I need add only this to all the other approving comments: an essential feature of the film is the beautiful music by Angelo Badalamenti.

Great cinematography, great sound, great story and concepts, funny and some really fine acting & script writing…. It has a bit of everything

I'm truly unique and amazing movie, very stylized with a interesting European vibe

I streamed "The City of Lost Children" on Tubi recently, and even if I normally do not watch many subtitled films, I found this French film to be unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced before. I highly recommend this movie, it's one of those movies that you will never forget watching, and the images will stay in your head for a very long time. A beautiful, beautiful, movie that I rate 10 out of 10. I encourage you to read all of the reviews. here and on IMDB.com.

This movie is like one of those strange dream that lingers with you all day after waking up. It is a crazy theatre piece with zanny characters, a mystery plot and an uncanny atmosphere which create a dream-like style à la David Lynch. So, it is indeed not for everybody. But if you like the strangeness, dream-likeness of certain movies, go for it !

Ron Perlman pops up in the STRANGEST places sometimes! what a random filmography he has. anyway; this movie was wild - what an opening scene; loved it. it's an interesting concept - Ron feels a little out of place for me, but overall i quite enjoyed it. dreams fascinate me & this weird, surreal, steampunk take on the subject was, maybe a little over the top, but cool.

This film is good 👍🏼

Stunning! A surreal fantasy about dreams set in a city of dreams and nightmares filled with longing, loss, fear and love. Beautifully done.

Reviews like this are so easy. I watched this -- loved its offbeat charm, thrilled to the fantastic cinematography, visuals such eye-candy, costumes, effects, story line, acting all good . . . imagine that Wizard of Oz charm meets Moulin Rouge flair meets Dark City weird science meets Brazil over-the-top camp. Best of all I went and bought it cheap at eBay, brand new, after renting it. Enjoy this delightfully whacked tale!

One of the weirdest movies I have seen. Right at the beginning, I already felt a creepy and uncomfortable vibe from the characters and the looks. There were a goofy sextuplet and a twin that acted like they were the left and right hemisphere of the brain. The main villain looked creepy, and the headshot made him even weirder. Overall, it's a bizarre and tripping experience. My biggest problems were that the movie was very slow and the weirdness did not help making this movie engaging. 6.5/10

Reading trough that list of movies similar to "BioShock" was the best decision I made in a long, long time... Seriously though, this is my kind of movie: one that puts imagination above all else. And imagination here is undeniable: from the sets, to story, to acting, everything in this movie busts with superb fantasy. Quite dissimilar to anything I saw in the movies (allthough bearring resemblance to some dystopian videogames...), it is also grotesque without being outright disgusting or gory. But if I was a child myself, this movie, I assure you, would probably scare the living daylights out of me. Never before were Christmas so creepy a topic...

"Who stole the child's dreams? Krank, in his evil schemes. But the happy tale had a sting in its tail. The genius has a fit of pique, hear the genius shriek, the "genius" is up a creek." 👁️ Bursting at the seams with sheer style, imagination and invention, this French-German-Spanish sci-fantasy was championed by the equally-weird Terry Gilliam upon its original release in 1995. The second cinematic team-up for Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and with a much bigger budget, is a visual feast for the eyes that failed to captivate international audiences at the box office, yet had stood the test of time to capture the imaginations of cinephiles young and old, thanks to its awe-inspiring optical, practical and visual effects outweighing a confusing and paper-thin plot. A triumph in art direction and design, imagine 'steampunk Blade Runner' and you could be close, few movies before or since have stretched cinematic and studio boundaries quite like this macabre fairytale, which feels less like a narrative feature and more in line with a circus freakshow due to its weirdo casting and grotesque nature. Adding wonderfully to the unique, nostalgia-filled experience is a dark and haunting score from Lynchian stalwart Angelo Badalamenti, balancing much of the humour and tension with a deep sadness that might make these 112 minutes too disturbing for younger viewers. Memorable and cartoonish performances are turned in from the hulking Ron Perlman, devilish Daniel Emilfork, wise beyond her years Judith Vittet and the unforgettable Dominique Pinon, whose rubber-faced antics will be burnt into your brain, and dreams, for the rest of your days. Inspiring creative minds beyond the medium of film, Ken Levine's BioShock series specifically borrows heavily from One and Miette's adventure, and presenting conflicting views on capitalism through the eyes of science, religion and wealth, Caro and Jeunet paint a portrait of a Neo-Victorian industrial society where to dream is to truly live, and a life without a family or love isn't worth living at all. 8/10 three-legged Octopuses.

