lean towards The Golden Compass as i enjoyed it just ever so slightly more than Narnia.


I'd say 9 out of 10 for Compass and 8 out of 10 for Narnia as far as pure entertainment goes. Probably best to post this in the movie section since it's strictly about the entertainment levels and not about A/V quality which incidentally i found to be high on both releases although some will claim The Golden Compass has excess DNR but i think the softer look was done post production for the fantasy world in much the same way as they softened the fantasy world of Sky Captain.


Narnia has some terrific stuff going on there too though. Oh why choose one when you can have both ?

Thanks

!


I tried searching this forum for pro/con discussion on Golden Compass, but all I really found were Xylon's still-shot and PQ quality discussion thread plus a few odds and ends. I prefer as far as I can to winnow choices since I don't usually find BD releases to be inexpensive -- my response (including watching for opportunities) is to pick and choose and occasionally opt for used SD DVD

.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Toe /forum/post/15399380


I LOVE LOTR, and realy liked the HP series.....having said that, I found both the Golden Compass and Narnia movies to be good rentals, but glad I did not purchase either of these as the story in these movies is not the strong point IMO and would definately not watch either of these again just for the story which is your criteria. If you factor in A/V, it may be a dif story (no pun intended

). I would give these a rent first to see if you like them enough for repeat viewings considering story is your focus.

To be sure, I like good A/V and prefer it, but I'm also looking for a good story to go with it. Of course, what defines a good/enjoyable/fun story is an individual thing

! I've watched the first of the Narnia series and I can easily see watching it again, but in light of the "pro" reviews, I was wondering where Golden Compass was probably really landing. I understand Spiderwick also has something to offer

!

 

[Airboss]



Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxyMulder /forum/post/15399220


Both are good films but i personally enjoyed The Golden Compass more.


As a fantasy film i think The Golden Compass really works and the performance by it's young stars is on a par with the seasoned veterans indeed Dakota Blue Richards has a great future ahead of her if she can avoid the usual pitfalls that youngsters who find fame often fall into.


I found the magical world of The Golden Compass more enchanting than that of Narnia and it's characters slightly more involving.


Personally if i had to choose one or the other i'd lean towards The Golden Compass as i enjoyed it just ever so slightly more than Narnia.


I'd say 9 out of 10 for Compass and 8 out of 10 for Narnia as far as pure entertainment goes. Probably best to post this in the movie section since it's strictly about the entertainment levels and not about A/V quality which incidentally i found to be high on both releases although some will claim The Golden Compass has excess DNR but i think the softer look was done post production for the fantasy world in much the same way as they softened the fantasy world of Sky Captain.


Narnia has some terrific stuff going on there too though. Oh why choose one when you can have both ?

What FoxyMulder said!


Just so happens I'm watching The Golden Compass on HBOHD right now!

 

[thehun]

Both movies are rentals at best. They are far from the LOTR or the HP series IMO Maybe if I had kids I would look at them differently, but from a pure adult prospective who do like good fantasy films these are disappoint.

 

[Shaded Dogfood]

The Golden Compass film derives from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which I consider to be on par with Tolkien, an absolutely brilliant read for teens and adults alike. I thought the film was at best a serviceable distillation of the first book, which covers the high points but was rather cold and uninvolving. In that respect it was like the first two Harry Potter movies, both of which covered virtually everything in the rather short books but were short of much artistic inspiration. All three served readers of the books pretty well, but might leave those who had not read the books wondering what the fuss was about.


The Narnia films were considerably Disneyfied, but I liked them a little better, and there were extremely stirring sequences in both.


A big problem in the Pullman trilogy is the big question of whether or not they will be able to make the next two books, particularly the last one, The Amber Spyglass. Pullman, though a deep thinker and apparently moral person, is an admitted atheist, though he seems to me more an agnostic. The Christian right is all up in arms over Hollywood seeming to bless his viewpoint by filming these books, and their campaign against the film seemed to do a considerable amount of damage to it at the boxoffice in its original release, which can only get worse. Producers have to worry whether it is worth gambling their money filming any more.

 

[IAM4UK]

The stories behind Narnia and Golden Compass are polar opposites. The former is allegorical for a particular religion; the latter is explicitly anti-religion.


C.S. Lewis is regarded as one of the finest thinkers and writers ever; Philip Pullman...not so much.


The "Narnia" movies have been "Disney-fied," but "The Golden Compass" left many cold. However, since you enjoy fantasy movies, you might rent both and decide for yourself if they're movies you enjoy. Neither is a sure-fire winner, but you might enjoy them.

 

[JBLsound4645]

Well that is perfection it's a work of priceless art.


As for The Golden Compass I might think about adding this, but I'm not promising I'll buy it, if I see going for £5.00 pounds or less, I might buy it, maybe.

 

[jbug]

I didn't like the first Narnia nor the second. Golden Compass is much better than those two movies. Better plot, writing, acting, action, ending. I thought the Narnia movies were dumbed down and poorly directed and acted. I hope they do a sequel on GC. On the other hand, there will not be a third Narnia. This was announced last week due to cost vs. profit.

