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Golden Compass (The)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - New Line Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (31st May 2008). |
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The Film
 With movies like "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy (2001-2003) and the "Harry Potter" series (2001-2007), more and more studios are willing to spend mucho money to have their own fantasy series under their belt. Disney had their go with "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (2005) and its sequel "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (2008), and so New Line tried their hand again with the first part of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, "The Golden Compass". In this world – one of many universes – everybody lives with their own daemon, an animal spirit that represents the person's personality. Lord Asriel () has a leopard, Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman) has a golden monkey, and so on. The main character, Lyra Belacqua (first-timer Dakota Blue Richards) is young, and so her daemon hasn't chosen a particular animal, though often wavers between a ferret, a cat and a bird. The humans and their daemons are connected in a very special way that isn't quite explained fully in the movie. One only knows that whatever happens to one, the other feels. The political situation is a bit complex to explain now, but something called 'Dust' is apparently dangerous - and absolutely not for kids – and is being researched by the Magisterium, the governing body of the nation. Through various devices, Lyra gets the chance to go North on a journey. She takes the chance to go North so she can learn more about Dust, which is intriguing to her. The movie then follows her journey North, and the various events that happen when other people try to stop her from going North (again, not really important for this review). The movie moves very well and features spectacular vistas and landscapes. The grand city and the bright, snowy North, in addition to the smaller locations of banquet rooms and alleyways, are visually stunning. The fantasy aspect doesn't really take over the movie, as much as meld into it. The plot is nothing special, but does have interesting aspects about it – the whole subplot of Dust, for example – and the movie holds off on explaining everything. Some of the plot points will be explained in the follow-up movies later on. The symbolism is pretty interesting, if a bit simplistic. Circles and ovals play an important part of this. The movie received the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, beating out impressive rivals, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007) and the Michael Bay opus, "Transformers" (2007). It deserved it, as the daemons are all CG, as are some of the characters. The vistas and transportation are rendered incredibly well. There's a very nice amount of detail and naturalness to everything. The alethiometer (the title object) melds practical and visual effects very impressively, as well. The books were originally marketed for kids, and the movie is definitely geared more towards the younger set than, say, "The Lord of the Rings" movies. The movie is enjoyable and I'm happy to have it on my shelf. It doesn't have the importance and depth of Tolkien’s work, or the sense of wonder of the "Harry Potter" movies, but it's a good way to pass a couple of hours. The movie is enjoyable, imaginative and I’ll be looking for the next part with nice anticipation.
Video
2.35:1 widescreen, using the VC-1 codec. The picture is stunning and very strong throughout the movie. colors are bright and accurate, being colorful or blue-tinged, depending on the scene. Contrast is very good and the picture shows nice detail. The darker scenes show nice shadow detail and the print never shows any flaw. Daniel Craig's beard is distinct and individual hairs can be seen. Skin tones are likewise quite natural. New Line has distinguished itself with very strong transfers, and keep up this trend with 'The Golden Compass'.
Audio
With New Line, you know there will be a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track (this time in English). This is the kind of track I love. The movie is filled with special effects, but the movie isn't an all-out action movie. Where others would attack you with sound, this movie waits until the appropriate moments to expand naturally and intelligently. During the quiet moments, ambiance such as crowds and small urban noises reach your ears. When the action starts in the second half of the movie, the speakers roar to life. Now, the mixing is very good, and the DTS-HD track has no trouble differentiating between small and big sounds. For example, when Iorek (the bear) breaks through the wall and roars, you hear it, but when he's running through the snow, the lower-end isn't as full or loud. The subwoofer also gets heard when appropriate. The track is very nice and adds very nicely to the movie. English HoH and Spanish subtitles are provided.
Extras
New Line was very nice to this movie, which is somewhat surprising when looking at the domestic gross. DISC ONE: An audio commentary by screenwriter/director Chris Weitz starts things off. Mr. Weitz starts out strong and he never lets up. He talks a lot about locations in the movie, and what scene was shot where. He also talks about Dakota Blue Richards a lot, as well as Kidman, Craig and all the voice talent in the movie. Special effects are also talked about, going through cityscapes, CG bears and other things of the sort. He also touches on the meanings and symbols of the movie. The golden compass is also mentioned here and there. It's a very good commentary and worth hearing. As if that weren't enough, New Line also has an Enhanced Visual Commentary. Most reviews specify this to be a Profile 1.1 commentary, but my Panasonic DMP30 wasn't set to view picture-in-picture, but I was able to see the enhanced commentary anyway. In any case, this is a very nice addition to the commentary track. It’s Mr. Weitz's audio commentary, but with videos of him talking to the camera, test footage, audition footage, on-set footage and things of the nature. It runs most of the movie and it contains very nice footage, never feeling slapped together from EPK material. Nice thought went into this. DISC TWO: The second disc contains a whole slew of featurettes. Most of them follow the same basic structure: author Philip Pullman talks about how he came up with the various aspects of the featurettes (daemons, school, etc...). Then the filmmakers - director, producer, just about every actor in the movie - talk about how that particular aspect was transferred from the book to the movie. The crew members specific to that aspect of the featurette discuss the themes, meanings and ideas brought about by the, say, music, or costumes, in relation to the characters. All the featurettes are very interesting. Some of the featurettes also have galleries associated with them, showing you drawings, costume tests, computer art of various locations and the like. The featurettes, and their topics, are: - The Novel (19:07) - Mr. Pullman's career and how the novel came about. - The Adaptation (16:11) - how 'The Golden Compass' became a movie. - Finding Lyra Belacqua (15:08) - casting the lead role. - Daemons (19:56) (w/ gallery) - explaining the idea behind the daemons and how they came about, as well as the CG work. - The Alethiometer (14:57) (w/ gallery) - the device and its construction. - Production Design (26:03) (w/ Objects, Vehicles and Environmental galleries) - sets and locations are explored. - Costumes (11:49) (w/ gallery) - how the costumes represent the character. - Oxford (7:32) (w/ gallery) - the various locations that filled in for Jordan. - Armored Bears (17:43) - how the bears were designed and the big fight between them. - Music (11:50) - exploring the music and its themes for the various peoples. - The Launch (7:58) - Cannes and the premiere press junket. A Poster Gallery, a Teaser Trailer (2:32), a Trailer No.2 (1:02) and the Final Trailer (3:11) finish out this disc. The marketing for this movie is pretty nice and gathered a decent amount of hype before the movie opened. It's interesting that some shots in the 2nd trailer are not in the movie, though they look incredible (the last shot, for example).
Overall
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