56 Up

I have followed the series, although I have not seen all the videos. I saw the first one and remember seeing "21 Up" on TV. I also caught some of the other updates on videos. This was a wonderful video. Tony remains a favorite - he has done well for himself and made so many of his dreams come true. I'm glade he was on the cover. I think one would have to have seen, at least, "7 Up" to enjoy this update. Do wish they had followed more girls, but who knew women would make such an impact during this period?

What the heck with the package it comes in ?You know what this reminds me of ?A sample of a series..Something that could easily be sent out,cheaper too.Well,I don't like it. After all these sets I have put together they give me this ????I just opened it tonight. I thought the cardboard set up it came in was just a sampler,and I never read aheadon any series,so I just threw it in the drawer. Then I realized,I was not getting my dvd. As soon as I got here tonight,I recognized the same thing I threw in the drawer.Darn it..it just doesn't fit well with my series,both VHS and DVD.There is always something to gum up our treasures.. this series means a lot to me. I was in high school when this started.I am now 65 !! Ok,a comment about the series.I am not a fan of going back in time and using it as a filler. That's all I will say about that.But the set is memerizing. If you out there haven't seen the series..it is mind boggling to me that I remember everythingabout that evening when this first came on. I was hooked immediately. My big black and white screen filled with those little faces,and that accent they talked with. Little did I know that that sophmore would still be watching at 65. Not only do you look forward toit,but it's almost like it's a distant relative or something. I'll stop before you think I am crazy.

This is the next installment of the “Up” series which follows a group of English people representing a cross-section of the population every seven years from the time they were seven years old. One of the points they are trying to study, is if the man/woman retains the same qualities as the child. I put all this in, to explain the subject matter because part of that is why I like this show and I am not sure if it would be interesting to the greater population. I just saw “63 Up” in the theater recently and I have liked the entire series. It shows how a society effects different factions of people, and further you can see that personality does seem to be somewhat set in each person, and does seem to effect how people will do in life.

If you are 50+ then this is the DVD for you. As stated in the documentary this is not about the people being interviewed every seven years. It is about life, and it shows how people evolve over time. I identified with one of the people being interviewed, as well as my sister. This is one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time. I purchased both the 49 Up and 56 Up. I have let my high school classmates borrow the DVD since we do a reunion every five years. They loved it as well. My only disappointment was that purchasing the DVD there was no option for captions. I was surprised they left out the captions. I could understand most of what was said, but some of the accents were hard to follow.Also to note this DVD is in PAL format, and not NTSC. PAL is the DVD format used by the UK. Make sure your DVD player will play PAL. In this day and age that should not be an issue. My Mac popped up with an error that I could only change my region four times, and then could not change it anymore. if you are watching this on a DVD player this should not be an issue.

I have been a fan of the "7 Up" series since "35 Up." Other than your own family and close friends, where do you get a chance to follow a group of people from elementary school into retirement, hearing about their lives and dreams? Amazing to see the young boy living "in care" (a glorified orphanage) wishing for a family, then to see him in adulthood with his own brood of kids. Or the young man who claims year after year that he plans to have a family someday until we give up on him -- then at 49 he marries and has kids. This documentary follows a group of British kids from a variety of SES levels, interviewing them every 7 years. Each documentary integrates material from those before it, very skillfully. I teach developmental psychology and use this is my classes. One bit of advice for U.S. viewers, use the subtitles -- there are a lot of different British accents and it helps a lot to see the captions.

I have never seen a product so poorly packaged. Paper thin bi-fold card case that is taller/longer than any DVD/Blu ray case in existence, which means it will not fit in your media storage center (it's too tall for the shelving). I have over 1,000 DVD/Blurays in this storage unit and this is the ONLY one that will not fit. To add insult to injury, i was charged $26.96 for this 5 cent piece of junk and cannot put it with the rest of my collection. The accompanying photo depicts a standard case, but it is a fraud-just like amazon and first run features. Rotten from top to bottom. The program contained on the disk is just fine. A diamond in a bucket of worm infested pig dung.

I finally made time to watch this episode last night, and I thought it particularly uplifting. I have been watching this series faithfully since "28 Up," and seeing these various lives unfold is inherently interesting. But I was especially taken with how virtually all the participants had found meaning in life and were able to express satisfaction, even if their lives didn't quite turn out as "planned." To me, "56 Up" demonstrates how people from all walks of life can find their way and discover contentment despite the inevitable obstacles. I look forward to "63 Up."

Interesting installment, but not the best one. Most of the kids (now in their late 50s) spend their time on camera here, endlessly kvetching about how wrongly they've been depicted in the series. Worth watching, but "42 Up" and "49 Up" are better.

