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District 9

Archive: 31 posts

I don't want to ruin the story for you, so just watch the trailer:

http://www.d-9.com/

It looks great! Thanks to Morrinn for telling me that it is actually based on this short:

YouTube - Alive in Joberg by Neill Blomkamp Spyfilms (Halo director)		2009-05-30 00:28:00

Author:
Kog
Posts: 2358

It's actually not being directed or written by Pete Jackson. He just had a hand on some of the Production.
It's Being directed by Neill Blomkamp and is based on short film he did as well called "Alive in Joburg".
Blomkamp also wrote the Short Story.
You can actually watch the film on YT.
YouTube - Alive in Joberg by Neill Blomkamp Spyfilms (Halo director).

There are a few very interesting Viral Marketing sites where you can toy with some speculative info on the film such as:
www.D-9.com
www.MNUSpreadsLies.com
www.multinationalunited.com
www.mathsfromouterspace.com

Very interesting. I'll be looking out for this one.		2009-05-30 04:40:00

Author:
Morrinn3
Posts: 493

Ah, thanks for pointing that out.

That short film is great, so I am expecting the movie to be much better.		2009-05-30 05:30:00

Author:
Kog
Posts: 2358

Yups, fingers crossed man.2009-05-30 05:46:00

Author:
Morrinn3
Posts: 493

For anyone who doesn't know, Neil Blomkamp is the kid that Peter Jackson lined up to direct the doomed Halo movie. Jackson put his whole weight behind the kid (and that's a lot of weight, tee hee), but the studio was not comfortable with such a risk.

This kid's actually a Vancouver talent, and went to the same campus as my girlfriend (Vancouver Film School - 3D animation/VFX). So that's exciting for me, i want him to well because it's sort of like rooting for the home team. But at the same time, I wasn't a big fan of his short film, and I couldn't help but laugh at the trailer for the feature when you see the alien interrogation scene.

I'll definitely be seeing this movie whether it's good or not. So far it's not looking like my thing, but I hope they prove me wrong and make a really good film.		2009-06-02 02:42:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

I've been a fan of Blomkamp for a while now. I love the Alive in Joberg short as well as the style used in his commercials. I was really looking forward to a Halo film under his helm and with Peter Jackson's supervision. Oh well, if District 9 is a success, maybe it'll get the Blomkamp Halo film moving again... but I doubt it.2009-06-06 16:00:00

Author:
mrsupercomputer
Posts: 1335

[QUOTE= I couldn't help but laugh at the trailer for the feature when you see the alien interrogation scene.

I'll definitely be seeing this movie whether it's good or not. So far it's not looking like my thing, but I hope they prove me wrong and make a really good film.[/QUOTE]

Honestly, I haven't seen enough of his work to really have an opinion on his talent. At least he's not Uwe Boll. I have to agree. The alien interrogation scene was a bit comical. If they were shooting for a more serious tone I'm not sure that was the way to go about it.

Still, the rest of the trailer has piqued my interest. I'm a sci-fi film fan. I'm more excited about Sam Rockwell's Moon. I'm definitely a fan of Rockwell's acting.		2009-06-11 17:02:00

Author:
pantspantspants
Posts: 189

I'm a sci-fi film fan. I'm more excited about Sam Rockwell's Moon. I'm definitely a fan of Rockwell's acting.

At the risk of taking this thing way off-topic...

I can't wait for Moon! Not sure when it's opening here in Vancouver, but it's at the top of my list currently, I'll be rushing out to see it. Looks like classic Arthur C. Clarke with a Solaris twist, a bit more human. Obviously a huge 2001 influence. Looks really interesting to me though. Did you know that the director is David Bowie's son?

And, to keep the thread from being hijacked:

District 9... Going to be the big test of Neil Blomkamp. If the movie does poorly, the kid's going to have a hard time getting a followup off the ground. I really do think this movie is his "Bound", or "The Frighteners". Bound being the movie the Wachowski's made almost entirely in order to get The Matrix off the ground. The Frighteners being Peter Jackson's vehicle to Lord of the Rings land. Big studios won't back you for a major high profile project unless you've proven yourself as a successful feature filmmaker.

