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.
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
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.
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.
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).
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.
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...
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.
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..
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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 😅
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 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
@@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).
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.
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.
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.
@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.
@@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.
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 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.
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)
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.
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.
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
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.
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"
If you want the better version of this movie, then watch "His Dark Materials" series. Cuz Lyra played by Dafne Keen is far better than the one from movie. Yes movie's supporting cast is good but Lyra is the main character we should care about, and if acting of main character isn't good then it just take you out of the experience. Also Lyra in series was believable as Dafne has screen presence, partly bcuz we already seen her as X-23 in Logan😁
hm, it is peculiar for those who claim that having a anti-religion message hurt the film....when Dune is has a very blunt anti-religion message, to the point that Tolkien himself didn't like the book(though he also didn't care how obvious C.S. Lewis book was too), yet has a very successful movie franchise, and even the old Disney version has a cult following.
Shout out to the 1984 adaptation that ended with princess cerulean saying "and then Paul brought peace to the galaxy the end" to sidestep the whole jihad thing
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
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.
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
@@BrontoSmilodon1The marketing team was at a dissonance to others who made the film. It was promoted as a Narnia-esque story but more emotionally hard hitting in tone.
I get it now! What New Line wanted, was The Return of the King. Only the third one, no Fellowship, no Two Towers (maybe this one if it's too hard). It's like one of those jokes, when someone ate 5 cakes and not hungry anymore, decided to eat only the fifth cake from now on.
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.
@@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.
Not the first time I heard that New Line Cinema cut said movie to please a certain demographic, and I was instantly reminded of the troubled development and production of Son of the Mask.... no, really. That film had a lot of issues with the development of said movie, and especially during its production, I watched an interview with Jamie Kennedy and Lawrence Gutterman, and they talked about what was removed from its more adult PG-13 cut and how they removed the world building, and toned it down to make children smile and laugh. It explains the film's ultra assault to your senses and hyperactive film editing. But I don't think it would've improved the film since it was a Frankenstein type of script. It was using a spec script for a planned horror comedy called "Baby Formula," and it was about a baby born with cartoon abilities and played for laughs and scares, described as Rosemary's Baby and The Omen meets Chuck Jones. Very similar situation to The Lawnmower Man production, taking an existing spec script and shoving in said IP into a original story.
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
The ending in the series? You mean, the end of the first season? Yeah, it's meant to set up a much larger story, not work on it's own, so it may seem more confusing. Whereas in the film it was the actual end. There wasn't really a way a sequal could work without losing the plot totally.
It's CRAZY that the studio that saw the success of LORD OF THE RINGS cut out so much lorebuilding to get the film under two hours... That's... God that's so stupid. I also really appreciate your analysis about the lose-lose position that they put themselves in by trying to placate anti-intellectual/Evangelical audiences by 'smoothing the edges' and thus pleasing no-one. That question 'Why was this film even made?' is such a telltale sign that profit has been placed so highly over artistic integrity/thematic fidelity. Also, I think the comparison between His Dark Materials and Chronicles of Narnia is an interesting one. I don't think the Narnia books are pro-religion as much as they are pro-faith. They are absolutely Christian allegories, no question, but I don't know if there is a lot of explicit support for institutionalised religion. Conversely, HDM is ABSOLUTELY critical of religion, theocracy as it is put in this video. It's a great point to raise, though, because I feel like I understand these two texts just that much more by thinking about it, so thank you! I really enjoyed this video :)
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.
I always wondered why they never had other movies on the book series😅 i actually enjoyed the movie especially the polar bear scene and everyone having their own familiars ,it made me go read the books , i hope they make some movies or a series in the future and give it the potential it definitely has
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.
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...
Whenever I'm reminded that this movie exists I just think of _Stupid Mario Brothers_ as there's a running gag where Wario loves TGC & is upset that they never made a sequel. Never saw TGC and I keep forgetting to give it a shot now that streaming is a thing....I don't feel like watching it tonight though. lol Commenting before watching the video, while I don't know when it'll be I'll come back to this after watching the actual movie.
Do you think if they went the how to train your dragon route, where it's based on books but that fact isn't that known, it could have somewhat worked out? They could say they were inspired by the book to draw the book fans in, only take the non-controversial aspects of the story, and then clarify that the "anti-catholic" themes will not be present. I haven't read the book so I'm not actually sure if the religion aspect could be removed or replaced by a different flavor of villain or it's just that integral to the story, but I'm really curious how this may play out.
@@LL-cu9gn You need to read the books, it gets a bit complicated but the representations of faith and the groups behind them are crucial to the story as it develops over the trilogy.
Can you do a video on the Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole? I feel like the movie flopped because of the name alone. Such a hidden treasure.
