Why 2007's The Golden Compass Failed

[@ryanmoore4130]

My only memory of this movie is throwing up in at the theatre when I was a kid

[@fabzilla69]

sick!

[@winternow2242]

Got the family-sized popcorn that came with a dead body. I can relate.

[@ellugerdelacruz2555]

Ironically, the books themselves aren't actually anti-religious and are of a multiversal Lutheran story than anything else. The Magisterium a.k.a. the Catholic Church is so corrupt and evil that its _literally_ tearing the multiverse apart....

[@forlornhauntedghost]

My only memory was falling asleep during the bear fight 😂😂😂

[@winternow2242]

​@@ellugerdelacruz2555so that would explain that copy of HDM they found nailed to that door of a church in Germany.

[@17absolut]

The Polar bear slappin' another bear's jaw off scene, though...

[@juanmedel4324]

We saw this movie in class when I was younger and I made us watch that part twice! and it's still the only part I remember vividly lol

[@17absolut]

@@juanmedel4324 Ur teacher was a savage 😂😂😂

[@davidjames579]

That's bizarre that it's a PG-13. In Britain where I live it's a PG!

[@sandrinowitschM]

The what!? I thought this was a kid's movie!😮

[@17absolut]

@@sandrinowitschM U read that correctly : a bear Will Smiths another bear's jaw off, in this joint. The scene slaps !!! 😂😂😂

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

The fact that I've watched this movie twice without remembering not a single scene from the entire movie except some vague idea of a polar bear in armour roaring... First time I tuned out and didn't really pay attention. The second time... I don't know. I just forgot ever single scene the moment it changed to the next one.

[@lenamasou8066]

Same. When. Watching it the second time, I remembered that I already saw it, but couldn't remember the plot. At the end I thought that it was kinda pleasant. Now, watching this video, I really tried to remember a single thing. About the story, or the characters, or the world, anything! But there simply isn't. I feel brainwashed or something

[@BileDuctBalderdash]

if you have the time read the books they are great

[@bullmoose5574]

The books are similarly boring and pretentious. Devoid of character and thin on people to root for.

[@luiznogueira1579]

The only thing I care to remember about it is that everyone has an animal companion that follows them throughout life, which I thought was pretty cool. Can't recall a thing about the meandering plot. On the whole it was pretty meh.

[@chaithao1452]

" polar bear in armour roaring" Volibear?

[@KayZenShoGün]

Why try to force "the next big thing", better just to let it occur naturally. What worked for Lord of the rings doesn't work for others.

[@talesyuki]

Also, surreal that they wanted to be "the next lord of the rings" and for that they decided to cut.... the LORE? The LORE???? Lotr is the most lore-heavy franchise ever xDD They should've kept allll the lore xD

[@OfficialTigerino]

yeah as if such a major film like LOTR didnt have a bunch of marketing and planning to make it stick...

[@stonedspider]

😊😊​@@OfficialTigerino

[@NebLleb]

To be fair, New Line had this problem for a while. In the 1990s, they were trying to make their next money maker after A Nightmare on Elm Street ended in 1991. And in the 2000s, they tried to do the same after Lord of the Rings. At least in the 1990s, they made a few good movies (I.E. Mortal Kombat and The Mask), in the 2000s, most of their attempts just flopped.

[@iso-didact789]

@@KayZenShoGün The same thing happened with the 1984 dune movie. The devs tried to make it the next star wars but like all blatant cash grabs it didn't work and all anyone got is that butt-ugly creepy as fuck toddler in a faceless burka.😖

[@mesousagaby740]

Ooh, you should do one for Dreamworks' Rise Of The Guardians. It's still surreal how that film flopped.

[@isenhartproductions2677]

I remember that one, I'll have to revisit it

[@mali_billz]

I love that movie😩😭

[@trevorriches136]

Baffling how that film flopped. One of the most under-appreciated holiday movies.

[@BrontoSmilodon1]

Not too baffling when you release a movie after the highest grossing James Bond film and the final Twilight movie

[@ridhosamudro2199]

I wouldn't really surprised since outside "western world", the rest of us is a lot less attached to Santa Claus and Easter bunny and whatnot

[@henrymockingbird9645]

I remember seeing this golden compass aired on TV as a teenager, and I thought it was really a enjoyable even though I never read the books

[@TheSofkujepanen]

Same. I’m not sure how old i was i think around 10-13 and i remembered loving it so much that i was sad it never got finished. But now i honestly can’t remember almost anything except the people had animal friends.

[@bullmoose5574]

I highly suggest *not* reading the books. They are boring, the characters are dull and barely have character, the whole thing is just an excuse for Pullman to tell people he's literary.

[@PeterOla-Itan]

Read them, they are great. Maybe it won't resonate as much with an adult than it does with a teenager but they are great.

[@sonicfreak04]

I love how the movie looks, especially the alethiometer, and the performances of the majority of actors is great.

[@davy209]

I thought that all of the performances weren’t very good overall, especially Nicole Kidman’s! I really don’t like saying that because I think she’s a phenomenal actress!

[@davemccage7918]

The atheistmeter? What does that measure, how much you hate your dad?

[@tophers3756]

​@@davemccage7918 wut?

[@dictatoribenevolo8394]

Kidman wqs like one ofthr better performances among a bunch of good ones! ​@@davy209

[@timovangalen1589]

It failed because they didn't have the balls to properly adapt Pullman's work. The movie should've ended with Asriel killing Rodger to open the portal. Instead we get some cheesy floating off into the sunset bullshit.

[@bullmoose5574]

The books were were bland and boring too. Nothing had a purpose, it the whole trilogy felt like Pullman just wanted to show off his prose without actually developing any of the characters into anything more than a paper thin stand in for whatever boring overstuffed dialogue he wanted to write.

