Ambitious but ultimately flawed. Long stretches of near endings, six separate story lines to keep track of, and all interconnected to the freedom of human blah blah blah....The two hour mark I surrendered.

I am in awe of this movie. How exactly did this not get on most critics' Top Ten lists? I loved it. Just about the quickest 3 hour movie I have ever watched. It was perfect. Every aspect of it was remarkable. So ambitious and brilliantly realized. Surely history will be kinder to this movie than the critics were. What a pleasant surprise.

This is a movie that affect human soul like a great symphony, It is not easy to tell a story about human eternity, but in this movie the "holy music" that I assume is beating everyday inside everybody's soul was successfully translated into some sort of convincing, beautiful, visual phenomenon.

Many movies bore at times and seem predictable at times. Cloud Atlas has its story telling in a buzz and the storylines of each individual time should of been a little longer and more in-depth. But don't judge its quality by the complex plot, the movie blended in beautiful themes. Its mystery, romance, comical relief, dramatic, and actiony si-fi themes fit perfectly in one and I would probably never find a movie that did this again.… Expand

Ambitious, featuring six stories all set in various time periods. Often times with a film like this, there is always that one storyline that is just not as good, or in the case of Cloud Atlas, 2 or 3 storylines that fail to compare to the others. That's really the main problem I had with this film, the performances, music, and visuals are all top notch, but not all the stories were that engaging, diluting the effectiveness of the major themes. I still really enjoyed the film. My favorite parts were set in Korea and the 1970s.… Expand

This movie is one of the most polarizing movies right now. It's basically like Animatrix with 6 mini stories that's related to each other. The environments for each timeline is appropriate, the standouts being the 5th and 6th story which takes place in the future with awesome futuristic technology that I soooo want to have. One problem though, this movie is a complete mess. It regularly jumps all over the place from the past to the future then to the past again that I can't think of any other thing to say but "what the hell does this movie want to be?" Every timeline has different themes to them. First and second story is drama movie, 3rd is suspense thriller, 4th is a comedy, the 5th and 6th story in the future is all action. The movie jumps back and forth between all the stories that it's just a complete mess. I tries to link them together by having the themes when it jumps similar, eg: a battle in the 6th jumps to a battle in the 3rd, but in all honesty it's completely unnecessary. The theme of the story is the first story leading to the next will influence the actions of each story's main characters, and that's it. It's better to just play it in order from the first to the last story like Animatrix or some other short movie compilations so it's easy to follow and fun to enjoy. Maybe one day someone on Youtube will do that, I'm looking forward to seeing these stories in order so it'll be more enjoyable to follow.… Expand

A philosophical journey discussing how and why we live our lives and the ultimate repercussions of our actions on this planet. Sounds dull, you'd be dead wrong. Cloud Atlas tells many stories. In fact it tells 6 stories, each of them in different time periods, past, present and future. It follows revolutionaries in futuristic Neo Seoul, Composers in pre world war 2 Edinburgh and a group of elderly inhabitants of a dictatorial nursing home planning a jail break of sorts. Cloud Atlas isn't just adventurous and bold in its risk taking but its also informative. Cloud Atlas is an education in not just philosophy but film making and all the reasons it was created as a medium. It's the ultimate canvas where you can tell any story, no matter how ridiculous or far fetched. When I say Cloud Atlas is ridiculous it is not to ridicule it, in fact it is a compliment because it tells stories that shouldn't link and brings them together into a grand narrative that is at times naive and idealistic but never dull and always thrilling. Unlike the book the film is based on, the film cross cuts across its many tales instead of telling them in half chunks. It connects its stories through the many themes and ideas that makes the film so inspiring from love to adventure. The thing that binds these stories and makes this story jumping possible is the use of the actors in multiple stories. The actors play multiple roles through time and part of the superficial charm of the picture is spotting Tom Hanks or Hugh Grant in their many disguises or failing to spot Halle Berry as a Korean man. It's a film that is equal part fever dream and epic poem. The film unlike the book isn't so much about one life, one soul throughout the ages (although a strange birthmark seems to represent the idea of one soul throughout eternity) but about humanity, our collective consciousness through the ages instead. This film is a look into the idea of the butterfly effect, the idea that chaos theory can also be seen the other way, that one action can bring about good instead of evil for years to come. for example a self absorbed, opinionated composer (a terrific Ben Whishaw) creates a piece of music used for years to come thanks to the actions of not just him but people long into the future. However it is a film that must build to its epic conclusion and for that reason the first hour is quite dense (dense as in full, this film is never stupid) and takes some concentration. Once you understand the characters, the ideas and stories you are being presented its easy to get lost in this idealistic look at the good we can accomplish as a race and the absolute evil we can cause by just not trying or choosing yourself instead of others. Overall its a near perfect picture because of its attention to detail and its desire to show something we rarely see at the movies, a movie that celebrates stories and the hold they can have on us.… Expand

Watched it and I ended up with an head ache in the end because of spending 3 hours so much concentrated to see how would the plot turn up in the end, just to face some "nice" and "profound" truths about stuff we see in so many movies. Stuff like, "believe in yourself", "never give up", etc etc. No greeeeat revealing truth or something that tied all stories. Yes, the movie starts and ends with about 4 or 6 stories, all mixed up and you just learn whats up along the way we, the viewers, are totally left in the dark. 3 hours watching a movie to see what it leads in the end. It's frustrating. I rather see Dances with Wolves enjoying all the movie and not wanting to see the end because it was a cruel one, rather than waiting 3 hours to see if what I've watched was worth the wait and find out there's nothing interesting about it. The acting was nice, nothing wrong with it. Just the plot and how it was told and its end.… Expand

For now this is my favorite movie of all times. I asked everyone I know to watch it. It's about love, about eternal souls and about the idea that not only our souls but what if our love can survive our death? What if we can meet each other the next time and feel, know and fall in love again? I saw it three times and every time I had tears by the end. It's... it's unbelievable.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Cloud Atlas is a hot mess. There is about half a good movie here. The themes presented are relevant: love, dignity, freedom. Unfortunately they are sometimes presented in such a way as to seem trite or even cliched. There are also some strange and baffling elements that just don't work.

I'm also going to get this out of the way right now: I was not a fan of the use of yellowface and whiteface on non-Asian and non-Caucasian actors, but not for the politically correct reasons a lot of people were. I didn't feel that the characterizations were racist or offensive. My main problem was that with a few exceptions, it looked really unconvincing.

Of the six stories, I was most fond of the tale of Sonmi-451 (Neo Seoul, 2144). Her story was dark and tragic yet hopeful at the same time. The world she inhabits is a glitzy dystopia built upon the worst excesses of contemporary corporate culture. Of all the sequences, this one and the story of Robert Frobisher (Cambridge and Edinburgh, 1936) would have made enjoyable full-length films in their own right.

I liked the sequence set in the UK, 2012, starring Jim Broadbent as Timothy Cavendish in what was essentially a dark comedy vignette about an aging publisher and his gangster client (Tom Hanks). Even a throwaway joke about soylent green being people actually relates to a disturbing element in the Neo Seoul sequence.

The story set in the South Pacific in 1849 about a young lawyer who falls sick during a voyage and is under the care of a doctor who it emerges is poisoning him in order to steal his belongings but is saved by a runaway slave fell flat. Tom Hanks as Doctor Goose had a false nose and prosthetic buck teeth which made him look like a character from League of Gentlemen (the British comedy series, not the crappy adaptation of a good Alan Moore comic book). Predictably the lawyer, who is helping the slave by hiding him and then later gets him work as a sailor on the ship, become friends. When the lawyer returns home he declares to his slave-owning father-in-law that he and his wife will go east to aid with the abolition efforts. It should be powerful but it just feels cliched and somewhat cheesy.

