IMDb > City of Ember (2008)
City of Ember
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City of Ember (2008) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 29 | slideshow) Videos (see all 27)
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.
City of Ember (2008) -- Clip: What You Get Is What You Get
City of Ember (2008) -- Interview: Saoirse Ronan "On the story"
City of Ember (2008) -- To save the human race, and underground city was built to last only 200 yeaers...now time is up!
City of Ember (2008) -- Trailer: Vote for Cole

Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   11,579 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Gil Kenan
Writers (WGA):
Caroline Thompson (screenplay)
Jeanne Duprau (book)
Contact:
View company contact information for City of Ember on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 October 2008 (USA) more
Genre:
Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi more
Tagline:
Discover The Secret more
Plot:
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. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(61 articles)
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Terry Loane Casts 'This Beautiful Fantastic'
 (From IFTN. 16 November 2009, 11:29 PM, PST)
User Comments:
City of Ember more (63 total)
US TV Schedule:
Fri. Nov. 277:15 AMMAX   

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 #1
Rachel Morton ... Student #2

Conor MacNeill ... Student #3
Lorraine Hilton ... Miss Thorn
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG for mild peril and some thematic elements.
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
90 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Colour:
Colour
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Certification:
USA:PG (certificate #43559) | Ireland:PG | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:G | Czech Republic:U | South Africa:10M | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Portugal:M/12
Filming Locations:
Belfast Methodist College, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK more
Company:
Playtone more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The word Ember also refers to the embers of a fire, a metaphor for the situation that the characters find themselves in. more
Goofs:
Continuity: As Doon is walking to look at the Generator room, a girl in full orange work gear and yellow boots walks across the control room and towards a hall. The shot changes to the door. Then when it goes back to Doon, the same girl(orange gear, yellow boots) gets up from the left and starts walking across the room again, before the shot changes back to the door. more
Quotes:
Doon Harrow: How do you explain that this used to be so small?
Loris Harrow: You're gonna give yourself a headache.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Fred: Fred: A Star in His Own Mind (#2.5)" (2008) more

FAQ

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is "City of Ember" based on a book?
more

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
84 out of 135 people found the following comment useful.
City of Ember, 10 October 2008
6/10
Author: ActOne from Orlando, FL

Having just taken 129 eighth-graders who read the book to see the premiere, everyone left the theater disappointed with what director Kil Kenan and screenwriter Caroline Thompson have given us with this translation from the page to the screen. Thompson, an accomplished screenwriter, deserves more of the blame in their (and my) opinion.

Books rarely translate better to film and this one suffers for many reasons. Jeanne DuPrau's book is an amazing trove of metaphors (candles, the library, the seed, the Pipeworks, and the city itself). When works of literature work on multiple levels, the filmmakers should at least offer us more than one. In fact, this book could be a metaphor for metaphors -- there are things below the surface that exist whether we acknowledge them or not; it is our job to find the tools to excavate the "deeper" level of what exists for others only on the surface.

Having sacrificed the novel's intellectual depth, the film version does a great disservice to the dedicated reader: we are given special effects that defy logic and re-focus the story unnaturally and unnecessarily; there are included scenes of hyped-up action they are neither satisfying nor helpful with advancing the plot; we lose some of the intricate details of character development; there's an unnecessary inclusion of giant scary creatures that offer distracting (and bizarre) thrills; and the mystery of what Ember is is destroyed in the first minute of narration.

The design of the film is great, but as in design, the beauty is found in the details. I believe that the greatest details of the book are missing, hidden away like the people of Ember. Let them come into the light!

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for City of Ember (2008)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th book becoming movies too? tdubster22
Saw this last night clacton0
Good movie but a question stealthblue2001
So were they down there for much more than 200 years? nathan-mcdonald-1
I liked the movie and im an adult! jon-1546
Is it me or does Ember look like Mainframe? harry_ohtori
more

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