Children Of Men

[SevenVeils]

Has anyone here seen this movie? What did you think?

I just watched it last night and although it was definitely more violent than the movies that I usually watch, I loved it.

I love Clive Owen though, even though he always has sort of a grimy look about him

[forthebest]

Lol, yeah, CO is hot and deffo grimy in this film. I thought it was an interesting movie, very bleak and ok story line tho more could have been made of that. The message seemed to be like sort of life being sacred but totally abused by our influence. It was violent, so many films are which can impact on the strength of a good story-line, uknow bla bla amount of time on sex, bla amount of time on violence, impact generating stuff. This film was not as good as i thought it would be but thats usual.

[Jessy1019]

We saw it in the theater and all really liked it. It was much more violent than the movies we normally watch, but I didn't feel like that detracted from the movie.

[cjanelles]

This movie really left me feeling a bit empty inside.

I was pregnant when we watched it and frankly, it was very disturbing to me.

[boobyjuicex3]

I really enjoyed it, it made me think, which is a lot more than most movies do. The DH said it was ok... I love CO as well.

[savannah smiles]

I had heard great things about this movie and was excited to watch it when it came on HBO. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it. I get the deeper message behind the film and it did make me think, but I didn't really like it. I'd like to read the book just to get a better feel for it.

[gcgirl]

Loved it. And I was pregnant at the time. It's grim and horrifying, for sure, but it has the greatest getaway scene EVER. And I like challenging movies.

[littleaugustbaby]

It was pretty good, but the violence was really overwhelming at times. A friend of mine read the book after we saw the movie and liked the book ending much better. She said the movie ending didn't make sense after she read the book.

[saimeiyu]

I read the book and saw the movie. As you can guess, the book was better, although I thought the book had a few elements I found a little disturbing.

I really don't like the way they did the movie, though. They turned it into a political commentary on something that was completely different than the book did, and I didn't like it. It left me feeling... I don't know, maybe a bit dirty?

The book did a lot better of a job than the movie at explaining why there were no kids; the main character had more of a back story, and it was really good. There were no "fugees" in the book, or at least, they were so non-integral to the story that I didn't pick up on them.

I thought the book was a lot more heart-wrenching than the movie. After seeing the movie, it really kind of felt... flat and like they tried super-ultra hard to bend over backwards to make some kind of a point that I thought really detracted from the central theme.

Overall, the story was good, and I like the insinuations of it.

It actually really made me think about things. I mean, fertility in the modern world has dropped rapidly. Infertility treatments have gone like, through the roof, and it's now estimated that nearly 1 in 5 women in the developed world will need infertility counseling/help. I think that's just crazy. It may very well be that our lifestyle is not at all conducive for the human race to continue beyond a few more generations, not because of global warming, but just because of our lifestyle. It's a scary thought. And even scarier when you realize that something that nearly everyone is subjected to-
- vaccines-- has never been tested for effects on fertility.


ETA: I just read a PP post: The movie ending really didn't make any sense in comparison to the book... I never could put my finger on why it was so weird... but in the book, like half of the point was that the pregnant woman was running from the government for one really, really good reason--having nothing to do with escaping the country--- she wanted a natural birth. That's it. She just wanted a natural, un-messed with, no cameras and strangers, birth.

[sadie_sabot]

Originally Posted by SevenVeils

I love Clive Owen though, even though he always has sort of a grimy look about him

isn't that part of the appeal??

I didn't watch that movie for quite awhile because I avoid violent stuff, but ultimatley I was really glad I watched it. i read books like that all the time.

[Pinoikoi]

I am planning on reading the book first. I want to teach a scifi class, and it is on the curriculum list.

[crittersmum]

I had picked the book up a few years back, astounded that PD James -- who I know solely as a mystery writer -- had written a book of speculative fiction. I thought it was such an interesting "what if?" idea but that she didn't really do it justice.

(By the way:

I am planning on reading the book first. I want to teach a scifi class, and it is on the curriculum list.

