9 (2005)

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

We find ourselves on a post-apocalyptic planet looking similar to the Earth in Wall-E watching strange acts including books and light-bulbs performed by two small rag-dolls. We also see a strange metallic creature, considerably superior in size to the dolls, being on the hunt. It attacks doll#5 and kills it while absorbing its soul right afterward. Doll#9, however, manages to hide successfully and goes on with its experiments. Not much later, the metal predator is out again having its attention focused on another rag-doll. The moment it catches the doll, however, #9 appears in safe distance and we realize the one caught by the predator is not real, but merely a dummy. Furious with being tricked, the giant soul-eater targets #9 and follows him relentlessly through the bleak scenery. Is it all over for our little hero now?I saw this short-film already quite a while ago for the first time and was not impressed at all judging from the rating I gave it. This time it's different and I'm actually even curious to watch the full feature which was made four years after this Oscar-nominated short. It's probably gonna be different as in the short there was no talking at all and the long version features voice-work from Academy Award winners Landau, Connelly and Plummer. The consensus seems generally positive too, so I'm surprised Acker has not done any further work since then, although he has two projects in development, without release date though. Anyway, back to the short film. If creepy animation à la Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty or Coraline is your cup of tea, you should definitely give this one a go.

I was planning on watching the movie 9 recently until someone pointed out it was an expanded version of a short film that I'd not seen, which made me want to watch the short film in the extras and then leave it a while before watching the more recent version. I probably made the right call on that since the original was made on a much more limited budget to say the least and is much simpler and smaller – so seeing it after a full version may have worked against it. Anyway, what I found was a short film that does what a short film is meant to do – engage and deliver quickly.The plot is not really explained – or at least the background to the world and characters anyways. Instead we are thrown into the middle of it as one ragdoll character has its soul captured by some sort of mechanical creature; this leaves doll #9 to either survive it, kill it or die trying. The short is as simple as that and, in the absence of detail and plot to engage, it is all about atmosphere and feeling. These are almost harder than the visual aspect to create but Acker gets it right, producing a very dark feeling film that engages because of its Gothic feel and dark air. Visually the film works very well even if the limited resources do show. The animation is smooth, the creatures have character and presences with only the slightest touch and the wider world is interesting.Overall this was an enjoyable and dark short film that worked off atmosphere and visual creativity. I will be interested to see if an expansion and additions of characters, voices etc make it a better experience or if it dilutes the simple short too much across a longer running time.

Just watched this-Shane Acker's original short version of the now released feature version of 9. The title character is-as many commentators have mentioned-a rag doll who's on the run from a large creature that just killed a fellow worker with some light bulb gadget. The computer animation is pretty exciting with the chase and I can see why it was nominated for an Academy Award. But I guess because it was so short and there weren't too many details of why all this was happening made me a little unsatisfied with this animated short. In other words, I wanted this to be a little longer. So it's with that being said that I hope the feature version of 9 becomes a much more enjoyable experience than what I saw here...

This is an excellent short animation. The story is well written and directed. The animation sequences remind me of the first oddworld video game. Not that they have similar stories really, or characters, but the overall look and feel somehow remind me of the world painted in that game. The use of silent characters brings a weight to the action and tension happening on screen. The creature is a mixture of junk found within this world, but seems to hunt with a definite purpose. The ending shows us that purpose, and a quick glimpse into what it might be like to live in this tiny world.Very cool short.