City Of Ember [DVD]

This was good film and reminded me of Logans run in a way of a film about a human community whose ancestors were forced to live in a city cut off from the outside world. Many generations later no one really knows why or what happened but think the world outside means instant death. In this film there is the complication that the city, which is underground, was only supposed to be used for a west period of time and they had a series of disasters which meant they have stayed too long and everything is breaking down. They are left underground with no light at regular intervals. Their food supplies are running out and as ever the rich and powerful start secretly hoarding the food for themselves while telling everyone else they are trying to help everyone. Can they find a way out and is there anywhere to go? An example of the value of books in preserving knowledge and how once lost is not necessarily rediscovered. Computers do this but what if you forget how to use the computers properly or what if the books are lost? We have actually done this with medicines where our ancestors knew about but we have completely forgotten about in forests or rainforests and many crafts have been lost. Also one reason we have foreign companies building Nuclear Power stations in the UK is the people who knew how to build them have long ago retired as we have not built any for so long so this loss of knowledge has actually happened many times all around us but we do not know what we do not know we do not know! So this is actually quite possible.

Light hearted, funny and worth watching. I loved it.

I really enjoyed this film. I then went and got the book and, hooray! The film-makers hardly tinkered with the plot at all, kept all the characters exactly as they appear in the book and did a damn decent job of it all into the bargain. Now why can't more film-makers do it like this? It was, as another reviewer points out, also refreshing to watch a film with no sex, hardly any violence (and then more hinted than actual) and a happy ending. The sets looked just like the city described in the book and the only jarring note for me was the giant mole-rat and the giant beetle claw - neither of which was explored any further and neither of which appears in the book. Pointless putting them in, really - except that it was one way of getting rid of the main baddie (magnificently played by Bill Murray). The two teen leads were engaging without being 'Hollywood pretties', which was also refreshing and they really looked like 2 children who'd lived a life of semi-deprivation. I saw this in an empty cinema and felt very sorry for everyone who missed it. If you love sci-fi/fantasy, this is an excellent film and I highly recommend it (oh, and read the book too - it's just as good).

It is a honest, solid science fiction/adventure film, targeting mostly young public, but also watchable for adults. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS. With an unspecified catastrophe destroying human civilisation, a huge underground shelter was build to harbor a group of survivors - the "City of Ember". The city is built into a vast underground cavern and is filled with conventionally sized buildings and houses - the lights of this place are powered by a massive generator. But the city is now 241 years old - and it is slowly decaying. As generator begins to fail blackouts are occurring - and the reserves of canned goods and light bulbs are becoming depleted. The Mayor (Bill Murray), a guy both clueless AND ruthless (the worst possible combination) is unable to cope with this crisis - but is quite competent at preventing anyone of doing anything... There are however two teenagers, Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) and especially Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan), who want to do something for their dying city, even if they don't know yet what... Lina, being a descendant of one of early Mayors of City of Ember, comes from what is the higher strates in this underground society, when Doon on another hand is clearly working class - but they are nevertheless good friends and quickly become "partners in crime", when they start investigating some clues from the distant past, which the Mayor wants to remain hidden... I will not say more about the story. This is not a bad film and I watched it with pleasure. Some really good actors play here, as other than Bill Murray we have Tim Robbins, Martin Landau and Toby Jones. But this film was especially the confirmation of great talent of Saoirse Ronan, who got her big break a year earlier in "Atonement" - here, at the tender age of 14, she gives an excellent performance and her next film was going to be "Lovely Bones"... However, I can absolutely see why this film underperformed at box office - it suffers from a narrow ecological market niche. It is definitely TOO DARK for children and when we watched it, my then 10 years old daughter became ultimately scared and uncomfortable with it... SPOILER and PARENTAL WARNING: there is also one (just one) monster, a quite grotesque and yet freakishly scary thing, which, without the slightest doubt, EATS PEOPLE! For this thing alone I would very strongly advise against watching it with young children - in fact this film should be rated PG 12. On another hand, for most of adults this film will be probably not serious enough - therefore, the main adult public for "City of Ember" are, I believe, terminal science-fiction freaks like me... This "double trouble" limitation of age category created indeed a box office trap, which resulted in a financial counter-performance. It is a pity, because the story and the visual aspect of this film are not bad at all and as I already said, I watched it with pleasure. It certainly deserves to be given a chance. Enjoy!

IF you're stuck in and feeling blue give this film a watch. It's all about hope and not giving up. IT's a fabulous film and the sets and so on are so well done, as well as any cgi. All good. The story I love, it keeps you with it and there are no boring parts. Great film for a family and as stated it lifts the spirits. I give it 10 out of 10.

I purchased this movie because we read the book in class. My kiddos are pretty chill country kids, and they found this movie fun and exciting. It is VERY different from the book so we had some excellent discussions about plot and setting and the practicalities of creating a script and defining characters. The book and movie are excellent for promoting discussions about stewardship of the earth and responsible citizenship. Highly recommend! ☺️

Pelicula buena, entretenida para ver en familia, tremenda actuacion de saorise ronan. El envio perfecto y rapido; la edicion en bluray ya trae algun extra, cosa que no ocurria en el dvd.

