I won't go so far as to say that I'm losing interest. I remain very curious to see what will happen; the thing is, this is the part so far where the least has.

Still interesting, but not as exciting as previous installments. You see, it was fascinating to watch them become adults in their 20s, but now they remain adults, doing adulty things, becoming either quite dull or quite disappointed. Looking forward to 42 & 49, when some major life changes will probably occur.

It's clearly not the filmmaker's fault--as I understand it's necessary to re-show bits of the older films--but after watching the first 5 parts of this series within a span of 3 weeks, I'm a little burned out. Plus, it was very strange that Apted didn't acknowledge the absence of two of the usual participants.

Middle-age is tough for everyone, but perhaps more so for people who have had the world watch them age on film. It's interesting to see the subjects sort of settle in to their respective lots in life. Most of the subjects have found some semblance of peace and in that sense it is easy to see that they are perhaps more similar than different, despite all of the numerous attempts to label them by class.

These quite magnificent films have now evolved to a poignant, piercing insight into the ageing process and the frustrations and mini-triumphs to be found in the mundanity of life. Apted becomes better and better at illuminating his subjects' quiet truths, balancing his gentle, honest enquires with the inherent exploitative nature of his project. The sometimes repetitive nature of the archival footage has molded now into being reminded of the lives of who feel like old friends at this point.

Andrew Brackfield: "When I see the children playing now, I realise how much fun they have together and it's probably what I missed being an only child."

Didn't realize until this part how much faster you age due to smoking. Damn, some of these participants look like 45.

Interest is starting to wain. Not only is footage from past ones rehashed too much (not really the filmmaker's fault since in theory this is supposed to be seen every 7 years and those can help remind you of the subjects) but their lives have progressed to the point where most of them are relatively flat-lined. Marriages, kids, a few divorces, and some deceased parents. I hope the future ones don't feel so stagnant.

I hate to think that at thirty five they're already beginning to look aged. Some of them are exactly where they were at 28, some of them have made some minor changes. This one is still pretty good, but it's slightly less interesting than 28 up was.

The only reasons John does the Bulgarian charity work is to get that estate and impress his circle of friends. Dismissing cuts to the NHS basically confirms him as the villain of the series. As for the others this is where the concept begins to lose steam, becoming a series of diminishing returns. [edit after watching 63: 35-56 are somewhat repetitive as most participants enter the "contented middle years" with families and careers, with 63 breaking that cycle with a certain level of morbidity]

Ho-hum. Except for Neil and Bruce, there's not much going on that's surprising or interesting. A couple of divorces, a few dead parents, but nothing that special and nothing that revealing. John is back, slightly less douchey for his humanitarian work in Bulgaria, but still obviously a twit underneath. The larger problem here is that the recaps are starting to overwhelm the new material. Roughly half of the film, possibly more, consists of previous clips. And it's almost always the SAME clips.

So, apparently life is just horrible. All your dreams come to naught, every marriage ends in divorce, everybody you love dies, and your children are born into the exact same shit that you were. Oh and everybody starts showing their age at exactly 30. Hey Seven Up kids, how's your life? So far 35 Up is the most slit-your-wrists worthy. I'm sure it only gets better (not really.)

Excellent.

"The remaining participants grapple with disillusionment, their reconcilement of the past, and their relationship to their own children." - Ed Gonzalez

Apted certainly pushes the limits of the documentary in this installment, asking some incredibly difficult questions at times.

The most heartbreaking of the series, as the adults talk about losing loved ones or going through divorce, or losing jobs. Despite this, they all seem to be pleased with their lives, even if they weren't the ones they were, or we were, expecting.

I'm rating all of these a 90 because I see the experiment as valuable. These are normal people, for the most part, and some are interesting, some are not. Some of them have very bad problems, some don't. The prejudice of the film-maker is obvious, but what captivated me was whether or not we come to know these children, and later adults? I think we do, better than we ever will know Tom Cruise or Lindsay Lohan, no matter how many films they make. For that, for the depth of information, it's a 90.

An expected step down from previous iterations. The subjects' lives from 28 Up to 35 Up have, for the most part, been at somewhat of a standstill, with the most widespread and notable event being the passing away of parents. Looking forward to seeing where the series goes next.

Intriguing to no end. Some real opinions are presented now. "The Up Series" concept is a thought provoking look at the social structure.

Not quite as good as the two previous installments, but still very interesting with a lot you can get out of it. Oddly enough it actually feels a bit more exploitative than the earlier episodes with the way it focuses on certain peripheral tragedies in these people's lives. On the whole, though, the real people shine through along with their very varied personalities.

John's attempt to use the film rather than be used by it comes across as self-serving instead of principled. What we see here is mostly normal development, with a few key movements in the lives of the most interesting participants, Neil and Bruce.

See my review of 49 UP.

This is a series that I've followed for years, and one that gets more fascinating as it . . . and the rest of us . . . get older.