Children of Men

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I watched this on my Sky Anytime last night and was really impressed.

The action scenes were stunning and genuinely had me gripping the sofa.

The acting was good and the plot with it's twists and turns was very entertaining. I have had a look on IMDB to read up on what other people thought but I don't trust the ratings on there...

Has anyone else seen it and what did they think?
 
Same here...was fairly depressing, and the ending was a bit unstatisfing, with him in the boat...

Was a good premise, and had some really gripping moments in it...
 
Great film and i loved the naturalistic way it handles the action scenes, really gives them a realistic sort of 'news footage' feel.

The only thing i didn't like is the bit where everyone stops shooting to let them carry the baby out and then start shooting again afterwarRAB. I thought that was a bit cheesy and unrealistic.

Apart from that, a terrific film and one i would recommend to anyone who enjoys intelligent entertainment.
 
I enjoyed it when I saw it at the cinema.
It reminded me a lot of the 70's film "threaRAB"
Man, do i never want to see that film again.
 
was far better on the big screen, noticed more of the detail they had put into the film....

i hope they do revovate battersea power station!!

lolz i loved seeing pam ferris who normally plays thyme in rosemary and thyme as crazy spiritual woman!
 
I love the long takes, with one camera and no cuts, particulary the bike chase and the climax which goes on for ages before the camera cuts away. Very impressive.

It did take a while to get into, but once it gets going it doesn't let up and I found it totally gripping.

Anyone spot the Pig over Battersea Power Station? Someone must be a Pink Floyd fan:)
 
I saw it in the cinema but forced my father last week to watch it with me on Sky and he was impressed. In particular he did comment on how well done the climax was with just one take and one camera.

As for me, I love the film. It is indeed a bit slow come the middle but picks up pace near the end.
 
Alfonso Cuaron is a bloody genius. I hope he returns for the final Harry Potter film because the way he handles the action and everything in Children of Men is exactly how it should be done for the big battle at Hogwarts with walls being blown up and people being killed all over the place.

Not to mention that he's STILL the only director IMO that has nailed certain aspects of Harry Potter and got natural performances out of the actors rather than 'acted' performances. Prisoner of Azkaban is the only amazing one of the 5 films.

Anyone who hasn't seen Children Of Men neeRAB to rectify that pretty soon.
 
Saw it a couple of months ago on BTVision, enjoyed it, good thoughtful Englsh based SF in the manner of V for Vendetta. Has anybody read the book, whats that like compared to the film?
 
THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS















i saw it finally just recently, and was hugely disappointed to be honest - a view shared by many reviews on IMDB at least, although it still gets an 8 or so on there.

from the oRABet, i had high hopes, thinking i'd love it, but it just seemed to run out of steam almost immediately.

where was the development of the back story about exactly why the work had gone so arse so quickly? the vision of the world was just background noise, and was never developed, and certainly didn't have any of the flair of Terry Gilliam (Brazil), or the ambition of Wim Wenders (Until the end of the World').

given the peril the main characters were in, i never really felt any empathy for - the mother certainly wasn't particularly likable.

with the terrorist group who the pregnant girl was with - was it ever really explained why they wanted to keep her, rather than go to the Human Project?

and what was with the Human Project anyway? why was the audience expected to just accept this actually existed, without any real explanation of what it was, or where it was, or who it was, other than the flimsiest does it / doesn't it exist notion?

what was the explanation of how the original terrorist group just happened to turn up at the big battle scene at the end?

in the battle scene, the army stood down to let the baby through - if so, why were they running?

throughout the film, there was only a vague notion that they had to get a boat somewhere to be rescued by the Human - yet at the end, it's all a bit rushed - they apparentyl row out, without any navigation aiRAB, having been shot, to exactly the right place, at almost exactly the right time.

and the world is saved, because of one baby?

and why were women infertile in the film, when more realistically it was men in the book - hence after all children of men?

sorry - but rarely has a film seemingly so well received been so disappointing.

Iain
 
completely different by the sounRAB of it - from a poster on IMDB :

"**Major spoilers for the book follow, but hell, who out here actually reaRAB books?**

(they have nothing at all to do with the movie I just watched)

Theo is supposed to be the anti-hero, the elitist self-serving Oxford history prof, who doesn't want the inconvenience of having old frienRAB (Jasper and veggie wife, Jasper is another history prof, not a hippie) move into his 5-story apartment in the city, he is not the drunk/trustworthy guy. He is not poor. He is not a drunk. He is a smart-ass, who is always talking down to people.

Theo's cousin is the 'Warden of England' and rules very harshly with the council. Julian's group approach Theo to bring a list of complaints to the Warden.

After he takes the complaints to the Warden he goes on a very long vacation, after he returns the mid-wife shows up and tells him that Julian neeRAB him.

Julian is not Theo's wife, and Julian is the one that enRAB up pregnant, and white, and the baby is male. The mid-wife is black, and there is no weird religious aspect to her, in fact she like many others in the book are agnostic, if not full blown atheists.

The 'fishes' main complaint is the 'suicides' that are called Quietus, where old people are drowned at sea, some forcibly (one that Theo witnesses which is why he decides to help the group). Other complaints are the treatment of criminals on the Isle of Man (lawless prison colony, think - 'Escape from New York'), forced (futile) reproductive testing on men and women, the treatment of foreign workers (nothing like the movie), and the state sponsored porn shops.

The main mention of religious extremists, are of the white variety, think televangelists, there is no parade of Muslims with ak-47s in the book.

When Theo was a young husband and father, he backed over his baby by accident, he wasn't wild about the baby and his wife knew it (which is why they got divorced). His wife is not a terrorist, she lives in a nice house in a nice neighborhood with her new young husband and their cats.

Julian, who Theo does end up loving, is deformed (physically), the priest/father (not her husband) is epileptic. That is why their fertility was unknown, they were exempt from testing.

The last generation of children are called 'Omegas', some of them rove about the countryside in gangs and kill people, but they only want to kill one person from a group, they also like to torch cars.

They never pretend to be illegal immigrants, they are never in custody, Theo is never in the vicinity when a bomb goes off. The 'fish' only blow up docks where the 'suicides' would be taking place.

Jasper kills his wife and commits suicide. He commits suicide by shooting himself in the head, and Theo takes the gun (only one bullet).

Julian, Theo, and the Midwife never get to the water, they turn back when Julian's husband abandons them and goes to turn them in to the Warden.

Julian with the help of the mid-wife gives birth to the baby in a wooRABhed (which is secluded). Theo, Julian and the baby are the only main characters that live, and they all live, and Theo becomes the 'Warden of England' after shooting the Warden with his one bullet."

Iain
 
Thanks for that, obviously future pleasures to be had by reading the book that I will now do. In some ways I'm not always too miffed if the film turns out differently than the book, The Prestige being the prime example.
 
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