Ruby Red (2013) User Reviews (23)

Great first part to the trilogy

[savvy_silla · 7/10 · 14 September 2013]

I really enjoyed this movie! It is the start to the Ruby Red trilogy (books by Kerstin Gier) and it succeeds in wetting one's appetite for the next one - Sapphire Blue.

The story is about Gwendolyn who is in her own words "the black sheep" or runt of the family. Her cousin, Charlotte, supposedly has a gene that makes her special and the family fawn over her. But, it turns out that, contrary to all expectations, Gwendolyn is the one who has the gene - a gene that allows her to time travel. Her time travel companion is Gideon, who is resentful of her at first, because he has spent most of his life training, with Charlotte, for the mission they are about to embark on.

It is a thrilling movie, and, even though the fight scenes may not be as impressive as block buster movies, it captures the audience and takes us on a journey through time trying to distinguish who should be trusted.

I watched it with the unofficial English subtitles (which weren't very good) but I look forward to watching it again when it is dubbed!

the attack of the time-traveling young adults

[ssto · 6/10 · 27 May 2013]

Rubinrot is a decent movie.

in these times when there is a huge focus on young adults in books and movies, it is easy to label it as 'yet another young adult story' and ignore it, but lets not forget that 'YA' is just another label for 'teen', and there have been teen-oriented movies as long as there has been cinema, so its not so bad to spend some time on one more.

so we have quite a mess with mysticism, super powers, conspiracy on one hand, and of course a cast-off schoolgirl, with her own teen problems on the other.

a handsome young adult male is also in the mix, of course. and so is a change of hearts, friendship and deceit, and, yes - romance.

the movie is quite watchable if you ignore the simplicity of the story. some more jokes would've been nice. acting is quite bad, but luckily - not horrible.

overall, recommended for teens - i wonder if another YA trilogy is on its way, not of much scale and ambition, but why not jump for some time-travel fun...

Read the Books or Wait for the Sequels

[Blonde2291 · 5/10 · 25 October 2013]

This movie is based on the first book of the Gems trilogy by Kerstin Gier. If you have not read or you have never heard about these books, then you may feel a little disappointed towards the end of the movie. The movie has a very nice and engaging plot that captivates the viewer's attention from the beginning.

The story is about a closed circle of people with special DNA structure that allows them to travel back in time. There are only twelve people, all named after gems, who can travel back in time and Gwen (Ruby) turns out to be the last anticipated member of the circle - the Ruby. Soon she is informed about her mission to collect blood from all the time travelers by going back in time. But time travel is not so much fun as she first thought.

The story has too many mysteries thrown in for a nice flavor of suspense. What is the story of the Count? What is the prophecy for the Ruby? Why Gwen's cousin stole the time machine? What will happen when they collect blood from all time travelers? None of these mysteries are solved and the movie ends.

If you have not heard about the Gem trilogy books (Ruby Red or Rubinrot, Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green), then you may feel a tiny bit unsatisfied. But if you have read them, then you would know what the final chase scene with Grace and Paul means.

Overall it is a very nice fiction movie. I am sure, the sequels would be much more enjoyable.

Twilight meets Time-travel

[magguilmot · 4 January 2019]

Sometimes I wonder what kind of idiots decide what is fit for kids. We might get a decent teen movie with that subject. It's not a 13+ but a 6+ movie.

There is nothing really untowards. It is full of stereotypes, you barely know more about the plot at the end of the film than in the beginning. It's lenghty, cheesy, predictable. In the next episodes you can expect a big romance and scenes of escapes where the heroes stop to kiss and have a conversation before they're safe because it's a rule of the genre.

Very few writers are able to pull a good time-travel story. Maybe the author of the books did, but those of the movie failed. Kids and young teens will find it entertaining but adults will prefer Harry Potter. See what I mean ?