City of Ember ist ein post-apokalyptischer Science Fiction Film aus dem Jahr 2008, welcher hierzulande leider nicht den Weg in die Kinos fand, sondern gleich auf DVD/Blueray erschien. Dabei hat diese Verfilmung des gleichnamigen Romans von Jeanne DuPrau (dt. Lauf gegen die Dunkelheit) einiges zu bieten: eine wundervoll stimmige Farbgebung und wirkungsvolle Kulisse, eine klassische Abenteuerqueste, die jedem Jules Verne-Fan das Herz höher schlagen lässt, sehr gute Schauspieler und richtig viel Steampunk! Die Stadt Ember wurde vor beinahe 250 Jahren weit unter der Erde erbaut, um die Menschheit zu retten – dazu wurden seinerzeit 200 Menschen in die unterirdische Stadt evakuiert. Warum genau kann man als Zuschauer nur erahnen, denn das Wissen um die Vergangenheit ist inzwischen längst verloren gegangen. Ebensowenig wissen die Menschen von Ember, wie man Elektrizität und Feuer richtig nutzen kann, oder wie sie ihre inzwischen marode gewordene Stadt und den immer öfter ausfallenden Generator, der ihre Stadt künstlich erhellt, reparieren können. Bei einem Ausfall wird die Stadt in vollkommene Dunkelheit getaucht und die Bewohner Embers fürchten, dass der Generator eines Tages ganz ausfallen wird. In dieser Zeit machen die beiden Schüler Lina und Doon ihren Schulabschluss und bekommen per Los ihre zukünftigen Jobs zugewiesen. Da sie beide einen Beruf gezogen haben, der ihnen missfällt, dem jeweils anderen aber gefällt, tauschen sie kurzerhand und werden im Verlauf der Handlung zu Verbündeten. Die verwaiste Lina, die ein Nachkomme des siebten Bürgermeisters von Ember ist, findet in dem Haus ihrer Großmutter eine alte Metallbox, die von ebenjenem Bürgermeister einst entwendet wurde, der damit auch die ursprünglichen Pläne für Ember verloren gehen ließ. In der Box findet Lina nun die schlecht erhaltenen Anweisungen der “Erbauer”, die 200 Jahre nach Embers Bezug hätten umgesetzt werden sollen. Zusammen mit Doon macht Lina sich daran, die Geheimnisse dieser Box zu lüften und die zerfallende Stadt zu verlassen. Selbstverständlich stellen sich ihnen hier einige Hürden in den Weg, wie etwa ein korrupter Bürgermeister, ein sich in den Tunneln herumtreibendes schneckenähnliches Monster, die Entdeckung alter Mechanik, reißende Flussströmungen und die spannende Enträtselung bruchstückhafter Hinweise, die vielleicht ins Nichts führen. City of Ember überzeugt dabei durch eine wundervoll schmutzig-braune Farbwelt, die von wenigen leuchtenden Farben geprägt ist. Gaslichtatmosphäre wartet überall, eine eindeutig nostalgische Typographie, ebenso wie spannende Konstruktionen maroder Technik, Rost und Flickwerk. Selbst die DVD-Cover: City of Emberimmer wieder neu und grob zusammengehaltene Kleidung der Menschen zeugt von den Jahren einer reinen Nutzgesellschaft, die nie gelernt hat selbst etwas herzustellen und von den Hinterlassenschaften der Erbauer lebt. Wer das Computerspiel Bioshock zufällig kennt, wird die Optik des Films am ehesten mit diesem Spiel vergleichen können. Was den Film zusätzlich so sympathisch macht, ist, dass er sich nicht unbedingt an Kinder richtet, sondern durchaus sozialkritische Aspekte aufweist, ein logisch durchdachtes Konzept für eine unterirdisch existierende Stadt abliefert und mit überzeugenden Darstellern besetzt ist, die den Verfall und die Probleme Embers wunderbar präsentieren können. Mein einziger Kritikpunkt an diesem Film, der mich bestens unterhalten hat und daher unbedingt empfohlen wird, war das etwas abrupte Ende. Da die Romanvorlage allerdings aktuell aus vier Bänden besteht, wollte man sich wohl auch bei der Filmadaption die Option eines Nachfolgers offen halten. Wer ein Herz für klassische Abenteuerqueste und Steampunk bzw. Gaslichtwelten hat, wird City of Ember mögen.

