City of Ember (2008)

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing ... and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker.

Director:

Gil Kenan

Writers:

Caroline Thompson (screenplay), Jeanne Duprau (book)

Stars:

Saoirse Ronan, Toby Jones, Bill Murray

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Ryall	...	Chief Builder
Ian McElhinney	...	Builder
Harry Treadaway	...	Doon Harrow
Tim Robbins	...	Loris Harrow
Bill Murray	...	Mayor Cole
B.J. Hogg	...	Mayor's Guard
Toby Jones	...	Barton Snode
Lucinda Dryzek	...	Lizzie Bisco
Matt Jessup	...	Joss
Lara McIvor	...	Roner
Myles Thompson	...	Smat
Eoin McAndrew	...	Student
Rachel Morton	...	Student
Conor MacNeill	...	Student
Lorraine Hilton	...	Miss Thorn

Storyline

When mankind is about to come to an end, a group of scientists decide to create and populate a city deep underground. The city of Ember is to last for 200 years after which its inhabitants are to retrieve from a strong box instructions to return to the surface. Over time however, the message is lost and life in Ember is rapidly deteriorating. Their power supply is failing and food is being rationed. It's left to two young adults to unearth the secret of Ember and to lead the way out.

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Plot Keywords:

food | box | scientist | mayor | pipeworks | 

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Taglines:

Discover The Secret

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild peril and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

City of Ember - Flucht aus der Dunkelheit

Filming Locations:

Belfast Methodist College, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£496,909 (UK) (10 October 2008)

Gross:

$7,871,693 (USA) (9 January 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Playtone, Walden Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A former paint hall in the shipyard of Harland and Wolff in Belfast's Titanic Quarter was converted into the city of Ember.

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Goofs

When Lina deliver the mayor the message from looper, she tells him she's the messenger. But he doesn't remember assigning her to the job. But she went to school for assignment day. But did not sign in. He ask her what her name was. She told him her name and he made in front of her last name.

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Quotes

Lina Mayfleet: [She's holding the mysterious box, looking at the numbers in its l.e.d. count-down panel, while talking to Clary, and she starts crying] How am I ever gonna figure out what this is all about? It's all these zeros. That's what scares me the most. What would count down to nothing?

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Episode #5.41 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Mayor's Fanfare
Written and Performed by Douglas Pipes

User Reviews

well, I quite liked it

I've read quite a few negative reviews but i think some of the people who have read the book need to realise this was a children's film that would no doubt have to be simplified and draw people in from the start. It hasn't had an easy launch either because it's been competing with High School Musical 3, when i went to see it the cinema was empty apart from me because everyone else had gone to see a certain other film.

It wasn't great and i am certain that if i had read the book i would have hated it because the characters were not brilliantly written and it was a messy mix of excellent fantasy sci-fi with the appropriate special effects and corny American generic children's movie. But it was good fun.

The girl in it displayed a superb acting performance the general set and costumes and well mise-en-scene in general was excellent and well worth watching just for that.

It was good to watch in the cinema and throughly enjoyable if a bit predictable. As i say, generally i liked it.