Teen red

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 2 May 2015]

Don't confuse this as anything else than it actually is. This is aimed at teenagers. Which means it's simple, as simple as it gets. It is nice to see a genre movie coming out of Germany, even if it is aimed at a younger audience and a female crowd at that (fantasy themed movies/books seem to have a huge female fan base in Germany). It's a nice touch to see strong female characters though (even if you can't relate to all their troubles and stipulations.

This movie is a "how it all begins". I haven't read the books this is based on and they probably have a wider reach, more character development and all that, but I can't comment on that. I can only say, that the movie at hand is well made and has some fine moments, even when filled with clichéd action.

meh

[philipp-graf-adelmann · 2/10 · 31 October 2013]

i want to skip rating the story because one may like it or not. what i want to talk about is the acting, camera, effects etc.

i didn't know anything about the movie. just saw an ad and went to watch it. 6 minutes into the movie and i kinda get annoyed. after 2 shots it was clear: German production. and i can't stand German productions. i am German, but i can not stand the way German movies try to copy American stylistic elements and fail miserably or use worn out ones. 6 minutes into the movie. bad acting, as sadly common for German acting. slow-motion-lover-boy appearance. main character mistaken for waitress at snobby party. main character tough but clumsy and by accident spills drinks over lover-boy. stereotypes all the way. it may be caused by the story itself, but the task of techniques and effects in movie-making should be used to smoothen failures and to put highlights on strong elements. it totally failed in doing so. the way the actors speak, act and behave combined with those poor techniques makes me so angry. and i am only 6 minutes into the movie.

Enjoyable, with good and bad moments

[meerschneid · 6/10 · 28 April 2016]

I watched this movie in cinemas when it first came out, and actually enjoyed it quite a lot (I was 13/14 years old, which I believe was the target audience? Teen females?)

I wasn't satisfied because it left a lot of mysteries unsolved, so I went out and read the books, which cleared up a lot. It really got me hooked because I wanted to know /more/.

And if you ask me, the way the story is told differs (i.e. a lot of mysteries in the end) mostly because, if you read the books, you notice the story picks up right where the former book ends. (And all the books were published within two years, wow that is some speedy writing right there) Not like with Harry Potter, where you have several weeks between the end of the schoolyear and the middle/end of the summer holidays.

The acting? Eh, I've definitely seen worse. Could be better at some points, but definitely not so bad you're constantly cringing. (Unless you're used to high-quality acting at all points in a movie. Then I guess you'd really notice it)

Clichés? Especially during my second viewing right now, I certainly found several, but the movie has enough novelties so that the clichés really aren't that bad or noticeable.

So while the movie does have several flaws (some of which probably come from not being a blockbuster movie with a huge budget) I enjoyed it.

Maybe I'm a bit biased because of how much I liked the books, but I definitely adore the story, the time-travelling and the interactions with the past and the characters in different times. And if you ask me, the BIG plot twist at the end of the trilogy made reading the entire thing worth it. The movie differs quite a bit from the book, though the changes are more exciting than annoying.

I should probably mention that I first watched the German version when it was released, and the English dub a lot later. The German version is better. The dialogue works better, the characters seem much more natural and it's funnier. (Seriously, I cringed at how the lines were changed and recited. Ugh, just... no. It doesn't work. At all.)

It has been 3 years since I properly watched this movie and read the books, but I still like it.

So if you're a teen, enjoy time-travel (and romance I guess, I personally didn't watch it for that) and want some entertainment, then heck yeah, go check it out.

A hint: Don't watch only one movie at a time. You're left frustrated and mad because you want to know more, because there are so many things that haven't been dealt with. My tip would be to either continue with the books or wait until all the movies have been released and then start a marathon.

Well this review is hilariously unstructured and I'm sorry if I went off on weird tangents, but kudos to you if you managed to read it all and got some information that's helpful to you. I'm not sure what people want to know about most, so I just threw in a bit of everything.

