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Availability: Usually ships in 9 to 12 days
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Universal
EAN: 0025193251329
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 27, 2007
Running Time: 110 minutes
Sales Rank: 312
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: January 05, 2007
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In 2027 as humankind faces the likelihood of its own extinction a disillusioned government agent agrees to help transport and protect a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea where her childs birth may help scientists to save the future of mankind. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/09/2008 Starring: Clive Owen Michael Caine Run time: 110 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com:
Presenting a bleak, harrowing, and yet ultimately hopeful vision of humankind's not-too-distant future, Children of Men is a riveting cautionary tale of potential things to come. Set in the crisis-ravaged future of 2027, and based on the atypical 1993 novel by British mystery writer P.D. James, the anxiety-inducing, action-packed story is set in a dystopian England where humanity has become infertile (the last baby was born in 2009), immigration is a crime, refugees (or 'fugees') are caged like animals, and the world has been torn apart by nuclear fallout, rampant terrorism, and political rebellion. In this seemingly hopeless landscape of hardscrabble survival, a jaded bureaucrat named Theo (Clive Owen) is drawn into a desperate struggle to deliver Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey), the world's only pregnant woman, to a secret group called the Human Project that hopes to discover a cure for global infertility. As they carefully navigate between the battling forces of military police and a pro-immigration insurgency, Theo, Kee, and their secretive allies endure a death-defying ordeal of urban warfare, and director Alfonso Cuaron (with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki) capture the action with you-are-there intensity. There's just enough humor to balance the film's darker content (much of it coming from Michael Caine, as Theo's aging hippie cohort), and although Children of Men glosses over many of the specifics about its sociopolitical worst-case scenario (which includes Julianne Moore in a brief but pivotal role), it's still an immensely satisfying, pulse-pounding vision of a future that represents a frightening extrapolation of early 21st-century history. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Classic Dystopian Film. Sadly underappreciated
I remember seeing some previews for this film, and thinking that it looked interesting. I'm a big Clive Owen fan, and aside from what I saw in the trailer, I didn't really know much about it. Had never read the book, hadn't seen any promo for it aside from the aforementioned trailer.
As I was watching it I found myself realizing I was watching something special. I viewed it on the train ride from the east coast to the West coast, and was thoroughly captivated and drawn into this well made film.
Clive Owen is great in this, as is just about everyone in here. How this film got overlooked for Best Picture is beyond me. Three of the best films of 2007 were all made by Spanish Directors (Children of Men, Pans Labyrinth and Babel), and in my opinion Children of Men was definitely given the shaft when it came to Oscar time, only being nomimated for screenplay and cinematography, winning neither.
If you like good movies that are intelligently made, and have a lot of replay value, buy this movie. You won't be sorry.
Rating: - Possibly the best SF movie in a decade
I really can't think of a better science fiction movie in the last decade. It isn't about the standard story of how we bring about our own demise, or the immediate aftermath. In fact, we don't even know why people stop having children. Instead, we look at the world twenty or so years from now, and see how people have learned to deal with it.
What really makes this a superb movie is the way in which the story is told. Long, single shots make this a beautiful movie in its own right. Most things are shown, not told, and whenever I watch it I see something new (watch for the worn out London Olympics 2012 sweatshirt!). Technology has progressed in a believable way, and is there not to show off the latest in special effects but to draw you in to the realism. Each little thing sums up to an amazing movie.
Every time I watch this movie, I imagine how it might have been as done by another director. And every time, I'm very, very thankful.
Rating:  - A medieval miracle tale cast in the year 2027, with a fine performance by Clive Owen
I suspect that if one agrees with what appears to be director Alfonso Cuaron's premise, that humankind's basest instincts for selfishness, fouling its own nest, violence toward each other and the acceptance of authoritarianism when faced with fear can be met by the redemptive power of hope and love, then one will accept Children of Men as a film of emotional power.
For me, Children of Men is a movie in which Cuaron tries to stuff in far too many actions. He seems to aiming for the kind of allegory that can change the way we feel about our lives, but he winds up making many of the compromises that movies force upon some directors as they find themselves with big budgets to work with and the need to sell tickets to justify the investment.
The story, as has been pointed out by others, is one big Macguffin. It's 2027 and civilization has fallen to its knees. The world is nothing but chaos, terrorism, a rotting environment and death. Britain has managed to survive as a nation state by becoming a horrendous dictatorship, needing immigrants for menial work and turning them into outcasts, periodically rounding them up along with the fugees, the refugees from the world's chaos who managed to slip past Britain's barriers. Concentration camps are filling up, laws are enforced with ferocity, there are no civil rights and the government has become the greatest killer of them all. In exchange, the British have order.
And it has been 19 years since a baby was born, anywhere ... Read More
Rating:  - "You look good. The picture the police have of you doesn't do you justice."
The dark future of Alfonso CuarĂ³n's "Children of Men" is a stifling one. Bleakness so pervades every corner of this world that the light of hope cannot help but be extinguished.
Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is drawn into the web of rebel group who have an important task for him. He is told by his ex-lover, Julian (Julianne Moore), that he must accompany a woman named Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) out of England and deliver her to a sanctuary run by "The Human Project." What makes Kee so special is that she is pregnant - a miracle in a world where the female population has become sterile. Yet, Theo's task is far from easy as government factions and a rogue element within the rebel group want Kee for their own purposes.
"Children of Men" does have its share of positives. It does not shy away from addressing many hot-button issues regarding immigration, assisted-suicide, and totalitarianism. Also, the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki is astonishing. The future world he captures on film is frightening and is all the more disturbing because it could easily be seen as prophetic in light of the numerous troubles plaguing the real world at this moment. Yet, the film overall is ultimately unsatisfying. The story turns out to be uninvolving and even borders on the boring after the film's premise is established. As it unfolds, "Children of Men" devolves into nothing more than a prolonged chase that tries to keep matters interesting by sneaking in some social commentary every now ... Read More
Rating:  - Too many plot devices
Okay, I am the first to admit that the only thing I know about cinematography and its art is what I happen to like. That being said, I have to say that I was very much impressed with the visual side of this film. To my taste, it was a little dark, which worked quite well with the dark story line. I don't think I understood why the camera was always working as it was, but it was neat. Frankly, the first thing that drew me to the movie was its premise, and I still happily say that is the finest thing about this film--in opposition to the concern of overpopulation the film discusses what it would be like if this threat was very much gone and the end of humanity was instead looming over our heads. Then a miracle of a pregnant girl comes about and the situation of the story is how can she be protected. The story is a little extreme, but then again I bet society would crumble. The problem is that it's also contrived, with too many plot devices for my taste. I happen to prefer a character-driven tale rather than this example of situation upon situation. Still, this is a surprising poignant little film that should be appreciated by the right audience.
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