The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones [DVD]

I got it for subtitles, also easy viewing 'hangs' together well.

I should say up front that I haven't read the Mortal Instruments Books (although I have read other books by the same author) so I am judging the film as a film alone, not in comparison to the book.I didn't really know what to expect, although I had heard some pretty sharp criticism of Jamie Campbell Bower's acting beforehand. As it happened, I love the character he plays, Jace. I suspect much of the objection is because is he is sarcastic, incendiary and self-effacing and uses attack as a form of defence; to get that much out of a movie with lots of action, J C-B must have some acting skills, although the character will not be to everyone's taste.There are reviewers on here who say they had difficulty following the plot: I didn't. The tale is that of a quest to find a missing cup of power; a standard motif in fantasy literature but not one fantasy fans are likely to tire of.The other characters; Clary, Simon, Jocelyn, Luke, Magnus, Isabelle and Alec all stand as individuals and it's easy to imagine that there is plenty of backstory to expand on in forthcoming films (and presumably already done in the books - I must get them!).It shouldn't be necessary in this day and age to say that it was nice to see gay people treated as in and out of love the same as the non-gay people, but it was. I'm rooting for Alec and the hot witchy guy :DEdit added, March 2014: I've now read all Cassandra Clare's books, and whilst I can now see why people have passed comment on the divergence of the film's plot from the first book, I still love the film. It's exceptionally well-cast, and the actors have the characters off to a tee. Terrific.

Good ensemble actors support the slightly shaky leads (Adrian Turner was an unexpected bonus 😁). My teenage nephew and I enjoyed it very much one rainy Saturday. He's 13, I'm 53.The effects and fight scenes are very good. I'm hoping in the future (given its age) to see more movies of this type where the women don't feel they have to go into battle in high heels mind you, but it was a good representation rentatuon of LGBTQ characters just being in the story as part of the general ensemble, taken for granted as "human" beings.I think it's a shame there wasn't a sequel. There's not that many movies of that genre I can share with my nephew, which he's, just starting to explore

Love films like these, the series is better but if they made more of these films I'd deffo watch

As a somewhat older person ( a 40 something mum of 2 small offspring) this is not the typical film I d pop on and think of watching , but I caught a bit of it on TV and enjoyed that small section I caught so much, I thought I'd buy the film on Prime to watch as a bit of light entertainment when I want to stop worrying about the world . Being based on a series of books aimed , I imagine, at a more youthful group there are of course similarities with Twilight movies and the Divergent cluster of films - but there are a few big names in the cast and even with the plot , the special effects are great fun and it is a very watchable film.I was actually upset that it was a flop and the sequels won't be made. Of course watching the ethereally beautiful Jamie Campbell Bower as demon stalker Jace , was definitely a perk and there are some funny moments - sometimes you don't need a cerebral dark plot line to make a great movie. I ll happily watch this a good few times without getting bored. If you like teen films with vampires and werewolves this film brings that with a bit of added sophistication.

I usually like the settings of YA movies but this one was trying entirely too hard to be dark and edgy while all the character direction felt like they were the out of highlander (love that movie but the dialogue sucks) or the well meaning but mostly dumb-fun series Sanctuary.Overall, big budget (beautiful sets and FX), atrocious dialogue/pacing.The visuals were pretty dammed good the fight scenes were a mix of stabby stabby and silly lookingThe pacing was downright sluggish (for a 2 hour movie it felt like it was never going to get to the point/end the cast was was better than this writing/directing(/adaptation?) deserved plus the quantities of black eye-liner, mopey rune-inscribed people and teenage/YA melodrama was set firmly to "yes".Imagine if every character in a movie was either Angel (no soul) or late-series Giles from buffy and you get the general idea.Alas the one thing that stood out most for me is that they were trying to play the heavy-stakes game with the plot but almost none of the cast took any hits or damage of note and the goth-ish theming would have worked a lot better if everyone didn't act like such utter posers most of the time.

