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Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Jennifer Connelly ... see more see more... , Fred Tatasciore , Elijah Wood , Alan Oppenheimer , Tom Kane , Helen Wilson

The time is the too-near future. Powered and enabled by the invention known as the Great Machine, the world's machines have turned on mankind and sparked social unrest, decimating the human population... read more read more... before being largely shut down. But, as our world fell to pieces, a mission began to salvage the legacy of civilization; a group of small creations was given the spark of life by a scientist in the final days of humanity, and they continue to exist post-apocalypse. One of these creations, 9, emerges to display leadership qualities that may help them survive and possibly even thrive. It is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like himself taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.

Flixster Users

58% liked it

268,198 ratings

Critics

56% liked it

179 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: Shane Acker

Release Date: September 9, 2009

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DVD Release Date: December 29, 2009

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Stats: 15,681 reviews

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9 9 official poster official film still official film still official film still Introducing the "9" stitchpunk beings! official film still official film still Introducing the "9" stitchpunk beings! 9 official film still Introducing the "9" stitchpunk beings! official film still official film still official film still official film still official film still
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Flixster Reviews (15,681)

  • jmanard52
    December 30, 2009
    jmanard52
    Interesting take on the dark apocalyptic future world genre.

    The movie is excellent. Well done. Great voice talents and amazing attention to detail by Shane Acker.
  • skeletonking101
    March 25, 2012
    skeletonking101
    Machines. The soul beings that were created to improve our lives, betrayed us. But life is remaining in the form of 9 ragdolls, that are left to stop the remaining robots, and keep the flame of life going.

    9 Takes place in an apocalyptic world where all human life is dead exce... read morept for the soul of one scientist in the form of 9 ragdolls of his creation. While the 9 ragdolls are searching the land one is taken by "The Beast" who takes it to a factory on the outskirts of a city. 2 of the 8 remaining ragdolls go out to look for him only to find him and kill the beast, only to awaken a robot creation long dormant, resurrected by absorbing the life force out of the taken ragdoll. The robot is now trying to kill the ragdolls by building other robots to find and kill them.

    9 is a strange case in terms of voice acting, not just because the first 10 minutes are mute, but the fact that the original short the film was based on was done in a pantomime style, but the voice acting in the film is very well done and I'd say its some of the most well done voice acting I've seen in an animated film. Unlike other animated films where you know the voice actor is a celebrity just by the sound of their voice or the sound of their singing voice, here you don't get that in the least. Each of the voice actors just sound like real people and you feel compassion towards all of them, so you feel generally bad when one of them dies. Which is funny seeing how many of these actors are vetran actors such as Martin Landau, Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connoley, Crispin Glover and Christopher Plummer, but they all just sound like real people coping with the insanity and death going on around them. Christopher Plummer does one of his best performances in this film to me, and don't get me wrong I love Christopher Plummers acting, but here he does such a remarkable job as the leader of the group #1. The power and devotion he gives to this performance makes it one of my favorite performances in an animated film, and the other actors do very good as well. Martin Landau, though having little screen time or dialogue, does a good job and you feel very sad and shocked when they kill him off so early on in the film. But one of the best performances in my mind in the film is John C. Reilly as #5, he is so fun and so well developed as a character that you feel the most compassion towards him seeing how he is the only one to show real compassion to #9 aside from #2 and #7.

    The CG in the film is very well done and makes this post-apocalyptic world look very terrifying and the robot designs used in the film are very creative and awesome to see move and interact with the environments, the way they move and the way they interact with there surroundings are very interesting to watch and very animal like. The designs of the main characters are also interesting, the hands being made out of metal or wood is interesting and the way the eyes and bodies of the ragdolls look very interesting. Rather than other animated films, this film looks like a breath of fresh air in terms of the animation, it doesn't look all bright and colorful like a Pixar film or Dreamworks, it looks grainy and very brown much like Terminator Salvation which suits the nature of the environment the characters live in.

    Overall 9 is one of my favorite animated films and definitely one of Tim Burtons best film collaborations. The animation looks incredible, the characters are well fleshed out and acted, the plot is interesting, and the film leaves with one of those endings that will make you tear up. If I could suggest one of Tim Burtons films or even animated films, I'd suggest this film.
  • fb100002384654145
    March 2, 2012
    fb100002384654145
    The animation is fantastic, however, the film did not give me a whole lot to care for. The story suffers from being a little too dark for kids but at the same time being too simple and straight-foward to adequately engage adults. The character's also lack development, which tak... read morees tension away from the film's action sequences. Combine that with an anti-climatic ending, and the film "9" offers an interesting surreal world to explore but lacks the emotional punch in the story department.
  • fb100002090596996
    January 19, 2012
    fb100002090596996
    I don't see why people hate on this film. I thought the film was a dark, surreal thriller more than anything else. Keep in mind, it's so dark that it's not PG. You must have a strong heart to endure the thematic elements such as loneliness, long stretches without talking, and ver... read morey scary jump scenes involving leftover machines. By the way, I saw this on blu-ray... *Cough* anyway, the story follows as an animated rag doll wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world, meaning everything is run down. He and a few other rag dolls are the only "humans" alive. I say humans in quotations as in, they are only rag dolls, but have human life. Machines suck the life out of these rag dolls, either that, or there slice and diced to death. Continuing, 9 (the main character) finds 2, and half of the other 9 rag dolls (as I said, the others are dead), and... well, just wach the movie yourself. I don't know about the 58% of the people who didn't like it, but I really liked it. I might give it 4 and a half stars if I watched it again... but nah, I've already seen it at least 4 times.
  • fb1672039553
    December 14, 2011
    fb1672039553
    The original short film should have been left alone. A simple concept was stretched thin and added nothing that was worth the effort or your time.
  • aquateen2
    November 6, 2011
    aquateen2
    I wasn't touched, neither really learnt anything I haven't been told before from this far too familiar tale of ragdolls. The trouble is it lacks the complexity that I think it was trying to convey and it falls over to rapturess levels. However it was pulled back up by great atten... read moretion to detail animation and good voice acting. Nevertheless, the story still let's it down.
  • spielberg00
    October 21, 2011
    spielberg00
    9 may be an animated film, but the whole hour and fifteen minutes has a certain feeling of darkness and dread hanging right above you. Call it good or bad, but this film just has Tim Burton written all over it.