Pretty high stakes! But that's what happens when a powerhouse like Peter Jackson gets behind a kid first-timer for a major, major project like Halo, and hypes him up like he did. I feel kind of bad for Blomkamp, I know if I was this kid, I'd be poopin' m'self with anxiety.		2009-06-12 08:14:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

At the risk of taking this thing way off-topic...

I can't wait for Moon! Not sure when it's opening here in Vancouver, but it's at the top of my list currently, I'll be rushing out to see it. Looks like classic Arthur C. Clarke with a Solaris twist, a bit more human. Obviously a huge 2001 influence. Looks really interesting to me though. Did you know that the director is David Bowie's son?

And, to keep the thread from being hijacked:

District 9... Going to be the big test of Neil Blomkamp. If the movie does poorly, the kid's going to have a hard time getting a followup off the ground. I really do think this movie is his "Bound", or "The Frighteners". Bound being the movie the Wachowski's made almost entirely in order to get The Matrix off the ground. The Frighteners being Peter Jackson's vehicle to Lord of the Rings land. Big studios won't back you for a major high profile project unless you've proven yourself as a successful feature filmmaker.

Pretty high stakes! But that's what happens when a powerhouse like Peter Jackson gets behind a kid first-timer for a major, major project like Halo, and hypes him up like he did. I feel kind of bad for Blomkamp, I know if I was this kid, I'd be poopin' m'self with anxiety.

Wow, glad to hear I'm not the only one excited about Moon. The homages are very apparent in the trailer.

Yeah, I don't know. The "D9" trailer was certainly intriguing and had a wrenching cynical reality feel to it, but I think the aliens look a bit silly...so far. I hate to judge because there is so little information/footage released.


I didn't know David Bowie's son is directing Moon.

I don't like to make snap judgments based on trailers, (unfortunately I've been disappointed in the past), but so far it's my most anticipated film at the moment.		2009-06-12 16:00:00

Author:
pantspantspants
Posts: 189

Okay, I'm reviving this thread.

All I can say is that I'm disappointed. It looks like some kind of anti-war movie showing soldiers abusing citizens but the people are replaced by aliens. Booo!		2009-07-28 07:08:00

Author:
qrtda235566
Posts: 3664

I have to say, there's just something about the trailer that makes it all look really... fake. I think it might be the aliens or maybe the font used for the subtitles, I don't know, there's just something off about the trailer.

Either way, it looks like a great movie.		2009-07-31 16:20:00

Author:
dandygandy2704
Posts: 1002

i dont like that thay protect are family and then you see a happy family
its to american like :blush: (dont flame me pleace)

YouTube - Level 5 alert! Non-Humans Have Escaped District 9
0:28		2009-07-31 19:00:00

Author:
Unknown User

Crazy awesome.

Can't wait to see it.		2009-08-01 08:16:00

Author:
TheMarvelousHat
Posts: 542

Just got back from an afternoon showing. I thought it was awesome. Anyone else see it?2009-08-14 23:34:00

Author:
mrsupercomputer
Posts: 1335

Yeah, I just got back from it. It was brilliant! I loved it, everything was so well done, the action, the story, the acting, the effects. It is definitely worth seeing, unless your squeamish, because it is really gory. REALLY gory. And theres some nasty things. But it's still great, that just makes it better! 2009-08-15 02:28:00

Author:
Kog
Posts: 2358

sounds nice 2009-08-17 16:34:00

Author:
Unknown User

I really enjoyed this film as well (saw it Friday night). I think the trailer is probably misleading; the story unfolds as a documentary, I thought it was clever and well done.2009-08-17 19:28:00

Author:
fullofwin
Posts: 1214

I'm from South Africa! 2009-08-17 21:09:00

Author:
noddle111
Posts: 174

Well look at me, I'm back from a fairly long hiatus from this site. Time to catch up on my movie blabber!

I saw District 9 a couple nights ago. I know this is going to be the unpopular viewpoint here, but I've got to be honest. My feelings on D9 diminished more and more as the movie progressed. Lots of promise early on. Very realistic documentary style, very cool visuals, great fantasy of a massive alien presence that feels very real.
The movie dives headlong into social commentary about apartheid and people's ability to dehumanize each other due to xenophobia. My interest was piqued.

After the first act, the documentary style is dropped, and the 2nd act of the movie takes off, following the main character of Wikus. It's no longer about social commentary at this point, as the movie begins to ape Cronenberg and get really really nasty. Jackson's influence can clearly be seen here in all the puking, postules, and excessive unpleasant nastiness.

