A rewrite of Arthur C. Clarke's novel

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2009)

SPOILERS HERE - In very many ways this is a rewrite of "Childhood's End." If you're familiar with the novel, the aliens in the movie are the Overlords, who, as caretakers of a dying Earth, await the final moments of the planet's existence to take the world's children to another place. It is not Eden (definitely not Clarke's intent). And, similar to "2001: A Space Odyssey," also based on Clarke's writings, the children are prepared to master a new home, one they will be able to understand and prosper in. The film can be interpreted in many ways--one of its great strengths--and though wings can be imagined by the wispiness of the aura surrounding the aliens, these individuals are but representatives of a culture intent on, if you will, protecting life and intelligences. That the children are willing to go--and Dad senses the deeper meanings of all of it--points to a pervasive, yet silent communication to humans (or many of them) by the Overlords. Remember, too, that people in many parts of the world were, in one way or another, preparing for the space ships; many of them left Earth at the same time. The non-Eden place featured alien plants, and a tree with nary an apple. The bunnies gave comfort to the children, and, symbolically, pointed to a rapid and gentle population soon to appear. A superb film.