The other day I was reading that open auditions are to be held to play the role of Lyra in a movie of Philip Pullman's ''His Dark Materials'' series. (Don' worry I'm not thinking of auditioning or anything... :rolleyes) Apparently the title of the film is to be ''The Golden Compass''. Does anyone else who's read the book think this is the most stupid title possible? *end rant*
thats what it was called in america - whether they'll change the name back to Northern lights - like they did with the sorcerors/philosophers stone - for the uk market, who knows?
I never thought the title was stupid... Northern Lights IS better though Can't wait to see the movie. Loved the books. Hope they don't screw it up like the Harry Potter movies
Does that mean that throughout the book the instrument she uses was called ''the golden compass''? I also loved the books but I hate the idea of the alethiometer being reduced to a ''golden compass'', as it plays such a big role in the film and is almost a character in itself.
I don't get this... It happened with the Harry Potter book aswell. it's an Englishman's book, so why can't it the title be his? God, I hate Ameicanized non-American things! Especially Jesus!
I guess its because (the majority of) Americans wouldn't have a clue what the northern lights are, and those that do call them Aurora Borealis..which is a rubbish name for a book. I doubt they changed any of the content of the book, though and as there would be no american language problems with the word Aleithometer i don't see why they would.
I bet they cant pronounce alethiometer (hope its not too ironic if i mispell it) either. as long as it has Daemons, Gypsies, a modern but still old fashioned Oxford and bloody great polar bears in suits of armour then i dont think the title will matter much to me
The are of course removing all referance to religion in an attempt to not offend anyone... ..which means it'll be utter tosh.
They're removing all the religion stuff?! That's the whole point of the damn book! :bang: It was called an alethiometer throughout the American books. I think Lyra thought of it as a compass when she was first introduced to it, and immediately realized it wasn't much like a compass at all. They're called the Northern Lights at least as much as the Aurora Borealis. And they ARE well known in America... just 'cause we never see 'em down south in the states doesn't mean they're not flippin' sweet . That'd be like saying you Englishmen don't know about manatees.
Fair enough. I didn't realise you got the Northern Lights even in the northernmost states, and Americans are famously bad about not knowing anything about anything that doesn't happen in the USA.. My bad. Yes they're taking all referance to religion out of it, which is stupid. However there are precendents for such a thing, the one that springs to mind would have to be "kingdom of heaven" which kind of glossed over the religious context of the crusades.. "right lads we're going to war with the Muslims and Invading the holy land" "why boss?" "erm..no reason...just thought it would be a bit jolly" Hollywood needs a big slap.
gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :bang: :bang: :bang: so... wha?? how do they explain over half the book then??? will there be the complete trilogy or just northern lights? cause amber spyglass makes no sense without the anti-catholicism attitude. ok so rewriting history to make a film more palatable is one thing... but rewriting something that is already fiction?!?
Surely rewriting fiction is more allowable than rewriting history - after all fictions just well..ficticious anyway.. Whereas the Crusades, world war two, the old west, the british empire - all really happened and have been changed historically on film.
not really, history is truth (assuming the sources are reliable), and thus a legitimate limit. Changing this limit to make a film entertaining is almost justifiable. changing something that is untrue already. (made through fiction to be interesting in the first place) is just lame!
