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42 UP

Universal acclaim
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by:
Directed by: Michael Apted
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 17, 1999
DVD: August 21, 2001
Running Time: 139 minutes, Color
Origin: UK
Summary
RATING: Not rated
Starring Bruce Balden, Jacqueline Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Suzanne Dewey, Charles Furneaux, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Susan Sullivan, and Tony Walker
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. One of the most interesting film experiments ever. This time the group is 42, with eleven of the original fourteen still being documented.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: 49 UP Amazing Grace Class Action Enigma Enough Me & Isaac Newton The World Is Not Enough
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New York Post Jonathan Foreman
The latest episode of this ongoing masterpiece of reality TV -- which every seven years revisits a group of English people first interviewed as 7-year-olds in 1964 -- is every bit as enthralling as the earlier ones.
San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
This is an amazing record of a group of lives -- and probably more resonant than anyone could have imagined when the project began.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The latest installment is packed with surprises and emotion for people who've seen earlier stages of the project, but even newcomers will be fascinated by the vivid glimpses it provides of everything from love and family to political action and the pervasiveness of class distinctions in British life.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
This series should be sealed in a time capsule. It is on my list of the 10 greatest films of all time, and is a noble use of the medium.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Phoebe Flowers
A truly great and deceptively simple work, redefining the power of film.
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
An empathetic portrait of humanity on a house-by-house, heart-by-heart basis.
Village Voice Amy Taubin
The 7Up series is thus one of the rare documentaries to have had a positive practical effect on the life of at least one of its subjects.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
Apted...has the storytelling skills to weave a powerful and poignant snapshot of some decent folks who have become, collectively, Britain's first family.
Read Full Review >Film.com Henry Cabot Beck
Perhaps the most remarkable documentary project ever undertaken, and certainly the longest, is Michael Apted's Up series, which he began shooting for the BBC in 1962.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
That nothing more monumental than an everyday life has occurred to any of the subjects is perhaps the film's most compelling aspect.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Time is truly on Apted's side because the passing of time not surprisingly brings a richer, deeper perspective with each new segment.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Janet Maslin
When this hugely ambitious project began, it was a longitudinal study of class divisions among English schoolchildren. But time and persistence have turned it into much more.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
42 Up is filled with truth and poignancy as these people reflect on their first half of their lives, their goals, ambitions, and how they, for the most part, succeeded in reinventing them.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
A miracle of data retrieval as the grown schoolchildren are measured against their footage from the earlier films.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson
The only film sequels in history that just keep getting better.
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Offers a welcome continuation of what has proven a fascinating journey both for the film's 11 subjects (three of the 14 opted out of the project this go-round) and its audience.
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
I love this series; it's possibly the most exciting use of the documentary medium ever.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Difficult to weigh and rate precisely because it deals with real life and real people.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Where this still vital series was once about what sets us apart, it now seems to be turning towards the things that, in the end, render us all equal.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Intending to study the degree to which social class would determine the subjects' destinies, the series actually documents something more filmable--the degree to which the subjects believed social class would determine their destinies and the degree to which they believe it has.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
It would be tempting to describe the Up movies as a miracle in the history of nonfiction filmmaking, if they didn't also represent one of the cinema's most singularly squandered opportunities.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
A living artifact that does what movies do best: exist in time.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Julie P. gave it a10:
A fascinating insight into lives, dreams and ambitions. I look forward to each episode the way I'd look forward to catching up with old friends. I think about them, worry about them and rejoice in their achievements. A superb series!
Dan C. gave it a10:
The latest installment of an amazing series is also the best. It's worth seeing all five previous films before this one (all are avialable on video). This is some of the most compelling documentary work I have ever seen. I was literally depressed for days when I realized that one of the most interesting subjects refused to be in this edition; this series makes you care that much about the people whose lives it reveals.
mel p gave it a5:
Although it was somewhat interesting the underlying point is about where will life take us, not the effecs of wealth on children, because everyone knows that any dream can become a reality!
Ivan L. gave it a 9:
Remarkable.
James M. gave it a 10:
Hypnotizing!
Susie K. gave it a 10:
The best in documentary.
