Children of Men: Special Edition (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Menu Audio Featurette-Making Of-Men Under Attack Interviews-Crew-Comments by Slavoj Zizek Deleted Scenes Featurette-Theo and Julian, Futuristic Design, Visual Effects Featurette-Documentary - The Possibility of Hope
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	104:42
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (50:08) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Alfonso Cuarón
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Clive Owen Julianne Moore Michael Caine Chiwetel Ejiofor Charlie Hunnam Claire-Hope Ashitey Pam Ferris Danny Huston
Case	Amaray-Opaque-Dual
RPI	?	Music	John Tavener

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Dutch German	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    How would the world change if something we take for granted just stopped working? This is the theme (amongst others) explored by this excellent film based on a novel by P D James. In this very interesting take on a apocalyptic view of the future, the human race has lost the ability to procreate and it has been over 18 years since the last baby was born. As the film opens, the youngest person on the planet is murdered by a crazed fan. The date is 2027 and the setting is England, which is obviously a society in decay although it seems to be one of the better places on the planet. All infrastructure is rundown and terrorism seems to be the order of the day. Non-English people are summarily rounded up and transported to holding camps as illegal immigrants. There is constant promotion of turning in immigrants and reporting potential terrorists which is reminiscent of 1984 by George Orwell. The camps have a distinctly Nazi Germany feel to them and the odd touch of Guantanamo.

    The main protagonist is Theo Faron (Clive Owen) who is an employee of the Ministry of Energy and is a man who breathes but does not really live. He seems to be very depressed and has no joy whatever in his life, which is probably understandable considering the society around him. As he is travelling through the city of London one day he is snatched off the street by masked men who identify themselves as The Fishers, a terrorist group who want to get equal rights for immigrants. He is taken to an enclosed room and when his mask is lifted he is face to face with his ex-wife of 20 or so years before, Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore), who is the terrorists' leader. She offers him money to obtain a pass for an illegal immigrant called Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to the coast of England so that she can meet a ship. What he doesn't know is that Kee is pregnant, the first woman to be so for 18 years or more. Through his friends in high places he obtains the pass and begins the journey whilst also making contact with a friend of his, Jasper Palmer (Michael Caine), a political cartoonist and drug farmer. The only other major character is Luke (Chimetal Ejiofor), another member of The Fishes, who has plans in mind for Kee.

    This film has a raw, almost documentary feel to it, exacerbated by a number of long tracking shots which give the feeling of following a protagonist through an actual situation. At one point the camera lens becomes blood spattered. These techniques, combined with an environment that is at once different and yet strikingly reminiscent of today's London, results in an extremely identifiable vision of the future. This makes the film much more affecting and harrowing especially when combined with the emotional acting of the main cast, especially Clive Owen as he turns from someone who cares about nothing into a man who cares more about others than himself.

    A lot of the credit for the film must of course go to the director Alfonso Cuaron and his academy award nominated cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki. The film was also nominated for best adapted screenplay and best editing (which is slightly odd considering that the technical bravura on show here is a lack of editing during the long tracking shots). The colour scheme of mostly greys certainly adds to the feel of the film as does the haunting music by John Taverner and excellently chosen songs. The cover of the Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday by Franco Battiato especially sticks in the mind.

    It is very interesting to note that this film is based on a book by P D James, who most would recognise as a writer of English murder mysteries such as Inspector Wexford rather than as a science fiction writer. She actually appears in a very early scene in this film in a small cameo. There are some changes from the book (which is inevitable) however they are mostly positive rather than negative. Her presence would also indicate that the film was done with her co-operation.

    A stunning, emotional and harrowing film set during the despair at the end of the capitalist era.

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced, which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was very sharp and clear with excellent detail. The bit rate was very high throughout. There was no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was excellent.

    The colour was very well rendered but the colour grading and colour scheme in use obviously restricted the use of the colour palette.

    The only possible complaint you could have about this transfer is some minor aliasing such as on some plates at 1:25 and on various bus grilles and garage doors.

    There are subtitles in English, Dutch & German. They are clear, easy to read and virtually exact to the spoken word.

    The layer change occurs at 50:08 and was not noticeable during playback.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 384 Kb/s and the same in German.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. The dialogue had significant presence and made good use of the front sound stage.

    The score of this film by John Tavener was excellent as mentioned above.

    The surround speakers were used regularly for music, wind in the trees, gun fights and various street scenes.

    The subwoofer was also well used for explosions and the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Considering that this is a '2 Disc Special Edition' I was slightly disappointed by the extras on offer. One glaring omission was a commentary track which seems to be something the director doesn't do. All the extras are presented in non-16x9 widescreen.

Menu

    The menus are fairly straight forward with music but no animation. They are easy to use, however.

Disc 1

Men Under Attack (Disc 1) (7:36)

    Short making of featurette which covers stunts, technology used, the long takes and includes interview snippets with cast & crew.

Disc 2

Children of Men comments by Slavoj Zizek (5:45)

    Interesting but very short. This is interview material with a philosopher who discusses the themes of the film and changes from the book.

Deleted Scenes (2:23)

    Three short and fairly useless deleted scenes.

Theo and Julian (4:41)

    Interviews with the leading actors discussing their characters.

Futuristic Design (8:39)

    Featurette on the impressive production design.

Visual Effects : Creating the Baby (3:07)

    Step by step on creating the scene with the baby. Music with on-screen text.

The Possibility of Hope (27:17)

    The most important extra which is a documentary by the director which explores the themes of the film and how it relates to the current day. Involves lots of philosophers and activists. It seems a little one sided and more than a little left leaning. Certainly worth watching.

    This film has been released in the same format in other regions, excepting that the Region 1 version is on one disc only and a single disc option is available in Region 2. A HD DVD version is also available. Draw.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    A decent but not overwhelming set of extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall