This year’s Academy Award and BAFTA winner for Best Visual Effects is packaged for home viewing as New Line Cinema today releases the CG-laden fantasy flick The Golden Compass on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Sales should be brisk for this first movie based on Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series of books. The film got off to a fairly slow start in the U.S. but turned out to be a big international box office success.
Directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Antz), The Golden Compass revolves around a young girl who travels to the far north to save her best friend and encounters shape-shifting creatures, witches and other strange and enchanting characters. Led by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, the cast includes Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Christopher Lee, Sir Ian McKellen and Kathy Bates. Visual effects for the film were overseen by vfx supervisor Mike Fink (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Road to Perdition), with Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain, Framestore CFC, Hatch, Cinesite, Rainmaker, Tippett Studio, Peerless Camera Company, RodeoFX Digital Backlot and Matte World Digital all contributing to the show.
The two-disc DVD and Blu-ray editions offer feature-length audio commentary by the director, 11 making-of featurettes including behind-the-scenes looks at the CG-animated armored bears, the production design and the process of adapting the novel. There are also theatrical and teaser trailers, as well as still photo galleries.
