The Golden Compass

The highly anticipated adaptation of the first book in Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy, set in a world where human souls are manifest in "daemons" (animal companions joined on a deep emotional and spiritual level), is a handsome and grandly realized big-screen adventure. Dakota Blue Richards makes a strong film debut as the fiery and rebellious young heroine Lyra Belacqua, an orphan who leaves her adoptive college home for an odyssey that takes her from the big city to the frozen north of the ferocious ice bears and a sinister laboratory. Nicole Kidman is commanding and aristocratic as Marisa Coulter, our beautiful villain with a special connection to Lyra, and Daniel Craig brings 19th century dignity and dash to Lord Asriel, the adventurer and scholar who discovers a secret that the Magisterium (the world's all-powerful church) would kill to keep suppressed. The church railed against the film for its temerity in suggesting that a religious organization would attempt to suppress knowledge that challenges its own doctrine, but the bigger hurdle the film faced was fantasy fatigue. In the wake of "Lord of the Rings," "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Harry Potter" films, it simply didn't offer enough of a new experience. Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Christopher Lee, Tom Courtenay and Derek Jacobi co-star, but all are upstaged by an animated character: the disgraced ice bear warrior Iorek Byrnison, voiced by Ian McKellen.

Available in separate wide-screen and full-screen editions with no supplements. The "2-Disc Platinum Series" edition features commentary by writer/director Chris Weitz, who begins with: "I'm here hopefully to illuminate some aspects of the filmmaking, if I can manage." He manages very well, providing plenty of interesting detail on his thought process in adapting the page to the screen and the creative process of visualizing the characters and their world. The second disc features almost three hours of documentaries (many with accompanying galleries), which can be watched separately or straight through. They begin with a portrait of author Pullman and follow the film through to the release. The creation of the props and devices is fascinating, but surely the most intriguing featurette is "Armoured Bears," which begins with a puppet theater version of the ice bear battle and follows the animation process from there. Also available in Blu-ray format with all of the above supplements plus visually enhanced commentary.