Everyone expects another LOTR again. The curse of all fantasy film. Just go into the movie and expect something like Narnia instead and it should be fine Its based on a childrens book. What do you expect? I have watched it and its not too bad. Quite entertaining but feels a bit disjointed and some people could be lost if you have not read the book especially the ending. If you're those who only like shows like Transformers, 300, etc then you'll be disappointed. I guess most people will find it boring because its not LOTR type of fantasy. I remember most people did not like Fellowship of the Rings as well but most were only hooked after Two Towers because of the action.

By the way the books are one of the best fantasy sci-fi children books. Its much more better than Narnia (too Christian preachy) and Harry Potter (too damn predictable).

Firstly I think its not a bad movie. In fact its quite good except the ending which left everyone . Since I have read, the book I know the climax of the book was completely left out. Its a strange decision because it was filmed. Just look at the earlier trailer and you see that some really important parts were left out at the end. The ending totally spoilt the movie because its like the fellowship reached the mines of Moria and it ends. The studio screw up big time on this decision. I guess they did not want the movie ending in sad and dark note since its Christmas time. So what went wrong with this movie other than the ending?

1) Marketing. From the makers of LOTR. This really mislead a lot of people and they expect GC to be another LOTR. If you have read the book GC, you know its a different type of fantasy story. Its fantasy adventure mix with some sci-fi and religion concept. So most of the people will feel the movie sux because it does not have war or big battle scenes. Its the curse of LOTR. Narnia and Eragon suffered the same fate. OKlah I admit Eragon deserved the fate.

2) Hype. The book is very good and won some awards but its not as popular like Harry Potter or LOTR. There will not be people who camp outside the cinema just to watch the movie like the Harry Potter and Star Wars series. Thats why I dont think it will does not have the box office appeal of Harry Potter or LOTR.

3) Budget. The movie is grossly overbudget. What did they spend 180 million on? The special effects was good but not stunning. The sets were good and again its not stunning. Must have spent all the budget on Mr Bond and Nicole Kidman's salary. A 70 or 80 million budget movie should be more reasonable. After all, its only the first book. The studio screw up big time on this again.

4) Timing. Its Chrismas time in US and you release a anti-Christian movie during this period. If that is not suicide, I don't know what is?

5) Storyline. Dark Materials trilogy is a very complicated book because it touches on religion, science, etc. If you dumb down all this element and just concentrate on the adventure of Lyra, the whole story does not make much sense if you have not read the book. Thats why most of my friend who saw it does not really understand the storyline.

6) Story flow. This movie went too fast from one place to another. It should have slowed down and concentrate more on character development. I know some people find it already too slow but you must let people feel for the characters. Audience will care about them and want to know what happened to them at the end. I think its the editing problem. Probably the directors cut of the DVD will be better.

For those who wants to know what was left out and do not intent to read the book, read on and I will briefly tell you what the ending should be because with the weak box-office, I doubt the second and third part will be made.

Yup I guess you're right, I am a bit biased becaused I love the book. Anyway, I don't think the second book is movie material because it deals with lots of conversation and hardly any action except at the end. So, if you think the first movie is boring, the second movie will be worse if they decide to make another movie. Anyway I think hollywood screw up all this children's book by selling them as the next LOTR type movies with all sorts of battles and wars. Look how they sell Narnia as something like LOTR. In the Narnia books, the battles and wars were usually only about one paragraph.

Depends on what type of movies you like. If you like action packed movies or another LOTR. Skip it. If you're interested in a children's adventure movie, its quite good compared to Narnia or the latest Harry Potter. The problems with the movie was highlighted in my earlier posts.

I like to movie too but its not doing well in US. So the chances for a sequel or a 3rd part in quite slim especially New Line is concentrating their budget on The Hobbit. Anyway most people did not like this movie because they compared it to LOTR. It happen to Narnia as well. Its a big mistake for New Line to market it as another LOTR. Another mistake were to aim the movie for children. The story is too dark and complicated for children. Most adult who watched it don't understand the story. They have already dumbed down the story and people still don't get it. Thats why I feel this story is suitable only for books and not movie material.