I don't have too much to say about the sequence in which Halle Berry plays the main role. It was neither good nor bad and felt like an homage to movies of the era in which it was set, namely the early 1970s, featuring a tough, independent black journalist whistle-blower uncovering a conspiracy at a nuclear power plant run by an unscrupulous business man. Taken on its own, it could have made a rather average thriller with a few good moments of tension.

The sequence set on a post-apocalyptic Hawaii in the year 2321, just stank. It reminded me of Battlefield Earth, but with better production values and no use of dutch angles that I can remember. Tom Hanks plays a superstitious coward belonging to a tribe of people with vaguely Maori-like tattoos on their faces. He is plagued by hallucinations of Hugo Weaving as a character that can best be described as a goblin with a top hat, who I think is supposed to represent his fear and religious hang-ups. Tom Hanks' people live in constant fear of cannibals on horseback with fearsome facepaint. Halle Berry plays a character from some nice,shiny utopia where they have pretty, shiny vehicles and fusion power. She's on the island looking for some ancient secret which she tells Tom Hanks is "The true true." or some such childish baby-talk. It's all very confusing and stupid and ends with Tom Hanks and Halle Berry living happily ever after on some distant planet with two dozen grandchildren sitting around a campfire listening to Grampy Tom Hanks tell stories.

I haven't read the book, so I can't really compare it the source material. The principal cast appears throughout the movie in multiple roles because they're reincarnations of characters from earlier time periods, but it's not presented in chronological order. Some of it is intriguing. Some of it is hard to care about. Other parts are just plain weird and not always in a good or compelling way.… Expand

You'll probably ether love or hate this movie. It blew my mind, so many amazing things happened throughout it, but it is pretty hard to watch, and it took me till about 3/4 of the way through to realize what the movie was actually about, but that's the magic to it I guess.

Life played out like beautiful jigsaw puzzle, each piece a fascinating piece of color and wonder, but in the end quite putting the big picture together. Time well spent and entertaining to behold. I both aspects much like life it self, I guess

Epic in scale and in ambition. Cloud Atlas just falls short of brilliance. Ultimately it turns out to be too confusing for it's own good. It is however, never short of riveting. So, even if you are unsure what is happening, you continue to watch, hoping that the next time jump will solve a piece of the puzzle.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This was certainly a rather....unique movie. I have neither read or heard of the book before, nor this I really know what the movie was going to be about. I was in for a mixed surprise. I really liked the concept of there being multiple stories within multiple time periods and the transitions between them are seamless. However (at least in the movie) these stories seem to be connected rather loosely. The only thing you get to see is how these individual stories are being transferred. (For example the first guy writes a diary which is read by someone in the next time period. That guy writes letters to his lover about his story and so on and so forth.) At first I though that if this is the only way these stories are connected, that's kind of lazy. But then came the credits in which you could see which actor played whom. This is probably the most revealing part of the movie, which now that i think about it is actually rather amusing. Still, i decided to do some research about the story to get some explanations about things that I might have missed. And so i found out that this movie was supposed to be about reincarnation throughout time periods. This makes sense after seeing the credits, but it's not really explained throughout a movie. As a movie, this kind of fails because important things that might have been explained better in the book are not really to be seen in this movie. However as an experience, this certainly was interesting. Do some research before you watch this movie. You'll certainly be enjoying it more afterwards.… Expand

"Cloud Atlas" was ambitious and could've been done right, but the Wachowskis just weren't up to it, rare miss. First, they didn't have to use the same six subplots in the source material, they could've substituted far more interesting stories instead. Second, the subplot jump-editing style is fine for two, maybe three stories but not six, it's too confusing to follow. Third, it seems juvenile with its pop-psych platitudes, more suitable for tweens than for film-experienced adults. Finally, it's a series of gag love stories, and the public should've been warned far more clearly. Yes, chix love this stuff but sci-fi guys hoping for mind-twisting action, bitter disappointment.… Expand

I think this movie says truth. No enforcement, No comfirmation. Just shown that how does a phenomenon function. And it is not bad that action of this movie, Awsome impersonation, multiple acting is great.

Everything about this movie screams 'cult classic'. Critics are decidedly mixed but most can find something good in there. It is too well acted by the cast to be dismissed as a resounding flop. I left the cinema with my head buzzing with questions and wonder and even now find myself returning to scenes in my head to play them through and see if I missed something. It is exceptionally rare for a film to do this.

It is essentially a parable about the impossibility of enslaving the soul, told through humour, love stories and exciting action. The ambition is tremendous and each tale would make a good film on its own, which perhaps is part of the reason it has been quite harshly criticised by some. I note on the whole however that both those who admire it and those who dislike it struggle to articulate why. My hunch is that while this polarises people, the people who like it will win out over time, and it'll still be talked about years from now for doing something so radically different.… Expand

Truly epic in both scale and accomplishment, Cloud Atlas delivers a powerful, moving, thrilling experience that is sure to entertain on every level. May leave the audience scratching heads at the beginning, but it's worth sticking around the entire 172 minutes it takes to sweep you off your feet. This movie takes you from the life of a composer in 1936 to the life of a Fabricant in a Blade Runner-esque Korea in 2144. Truly amazing on every level, Cloud Atlas is brilliant enough to warrant several viewings.… Expand

Cloud Atlas it's the most amazing film that i seen ever. I don't know how you can't love this film. The plot is so exciting that you can not tear your eyes from the screen for three hours.

I could watch this film a dozen times, something I can't say for but a handful of movies. I like movies to clock in at 100 minutes, and I thought that the Dark Knight Rises was forty minutes long, but this film deserves the time, and it deserves a few rewatches. Its more of a work of art that you can't experience in a single visit to the museum you have to live with it, experience it multiplie times. In keeping with the themes of the movie, I'd say it requires six visits. There are layers of complexity, and they are worth unweaving. The Wachowskis ask sincere questions about who were are and why we are, and they make science fiction films that explore our metaphysical possibilities.… Expand

Best movie I saw this year, probably one of the best I've ever seen. Wasn't bored for a single minute during the almost 3 hours. It had my complete attention. I can imagine why some people would not like this. It takes a certain amount of concentration and brain power to keep track of the six stories and to figure out how all of that is connected.
I highly recommend this movie.

To the critics who say that this is a muddled film devoid of clarity and purpose, you are wrong.
To me, after I fell for the great and varied stories in different ages, I fell in love with the idea(s) that were embedded in Cloud Atlas which are mercurial at first but become clearer upon second and third viewings.

The message of the film underneath all of the epic cinematography, unbelievable acting and interwoven and confusing (only upon the first viewing) stories, lies possibly the most progressive message ever contained in a film.

The first message is a simple one: Liberty for all. The first story is one condemning slavery, the second condemns those against gay rights, the third (in the 1970's) condemns the misuse of corporate power and military power to obtain wealth at the expense of the public, the fourth is a condemnation of the mistreatment of the old, the fifth supports the rights of clones not yet born and introduces a messiah who is both woman and Asian (bucking the typical white male saints and prophets), and the sixth makes whites the confused and poor while the blacks are the advanced people with "fusion engines". This film is against racism, unabated corporatism, is pro-environmental (eventually humans are forced to leave the Earth and the sub levels of some future city are drowned and polluted) while at the same time it approaches spirituality through a point of view having far more to do with some kind of reincarnation (the characters in different ages who play the same actors fall in love over and over again) that also stabs at modern "hook-up" culture and points towards the idea of true love with one other person.

****Pay attention who Hugo Weaving is cast as, for he represents evil and the devil in nearly every role he plays in this film. That is what this film is against.

For our mostly christian, anti-science, white male dominated, hook-up cultured, "business" obsessed (which is failing because it is concerned with moving money and not creating wealth or advancing science) world, these ideas are completely radical. Further it takes some commitment to watch the film and truly understand it.

Personally I found the film to be worth my ticket and more.

