# Anybody See "The Golden Compass"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555 "2013-03-10T14:33:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/21 "2013-03-10T21:47:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > The critics may not agree with you, but I do. I disliked the first book but tried to plow on considering how well-liked they were, but only made it through another half of a book. Beyond the anti-religious thing readers are unrelentlessly bludgoned with, Lyra is one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve ever encountered. I’m pretty anti-religious, but didn’t like the series much. First book was pretty good, but by the end, it was a slog. Thomas Covenant is a pretty good comp. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/22 "2013-03-11T00:32:32Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > Finally! You’re the first person I’ve ever found, who agrees with me that the books are awful. They’re an unreadable mess, and I couldn’t follow the plot at all. You couldn’t follow the plot? Is that a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/23 "2013-03-11T00:45:41Z")
I liked the first book a lot, but bailed about halfway through the second one, which seemed fragmented and depressing to me. We like the movie quite a bit, though mainly because we went into it knowing there was no sequel and the reviews were mediocre…low expectations and all that. The casting was really very good, including Lyra. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/24 "2013-03-11T00:48:05Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > You couldn’t follow the plot? Is that a joke? It seemed evident from the post that it wasn’t intended to be a joke…even if you disagree with Kiyoshi, I’m not sure why you’d be so rude about it. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/25 "2013-03-11T01:16:44Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > It seemed evident from the post that it wasn’t intended to be a joke…even if you disagree with Kiyoshi, I’m not sure why you’d be so rude about it. Not only do I disagree, I can’t fathom how it could possibly be difficult to follow. Granted, it’s been a few years, but I can’t think of anything that would have been considered even slightly confusing. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/26 "2013-03-11T01:16:57Z")
I found the first book was reasonably entertaining, but the second and third book became… well… less so. The movie, I found to be a total drag. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/27 "2013-03-11T14:26:05Z")
Yeah, I too am absolutely confounded by the criticisms of the book in this thread; Yes, fine, it’s not for everyone but “I couldn’t follow the plot”? “Lyra is one of the most unlikeable protagonists ever”? Did you guys buy the Alternate Universe Edition or something? Golden Compass is practically an adventure romp (“I have to go save my friends! and my dad! Okay, not really my dad!”). Fine, it gets a little murky by the time The Amber Spyglass rolls around, but it’s still not really difficult stuff. People REALLY don’t like Lyra? I was all coming in here to say “I think Thomas Covenant is a bad comparison because the reason people hate the Thomas Covenant books is because of the Thomas Covenant CHARACTER, who might be the most obnoxious, unlikeable protagonist ever.” and then I find that some people apparently hate Lyra. Lyra? Really? Stop buying books from the guy who looks like Mr. Spock with a goatee. Erm. Anyway, I agree with everyone else about the movie. It was pretty, Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig were great choices, but the film itself was bland and carried no real emotional weight. Oh, and the talking animals were CREEPY. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/28 "2013-03-11T16:25:58Z")
Count me in with the group that liked the books and thinks that the movie was very well cast (and they obviously spent a lot of money on it). The biggest problem to me is so obvious that I can’t believe they actually made the film in the first place. Who in their right mind would take a book series that is so totally anti-Christian and think they could make a successful film series out of it by simply removing all the anti-Christian stuff? All you’ve done is guarantee that you’re going to piss off all the people who actually liked the books. And assuming they really intended to make all three books into a film trilogy - and with the cliffhanger ending, that _has_ to have been the plan - how on Earth did they intend to film the last movie without any of the anti-Christian stuff? That’s the whole book! I’d love to get my hands on the scripts for the last two films just to see what they had in mind. I mean, seriously - assuming the first film had been a huge hit, and they somehow got around the anti-Christian stuff in the second book too and had “The Next Harry Potter” on their hands like they must’ve hoped, what the Hell were they gonna do about the third book? All of a sudden, after no discussion of religion whatsoever, they’re gonna make a movie about how God’s a dottering old fool and Christianity sucks? Maybe they just planned to go rogue and totally rewrite the entire third movie themselves and give Phillip Pullman a fat check and ask him to quietly go away. Whatever the plan was for that third film, I’d love to know. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/29 "2013-03-11T16:49:16Z")
> [@TheBoltEater](#): > > Maybe they just planned to go rogue and totally rewrite the entire third movie themselves and give Phillip Pullman a fat check and ask him to quietly go away. Whatever the plan was for that third film, I’d love to know. From what I understand, they thought if the 1st one was a huge hit, they would have the power to make the other two and tell Christianity to go pound sand. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/30 "2013-03-11T17:37:39Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I found the first book was reasonably entertaining, but the second and third book became… well… less so. > > The movie, I found to be a total drag. I liked the first book, what with the great imagery- armored polar bears, witches, and every kid gets a magical pet who is his alter-ego. Not to mention in the movei, what’s her name in the slinky gowns. Yowza! The next two books dropped all the cool stuff to concentrate on a attack vs Christianity. Dull. D\_U\_L\_L. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/31 "2013-03-11T18:06:20Z")
Wow - I see a least a couple of other people here hated this book, as I did. I found it an unreadable mess - whether Pullman is a respected author or not. His atheism doesn’t bother me at all. His snottiness towards Tolkien in various interviews does bother me. (I knew nothing about Pullman when I attempted to read The Golden Compass; just knew it had gotten glowing reviews.) Needless to say, I didn’t bother with the movie. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/32 "2013-03-11T18:08:15Z")
The world is great movie fodder, but the story is too mature to make for great family viewing. I enjoyed the books, but was put-off by the religion-bashing (and that’s coming from a staunch atheist). Talking animals, grand adventures, child protagonist, all these have great potenial, but they don’t come together. Agree that Nicole Kidman was great (and looked gorgeous). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/33 "2013-03-11T21:59:01Z")
The movie is OK if you’re into poorly animated polar bears spouting exposition. On the other hand, it does feature a very adorable Dakota Blue Richards, who, of course, later went on to [del]have a great career in show business[/del] pose naked with a [giant](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5a3xgbcWm1qe8lc6o1_500.jpg) [fish](http://www.fishlove.co.uk/fishlove.html) (very slightly NSFW). ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/34 "2013-03-12T18:55:05Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > … ratS kerT ytiruces draug , up to and including having God turn up and be a senile idiot. Uh… what? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/35 "2013-03-12T23:31:10Z")
IMO, it’s a beautiful movie and Nicole Kidman does a good job, but it’s a mediocre film. I certainly hope the book was better. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/36 "2013-03-13T01:09:19Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Uh… what? A Star Trek security guard wears a Red Shirt. Backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/37 "2013-03-13T06:58:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > A Star Trek security guard wears a Red Shirt. Backwards. Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/38 "2013-03-13T13:24:53Z")
I thought the first two books were good, but I haven’t read the third one. The movie tried to cram too much into too little time. I think \*The Golden Compass \*by itself could be a movie trilogy. (Maybe they’ll do that some time. After all, they’re doing it with _The Hobbit_, and there’s more stuff in _The Golden Compass_ than _The Hobbit_.) My husband, who is Andy L, thought the armored bears were great in this movie. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/39 "2013-03-14T05:31:03Z")
I got the book-its sorta a low rent version of “Chronicles of Narnia”-with demons! Nice steampunk tech though. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555/40 "2013-03-14T07:35:46Z")
Saw it, liked it well enough, never read the books but read enough about them to know what they were about, neither disappointed nor delighted that the 2nd & 3rd books weren’t filmed, totally not surprised that the movie tanked in the US but thought that perhaps there would be enough Anglo-Euro business to warrant filming the rest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-see-the-golden-compass/652555.md?page=3)