[@BarryBobbins]

@@bullmoose5574Yeah, that’s utter, utter rubbish. The books are anything but ‘bland.’ You’ve written absolute crap.

[@bullmoose5574]

@BarryBobbins right. Sure. They're boring af, dude. None of the characters have personality, none of the worlds are particularly well detailed and the actual wordsmithing is meh.

[@BarryBobbins]

@ Nope. Absolutely not.

[@Makapaa]

@@bullmoose5574 You failing to understand the world and story told in it is in no way the fault of the Author or the Book. It's your personal problem and you should accept it as such.

[@queendsheena1]

I agree with you. Studios need to let fantasy films be longer and stop neutering their full potential. Please do a video for Superman Returns, The Mortal Instruments: CITY OF BONE, or Hotel Transylvania 4.

[@twelfthknight]

As a fan of the novels since my childhood, seeing a movie pussyfoot around the story was just aggravating and stopping just before the actual best part of the book was unforgivable. As an adult though, I'm now just way more curious to know how the hell they'd do the rest of the series had this adaptation been successful. Like, how do you write around the religious themes that Pullman was explicitly criticizing and still have an understandable narrative?

[@davidjames579]

I wonder if they wanted to go easy on audiences with the first one to get them interested in the world then take the plunge. Maybe they expected the first to be so successful, they could do anything in the sequels.

[@Hanmacx]

I remember watching the movie and then reading all 3 books I wondered how they would go forward with a character being alive that should be dead 😅

[@Mary-cw4lf]

As it was, the religious clowns piled out of the car waving crosses at the use of the word demons...joyless clods...it would never have worked at the time it was tried.

[@Makapaa]

There is no way "The Amber Spyglass" could've come out in any shape even remotely reminiscent of the original.

[@tigrehaller4315]

BBC and HBO did a fantastic, very faithful adaptation over three "seasons."

[@WheeledHamster]

The Daniel Craig Polar Bear movie.

[@AriBernsteinM]

Yeah it sucks cuz he was the absolute perfect Lord Asriel - imo James McAvoy was the weakest part of the HBO series

[@pennydreadful5163]

@@AriBernsteinMDaniel Craig’s Polar Express

[@davemccage7918]

That’s all I remember about this movie. There was some interview I saw somewhere, where some little British girl was talking about “They’re NOT polar bears they’re ARMORED BEARS!” And I was thinking “They’re white bears in snow… they’re polar bears.”

[@paracyntrix]

I saw The Golden Compass in cinema. I thought it was alright. It didn't close any storyline, but i did get hopeful for a sequel to see the rest of the story. I was disappointed that they didn't make the sequels. I saw the HBO series as soon as it came out. That was incredible! Loved it! Complete story with lots of emotion and great graphics. The design of the angels is still memorable to me.

[@essneyallen6777]

The problem is that every single ending of this trilogy is **cruel** . Works for the books, you cry a river and throw them against the wall, but in a movie theatre you would just feel robbed. How do you market a fantasy **tragedy** ? It's not escapist fun, it's not bombastic action, it's not childlike wonder... it does not have an audience big enough to support a hundreds millions dollars budget to begin with, sadly...

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Go all in with game of thrones?

[@essneyallen6777]

@silverhawkscape2677 oh yeah, that one works. Pedal sex and violence all the way up. That's not really Pullman's style though xD

[@NathanielDowell]

When I read the books, decades ago, I felt pretty robbed. Pullman is literally making up whatever he wants and he deliberately chose to make it suck for everyone. Eragon did something similar with its ending, and I was so irritated. I just like a happy ending after hours, days, even months of investment in characters.

[@essneyallen6777]

@@NathanielDowell I agree! I am still angry about it! Also because if you try to break it down in-universe it does not make sense. One more window could not stay open for the meagre lenght of a human lifetime? That's just insulting.

[@KaiserMacCleg]

Which is the best Star Wars film? The one where they have a party with the Ewoks, or the one where Han gets frozen, Luke loses a hand, and learns that the big bad is his old man? Sad endings can absolutely work in blockbuster fantasy films, they just have to be done right. As it was, they just straight up amputated the emotional climax of the movie, leaving us with a film which tasted of beige.

[@AlbertoFolres]

The HBO show was good, and told a complete story

[@jbcatz5]

Some of the creative liberties did work for the format, like introducing the co-protagonist who comes in with the second book through the first season of the show because it’d mean spending an episode or a good chunk of the first episode playing catch up for who Will is and how he enters the plot otherwise. It also works for being made for fans of the books because they know who Will is and there’s some expansion as well as a bit of a longer timeline and depiction for his situation over simply being told (and it’d be very clunky in dialogue to convey).

[@Deinareia]

I'm very happy that the HBO series managed to get the whole story through. I do agree that letting people know about Will much sooner was the correct decision. I remember skipping past his whole introduction in the second book because I wasn't interested in "real world" part of the story at all as a kid.

[@ClintBandito]

BBC show* co produced and internationally distributed by HBO

[@AbelMcTalisker]

@@jbcatz5 Consider as well just how much of a problem they would have had if a sequel had been made for The Golden Compass. They would have had to add the ending to the sequel, spend the bulk of it telling Will`s story in our world, and then at the end have him find his way to yet another world before running into Lyra. It's hard to see that film turning out well and I suspect anybody not familiar with the books would end up confused over what was going on. The TV series did it a lot better with the advantage of a longer run time even if, over the three seasons they had to contend with the World going through a global pandemic while they were making it!

[@stevemarshall4822]

The only thing the bbc have done in years that wasn't totally woke crap.

[@Mayor_Of_Eureka17]

Polar Bear jaw rip was pretty good damn awesome.