Roger Ebert wrote that "Life of Pi" could just as well be called "Life". The same is true for this film especially in it's treatment of love and the idea of the equality of all mankind (past, present and future). At the end of the day though, this film is just flat out entertaining and beautiful and takes film to a place where it hasn't been and probably will not go for a long time to come. It's lights and sounds, cgi, and acting with take you more places than you can imagine in 3 hours. And if it confuses you the first time, go see it again.… Expand

I don't want to give the Wachowskis or Tykwer all the credit, or even too much, because the real visionary here is David Mitchell, and this is a much more faithful adaptation of his book than anyone could have hoped for, I think, and whatever issues one could have with the spiritually far-reaching narratives on display stem from his nested story structure. And there have been issues galore. I don't think I've ever had so much fun witnessing a film's critical divide. This is a film critics secretly want to be soaring over people's heads, something the critic can understand and explain to the masses. Alas for them, it's a film Tykwer and the Wachowskis wanted everyone to enjoy. And so I did...very much so. This is indeed sprawling and ambitious but the biggest surprise for me, and maybe disappointment for others, was its solid delivery of an old fashioned experience a celebration of heroism and romanticism delivered with a dark sense of humor and a go for broke joy in delivering the goods without apology. Mitchell may have written the book, and he will openly state that he wrote it simply to see if it could be done, but the film seems to have been made by its three creators with the same sense of daring and flirtation with folly, one-upping the already mammoth scope with an equally daft notion of having all the actors play outside their genders or ethnicities. The whole business with the actors and the makeup and the noses may not work all the time, and it may not work at all for certain audiences, but it will always be inherent to me of the three filmmakers' attempt to do something totally insane, and too few in the business of making movies are even trying to push any envelope anymore. I came to love the use of the cast and the makeup when I realized about halfway through first viewing that the filmmakers had done so as a way of adding some heart into what Mitchell had created. There are some very bold and moving things being said in this film about love, responsibility and individuality that wouldn't have been so poignant without the utilization of the cast reappearing in each time period as a radically different self. This is not a folly. The fact that this not only works but has become one of the most addictively watchable movies in my memory has also made it one of my all-time favorites. And there are many reasons it works for me, one of them being that the film was made, I believe, with a strong yet sly sense of self-referential humor and the other being that the schematic structure of Mitchell's book has been replaced by a freestyle, musical approach. I don't think since 'Short Cuts' has there been such a major film of such length which has truly relished such a cascade of rhyming images and sensations simply for the enjoyment of it, like listening to a great album. One can be daunted by the many worlds on display here and try too hard to get on top of it all but the real fun is letting this movie just play in front of you, doing its free association dance through time. This is like the iconic shot in '2001' of the pirouetting bone which jump-cuts into a ship rotating around the earth, played out like a symphony. This either works for you, or not at all. For me, it's one of the great movie experiences of my life.… Expand

This movie is not that complicated as some think and it's not trying to be, it's just puzzling, so you will need to pay attention and see it in one shot, otherwise you'll think just like many others, that it's a bad movie, but it's not and it's not your usual kind of movie, aside the story, like make-up, visual effects, soundtrack, etc, are well done.

I went to see the movie with mixed expectations. I had read reviews beforehand that warned of a messy plotline with multiple stories. I was positively surprised on how untrue that was. The stories play well out in terms of pacing and characters. There are a lot of them in total, but each part (or you could say "act") has only a couple central characters, like you would expect from any typical story. The different stories are very easy to follow because they are so different, yet they are the same on many levels. I specially like how the film expects you to think. You can watch this movie just for the visuals, but to really appreciate it, you need to think what happened and because of what. Some reviews I've read say that the stories are not connected. I would say that if that is how you feel, you did not pay attention at all and were expecting the movie to give everything pre-chewed to you. Instead the movie expects to you to fill the missing bits, notice references between the stories and to imagine what has happened between the transitions from one story to another. There is even an exchange of lines in the movie which can pretty much be summed up as the characters saying to the audience that we won't tell you everything, you can imagine and fill the blanks yourselves.
The movie has a message and after you've processed the stories, it should be quite obvious. It might not be exactly the same message as I got, but still. Music and sound effects were good, not exceptional or bad, but satisfying and did their part well. The locations and visual effects were really nice and at times stunning, fitting for the events that transpired and interesting. Acting was good, the characters were played well and the actors fit their roles neatly. My only criticism is about the masking same actors played different roles and genders, and the masking department had not been up to the task at all times. Or maybe it is that I perceive female actors playing male characters and vice versa a bit hard to digest due to the different body/facial structures of genders.
I would recommend the movie if you want to see something that requires paying attention and ability to concentrate for nearly three hours, but in exchange gives food for your thought and imagination. Don't watch this if you just want to hang out with friends and chat at the same time.… Expand

shockingly bad, confusing and seriously disappointing. i fell asleep several times I was that bored. I expected great things but after seeing Django Unchained last week (a fantastic movie that has you gripped throughout) I felt it necessary to comment on this. I would have walked out but my fiance wanted to see it through. Glad I got free tickets or I would have been even more disappointed.

That's it ,the best film I ever seen.Perfect implementing from the awesome book.Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis conjure a unforgettable cinema-adventure. Wonderful.

I not entirely sure how to sum up my feelings about this film in all honesty. I went in knowing it would be very in-cohesive so I assume that's the reason I didn't hate it, although I loved the idea anyway. It has you thinking that people are just reliving things that happened in past lives and the storylines of each 'segment' doesn't connect whatsoever to the next which is true. However, there's an absolutely miraculous moment at the end that makes the entire thing fall into place and I genuinely believe it's one of the most beautiful moments in the history of film. This moment makes the entire thing connect and it's so overwhelming and empowering that I couldn't help but sob a little.

I firmly believe that people who didn't like the film are the ignorant souls who want a straightforward film to laugh like an imbecile at or watch the pretty explosions. Clichéd as it is, If you open your mind just a fraction you'll be absolutely amazed at what's been done here.

And why should everything be so black and white? Ambiguity is half the fun of it.… Expand

What you might feel after watching thiz movie? You may be confused, you may be disappointed or if you watch closely enough, you may find a hidden philosophy inside. Thiz movie has six stories with six different time periods, from little island in South Pacific to the post-apocalyptic Hawaiian Islands, from the primitive year 1849 to far in the future 2321. The stories come from any direction and finally meet at one point. The story is meant to be connected to one another, however, don’t be surprised if you eventually find that the connection is very minor. In point of fact, you may miss the connection if you’re not careful. “Cloud Atlas” is the latest project from Tom Tykwer and The Wachowskis, starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Ben Winshaw, James D’Arcy, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Doona Bae and Xun Zhou. All Actors have more than one role during different time periods. As a matter of fact, some Actors are so buried underneath their makeup that we could hardly recognize them. To make things even worse, some of them are seemingly drawn into comical performances such as Hugo Weaving, James D’Arcy, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. The better performances come from Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Ben Winshaw. And the scene stealer is definitely Doona Bae who depicts a genetically-engineered clone named Sonmi-451. Doona Bae delivers a complex and inspiring character. On the directorial side, Tom Tykwer carries out 1936’s, 1973’s and 2012’s segment. On the other side, Andi and Lana (used to be Larry) Wachowski handle 1849’s, 2144’s and 2321’s segment. Personally, I prefer Wachowskis’ direction. They can keep up the pace of their stories and prevent it from being boring. It reminds us of how good The Wachowskis really are when depicting futuristic tales, just like what they did in “The Matrix” (1999). On the other hand, even though I love the previous Tom Tykwer’s works such as “Run Lola Run” (1998), but thiz time, he seems to have put anything one-dimensional. In other words, Tom Tykwer’s direction is boring. If it’s not because of the intriguing futuristic tale of Sonmi-451 which is directed by The Wachowskis, thiz movie will undoubtedly become an unnecessary B-Class movie. In the end, thiz is something bigger than you think. It’s all about a belief in the universality of mankind. Basically, there is no difference between countries, races and even genders, where white can become black, black can become white and white can become Asian. We are all one, we are all the same, learning and strive for a better condition. Visit My Blog on JONNY'S MOVEE http://jonnyfendi.blogspot.com… Expand

How does this movie show how one persons action changed the future? Wouldn't you need to shoot two endings for that? This movie is confusing and annoying, the only decent timeline is the Asian lady's in the takeout shop. Everything else seems more like a filler. Oh the racist boat timelines also good. But everything else just dampens the major message of the film.