And then the 3rd act is a god **** Michael Bay movie. Including requisite "villain" bad guy.

I feel like the movie betrayed all of its own promise. All it does is tease you with this interesting concept of using an alien scifi film to tell a story about man's inhumanity to man. But then it goes ahead and dehumanizes its own characters by turning the movie into a shoot-em-up action movie with 1-dimensional characters, mech combat, tons and tons of carnage... I mean WTF??!!! It almost seems to me like they didn't know how to intelligently end the movie, so they distract the audience by saying "hey hey! Look at me!! Look over here! Forget what you were watching, have some explosions!"

And the plot... in the necessary spoiler tag...

Alien spaceship fuel turns people into aliens so they can use alien guns and become government experiments... WUUUUUHHHHHH??!!!

Not to mention the movie's almost insulting approach toward women. Aside from the sheer amount of puke, ****, pus, crap, blood, gore, aliens, guns, mechs, explosions, and bullets, the movie also has the balls to:
have only one female character who is utterly 1-dimensional, is there purely to support her "man", who is too cowardly to tell her husband the truth or to say "no" to her father, and that's about all she does (or doesn't do, rather). She's an item, an object, nothing more. And on top of this, did anyone else look at her bedroom? Everything's pink, covered in flowers and roses, and there was probably a Barbie Dream House in the corner of the room.
Yes, ladies and gents, it appears District 9 was made by 9 year old boys.

I definitely seem to be going against popular opinion on this film, but I can't for the life of me force myself to like or even appreciate this movie. It did so few things right, and so many, so so very many things wrong.

If my description of the film doesn't sound like its your thing, go see Ponyo. Ponyo's also a bit on the ridiculous side, it's unbelievably adorable, but it was also a great film with a few masterful, masterful moments of filmmaking. Something D9 was sorely in need of.

Anyone out there with me on this one? Am I all alone in the world?		2009-08-17 22:18:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

Anyone out there with me on this one? Am I all alone in the world?
Well, I don't think you're alone, but I disagree with most of your criticisms and feel that you're being a bit harsh. I felt the social commentary throughout the entire film. Yes, in the 2nd act, it does shift focus away from apartheid and xenophobia. However, new issues are brought to the forefront. The desire for power and control for example. That's the entire reason the humans won't help the alien's. They want control of alien weaponry and we see various groups vying for that control.

For me, this mirrors events that have taken place in humanities history and continues to take place today. Companies or governments pretending to help, to provide aid, when in actuality, they have other motives in mind.


I also disagree about the film being insulting toward woman. At least, no more insulting then your own assertion that a woman wouldn't enjoy the gore, the aliens, and the explosions. My wife, for example, is not a big fan of gore but found the action and the explosions to be, in her words "frickin awesome!" My wife is also a very staunch feminist and she had no issue with female character in the film. I didn't discuss that issue with her, but I'm guessing that like me, she found the wife to be a pretty fitting companion to our rather unlikeable (and sweater vest wearing) protagonist.		2009-08-18 02:39:00

Author:
mrsupercomputer
Posts: 1335

I really enjoyed this movie. It was incredibly sad throughout (at least to me), and District 9 itself reminded me of parts of India (watch Slumdog Millionaire or visit India if you don't know what I'm talking about). I enjoyed the action sequences, very Michael Bay. I didn't want to look too far into it, but there was definitely a not-so-subtle meaning behind everything, especially throughout the first half of the movie. It was like Transformers meets Slumdog Millionaire, at least in my eyes.2009-08-18 02:50:00

Author:
BSprague
Posts: 2325

District 9 itself reminded me of parts of India (watch Slumdog Millionaire or visit India if you don't know what I'm talking about). .

They actually shot much of the slum material in the real slums of Johannesburg, South Africa. In a parallel to the movie's story, many of the residents of the slums were being evicted and moved to cleaner housing.

Also, another note on women and District 9 - I saw it at a completely packed house, the movie totally sold out. Looking back at everyone behind me, I swear to God it had to be a 15:1 ratio of guys to girls. You've heard the term "sausage factory", but that audience was the real deal. Anyone else notice this? I mean you'd expect this in something like a Michael Bay movie, but in fact the Transformers movies seemed to have way more women in attendance compared to this.

