Rating: 
Summary: We're Not In Wonderland Anymore
Review: To call THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN a dark fairy tale is true understatement. It is as if Alice did not step into Wonderland but instead stumbled into Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS. In this city of perpetual twilight children are being abducted and delivered to a scientist named Krank who has lost the ability to dream. He is attempting to regain it buy stealing not only the children but their memories. Through this grim gothic city a young girl and a circus strong man search for her stolen brother and eventually wind up discovering Krank's laboratory. Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet have filled this film with striking images and a wealth of truly incredible characters that are scary, bizarre and even funny. A very fine cast with Daniel Emilkork's Krank taking top honors. This guy will give you nightmares on and off the screen. This is black comedy given free reign and the results are unforgettable. One of a kind.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Avant-Garde and Surrealistic Film
Review: Known better for his highly successful 2001 film "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" (known simply as "Amélie" in the U.S.) and his 1997 film "Alien: Resurrection" (Part 4 of the "Alien" series), Jean-Pierre Jeunet also co-wrote and co-directed the very avant-garde 1995 film "La Cité des enfants perdus" ("The City of Lost Children"). The film paints a very dark and surrealistic picture centered around a man named Krank (Daniel Emilfork), who is unable to dream, but kidnaps young children to steal their dreams within a bizarre laboratory. Unfortunately for Krank, the children are so frightened by him that they only dream nightmares. Krank himself is the creation of a mad scientist (Dominique Pinon, who played Joseph in "Amélie"), who also created six clones of himself. He also placed the brain of his Uncle Irvin into a tank to keep him alive (the voice of Jean-Louis Trintignant). The children are kidnapped for Krank by an army of Cyclops henchmen under the control of Cyclops Leader Gabriel Marie (Serge Merlin, who played Raymond Dufayel in "Amélie"), the clones and Mademoiselle Bismuth (Mireille Mossé). When the child Denree (Joseph Lucien) is kidnapped, a very strong, former whale-harpooner named One (Ron Perlman), who regards Denree as his little brother, sets out to find him. Along the way, One meets and is assisted by the young Miette (Judith Vittet), an orphan who, along with other orphans, steals valuables for a set of Siamese twins (Geneviève Brunet and Odile Mallet). The orphans are highly reminiscent of those from Charles Dickens' serial novel "Oliver Twist" (1837-1839), but the Siamese twins are far more ruthless than Dickens' character of Fagin."The City of Lost Children" earned no Oscar nominations, but did receive several nominations for the French César Awards, including Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Music Written for a Film. The film did win the César Award for Best Production Design. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-director Marc Caro also received a nomination for the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Memorable scenes in the film include the children dreaming of multiple Santa Clauses, the Cyclops henchmen at work, the Cyclops cult gathering, Miette and One over the water, the discussions with Uncle Irvin, and Miette's dream. The dark and mysterious set designs and cinematography are superb and elegantly demonstrate the clarity and depth of color that Jean-Pierre Jeunet later improved upon with "Amélie". Overall, I rate "The City of Lost Children" with 5 out of 5. If you enjoy surrealistic and avant-garde films or are a fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's work, you will more than likely enjoy the film very much.
Rating:
Summary: PHENOMENAL!!!
Review: This movie is a truly wonderful exaple of what fantasy storytelling can be. I consider it one of my all-time favorite films. This is truly a cinematic marvel for your eyes, combined with excellent acting. What more can you ask for? Do not miss this film. I guarantee you will love it!!!
Rating: 
Summary: lavish scenes, banal acting
Review: Save for a couple of interesting set designs, this movie would've been a total waste of money. The acting is painfully mediocre (supporting cast) if not downright horrible (ron perlman). The screenplay does not draw the viewer in and mosty resembles a heavy bag of of BORING. This movie would be most enjoyable on mute.
Rating: 
Summary: STUNNING!
Review: I seen this movie when I went on vacation in Montreal on a french channel and watched it from beginning to end and was instatntly in the hunt to get a copy for my library. The effects in this film are very very good but the story has a weak grip to the viewer and should have offered a bit of more emotional weight. Still if you have a chance to see this film I suggest you do!
Rating: 
Summary: HMMM...
Review: There always has to be one, just one, review which rises to the surface like a fetid sore along side all the sloppy adulation. This is that review. Sorry.
Granted, the film is visually opulent, with it's shimmering vistas and expansive dystopia's, but if this is the yardstick against which films should be judged, then Tarsem Singh (The Cell) would be an uber-director by now (with his eye-popping use of religious iconography an the like). Clearly he is not. The film is as empty as a tooth cavity made by too many trips to the sweet shop.
Rating:
Summary: Very Unique (that's a good thing)
Review: I've seen this movie several times. Each time I see it, I like it more and more. The best way to describe the movie is surreal. The basic plot of the movie is children are stolen by "cyclops" at night and then taken to a mad scientist who wants the children for their dreams. It seems a bit odd, but that's why the movie is so great. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone that is imaginative and open minded.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: Disturbing, surreal, superb visual effects, unique storyline are all the reasons I highly recommend this truly cool movie.
Rating:
Summary: Good enough!
Review: Hmmm. Kind of a slow movie, but a very good one! Outstanding eye candy, and a decent story line to boot! The concepts in this film are also quite enthralling, and ... well... Just look at the eye candy! Mmmmm... Somewhat reccomended, one-and-a-half thumbs. My attention span isn't quite long enough for this one though!
Rating:
Summary: 5 Star Film, Flawed DVD
Review: this is one of my favorite films of all time. it has a fascinating, intricate and detailed story, and a huge cast of characters and ideas. the film presents a dreamworld in which nothing is as it seems. a mysterious cult insists that followers blind themselves to see the truth. some children have adult personalities, and some adults have childlike personalities. a mad scientist operates a sinister laboratory on a platform in the city's bay. children from the city are disappearing, and the answer to these mysteries is so exquisitely, uniquely and poignantly rendered that i observed people emerging from the theatre with tears in their eyes. if only i had brought an eyedropper, i found myself thinking... that said, if the viewer does not pay very close attention, they may lose the plot thread and will say the film makes no sense, or is boring. note also that it will not answer every question for you. some aspects are indeed left enigmatic. pay very close attention as you watch. be sure to watch the letterbox version, and select the original french language with subtitles. as far as the dvd is concerned, it looks good, but still i was disappointed. having seen the film in the theatre three times, i was fairly well acqainted with its english translation. in the theatre, the translation may not have been perfect, but it serves the film well enough. for the home video release, an incompetent english dub was created, that seems to place matching the movements of the actors' mouths above providing a faithful translation. the english voice performances are inferior, and some aspects of the dialogue are clouded. much, much worse, the english subtitles in the home video release are not the subtitles that accompanied the film in the theatre; the english subtitles on the dvd are an incompetent transcription of the english dub! this makes the film significantly more difficult to follow. for example, in one of the more egregious failures, a character in the english dub says "fleakins!" What do the english subtitles say? "..the beacons!" i should have known we were in trouble when i noticed that one of the director's names (jeunet) is misspelled in the menu (juenet)! also, important text (eg, newspaper headlines) is not translated at all. if you ever have the opportunity to see this incredibly unique and beautiful film in a theatre, i highly recommend it. it is a five star film with a flawed dvd presentation.
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