Most brilliant movie I have seen in years, possibly in my life. A true under appreciated master piece. It saddens me that this movie is not well known and the ratings are lowered by people without the intellectual capacity to understand it. No there is no guts, blood, explosions or non stop action which most people these days love. But there is an amazing story, perfect script, beautiful scenery, costumes, design and amazing actors and their portrayals of the vast number of characters. The movie raises and inspires your imagination in so many different levels. I am disgusted the Academy awards did not nominate this movie for best picture. Just goes to show you how politics play a huge role in everything these days. If you're like me a loved this movie, I think we should write to the Academy Awards committee which decides on nominations with our anger that this movie didn't get included.… Expand

Cloud Atlas is a visionary wonder. It is a movie that gives you so much and even at a 3 hour length, the six story lines each have their brilliance. A movie that connects in so many ways.

that is a really great Film from director of matrix that i have expected , but that is unacceptable to take 55 number for this film , if i were a Critic i will take 100 to this film

Great movie. At first, it is hard to separate each period, as it happened with Memento, but after a while your brain adjusts everything at its time automatically. Like watching six movies all in one.

The day after the election, I slept in late, watched Obama's acceptance speech, and saw Cloud Atlas, a film which perfectly examines the main themes of the election: love and charity and duty and patriotism. Connectedness. Oh, and greed, cruelty, and the 1%. It's the only action-scifi-romance I've seen where I checked the credits for Howard Dean and George Lakoff.

Remember Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant!, about the power of framing to influence thought and action? At its core, that's what the book Cloud Atlas is about. The film shows this in a visceral way that will move those who would never read Elephant.

If you haven't already seen Cloud Atlas, try to see it on the big screen. Take a few friends who like to talk about issues and meanings. If you are like me or Roger Ebert, you'll want to see it again right away and a third time soon. It's the perfect antidote to wallow-in-the-mire entertainment like the TV series Girls. But, you might say, some reviews have been bad. Depends on who you ask. Users love Cloud Atlas but the critics don't, just the opposite of Girls. Maybe that's because this is a fully adult film, one which encourages us to challenge authority and work together to achieve very long-term goals. And maybe because Cloud Atlas shows how depraved the opposite, selfish approach can become. I wish we'd been able to take every reluctant or undecided voter to see this film. But at least we can see it now, for nearly three hours of pure pleasure and a big recharge to the activist batteries.… Expand

This movie is the kind of stuff that often splits people in two: those who enjoy life as it flows, no matter if good or bad, and those who always keep checklists at hand, hoping that assessing and measuring everything will encompass reality and maybe prevent them from harm. This duplicity in audience approach to the movie is embodied in the film itself, and to me that is a proof of its importance. Tons of stories about light vs. darkness (and about their being insolubly inter-weaved) have been told throughout the eras; this is another great opportunity to clinch the message, not to find some never-expressed-before meaning. The way it's conveyed makes it worth to experience Cloud atlas. His holiness The Matrix itself wasn't free from referencing: we cannot neglect culture, after all, we're all imbued in it. So turn off the judging critic inside your mind and just enjoy the ride in the depths of complexity, it's one of those you… Expand

Possibly the greatest but certainly the most ambitious film of the year. Watching it for the first time I knew i was in for a movie that would require and invite repeated viewings. Absolutely breathtaking. Every is storyline is spectacular and gets enough screen-time in the near-3-hour timespan. The only complaint, albeit a very minor one, is that the casting decisions are sometimes a little distracting.… Expand

If this film does one things it's show off what state-of-the-art make-up artistry can do: a select all-star cast plays a ton of different characters across six different timelines which are all interwoven and interconnected. The plot (and film) is meant to be epic -it does look it- but it doesn't feel like that to me. Somehow dispite all the exellent VFX, make-up, acting and poetry-like dialogue it fails to connect emotionally. It is however commendable that they at least try to engage the audience with a more complex story than say robots and screaming teenagers, but the utter failure of this movie at the boxoffice doesn't bode well for the more intellectual type of scifi entertainment -even if it doesn't fire on all cylinders like this one. Even if you might end up hating it I would recommend spending the 3 hours coz it might be a long time before we see something similar again :/… Expand

Quick summary of Cloud Atlas: a movie that ties 6 stories together, they all suck, so it's necessary to keep them alternating in order to avoid a lot of focus in an specific one, otherwise anyone would notice it's innumerous flaws. Also, why does Cloud Atlas tries to teach you "life lessons"? It's ridiculous, it's like the writer though his philosophy was the only truth so he has to put in the movie things like "you have to help the others", "afterlife exists", etc. That is pointless, what about this: anyone believes in whatever they want and period.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One: Hugo Weaving and yellowface don't mix. Two: all the religions in the world is supplanted by a hot-chic-asian-submissive-cloned-prostitute-prophetess with nothing substantial to say other than, "be excellent to each other," minus the, "party on dudes." Three: the Irish doctor Tom Hanks plays is ironically exactly what Tom Hanks looks like without makeup and plastic surgery, he's magically delicious! Four: There are more flashbacks and flashforwards in this one movie than I have seen in a lifetime. Five: If this is reincarnation than Karma is broken. Six: Oh I get the Soylent Green line now, a little "foreshadowing" thing going on there; hint hint wink wink. Seven: WTF?!… Expand

Really disliked it. Couldn't connect or relate to any of the characters. The 6 stories were a low blow and a badly made one at capitalism, but they didn't seem to connect at all. The stories were bad individually and collectively they are worse. It's three hours but it feels like ages. In my opinion it was also one of the worst performances made by Tom Hanks...

An unexceptionable film. One of the best I have ever seen, in fact. The movie is an amalgamation of 6 lives and how their karma effects their reincarnation into difference spaces along the path of time. Some characters learn and grow, and others fall further down into the wellspring of bad karma, but the overall themes of the film, that love grants salvation, is something everyone can relate to. It may require at least two sittings to pick up all the details of each story line, but this film is worth every moment. The idea that karma does not distinguish between race, gender, or even space and time is repeated through several timelines, and while it make take you a moment to work out how they are all connected, when you go, the aha-moment will have you falling in love with this film. At times gruesome, at times poignant, at times amusing, but always entertaining and fulfilling.… Expand

This movie was so amazing . I love the screenplay and visual effects. They did a good job with adapting the story into a great movie. The directing for the movie is superb. The story is a grat blend of genres. The movie might be a little to arty for but for the ones that enjoy movie that tell the story from the style of directing and visual effects , you will love the movie. I live all the characters to the movie, this is my pick for movie of 2012. It is a very risky movie to shoot and it should have more buzz than it has now. The score to the movie was .outstanding .… Expand

Impressions and expressions do matter. I did travel in past lives using new method techniques and this motion picture conveys something like that. I really admire the impact this movie caused in me. I would say it is the truetrue continuation of the matrix series.
Impressions and expressions do matter.

Ambitious, symbolic, beautiful and utterly breathtaking; with impressive visuals, a great story arch and brilliant acting and directing, Cloud Atlas is a successful attempt to turn an "un-filmable" novel into a well-adaptated masterpiece.

It is the first movie I saw on this year and I am already convinced that will be the best, I don

This is by far the most inspiring, emotional, exhilarating, funny and action-packed 21st century philosophical work disguised as a really good movie! The brothers have done it again!

