1.5/4  The Golden Compass
Within 10 minutes ofwatching this movie, I had no idea what was going on whatsoever. And worse, i didn't care at all. So for the next hour and a half i tried to go on visuals and moments, and even they were dull. This is a terribly dire 'f... (read full)

3/4  Fun movie
The movie was overall pretty good. I loved all the animals in it (except for the monkey, it kinda creeped me out). The plot was a little hard to follow, but once you understood it the movie was actually pretty good. You can't wait to see w... (read full)

2/4  The Rusty Compass
The CGI and effects save this movie, without a doubt. The plot is shaky and not very convincing to the point where you sometimes barely know what the hell is going on, combined with a child doing a very, very awful cockney accent; a small ... (read full)

4/4  Why is everyone hating on this movie? It's great!
I don't understand all the negative reviews. I waited over a year to see this since the reviews were bad so it just kept falling off of my list of movies to watch. When I finally did watch it I was startled at how good the story was.

T... (read full)

2.5/4  Wasted chance
I feel kind of bad for this movie because I think it could have been great. At times it feels like it was once a 3 hour movie that was quickly cut down to two hours. Most of the religious allegory has been dropped for fear of controversy... (read full)

3/4  As a Fan of the Books, This is a Good Introduction
It's good enough as an adaptation of the book. Sure, there were quite a handful of choppy moments which made me wonder why they showed certain scenes in the first place but one can't deny the imagination and effort that came with this film... (read full)

2.5/4  The Golden Compass Quick Review
It was much better than some of the reviews I've seen on it. But, it's still not all that great.

3/4  The Golden Compass Quick Review
This is an Oscar winner compared to any of the Narnia Flicks. Hell, I might even call it as good as return of the King given the Kings 5 or 6 continual endings. A great surprise for fantasy lovers. Quite good actually.

1.5/4  The Golden Compass Quick Review
I like the whiskey drinking bear but the rest of this movie is convoluted, hard to follow and overly bizarre…

3/5 I didn't get it
  by G. Jennings (Outside)
I assume there's more to this story, but I'm confused. However, I loved the acting, the voices and the production set. And wat was all the controversy about?

5/5 Golden Compass--truly golden
  by Arthur Ide (Iowa)
The Golden Compass is a must see. Talented acting, extraordinary special effects, superior direction, and a story-line that is startling, poignant, and exceptional, makes this a movie that anyone can watch repeatedly, and from each viewing learn more. It is fiction, but by reading between the lines of the plot one can find a very real account of modern day absurdities, attempts at mind control, distortion of facts in favor of fantasies--even in the sacred halls of academe where a few outsiders attempt to dissuade and adulterate true research. It is difficult to wait for the sequel, but until then we do have the books which are classics that will most likely outsell C. S. Lewis and his novels.

4/5 The other side of the coin!
  by D. Roberts (Battle Creek, Michigan United States)
The film that this movie is most likely / most frequently going to be compared to is The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Full Screen Edition). This makes sense as both have talking animals and take place in a sort of fairy-tale land of imagination. Both involve children who either are British or have British accents.

However, if one watches both closely, the parallels soon come to a quick halt. C.S. Lewis' story is a transparent allegory of Jesus and it tacitly exalts Christianity & Christian virtues. COMPASS, on the other hand, pokes fun at religion in general and has obvious allusions to the Spainish Inquisition & various other nefarious abuses-of-power by religious groups.

This, of course, is huge reason why COMPASS didn't do nearly so well at the box office as NARNIA did. A lot of people may have mistakenly thought that they were going to get a variation on NARNIA and storyling that espouses religious doctrine. Am sure they must have been shocked to find out that this wasn't a Christian-friendly film!

For myself, I found this to be a unique and entertaining story. I've always been a fan of Nicole Kidman, and I applaud her for not being afraid of the Catholic societies who would condemn her for being a part of the film (which, in fact, they did). The incorporation of the legendary Derek Jacoby brings credibility to the cast. Dakota Blue Richards is an outstanding child actress who performed brilliantly in a difficult role.

So, if you're not afraid of being accused of heresy and you're looking for a compelling story, then what you just might need to do is grab a golden compass. It will point you in the right direction!

1/5 horrible
  by Teresa A. Lotz Rayl (buckiiii1)
This movie is so horrible. I would not recommend your kids watch it. It is the worst movie ever, considering it is all about going against GOD. I would not compare it to narnia at all. Narnia is a christian based movie and books! Warning: DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!

5/5 Great Movie..Greater Sound Pruchased Here aT amazon
  by L. Kingery (Kansas City, MO)
I liked this move a great deal..I have always liked these kind of movies...Science Fiction and Monsters etc..but this was really great, I thought. THe Gril playing the part, Dakota Blue Richards,.was very good and there were many great actor's in this movie..so that help's make it very enjoyable. About the Sound...Too often, these review's do not include anything about the format they play in. I for one am always interested in that aspect of the movies. This one comes in 6.1 dts ES...now that is what I call some really good sound-around. The first time I discovered dts was by accident..so now I look for movie's that have it. 5.1 is nice...5.1 dts is great..and now, 6.1 dts ES is even better. Discrete is the word here. So if you are looking for a great movie with much interest and some really great sound, this is the one...the ending kinda leaves you hanging...but I read here, that there should be another movie to continue. I am going to see if I can find it..becasue I want to see how it end's.<>Lon<>