District 9

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#24

God, I hate that guy. I can understand if he wants to take a contrarian stand to the popular zeitgeist (he gave Up, Star Trek and 500 Days of Summer negative reviews), but when he’s singing praises for mediocre-to-bottom-of-barrel crapfests like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Land of the Lost and Dance Flick, it’s hard to take him seriously. Him and Kyle Smith (another anti-majority critic who called WALL-E a “sulfurous satire” and critiqued the main characters being “limited by a lack of dialogue”), I despise. Smug, misguided film nihilists. :angry:

But as Fett said, another good reason to watch D9! :slight_smile:

#25

I just watched District 9 today. It was an insanely great movie! I was blown away by just about everything. I absolutely loved it! I think this is going at the top of the summer movie season.

The Yahoo! users gave it and A-. The same as Up may I point out. :wink:

#26

I was expecting that “it looks like a 100 mil movie” vibe, for a 30 mil Blomkamp movie, hehe. He says he’s got some ideas for his next film.

Can’t wait to see D9. :open_mouth:

#27

I watched D9 a week ago on Tuesday. It was one of the best and most memorable films I’ve ever seen this year. Before Up, I would have even gave it “Best of 2009” title, but even now as a close second, it’s still very, very good.

I’d recommend you go in without watching the trailer or knowing next to nothing about the plot, but I’ll try not to give away too much in my plot summary. Our hero, Wikus, is an MNU agent tasked with the evacuation of a colony of stranded aliens after 20 years in the slum/gated compound of District 9, in the city of Johannesburg. But after a catastrophic event, he’s suddenly the most wanted man in the world, and on the run from his former colleagues, he takes refuge in the last place on Earth they’d expect to find him. No prizes for guessing where that is. Teaming up with an alien and his son, he must… uh, I’ll leave you to watch the rest to find out. :wink:

Sharito Copley delivers a stunning and convincing debut performance as nerdy government bureaucrat and reluctant hero Wikus. His character is the most symphatetic, next to Christopher (Wikus’ alien friend and only hope in surviving his predicament), and generates the most pathos and drama with his character arc. David James as the requisite antagonist Kobus, the trigger-happy Alpha Male of a team of special ops. James’ character came off a bit like Gaston or Clayton from Beauty and the Beast and Tarzan respectively, but he plays his role with menacing relish.

The aliens and special effects are top-notch for a mid-buget production. Christopher and his doe-eyed son looked almost life-like, which just goes to show how far film technology has advanced these days. We’re given interesting background information on the aliens and their way of life, and there’s also an intriguing subplot with a gang of Nigerian soldiers who have a symbiotic relationship with the aliens and who are also after Wikus.

The plot met all my expectations; it’s captivating, provocative, and harks back to classical thought-provoking sci-fi. But if you’re not in for the deeper themes, you’re sure to enjoy the breathtaking shootouts and chases. The opening is one of the most brilliant I’ve seen for a movie this year, and utilises the ‘faux-doco’ format to great effect. Later on, it sort of moves away from the doco format, while retaining the contemporary shakey-cam handheld effect, which I could handle, but may not prove so for those with weak-stomachs. An interesting anecdote is that one of my friends who watched this with me went straight to the toilet after the movie was over and barfed. Coincidentally, the person in the stall next to him was also emptying his stomach contents. :laughing: So lesson of the day: choose a back row seat and close your eyes if things get dizzy.

Also, the later scenes sort of turned into a mix of The Fugitive and The Last Samurai, although it still remains relatively entertaining. But the haunting poignant final shot redeemed all the ‘action-flick’ scenes before, and was what ultimately made the film for me.

Without giving away too much, they sort of left it open for a sequel. I’m both excited that there will be a potential continuation to explore this alternate-universe (which I felt was only briefly touched on in this movie), and annoyed that they didn’t tie up the movie conclusively. But as it is, District 9 is the most heartbreaking and exhilarating science-fiction adventure of the year (more so than Star Trek in my books), and has something for everyone. Go see it, it’s definitely worth the trip. :slight_smile:

Rating: 5/5

#28

Saw it yesterday, was pretty good. :slight_smile: loved the originality and plot. Its a close second to UP for me. But the two movies aren’t really comparable, really different genres. :arrow_right:

#29

I saw District 9 a few days ago. Originally, I thought it wasn’t my type of movie and didn’t really look much into it. I decided to go anyway when a friend invited me to go see it. I went into the theater not knowing what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. It blew me away. It had a deeper story line than I was anticipating. The main characters were developed well. The special effects were really great especially considering the somewhat low budget.

