When hearing Director Chris Weitz(About a Boy) was directing/writing the film adaptation of "THE GOLDEN COMPASS," and having never read the series, this reviewer was excited. Weitz has proven to be a competent, even bold, director. So, what would he do with an epic-fantasy? Well, unfortunately, while children seem to enjoy the film, it may be a tough hurtle to get adults to enjoy the film much.  It really seems like the plot has too much going on, with too little original ideas. Sure, an alternate universe has potential. So does the idea of a gifted young girl as the heroine, and Nicole Kidman is both beautiful and icy as the nefarious villain, with a secret that is one of the few real surprises within the film. But, the film's pacing often moves slower than the glaciers making up the setting of a key location in the film. The acting, especially the supporting cast, is impressive, but the script isn't. Weitz doesn't seem to believe "less is more" with the spoken word here, and this reviewer found the film to be almost painful to sit through at times. The CGI effects vary greatly in terms of quality, sometimes dazzling and sometimes so dull and repetitious, that they become boring!

NEW LINE has provided the correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio for both dvd and blu-ray. While colors are vibrant and contrast is impressive on both formats, the 1080p/VC-1 encoded blu-ray lacks the kind of depth one anticipates with the format.  Detail is often just slightly better than the dvd and CGI effects suffer the most, although even in theatrical presentation, they suffered. The dvd offers comparable color levels and about the same depth. Of course, the higher resolution of blu-ray makes some scenes notably better than the dvd, but not many. The blu-ray is generally disappointing in terms of quality, especially in comparison to what NEW LINE has done with other blu-ray releases.

NEW LINE has provided a DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 7.1 mix for the blu-ray. The blu-ray mix offers an aggressive mix, filled with discrete and surround effects to ensure an immersive environment. But, the mix has its share of problems. Bass and music overwhelm dialogue in numerous scenes, and more importantly, the music is average at best to begin with!

The features on both blu-ray and the 2 disc special edition dvd are the same! Several of the multitude of extras are worth viewing. The audio commentary with Weitz, is surprisingly entertaining and informative, but it's a shame he doesn't seem to realize the disaster he's created.