エンバーEmberはこの物語の舞台となる地下都市の名前ですが、その意味は「残り火」、文明の最後の消え去ろうとする最後の光、といった意味あいと思います。ジャンルとしては、文明が滅びた後の世界を描くものです。生き残った人類は巨大な発電機に頼って、地下生活を送っているのですが、その発電機は老朽化し、新しいパーツを入手できないので、次第に崩壊していきつつあります。 主演の女の子はシアーシャ・ローナンといって、アイルランドの女優さんらしいですが、達者な役者ぶりです。そうそう、いつも居眠りばかりしている爺さんの労働者役の人、なんだか見覚えある人だなぁと思ったら、TV版「スパイ大作戦」の常連で変装の名手という設定だったマーティン・ランドーでした。（最後に大活躍します！） 少年少女向きの映画として、まぁよくできている方だと思います。殺伐なシーンはないです。エンバーから地上へ脱出する方法を書いた説明書は、推理とひらめきで解を見つけなければなりません。何でもないロッカールームに大きな秘密が隠されています。あーっ、これじつはロッカーじゃなかったんだぁ、とかね。愉しいです。 私が買った盤はリージョン2の海外盤DVDで映像信号はPALでした。普通のDVDプレーヤーでは再生できませんが、パソコンなら、国内DVDと同様に再生できます。こうした事情で値段が安かったのでしょう。新品同様の品でありました。

I had not heard of the book series upon which this film was based. I did not see the film in theaters, but the movie look interested in the trailers. I am also a big Bill Murray fan. So I have been waiting for the movie to come out on DVD. I read all of the Amazon reviews, and others on the internet. I am disappointed in the presentation on the DVD. The extras are only trailers of other movies. No making of features, and not even the trailer for the CITY OF EMBER. I spend almost as much time usually watching the special features as I do watching the movie. I don't think there will ever be a two-disk director's cut version of this movie to ever come out. However, I was hoping that they would do the same as they did with THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU, and issue this elaborate two-disk dvd package complete with a map of Ember and the fragmented Builders instruction sheet. I was not troubled without having a lot of back story details. After all, the people living in Ember had forgotten the reasons of why they were living underground in the first place. I was a little shaken up with the idea of people eating 200 year plus canned and packaged food. No wonder it was time to back up, and leave Ember. All someone had to do was look at the expiration date on the packaging! There is no sense of population control that you have in the film THX 1138, and there is only blessing is of electricity by the Builders. The two young friends, Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) did a great job in their roles. I only wish we had more on air time for Bill Murray and Martin Landau. I am sure the character of "Sul" played by Martin Landau was just as it was in the book, a pipe worker who spent a lot of time sleeping, but knows when he needs to do his job. I could not help think of his (uncredited part) of Peter Van Garrett in the creepy SLEEPY HOLLOW film. Tim Robbins had just enough air time, and was perfect in his role. The only thing I was a little miffed by was the INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM mine car/boat ride to exit the City of Ember. Hey! It will work as an amusement park ride one day. After all it is a children's movie (I said to myself), but thought the Builders would have came up with a better way to exit the city. I suppose it had to be just as hard for someone to get out, and even more difficult for others to get in. The City of Ember is hard to find from the surface of the planet, and hard for the Aliens to discover its location. You wiped us out, so we are crawling in our hole, and hope you get tired and leave by the time we decide to come out. I thought that the movie was a lot better than such films as BRIDGE OF TERABITHIA which is really more of a (not-so-good) after School Special than a theater release film. I think the films holds its own on the same level to other similar classic such as LOGAN'S RUN, and DARK CITY. In a lot of ways the film is very much like DARK CITY where their memories of the day have been wiped clean as they sleep in eternal darkness. The City of Ember's inhabitants have had their memories wiped clean because there appears to be only one book which is in the possession of the Mayor Cole who is more interested in making sure he as more food than everyone else in the City. There is no mass media, no folklore or mythology other than what they they created after they were entombed in the City of Ember. They lost the knowledge of why there were there, and how long they would have to stay. No wonder they also forgot how to read the meaning of expiration dates on food packaging. Like the Village in the PRISONER television series, the children have to realize that they are freemen, and should search for Sanctuary like in LOGAN'S RUN. If it really exists? The CITY OF EMBER is a fairy tale for all young adults. It evokes utopias and dystoias from Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL, Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS to THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN. Thank goodness the film was not made by Tim Burton who would have made it much darker. The movie holds its own, and perhaps should not be compared to the book. The film is largely about generation gaps and what happens when that is woven around a city that is dying and corrupted. The parents and the older generations have given up on the dream. In the spirit of the WIZARD OF OZ, a child (or children) can fix things that adults have messed up, or given up on. It is too bad the film received such poor box office performance because I would love to see a prequel and a sequel. I definitely would liked to have seen a longer movie to learn more about what life is like in the City of Ember. I was not bothered by a lot of missing information or detail not revealed in the film. People are left in the dark, and never are aware that they are living in an underground city. The movie goes forward, and we are never left with they question, "Why don't they grow mushrooms in their underground city?" Answer is, "Because they don't know they are living underground!" The film was filmed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the Titanic-Quarter area of the city. So the sound stage for the City of Ember was filmed was the same space where the HMS Titanic was constructed. That is how big of a sound stage area they needed to construct the sets. So in a sense you get the feeling that the inhabitants are sealed up in the Titanic, and the sea water is getting to the electrical wiring. Bill Murray did a great job as Mayor Cole. He is the Mayor Cole of the original book. The film is not the leading role as GROUNDHOG DAY, or GHOSTBUSTERS, but it is always a treat to see Bill Murray in any film. Do more comedy-horror, science fiction and fantasy films, Bill! I don't have a burning desire to see you in a western on a horse.