[@singstreetcar5881]

Nicole kidman looks so beautiful in those gowns

[@anyaaa2801]

Right?? Her outfits were gorgeous 😍.

[@iso-didact789]

@@anyaaa2801 Way hotter in Aquaman. Tragically that failed too due to WB stupidity and scamber turd.😡

[@SirMola742]

I was in high school in LA at this time. Took a 3d modeling class at my high school, and the teacher was actually working on animating the book's original ending for the movie (several teachers at my school were hollywood adjacent in some way), and actually showed us the rough version. I always wondered why it got cut. Tohis video clears up a long mystery for me.

[@aissaissbby]

I read all 3 books in 7th grade, which was 2007 for me. Same year the film came out. I could not have been more excited for the movie and when I tell you I was livid leaving the theatre, believe me. I remember going to Barnes and Noble with my mother and passionately explaining everything wrong with it and everything that was cut from the books. I went on for so long that a man sitting nearby said “you must really love that book huh?” It was my first real taste of how upsetting a bad book to movie adaptation can be. I also read the Eragon books that same year, so it was a tough time for me in the theaters. (That was also the year the Goblet of Fire movie came out and I felt similarly passionate about all that was left out)

[@tusharg8452]

Feel you on Goblet of fire. I genuinely thought my theater had somehow messed up after the bizzare hard cut from Krum's entry to nightfall. They set up the quidditch world cup with no payoff.

[@ginjarh9070]

​@@tusharg8452 goblet of fire and half blood prince were so butchered it was heartbreaking

[@friendlyypyp1997]

​@@ginjarh9070i didnt read any HP until I was in college. I did love the movies. I had a lot of time and decided to marathon the entire series. It really made me realize how good goblet of fire was and how bad the movie version was(it just didnt have the time and budget to adapt everything). In particular, the final challenge became just a spooky hedge maze.

[@amadeusendymion1272]

I look forward to your first movie, what book are you going to bring to the screen?

[@adrianmiranda1613]

Goblet of Fire was a personal offense, the most mediocre and lazy movie in the whole franchise. Even Half-Blood Prince has some redeeming qualities. Goblet of Fire was butchered by his mediocre director who proudly stated he didn't read the book cause it was so boring.

[@ko379]

i wasn't allowed to see this movie as a child because of the anti-religious themes in the book, and to this day, i know literally nothing else about this series EXCEPT that it makes the Catholic church the villain. So yeah, with that kind of reputation, they probably should've just put the themes in the movie and appeased at least one group of fans.

[@jbcatz5]

It worked for Da Vinci Code, that got multiple sequels (the first of which was set in Vatican City!)

[@ko379]

@ true! I wasn’t allowed to watch that either

[@essneyallen6777]

This was a giant unfounded conspiracy theory, like, it's not *not* based on the catholic church, but it's a theocratic government thing that calls itself "the Magisterium"... it's not like the pope is the evil mastermind... the "problem" is more in the themes, I doubt that kind of fundamentalists wanted people to think too hard about how we define "sin"

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@jbcatz5 but isn’t that movie series more pro-Catholic then anything? I mean the Illuminati who literally formed to prevent religious abuse are the villains and nowhere near as powerful as they are traditionally seen.

[@kurupt7154]

@@ko379my condolences

[@stonedspider]

Saw it in theaters with my mom. Never understood why we never got a sequel, I thought it was a great movie.

[@aminashehu8628]

I also thought it was good. Didn't even know it was a book. Guess that's why

[@gerbendekker3273]

I really like this movie. The art direction as you point out was not only of a incredibly high quality, but the specific visual style choices are right up my alley. The cast is top tier, and Nicole Kidman I thought played easily the most interesting and layered character in it. With child actors it´s often a hit or a miss, but personally I found Dakota Richards to play Lyra quite enjoyably. That to me exacerbates the feeling of missing out on something wonderful because it's so easy to see what the movie could have been where the makers were heading with it, but never got to. A Wrinkle in Time suffers the same issue in the opposite direction; the book has a clear pro-religious message, but to avoid controversy, that was taken out. In this arena, I think The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe got it precisely right. We are _shown_ the message without it being directly addressed (i.e. it's subtextual), which at the same time is also the reason why people hated it when Aslan almost literally said "I'm Jesus" in the last part that was made of that series. Personally I'm neither strongly against religion nor for it, but if you adapt material that does, I feel like you should be eager to take the risk of doing that message justice and balancing that willingness with profound respect for all parties it concerns.

[@barbarbar3084]

This is one of my favorite movies. I must have watched this movie more than 15 times alone in the dark immersed in the world Pullman created. Then i realised that i wanted to go even deeper so i got a hold of the books. I still remember the tears i shed reading them all and i saw part of me in Lyra. I was young back then. I still have the books in my bookcase, and was always anxious when someon asked for them, in case they lost them. I had no idea until today that people considered this movie bad. It kinda shaped me and I will never forget it.

[@alexforce9]

Honestly - its a weird ass movie. And Im saying this as someone who LOVES weird shit. But it have so many different themes and plotlines that it gets confusing and messy. Witches, demons (that are not really demons but spirit animals) , talking animals, the church...

[@isenhartproductions2677]

Yeah too much material for a film under 2 hours

[@jbcatz5]

@@isenhartproductions2677The books are amazing. The BBC did audio drama adaptations of the trilogy in the early 2000’s, also worth checking out.

[@lionspawfilmandphoto]

Weird on purpose I like. Weird because of interference I don't so much. It's a bad business decision to buy intellectual property that you don't stand behind the message of. They wanted a new billboard without embracing what the billboard was supposed to stand for.

