The Golden Compass: Movie vs Book (No Spoilers)

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Green_Lantern

Green_Lantern

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Hello... I will be travelling next week and I am considering buying the Golden Compass for it, but I saw the trailer today and also wanted to see the movie and was thinking in renting it tomorow >___<

Should I just watch the movie or should just buy the book and wait for my trip?
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

There is a book version that has all three books in one out right now. I highly suggest you get the book instead of the movie... they left out a lot of the book and changed the ending point.
 

The book might be handy to have while travelling (if you're going to have a lot of time between destinations). I saw the movie a few years ago and thought it was pretty good. Though, as Ash says, the book is likely better.
 
Frank

Frank

I've never read the book but just even watching the movie there is a lot that seems to make zero sense that's probably more fleshed out and made sensical in the book.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

If you think you'll enjoy the story, then the book would probably be more entertaining, as well as occupy much more time, if you have a lot of time to kill during the travel.

Of course, I hated the book, and the movie, so... yeah.
 

Frankie said:
I've never read the book but just even watching the movie there is a lot that seems to make zero sense that's probably more fleshed out and made sensical in the book.
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You are dead on. I wondered whether the movie would make sense to anyone who hadn't read the book.

Definitely, definitely read the book first. I'm not an enormous fan of the series but the first book is the best, and the ending is far better than what they did in the movie.
 
Calleja

Calleja

I loved the series, actually. All three of them, I had the fortune of reading them like one after the other and it felt like the episodes of a mini series.

His Dark Materials is like the anti-narnia. Pullman is anti-religion and you can tell. I loved The Subtle Knife.

Definitely read the books. The movie did it no justice and even though it had its moments, they don't explain enough of the world's whole mystique and it ends up not making enough sense.

-- less than a minute ago --

Oh man, the ending was poignant as hell too. don't read just the first one, dude.
 
S

Steven Soderburgin

yo the movie looks good visually but it pretty much sucks


i never read the book
 
twitchmoss

twitchmoss

the movie... argh. i was really hoping it would do justice to the source material. instead, what i got was what i should have expected. most of the subtlety removed, it moved too damn fast, and the climactic ending? lets just say they thoroughly fucked that one up beyond belief.

the *look* of the film is great, but thats about it.

the books on the other hand.. fucking fantastic.
 
phil

phil

When it comes to movies that are based on books, I like to see the movie first.

Books are generally better than the movie, so when you encounter the better version of the story first, anything else doesn't seem to live up. However, when I see the movie first, it makes it easier for me to accept this as an interpretation of the work, which I can then re-live and enjoy even more in book format.

When I read the book first, I have a lot of preconceived expectations and my own visual imagination of characters, settings and events. When the movie doesn't use those or even something similar I find it harder for me to really get into and enjoy as much.
 
A

Aisaku

Book definitely. It has a lot more substance to it. The movie only for the visuals. But the story and the characters did not survive the process.
 
R

Raemon777

My default position is usually to watch the movie first, so that you won't be comparing it to the book all the way through and can enjoy it on its own terms. (I saw the movie, haven't read the book yet. I thought the movie was decent enough on its own, even if the book explains some stuff more)

-- Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:21 pm --

My default position is usually to watch the movie first, so that you won't be comparing it to the book all the way through and can enjoy it on its own terms. (I saw the movie, haven't read the book yet. I thought the movie was decent enough on its own, even if the book explains some stuff more)
 

It isn't just that the book explains more. It truly builds a fantasy world that the movie did not succeed in building. Everything looked nice enough but there was no real reason behind it. The thing about the [spoiler:8ihjofhz]daemons[/spoiler:8ihjofhz] was well implemented but you never really understood about them, for example.

And once again, I'll mention the ending. The change they made in the movie is so monumental as to pretty much torpedo both the tone and the very point of the story.
 
I

IllogicalVirgo

Not to hammer home a point already made but I thought I would add that the books, even though the main character is a young girl, are not targeted at a young audience. The movie however took the books and made a kids movie out of them. Sadly Hollywood still has two very outdated concepts still prevalent, Cartoons = Kids and Movies with a young main character = kids.
 
Frank

Frank

IllogicalVirgo said:
Not to hammer home a point already made but I thought I would add that the books, even though the main character is a young girl, are not targeted at a young audience. The movie however took the books and made a kids movie out of them. Sadly Hollywood still has two very outdated concepts still prevalent, Cartoons = Kids and Movies with a young main character = kids.
Click to expand...
Unless you're Guillermo Del Toro.

Then you have a movie with a kid as the main character with

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nEpjJsyyqc:v0clyg14][/youtube:v0clyg14]
 
Calleja

Calleja

Thank you frankie, I was about to mention El Laberinto del Fauno as a good example of how that isn't always true.

Not that IllogicalVirgo doesn't also make a valid point.
 
J

JCM

Idiotic movie, which the whole "religion may be used to gain power and oppress" thing of the book was omitted, and the story, watered down.

-- Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:20 am --

Frankie said:
IllogicalVirgo said:
Not to hammer home a point already made but I thought I would add that the books, even though the main character is a young girl, are not targeted at a young audience. The movie however took the books and made a kids movie out of them. Sadly Hollywood still has two very outdated concepts still prevalent, Cartoons = Kids and Movies with a young main character = kids.
Click to expand...
Unless you're Guillermo Del Toro.

Then you have a movie with a kid as the main character with

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nEpjJsyyqc:3i6iuuwd][/youtube:3i6iuuwd]
Click to expand...
And theres his amazing


Awesome movie.
 
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