I'm going to watch the second movie now, since I missed it in cinemas, and if that holds up to standard, I will definitely see the third movie this year too.

It started with promise...

[thaeloblue · 2/10 · 14 September 2013]

...but this movie was a bit senseless with a jumbled plot (if you want to call it a plot) that wore very thin towards the end. Intriguing beginning to a story that ends up dropping off in an abrupt non-ending. Perhaps it was meant to have a sequel but I can't imagine anyone wanting to invest any more money in this poorly scripted, dully acted confusion of ideas. The costumes were nice, special FX decent but the cliché teenage angst was a turn off and pretty silly. There were just too many things going on that were never explained completely or resolved. Certain scenes seemed to be set up for what could have been interesting outcomes but then just evaporated without further explanation. The characters were all pretty dull and 2 dimensional. I doubt that even A- list actors could have added any life to them. I'm glad I didn't actually pay to see this movie but if you are really bored some evening it might keep you amused.

Ruby Red is a very unique movie, if you are a fan of twilight, hunger games and host

[kamillar96 · 10/10 · 28 May 2013]

Even though the story line in the movie does not really follow the one in the book, it is still quite nice. Most of the characters match the description in the book. Hope they will make the second and the third parts in the future. I am actually very surprised that it is not as well known as twilight, hunger games and host because it could be easily compared with the movies listed. You definitely have to watch it and read the books. The story is very unique and interesting. I loved it! After watching this movie, I read all of the three books Ruby Red, Emerald Green and Blue Safire. After starting reading it, you wont be able to stop.

Fun and time travel

[nightroses · 7/10 · 12 August 2021]

This is a film series based on books that I haven't read. The first of that series is Ruby Red or Rubinrot. It's a nice fantasy made for a young audience, but adults who are into clean stuff like me can enjoy it too.

This has a unique take on the concept of time travel, and it's mind boggling with so many people from different eras! A girl named Gwendoline or Gwen, finds out that she has a gene to travel in time. The problem is that her relatives are hiding something else. Instead of a time machine, there is a needle that draws blood, owch, and throws her back in time. I wondered how she was able to pull off using a smart phone in the 18th Century!!! Otherwise a cool film with some funny moments and a nice mystery.

All in all, this was a failure

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 27 November 2015]

"Rubinrot" is a German 2-hour movie from 2 years ago. The not too experienced Katharina Schöde adapted Kerstin Gier's novel for the big screen here. The director is Felix Fuchssteiner and his most known achievements until then were basically for German television soap opera "Verbotene Liebe", which tells a lot. This is not a good film. It attempts to be so much in terms of drama, fantasy, mystery and even comedy on some occasions. And it is a perfect example of what happens when the cast and crew simply do not have the talent to make a movie that works in these areas. I don't want to be too harsh on lead actress Maria Ehrich here, but I did not feel she was giving a memorable performance here. However, her efforts were hurt a lot by the bad script. Same goes for the male lead Jannie Niewöhner. And at least they are still very young and can still improve in her careers. I am not so sure if this applies to Veronica Ferres, Uwe Kockisch and even Kostja Ullmann, who have been mostly weak, sometimes mediocre for decades now.

I do not want to go into detail about the weakest moments and scenes in this film, but there was a lot. The dialogs were horrible from start to finish. the story was predictable and everything something unexpected happened, it felt completely unrealistic, like Niewöhner's character being stronger than 2 grown-up men who try to keep him from running away on one occasions. There are many really good German films these days, but this one here is not even mediocre. It's vomit-inducing to see there already is a sequel out, based on another book by the author and made by the same people like this first film. And what is even worse, there will be a third film in 2016. It may be a valid point to say this is a film mostly for teenage audiences, probably rather girls than boys, but I instead would like to say this is a film for people who have really no aspirations in terms of watching quality films. "Rubinrot" is a very weak movie and closer to a */***** than to a ***/*****. Also it has many scenes that added almost nothing to the film. The characters were written stereotypically with complete lack of creativity. I do not recommend this one. Absolutely not.