[@PhotonBeast]

The books weren't too much better, even with like... a trilogy to work with. It's very high concept, but because of that, very much not the fun young adult coming-of-age story it's generally presented as - so also not at all similar to LOTR. Like, boiled to it's core it's about alternate universe church attempting to destroy sin/original sin (or what they believe to be such). That 'sin' turns out to be, more or less, life force, created and providing to any thing that thinks - the idea, of course, that there isn't sin but rather it is the pursuit (and attempted destruction of) 'sin' that creates actual sin (as represented but people's actions and uh... evil wraiths)... and that this life force is also being lost to non-existance. Connecting all this is multiple worlds including the afterlife. And... over the course of the story, we find out that God is really just a fragile senile angel (the first one in fact who formed out of the aforementioned life force) who ended up fooling himself and many of the other angels into thinking he was God, though he eventually is imprisoned by another angel who assumes tyranical control. And other (fallen) angels oppose that tyranny... Eventually God dies... yeah. Not to mention there's prophecies, souls as animals (yeah, those spirit animals aren't like... guides.. they are their owners actual souls existing outside their body), souls as armor, so on and so forth. It's a lot.There's a part of me that wonders if it's intricacy and complexity/obtuseness is sometimes confused with a certain amount of quality, cause it is only on a very vague abstract level that I can connect the literally death of God (who isn't actually a creator god) with Lyra and Will growing up and discovering romantic love while the adults around them try to preserve their innocence..

[@CountJeffula]

I believe it was spelled daemon in the books,which doesn’t carry the evil connotations of the modern demon.

[@Annabelle-fq1ln]

Great video! I remember this movie coming out as a kid. It was heavily marketed towards children here, like kids channels had contests for it and had entire segments to promote the movie. I also remember my teacher freaking out about this movie. Catholic school, lol.

[@mattm8870]

I dont get how they thought watering down the anti-religion themes where going to help the film in anyway as you not going to get any of the religious boycotters to change their minds. Plus of cause the studio cut stuff they shouldn't to make it shorter which is weird considering it was meant to be a LotR replacement and those films are pretty damn long.

[@magesalmanac6424]

Because the religious community nonsense could scare off film studios from wanting to fund the film.

[@himynameisben95]

The power of Pullman's letters.

[@BigDaddyJinx]

See, this is what I don't understand and never will...why would someone look to secure the rights to a controversial and yet wildly popular franchise, and then decide to cut out those elements that made it controversial and wildly popular? Why bother at all then? That makes no sense to me at all and never will. If you don't want the controversy, then pursue another IP.

[@davidjames579]

My suspicion is they thought they could bring in fence sitters and people not aware of the controversy, but might not want to watch an anti-organized religion film. But yeah toothless and ultimately pointless. You might tap the middle, but you miss the core audience, and really the point of the film.

[@craigdohmen2648]

Reminds me of the story the late Terry Pratchett told about when he was in talks with a studio about a movie adaptation of his book Mort, which is about Death (as in, the Grim Reaper, the robed skeleton with the scythe) taking on an apprentice. Except they told him they didn't want the Death character. Which is the whole point of the book.

[@capitaokanalha6186]

Bro, I need you to talk about the 2008’s Spiderwick Chronicles in this list

[@isenhartproductions2677]

I was obsessed with those books as a kid but for some reason have never seen the movie. Will definitely be a video in the future.

[@princewellidk]

Nickelodeon made the movie ​@@isenhartproductions2677

[@capitaokanalha6186]

@@isenhartproductions2677 I love you Mr.Isenhart

[@jbcatz5]

@@isenhartproductions2677How about The Dark is Rising film?

[@capitaokanalha6186]

@@isenhartproductions2677 I love you Mr.Isenhart

[@guitarguygreg]

I remember the religious subtext that this movie supposedly had. I saw this movie when I was in my teens, and my Christian buddy warned me about watching it because he was afraid it would sway me to the dark side or something lmao.

[@wolfgangervin2582]

Yeah the whole 'kill/depose the Abrahamic God' thing doesn't really come into play until book 3.

[@essneyallen6777]

​@@wolfgangervin2582 and how that's resolved is one of the greatest subdued moments of the whole series. The whole war ended with an act of innocent kindness :) Pullman is a good writer, but oh how I hate him xD

[@jbcatz5]

@@wolfgangervin2582 Even then God himself isn’t a mover and shaker at all in the story, Metatron is the antagonist of Asriel’s story ultimately and the Magisterium or the kids of Cittagazze present more threat to Lyra (the latter to Will as well).

[@reflectingPastChoices]

@@wolfgangervin2582 he doesn't even get killed in the end... he's so old that a bit of wind scatters him

[@yungalucard9139]

I think it was more likely to sway someone from watching a good movie

[@Sandcat]

14:00 Lee Scoresby had basically just been hired as a balloonist/spy when Lyra meets him. He has a bit of a backstory with Iorek. He is a moral compass in the story. Lyra absolutely adores him (as do the fans). He was brilliantly cast in the movie (even the author, Philip Pullman, says it's one thing the movie got right) I'm glad you were still able to appreciate him

[@MouetteRoquefort]

my fave character (in book and the tv show) and yes the only good thing of this movie x)

[@johndavies1170]

As someone who has read the books after watching the movie, I hated the fact that they removed the elements of religious/spiritual debate and the commentary on the dangers of corruption in organised faith. I also heard it's because the film's production company where themselves possibly "Christian Leaning," so I am glad the BBC/HBO series got made as a faithful adaptation. *Spoiler Alert* :- Lord Asriel kills Rodger at the end of the first book.

[@davidjames579]

I've never heard New Line are Christian Leaning. They made Nightmare On Elm Street and Boogie Nights after all. They also produced the TV series. HBO is owned by Warner Bros, who own New Line.