I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend seeing it.

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#30

I,want,to cry,this film is rated R and I’m not 17 yet,and my best friend just said he’s about to go see it with his dad

:`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-( :`-(

#31

You should go it with someone. The movie is awesomely good. But Up anyways for me.

#32

I saw this earlier on tonight, and not much else can be said about it that hasn’t been said already. It’s just an excellent piece of cinema that really shows you how to make a smart, exciting, action packed film. It has put most of the other summer movies to shame, in my opinion. I found it to be absolutely excellent, and it almost made me cry :laughing:

I think that the people who seem to dislike this movie can’t be using any sort of sensible logic as to why they don’t like it. But that’s the problem with movies that are received well, there is always going to be a handful of people who don’t agree for some reason. It baffles me quite honestly!

[spoil] The bit with the alien who had an X marked on his back almost brought me to tears when he got shot.[/spoil]

I can’t recommend this movie enough, to be quite honest. It’s things like this and Inglourious Basterds that remind me why I shouldn’t give up on modern movies. If Transformers has to exist so that District 9 can exist, I’m more than willing to let it live.

One thing’s for sure, though. “Up” had better be pretty darn good, seeing as it has some very strong competition this year.

I loved District 9 and I support non-human rights! ]

#33

I’m so happy with the critical and commercial reception D9’s been receiving so far, it so totally deserves it. I came pretty close to tearing at some points too… :frowning: by Golly, this movie just blew me away! It’s been a few weeks and it still lingers with me, while I’ve already forgotten most of the earlier ‘blockbusters’.

Somebody let Mr Blomkamp direct Halo already! H*ll, hire him instead of Mr Bay for the inevitable third installment of Transformers! :laughing: I’d bet he’d do a waaay better job if he had a go at it!

It’s pretty ironic that all the better movies come out in the fall instead of summer. This summer has gotta be the weirdest (far fewer sequels than last year, with a lot more indies thrown into the mix) and most disappointing yet… :confused:

D9 FTW! :sunglasses:

#34

Took me a while to find this thread. I have been looking at other sites trying to find a subforum or forum dedicated specifically to this film. In 5 weeks, I’ve seen it 7 times now, as much as I ever see any movie (Wall-E excepted).

Yes, it’s a masterpiece. It certainly seems to be in the top10 or perhaps top5 science fiction films ever. In fact, some critics are wondering if Aliens has been passed up. The crowds at almost all these showings have been portly and sometimes sold out. What I’ve noticed is that there are even fewer females than in Star Trek, which hurt that movie. And some friends of mine haven’t been able to go because their children don’t want to see it or their wife won’t go to this gory picture.

Yes, it’s the best film I’ve seen this year. Even better than Star Trek and Up. It’s originality of screenplay is breathtaking. Don’t listen to the critics that complain about the blitzkreig towards the end, that was a necessary venting of frustration and occurred after a reasonable buildup of events. And besides, the numbers on each side of this so-called war total no more than 100 people + aliens. The real army is seen in the carpenters and laborers and drivers and especially the digital artists (and don’t forget the 2 storyboard artists) who produced this magnificent, fantastic creation.

$30M budget? seems impossible! Is that the real cash they paid out while handing out IOU’s to be paid from the American take?

Some critics talk about the heart wrenching scenes. One was talked about above, the alien with an ‘X’. Another I thought involved a little alien, and he reminded me startlingly of Wall-E. [spoil] “Let’s play hide and seek!” , “Yes, yes!”, “No…!!”[/spoil] priceless… Also, as thedriveintheatre pointed out, the final scene, the final moment itself is worth the price of admission, a magical, Presto moment belying a genius at work at the controls.

It’s made something like $115M here and over $50M overseas, released first here in the U.S, possibly to get the buzz going with the inherent racial problems we have in this country, altho not at the same scale as the director’s homeland. I’m hoping it blows well over $250M total, more with dvd’s and merchandising to propel a richly endowed District 10 in a few years.

