Film Preview: The Golden Compass (2007)

Trailers (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Posters (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Poster Rating: B-; B-

Review: It wouldn’t entice children to see it if the poster didn’t have a kid and an armored polar bear. As the number of films with winter themes or settings increasing each week, the likelihood of one of them being a hit grows. The poster may be a bit too Chronicles of Narnia for my taste, but at least the trailer gives me more hope.

The second poster is more eye-catching, but is a lot more cluttered, giving the viewer plenty to look at, but ultimately providing no visual pleasure.

Trailer Rating: A-; C

Review: Without giving too much away (there is a bit of over-revelation), the trailer easily engages the audience and makes the viewer want to catch the flick even if the last post-Lord of the Rings attempt (Narnia) failed. The only thing that could doom the pic is that it opens with a reference to LOTR and says that New Line is bringing another world to the screen. That scares me a bit, but at least it will be sumptuous to look at.

Because I couldn’t tell with the second trailer if there really was more to it than the first, I gave the trailer an average rating. Although the sets and designs are absolutely beautiful, we got suckered into the first Narnia film that way, so we can’t be absolutely certain this will be any better.

Oscar Prospects:

If this film is as good as it looks, I can see it sweeping the tech categories…at least for nominations. I don’t think another fantasy film can capture Best Picture attention, but this one is the closest we’ll have for some time, I’m afraid. Art Direction, Costume Design and Makeup are all very likely award with Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Score and Visual Effects as potential nominating categories.

Release Date:

December 7, 2007

Synopsis:

Outstanding visual effects and beautiful design work join the entertaining performances and engaging story to create a fantasy film that appeals easily to children while providing thought-provoking content for adults.