Personally, I would strongly suggest watching the films in order. While "56 Up" does provide some recaps,the cumulative effect of the series is built by watching each age in depth.The 'Up Series' represents one of the most fascinating and unusual uses of film in cinema history - adocumentary life-long chronicle of the lives of 14 people starting at 7 years old, revisiting them everyseven years through age 56 (so far). While I could quibble, wishing for a bit more depth here and there(especially with the women, where there's a bit too much emphasis on love and marriage at the expenseof all else), and by nature the later episodes sometimes have to speed through more than would be ideal,since they have to both catch the audience back up as well as moving the stories forward, no matter. It'sreally an astounding, moving, frightening and uplifting document. There's no way to watch thisremarkable series of films without reflecting deeply on one's own life, and how you have changed (andstayed the same) over your own lifetime.While Michael Aped deserves every bit of credit he's received for this amazing piece of cultural anthropology,it's important to note the first film, 7 Up, was actually directed by Paul Almond, and Apted was athat point a researcher for the project.This new episode is as excellent as it's predecessors, revealing more surprising twists in turns as ourgroup heads towards the end of mid-life, and stare into the realities of old age. Some oldfriends re-appear, some have continued in directions they had been going in, and some havechanged course yet again.One thing that's interesting, and more present in this episode than earlier ones are some of the subjectsquestioning the objectivity and 'reality' of the series. There are interesting cases made that what we, theaudience, sees isn't the truth of who these people are, but only a created character. It also (by proxy)makes one reflect on how much being in these films has affected the lives of the participants. Just as inphysics, it seems to be true here as well, that the very act of being observed changes what is being observed.All fascinating and thought-provoking stuff.

If you haven't yet seen this documentary's seven predecessors -  7-49 Up [DVD ] - then please, please do. You'll have a much more rewarding time with Michael Apted's 56-year-olds if you've seen them at 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49 first.If you have seen the earlier programmes in the series, the good news is that this latest instalment is just as good as the earlier ones. Michael Apted is still our interviewer, and has lost none of his sensitivity or skill.None of the subjects has died or, despite old warnings, dropped out, and indeed Neil's friend Peter, last seen as a rueful young teacher, has returned to Michael's fold. Only Charles is missing from the original line-up.The seven years covered by this episode have been as eventful as one would expect. There has been the usual mixture of triumphs and disappointments, laughter and tears. Children and grandchildren become ever more prominent. But I'd rather say too little than spoil any surprises.The picture and sound quality are splendid, as is everything about this fascinating issue. 7-49 Up [DVD

If you are anything like me, I am utterly fed-up with the pap and nonsense which is proffered as broadcast Television these days. The news is full of lies; in an attempt to push creative boundaries it seems that comedy, drama and other genres are degenerating, and not innovating. 56 up, however, is part of a series which began when these people were 7 years old. Their lives have been followed every 7 yeasr, and up until recently, I had every DVD in the series up to 49 up. I now consider my collection complete for the moment, and if God lets me live longer, I look forward to 63 up - since I'm the same age as these folks.The whole series, this DVD included, really is groundbreaking use of TV. It takes the Jesuit premise which goes '...Give me the child when they are seven years old, and I will show you the man (or as Loyola said "he will be mine for life")'. The continuity in these people's lives is remarkable; the personality traits continue, albeit they mature and change direction. Many of the people you've watched have ended up in situations which you'd envision in earlier episodes, and some of them do not. This disc is particularly remarkable since one of the participants who pulled out of the project at 21 up had finally came back on board, and it was good to see them.The strangest thing is that almost all of them say they do not like taking part in this project, yet they all seem to do so each seventh year. It says more about how people view others when they are on Television compared to real life. Having met people in film and TV, the rule to me has seemed to be that the person is much different in real life. I guess these guys are saying that we are not seeing the grand picture in each individual's life, and they get misunderstood as being something which they are not. On a more personal note, it's amazing to see how many divorces in ratio to marriages there are in the entire series.I can't say enough good about this DVD, and the complete series. If you are interested in people, and a unique experiment using oral and pictorial history (the idiot box), then I think you'll find the whole lot fascinating. Buy the box set which goes to 49 up, AND this one. An immensely worthwhile project to own in your video library!

I found this to be one of the most profound reviews of life in a compact way.It seems to have been done for a group of 7 year old kids from a variety of backgrounds and it has followed their lives in 7 year segments up to age 56.Lots of surprises in the way the various life's unfolded and it has the effect of helping you to put your own life in perspective.To me it's proof positive that everybody's life is an interesting and unique story. And life continues to throw up challenges in all sorts of ways for each one of us. It's great to see a large selection of snapshots into the various people and how they have dealt with dreams, disappointments, marriage breakdown, illness etc.

What a huge -- and successful -- undertaking for filmmaker Michael Apted. Following these people from childhood into late middle-age we find them reflecting on life journeys that might have surprised us at the beginning of the series. At age seven posh and precocious John appeared to be setting out on a preordained life of privilege. In 56 Up we learn there were financial hardships along the way and a rather priggish child develops into an international philanthropist. By the age of 14 Sunny Sue from the East End had chosen to attend a comprehensive school over a grammar where she would have had to work harder. But at 56 she demonstrates that her good work ethic and natural ability, along with a surprising fluidity within British professions, has propelled her up the ladder to become a senior university administrator. I found every story in this series to be compelling, but perhaps the most poignant was the journey of the adorable 7-year old boy from the suburbs who travelled through mental illness and homelessness to emerge integrated into a rural community that valued him.Highly recommend this whole series!