City of Ember
Release date: 2008-10-07
Votes: 1788
Genres: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
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. Now, two teenagers, in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, before the the lights go out forever.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
With the future of the planet in grave danger, some far-sighted builders decide that it’s best for humanity to build a subterranean city into which they can retreat. It’s got to be something self-sustaining as they are going to be down there for a couple of centuries. They do provide exit instructions, but over time they get lost and so nobody knows that maybe it’s time to resurface. Now, though, the engineering is starting to give up the ghost and that means power and food are becoming rationed. The mayor (Bill Murray) is hopelessly out of his depth/obsessed with his own position and the chief electrician “Sul” (Martin Landau) is running out of ideas so it falls to the unlikely pairing of youngsters “Lina” (Saoirse Ronan) and “Doon” (Harry Treadaway) to rekindle the population’s appetite to get some fresh air. Luckily, she has a box left to her by her grandmother and as their jobs involve them clambering around the city’s gubbins, they can begin to explore in earnest. This isn’t something they can advertise - the mayor and his thugs will not brook any disenchantment in their city, even if the lights are all about to go out. Now having to fight a rearguard action too, can they discover a way out - and even if they do, is there anything left? I liked the creative style of this film and the fantasy is well explored and unravelled by the engaging partnership of Treadaway and Ronan amidst a city of colourful visual effects. Murray hams up nicely and there’s just the hint of menace from the Dickensianly monikered “Barton Snode” (Toby Jones) to keep the adventure moving along quickly for a ninety minutes of passages, pipe works and grand scale machinery. If you’re looking for complex psychology here then don’t bother, it’s all simply presented family fayre with a cast that look like they are enjoying telling us a story that looks great and vibrates when it’s meant to.
Movie Recommendation
Real Genius1985-08-07When teenage geniuses Mitch Taylor and Chris Knight, working on an advanced laser project, learn that the military wants to use it as a weapon, they decide to thwart the plan.More...
Back to the Future Part III1990-05-25The final installment finds Marty digging the trusty DeLorean out of a mineshaft and looking for Doc in the Wild West of 1885. But when their time machine breaks down, the travelers are stranded in a land of spurs. More problems arise when Doc falls for pretty schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and Marty tangles with Buford Tannen.More...
Inkheart2008-12-11The adventures of a father and his young daughter, in their search for a long lost book that will help reunite a missing, close relative.More...
The Secret of My Success1987-04-10Brantley Foster, a well-educated kid from Kansas, has always dreamed of making it big in New York, but once in New York, he learns that jobs - and girls - are hard to get. When Brantley visits his uncle, Howard Prescott, who runs a multi-million-dollar company, he is given a job in the company's mail room.More...
Kidulthood2006-03-03A day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London.More...
Violet & Daisy2011-09-15Two teenage assassins accept what they think will be a quick-and-easy job, until an unexpected target throws them off their plan.More...
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator2019-09-10The spectacular rise and scandalous fall of hot-yoga evangelist Bikram Choudhury is chronicled through archival footage and extensive insider interviews.More...
This Christmas2007-11-27This year Christmas with the Whitfields promises to be one they will never forget. All the siblings have come home for the first time in years and they've brought plenty of baggage with them. As the Christmas tree is trimmed and the lights are hung, secrets are revealed and family bonds are tested. As their lives converge, they join together and help each other discover the true meaning of family.More...
Great Balls of Fire!1989-06-30The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unconventional lifestyle often brought him into conflict with others in the industry, and even earned him the scorn and condemnation of the public.More...
Good Boy!2003-10-10An intergalactic dog pilot from Sirius (the dog star), visits Earth to verify the rumors that dogs have failed to take over the planet.More...
Hero Wanted2008-03-28Liam Case is a garbage man whose life hasn't quite turned out the way he expected it would. In order to impress the girl of his dreams, Liam plans an elaborate heist that will culminate with him jumping in to save the day at the last minute. When the day of the heist arrives, however, the plan takes an unexpected turn and Liam winds up in the hospital.More...
City of Joy1992-04-15Max Lowe is a Houston surgeon who has grown weary of the bureaucracy of American medicine. When he loses a patient on the operating table, Max impulsively decides to leave America and travel to India in the hope of finding himself. Not long after he arrives in Calcutta, Max is attacked by a group of thugs and left without money or a passport.More...
Zip & Zap and the Captain's Island2016-07-29Naughty brothers Zip and Zap finds themselves in a home for lost children that might just be haunted. Will they ever escape?More...
Brave New World1998-04-19In a futuristic totalitarian utopian society, babies are created through genetic engineering, everyone has a predestined place in society and their minds are conditioned to follow the rules. A tragic outsider jeopardizes the status quo.More...
2149: The Aftermath2016-10-07In an oppressive future, where everyone's only contact is their computer, one lonely young man is forced to venture forth in search of human contact.More...
East Is East1999-05-14In 1971 Salford fish-and-chip shop owner George Khan expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani Muslim ways. But his children, with an English mother and having been born and brought up in Britain, increasingly see themselves as British and start to reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.More...