If the first film downplayed the religious commentary, then it seems almost necessary that no sequel was ever produced. In the next two books the religious commentary is a lot more prevalent, so much so that some readers - myself included - complain that it overshadows the fantasy.
I’ll never forget my church including in the announcements that this film was satanic and no one should go see it. Even in my public school we were being warned against watching it. I clicked on this video because I’ve always been reluctant to see this movie even as an adult in the midst of deconstruction and I’m trying to unpack that.
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.
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?
Why in the hell do I distinctly remember that cut ending? Was it a deleted scene that’s somewhere? Feels like a mandala effect of some kind because I just rewatched this movie yesterday and I swear the original cut ending is what i remember not the real ending of the film. So weird huh anyone else remember the cut ending instead?
So..."need for speed" is a bad movie but very much worth watching for all the in-camera stuntwork. Would you say Golden Compass is, in a similar way, a bad movie but worth watching for the set/production design?
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
OK barely a flop (didn’t make double the budget) but can we talk about how weird and forgettable Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is? The whole thing feels like a fever dream to me. And directed by Zack Synder?
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.
Stacked cast, big name producers, all the money in the world wont help... ...if you are doing an adoptation, and don't respect the original work to handle it tastefully.
Lord of the rings worked because it was made for fans of the books, by fans of the books... ...amazon's rings of power failed, coz it was made by studio, to appease croporate and shit on the fans. If you are doing adopting a book, well you need some respect towards if to do it right. ... All the "but its politically correct now" will only amount to one thing. Talentless director keeping his job after the flop, as he/she will have a scapegoat in "evil, morally backward fanbase"
Ooh, you should do one for Dreamworks' Rise Of The Guardians. It's still surreal how that film flopped.
I remember that one, I'll have to revisit it
I love that movie😩😭
Baffling how that film flopped. One of the most under-appreciated holiday movies.
Not too baffling when you release a movie after the highest grossing James Bond film and the final Twilight movie
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
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
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.
The Polar bear slappin' another bear's jaw off scene, though...
The Daniel Craig Polar Bear movie.
Yeah it sucks cuz he was the absolute perfect Lord Asriel - imo James McAvoy was the weakest part of the HBO series
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.
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
yeah as if such a major film like LOTR didnt have a bunch of marketing and planning to make it stick...
😊😊@@OfficialTigerino
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.
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.
I love how the movie looks, especially the alethiometer, and the performances of the majority of actors is great.
The HBO show was good, and told a complete story
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).
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.
BBC show* co produced and internationally distributed by HBO
Polar Bear jaw rip was pretty good damn awesome.
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...
Yeah too much material for a film under 2 hours
@@isenhartproductions2677The books are amazing. The BBC did audio drama adaptations of the trilogy in the early 2000’s, also worth checking out.
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.
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..
I believe it was spelled daemon in the books,which doesn’t carry the evil connotations of the modern demon.
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.
Bro, I need you to talk about the 2008’s Spiderwick Chronicles in this list
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.
Nickelodeon made the movie @@isenhartproductions2677
@@isenhartproductions2677 I love you Mr.Isenhart
@@isenhartproductions2677How about The Dark is Rising film?
@@isenhartproductions2677 I love you Mr.Isenhart
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.
You should do video on Hop and why it flopped at the box office.
Can we talk about Owls of Ga'hool......I never hear about this amazing films ToT
Omg I love that movie TwT
Lmaooo forgot that one existed! nice.
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.
What's insane is they managed to get Kate fucking Bush to do a song for this film.
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.
Just discovered your channel a couple of days ago. Incredible content 🔥
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?
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 😅
I also watched this movie a lot with my sister when we were young and played the Wii game as well 😂❤️
my friend had the ds game. It was impossible to complete
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.
Yeah the whole 'kill/depose the Abrahamic God' thing doesn't really come into play until book 3.
@@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
@@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).
@@wolfgangervin2582 he doesn't even get killed in the end... he's so old that a bit of wind scatters him
god i live The Golden Compass and it makes me so sad that will did not work
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.
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.
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.
@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.
@@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.
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.
The HBO series adaptation is a lot better. Fantasies do better as a serial.
@@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.
17:52 oh hi. Derek Jacobi. Forgot the Master was in this
Wow, the bro is 86 and still acting
I just finished listening to the Future Phantoms set, that closing theme is brilliant.
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)
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.
@@tusharg8452 goblet of fire and half blood prince were so butchered it was heartbreaking
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.
I wanted a sequel so badly 😭
I wish the ending was left alone, did they ever release it beyond the shots of Craig and Kidman kissing in the trailer
It was actually a good movie too
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
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
Just find the TV series his Dark Materials by the BBC and HBO that's an adaptation of the complete trilogy.
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.
It worked for Da Vinci Code, that got multiple sequels (the first of which was set in Vatican City!)