Sprawling, and incredibly cast, Cloud Atlas is a film that surely has divided everyone who has seen it. Is it another self indulgent effort from the Watchowski Siblings, or a Masterpiece? Based on what is considered as an unfilmable novel, Cloud Atlas starts of as a project of such high risk, that the Watchowskis have difficulties finding the right investors. Why not? It is an Art Film with a Blockbuster budget. At its heart though, it is one of the more contemplative film that they have made since the Matrix, using every trick in the book a film that pushes the envelope so far, that it flops miserably. Only time will tell whether it joins the pantheon of 'visionary', 'much beyond its time' film making such as 'Blade Runner'. The question is will anyone give the Watchowskis', one of the most daring visionary film makers of their generation, another set of budgets after two flops in succession?… Expand

Incredibly incredible and amazingly amazing. Some say that the six stories are not connected, I would say you are not paying attention. The stories are so separated and united at the same time, all is about the theme of the film that "our lives are not our own, we are bounded to others. Past and present, by each crime and every kindness, rebirth our future." Those are the lines that connect all the stories so tightly. It's about Karma and causality, that we still have to be responsible for what we did in a way or another, sooner or later.
There is a Chinese old saying, "The sea admits hundreds of rivers for its capacity to hold." and Cloud Atlas is also a movie that is capable to hold thousands of years and different kinds of culture and emotions, you can feel excited, sad, happy, funny, desperate cross over the whole movie. Moreover, fighting for what they wanted is also another subject. they fight for their friends, even he is just a slave, for their love, maybe your gay lover or your cloned girlfriend, no matter what 's their intention, sacrificing and fighting for our love are always so beautiful and emotionally engaging. All those little pieces synthesize such a incredibly and amazing film.… Expand

too much for nothing... the trend of overfictioning philosophical meanings of life and mankind - inception and few others got it right, but not this one.

One of the characters gives empathy a divine virtue status by saying that 'the ability of looking through someone else's eyes is the truth'. Best sentence to be in a movie ever,

Cinematically beautiful with a great cast but definitely played out like a bunch of trailers all ready and willing to make the next great film. The music in the film tried too hard and was over exaggerated half the time as well. This movie also could've told its story in less time, it drew out scenes which became confusing at times.

This film will be unappreciated, mainly because of its complexity and length. But it is one of the best films I've seen this year. It has many themes and a great immersive story.

Entertaining and engaging. What else is matters? The stories piece together (some better than others) in a way that is a little confusing at first but soon feels natural and fluid. Great job with the editing. I can't imagine many films that'd be harder to edit than Cloud Atlas.

It was fun seeing each actor take on so many roles, but even more fun when I realised my mind had started separating them, making them their own characters as they should be. This is a credit to the acting/direction and makeup of each character.

I wish more people would give it a chance. It's a miracle the film got financed and made at all, and for it to come out so well is a testament to the love for the project the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer have, If only people would sit down and watch the film. Really watch it. Listen to every word. See every set, every costume, hear every atmos track. Just sit back and be drawn into this (read: these) worlds. There's no way you can't enjoy this film that literally offers something for everyone as it melds together so many genres.… Expand

Cloud Atlas is a curious film. It sets its ambitions to astronomical levels but at the end of the days does what it does well but is not at all a revolutionary film nor is it free of flaws. There is an emotional prize at the end if you can bear with the long convolution plot with six distinct stories played by a handful of the same actors and actresses that transcend race and gender. My biggest gripe with the movie was without a doubt the inclusion of unnecessary scenes in the movie. Sure, the 1936 plot involved a bisexual male but did they have to really articulate homosexual innuendos to such degree? Its one thing to vouch for gender equality rights and another to gross the crap out of the audience. Every single person in the room who saw this film with me felt extremely uncomfortable at the gay scenes involving the 1936 music composer. I mean, sure he's gay we get that and we can empathize with his lovelife but I felt that the Wachowski's went overboard with the 'feel sorry for homos' stuff. On the other hand, was the revealing if mercifully brief sex scene involving Sonmi really necessary? A kissing scene would have sufficed. If I want to watch the intimate shots of an Asian woman GRINDING on some guy's penis, I would simply go to a porn site. Oh and what the hell is with the White-guy-with-Asian-makeup-to-make-them-look-Asian **** I dont mind the gender swaps in some of the plotlines. In fact, it just shows how talented actors like Weaving, Berry, Hanks and Grant be. Putting prosthetic makeup on a white guy to make him look Asian is not only laughable at viewing but is also ultimately offensive. Why not just hire a Asian actor? Would the plot really have suffered if they had not used the same actor seen in other plotlines? Apart from those little niggles, the film excels in other departments. Cinematography is excellent, the acting brilliant and the film score...one of the best in recent times. I just felt that the Cloud Atlas Sextet is ultimately underutilized in the film as a whole. Its often too faint to be heard or too brief to make an impact. Thankfully, the credits serves this purpose but at the end of the day, had they used the score more and in appropriate scenes, I felt that the movie would have benefited a lot more. While all six plotlines are great, in the end, the ones that felt most well done and enjoyable are without a doubt Rey's 1973 plot, Cavendish's 2012 plot and the Post-Apocalyptic Zachary plot. On the note of Zachary's story, it actually got me intrigued on the premise of it - so apparently the world collapsed under some cataclysm and humanity had been reduced to primitive tribes and a handful of still advance humans. I would've love to hear more about what happened at The Fall, how the Prescients had survived this and where they were in this era, what happened to the empty lands of the world after The Fall and on the colonies on the other planets. All in all, Cloud Atlas is a brilliant film that rewards the viewer with an emotional gift but at the expense of sitting through nearly 3 hours of elongated plotlines filled with action, drama and dull, unnecessary moments. This should've been a 2~2.5 hour film in this standard OR a 3 hour that's filled with info. Instead we get a 3 hour film that is essentially a 2 hour film stretched to its brim with rudimentary moments. You may hate it, you may love, but at the end of the day, it will have an impact on your movie-watching experience. An ambitious title that could've been a lot better had its significant flaws been ironed out and the Cloud Atlas sextet been utilized more frequently.… Expand

A three-hour investment to watch a film that has generated ridiculously bad reviews from most of the major critics is such a risky decision especially when the film has also failed at the box-office meaning that not even the audiences have liked the film. BUT! Cloud Atlas is much more than that. This is not a child's play to incorporate six different storylines in a single film especially when they all are so complex and their interrelation seems nearly impossible at times. Hats off to the Wachowski Brothers and Tom Tykwer for their tremendous effort by making a film whose novel is already complicated but the way they have executed the entire film is marvelous. I don't have words to describe how impressed I am with their work on this film, it is utterly excellent. Honestly, at first, the film seemed like a disappointment to me, I was trying so hard to figure out what does all of it mean which was preventing me from the main purpose i.e. enjoying the film. But gradually, throughout these three hours, I started understanding what is going on and it finally started making a LITTLE sense. Of course, everyone has their own interpretations about the film but the real and common one is that "everything is connected, your past may affect your present as well as your future." This can be thought of like that every individual's actions in a particular storyline affects the actions of other individuals in the different storylines. It can be seen like a phase in a human life, in which a person is bad at first, then he realizes that he is doing wrong and then in the end, he finally stands up for what is right. But this explanation doesn't fit all the individuals' stories like Hugo Weaving, he is evil in all of the storylines and maybe it's because his soul never realizes that it is doing wrong. Neither does it fit Tom Hanks' stories because he is a bad, greedy guy in the first storyline and then he becomes a good person and after that he becomes a bad person again and then finally, in the last stoyline, he becomes a good person, which doesn't make any sense. The more you try to figure out the plot of the film and interpret it in different ways, the more you start finding different explanations of how it could be possible. The film's brilliant (and far more complicated than I first thought) storyline is supported by phenomenal performances by the entire cast members. Every single one of them has played his/her roles wonderfully and that is also supported by the factor of beautiful make-up and styling to completely adapt them in their respective roles in different storylines. It completely blows you away, you can't even recognize that there are the same individuals in all of the storylines. Visual effects are great and so is the cinematography. Screenplay is really clever, because I have been reading that it varies from the novel and inverts the ending of all the storylines and it still has been incorporated properly and doesn't seem wrong. I might not read the novel because if I do, I'd be confused again and I don't want that. This is really not an all-audiences film, most of the people are not liking it because of the complications in the storylines and the confusing narrative but what it actually demands is your complete concentration because without it, you cannot understand what the real message and the purpose of this film really is, what exactly are the Wachowski Brothers trying to deliver to us, why did they choose to make this movie. All of the questions are answered if you watch the movie with complete attention and remember everything from the beginning until the end, it is really important. Cloud Atlas is easily one of the most complicated and daring films I have ever watched in my life. From the rough idea, you can guess that it would fail miserably but the Wachowski Brothers still made it for us because it is necessary to remind everyone what the real power of filmmaking is!… Expand