Amazing movie

[brubelle · 10/10 · 19 May 2021]

I just loved so much this movie, we need more german fantasy films. Everything here were so good!

Of course it's open-ended...

[marydona · 3/10 · 18 October 2013]

I read the books in German and I kinda liked them - even as they might be a kind of "teenage girl books".

As in "BOOKS" - there are three. So of course this movie does not complete the plot.

The movie entertained me, but there where some things I did not "like"...

• the house they live in is as big as having room for a ball room... can't see any in the book, but that might have just been a problem to find such a location

• the way Charlotte is talking (german version)... she is WAY too arrogant (even tho she is described arrogant in the book, she doesn't seem to be that snobby).

• the actress of Gwendolyn's aunt Maddy is just horrid... she acts way too... acted - that might be, because she is played by a way too young looking person dressed up as old lady (even tho K.Thalbach is 59)

• can not recall her best friend Leslie being black but I might have overread that and I actually do not care...

• Gwenny herself is an average girl according to the book... no vamp - the movie made her look like a beautiful rebel

• Lady Arisa on the other hand appears way to "soft" - according to the book she is very strict

• her first time jump did not attract that much attention in the book...

• Storyline text: Gideon is not Charlottes boyfriend, he is just a friend and fellow timetraveler

And I could go on and on and on...

The movie is quite entertaining, IF you did not read the books at all. If you did, it is far away from what Gier wrote.

Conclusion: The casting is bad, the actors are mediocre and the movie full of mistakes. The books are great and the movie could be too, but sadly isn't.

tldr: Read the books, avoid the movie.

A TV series pilot filmed in the wrong language and misrepresented as a movie.

[danny-me-you · 5/10 · 3 September 2013]

The film starts out nicely... a teen that suddenly discovers she can time travel and is unprepared for it. Builds up with hidden secrets and uncertainty in who can be trusted. Then the plot stutters with foes added from nowhere with no introduction and ends with a teen cliché instead of with an actual ending to the plot.

If this movie was presented as the opening of a TV series, the lack of closure could be overlooked, however, this is not the case.

To make this all worse, the entire plot takes place in England, however, the entire movie is in German!? (With names of places in English stuck in mid-sentence in a way that just doesn't sound right.)

Rubinrot aka Ruby red movie review

[safura11 · 9/10 · 21 December 2014]

To be honest, I wasn't expecting this movie to be a hit or anything like the book for that matter. But to my surprise, i found the movie quiet entertaining and exciting, both at the same time. Of course I read the book first so obviously I knew the plot story very well, so I didn't really expect to see anything new, as most of the movies which are adapted from books usually don't change anything about it thinking they will hurt the fans' feelings. But sometimes following everything as the book says, gets a little boring, don't you think? I mean really, when it comes to a movie which has been adapted from a book, it usually sucks. Either they don't follow the story well or they follow the story too much. But Rubinrot was simply amazing, if you ask me. They followed the main story but also changed bits and parts of the theme which adds a new, rather exciting, turn for the next movie of course. Also the way they captured Gideon and Gwendolyn's relationship is actually better than the book version if you ask me. Even though I watched the English dubbed version of the movie, I enjoyed it all the way. Looking forward to watch the next movie in the line which has been released this year. But the problem is, as i don't know the German language , I'll have to wait for the English dubbed version to come out.

Very nice movie

[spanish_z · 9/10 · 1 June 2014]

When I first saw this movie and wrote my first review I didn't know anything about it being a trilogy. My first thoughts were: I really liked this movie, but I left that too many things were left unsolved. now I know better, I know why. So this is my revised review. I did feel then that it was destined for a second part, now I know that its for two more parts. I like that.

The plot was intriguing from the start with so many unknowns involving RUBI; and perhaps it was also counter-producing since there was so much to deal with and at the end was left unresolved. I have not read the book, but now I will do, all three of them.

