WATCH IT! Being a fan of the Half-Life games this film left me speechless. This film should be seen by either fans of the game or even not fans of the game. The plots are very similar. It was soo good that there are no words! Litteraly! It left me speechless! Watch it!

The special effects (were they special effects? ) were so realistic! Admittedly the whole thing might of started with a little bang but slowed down. But then it got supercharged in the last quarter or so. It was brilliant. Clive Owen is getting better and better. He's picking all the right parts so kudos to him and the film.

Like Daniel said, if you haven't seen it yet, watch it!

I saw this Friday night.
Pretty incredible.
Had a hard time getting my head around the reaction in this fictional world to the major plot premise (trying not to wreck it for anyone).
But the performances were increidbly believable, especially Michael Caine.

Just thought about something else.  Seems like there was more shaky camerawork than usual for a big release, yet it is nominated for best cinematography at the Academy.

I saw this about a month ago and all I could say was wow. This is the stuff classics are made of. This is the thinking-man's sci-fi thriller of the day. I'm not saying that as a plug, I mean it.

Only saw it tonight on DVD. Really impressive. Fantastic director. I should have seen this on before "Shoot'em All" because I could help thinking "Is Clive Owen gonna play a nanny again?" but it could maybe speak more to English people because of the underlines political message regarding the emigration.

REALLY A MUST SEE!!

Michel

An absolutely terrific film, one of my all-time favourites. I could write about it at some length, but I won't. I'll just say this: it is brilliantly acted, shot incredibly well, and feels...just real, somehow. The level of detail that went into everything - the decay of London's streets, the refugee camp at Bexhill, even the London 2012 sweatshirt Theo wears, is astonishing.

A truly great film.

Loved this film. As soon as the explosion happens you know you're in safe hands. Clive Owen does sterling work. And Caine's pretty good as a hippy type.

There is a strange bit of plotting later on, but that's a mere blip on what is otherwise extremely enjoyable and well-made.

I know this is resurrecting an old thread, but I'm not ashamed to draw more attention to what I think is one of the finest films I've ever seen. I see last year I made a conscious decision not to "write about it at length"...I'm not going to be so self-controlled this time.

The reason I've dug this thread up is this: I ordered Children of Men on Blu-Ray last week and, well, today it arrived. So this afternoon I fired up the PS3, stuck it on, and hoped to be blown away.

Oh my.

It was like watching it again for the first time, only...better. Don't get me wrong, I've loved this film ever since I first saw it a couple of years ago. But watching it in Hi-Def, the majesty of this film just became more obvious. The picture quality is fantastic - as you'd expect, everything is so defined and sharp, and the colours are far richer than I remember them; the blood-soaked shirt in the car scene seemed so much redder this time round.

The sound, however, is what really sent my jaw to the floor. The action sequences - particularly the absolutely fantastic 'Uprising' sequence in Bexhill - come alive in a way that they didn't before. The whine of bullets, the rumbles of the tanks, cries of despair, and with the hair-raising score underpinning it all...I was actually left shaking by the end, such was the intensity of that sequence. Which might sound pathetic or odd, but for my money those ten-odd minutes were immersive and engaging in a way that Avatar couldn't manage in its entire close-to-three-hour running time.

Which brings to me to one other, brief point. This is a film that, in my opinion, never got the acclaim it deserved, either from the viewing public or the industry. Last year, everyone held up District 9 as some sort of pinnacle of sci-fi, a film of a standard which had not been achieved in a long time, an engaging, thumping film which managed to work on a more considered, intellectual level, too. Don't get me wrong, District 9 is a good film. But in my opinion, Children of Men puts District 9, Avatar, and even my sci-fi pick of 2009 Moon, in the shade. It is a different class of film, a bona-fide classic of the genre that I would put forward as one of the finest films ever made. Superlative acting (Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, all at the top of their game and wonderful throughout), a level of detail in the production design that can only be marvelled at, stunning cinematography and virtuoso direction (those single-shot sequences are visual poetry) - top marks in every department.

And yet...three Oscar nominations, no wins. The Hurt Locker took six Oscars home, and while I think its Best Picture win was thoroughly deserved, there's no argument in my mind about which is the greater work. To me, having 10 nominees for Best Picture is flawed because it devalues each individual nominee's achievement - is the Best Picture-nominated Avatar anywhere near as good a film as Children of Men? - and also makes the snubs of deserving films in the past even more outrageous.

I'm gushing now, so I'll stop. Let me just finish by saying this - this is a classic. It's the first film I'd put in my All-time Top 10. I had a look at the 'Best of 2000s' thread and saw that only a couple of people included Children of Men. I can only assume it's because you haven't seen it.

Do.

It's amazing on DVD. It'd be amazing if it was a VHS copy recorded on a bad-quality reception telly. But if you own a Blu-Ray player and HDTV, if you have a bit of spare cash (if you're in the UK, it's currently part of 2 Blu-Rays for £18 on hmv.com, which meant I picked up Blade Runner: Final Cut at a good price, too), and if you like your films mind-blowingly, 'Oh my God I have to spread the word about this one' good, then you owe it to yourself to make this purchase. Seriously. I have no doubt this will eventually fall into the 'Shawshank' category of films that are appreciated more as time goes by, although this doesn't quite have Shawshank's feel-good-factor. What it does have, though, is that special quality that make it a film of rare brilliance. And on Blu-Ray, it's even better.

...Aaaand I'm done.

You were doing so well until you mentioned G.I.Joe....


I very much doubt it will grow like Shawshank over time by the way. It is what it is. A great film, but destined to be somewhat niche because of the style and subject matter.


Like you say, it lacks the feel-good factor of Shawshank...particularly with the downbeat ending. It's also very political, which is fine, but lessens its general appeal and it also lacks a certain "universal" quality that I can't quite find the words for. I don't mean in an artistic sense, but in an imaginative sense...something you feel with your heart and soul...not just your brain.

Yeah, I think that's the crux of the matter. It attacks on a more intellectual level rather than on a more humanistic level.  

this was probably my favorite film of 2006...either that or Pan's Labyrinth

the one scene near the climax where its just one continuous stream without any cuts is amazing. plus when that asshole gets smashed in the face with a cinderblock...priceless!