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District 9

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Decker said:
Don't know if it will be crap Cotton. Peter Jackson did a pretty stellar job on the Rings Trilogy. Both my wife and I are looking forward to seeing this. Proof will be in the viewing......

Decker
Click to expand...

Actually although Jackson is on as a producer the true creative direction for the project comes from the director Neill Blomkamp. Im not sure if you saw the short films Blomkamp made a couple years ago, but they were awesome.



District 9 is very much like these shorts.

And Blomkamp was originally signed on the direct the Halo movie. That fell through but his early work was kick ass...

 
It just goes to show that a insanely huge budget is no match for imagination and good a story line. I'm looking at some of the frames from the film and you can see the lacking production cost if you look hard enough. Sometimes, not too hard. Not much you can hide from the RED cameras from what I've been told. Still, high production value doesn't mean a high budget. Which is why this film was pretty damn cool. I'd even pay to see it again...and that's pretty rare for me considering most of what seems to come out of Hollywood isn't worth the first admission fee.

I'm going to have to check out more of Blomkamp's work. It's inspiring to see this sort of movie on the big screen when they're usually reserved for the DVD shelf. Peter Jackson's name on the credits would have influenced distribution but I assume he'd have little to do with the production.
 
Jose Collado said:
I'm going to have to check out more of Blomkamp's work. It's inspiring to see this sort of movie on the big screen when they're usually reserved for the DVD shelf. Peter Jackson's name on the credits would have influenced distribution but I assume he'd have little to do with the production.
Click to expand...


That is an assumption I also made.
 
I just got back from watching it (Was only $2.25 for matinée, cheapest that I know of. My drink cost me $1.50 more than the movie did. :)) I'll try to not write anything that is much of a spoiler but I have to mention some plot points in order to express my opinion of it.

The movie has two different feels, the first half has a lot of docudrama stuff and more comedy than I would have guessed. The second half is action packed and is a real nail biter. I didn't find it as depressing as some people have described to me. Because of what they'd said I was expecting it to be a real tear jerker. But really it wasn't. Sure, it does tug at your emotions and you find yourself rooting for the aliens (It's hard not to cheer for the guy getting kicked around.) but there are much, much more depressing movies out there.

There were some things about it that seemed a little odd. For one thing with the exception of one of the aliens and his son most of them behave as though they are barely intelligent. It kinda' left me wondering how in the heck this race was able to build a spaceship and travel to other star systems. Many of them parade around beating their chests and behaving like gullible children when presented with cat food, etc. The movie never really explained why the one alien seemed so much more intelligent than the majority of them so I found myself imagining my own reasons, like maybe most of the smarter, more scientific ones were killed off in the ship when they started starving to death. Perhaps it was mostly physically strong but not very well educated workers that survived. Or maybe the aliens have never been presented with deception before, perhaps don't even understand the concept of it, and that's why it is so easy to take advantage of them. Beats me, but I wish the movie would have given me something to explain their ignorance and naivety. It didn't even try to. Instead I'm left making guesses as to the cause of it. Basically it comes down to you look at them and you look at what they've built and it doesn't appear to add up. It seems like oil and water.

So my biggest problem with this film is that it seemed to me that the aliens presented in it didn't seem smart enough to be able to travel here in the first place. Humans have total control of the situation and bully around these space travelers as easily as they would a colony of monkeys. The aliens are armed to the teeth with sophisticated weaponry that blows ours away but instead of using or at least threatening to use it to demand better treatment of themselves they sell them...for cat food! I don't know, this part of the movie just really didn't wash with me. Seems to me that if aliens capable of space travel are no smarter than that then when mankind develops similar technology it would be able to take over the entire galaxy with ease.

