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9
When 9 first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him 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.
2009 · Directed by Shane Acker · 79 min · Action · Adventure · Animation · Science Fiction · Thriller · Screenplay in the scene database · 8 frames
Tagline
When our world ended, their mission began.
Plot
A scientist is commissioned by his government to create a highly intelligent robot in the name of peaceful progress, which the government then seizes and turns into the Fabrication Machine, an automaton that can construct an army of war machines. As the machines become corrupt and declare war on the humans, the scientist creates nine homunculus-like rag dolls via alchemy called "Stitchpunks", each labeled with a number, giving them portions of his own soul via a talisman. He dies upon completing the final Stitchpunk, 9.
9 awakens some time after the machines have destroyed all organic life on Earth and gone dormant. He ventures outside and meets 2, an elderly inventor, who finds him a working voice box. The last active machine, the Cat Beast, attacks the pair, abducts 2, and takes the talisman. One-eyed healer 5 rescues 9 and takes him to Sanctuary, the tower of an empty cathedral that is home to dogmatic leader 1, his burly bodyguard 8, and the eccentric fountain pen-fingered clairvoyant 6. Against 1's demands, 9 and 5 follow the Cat Beast to a factory and rescue 2. The Cat Beast attacks the trio, but 7 arrives and kills it. 9 curiously connects the talisman to the dormant Fabrication Machine, accidentally reviving it; it kills 2 by sucking out his soul, and the others barely manage to escape.
7 takes 9 and 5 to an abandoned library, where mute scholar twins 3 and 4 reveal the history of the war. 9 draws the symbols on the talisman, which 5 realizes match 6's drawings. 9 and 5 return to Sanctuary to investigate, where 1 reprimands them for endangering them all. The Machine begins assembling new robots, including the Winged Beast, which attacks and burns down Sanctuary. With 7's help, the Stitchpunks manage to destroy the Winged Beast using the engine of a crashed bomber and escape.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Pamela Pettler
- Cinematography: Kevin R. Adams
- Edited by: Nick Kenway
- Music: Deborah Lurie, Danny Elfman
- Production design: Robert St. Pierre, Fred Warter, Richard Chen
- Produced by: Jim Lemley, Mary Clayton, Dana Ginsburg, Timur Bekmambetov
Cast
- Elijah Wood as #9 (voice)
- Christopher Plummer as #1 (voice)
- Martin Landau as #2 (voice)
- John C. Reilly as #5 (voice)
- Crispin Glover as #6 (voice)
- Jennifer Connelly as #7 (voice)
- Fred Tatasciore as #8 / Radio Announcer (voice)
- Alan Oppenheimer as Scientist (voice)
- Tom Kane as Dictator (voice)
- Helen Wilson as Newscaster (voice)
Production
- Country: Canada, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Tim Burton Productions, Relativity Media, Arc Productions, Starz Animation
- Budget: $30,000,000
- Box office: $48,428,063
- Themes: friendship, man vs machine, hope, dystopia, post-apocalyptic future, halloween, steampunk, coward, end of world, rag doll
More by Shane Acker
On this film
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