City of Ember

Play trailer

City of Ember

PG

Released Oct 10, 2008

1h 35m

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Adventure

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

53%

Tomatometer

130 Reviews

46%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

For generations a massive generator has sustained the needs of the underground city of Ember. But the generator was built to last only 200 years, and as its lights start to flicker and fade, it remains to two youths, Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway), to follow a cryptic series of clues that will restore light to to the place.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Rent Now

Critics Consensus

City of Ember is visually arresting, and boasts a superb cast, but is sadly lacking in both action and adventure.

Read Critics Reviews

Mark Holcomb

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Sandra Hall

Sydney Morning Herald

Murray playing the glutton doesn't exactly fit the bill and for all the architectural care that's gone into Ember's creation, the secret at its heart is no mystery to us, the audience.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 12, 2008

Full Review

David Stratton

The Australian

Murray is always good to have around, and so are Tim Robbins, who plays Doon's defeated father, and Martin Landau as one of the drones who tries to keep the city in working order. The young actors are excellent.

Rated: 3.5/5

Dec 12, 2008

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The story’s science fiction foundation becomes nothing more than your run-of-the-mill adventure yarn, abandoning its thought-provoking ideas for something much less satisfying.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 20, 2024

Full Review

Linda Cook

AWFJ.org

This enchanting science-fiction story has a female protagonist who's so courageous and smart you'll wish she were your daughter...

Oct 5, 2021

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

It's difficult not to become immersed in the fun of uncovering clues and discovering secrets in a society and landscape with few caps on creativity.

Rated: 7/10

Nov 28, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Josh K

For how deep the book is, the movie is incredibly lacklustre. The graphics are usually horrible. The movie seems like it was made to have little "look, see, this is like the book!" moments but then do its own thing rather than following the book, which, again, was written well. I don't quite understand the director's train of thought. He had great source material to use, and then thought he could do his own thing without making it incredibly flat.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

06/22/25

Full Review

Audience Member

Great Story. Really incredible set design. Awesome cast and the story was very cool and pretty original. This is the kind of movie that if it was made in the 80's= would've been a HUGE hit and still talked about. It's fallen under the radar simply b/c styles have changed though not always for the better. This is very much done in that old school style and I super enjoyed it though I had never heard of it before ripping it from the library. An easy addition to your collection.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/09/25

Full Review

Audience Member

DO NOT WATCH IT THE QUALITY OF THE MOVIE WAS BAD but the CGI was good, and the plot was all over the place and did not follow the book please do not watch

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/10/25

Full Review

Audience Member

I don’t care what people think this film was my entire childhood and I love it to death

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/14/24

Full Review

Frank D

I'm surprised to see the 53% Tomatometer score because I loved this movie when I watched it 10 years ago and I still remember it's yummy visuals, dystopian atmosphere and good actors.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/06/24

Full Review

Hezekiah T

skibidi toilet skibidi skibidi toilet skibidi toilet skibidi skibidi toilet

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/01/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Gil Kenan

Director

Saoirse Ronan

Lina Mayfleet

Harry Treadaway

Doon Harrow

Bill Murray

Mayor Cole

Tim Robbins

Loris

Martin Landau

Sul

Where the Wild Things Are

73%

57%

Where the Wild Things Are

Watchlist

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

66%

73%

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

75%

61%

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

74%

62%

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

Inkheart

38%

45%

Inkheart

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Exclusive: The Look of Terminator Salvation with Martin Laing

RT on DVD: Max Payne, Saw V, King Kong on Blu-ray

Critics Consensus: Express Scores, Body of Lies Falls Flat

View more photos

Synopsis

For generations a massive generator has sustained the needs of the underground city of Ember. But the generator was built to last only 200 years, and as its lights start to flicker and fade, it remains to two youths, Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway), to follow a cryptic series of clues that will restore light to to the place.

Director: Gil Kenan
Producer: Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks
Screenwriter: Caroline Thompson
Production Co: Playtone Productions, Walden Media
Rating: PG (Some Thematic Elements|Mild Peril)
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.9M
Runtime: 1h 35m

Most Popular at Home Now