Possibly one the greatest movies I've seen. The Wachowski's have done it again. I created an account just for the sole reason of writing a review on this film. It inspired me so much. This is what visionary cinema is all about. Yes, its 3 hours long. Yes, it's complex. Yes, there where moments where I couldn't quite work out what was happening, however, I accepted this challenge and the rewards were immense. If you are awoken, you will see the undercurrent to this movie. That's the people giving it 10 scores. Those who give this anything less than 5 should perhaps restrict themselves to movies such as the Expendables or the Transformers franchise. Something that lasts 1hr15mins to keep the attention and with a plot line you could follow as a 5 year old. This is NOT that film. I've never watched the same movie twice at a cinema.. this will be the first. It's a master piece and will be a cult classic. And the soundtrack is glorious!… Expand

I have walked out on 3 movies in 46 years. 1. Eyes wide shut. If youve seen it you understand whether you want to admit it or not.
2. Earnest Goes to Camp ( Drive in theater. I was 18 She was done with her business and I was done with mine. We left the show)
3. This miserable piece of crap. Cloud Atlas. WTF? Only movie I've ever asked for my my money back.

It tries too hard to tell 6 stories that simply are not interesting either independently or related to one another.
Some of the make-ups were just atrocious.

The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer join forces, and they deliver their best work since The Matrix and Run Lola Run, respectively. Cloud Atlas was quite an undertaking that tackles 6 different storylines from 6 different timelines; some of which hosts different genres - ranging from dark comedy to broad sci-fi action. Each story contains the reincarnate of all the main characters, which spans race and gender. And thanks to the divisive make-up designs, the actors were able to cross these demographics and respectively play their reincarnates (or past lives). This was such a creative move made by the directors and I do applaud them for that. I question the degree of connection between a few of these story arcs; but the film was made with so much structural complexity and such grandiosity, it… Expand

The movie was nothing special. It was 40 minutes longer than it supposed to be. The stories (and the story as a whole) was cliché ridden and very predictable. The "meaning" or "message" of the movie could be told in 20 minutes. I did not like how the directors cast their actors to different sexes, races. I think it was very distracting at some points. I did not like that some stories were too "funny" (retirement home storyline) and some stories were very dark in tone (Neo-Seoul storyline). I didn't feel the stories were coherent enough. Maybe with less directors it could have been a better movie. Overall average.… Expand

Anyone who doesn't like this movie is just stupid.

It's way beyond the Matrix in terms of philosophy, plot complexity, and so forth. It's not as obsessed with action as it is the interconnected weavings of characters, which is central to the entire film. The point is that "our lives are not our own," and it shows this in a way no other film ever could.

A rather major (though not entire) misfire. The ostensible reason for switching back and forth among stories is that viewers could not follow the presentation in David Mitchell's original book where the stories are suspended in the middle and picked up hundreds of pages later, as well as to develop the "transmigration of souls" theme (which is also reinforced by the casting of the same actors in all six stories). The problem with this approach (apart from the fact that the reincarnation idea is neither essential nor clearly developed in the book) is that the integrity or coherence (and hence effectiveness) of each of the stories is sacrificed in the process. It's hard for me to believe that anyone who has not read the book could possibly follow each of the stories as presented in the movie.( the stories could have been presented in serial order without interruption, or in an interconnected way that was perfected by, say, Robert Altman.) But over and beyond this, the degree to which each story is fractured and the speed with which the directors move back and forth among stories is completely unnecessary for their cinematic conceit.. In addition, much of the storytelling here, unlike Mitchell's book, is almost cartoonish in its exaggeration; and the Wachowkis' turning of the Somni-451 story into a Matrix/Star Wars epic is totally unforgivable for anyone who claims to have an appreciation of the novel. (The Somni-451 and the post-apocalyptic Hawaii stories are, admittedly, the weakest part of that novel--which is itself a bit overrated, in my opinion--but they certainly deserve a better translation than they receive here.) The attraction of Cloud Atlas as a novel is the way in which Mitchell presents six different stories in six different literary styles recalling or imitating six different literary genres. This feature is completely (and unnecessarily) obscured by the movie. What an expensive shame!… Expand

If you didn't like this movie then you weren't intelligent enough to get it. And if you were obsessed with believing that this film is racist in any way then you REALLY didn't comprehend it. That's all I have to say on the matter. Wonderful piece of art.

If the source novel from David Mitchell is claimed to be "the most impossible one to be adapted to a feature film", the true grit behind the director trio alone merits some accolade. But the critical box-office feedback firmly suggests they will never retrieve the gargantuan budget (over 100,000,000$ for production and nothing else), while being under the barrage of divisive reviews from the critics, an ominous pre-watch hunch could never be dissolved until I finally watched it on the super-big screen (not as large as an IMAX) in the cinema, and I must confess it comes out far "stunning" than I had expected.

Graphically bountiful visual stunts of 6 inter-linked stories which stretch across different eras (from primitive tribe to a clone-ed future world) certainly has paid off its lengthy running time, 172 minutes passed by fleetingly with more anticipation was still hanging there when the ending credits inconveniently started to roll. CLOUD ATLAS is a cleverly designed omnibus, using same actors playing multiple roles in different sub-stories, consistently establishes a sense of reincarnation and an almost sacred disposition to influence a more elusive and conscience-contingent point-of-view into its viewer… Expand

I was so excited to see this film and i ended up being pretty disappointed. I think it was a good idea but executed entirely wrong. I will give a nod to the actors, it was not their performance that ruined it for me but the storyline was just plain confusing. It kept jumping from era to era and with the same actors playing mainly different roles I had trouble remembering what story I was in. I would suggest seeing it but prepare to be fully confused for the 20 minutes and then slightly confused for the rest. I think it takes a certain kind of person to like this movie. It just wasn't my cup of tea.… Expand

Not a good film for the dumb. What you are experiencing is a complex weaving of lives, all of which are basically the same, lived from different points in time and space. The best way to understand the film is to walk around a populated area and image yourself as the other people. That old black woman, I was her once. She was me once. And so on. "Our lives are not our own." It's not all THAT complicated. But that's the gist of the film. Reviewers who didn't like how it was done didn't stop to think about why it was done that way. That is exactly why it was done that way.… Expand

Cloud Atlas -- I don't get it. While I was mesmerized by many breathtaking scenes and actor's playing different roles, I just didn't get the point of the whole story. None of the stories made me care. I found myself trying to figure out which actor was behind some heavy make up.

Genres can be a constriction on a film, letting itself be restricted by boundaries set by the type of film it is. It is more often than not, the movies that defy their genre which intrigue and

This is actually not one, but 6 great movies in one nice packing. The movies are connected by the idea of modern humanism (mostly the idea of freedom), by the recurring actors (some play up to 6 different roles) and certain catch phrases. Agent Smith is brilliant in all his roles, especially the female one. This movie has a little bit of everything: futuristic sci-fi, drama, action, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of a detective story, some love, some friendship, but at the same time it's very different from what Hollywood usually has to offer in a good sense of novelty and originality.… Expand

This is a profoundly 'good' film. Not only in it's production, it's plot and the quality of the directing, acting, music and visual effects, though all are impeccable.

