9 (2009/I)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Shane Acker

Writers:

Pamela Pettler (screenplay)
Shane Acker (story)

Release Date:

9 September 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A post-apocalyptic nightmare in which all of humanity is threatened.

Plot Keywords:

Machine | Beast | Cape | Fall From Height | Drawing

Cast

Christopher Plummer	...	#1 (voice)
Martin Landau	...	#2 (voice)
John C. Reilly	...	#5 (voice)
Crispin Glover	...	#6 (voice)
Jennifer Connelly	...	#7 (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	#8 / Radio Announcer (voice)
Elijah Wood	...	#9 (voice)
Alan Oppenheimer	...	The Scientist (voice)
Tom Kane	...	Dictator (voice)
Helen Wilson	...	Newscaster (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and scary images.

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45249) | France:U | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Ireland:12A | Finland:K-11 | UK:12A | Netherlands:9 | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

The design of 3 and 4 is based on a pair of garden gloves - the thumb can be seen in the back, and the wrist is gathered at the top.

Goofs:

Continuity: When searching for the tunnel 5 loses the map and it blows away, yet when 7 finds the tunnel she finds the map propped on a stick a few feet from the tunnel.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Scientist: We had such potential, such promise.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2009-09-05)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Imagination at it's finest!

I come from the school of early Tim Burton, and Jim Henson- two of my cinema deities from my earliest memories- and this is the first time in a long time that anyone has managed to touch on that magic for me.

I'll do my best to convey what a fantastic movie this is, without really revealing too much of the plot- because I think that this movie is best experienced not really knowing anything. You come in the same way the main character does- not knowing anything of this world.

While sitting in the theater, I recalled memories of the intensity and heart of "my first movies" such as E.T., The Secret of Nymh, The Dark Crystal, and Edward Scissorhands- movies that touched upon something that was at once so rooted in human emotion yet so fantastic and unimaginable. I can absolutely say that "9" is now considered one in that catalog of visionary and hallowed movies.

Guaranteed some will have a complaint with the length (a seemingly short 79 minutes considering the scale and impact of the story) but I think that a movie can be an epic without needing to be over 2 hours long, or a HUGE amount of unnecessary back story and origins that's only purpose is to make the story SEEM grandiose. This movie is a complete work of art- from the obviously eye-catching visual style and composition of what you see, down to the basic story and character development that you feel. In 79 minutes this team managed to harness my imagination and senses without having to dumb-it-down for the audience, or use any of the old gags that many bigger studios seem to rely on to sell tickets (thankfully there are NO cheesy gross out jokes to appeal to a typical cable-fed attention span). Instead they took me to places that I had never thought of, but will never forget. My most respectful nod to everyone involved.

Absolutely do not miss this one.