tsurara

YouTube - His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass - Official Teaser
YouTube - His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass - Sizzle Reel
YouTube - His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass - Official Trailer

The film release date is creeping up on us rather quickly now... who's excited? Who's scared?

Personally, I'm quite a lot of both.

In 10th grade I named my compulsory sack of flour baby "Lyra"... and have been determined to name any real daughter the same ever since.

The budget is astronomical, the trailers are as troubling as they are exciting, the "religious" aspects have been hidden but the Catholic church is already sending out "anti-film" presskits...

I LOVED the teaser trailer and the sizzle reel... but the latest trailer worries me. Particularly annoying is the change from "alitheometer" to "golden compass". The daemons look incredibly fake... good, but fake. The dialogue is clunky in places... the acting seems uneven. Some clips I LOVE ("I'm not yours! I'll never be yours!")... others make me cringe ("come no further if you value your lives")

What does everyone else think?

__________________

fireandice

I think it looks like it would be something to deffinantly see when it does come out. I don't know much about the story except what I just saw and heard. But it's managed to catch my attention so I'll be watching for it to come out.

__________________

Umbriel

Yeah, that pretty much cinches it. If I had bee teetering in the edge, that would pus me right into the theater seat. I have never been one to be told what I can not watch. If they really trusted in their faith they could see and and still remember it's just a story.

Yeah, I've been pumped for awhile now. Can't wait to see it. Everything looks great. The story is fresh. It's from New line, can't go wrong there.

I always like the line "Yes, I have a contract with the child." from the polar bear warrior. It's ok if they don't look perfect. As long as they don't look horrible.

Poor Nicole Kidman she always looks like she could use a burger or two. I like many of her movie, but I think it will be neat to see her bite the dust. Perhaps the bear will get her.

__________________

Evol

This is a prime example of how whipped I am -_-;

Upon hearing that the first of Pullman’s trilogy would be adapted to film my seemingly possessed girlfriend demanded that I read Northern Lights/ Golden Compass. She even silently lay on the couch with me while I read, probing my face for reactions o_O;

…I raced through it in a day. It’s a magical little book and I hope the film doesn’t fall too short.

The extended trailer scares the crap out of me. It has me see-sawing between smiling and frowning. At this point I’m resigned to the fact that the daemons, especially Lord Asriel’s snow leopard won’t live up to my expectations and I’m just relieved that Iorek doesn’t look like a coca-cola polar bear.

As for the alethiometer issue, I blame the publishers for screwing up the UK book title to begin with and pigeon holing New Line into using the misleading Golden Compass which will confuse the unaware.

A screenplay for The Subtle Knife is being written so hopefully the movie does well and doesn’t shatter my girlfriend’s adolescent memories. I don’t know if it will reach Harry Potter status but it would be nice to see it through to the Amber Spyglass.

Now let’s hope this thread dies again so no one finds out that I read 10th grade level girly books :P

divine_punishment

I'm not going to watch it. I read the series when I was twelve years old and wa so bored. I'm not a fan of Pullman's writing style, either. So . . . meh.

(P.S. Most Catholics don't give a damn about the movie recommendations set forth. The people who set them forth are usually older and say, "Oi . . . there are other movies in the cinema right now that won't confuse the people who don't know their own faith . . . Just an idea.")

__________________

tsurara

FINALLY! A trailer to get excited about...

The Golden Compass trailers and video clips on Yahoo! Movies

Some of my fears are dissipating, in spite of a few pre-screenings that imply the ending has been changed (to eliminate the need for the next two books if it doesn't do well) and that the animal effects (aside from the bears) are a bit rubbery and unreal...

No matter what's been said: that trailer makes me want to be there opening night! Maybe it's finally coming together for the best?

I LOVE Ian McKellen as Iorek! He is the PERFECT mouthpiece for this series.

As for the controversy: sometimes where there's smoke, there's fire. These books don't condemn religion in general at all ~ but they DO condemn organized religion's ability to destroy freedom from the roots up. The religious establishment is probably right to be wary of these books... but it's too late: most enterprising children have already read them and made their own decisions about their content. Erasing opposing views or sheltering our children from ideas we dislike is ridiculous (and just the sort of practice these books stand against in the first place).

Atheists didn't send out pamphlets urging a boycott of "The Passion of the Christ" or "The Chronicles of Narnia" for being subversive bits of propaganda designed to build up the church (though few would argue that quite a few churches didn't use both of them as just that).

If the church can not accept dialogue or allow their parisoners to view whatever they like with the confidence that they can make decent judgements about it based on their own hearts, heads and eyes: they are proving themselves the fearful, controlling and corrupt force that they have become in Pullman's novels.

Any railing against the film only serves to strengthen the message religious groups insist it is sending.

__________________

aceman67

This might add something to the discussion (Thats a link BTW), and possibly rile up the Christian-right nuts on the board (Where's Shadokan when you need him...).

While mostly I don't really care what they say, and most of the time, they're full of crap (Ex. them whining about Harry Potter), the Christian-Right do have a legitimate reason to not like this film. It does blatantly promote atheist views.

I for one don't care, every one is entitled to their opinion and their right to pick what they believe in, and a story's a story, and I plan on watching it, even though the idea children questing to kill a senile God is a bit offensive, even for me.

__________________

tsurara

I wouldn't necesarily count that as a primary resource.