[@winternow2242]

Caught this on cable. Tons of effects, glued by exposition because why expect your characters to discover the story, right? Tons of world building but no plot. Yep, that's what doomed this movie, and others just like it.

[@davidjames579]

The opening is laughable with Eva Green who at this point we haven't met and won't for a good 30 mins, telling us in voice-over we're in an another dimension of Earth and that humans have Deamons, and what Dust is. Rather than letting us find this. Zaps the magic out.

[@pell222]

i was a HUGE HDM fan as a kid and i remember being ENTHRALLED with the entire film start to finish but then just shocked when it suddenly ended 2/3 of the way through the story

[@davidjames579]

Me too, I genuinely was gob smacked when it just ended right there, and they have the nerve to tell you where the characters are going next. It's not even like they'd filmed the next one, as with LOTR.

[@jbcatz5]

I got into the series because the movie was coming out, and enjoyed the books far more. Once I’d seen the movie and read the first book a few times I couldn’t muster any enthusiasm to rewatch the movie. It’s pretty to look at, but the story changes are too off-putting.

[@cask82]

The HBO series adaptation is a lot better. Fantasies do better as a serial.

[@jbcatz5]

@@cask82 Exactly, more breathing room for world building as the video pointed out. More time in various parts of the story to flesh out sequences as well as why they’re important to character and story development.

[@Katskii]

6:00 "when the Dust settles" ... come on, no one else caught that?? 😂

[@theDoctorwitTardis]

Movie adaptations shouldn't strive to appease book fans or the general audiance, but instead try to translate the source material onto the big screen as effectively as they can. If the message, themes and plot of story is good, you can reach FAR BEYOND the book fans; you'll be simply offering the world a good story, no matter if they know it or not.

[@grassina3]

Lee Scoresby is one of my favorite characters from the book, so his treatment in the movie was especially frustrating to me. Sam Elliott really embodied his essence perfectly, it’s such a shame he wasn’t given the right material to work with, and that the rest of the films were never made.

[@alphatara2008]

This film is really weird, because I absolutely loved it despite not understanding a single plot point of the movie as a child. Yet, I never watched it often because I remember that whenever I wanted to see it, my dad restarted the film several times, as if there was a problem I couldn't understand at the time.

[@titanflies2981]

Can we talk about Owls of Ga'hool......I never hear about this amazing films ToT

[@markricheard1870]

Omg I love that movie TwT

[@Wavecheckfoo]

Lmaooo forgot that one existed! nice.

[@iso-didact789]

@@markricheard1870 Revenge of the Sith with owls.😆

[@iso-didact789]

@@Wavecheckfoo Revenge of the Sith with owls.😆

[@strangeduckling]

I was OBSESSED with those books and when I saw the movie when it came out I was LIVID that they had butchered it like that 😭 It's probably pretty good if you've never read the books, or if you didn't read them until after seeing the movie first. Looked stunning, though!

[@anyaaa2801]

I wanted a sequel so badly 😭

[@MattsFiefdom]

Really great video bud. I'd totally forgotten about this film's existence. It's been ages since I saw it. On paper, it should have been a masterpiece. It had all the visuals and a good casting, but you're totally right. That failure to commit to the main antogonists of the story just made all the other character motivations confusing. You got yourself a new subscriber :D

[@LennyPepper]

I have nostalgia for this movie. I remember watching it with my sister when we were younger. Also, did anyone have the Wii game for golden compass, or just me?

[@Elena_pinktokki]

Tbh I still love this movie, I've seen the hbo show too and that's good but I always liked the atmosphere of the movie better (tho nostalgia and having never read any of the books may have played a part in this) Yes, I played the wii game too, I remember letting my dad play the segment with the wolves bcs I was too scared to do it myself 😅

[@inexorably0]

I also watched this movie a lot with my sister when we were young and played the Wii game as well 😂❤️

[@Izelikestea]

my friend had the ds game. It was impossible to complete

[@There411]

I do have the wii game! ❤

[@rikkiwear853]

Another failure I enjoyed.

[@kennethadler7380]

yeah me to. I found that this movie is very underrated

[@TanglemireGardens-ni8vz]

I have seen it and never understood why I didn't like it. Thank you for explaining.

[@josephang9927]

Some books are not very adaptable either. The author of the Materials books always tried to overcome Narnia, which also failed as a series of films, but it had a more straightforward adaptable story. At the end people don't like stories that are too preachy, be it religious or atheistic, and prefer the teaching to be part of the story. Narnia is on the edge of that.

[@deadpan2866]

i remember as a kid in the UK, cbbc, the childrens side of the bbc, hyped this film up so much, i remember they kept promoting that one of their presenters had gotten a background part in a parade scene... i think the only bit of that parade you can see in the whole film is like 3 seconds long from a distance. cbbc never mentioned their part in the film ever again.

[@Andre_APM]

The HBO/BBC adaptation was quite good. Although it's a shame it did not do better viewership wise

[@chihangbenjaminting647]

Just like you said, the movie was surprisingly not as bad as I thought. In fact, it is after watching the movie I could tell the books were good (I can tell the world view was big and complex) and I went on to read the whole series. And "Frankenstein" really describes the way I felt. The story feels like here and there. They tried to include lines from the book but it was not done smoothly. And after seeing your explanation, this is exactly what you get with this kind of creative process. And the ending, when I read the book after the movie, I was shocked. It was an ending that drew me in, wanting to know more. And they left that out... The movie ending really left little to anticipate. Side note: As a religious person, I actually found some good messages in the book. Instead of dogmatism, we should keep an open mind.

[@BarryBobbins]

It’s a shame, the cast was spot on and as a kid I loved it because I was obsessed with the books. But they didn’t do the Roger storyline justice and it all went so wrong. The bear fight was spot on though! It’ll always have a place in my heart.