 

[IAM4UK]

CoN: LW&W earned over $745M worldwide; budget $180M

CoN: PC earned about $420M worldwide; budget $200M

CoN: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is scheduled for release on 7 May 2010


Golden Compass earned only $70M in the US, but over $370M worldwide. Its budget was $180M.

 

[Rutgar]



Quote:
Originally Posted by IAM4UK /forum/post/15404982


CoN: LW&W earned over $745M worldwide; budget $180M

CoN: PC earned about $420M worldwide; budget $200M

CoN: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is scheduled for release on 7 May 2010


Golden Compass earned only $70M in the US, but over $370M worldwide. Its budget was $180M.

With those numbers, I don't understand why they wouldn't do a third Narnia. $220 Million profit ain't nothing to sneeze at!


And Golden Compass also looks like it did well in the long run. So I would think they could do another of those as well. Especially since the first one left you hanging, and was obviously only a first act.


As far as Narnia and GC... I liked both. Yes, Narnia was a little more Disney and didn't have quite the on-screen production value that GC had. I also thought that the second Narnia was much better than the first.

 

[FoxyMulder]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar /forum/post/15405261


With those numbers, I don't understand why they wouldn't do a third Narnia. $220 Million profit ain't nothing to sneeze at!


And Golden Compass also looks like it did well in the long run. So I would think they could do another of those as well. Especially since the first one left you hanging, and was obviously only a first act.


As far as Narnia and GC... I liked both. Yes, Narnia was a little more Disney and didn't have quite the on-screen production value that GC had. I also thought that the second Narnia was much better than the first.

I think the worldwide credit crunch is making some studio's wary of investing in large budget films. Disney has to split their profits with Walden Media for the Narnia films and don't forget the budget of the film is only half the story as sometimes they spend another $50 or $60 million dollars promoting the film around the world. Prince Caspian underperformed at the box office compared to the first Narnia movie and that has made Disney scared to commit to another because of the credit crunch already mentioned.


Walden Media is now looking for another studio to join it in financing the next Narnia movie and i'm sure they will find one.


The Golden Compass sequel might get made but as someone noted above the religious aspects have made it a target for some and especially in America it impacted on the profits it made because of organized boycotts outside cinema's while in Europe we couldn't care less about the religious aspects and just saw a very well made entertaining film thus we went and watched it and that's why most of the profit was made outside America.


I hope The Golden Compass gets a sequel made with all the original cast members but if it's not announced during 2009 then i think it won't happen.....I hope it gets made though.

 

[Josh Z]

Both movies suck. Of the two, Golden Compass is slightly less awful, but only slightly.

 

[IAM4UK]

If "Dawn Treader" is made with Walden and another studio besides Disney, will we still complain that it's "Disney-fied?"


Regarding boycotts: Would you ever stay away from a movie you were otherwise interested in, simply due to others boycotting it? Do you think most other people would? I suspect not. If Golden Compass did poorly in the US, it was because people chose not to go see it, but I don't blame any boycott for steering interested viewers away.

 

[Ron Temple]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh Z /forum/post/15406574


Both movies suck. Of the two, Golden Compass is slightly less awful, but only slightly.

Hey, I agree with you on these two

.

 

[IAM4UK]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Aliens /forum/post/15407407


...parents would be concerned it would undermine how they have raised their children.

If a parent heard complaints about a film, and those complaints were such that they grew concerned it would undermine how they have raised their children, they would be justified in disallowing those children from seeing it, and would be wise to screen the movie for themselves first to make up their own minds before letting their children watch it. I have no problem with that.

 

[Rutgar]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Airboss /forum/post/15407821



All of which prompted Pullman to observe in a recent interview, "This must be the only film attacked in the same week for being too religious and for being anti-religious -- and by people who haven't seen it."

For those who dare to make up their own minds, the film is slated to be released December 7, 2007. [/i]

Generally I find that if you're getting it from both sides, you must be doing something right!

 

[JohnR_IN_LA]

I agree with those that say both movies essentially suck.


The stories are so contrived ....

 

[Morpheo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jbug /forum/post/15404492


I didn't like the first Narnia nor the second. Golden Compass is much better than those two movies. Better plot, writing, acting, action, ending. I thought the Narnia movies were dumbed down and poorly directed and acted. I hope they do a sequel on GC. On the other hand, there will not be a third Narnia. This was announced last week due to cost vs. profit.

Walden is looking for a different partner than Disney... Which doesn't mean the 3rd film won't be done; yet. That said, I don't like Narnia, at all. Too Childish, poorly acted, and those kids battling armies is just laughable. The only good thing was the presence of Tilda Swinton. OTOH, The Golden Compass was much more interesting, with involving characters and a great story. I really hope they'll be able to make the sequels. As for the religious side of things, let's just say I indeed like The Golden Compass much, much, much more... But for fantasy movies, nothing can surpass LOTR for now.