Great movie highly recommended 👌

Basically, I am a HUGE fan of Cassandra Clare's books and so when I found out this was being made into a film I was hysterical for days. It blew my expectations. Yes, they may have changed it a bit but I like it when they do that as it can be made to feel more their own.I was even more excited when I found out that Lily Collins was playing a lead in it as she is one of my favorite actresses. I went on to my friends for days and days and days about how excited I was. I'm sure they were close to yelling at me because of how much I was talking about it and constantly freaking out to them about it.The third thing that just about topped it all off for me was when I found out that Demi Lovato was going to be releasing a song for the film (Heart By Heart). She is my idol and everything. I was in such shock. My three favorite things in the world, coming together. I was literally crying of happiness.I eventually managed to go and see the movie. Mind blowing. BEST MOVIE EVER.

Hace mucho que buscaba este película en bluray, me gustó la portada la edición de dos discos, todo magnífico gracias

Como fan de los libros vi la película en el cine con muy ilusión. Es cierto que no es exactamente muy fiel a los libros (aunque la serie es peor), pero como película independiente de los libros está genial. A mis padres les gustó bastante cuando la puse en casa.Y la edición es muy sencilla, no tiene nada de especial, pero para tener el DVD en físico es suficiente :)

Good movie, but Amazon US neglected to note on the advert that this is a Region A Bluray. Will only play on Multi-region players.

'City of Bones' is the 2013 movie adaptation of a 2007 Cassandra Clare novel, which has the very same title. The 130-minute film is a chopped, diluted, simplified & modified adaptation of the 500-page book. The 'Mortal Instruments' part of the full title refers to the fact that the CoB novel is the first of a series : its 6th book will be published at the end of May 2014.The movie -- which aimed at creating a new "young adult fantasy" series of blockbusters (in the "Twilight Saga" genre) -- was a commercial disaster : it cost about $120 million to produce + advertise, but it only brought in $76 million at the worldwide box-office gross. That signified a lot less in net profits for the movie's producers, after the theaters & distributors had taken their cuts, meaning that the movie's producers have lost a lot of money on what was supposed to be the vanguard of a very lucrative franchise. Consequently, the projected sequel ('City of Ashes') was put on hold.I did not go to the cinema to see the movie when it was released in August 2013. I then had no knowledge whatsoever concerning the Cassandra Clare novels. I saw the movie's promo clips on TV, but laziness was stronger than curiosity. A few weeks later, my curiosity counter-attacked, and I read the CoB novel. What a blast : I ordered & devoured all the other relevant Cassandra Clare novels.A few months later, I received the Amazon.ca-ordered DVD version. I admit that it is a chopped, diluted, simplified & modified adaptation of the 500-page book ... but anyway, I discovered that it was a very enjoyable movie -- as long as you did not apply a fan-atical critical comparison to the novel.The movie has a few top-notch actors, and it is visually fascinating -- with gorgeous special-effects. Just for those reasons, it is worthwhile to buy the DVD.I am very surprised that the movie was a box-office flop : it has excellent actors, excellent special-effects, and a crisp, fast pace.But ... it remains a chopped, diluted, simplified & modified adaptation of the 500-page book. Consequently, people who have never read the novel will be mystified by the bizarre events & creatures which pop-up on the screen, and people who have read the novel might be angry that many aspects of the novel have been chopped off -- for example, the fascinating faerie "downworld", which is reduced to an ephemeral two-second appearance (in the warlock's party).Personally, I enjoyed the novel and the movie very much : they are somewhat different, but both stand by themselves. I recommend this DVD ... unless you dislike movies where the Supernatural (demons, vampires, werewolves, warlocks) appear.I wish that they release an extended version of the movie, and especially, a sequel.