It is also a genuinely touching film, making the world a slightly better place just by having been made.

We only get gems like this a few times in a lifetime, I would easily count this among the best movies I have ever seen.

When I went to see this film, I had just finished the book, and I decided to be mindful of the fact that the book is so uniquely structured and long, and as most people stated before the movie came out, "virtually unfilmable." So let me start with the good: I have to applaud the filmmakers for their ambitious attempts and I don't consider the film and utter failure, however: they made some fundamentally bad decisions, starting with the cast. It's not that I hate the actors they chose (I have neutral-to-generally-positive feelings towards most of them), it's how they chose to cast them for multiple roles: they were trying to instill the idea of reincarnation, which I think they conveyed just fine in their many many overdone narrative monologues. I also found the choice to cast actors for multiple parts of such different races distasteful: I hear people talking about the film deserving best make-up awards, but I did not, for a moment, believe that any of the characters looked like the race they were supposed to be portraying. The attempts were unsuccessful and frankly, to me (a European-Asian-American), genuinely offensive. The actors themselves, were neither terrible nor great. The intercutting of the different scenes was, for the most part, clever, and probably the best way they could have translated the structure of the novel into filmic language. There are also immense plot changes that I won't even bother to get into, because they alone are not my biggest gripe with the film. Its biggest flaw is that it robs the book of its ideology and turns what is a very complex narrative into what is in comparison, a banal film about interwoven love stories. David Mitchell expressed his full support for the film, but if I were him, I would be appalled at the overromanticized diluted three-hour mess the filmmakers turned a great novel into.
If you enjoyed the movie as is, without the book, I can understand. However, consider reading the book. To me, it felt that when I watched the movie, I really only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg: there is so much more to the book and it's worth a read to get a better understanding and much more fleshed-out version of each nested story, not to mention some VITAL themes that were left out of the movie altogether.… Expand

This is probably one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. The problems with it are very minor that I see people making a large issue of, or it's that they didn't catch what the movie was portraying. Which I don't blame them. I didn't see nearly as much on my first viewing. The stories are very well tied together despite how it may make it look like they're not. They tend to focus a lot more on the storytelling than they do on the actual links between timelines. Understandably so, for the movie was already a bit long.… Expand

amazing movie,i need to see it again!
Forget the critics,go see it! cloud atlas is one of the best movies of the year!
and you never will see a movie like this anymore.

I rarely use this rating. But I left the theater saying and feeling that the movie was PERFECT. Well paced and cast. The Movie has so many small details that cause you to want to go back and rewatch it over and over again.

Half the fun of the film is figuring out who is playing who in each time line and discovering the connections that bring each of the main characters together. The writing is top notch and so is the visuals. I can't wait to buy it and watch the movie at home with my wife.....for the 20th time… Expand

This movies near-perfect editing is astounding. Sure, it may be a little gimmicky, but the real masterpiece to behold is the way they seamlessly transition from scene to scene with a related topic, yet it transitions to a different experience entirely. Best way I can explain it; you're flipping the channel between 6 movies for 3 hours, but every time you change the channel it relates to the movie you switched to, and it all has a time-transcending theme. The 6 movies not only differ in time, or character, but they also differ in Genre. Historical Fiction, Romance, Suspense Thriller, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Post-Sci-Fi (post apocalyptic). How they manage to lump it all together into an ADD-reminiscent experience, yet still be successfully coherent is beyond me.… Expand

There is so much wrong with this sludge of a "movie" that 5000 characters will simply not suffice to mention all the stupidities & failures. So I'll make it short: SECOND.WORST.MOVIE.EVER. (Tree fo Life is still holding the No. 1 position) Banging your head against the wall for 3 hours will be less of a torture than sitting through this abomination.

I just want to tell the world what a wonderful movie that is. I came out of the movie theater as a changed man. Can't stop thinking about it and I'm definitely going again as that was the shortest 3hrs I've ever experienced. I want, no, I NEED more. Already bought the book too. Do yourself a favor and go see it. Now.

Cloud Atlas is a cornily enthralling sci-fi. It seems to be like cramming the entire plot into 1. It's more like a pulpy middle brow trip. Its strange but cool

This movie tries so hard to be emotional by cramming in as many characters and story lines as possible, without ever making the audience care. Everyone that says it is so great, is in denial. This movie will not win any awards. I guarantee it. I have never walked out before the end of a movie until I saw this. Terrible.

The movie starts off asking for forgiveness through, through a narrative, for telling a story simultaneously from different vantage points. I decided to give the story the benefit of the doubt, and settled in for a ride without criticising it as it unfolded.

Many people say that the stories were loosely tied together, and were not that fundamentally symmetrical. That's the point imo. It is a story that shows how actions we choose echo through both past and future creating a new set of conditions which we have to then choose between. As we choose, the consequences good or bad echo through the ages yet again. That we are agents of free will but also have great influence in the creation and destruction of the possibilities we encounter. That Karma from our actions cascades back and forth between our 'past and future lives', and if we encounter events which we believe are out of our control in this life, it is because of our actions in another life are re-writing the conditions we face.

Overall I really enjoyed the story, the concept, the visuals, and sound. Really good movie.… Expand

My wife had read the book and thought the book to be excellent. However, we both thought the movie had little if any any value on any level. It was pretentious, gratuitously violent at every turn, and came off as a murky vapid redundant stew of ludicrously trite pseudo-intellectual bunk. If you want something new, exceptional, with depth and quality, go see A Late Quartet before it's gone from theaters.… Expand

My wife picked this movie....that's the last time I let her do that. If this movie wins even one Oscar I might boycott movies. This movie is like that one kid in school who tries way way way too hard. Awkward and ultimately tragic. The only reason I'm not giving this the lowest score possible is because it has Halle Berry.

Probably the best movie I have seen in a long time. This movie is only for those people who are opened-minded enough to see it. It takes you on a whirlwind voyage from past, to present, to future and, the funny thing is, if you watch it with the intention of learning where your place is in the whole scheme of things, the 2 hours 50 mins playing time seem like it comes and goes way too quickly. I never got bored once and my attention stayed on the screen as you walk, drift, and fly with each character in his/her story. A wonderful vision the collaborative efforts of both the actors and directors that culminate in a movie I will most certainly watch time and time again. I'm hoping the extended version of the directors' cut comes out on blu. Read the book, it helps with the details as the movie moves just a little too fast leaving out some details that add to each story (as is expected when a novel goes to the big screen).… Expand

As polarizing as The Tree of Life, Cloud Atlas is an original and ambitious film, blending too many genres to count and making bold risks that should only be admired. Taking place in the distant past, the far future, and everything in between, the movie tells six stories that are all interesting in their own right, slipping between the separate threads with surprising ease. Objectively, Cloud Atlas is superb on a technical level, a fact that should not go ignored. Another fact: the visuals are stunning, benefiting from the wonderful cinematography. What is more, the acting is terrific, with Tom Hanks and Halle Berry really giving their best performances in recent memory. As I hope the academy recognizes, the makeup in Cloud Atlas is masterfully done, rendering even the most recognizable actors unrecognizable. On one hand, Cloud Atlas is not, as some critics have tried to label it, pseudo-intellectual garbage . On the other hand, Cloud Atlas is not a pretentious film that prides itself in being too "smart" for the majority of its viewers to grasp, hiding behind the guise of "art". Fortunately, the plot of the film is easy to grasp if you are paying attention, and there is far less ambiguity than you might expect. Most importantly, paying nearly three hours of close attention is worth it; Cloud Atlas builds to a sensational, emotional climax that is impossible to forget.… Expand

It's crazy and mind-blowing.