What I did like about the film is the portrayal of humanity's reaction to the aliens. I think this is presented quite realistically. It is expected that the aliens' appearance would revolt them and the behavior of the visitors doesn't help their cause either. As mentioned before they spend most of their time carrying on like animals rather than sentient beings so people not wanting them around them makes perfect sense to me. In fact, the film actually depicts people as being quite patient with them. After all, it takes two decades before the humans in the area start demanding that they be moved. The military is shown to act in a comically evil way towards them but bare in mind that it took many years to escalate into that. At first people, even the government and military, embrace them with open arms. But because of the aliens' behavior I don't see how things could have ended up any other way. Over time I think people kept getting a lower and lower opinion of them, a feeling that they were dealing with something barely intelligent (Hey, that's the way I was feeling so it was pretty easy for me to identify with them thinking the same thing.). And this probably led them to start viewing them as animals and we know how we treat animals. Once a feeling of superiority was achieved it isn't hard to imagine that exploitation, hard treatment, experimentation, killing without feeling remorse, etc., would follow.

I suppose the aliens' apparent brainlessness was necessary for the director to tell the kind of story he wanted to. After all, if the aliens were carrying on in a brilliant manner how could he portray humanity abusing them with such relative ease? But I just can't see how a race like that could build such amazing technology. It just didn't seem to make sense. Yes, there is one alien and his son who appear appropriately intelligent (If it wasn't for these two I don't see how anyone could feel sympathetic towards the aliens. The only character to be found amongst any of the ETs in this film come from these two. The others carry on like a herd of mindless cattle.) but all the others act as though they've been lobotomized. They can speak, but that's about it.

I did like this movie despite the one major criticism I have of it. The second half is especially fun, like a roller coaster ride. I recommend it. I'll give it an 8 out of 10. Btw, I think a sequel is very likely. It had the type of ending that left a lot of questions unanswered and plot points unresolved. Hopefully a part 2 will explain why most of them were so freakin' stupid!
 
My husband really wants to see District 9, so I have a feeling I'll know if its good or not next week. Hey as long as I don't have to watch The Ugly Truth or The Time Travelers Wife, I am happy.
 
Wickerman1972 said:
I just got back from watching it (Was only $2.25 for matinée, cheapest that I know of. My drink cost me $1.50 more than the movie did. :)) I'll try to not write anything that is much of a spoiler but I have to mention some plot points in order to express my opinion of it.

The movie has two different feels, the first half has a lot of docudrama stuff and more comedy than I would have guessed. The second half is action packed and is a real nail biter. I didn't find it as depressing as some people have described to me. Because of what they'd said I was expecting it to be a real tear jerker. But really it wasn't. Sure, it does tug at your emotions and you find yourself rooting for the aliens (It's hard not to cheer for the guy getting kicked around.) but there are much, much more depressing movies out there.

There were some things about it that seemed a little odd. For one thing with the exception of one of the aliens and his son most of them behave as though they are barely intelligent. It kinda' left me wondering how in the heck this race was able to build a spaceship and travel to other star systems. Many of them parade around beating their chests and behaving like gullible children when presented with cat food, etc. The movie never really explained why the one alien seemed so much more intelligent than the majority of them so I found myself imagining my own reasons, like maybe most of the smarter, more scientific ones were killed off in the ship when they started starving to death. Perhaps it was mostly physically strong but not very well educated workers that survived. Or maybe the aliens have never been presented with deception before, perhaps don't even understand the concept of it, and that's why it is so easy to take advantage of them. Beats me, but I wish the movie would have given me something to explain their ignorance and naivety. It didn't even try to. Instead I'm left making guesses as to the cause of it. Basically it comes down to you look at them and you look at what they've built and it doesn't appear to add up. It seems like oil and water.

So my biggest problem with this film is that it seemed to me that the aliens presented in it didn't seem smart enough to be able to travel here in the first place. Humans have total control of the situation and bully around these space travelers as easily as they would a colony of monkeys. The aliens are armed to the teeth with sophisticated weaponry that blows ours away but instead of using or at least threatening to use it to demand better treatment of themselves they sell them...for cat food! I don't know, this part of the movie just really didn't wash with me. Seems to me that if aliens capable of space travel are no smarter than that then when mankind develops similar technology it would be able to take over the entire galaxy with ease.

