Whatched it yesterday and felt it suffered from the same problem as Elizabeth: The Golden Age and other such films:

All the money has gone on the visual effects and big actors and clearly no money spent on decent script writers!

The script fails to capture the magic, is not inventive at all (i.e. it cannot think of how to introduce you to the story details without just telling you in a boring fashion) and is mostly melodramatic and unrealistic (obviously not the actual subject but they way the characters talk and interact)

Having said this there were good bits, but no match for Lord of the Rings or even Sideways (which by the way is a genius film, anyone who's only seen it once: watch it again and you'll see what I mean)

Irina, Oxford,

I'm a huge fan of His Dark Materials. Read all the books three times, saw the play two years running.... and I loved this film too.

The plot is streamlined a bit but true to the book, the anti-religious elements aren't played down as much as I was expecting, the acting is mostly excellent esp. Richards and Kidman and the bears - oh the bears! They're perfect.

I was sorry that the film ends before the book, but I can understand it and look forward to the sequel or sequels (I wouldn't be completely surprised if they condensed the other two books into one longer film if this one is a success). That said I did hear some muttering in the theatre as I think most people were expecting another big showdown to come and suddenly it was over...
Still, very highly recommended and my favourite film of 2007.

David Harold, Stevenage, UK

You sound pretty convinced of your own rightness yourself, Milton

Claris, Devon, England

I was looking foward to watching this film as i had heard from several peopple who have read the books that it would be something worth watching. I found it a disappointment. The beginning of the film was messy and confusing to follow. The film did improve as it progressed, however, i feel that the special effects accompanied by the Polar Bears and furry daemon animals were the only things that stopped this film from being a real disaster. What a shame.

Natalie Hills, Thundersley, England

I agree but for me it's too much CGI. The computerized fantasy spoils a basically good story.

Paul Martin, Sark, Channel Islands, Channel Islands

The Glory of God? Oh dear, how sad. The thing that is really missing from the film is its wonderfully fresh attack on the corruption of organised religion!

Gareth, Perugia, Italy

In response to Cam, may I suggest that God is precisely as is depicted in the Pullman books, for all empirical evidence suggests that is the case (just look at the evils in our world including those perpetrated by religion) as are most (not all) of his accolytes throughout the world - intolerant, sinister, convinced of their own rightness and the evil of those who do not believe the same as they do.

Milton, Brussels, Belgium

This is what happens when you neglect the glory of God.

cam, essex,

Sorry Chris, but on this one I have to disagree fervently.
The Golden Compass is one of the best fantasy films I've seen in years. Usually, I tend to agree with the reviews I see here. But this time you got it wrong, completely wrong.

Endo, Arlington, VA

After seeing Star Wars inspire the Jedi Knight religion and the movie The Matrix spawn a belief system called Matrixism I figure it won't be long before we can expect to see a religion called Golden Compassism.

Derek, Glassgow, UK/Scotland

'Chris Weitz’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials, fails to match the magic of the book', and suffers from 'a fatal lack of real drama'. Surely in a film adaptation of a book the amount of 'drama' depends on the book the film is based on? I, for one, know the book has 'drama', so the problem must be with the acting performances? But apparently Dakota Blue Richards is 'surprisingly good', Daniel Craig 'dashing' and Nicole Kidman executes her role 'to icy perfection'. The 'cast' and 'effects' are 'dazzling', but apparently 'imagination' is lacking? Pullman's 'imagination' seemed pretty developed on paper and it appears that New Line Cinema have put the resources into the areas necessary to translate this to the screen. In summary, James Christopher's problem with this film is the book it's based upon, which he describes as 'powerful' and 'magic'. Am I the only person who doesn't quite understand his logic?!

Dale, Repton, Derbyshire