Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Children of Men Blu-ray Movie Review

Back to the future.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 25, 2019

From the vantage point of 2019, Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men may arguably seem even more prescient than it seemed to many of us “way back” in 2006 when it was released, even if the film itself supposedly depicts events taking place in 2027. While cursory Googling can bring up all sorts of supposed datapoints about infertility rates increasing globally (one of the chief plot points of the film), what really stood out to me in watching this viscerally compelling story again for the first time in several years is how its treatment of what might be called “fear of ‘the other’” seems to so frighteningly presage much of what is in evidence today, in what might almost be thought of as a “ripped from the headlines” approach. Cuarón of course plays things somewhat hyperbolically in his tale of a world where no new baby has been born in about a generation, and where a shaky but still standing United Kingdom is in the throes of a major “build the wall” push, trying to stanch the tide of an onslaught of so-called “illegal aliens”. It would be a lot for any film to handle cogently, let alone without that much of a hint of screed like political rants, but one of the things that is so fantastically impressive about Children of Men is how it treats what could arguably be perceived as metaphysical issues in what is an undeniably visceral, indeed virtually physical at times, way.

No matter what side of the political spectrum any individual viewer may be on, there’s an undeniably prophetic aspect to Children of Men, though my hunch is those toward the right end of things might think it’s more a case of Cuarón making pronouncements from a place of “liberal bias”, while those on the left may be more prone toward accepting Cuarón’s vision as what has by now almost become a fait accompli. But there are so many images and plot conceits running rampant throughout Children of Men, at times almost as “throwaway” background elements, things like huge campaigns against immigrants or people being kept in cages, that may strike some as evidence that Cuarón somehow managed to invent a time machine, and had visited our era.

The other major way that Children of Men seems prophetic, though perhaps more understandably since the film came out post-9/11, is in its treatment of an almost feral terrorism that keeps interrupting the lives of several major characters, including focal hero Theo Faron (Clive Owen). The screenplay (culled, more or less anyway, from a P.D. James novel) kind of makes Faron a Winston Smith-esque type, although in this case, the character has gone from an activist background to being a drudge cog in the bureaucratic wheel, rather than Smith's somewhat reverse trajectory in 1984. A “reunion” of sorts with his ex-wife Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) leads to an unexpected “chaperoning” job trying to usher a young illegal immigrant named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey), though why Kee needs to be ushered to safety turns out to be more complicated than Faron may have thought.

Children of Men manages to be almost willfully provocative in an almost Game of Thrones sort of way in “disposing” of various characters, and in fact there’s a virtual Hamlet-esque array of dearly departed major characters, so much so that anyone intrigued by the marquee value of the “above the line” stars may feel a little cheated. But that’s actually part of what makes Children of Men so incredibly gut wrenching — it’s not afraid to shock the audience on any number of levels, and the result is a uniquely cathartic viewing experience, one that somehow manages to be inexplicably hopeful while detailing what seems to be an almost oppressive hopelessness.

Children of Men Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Children of Men is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet has the following pretty generic information on the transfer:

Children of Men is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 5.1 surround sound. The High Definition master was provided by Universal.

The lack of any further information leads me to believe this is probably culled from the same master that provided the basis for the now long ago U.S. Blu-ray, but the good news is, despite Universal's somewhat spotty record for high definition releases back in those days, Children of Men was by and large a rather nice looking release. Color timing looks very similar if not absolutely identical to the domestic U.S. release, and detail levels are impressively high throughout the presentation, this despite a prevalence of grading which keeps things decidedly into cool blue and gray territory quite a bit of the time. Part of the generally excellent detail and fine detail levels may be due to the fact that, despite this being a 2006 production, the IMDb lists this as having been finished at a 4K DI. There are occasional variances in sharpness and clarity, as there were on the Universal release, with some moments looking just slightly fuzzy (the horrifying sequence in the car which is attacked by terrorists is a good example). Grain resolves naturally throughout this presentation, and to my eyes at least looks perhaps just slightly "tighter" in the Arrow version.

Children of Men Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Children of Men features very effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. The surround track benefits from some extremely boisterous LFE in moments like the unexpected terrorist explosion that occurs early on, or even later when the car carrying Julian and Theo is attacked. The rabble of crowds (caged or otherwise) spills quite effectively through the surrounds in several outdoor scenes, and even "little" things like the panning of motorcycles tooling through burning urban streets can also be very evocative. Dialogue is always presented cleanly and clearly. The film has a rather nice score John Taverner that is quite elegiac, and that also spreads through the surrounds, providing a nice "bed" for several key scenes.

Children of Men Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Bryan Reesman


• There is No Future (HD; 22:22) is an interesting analysis of the film by Philip Kemp.


• Fertility and Progeny (HD; 22:28) finds frequent Arrow collaborator Kat Ellinger offering her thoughts on "birth and extinction".


• Archival Features

  The Possibility of Hope (HD; 27:16) arguably gets into some more "screed like" aspects that the film is able to largely elide, with a number of philosophers and commentators taking on the sociopolitical subtext of the story.

  
  

  Comments by Slavoj Zizek (HD; 5:44)

  
  

  Delivering a Baby (HD; 3:07) looks at some of the SFX in this sequence.

  
  

  Futuristic Design (HD; 8:33)

  
  

  Theo and Julian (HD; 4:40)

  
  

  Under Attack (HD; 7:36) focuses on what Cuaron calls the "real time" use of long, unedited takes in the film.

• Deleted Scenes (HD; 2:23)


• Image Gallery (HD; 2:50)

As usual, Arrow has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet.

Children of Men Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was frankly actually kind of gobsmacked by Children of Men watching it again after several years in preparation for this review. I was certainly not immune to its emphasis on immigration the first time I saw the film years ago, but that whole aspect really resonated incredibly strongly for me this time around, perhaps due at least in part to the prevalence of some recent headlines here in the United States. Even if you disagree strongly with some of the foundational elements of the screenplay (in terms of the politics at least being hinted at), my hunch is you may still be well moved by this story of one man's search for redemption, in a world without hope and where huge swaths of the population have been overtaken by fear. Technical merits are solid, and as usual Arrow has assembled a really impressive slate of supplements. Highly recommended.