Note added in proof: there wasn’t a single moment where we see the aliens or an alien talking to the main character where you have to find yourself trying to believe that they are there. Doesn’t happen. They are seamlessly real. It will not occur to you unless someone else brings it up.

#35

I FINALLY saw this movie for the 1st time on DVD. My review:

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Great film,very good,also good acting! But it didn’t “blow my mind” or anything like that. This movie is full of violence,is full of gore,is full of swearing,and full of awesomeness! It’s a good story, but it does get a little boring sometimes, and I fell so bad for that alien who was made a target! It did nothing wrong! He was so innocent! I think the goriest scenes in are The Birthday Party Scene, The Hospital Scene, and The Final Battle. But overall, it was a good movie. I enjoyed it.
9/10
District 9 is Rated R for Bloody Violence And Strong Language.

#36

For me, the best part of the dvd was the brief, scary comment made by the main actor about how acting can destroy you. This has happened to many actors who have submerged themselves into a role, and not quite recovered. Haven’t really gotten past the first disk, haven’t even heard the commentary! The blu-ray has a nice xtra with the Joburg interactive map, but I don’t have such a player, might buy a laptop with one, cuz the portable blu-rays are $800.

Anyways, on the first disk, Peter Jackson doesn’t try to take all the credit, Bloomkamp is dominant. They had lots and lots of extra scenes for the dvd, but it looks like they made the right decisions in leaving them out. Most were of good quality, only a few were poor.

work in progress, more juicy tidbits about the 2 disk dvd after New Years

Edit: You may notice that one of the interviewed bureaucrats is the same actor used to fill in the role of aliens. He makes nice alien sounding noises. Also, the way they lighted the aliens, with some sort of surround lighting physics algorithms, or whatever, that seemed to explain partly how they cut costs.

Acting: they talked extensively about how many of the actors made up their own dialogue, where they felt perfectly comfortable, as opposed to sounding like they were mechanically reading from a script. So this also contributed mightily to the appearance of realism.

#37

annarborjack: glad to see that you finally caught the film! I think the violence had purpose, which made it better than 300 in that respect.

Rare Addict: great review, but I just want to point out that the VFX (minus the shots of the ship and the [spoil]dropship liftoff[/spoil] were all done here in Vancouver, not by Weta.

So true. I love that he’s jumping into acting now though (he’s in the new A-Team film)

As for me, I’ve been following Blomkamp since he was a commercial director in 2006, and have loved him for just as long. Loved DIstrict 9 and look forward to his next film in a big way.

I even did an episode of my comedic DVD commentary podcast on it, which is going up tonight :smiley: (http://sickfeats.mevio.com)

A huge boon to the local Vancouver film industry, too!

#38

Eww, I grew to hate that TV show. Watched it at first, but then hated it, because of the big black guy who was a macho overactor, but in real life is a wus. He is the progenitor of all the phony baloney TV wrestler’s that have ruined the name of the sport.

Hmm, Vancouver already has ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and a number of other film people work there.

Oh, you shouldn’t use as an avatar a picture of such an impossibly good looking Mumbai leading man. You can never look like that, and as you grow older this realization will only lead to clinical depression. That’s why I use for an avatar our cosmetically challenged yellow friend.

#39

I’ve never seen the original, but it seems like they’ve remedied the problem you mention by casting a real UFC fighter as Mr. T!

True enough, as we are North America’s 3rd largest center of film production after LA & NYC (heck even that A-Team film with Sharlto was filmed here), but it’s rare to see local talent out there and successful, it’s more just where American movies/TV get made.

WOW. THANK YOU for the confidence boost! I assume that’s just a compliment as my avatar is legitimately me back in 10th grade :smiley:

#40

Haven’t seen this movie yet, waiting for word from someone who enjoyed both the Alien Nation film/series/TV-movies and the TV series Space: Above and Beyond. District 9 seems to be a mashup of both earlier efforts (commentary on racial integration, “Prawns” instead of “Chigs,” etc.), so it would be great to hear an opinion based on familiarity with all material in question.

#41

I saw this film a while ago, I quite enjoyed it!

#42

I loved District 9, but it successfully was the only movie to have the most F-bombs, ever.

2 out of 3 words had the F-word in that movie!

#43

District 9 is definetly one of my favorite movies of all time. The plot, action, realism, everything was perfect.