Mountain Men2014-01-29Two estranged brothers, Toph and Cooper, must journey to a remote family cabin in the mountains to evict a squatter. Buried resentment and bruised egos soon derail the plan and when the smoke clears they've destroyed their car and burned down the cabin, leaving them stranded in the cold Rocky Mountain winter. With their very survival at stake, they must learn to work together as brothers to get back to civilization.More...
Carry On Up the Jungle1970-03-20The Carry On team send up the Tarzan tradition in great style. Lady Evelyn Bagley mounts an expedition to find her long-lost baby. Bill Boosey is the fearless hunter and guide. Prof. Tinkle is searching for the rare Oozalum bird. Everything is going swimmingly until a gorilla enters the camp, and then the party is captured by an all female tribe from Aphrodisia... Written by Simon N. McIntosh-SmitMore...
A Midsummer Night's Rave2002-11-01Life begins when the sun goes down for a group of party-prone friends attending an L.A. rave. The music starts and the dream begins as party-goer Puck gives them each a sample of his "love potion". This glowing green liquid fuels their inner desires and allows the friends to connect with their long secret loves during this night of dancing, lights, and unadulterated fun. The weather is hot, the music is pounding, the mood is electric and the stakes are high in this modern adaptation of Shakespeare's most popular comedy.More...
Adulterers2016-01-05A man who returns home to find his wife cheating on him on their anniversary. He holds her and her naked and humiliated lover captive at gunpoint while he decides whether or not he's going to kill them. The story, inspired by true events, takes place over one day and is set in New Orleans during a stifling heat wave.More...
Similar Movies
The Matrix Revolution...
2003-11-05The human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith.Starship Troopers
1997-11-07Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs."Dune
2021-09-15Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive.Kalki 2898-AD
2024-06-26In the year 2898 AD, around 6000 years after Kurukshetra war, Ashwatthama gears up for his final battle of redemption at the sign of hope in a dystopian world and Bhairava, a wisecracking and self-interested bounty hunter, tired of the perilous life becomes the hurdle in the process.Pippi Longstocking
1984-06-06Peppi-the-Longstocking, a super-strong redheaded little girl, moves into her father's cottage Villa Villekulla, and has adventures with her next-door neighbors Tommy and Annika...The Silent Mountain
2014-03-14A young Austrian soldier in World War I fights his way through the Alps to rescue his Italian girlfriend and escape the impending explosion that will rock the mountain.20 Years After
2008-01-01In the middle of nowhere, 20 years after an apocalyptic terrorist event that obliterated the face of the world!Origin: Spirits of th...
2006-01-07It is 300 years into the future. Earth's environment had been devastated by mankind's own foolish plans and humankind is beleaguered by the sentient forests which they have awoken. The world balance is tipped when a young boy named Agito stumbles across a machine that glowed in a strange blue hue inside a forbidden sanctuary.The Pagemaster
1994-11-23Rich knows a lot about accidents. So much so, he is scared to do anything that might endanger him, like riding his bike, or climbing into his treehouse. While in an old library, he is mystically transported into the unknown world of books, and he has to try and get home again.Eye of the Storm
2011-02-02Steampunk short animated film about a traveler in an airship crossing through a storm.Van Helsing
2004-05-03Famed monster slayer Gabriel Van Helsing is dispatched to Transylvania to assist the last of the Valerious bloodline in defeating Count Dracula. Anna Valerious reveals that Dracula has formed an unholy alliance with Dr. Frankenstein's monster and is hell-bent on exacting a centuries-old curse on her family.The Golden Compass
2007-12-04After overhearing a shocking secret, precocious orphan Lyra Belacqua trades her carefree existence roaming the halls of Jordan College for an otherworldly adventure in the far North, unaware that it's part of her destiny.Ice Age: The Meltdown...
2006-03-29Diego, Manny and Sid return in this sequel to the hit animated movie Ice Age. This time around, the deep freeze is over, and the ice-covered earth is starting to melt, which will destroy the trio's cherished valley. The impending disaster prompts them to reunite and warn all the other beasts about the desperate situation.Zathura: A Space Adve...
2005-11-06After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.I Still See You
2018-09-27Ten years after an apocalyptic event left the world haunted by ghosts, Roni receives a threatening message from beyond the grave. Joining forces with a mysterious classmate, Kirk, Roni descends into a shadow world that blurs the bounds of the living and the dead-and begins a desperate race against time to stop a cunning killer.WALL·E
2008-06-22What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of years doing what he was built for, WALL•E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report to the humans. Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most imaginative adventures ever brought to the big screen.Sherlock Holmes
2009-12-23Eccentric consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson battle to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy England.Around the World in 8...
2004-06-16A bet pits a British inventor, a Chinese thief and a French artist on a worldwide adventure that they can circle the globe in 80 days.Lemony Snicket's A Se...
2004-12-16Three wealthy children's parents are killed in a fire. When they are sent to a distant relative, they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.Chitty Chitty Bang Ba...
1968-12-17A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign government sets out to take for himself.