[@sciencepod4887]

god i live The Golden Compass and it makes me so sad that will did not work

[@KamiCheetah]

I loved the art style of the movie, and it got me to read the books, so at least that's a win. And I am happy this Story got a faithful adaption in the end.

[@maire4715]

the BBC created a faithful adaption. a 3 season TV show - highly recommend :)

[@jessemokoena842]

Just discovered your channel a couple of days ago. Incredible content 🔥

[@nickgotvyak5890]

New line be like: - Let an indie director with a clear vision create 10 hours of cinema for a non-existant blockbuster genre with not a lot of interference (outside of Return of the King cuts). - Director keeps it true to most of the story and to the vibe of the books, despite them clashing with most blockbuster mainstream sensibilities. - Those movies succeed - Look for the next big thing in other fantasy properties. - Overstep at each possible stage of the production and nutor the property because not mainstream enough. - Movie fails. - *suprised pikachu face*

[@vcostaval]

in terms of feel and style this movie was awesome, it captured the wonder and adveture of lyra's life and world in a really unique way. which makes it all the most unforgivable how it was all wasted due to the studio being too afraid of everything basically. and whats the point of wanting a new *lord of the rings* and then chopping the whole movie so it gets under 2 hours? the bbc series on the other hand gets the story right however for me it failed in the feel and style department, everything felt too cold, impersonal and distant. i find it amazing how in the beginning the movie with just about 10 minutes managed to capture lyra's life and personality, the world she lived and its dynamics, how everything was alive and dynamic, and therefore in a much more accurate way, than the series did in 2 or so whole episodes of trying really hard to be faithful to the book

[@kolonarulez5222]

My friend wanted to see this for their birthday and to this day I can't forgive them for introducing me to such a cool story that has no follow up lol

[@mattm8870]

Just find the TV series his Dark Materials by the BBC and HBO that's an adaptation of the complete trilogy.

[@melissaharris3389]

Akso, there are, you know, the books.

[@christiansenator]

When this series started I thought, "okay, there's a handful of these kinds of movies, sure, but this will peter out soon." It's staggering just how dang many failed next big things there are. It's crazy

[@cecillewolters1995]

Man I saw this movie as a kid and absolutely fell in love with the world and story! Never read the books, but this movie felt like there was a whole world full of cultures and characters that yet unexplored but already established and it got my fantasy running in the best way possible. The existence of deamons, dust, the religion, technologies, worlds, it was grand and very promising. Sadly adult me rewatched the movie and yeah, it felt really mid. Not downright bad, but not good either. Though it still looks very impressive for me from that time. Kid me couldn't tell why a movie worked or was good or not and filled in everything with her rich fantasy, adult me looks at the property how it is and sees the bad writing and lacking of a lot of stuff. It's really sad this movie got the bad end of the stick in a lot of ways, because I see the potential and just know that it actually could have been amazing. Oh well, such is the world. Let this be a lesson for new movie makers. Thanks for the video and have a nice day ^^

[@caterpillar1936]

I remember the books capturing my imagination as a kid. So many aspects... blimps, talking polar bears, everyone has an animal that represents their soul, aliens that have a wheel as part of their body.. So much creativity.

[@IceFireofVoid]

The scene where they try to separate the main girl from her daemon terrified me as a kid. I was fascinated with it, in a morbid way. I remember I had built the machine out of Lego and I would reenact the scene a lot with my toys. I used to make drawings of it. I had nightmares about it. It's the main thing I remember from the movie.

[@StudioHannah]

It’s pretty traumatizing in the book as well. That’s the one thing I remember from reading it as a kid

[@roberttreacy8271]

Even though I’ve never read the books, I enjoyed it for what it was (in spite of its flaws). I do think the HBO series is the better adaptation though.

[@ClintBandito]

@@roberttreacy8271 BBC in association with HBO

[@bradwolf07]

When this movie came out, I had never heard of the Book Series; So I came into it without any knowledge. The movie was alright, but it had some serious issues. (Edit: Just double checked and I did comment on Dominic's video, I was bored throughout apparently. Funny how time alters perception). It had plenty of talent in the cast and it did look stunning at times. And that Bear Battle was memorable. About half a decade ago I had the chance to pick up the trilogy (a bit fuzzy on the timeframe). So I read the books at work on breaks. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book. I came to care for Lyra (please excuse my spelling). Then I started the second book. I didn't care for Will but the book was decent. It just wasn't as good as the first. THEN I STARTED THE THIRD. I couldn't stand this one. It seemed to me, Pullman stopped writing a compelling story and started writing out of spite. It seemed like he just went overboard on Hatred for religion. The characters seemed bipolar from one scene to the next. My coworkers could see hiw much I wasn't enjoying the book. They commented on it several times but I would tell them, "I'm in the last book of the trilogy. I've come this far, might as well get to the end". Pullman's writing stopped being logically consistent (at least to me). And that ending took away my feelings for Lyra. To those that enjoyed the book, more power to you. The third book killed my enthusiasm to read more of Pullman's work.

[@pattonramming1988]

The last book has several flaws chief of which is how the stakes seem less compelling

[@jim47-XXV]

My feelings for the books kinda mirror yours.

[@zuffin1864]

I remember the marketing for this movie as a kid, I thought "this movie must be important" then I watched it and never finished it because I got bored. I was 6 years old and knew the first Narnia movie, and LOTR were way way better

[@Horus070]

I’m a bit surprised you didn’t make a comparison between the movie and the show

[@jackkain7141]

I agree with the assessment that it was an ok film, but really did suffer from studio interference. I haven't read the books but really enjoyed the HBO/BBC series that wrapped up a few years ago. That was a solid adaptation and understood what was needed to take it from one medium to the other. Nice shout-out to Lost in Adaptation, BTW. Dom deserves the love.