Love it! One of my fave movies of all time. Real steampunkish! Watched it at least 13 times. So unique, brilliant, dark & twisted, so creative, got a kick out of the twins. Love Miette & names my first cat after her! 😀

An eclectic and kinetically paced visual feast that truly shines for anyone intrigued by oddball movies. The narrative is a bit loose but the film never gets tiring of off track and continually captivates. I get a real Dark city and Delicatessen vibe from the visuals and absurdist comedic bits and that's more than a good thing.

A highly visual film with wonderful production values at all times, there is still plenty to think about here. This film offers a great deal in almost every way at every level for children and adults alike.

I had to rate this movie, as it was a favorite film from my youth.

I thought Heaven was just a concept.

An amazing journey into a dark, spooky world; the City of Lost Children. Caro and Juenet craft a specticle that is unique as it is strange. Love it.

A truly spectacular ending doesn't make up for the first 90 minutes of pure awkward.

The City of Lost Children is a 1995 French film directed by the duo of Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet (the latter whose most well-known for Amelie). The film is set in a surrealist society where a scientist known as Krank, has children kidnapped in order to steal their dreams and slow down his aging process. However, one of the children he kidnaps is the younger brother of a carnival strongman called One (played by Ron Perlman, interestingly), he teams up with a little girl called Miette to try and save him from having his dreams stolen by Krank. This film was most definitely a bizarre experience for me, but in a good way, of course. Looking at this film visually or even just thematically, there is a strong Terry Gilliam/Tim Burton vibe (which apparently, Jeunet claimed this was one of three films he made that was inspired by the works of Gilliam) throughout, with the film being set in a dark, steampunk-like universe, and an idea as unusual and somewhat disturbing as children being kidnapped and exploited for their ability to have dreams. But still, the visual style of this movie for me was incredible and definitely succeeded in magnifying the feeling of being in a dystopian-like world with bizarre creatures and beings, and young children being kidnapped. The film's haunting atmosphere is also further emphasized through the score done by Angelo Badalamenti, who also did the score for Twin Peaks 4 years prior. The score succeeds in bringing a sense of solemnity and creepiness to it, and definitely fits in with the dark, somewhat macabre universe this films establishes. I'd recommend you have a listen to some of it below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRF78AGvIoQ&list=PL4DFC9D30AB6C5291 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0KBtHwaJcw&index=8&list=PL4DFC9D30AB6C5291 But where the film succeeds in visuals and score, there is no shortage of good storytelling. The film's basic plot of children being kidnapped is great, but the film succeeds more in the realm of it's more abstract storytelling. The film tells it's story in a way that you really have to pay attention closely when you're watching. The film is packed with metaphors and ideas, and the basic premise of the children getting kidnapped does lend itself to certain thematic elements. However, the abstract storytelling is also a bit of a problem for the film, as it does make it a bit complicated to understand, and the film's ideas may be too elusive for audiences. The acting is also fine. Ron Perlman is great as One (it's kinda interesting to hear him speak really good French on film, not sure if it was dubbed or not), Daniel Emilfork is creepy as hell as Krank, and Judith VIttet was good as Miette. There is also a bunch of unnamed clones and a diver all played by Dominique Pinon, who is a recurring actor for Jeunet's films and he was a lot of fun and his character definitely upped the ante on the weird for me. The rest of the cast is also good and definitely played their parts well for how bizarre their characters were made to be. Overall, The City of Lost Children is a surreal, twisted yet bizarrely fantastical film that I find is quite underrated, but I kind of understand why. The film was highly successful in France, but when released in the United States, it bombed pretty badly at the box office, making only 1.7 million against a reported 18 million dollar budget. If you're a fan of surrealist films, or even just a fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet in general, I would highly recommend this film. It has great visuals, great acting, and good thematic elements as well. But if you're the kind of person who prefers a film to be more straightforward and not abstract to the point of thinking too much about it, then this maybe a difficult film for you to watch. My final rating for "The City of Lost Children" is a 9.3/10. It's not a film for everyone, but those who appreciate this kind of genre of filmmaking will certainly find something to like about it.