The Golden Compass (2007) on Netflix
PG-1320071h 53mAdventureFamilyFantasy
In a parallel world, the orphan Lyra Belacqua is entrusted with a golden alethiometer that reveals the truth. When the Gobblers abduct children, she sets out for the far North.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.1/10204,771 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes42%
Trailer
Plot summary
Lyra Belacqua is an orphan growing up at Jordan College in Oxford, in a world where the church known as the Magisterium governs what people may believe, and each person's soul lives alongside them as a dæmon, an animal that changes shape in childhood. Her uncle, the explorer Lord Asriel, comes back from the North with word of Dust, cosmic particles that the Magisterium forbids anyone to mention; he says they link the pole to endless other worlds. Children have been disappearing, taken by kidnappers called the Gobblers, and among them is Lyra's friend Roger Parslow. A wealthy woman named Marisa Coulter invites Lyra to London, and before she goes, the Master of the college gives her the alethiometer, a device that answers questions for a skilled reader, and tells her to keep it hidden.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Golden Compass (2007)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After an interview in which Weitz said the novel's attacks on organized religion would have to be softened, he was criticized by some fans, and on 15 December 2004 he resigned as director of the trilogy, citing the enormous technical challenges of the epic.
- Nonso Anozie was initially cast as the bear Iorek and recorded lines for the part, but was replaced at a late stage by Ian McKellen because New Line wanted a bigger name. The recasting was against director Weitz's wishes, though he later said “if you're going to have anyone recast in your movie, you're happy it's Ian McKellen.”
- Kidman was author Philip Pullman's preferred choice for her role ten years before production of the film, and despite initially rejecting the offer to star because she did not want to play a villain, she signed on after receiving a personal letter from Pullman.
- On 7 October 2007 the Catholic League called for a boycott of the film. Its president, William A. Donohue, said he would not ordinarily object, but that while the religious elements are diluted from the source material, the film will encourage children to read the novels, which he says denigrate Christianity and promote atheism for children.
- The film's disappointment caused the two planned sequels to be scrapped, and 12 years later, from 2019, all three novels were adapted as a three-season television series, His Dark Materials, culminating in 2022. The series followed the novels more closely and received a much better reception than the film adaptation.
- On 9 June 2020 Weitz revealed on Twitter that it would take $17 million for him to complete the visual effects for his director's cut, making him think there is no financial incentive for the studio to finish it and release it.