@ true! I wasn’t allowed to watch that either
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"
If you want the better version of this movie, then watch "His Dark Materials" series. Cuz Lyra played by Dafne Keen is far better than the one from movie. Yes movie's supporting cast is good but Lyra is the main character we should care about, and if acting of main character isn't good then it just take you out of the experience. Also Lyra in series was believable as Dafne has screen presence, partly bcuz we already seen her as X-23 in Logan😁
hm, it is peculiar for those who claim that having a anti-religion message hurt the film....when Dune is has a very blunt anti-religion message, to the point that Tolkien himself didn't like the book(though he also didn't care how obvious C.S. Lewis book was too), yet has a very successful movie franchise, and even the old Disney version has a cult following.
Shout out to the 1984 adaptation that ended with princess cerulean saying "and then Paul brought peace to the galaxy the end" to sidestep the whole jihad thing
Nicole kidman looks so beautiful in those gowns
Right?? Her outfits were gorgeous 😍.
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
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.
@@roberttreacy8271 BBC in association with HBO
How come you didn't talk about Daniel Craig?
Well, he is hardly in the movie. And the characters saving grace, the true ending, was unfortunately cut out.
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
the BBC created a faithful adaption. a 3 season TV show - highly recommend :)
Could you imagine if we somehow got a new cut of this movie 84 years later? xD Brilliant xD
Thanks for the video!!
I saw this film as a poor man's chronicles of narnia
No that was bridge to teribithia
@@BrontoSmilodon1The marketing team was at a dissonance to others who made the film. It was promoted as a Narnia-esque story but more emotionally hard hitting in tone.
Another failure I enjoyed.
yeah me to. I found that this movie is very underrated
I love this movie! May be its because I don't know a single thing about the book series.
Good question
I get it now! What New Line wanted, was The Return of the King. Only the third one, no Fellowship, no Two Towers (maybe this one if it's too hard).
It's like one of those jokes, when someone ate 5 cakes and not hungry anymore, decided to eat only the fifth cake from now on.
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.
@@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.
Not the first time I heard that New Line Cinema cut said movie to please a certain demographic, and I was instantly reminded of the troubled development and production of Son of the Mask.... no, really.
That film had a lot of issues with the development of said movie, and especially during its production, I watched an interview with Jamie Kennedy and Lawrence Gutterman, and they talked about what was removed from its more adult PG-13 cut and how they removed the world building, and toned it down to make children smile and laugh.
It explains the film's ultra assault to your senses and hyperactive film editing.
But I don't think it would've improved the film since it was a Frankenstein type of script. It was using a spec script for a planned horror comedy called "Baby Formula," and it was about a baby born with cartoon abilities and played for laughs and scares, described as Rosemary's Baby and The Omen meets Chuck Jones.
Very similar situation to The Lawnmower Man production, taking an existing spec script and shoving in said IP into a original story.
FUN FACT: Roger Ebert gave this film 4 out of 4 stars.
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
I actually loved that movie when i was little, but i always felt like it was missing something, of course i didn't know about the books.
Saw it in theaters with my mom. Never understood why we never got a sequel, I thought it was a great movie.
Still a MUCH better adaptation than Amazon’s “Wheel of Time” debacle. Now THAT is a masterclass in how to destroy a book series!
It was fun, and I’ve seen the show from HBO, the ending made less sense in the series, but the movie took it pretty well in the first part
The ending in the series? You mean, the end of the first season? Yeah, it's meant to set up a much larger story, not work on it's own, so it may seem more confusing. Whereas in the film it was the actual end. There wasn't really a way a sequal could work without losing the plot totally.
It's CRAZY that the studio that saw the success of LORD OF THE RINGS cut out so much lorebuilding to get the film under two hours... That's... God that's so stupid.
I also really appreciate your analysis about the lose-lose position that they put themselves in by trying to placate anti-intellectual/Evangelical audiences by 'smoothing the edges' and thus pleasing no-one. That question 'Why was this film even made?' is such a telltale sign that profit has been placed so highly over artistic integrity/thematic fidelity.
Also, I think the comparison between His Dark Materials and Chronicles of Narnia is an interesting one. I don't think the Narnia books are pro-religion as much as they are pro-faith. They are absolutely Christian allegories, no question, but I don't know if there is a lot of explicit support for institutionalised religion. Conversely, HDM is ABSOLUTELY critical of religion, theocracy as it is put in this video. It's a great point to raise, though, because I feel like I understand these two texts just that much more by thinking about it, so thank you! I really enjoyed this video :)
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.
I always wondered why they never had other movies on the book series😅 i actually enjoyed the movie especially the polar bear scene and everyone having their own familiars ,it made me go read the books , i hope they make some movies or a series in the future and give it the potential it definitely has
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.
wake up babe new flop analysis just dropped
I don't get the preview of the next video, Are you going to talk about Charles Wallace?