What I did like about the film is the portrayal of humanity's reaction to the aliens. I think this is presented quite realistically. It is expected that the aliens' appearance would revolt them and the behavior of the visitors doesn't help their cause either. As mentioned before they spend most of their time carrying on like animals rather than sentient beings so people not wanting them around them makes perfect sense to me. In fact, the film actually depicts people as being quite patient with them. After all, it takes two decades before the humans in the area start demanding that they be moved. The military is shown to act in a comically evil way towards them but bare in mind that it took many years to escalate into that. At first people, even the government and military, embrace them with open arms. But because of the aliens' behavior I don't see how things could have ended up any other way. Over time I think people kept getting a lower and lower opinion of them, a feeling that they were dealing with something barely intelligent (Hey, that's the way I was feeling so it was pretty easy for me to identify with them thinking the same thing.). And this probably led them to start viewing them as animals and we know how we treat animals. Once a feeling of superiority was achieved it isn't hard to imagine that exploitation, hard treatment, experimentation, killing without feeling remorse, etc., would follow.

I suppose the aliens' apparent brainlessness was necessary for the director to tell the kind of story he wanted to. After all, if the aliens were carrying on in a brilliant manner how could he portray humanity abusing them with such relative ease? But I just can't see how a race like that could build such amazing technology. It just didn't seem to make sense. Yes, there is one alien and his son who appear appropriately intelligent (If it wasn't for these two I don't see how anyone could feel sympathetic towards the aliens. The only character to be found amongst any of the ETs in this film come from these two. The others carry on like a herd of mindless cattle.) but all the others act as though they've been lobotomized. They can speak, but that's about it.

I did like this movie despite the one major criticism I have of it. The second half is especially fun, like a roller coaster ride. I recommend it. I'll give it an 8 out of 10. Btw, I think a sequel is very likely. It had the type of ending that left a lot of questions unanswered and plot points unresolved. Hopefully a part 2 will explain why most of them were so freakin' stupid!
Click to expand...


Hive mind perhaps. I agree., it could have been explained.
 
I would highly recommend it. Great movie... on so many levels.

Check imdb/ 12.000 votes , score 8.9/10


Wickerman1972 they did explain why aliens in the slums are not very intelligent.

SPOILER ALERT:


Your guess: "Perhaps it was mostly physically strong but not very well educated workers that survived" is on the money. ;)
 
ddd999 said:
Wickerman1972 they did explain why aliens in the slums are not very intelligent.

SPOILER ALERT:


Your guess: "Perhaps it was mostly physically strong but not very well educated workers that survived" is on the money. ;)
Click to expand...

Yes exactly, that and a hive mind is what I got out of it too. On the political side of things, 1 million dumb aliens notwithstanding, I think the humans would've imposed a command structure on the aliens if they didn't already have one. They would've at least made them get a spokesman.

I liked it overall, but it was another Hollywood action movie dressed up with interesting garb. Instead of the usual US vs aliens trope, they decided to set this in South Africa with an evil corporation called "Multinational United" (I know, I know) looking to exploit the aliens for their weaponry.
Ho hum.
There was the enemies-become-friends-to-work-together thing. There was the obligatory "we gotta break into the lab". The story of how the aliens got stranded here was fraught with improbabilities. I could go on.

On the positive side, it was easy to empathize with the main characters and that's an important achievement in any storytelling endeavor. I also think if this actually happened in real life, the aliens would be treated much like they are in the movie.

And every year, CGI just seems to get better and better.
 
very disturbing with more than (to me) a few "I can't look" moments. extremely disturbing.

And I agree that a 'part 2' is suggested. I think this one is going to become bigger than anticipated, perhaps not in box office - although that seems to be doing very well - but lasting impressions.
 
I also found this movie disturbing in a few ways, and as mentioned by others, saw many holes in character and plot plausibility.
There were numerous "As if,...." episodes, but then when the action started rolling, I relaxed and took it for what it is, a fanciful bit of science-fiction, almost comic-book pulp.

What I really didn't like was the whole continued "aliens as enemies of the earth & something to be feared" syndrome that hollywood loves to harp on. Makes me feel like there may be something to the allegations of a disinformation campaign to lead to a construed event that turns aliens into the next never-ending "war on something which can't be fought(terror)". I could totally see the US hanging an untouchable black budget UFO over some third world country for 20 years to propagate endless defense funding in this type of scenario.

