Children of Men Blu-ray

Based on a book by PD James, this film is moving and brilliant. I absolutely recommend this film if you’re wanting something deep, gritty, and dramatic. Read more

Hard to believe not many have written a review of this amazing movie since it was released back in 2006/2007. If you have never seen this movie (like me) - please stop whatever you're doing and rent / buy it right now. Seriously. This is one of the best movies that somehow went under the mainstream radar but was critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated for very good reason. This story is about the one thing humans need more than everything else: Hope Even in a nuclear fallout apocalypse, humans still struggle on in hopes of a better future. But what if there was absolutely NO future possible because the human race was going to come to an end within the next 2-3 generations? Losing hope for the future seems to make the best backdrop I've ever seen in a Dystopian Society type movie. It makes it actually believable. Zombies, widespread viruses, nuclear war ... it's all somewhat more of a stretch to our modern minds. Maybe to some critics the idea of all humans suddenly being unable to reproduce isn't that believable by scientific standards. But to me, it was a lot more believable and disturbing than some other "End of the World" type stories. But most of all, this movie delivers a gritty, all-too-real and believable landscape set in a not too futuristic London. The political issues aren't too far removed from some of our own current ones in regards to immigration laws and terrorist activities. It hits close to home, very close. I think that's one of the most disturbing and quieting things about the film. Lastly, director Alfonso Cuaron did an amazing job with the visuals and tone / feel of this movie. It was graphic, yes, but not in an over the top gore kind of way. It was almost too realistic and moving because of how chaotic and destroyed London seems. If the only country in the world still holding together a solid government looks like that, you wonder just how terrifying everything outside really must be. In summary, this dystopia will leave you craving just a little more. You want to be as hopeful as all those refugees and soldiers in the final scenes. Suddenly quieted by the cries of a newborn baby. Sure, critics are pinched there's not enough backstory, and you're left hanging unsure of the future in the end. I think enough movie watchers are sophisticated enough to come to their own unsaid conclusion of what "hope" means in this ending without being hit over the head with a long prologue to spell it out for us. Too many viewers seem to want every tiny detail spoon fed to them. Watch this movie. It's really a keeper. Read more

In many ways, "Children of Men" is a very typical futuristic thriller. It of course extrapolates the current worries of our time into a dystopian nightmare of tomorrow. World ravaged by terrorism, anti-terrorism, and global warming? Check. Shadowy, sem-fascist government? Check. Soulless capitalism relentlessly shilled in ubiquitous advertising? Check. Population stripped of dignity and basic compassion? Check. There is more than one reference to the war in Iraq, which will undoubtedly date this film in just a few years. However, "Children of Men" manages to rise above this genre's cliches in several important ways. First, the most pressing problem is not one specifically related to the troubles of today: the world is dying because for some unknown reason, women can no longer have children. The film opens with the news that the youngest person on earth (18 years old) has died in a brawl. Second, the film is only set about twenty years into the future, so while the there have been some technical advancements, the landscape looks largely the same. It's just different enough to be disquieting. The double decker buses of London are still there. It's just that now, those buses pass billboards that read, "Avoiding Fertility Tests is a Crime." Most importantly, while this film does not break any ground in its genre, what it does, it does well. Other reviewers have complained that the film does not not make a tremendous amount of sense, and this is true. However, the film's main thrust is not a commentary on today's social moores. It is first and foremost a thriller, and we get just enough sense of what's going on to make us care, without getting bogged down in massive expositions on the hows and whys. We are told that the world is in a bad place, and we are drawn in with compelling cinematography, a fast-moving plot, and good acting. I also found some of the final scenes involving Kee, the pregnant woman, quite moving, even more so because the film ends on a decidedly ambivalent note. Early on in the film, the hero says that even if scientists discovered the cure for infertility, it wouldn't help: the world's already gone to pot. And in fact, the movie does not even get that far. It's about saving ONE woman who is pregnant. Whether this will save the world is an open question. The film also does a good job of fleshing Kee out as a person, with an actual personality. I originally passed on this movie because I assumed that she would be treated as a precious, but essentially non-sentient vessel that holds The Antidote to the World's Troubles. While some characters in the film do see her as such, the viewers are allowed to experience her as a unique individual. Final analysis: a very strong example of its genre. Not as imaginative as BladeRunner, not as satiric as Brazil, but 100x better than, say, Running Man. Definitely worth watching. Read more