Dragon Ball

3.75 stars
I first saw the movie years ago, loved it for what it was: a fun adventure story. Read the books as a result, and I was blown away by Pullman's world. The movie obviously left out a lot of the religious themes, but, they managed to keep that sense of awesome adventure. I think I was better able to appreciate the movie having not read the books at that time.

A lot of fantastic actors in this series. Movie Lyra seems to be better portrayed than show Lyra . Keene seems to be missing that intractable Lyraness. She hasn't done much to earn her new name of Silvertongue in this adaptation.

Mrs. Coulter is amazing, as is Lord Asriel and Iorek. They chose to go in a whole different direction for Lee Scorsby's character. That's perhaps a good idea given that the original performance was so iconic.

Will's character is spot on so far. I love that he was introduced sooner rather than later (which makes sense because some aspects of The Subtle Knife was running concurrently with The Golden Compass).

The visuals of the show are stunning. Cinematography deserves all the stars. Pacing seems to be a bit on the slower side, but I do appreciate that we see things happening inside the Magisterium rather than focusing solely on Lyra. It's such a shame that the daemons are treated as an afterthought or pets, rather than their own characters. Pan and Lyra's close bond is sorely lacking here as well. I don't think they've established that the daemons are their literal souls (if they have, then it was mentioned in passing rather the properly portrayed on screen) I hope they work on it in season 2.

All in all, good adaptation. Will continue watching. Now, I'm off to re-read the series for the 9th time

Starts out slow but is worth the build up. Can't wait for season 2 and might even pick up the book series that it's based on. Really enjoy the acting and writing.

HIS DARK MATERIALS - SEASON ONE

His Dark Materials remains a world worth exploring, but whether you're comparing it to the source material or coming to it fresh, this series is weak tea. While the visuals did take you into a grand and glossy another world and the actors slid into their roles as evil aunties and absentee uncles with ease, it failed to be more than the superficial sum of its parts.

Is good so far. I didn't read the books and this is my advantage. Nice effects, good acting and directing. If you like fantasy must watch.

i have read all the books and i actually enjoyed the movie the Golden Compass and was dissapointed when "they" didnt do the rest of the books. HBO is great seems to have given all that was needed to ensure the transtion to television went smoothly.
Great pilot! i cant wait to see the rest!