    If you want a basic idea of what 9 is, think of THE NIGHTMARE BEFOR... read moreE CHRISTMAS. Then take away the music. Then make it ten times darker. Then add dolls that are used more in a science-y way than a "voodoo magic" way. There you have it.

    Okay, Tim Burton is one good director/producer/screenwriter. But 9, unfortunately, is one of his worst films. We expected so much of it, and the visual we got was fantastic: it was well-animated and all. But as for the plot, we didn't get much. Burton usually has a very interesting plot in his films. Even in BIG FISH, which seemed like a big jump for him, he did a surreal take on a life story. 9 just has little to no storyline, and once it has ended, we have question marks over our heads.
  • StarCrossedVoyager
    October 8, 2011
    StarCrossedVoyager
    An interesting tale of several 'puppets' but I had no sympathy for them. The world was destroyed and these tiny things were supposed to fight back against the massive machines that were constantly destroying it. A good cast and an imaginative world exploring what would happen if ... read moremachines took over but I wasn't very entertained.
  • FilmFanatik
    August 31, 2011
    FilmFanatik
    I really don't understand why people are so hard on this fantastic gem of an animated flick. I really dig the post-apocalyptic landscape, I love all of the characters, I love the score (one of Elfman's finest, in my opinion) and I love the voice performances. I fell in love with ... read morethis one within the first twenty minutes and I was with it all the way to the end. I missed it on the first go round when it was theatrically released, but I'm thrilled that I finally got a chance to see it. Everything about it is just wonderful. It has something for everyone, young and old. It also has an important message that we as humans should heed.
  • DreamExtractor
    August 15, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    Me and my bro watched this and we thought itt was good, chilling and really interesting, very short though, could've been a lot longer, and its one of a few animated PG-13 movies and im happy it is, that made it more cool in my opinion.

View All 9 Reviews

Critic Reviews

Mary F. Pols
September 11, 2009
Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine

In movies, our technology is so often the ruin of us. We got that message from Stanley Kubrick way back when, and we get it now. But couldn't filmmakers let something else ruin us for a change? Even t... Full Review

Dana Stevens
September 10, 2009
Dana Stevens, Slate

It's easy to see why Acker's gifts caught the attention of these directors; he's a visual craftsman of no little promise. Now if he can just stitch together a story with the same loving care that went... Full Review

J. R. Jones
September 10, 2009
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

[Its] splendid visuals are dragged down by a tedious story. Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum
September 9, 2009
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

The expanded cast of creatures looks great, dressed and animated in the homespun style Acker calls ''stitchpunk.'' Full Review

Roger Ebert
September 9, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It might have been an opportunity for the sort of challenging speculation sci-fi is best at, however, and the best reason to see it is simply because of the creativity of its visuals. Full Review

Peter Howell
September 9, 2009
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

The post-apocalyptic adventure 9 adds up to everything except an obvious audience. Full Review

Carrie Rickey
September 9, 2009
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Acker, whose gifts for mood, design, and character design are impressive enough to have attracted Tim Burton as a producer, is more of an artist than a storyteller. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
September 9, 2009
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

It signals the arrival of Shane Acker as an audacious new talent to watch. Full Review

Tom Long
September 9, 2009
Tom Long, Detroit News

9 is a captivating film with much to say about the human spirit -- even if humans are nowhere to be found. Full Review

Andrew O'Hehir
September 8, 2009
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

Acker has created a fitful combination of beautiful, dreamlike images that never knit together forcefully enough to seem individual or convincing. Full Review

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    • #1: They left us nothing. Nothing. Why do we have to right their wrongs?
    • #5: Actually, I don't mind having one eye. It's easier for me. It allows me to concentrate on just one thing at a time, you know?
    • #2: Some things in this world are better left where they lie. But if you know where to look, these ruins are full of riches.
    • #5: [facing the factory] Can I wait here?
    • #5: [about #1] A group must have a leader.
    • #9: But what if he's wrong?
    • #5: [comparing #9 to #2] You know, you're just like him. You forget to remember to be scared.
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  • What platform did Harry have to go to, in order to get on the train to Hogwarts?  Answer »
  • How many members are in the Fellowship of the Ring?  Answer »
  • Which actor has played in 9 films with his character name in the title? (Private Ryan, Mr Ripley, Grimm...)  Answer »
  • In what movie did Quenten Tarintino make where 9 guys planned a robbery but it doesn't turn out the way they planned?  Answer »
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