[@ClintBandito]

@@jackkain7141 this is gonna be real picky of me but it was the BBC's show first and HBO were not involved in production beyond extra funding so it should be BBC/HBO.

[@CorsoandMastiffadventures]

I actually watched in the theater as a 17ish year old. Wasn't really a fan. Watched it like 2 months ago in my 30's. Not a fan still. I think that 5 out of 10 on RT is correct

[@atticstattic]

You have to read the entire series to understand that it's not an anti religious theme, it's an anti authoritarian theme.

[@ymirs4400]

Religion is based on authoritarianism. “Don’t do X because god will torture you forever if you don’t” sounds pretty authoritarian

[@zenone9698]

You should do video on Hop and why it flopped at the box office.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

Honestly, it was christian Ultranationalist Boycotting that ruined this movies chances at success. Things were worse in the early 2000’s. And the mlvie played so so gently with its themes, it was a boycott born of fear and prejudice. The movie isn’t perfect, but I absolutely loved it as a kid. It felt so unique and inspired that magical whimsy in me that Harry Potter did. I really dislike the idea of “this movie failed so there was definitely a reason within the movie for why, rather then any external factors.” A great example: Treasure Planet. One of the best animated films of all time, flopped. The TV Show they made of this Setting is apparently good, but everything I saw of it seemed so joyless and overserious, and way less classy with its source materials themes. It’s sad this movie ends with the girl saying “Just watch them try and stop us…” that’s exactly what happened. ‘They’ stopped them.

[@gooser__43]

What's a Christian ultra nationalist?

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@ they put the needs, or supposed needs of christians above all other people as if they are the master race.

[@davidjames579]

I think the impact of the Boycott wasn't that big. Most people are aware a movie isn't going to convert you to anything. It's got polar bears fighting, so people would probably see it because of that.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@gooser__43 people who see Christian’s and their desires superior to all other people

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@davidjames579 you’d be surprised at how petty some people can be. I’ve seen whole websites bashing this movie

[@frankcoley1537]

It was actually a good movie too

[@owrowsh]

Your videos have great quality ❤

[@two2sm]

The very fact the studio spent so much is a good explanation for why they meddled with it.

[@AdamIshak01]

SAME ELLIOT AND CHRISTOPHER LEE ARE IN THIS?! I don’t remember that at all! I was so shocked seeing them just now at the beginning of the video before the intro of the cast.

[@GarfieldRex]

I didn't even know it had anti religious theme. I just didn't care about the movie because the trailer looked bad and un-interesting.

[@benw4409]

What's insane is they managed to get Kate fucking Bush to do a song for this film.

[@reikundohdavra]

Despite everything I think that is probably the most insane thing about this movie. She must be a big fan of the books because I can't see any other way they would have got her on board. That song's the best thing to come out of this movie though so I'm not complaining, just wow.

[@davidjames579]

It's really good and a beautiful end to the film. Adds to the tragic sense when you know there won't be any sequels to this film!

[@ahad7565]

it's not that bad of a film. Still, Pullman is not Tolkien and His dark matters is not Lord of the Rings. It's strange this book was chosen as "next big thing", really.

[@cpberrill]

I never found the polar bear CGI convincing. Of all factors that prevented me from seeing this when it was in theaters was the world-breaking special effects.

[@dblevins343]

Of course Christians boycotted it if the books were Anti-Christian. I know nothing about the story but why would Christians go see a story advocating against what they believe in? Also, why would any Christian expect these themes to be stripped from the film? The whole point of adapting a book to film is to, well, adapt it. Not drastically change it. Thus, the studio really only had 2 good options and they chose neither. 1. Choose to adapt the book as it is (making modifications that are meeded for shorter run times as seen with LotR). 2. Choose a completely different story.

[@ClintBandito]

I know Christians who are perfectly fine with watching or reading it... well watching the show anyway, I don't really know people who've seen the movie other than me and my brother (However they usually aren't Catholic tbf). It's really anti theocracy which is government controlled by religion.

[@essneyallen6777]

The books are a complex exploration on sin and free will. They are not strictly against faith, they are adamantly against *dogma* , the "catholic church" is just an aestethic that fits. But as we are well aware now, the us religious right just doesn't like the concept of "complexity" as a matter of principle.

[@dblevins343]

@ClintBandito I can't speak for the story itself. I've never read or seen these stories (and I have no idea what they're about). Im just going off the somewhat vague explanation the guy in the video made. I'd also expect some differences from person to person vs an organizations decision. It makes sense that the catholic church boycotted it, but that wouldn't mean all catholics would have that same conviction. Same goes for protestants in this case.

[@essneyallen6777]

​@@dblevins343 iirc the catholic church did not weigh in on this at all. It was the usual moral panics peddlers of US fundamentalist churches that had a tantrum against the movie.

[@davidjames579]

Martin Scorsese, a Catholic believer, made The Last Temptation Of Christ, and he got death threats! It seems some people can't study art if it's not endorsing their dogma. Which shuts down a lot of things.

[@lupus5859]

It was very funny thinking in my head "Oh yeah, Dominic Noble covered the big changes a while back, I might need to rewatch that--" And then you read my mind and brought up his video yourself.

[@veteran002]

I will never forget when I saw this with my family in our home theater my little sister who was 13 at the time said sarcastically "The End" at the actual ending of the movie when the credits popped up she said out loud 'WAIT THAT'S IT!!!' We all laughed it was so perfectly timed.

[@newred67]

Thanks for covering this movie. I saw this movie after I bought it on DVD for a reasonable price. Suffice to say, it was meh - not memorable. You made a valid point about this movie - by trying to appeal to the general public and appease certain groups, you end up alienating book fans. After watching several of your videos, I was waiting for a video on "The Golden Compass" and you delivered!