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...
Whenever I'm reminded that this movie exists I just think of _Stupid Mario Brothers_ as there's a running gag where Wario loves TGC & is upset that they never made a sequel.
Never saw TGC and I keep forgetting to give it a shot now that streaming is a thing....I don't feel like watching it tonight though. lol
Commenting before watching the video, while I don't know when it'll be I'll come back to this after watching the actual movie.
Do you think if they went the how to train your dragon route, where it's based on books but that fact isn't that known, it could have somewhat worked out?
They could say they were inspired by the book to draw the book fans in, only take the non-controversial aspects of the story, and then clarify that the "anti-catholic" themes will not be present.
I haven't read the book so I'm not actually sure if the religion aspect could be removed or replaced by a different flavor of villain or it's just that integral to the story, but I'm really curious how this may play out.
The protagonist is central to an institutional struggle to understand "sin" sooooooooo
@@LL-cu9gn You need to read the books, it gets a bit complicated but the representations of faith and the groups behind them are crucial to the story as it develops over the trilogy.
Can you do a video on the Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole? I feel like the movie flopped because of the name alone. Such a hidden treasure.
The power of Pullman's letters.
For your next reviews, can you please cover the adaptations of The Dark Tower and The Darkest Minds, please?
3:52 it crazy to me that a movie like this would be filmed at the same place that thomas was filmed
If the first film downplayed the religious commentary, then it seems almost necessary that no sequel was ever produced. In the next two books the religious commentary is a lot more prevalent, so much so that some readers - myself included - complain that it overshadows the fantasy.
Do a video on Tomb Raider?
I second that.
A little part of me wished to see how they would rewrite the fifty shades of gray equivalent to the later books into a movie
I’ll never forget my church including in the announcements that this film was satanic and no one should go see it. Even in my public school we were being warned against watching it. I clicked on this video because I’ve always been reluctant to see this movie even as an adult in the midst of deconstruction and I’m trying to unpack that.
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.
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?
"Lazy storytelling"
No, if they took over editing, that's effort, not lazy. Ill concieved might be what this should be called.
I thought it was fine but I only really liked the armored bears which were basically fantasy dwarves but bears.
Why in the hell do I distinctly remember that cut ending? Was it a deleted scene that’s somewhere? Feels like a mandala effect of some kind because I just rewatched this movie yesterday and I swear the original cut ending is what i remember not the real ending of the film. So weird huh anyone else remember the cut ending instead?
I hear about this film 😊😅
You Should Do One For The Bob's Burgers Movie
But the Catholic Church *is* a villain. Where's the lie? Lol.
Great video
I misread your commenttttt
You got a laugh out of me when I read it better 😅
Kathy bates ? You showed an image of Claire Higgins Kathy bates only did a voice part
The casting was good, the special effects were good, but overall it really wasn't good
Golden Compass looks waaaaaaayyyyy faker than Transformers, which still holds up today imo.
Nowadays Book adaptations are better off with multi parts streaming series
So..."need for speed" is a bad movie but very much worth watching for all the in-camera stuntwork.
Would you say Golden Compass is, in a similar way, a bad movie but worth watching for the set/production design?
Yes, excellent comparison
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
Hilarious that the movie in next week's video has the opposite problem of this one, wiping out the religious themes to try and cast a wider net.
OK barely a flop (didn’t make double the budget) but can we talk about how weird and forgettable Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is? The whole thing feels like a fever dream to me. And directed by Zack Synder?
I like this movie as well but the animation on the bears look like they belong with Hapy Feet
The film that killed New Line Cinema.
Letter boxed didn't exist when this film was released
Oh yeah, The Golden Compass.
Or as I remember it...
...I dont remember it...
I've never liked this movie. It makes me feel nothing. It's boring.
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.
I loved the movie!!
I love this movie
Stacked cast, big name producers, all the money in the world wont help...
...if you are doing an adoptation, and don't respect the original work to handle it tastefully.
Lord of the rings worked because it was made for fans of the books, by fans of the books...
...amazon's rings of power failed, coz it was made by studio, to appease croporate and shit on the fans.
If you are doing adopting a book, well you need some respect towards if to do it right.
...
All the "but its politically correct now" will only amount to one thing. Talentless director keeping his job after the flop, as he/she will have a scapegoat in "evil, morally backward fanbase"
Can you do a video on kaena the prophecy? ruclips.net/video/Z3tPKSNhurU/видео.htmlsi=RmYUu7K2GgFvs_Dq
I just thought the leed girl actor was anoying and had no connection to her.
I never saw this movie but I remember it was in the news that the catholic church boycotted the movie lol