i think it's one of the best movie's i've ever seen. so hard to make, and they did such a good job. it's kind of like an impossible stage play. it has that literary adaptation quality to it, where it's almost rigid like a play at times, and yet so full of life too. and it just keeps rolling. it's very long and very entertaining the whole time. i don't know what to say to make you see it....but give the movie a shot, it's awesome.… Expand

One of the best pieces of art that I have ever perceived. Weak minds, or distracted viewers, will give this film a bad name, please do not listen to them. I have the impression that this film has spoiled me; from now on I want my art as sophisticated, complex and captivating as this. If anyone who had something to do in this film reads this by any chance, I just want to tell you thank you. : I sometimes cry at films, and at the part of ''how do you imagine heaven?'' and the door being opened, I asked to myself ''why am I not crying?'', and realised that because it was something too beautiful to spill tears for; the music, the scene, the movement, the nods that were tied to that moment, simply amazing.… Expand

From reading the mixed reviews, I expected Cloud Atlas to be an incomprehensible, wildly uneven mess of a movie, but that could not be further from the truth. It is an ambitious triumph of film-making audacity. If you pay attention, there is a strong theme - that in life one must make choices, and these choices are irreversible . Those that make courageous choices are celebrated. We also see that the consequences of brave choices are variable, but that each choice a person makes has consequences that ripple out across whole worlds of people. The concept of spiritual connectedness is explored in great depth throughout all six interrelated stories. The ending is very moving. If you are contemplating seeing Cloud Atlas, but are afraid it will lose you in its complications, don't be. It is one of the few complicated epics I've seen that really works, even if you are left with questions afterwards. A really fine return to form for the Wachoiwski siblings and Tom Twyker, and a wonderful, sophisticated movie-going experience.… Expand

It seems that most of the negative reviews about the coherence between stories are similar to complaints about Inception when it first debuted - it was too confusing to follow all the different layers. If you have a small attention span and cannot follow complex plots, skip this movie and catch something a little simpler. If, however, you are able to follow along (not a difficult feat, mind you), this movie will astound you. It's beautiful and moving in ways that not a lot of films are, and it will definitely stay with you for a while.… Expand

I haven't had this much fun at the movies in a long, long time. I mean, this film is absolutely ridiculous. There are a million storylines, actors playing multiple characters (of different races), it spans hundreds of years... and it all somehow works, at least for me. The storylines were fleshed out, the actors embody each of their characters with remarkable skill... If nothing else, "Cloud Atlas" is one of the most ambitious films ever made, and possibly one of the greatest. Of course, it all depends on whether or not you can accept the utter ridiculousness that comes with a narrative of this scope, but if you can, it's a ton of intelligent, crazy fun.… Expand

I went into cloud atlas with fairly high expectations. A close friend of mine was raving about it being a return to form for the Wachowskis. It's now been around 4 days after leaving the theater and the movie is still on my mind. I was amazed to see the backlash the movie received from the critics. In my opinion, it was a remarkable and moving epic, evoking themes rarely visited in cinema let alone any art form. I'm planning on seeing it again; it is easily my favorite of the year. It seems that the people that came away disappointed were focusing on the details of each individual story not realizing that the big picture is what this move is all about. Don't get bogged down with the reincarnation theme. The spectacular stitching of stories and tone makes the six stories into one; strengthening the motif of interconnectedness of people between the times. I rarely get choked up when watching movies. Cloud Atlas is an emotional masterpiece.… Expand

They say its too long. They say it doesn't make sense. I was very surprised by these comments. At 3 hours I didn't want it to end. It takes you through the human experience and it doesn't spoon feed you. if you snooze while watching you won't get it. It's about getting involved with the stories. I Just loved it. Saw it twice and enjoyed it even more the second time.

Never while watching a film, have I been so utterly perplexed. Even as the credits began to roll, my jaw was dropped, my eyes glued to the screen. What had I just witnessed? At that point, I wasn

It has been interesting to see the great divide among critics on this film. I have to say I can understand anyone who either hates or loves this film. This is because I fall in the middle in so many areas. This film is divided into 6 distinct parts with most of the actors playing a different character in each section. This is both the problem and everything that is right with this movie. There are 4 sections of this film where the story is extremely intriguing, the acting is spot on and there is a nice emotional hook at the climax of the story arc. There is one time period that I wish would have been left out of the movie all together. I believe it is meant to be the comedy relief of the film. Unfortunately it doesn't get any laughs, has 3 or 4 characters that are reprehensible, and doesn't seem to be needed to tie the other stories together. There is also one story line that sums up the way I feel about the movie quite nicely. The plot in it is not particular interesting, but it does have one of the better characters in the movie in it, and is very necessary to tie together some of the other time periods. Much has been made about the makeup in this movie and again I see what a lot of people have found disturbing about some of these makeup jobs, there are 4 that are really poorly done and can take you out of the movie. While I was watching this film I had mixed emotions as well. For probably the first hour I was wondering if I would ever be interested in any of these characters and at times was quite bored. Then the movie picks up steam and I became quite intrigued by what was happening. By the third act I was hooked by the 3 or 4 of the story lines, and the payoff in each was very good. I do have to add my favorite parts of this film come in the direction. The way that the time periods are cut together and the transition devices they use are phenomenal. The score for this film is also fantastic. The way this film is put together and the quality of a couple of the time periods will have me revisiting this film in the future.… Expand

Ever since the first time I saw the trailer for this film, I've been intrigued as to how such an intertwisting of differing tales could possibly be portrayed coherently and, more importantly, meaningfully on-screen (or in any medium, frankly). Intent on finding out, I decided to read the book before the movie was released. I was much exhilarated by the boldness of the book, and only slightly disappointed by the weakness of some of the stories portrayed there. I say this not because the movie reflects such weaknesses, but because it takes the weaknesses and turns them into wild, weeping, glowing success. While the book follows each tale in a tiered, orderly fashion - alphabetically in chronological order: ABCDEFEDCBA respectively (A being the 1830s, F being some unknown date in the deep future) - the movie twists and contorts the entire story by switching almost randomly between each tale in a meaningful and telling way. Where in the book, a story may end on a somber and somewhat uneventful note, the movie wraps that ending amongst other happenings from the other stories to provide context the book fails to adequately capture or express. Albeit, this is mostly done by much-abbreviating each story and condensing general plot structures to super-saturated levels compared to the book's meanderings. Nevertheless, the movie does not fail to capture the essence of each.

What struck me the hardest, however, was not the way each story was interwoven in the film, but how the film actually manages to improve many of the stories by condensing them. The characters the book familiarizes the reader with are suddenly granted the respect they deserve in their much-heightened Hollywood movie aspects, and I respect the filmmakers for giving them the chance to shine.

The obvious downside to all of this is that reading the novel is an absolutely necessary prerequisite for watching the film. Otherwise, the pure joy you find in each story made new, each character given a better chance to fulfill their role, and the meaning behind the story-weaving device all become an incomprehensible muddle of six slightly disappointing tales told in a new but annoying fashion. Nevertheless, despite this downside, I cannot help but give this movie high marks; they took the material, absorbed it thoroughly, and from it built a glorious masterpiece. If only the book could be sold as appendices to the film's great triumph.… Expand

The movie is very complex, it consists of six different stories occurring in different time periods, but all of them are somehow connected to each other. The stories keep you thrilled during all three hours of this movie. There are some deep ideas here, though I'm sure that a lot of people will find this movie boring because of lack of action scenes. Summing up, I'd say that this is probably The Best Movie in 2012.… Expand

Cloud Atlas may be the best movie the Wachowskis have ever made... and nobody is seeing it.

Ironically, there's a line in the movie delivered to a composer: "You may write the best symphony of all time, but it won't matter because no one will listen to it."

If you haven't seen it yet, check it out. It is beautiful and complex and touching and rich. It will barrage your senses and excite the intellect.… Expand