As for the budget, I'm sure the fact that it was shot in South Africa with all no-name actors had alot to do with that. That, and the price of adding CGI(which accounts for a significant portion of this film) to movies has dramatically dropped over the past few years, since most of the software has been around awhile.

The alien tech was cool, the plot was somewhat original, the acting decent, the effects pretty good,...7/10 on the Brooding scale.8)
 
Mothership runs out of gas. Starving 'cat-food lovin' alien population saved by humanitarian, opportunistic and pretentious humans.

.... why not ? :D

Seems human prejudice shuts down opportunities of discovery. The ship hovers 20 years over a city and the only exchange is guns/cat-food ROFL.

Excellent !!! .... my kind of sarcasm ;)
 
Just saw it last night. Amazing movie.

A must watch for anyone interested in all things "alien". They did a great job considering the budget of $30 mil.

A few spoilers in this post so beware.

Sharlto Copley does a great job as the main character, Wikus Van De Merwe. Yes, there is some very good acting in this movie, and some average acting. There is limited effects, but that adds effect, if anything. It's a grungy movie, and complements the scenery in Joberg very well.

I liked the way they depicted the aliens, they were physically weakened, they had faults, they were violent at times, yet could also be subdued by humans at other times. In the end, they almost seemed... human?

One thing I didn't like, the fact that the main character began to "morph" into a "prawn". I'm sick and tired of the notion in movies that a human being can physically turn into another creature and survive. It's clearly not plausible. Of course, it worked to the plot line - i.e. being able to use the alien weapons - but other than that, it's silly. The concept that he has fully turned into an alien by the end, and that he hopes to change right back into a human again 3 years hence makes it downright insulting. Meh. It's a movie.

There was also more of this "human sits in alien craft and learns to fly it on the spot" a la Independence Day rubbish. It would take at least a week for a human being to learn to drive stick in an alien craft. /sarcasm :o

But at the end of the day, we go to see movies for the pure enjoyment of it all, and this one is interesting and worthy. The little alien kid stole my heart. "Dad"? "Dad"?, he says, while looking up at Wikus Van De Merwe as he threatens to take off in the little ship without his poppa. Jesus Christ, kid, you're breaking my heart. And I love the way the little guy has the technical chops to finish starting up the mothership, even though he's just a kid. Just like a little 9 year old human hacking away on 4chan. Now, that's realistic!

One of the huge ironies for me personally is that my colleague at work is from SA, Joberg specifically, and he laughs at my interest in UFOs, even though his own brother has claimed to see one. He told me he's going to go see District 9, and I'm sure he'll be impressed as well. One of the issues that I haven't heard discussed is the connection between the message and theme of District 9 and the history of apartheid. It's eerie, and knowing more than a few South Africans, and having spoken to them on the subject, it's a very sensitive matter to this day.

Perhaps it's a catharsis.
 
Just got back from seeing it at the Alamo Drafthouse with my 6 year old nephew. He thought it was "futtin' awtum."
I have to agree.
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So anyone else see that as thinly veiled social commentary about the current state of things in South Africa? Forget the alien aspect and thats what it was to me. If so, a very well done medium to communicate the wide class distinction and social injustices still present. Anyway, just a thought.
 
RonCollins said:
So anyone else see that as thinly veiled social commentary about the current state of things in South Africa? Forget the alien aspect and thats what it was to me. If so, a very well done medium to communicate the wide class distinction and social injustices still present. Anyway, just a thought.
Click to expand...
I do... And I wouldn't limit it only to South Africa.
As I said there's many levels to this movie.
 
I know people who work on the film. Anyway the aliens seem to be a caste base society, most of the population from the mother-ship are workers which may of been dumb down by genetic modification who knows. The weapons you see in the film are fact mining equipment but that did not come across well in the film. Something may of happen to the what i'll call the officer class.

As you will see in the movie there is logo/symbol on Christopher hut which i believe means i'm a boss. But workers seem to have loyalty to him well they don't like taking orders from humans anyway.
 
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