Everything was set for “The Golden Compass” to be a modern classic. There was an all-star cast of veteran actors sharing screen time with new faces that showed great potential. There were great special effects. The story of a rebellion fighting higher authority led way to an epic battle between good and evil. After a battle with members of the Magisterium Lyra, along with best friend Roger and the king bear Iorek Byrnison are flying off into the hills to deliver the alethiometer to Lord Asriel. As the airship heads into the mountain we are prepared for...the screen to go black and leave on a cliffhanger? That’s an odd way to end a fantasy film huh? Are you going to tell me that we just spent two hours of non-stop setup for absolutely no pay off whatsoever?

How could the film makers allow this to happen? Yeah, yeah, I know that “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings” left off on a cliffhanger as well, but at least things happened in that movie. The Fellowship disbands, two of the hobbits are captured, Gandualf plunges to his death, and Frodo and Sam are heading off to destroy the ring. Yeah it leaves off at a cliffhanger, but WHAT a cliffhanger that it! By now you’ve gotten emotionally attached to the characters and the climax of this film was as such that you NEEDED to know what was going to happen next! This is a far cry from “The Golden Compass,” where not nearly as much happened and the film left on a cliffhanger before you were really sold on the trilogy.

Sadly, it didn’t have to be like this. See, contrary to what the studio wants you to think, this is NOT where “The Golden Compass” ended in the book! In the book our heros actually meet up with Lord Asriel, who is shocked to see them but welcomes them. It’s all a trap though as Asriel kills one of the kids as a human sacrifice so that he can split open gates to other universes. He goal is to kill God and take his place, as he feels he’s the only person who can save the world. He then enters another universe and, not having much else to do, Lyra leaves her friends body behind and enters the door to another universe. See folks: THAT’S a cliffhanger that will sell you on the rest of the trilogy!

Even though the ending is no more final then the previous ending at least a few things get accomplished, and it ends with you having at the very least a vague idea of what this story is about. Sadly, not only was this entire sequence filmed, but it was also supposed to be the end of the film. But then the studio heads got cold feet and re-cut the film themselves, doing a great disservice to the ticket buyers and their stockholders. Right now there is no word on the studio producing the last two films, and judging from the tepid reaction to this film no one really cares. Sad too, because from what I understand a lot of people actually were fairly into this until the end just dropped the conclusion and left us with a glorified Pilot for a TV show. It was a good movie...until they screwed up the ending.