Advantages: Fantastic CGI - brilliant storyline - stunning setting.
Disadvantages: Too short.

...- and she herself ends up in the clutches of Mrs. Coulter, a member of this organisation who seems to have a particular interest in her - Lyra manages to escape, and is saved by a clan of Gyptians who are travelling to the North in order to find their kidnapped children. Having been given a golden compass by the Master at her school just before her departure with Mrs. Coulter, Lyra discovers, from the Gyptians, its true purpose. Supposedly, the golden compass allows those with the 'gift' to see the truth, to look into the past and the future, and Lyra possesses that 'gift'. During her voyage to the North, Lyra learns how to read the compass, and uses it to help people along the way... including Iorek Byrnison, an armoured bear, who has been captured and forced to serve humans. Lyra helps him find his armour, which is, for the bears... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: great cast
Disadvantages: almost all of it

...To day I went to the cinema to see The Golden Compass. I had no idea what this was about apart from what id seen on the adverts on TV. So I will right the review based only on what I saw on the screen, no extra bits about who made it, the full cast list or how much money it made at the box office, just my honest opinion about what happened on the screen. Here goes, the film is set in a alternate dimension where every one has a demon guide in the shape of a animal by there side, this is there soul (though, there purpose is unclear as they have no relevance in the film) the land is ruled by the "magistarium" a kind of monarchy who don't want any one to know about other dimensions (like ours) and oppose free thinking. This land is home to talking animal's witches and gyptians (these are like gypsies but like to travel by ship... Read review

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Advantages: a few fun mini games and cool attacks
Disadvantages: very poor graphics, gameplay, sound, load time

...Just quickly before i begin here is a link to a great place to buy psp games and all types of computer games consoles and bits and bobs hope this helps and make sure you delete the space at the very end of the link between gamesfather or it wont work i have tries to delete it but it wont work for some reason: rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?type=4&campid=533 5948535&toolid=10001&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fstores.ebay.co.uk%2Fgamesf ather This is the the psp game based around the feature film The Golden Compass which is based upon the book Northern Lights written by Philip Pullman and the first installment from his trilogy Dark Materials (Highly enjoy the books they are a good read). Now i only watched the film the other day as i missed it at the cinema but thought that it was actually a lot better than i first... Read review

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Advantages: excellent role playing with great story
Disadvantages: none

...A great role playing game suitable for ages 10+, I think younger children may have difficulity with some of the challenges including de-coding the golden compass' symbols which is required to progress in the game. This game is taken from the movie & does include several movie clips, the graphics are good & the story easy to follow, it is easy to become all 3 playable characters Lyra, Pan & Iorek which is what you want from a role playing game. The main character is Lyra who from the comfort of her college in Oxford embarks on an epic adventure that takes her to the icy kingdoms of the north where her goal is to save the children who have been kidnapped by the gobblers because if she does not rescue them they undergo something more painful than death!!! As Lyra is a small child she is unable to accomplish this on her own so she... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: ermm.. follows the book a little
Disadvantages: bad gameplay, poor graphics, bad camera/control

...IT'S UNBEARABLE TO SEE A GOOD BOOK TURN INTO A CRAP GAME. First it was called Northern Lights, and then when they were making the film they changed the name to The Golden Compass. If you have read the book you'll know most of the characters like Lyra, Pan roger or Lorek. If you've seen the movie you'll find the game really broken with bad control quality and dead graphics, like the Chronicles of Narnia which was another broken game that a load of people bought and found out that it was awful. Gameplay really straight forward when you're playing as Lyra and Pan. Pan can change to other animals like Hawk, Sloth or Wildcat to get them to high places or to climb. Also there are items to collect to evade or deceive enemies where there are a few mini games while you're talking to a person in order to move on or get something rare... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: It aesthetics are impressive
Disadvantages: The perfomances are poor and the story is quite rushed

...he Golden Compass is the latest fantasy adventure to come our way. Like many of the fantasy films that have come out in recent years (Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia), The Golden Compass was originally a book. The Golden Compass (Northern Lights to many including myself) was the first book in Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials Trilogy. However, I believe it can be said that The Golden Compass did not do justice to its original medium. The film at time felt rushed (although this is understandable due to time restraints) meaning that some of the less superficial aspects of the story may have been over looked. The setting for The Golden Compass is an alternate world from our own, Jordan in Oxford. It is a world where people have daemons in the form of animals that are similar to our own conscience and soul. The story revolves... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Excellent animation, great story and fine acting.
Disadvantages: Just possibly the lack of ending.

...of the Magisterium. Part of her quest will be to find out about the strange substance called dust, a subject that her father is closely involved in, as he too looks for the answers to the question of the dust. She will find aid in unlooked for quarters and will amass an unlikely fellowship to aid her in the coming strife including an aeronaut, an armored bear and a flying witch. She will find refuge with the Gyptions and bend others to her will as she strives to complete her tasks All her aid is not human or even animal however; an artifact comes into her possession that will allow her to see the truth of all things. The Alethiometer, the golden compass of the film title, will point to the truth any who have the skill to read it. The world :- The setting is a magical world, not unlike our own. In fact it is a parallel world to ours but it seems... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great acting, direction and special effects
Disadvantages: Slight confusion, difficulty from book to screen in descriptions

...The Golden Compass is the 2007 film directed by Chris Weitz based on Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials: Northern Lights. The Plot In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua is a mischievous girl under the tuition of the Master of Jordan College, Oxford, sent there by her uncle, Lord Asriel, intrepid explorer. She overhears a presentation by her uncle about 'Dust', a mysterious substance which seems to be entering via another world and floating through people's daemons (external souls in the form of animals) into people. Asriel's findings go against the Magisterium, followers of the Authority, and are considered heretic. Meanwhile, children are disappearing, taken by the Gobblers, and, when Lyra finds out that Dust and the missing children are all rumoured to be in the North, in Svalbard, home of the Armoured Polar Bears, she... Read review

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Advantages: good game with clips of film on
Disadvantages: can only save the game at the end of each level

...... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good gameplay, suitable for everyone, full 3D worlds
Disadvantages: Repetitive music, graphics downgraded, loading times

...Personally, I am a great fan of the book "The Golden Compass", also known as "Northern Lights" in the United Kingdom. When I saw the film, I was disappointed with it, like many other fans. Even so, something drove me to buy the Wii game, and I'm glad to have made that choice. The game is full of action and adventure; full 3D worlds with plenty of interactivity; bonus tasks and extras. Players can unlock film-related "featurettes" to watch before or after a play session, as well as scenes from the film. It is immensely satisfying to play the game for hours, then watch a short, related video as a reward. But that's not to say simply playing the game for hours is not satisfying; playing as Lyra, Pan or Iorek, there is plenty of fun to be had. Pan has four forms in the game; ermine, eagle, sloth and wildcat. As an ermine, you can... Read review

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