I have grown to become fascinated with the world of The Golden Compass by reading the books and enjoying the imagery the movie offers. However, that doesn't make the film any better than the first time I saw it and even though the special features on this Blu-ray release coupled with the outstanding visual quality I don't think I can recommend a purchase to anyone that is not an avid fan of the film, and even then you may want to hold off as I expect more in the future.

First to the film itself. I still have the same feelings I did when I first saw the film and that is a feeling of being underwhelmed. The world created in this film is wonderfully huge, magical and interesting, but the filmmakers' attempts to cut out the religious themes of Philip Pullman's novels tends to water down the story to a point there really isn't much to tell. It pretty much ends up a case of someone is kidnapping some kids and we better go get them, when in fact there is so much more to the story. The surface is scratched, but the veil is never pulled back.

With a running time of just under two hours the film actually feels short and one thing I was hoping for on this disc, way more than others, were some deleted scenes. Even in the UK it originally appeared they were getting an extended edition, but now I hear rumblings that isn't quite true.

A deleted scene popped up online shortly after the film's release and if you watch the collection of three trailers on this release you will also see about 3 or 4 scenes that are recognizable from the books but are nowhere to be found in the film. I have a feeling an extended edition is somewhere around the corner and may ultimately help fund a sequel should they hustle up and get underway.

The Blu-ray release is a 2-disc collection. The first disc contains the movie along with an audio commentary by writer/director Chris Weitz. There is also an enhanced commentary that also features pop-up behind-the-scenes looks accompanied by Weitz's commentary. You will notice the commentary is the same on both tracks, but Weitz comes in at different points to make way for the pop-up features. The enhanced track is pretty cool; especially with an early look at Dakota Blue Richards' audition, which has an interesting little story to it.

The second disc is a world in and of itself. This thing is packed to the gills with making-of features ranging from the novel, the adaptation, the sets, the effects, the cast, the marketing and so on. Outside of offering up what you would expect the one thing I thought was most fascinating were the nuggets of information Pullman interjected as to how he came about creating the franchise. If you listen closely and pay attention you actually get some interesting tidbits on how to get started writing your own fantasy novel. It's trial and error of course, but it is actually quite fascinating.

Overall, I like this movie simply because I have read the first two books and plan on finishing off the third very soon. I am able to visualize the real story using the fantastic elements brought to the surface here. They may not have necessarily made a good film, but they did succeed in capturing Pullman's vision. For a fan of the subject matter it works, but for most I think you will be left wanting.