Just a read through the initial e-mail in the snopes article should set off the bias alert. It seems to be written by someone vehemently against the film and the books (possibly someone supporting the boycott). More of the material seems to come from the anti-film presskit than from the author or novels itself (though what little information provided about the author is true... except possibly his status as potentially agnostic).

The books themselves are based on "Paradise Lost" and draw quite a bit from religious writings and ideas (which is part of where the charge of heresy comes-- the Authority IS at one point identified by the names "Adonai" and "Yaweh" making him very much our own God, albeit in an alternative universe situation: meaning the God of their world is potentially quite different from our own.)

The best way to learn the truth about a book for yourself is to read it. If you aren't comfortable supporting the author: there's a wonderful place called a library that makes books available for anyone to read free of charge (and will hopefully continue to do so reguardless of any bans, boycotts or hissy fits thrown by anyone on either side of any issue).

People aren't stupid. They can, and SHOULD draw their own conclusions.

A wonderful, and very fair, review by a Catholic Priest who has actually read the books, and thinks you should too (if you want to):
YouTube - The Golden Compass, a book review
He is clearly against quite a few of the themes... but he doesn't seem to think you should cover your children's ears and eyes to conflicting ideas.

As far as promoting atheism... who cares?! It's okay to promote religion but not to reject it outright? Even if the film WERE promoting an anti-religious agenda (which I think is digging a bit too far and missing the larger point entirely), that's not grounds to actively campaign against it's right to exist, sabotage it's financial returns or create a media ruckus about it's thematic content.

We are exposed DAILY to pro-religious media and non-Christians -deal with it-.

You don't see calls to ban bibles or boycott Passion of the Christ ~_~; We all watch the Peanuts Christmas special and dammit, we enjoy it.

Ignorance is NEVER the answer. And silencing the voices of your enemies is a cowardly way to fight any intellectual or spiritual battle.

Are we even enemies at all? Isn't there room to watch a film about something you DON'T believe and respect that it's something that others might? Or to step back from something critical of what you believe and ask "Why would they think this?" or "Could it be true?" In the end, the answer's probably going to be "No. I still feel the same way I always did." But you might walk away a bit more aware of the other side of things.

What is everyone so afraid of? If your beliefs are so strong -- they aren't going to be swayed by someone disagreeing with them.

If you PERSONALLY do not want to see the film or read the books because their subject matter makes you feel uncomfortable: that is your decision. I respect it. I think parents SHOULD research films before taking their children to see them and be aware of what exactly is going to be shown and whether it's appropriate or not.

I don't however, believe in the right to forbid, intimidate, bully or influence another person's decision about what they read, see or hear to protect your own agenda or that of your organization.

Our beliefs should be the result of informed conscious CHOICE -- not the elimination of access to conflicting ideas.

__________________

aceman67

I'm not condemning the book, because like I said, I don't care either way, I'm secure enough in my beliefs that I can handle some controversy.

And I do tend to trust Snopes a bit more then some newspaper, magazine, or web-log. They do do their home work, and if you read down to the bottom of the page, the sources listed are several newspapers (The Sydney Morning Herald, The New Yorker, The London Times). And alot of them date back several years.

And I do agree with you about the review, it is very fair, but unfortunitly, it doesn't change my opinion.

__________________

tsurara

Snopes is an urban legend site: it's only presenting those points that back up the urban legend at hand -- that being that the story is "anti-religious". It's never been intended to be scholarly resource or even a serious reference. There is very little context... and I'm sorry, but those emails at the beginning are total crap (both boycott spam mails). They're relevant as the sources of the "urban myth" but to repost them out of context of the rest of the site would seem to give them credence in and of themselves.

As for the bibliography: none of the resources cited seem to actually have been quoted (or even read... one isn't even about the series, it's about the Chronicles of Narnia).

The entire issue's been summed up in 2 and half paragraphs. Half of the article is information is easily obtained from wikipedia -- the other half is taken directly from the Catholic League's anti-film presskit (Which isn't mentioned in the bibliography). So much for sparkling research.

The Actual Resources:
-FOX News Network (can't find it)
resource two
-Peter Hitchens (op/ed column by British conservative politician, extremely negative, Philip Pullman by Peter Hitchens)
resource three
-The Times (this is a decent enough one ~ Pullman writes a book that will shed light on darkness of his beliefs - Times Online)
resouce four
- The Guardian (this article is actually a story about "The Chronicles of Narnia", only the title comes from the Pullman books... His dark materials | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books)
resource five
-The Shed Where God Died (and absolutely EXCELLENT article and good overview of the issues at hand - The shed where God died - www.smh.com.au)
resource six
-http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/12/26/051226fa_fact (very long... biographical of Pullman)
resource seven
Paulie Michelle (just a biography of pullman and information about his awards, irrelevant to the issue at hand)
resource eight
(Can't find this one...)
resource nine
(can't find this one either... but I can find about 800 similarly titled stories reacting to the film boycott and the church uproar)

__________________

Abu Dhabi

O_o well, i don't know about them Catholics, but my hubby is certainly excited about the movie!

neither of us have read the book, so the trailers have confused me a bit! but i will say, that just looking at it... the casting feels off to me. i don't really see Nicole Kidman and the 007 man really sharing the screen together... maybe too much blonde? i don't know!

^_^ i do want to see the polar bears fight though! it looks like they're wearing gold coins! pretty!

__________________