[@Bored_Barbarian]

17:52 oh hi. Derek Jacobi. Forgot the Master was in this

[@Bored_Barbarian]

Wow, the bro is 86 and still acting

[@jbcatz5]

I just finished listening to the Future Phantoms set, that closing theme is brilliant.

[@wayfaringspacepoet]

and the Metatron

[@blushslice]

I wish the ending was left alone, did they ever release it beyond the shots of Craig and Kidman kissing in the trailer

[@davidjames579]

It's in the videogame, and clips are on KZbin.

[@sherrihaight2724]

This was wonderful. Wonderful adaption. One of my favorites.

[@laotasurfs1110]

People will never understand why big-budget movies bomb despite having everything going for them until they understand why they succeed: zeroing out other non-story element, (like how it's advertized etc.) good movies have a good screenplay. Sounds simple, because when a movie sucks, everyone blames the screenplay. But when they succeed, everyone thanks the lead actor, the director, the costumes, the music, the everything-but-the-screenplay. Studios executives see success as a matter of hiring the "right elements," but treat screenwriters like they're interchangeable. That's why so many big-budget sequels suck. And why, when big budget, star-studded movies trying to ride a trend bomb, no one can figure out why. "It should've been a hit! It had all the elements of a hit!" Yeah, but the screenplay was an afterthought.

[@Cheeseit99]

I remember this movie so much because I wanted to watch the polar bears fight but wasn’t allowed to watch it. If I had actually watched it I probably wouldn’t even remember it, much less any anti religious themes. Glory be to God, let me watch the damn polar bears.

[@grantmillard8387]

Went to see this flick in the theater and we all walked out about 30-40 minutes in. It was just so tedious and boring. It was pretty and I loved the concepts of the technology but I didn't care at all about the characters or what was happening. You are also dead on about the child actors. They were right up there with the Phantom Menace's child lead. Just so badly used and poorly executed.

[@GabeGarsia]

My only memory of this movie was feeling really uncomfortable in the theaters and asking my mom if we could leave

[@corneliusmakin-bird7540]

I just remember seeing all the unsold toys at Kmart and how they were there for months on end and their prices got lower and lower.

[@IRosamelia]

I remember liking the movie a lot, Nicole Kidman was a fearsome villain. 💜

[@thenerderrant4293]

"Lazy storytelling" No, if they took over editing, that's effort, not lazy. Ill concieved might be what this should be called.

[@friendlylaser]

I never read the books, but I absolutely loved the TV show. Great acting, drama, kind of heavy themes, resonating message, production, design and special effects are amazing too. The opening theme is so nice I re-watch titles from time to time. One of the best tv shows I watched and it's not about drugs or criminals for a change.

[@talesyuki]

Could you imagine if we somehow got a new cut of this movie 84 years later? xD Brilliant xD Thanks for the video!!

[@Therealissa98]

I remember as a kid this movie was heavily advertised but i didn’t know anything about box office performance and such.. i also didn’t know it was a book series and the movie was supposed to have sequels.

[@G12G4]

Didn't read the books, but I did watch the movie. I'd argue it was actually the writing that dragged it down and that its not as chopped up as you might think - it's just not good. And part of that is Pullman's story which may work in book form but not as well in movie form. For example, the armored bear fight, sure, it's a sidequest in the movie but I can't help but feel it works narratively better than where it happens in the book where it truly functions as a plot cul-de-sac immediently following the destruction of the experimental facility. She literally just falls out of a hot ait balloon and into it; at least in the movie it serves to get her where she needs to be to find the facility. Both have big battles at the end so that's really not a change. I'd argue that the place they put the end is not a bad one, it's less of a cliffhanger, but story-wise, with a sequel planned, it does make some sense to move the kiddie-murder portal hopping to the next movie. That said, at the time it came out it wasn't bringing anything new. Oh no it's another "stand in for the Catholic church" is the villain. The child is the special special who just intuitively knows how to do the important thing and always rises to the occasion. She's an orphan but you can totally guess who her parents are and they are also special. Everyone was just lost until she came along and helped them. The baddies are after children for and may kill them! A little racism and viola - fantasy story. The daemons are cute and the airships and armored bears are neat, but they aren't enough to save it from mediocrity. I'm sure Pullman's writing helps make the tropes seem less eyerollingly basic, but the writing in the movie does nothing to spare it. Add in the fact that a good portion of the movie is "thing happens without context" folllowed by "character explains thing that just happened" and its a slog. I think the writing deserves more credit for its downfall than the studio.

[@wanderinglizzy]

My mom took me and my cousin to see this movie in the cinema when we were kids. I really enjoyed it, especially the unique worldbuilding, but my cousin who read the books didn't like it. Looking back this definitely was no masterpiece but it was a fun kids fantasy movie.

[@murciadoxial8056]

here's the thing... the da vinci code is significantly more anti catholic/anti theocracy/anti religion than this, but that movie became a box office hit and, arguably, a cultural phenomenon, so i don't really buy that this movie was done in because of having anti religious themes in it, it was just too mediocre to have an audience

[@BoosGaming1]

I thought this movie was fantastic. Never knew why it never continued I was so invested 😭

[@probro9898]

I read the books many years ago and (being a Christian) found them a guilty joy. I was disappointed by the movie, not so much by the lack of "Church as villain" but by the lack of the proper ending, when Lyra meets her "uncle" (actually her father) and enters the other world. I liked the bear but wish they had kept to the original reason why he was banished. Having him banished for losing a fight was a clear attempt to get audience sympathy for him. He didn't need that.

[@greygoregoose]

wake up babe new flop analysis just dropped