I really thought the way the plot developed about of one girl being prepared while the true one is another as very freshening, and even funny.

However, at the end I felt kind of empty for having too many unknowns left. I mean for instance, her ability to see ghosts, something that was not addressed or solved in the movie. Also, there is the part about her friend being spied on and her data on their desk. There is also the most important part, why her cousin and husband stole the first machine. And of course, lets not forget the prophesy. Well, just to name few of the mysteries unsolved.

I am not sure if the books ends like that. The last time I felt this was Harry Potter and the Deathly Relics-part 1, but then, I have already read the book and I knew that it was only half the story.

I will be waiting for the rest of the trilogy. I sure hope they don't run out of money before finishing it.

red

[ipktncr · 10/10 · 14 July 2021]

This movie is a masterpiece. I have read the book but the movie is good.

Wow, Great movie and I usually don't care for subtitles..

[lani702 · 10/10 · 29 October 2013]

All I can say is WOW! Okay so unless I'm in a reading mood I usually can't watch subtitled one's even though I love them!. A year ago when I start to read in puts me to sleep within 10 minutes. Also I'm one of those when I watch a movie I like to do several things at once, like work, cook and etc.. So this movie took me over 3 hrs to finish because I had to pause to wake myself up or get stuff. Needless to say, I LOVED IT!!! I always surf this one site for new movies I haven't seen since netflix is behind the times, then I IMDb to see what it's about.

This movie was so adventurous, with a little teen love that's innocent and clean and perfect series of books for my girls to read. I love the story line and love how the odd girl out is the special one, some say it may be cliché, but then again aren't most movies that we love labeled that. It's cute and sweet and a little mystery behind it, but more so an adventure in and of time itself, with lingering romance and stories that enter twine. You can check t out on Viooz where it has a lot of good movies.

Surprising Good?

[arc-ts · 9/10 · 25 August 2019]

Did not see this coming, but I actually really enjoyed it! There were some cheesy moments with not so great writing (or acting), but overall it was a unique story that I was throughly invested in by the end.

Give it a chance and I think you'll be very surprised.

(Full disclosure, as an adult woman, I am not the target audience, but if I were younger I would think this were the greatest movie ever and not notice the minor flaws. Kid/pre-teen me would give this movie a 10/10 while adult me who has higher expectations gives it a 9/10)

Lived up to the book.

[jjparish · 10/10 · 13 July 2021]

Set in england, in german, its about a girl who finds out she can time travel and sets about fighting the bad guys who want to create a new world order. For a film i watched in subtitles its so easy to follow and you just forget its actually subtitled after a while. Its kinda harry potteresque but with much hotter girls and boys. I loved it and the books. As an english person its so interesting to see periods of english history like this from a german perspective.

A fantasy film with brilliant symbolisms.

[IoannaSaini · 10/10 · 12 June 2020]

What if we could master time.Perhaps only few could?Is it possible?Why does time actually exists?This film is a nice to watch adventure that poses a lot of issues in a delicate way.Are we rulled by hidden societies that we don't even know and have a tremendous affect upon our lives?Perhaps if we could change an element of the past might our civilization be more advanced?The story has a very interesting plot and the acting is fine!

The German answer to Harry Potter, Hunger Games and a few others

[ersbel · 15 February 2019]

The German answer to Harry Potter, Hunger Games and a few others. The books are a mix of popular books on German library shelves. The films go deeper, copying as much as possible from the more polished movies that have come before. The results are even worse than the team could have made because of the limited budget.

Enjoy away from realistic world

[Cherry3905 · 9/10 · 30 July 2022]

I feel few people recommend this film in reviews but I loved it. The story is a kind of stereotypes and you likely anticipate the end. On the other hand, the inclination to show suggestions for real society and I liked it. People who love Twilight probably loves it.