Cloud Atlas

I’m amazed not to have heard of this movie before. It’s an extraordinary story spanning the ages and other worlds, performed by an amazing cast. A truly thought provoking and inspirational masterpiece.

One of the best movies I've ever seen. Exceptional!

This is the worst film i’ve ever seen, never been so confused with a plot before. The longest 3 hours of my life, in fact, 6 hours because we spent another 3hrs debating how dreadful it was in the morning, not worth your time.

Watched the movie as Tom Hanks was acting in it, but it was a total disappointment. Truelly do not understand why it has such a good rating. Found it lacking in everyway and have to question why there was no warning of the graphic violence or the distateful nudity etc. Watch this if you want a week movie plot and charachters mixed in with dwindeling morals, graphic killing, nudity etc. While you fast forward / skip thhrough parts of content that should've been disclosed at the start. There is nothing redeeming about this movie and to think so much was spent on it, surely it could have been put to better use.

Like 2001, if you're going just by plot-beats you're missing most of the movie; they don't matter as much as the tone and experience you come away with. The movie comes in waves: 6 story lines, sometimes clearly interconnected - sometimes not, bobbing and weaving to thread together events across a thousand years; it demands your attention and patience (so put away the phones and tablets or you're going to have a bad time). There is a lyric, expressive quality about Cloud Atlas that's hard to quantify but is ever-present, and its story about how humanity is ultimately responsible for itself is hard to deny. After I saw it, it took a day to process it, and I immediately needed to see it again. Having read the book after seeing the movie, I can understand how readers might have been disappointed - each of the books chapters introduce and process that time period's characters up to the middle, and then - like a hard walk up a hill and fast walk then down again - each character's story closes and tonal elements of that chapter move on to the next. That couldn't work as a movie - could you have 6 seperate endings without switching off? The dizzying threading of tales in the beginning form, by the end, a mighty crecendo of battles won and lost, charecters enduring and taken from us. That each character's fate is wound so tightly together is Cloud Atlas's greatest triumphs - the weight and investment in 1000 years of progress and cost weighs on you at the end. Every chracter is precious, each playing a part to move the cycle forward. It's a towering achievement - you have to see Cloud Atlas. Perhaps, even twice.

Cloud Atlas has become my 'go to' movie when travelling. Only on long train journeys and flights can I justify giving almost 4 hours of my life to a film. But give those hours I will. Every time I watch it I feel something different - sometimes I get caught up in the love stories, other times the moral meanings. The relationships, the chaos, the drama, the complexities. I tend to find that whatever is going on in my own life, something in this mammoth feature resonates - and gives me some comfort. Beautifully shot, scored, cast and acted, it's a feast for the senses. And speaking of sense, you'd be best not to try and make any of it. The first time I watched it I was really trying - and failed. Since then, I have watched it maybe another 5 times or so, and I no longer try and make sense of it, but rather enjoy it for what it is. A time capsule; a love letter; a collection of parables; lessons learned and lessons to be learned; an anthropological study; an evolution; regrets; hopes; fears; dreams; cause; effect; action; consequence. Imagine that the very first human action created a ripple that is still going even now. It's impact lessening with each passing generation - now minuscule, but still there just the same. For me, the main theme is around actions - and I favour those seen in the movie of love or kindness, strength and perseverance. It gives me hope and wonder at the possibilities of the 'next next'. You'll love it or hate it - unless you can accept it for everything it isn't and so very much that it is.

Great movie

I don't know why I put off seeing this film for so long; it is truly wonderful. A handful of plot lines are woven together to create a broader narrative about the meaning of life, without it ever turning into pop psychology. Like the very best stories, you are provoked into drawing your own conclusions. A masterpiece of cinematic storytelling.

convoluted, and a tad boring.

A truly brilliant take on an amazing novel. Sadly the version iTunes offers has many clips missing though. Suggest investing in versions of movies that aren’t hacked down to the bare minimum. For the better experience of the film, find it somewhere else online.