Any chance I can persuade you to read The Handmaid's Tale instead?)

As previous posters said, the movie seemed to have little to do with the book (as usual ) but I thought they did the gritty, grimy 20-minutes-in-the-future schtick really well and loved the camera work -- jerky and almost documentary-style in places. Also, a tip of the hat to Michael Caine and the marvelous character he played!

[sadie_sabot]

Originally Posted by crittersmum

I had picked the book up a few years back, astounded that PD James -- who I know solely as a mystery writer -- had written a book of speculative fiction. I thought it was such an interesting "what if?" idea but that she didn't really do it justice.

(By the way: Any chance I can persuade you to read The Handmaid's Tale instead?)

oooh, oooh, or the Parable of the Sower? or anything by Sherri Tepper?

[littleaugustbaby]

Originally Posted by crittersmum

(By the way: Any chance I can persuade you to read The Handmaid's Tale instead?)

Ooh, I love that book! I can't compare it to the book Children of Men but I definitely liked it better than the movie.

[SAHDS]

I was beyond excited to see this movie when it first came out. I thought the premise was interesting and the previews made me want to run out to the theater.

After I saw it...

I was very disappointed. I thought parts were good, but some of it was just unrealistic (for the movie) and the end was awful and left us unfulfilled. DH and I decided that it had such great potential, but totally fell short.

To be honest, I haven't read the book. I think I will.

Oh, side note, I saw The Handmaid's Tale when I was 8 and was scarred for years.

[dancindoula]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

I was beyond excited to see this movie when it first came out. I thought the premise was interesting and the previews made me want to run out to the theater.

After I saw it...

I was very disappointed. I thought parts were good, but some of it was just unrealistic (for the movie) and the end was awful and left us unfulfilled. DH and I decided that it had such great potential, but totally fell short.

To be honest, I haven't read the book. I think I will.

Oh, side note, I saw The Handmaid's Tale when I was 8 and was scarred for years.

Yes to this. I had heard a lot about it and was really interested in seeing it. Disappointing is the kindest word for it. I wanted my 2+ hours back. The ending was so bad the group of us watching actually thought the dvd had skipped. We backed it up only to discover that, nope, it's over. We just stared at each other for several minutes afterwards at a loss for words about the whole experience. Since finding out how different it apparently is from the book I'm intrigued enough to read it if I get the chance; but I could have gone my whole life without seeing that movie and wouldn't have missed a thing.

[crittersmum]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

Oh, side note, I saw The Handmaid's Tale when I was 8 and was scarred for years.

OMG! I've never seen the movie, but I think that might come under child abuse! I know the book has stayed with me for a loooong time.

[IfMamaAintHappy]

yeah, the movie seemed inspired by the book. It was alright, but the story in the book was better. I do wish they'd made the story in the book translate better to the screen!

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by crittersmum

OMG! I've never seen the movie, but I think that might come under child abuse! I know the book has stayed with me for a loooong time.

Yeah, my mom never won any Mother of the Year awards, trust me. She's actually been my motivation to be a great mom, as twisted as that is. Thankfully, she's matured into an awesome grandma.

But yeah, she also let me watch A Clockwork Orange when I was maybe 7. *sigh*

[Girl In The Fire]

Originally Posted by dancindoula

Yes to this. I had heard a lot about it and was really interested in seeing it. Disappointing is the kindest word for it. I wanted my 2+ hours back. The ending was so bad the group of us watching actually thought the dvd had skipped. We backed it up only to discover that, nope, it's over. We just stared at each other for several minutes afterwards at a loss for words about the whole experience. Since finding out how different it apparently is from the book I'm intrigued enough to read it if I get the chance; but I could have gone my whole life without seeing that movie and wouldn't have missed a thing.

I felt the same way. When DH and I watched it he got up and went and did something else about half way through. At the end I thought perhaps I was missing something as well but nope just a awful ending to an awful dull movie.