J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Aug 14, 2012

This seventh installment is utterly fascinating, drawing heavily on footage from the previous movies to follow each child on the journey into middle age.

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Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Aug 28, 2009

Essential viewing

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Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Apr 24, 2009 A

There should not be an adult in the western world who isn't at least tacitly familiar with Michael Apted's groundbreaking documentary series based on the idea that a person's personality is formed by the age of seven.

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Peter Keough Boston Phoenix Apr 23, 2009 2.5/4

In 42 years has the series brought any insight into issues of class, politics, or culture? Perhaps only insofar as nearly all the participants, regardless of background, end up as the same bourgeois, middle-aged mediocrities.

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Kam Williams EURWeb Sep 29, 2007 4/4

Time-lapse cinematography taken at seven year intervals.

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Eric Monder Film Journal International Mar 1, 2007

Even those wondering about the gaps and "missing pieces" or what will happen in the future will not be disappointed by this remarkable work.

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Stuart Klawans The Nation Nov 11, 2006

The wonder of 49 Up is its unfolding, within a little more than two hours, of so many specific lives...

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Nov 3, 2006 4/4

Michael Apted's Up series remains one of the great imaginative leaps in film.

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Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune Nov 2, 2006 4/4

I can think of no single movie, fictional or factual, that more strongly awakens our common humanity or that establishes such a marvelous, tight bond with its characters.

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Ken Eisner Georgia Straight Oct 28, 2006

If there's a more remarkable series of documentary films, or even as remarkable a premise for one, I don't expect to see it in my lifetime.

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Brian Gibson Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta) Oct 28, 2006

Doesn't tell us about these people's lives so much as it splashes a cold hourglass of water in the face, reminding us that time can slowly turn us into someone unrecognizable, especially to ourselves.

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Stanley Kauffmann The New Republic Oct 26, 2006

The segments are so cleverly arranged -- [director Michael Apted] includes past pictorial references for each of the people we revisit -- that now there is something almost mystical involved.

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Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Oct 26, 2006 A

Apted continues his seminal docu series with another riveting chapter. The film no longer belongs to him: Feeling their privacy has been invaded, the subjcets talk back, trying to shape their own narrative and even withhold vital information from him.

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Frank Swietek One Guy's Opinion Oct 22, 2006 B+

A reality show that transcends that now-hackneyed phrase to become an utterly unique work of 'popular history'--and of art.

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Ross Anthony Hollywood Report Card Oct 16, 2006 3.5/4

As a viewer, I feel privileged to be able to peer into their private lives perchance to learn something useful about my private life.

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Sean P. Means Film.com Oct 13, 2006 3.5/4

But a funny thing happened on the way to the class-warfare lecture: Most of the subjects got on with living their lives, ignoring their class distinctions in the process.

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Moira MacDonald Seattle Times Oct 13, 2006 4/4

I'll wait breathlessly for 56 Up, and hope this brave group will speak to the camera again; giving us the gift of a share in their lives.

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David Elliott San Diego Union-Tribune Oct 13, 2006 3/4

Now, they are middle-aged, and (unfair to spoil small surprises here) embedded in life with some learned wisdom.

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Jeff Vice Deseret News (Salt Lake City) Oct 13, 2006 3.5/4

Surprisingly, the discussions of normal, average-life events are pretty fascinating and relatable. The films continue to be part of a moving sociological portrait of England and everyday life.

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Chris Hewitt St. Paul Pioneer Press Oct 12, 2006 3/4

The monumental 7 Up series continues with a lesser but worthwhile chapter, 49 Up.

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