This movie is an absolute treat for fans of the TMI books series! There's no way you won't enjoy seeing this gorgeous cast portray our beloved characters really, darn accurately for a book-adapted movie. The leads are especially impressive--Lily Collins not only looks perfectly the part of the petite, pretty and spunky Clary, she really acts the part, making Clary both every-girl relatable (with keen curiosity, intelligence, playfulness and self-motivation) and also believably brave, resourceful and able to make decisions/take actions of her own volition, guided by her own morals and priorities (which *shock* don't all revolve around her love for the brooding, hot guy who's just rolled into her life as in certain other YA series...). She's a truly engaging actress and definitely has the sort of on-screen presence that can carry a movie centered on her.Speaking of brooding hot guys--Jamie Campbell Bower IS JACE. Whatever about the cheekbones or physical appearance that might not perfectly coincide with your mental image of Jace--Jamie has the character of Jace down PAT. (SO RELIEVED he was able to deliver Jace's many memorable, hilarious one-liners just perfectly! Simon too, actually~~) He brings to life Jace's effortless charm, wry wit, intelligent ruthlessness and even the unexpected little moments of gentleness/kindness that make Jace such an interesting, lovable character. Plus the physicality--dang, he DOES move with sleek, cat-like grace in the movie, and his fight scenes are INTENSE. My co-workers (non-book fans) who came with me to see the film were a bit "meh" about it overall (but they are soulless corporate types, so very little impresses them), and even they commented that they were surprised and pleased at how hard-hitting the action scenes were. The fact that Jamie did all his own stunts just makes it even more impressive. :)Wish I could go as in-depth on how awesome the rest of the cast was with portraying their respective characters, but in the interest of time/not boring you to death, suffice to say that every one of them owns their characters, GETS their characters, and looks ridiculously attractive while playing said characters (okay, Valentine being the exception--he's very different from the book version, but John Rhys-Meyer does a great job selling his own vision of the character (i.e. a completely Nucking Futs Valentine with a raw, animalistic ferocity to him)). Also, just have to say--Simon is HILARIOUS (and yet heartfelt/sympathetic), Isabelle is SO KICKASS IT KILLS ME WITH JOY, and Godfrey-Magnus is seriously A SIGHT TO BEHOLD. He may have a small language barrier (and I think they dubbed over him to smooth it out? It's pretty seamless in the movie), but his physicality/screen presence is so powerful! (also, the tenderness with which he reached out to Alec at the end~~ very believable!) I'm just so pleased with the cast~~~~As for the movie itself, I'll admit it did run a little long for a movie of this genre for non-book fans. Also, considering HOW MUCH INFORMATION and how many twists are revealed over the course of a book, I realize now it might have been a little over-ambitious to try to squeeze it all into one movie. Again, for book fans, it's no problem to follow along since we already know all the intricacies of the story/world, but for first-timers, I think it was difficult for them to grasp all the necessary info on a first viewing. I give props to the script adapter and director for making sure intellectually that everything was explained, even if only in a brief line of dialogue. But again, I'd imagine only the book fans would be attuned enough with the world/source material to catch everything on a first viewing. Also--there are just so MANY cool ideas in this world (i.e. Cassandra Clare wrote a book where lots of interesting things are done/discussed, unlike certain other YA series that can easily fit all their "content" into an under-2-hour-long movie). I understand why the writer and director wanted to squeeze it all in (and again, as a book fan, I'm really thankful for it), but I do wonder if the movie suffered as a movie because of all that.So overall, I feel like Harald and the crew made an AMAZING and loving/faithful adaptation of Cassie's fabulous book for film, and the cast did an equally loving/faithful job understanding and bringing each of her characters to life in a way that's very close to her vision. It is 100% a treat for the book fans. As for everyone else, it's a slightly tougher experience because the movie is so long and dense with info/plot that it's hard to take in on one sitting. I do encourage non-book fans to give it a try, however, and more than one viewing, if possible--you will undoubtedly get more the second time around and, I have a feeling, ultimately find this story very worthwhile/rewarding in the end. And anyway, the action, adventure and humor will make it fun even the first time around--give it a try! :D