I feel kind of out of the loop actually, like I saw a different movie than most people. I just had a really hard time enjoying it. I was right with it in the early scenes, I love the premise and was excited to see where it went. But by the mid-point of the movie... let's say by the birthday cake scene... And definitely by the science-experiment scenes... It lost me. And only managed to lose me more as it went on.

And what the hell was with the "villain" soldier, the bald muscle-neck with the douchey facial hair?? I thought I had suddenly been transported into an 80s action flick. Like all of a sudden the movie was Tango and Cash, and there was the "bad guy", who, naturally, gets his special comeuppance late in the game, after mysteriously surviving everything else that's thrown at him. We're meant to cheer at his demise, but the movie at this point is doing exactly what it seems to preach against - dehumanizing people, because it's easier that way. Another example of this is the *** hole scientist in the lab coat who screams "**** YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" as he electrocutes Wicas. Seriously dude?? "**** your girlfriend", and zap??!

I think I caught myself muttering "what were they thinking" at about this point. I guess devoting yourself to commentary that people, no matter how "weird" or alien they seem to us, are people with souls, should require a certain amount of tact and taste, both of which I think the movie lacked, especially later in the game. I think the movie's lack of focus and frequent style and genre-swapping sort of water down the message. And I suppose this is better than having a pure over-the-top genre movie (we'll say Transformers 2 for purposes of being lazy). But it's tougher on me, because I feel betrayed by the movie that tries-but-not-hard-enough, but I don't feel betrayed by the movie that knows it's over the top and stupid, because I expect it. (although, that said, I haven't actually seen Transformers 2. Who knows, I might be wrong and it might make me love District 9!)		2009-08-18 22:36:00

Author:
Teebonesy
Posts: 1937

I thought I'd bump this due to the recent UK release. I myself saw it on release day with a mate, and I thought it was very group. I'd describe it as two films in one - I, as a 14 year old out with a mate, was mainly focussing on the hardcore super-cool action, explosions, and gore. That's not to say I didn't appreciate the very obvious allusions to Apartheid (especially having recently studied "Nothing's Changed", a poem on District 6). Overall, I thought this was a great film...except for the bit with Mr. Bad-guy's slow-motion strut through the smoke.2009-09-07 20:27:00

Author:
dawesbr
Posts: 3280

A friend of mine brought over a DVD quality rip the other night and I have to say... I thought the film was absolutely fantastic!! Nothing like I expected. I love movies that don't follow the "Hollywood" formula, and this does it better than most.

The story was great... I loved the open ended ending too. The visual effects were stunning, and I have to say.... much more realistic than anything I've seen from Avatar so far. Gritty, dirty, photo-realistic effects are the way to go imho. I'm not going to go into the details of the comparisons drawn on apartheid issues... but there were enough to make one think about the issues.

Over all, I'd say this is one of the best sci-fi films I've seen in a very very very looooong time. Heck, it's just one of the best over all films I've seen in forever.

I highly recommend it.		2009-09-11 15:51:00

Author:
Rustbukkit
Posts: 1737

I expected "nice things" after reading rave reviews. The acting is so good and generally this movie blew my mind. Seriously that guy playing the main character was so believable and awesome. One of the best sci-fi movies I've seen. Right up there with the alien movies. It's the Jurassic Park of sci-fi.2009-09-11 17:09:00

Author:
BasketSnake
Posts: 2391

it was a good movie but it was what to fast and the camera setup was not good
and the humans where verry evil and bad and racist against the aliens 		2009-10-24 01:11:00

Author:
Unknown User

it was a good movie but it was what to fast and the camera setup was not good
and the humans where verry evil and bad and racist against the aliens

I saw in the movie!

You were the alien right? 		2009-10-24 01:37:00

Author:
CyberSora
Posts: 5551

no.....
hmmmmm...
wait a second....
im a mutan (my parents (the pure chimera) are aliens)
but that kid of the alien was really cute
but how can the guys ion the movie understand what the aliens are saying 		2009-10-24 20:15:00

Author:
Unknown User

but how can the guys ion the movie understand what the aliens are saying
The same way people who originally speak English can learn Spanish.		2009-10-24 21:17:00

Author:
ChristmasJew
Posts: 431

The same way people who originally speak English can learn Spanish.

oh ok
me whant to learn 		2009-10-24 21:32:00

Author:
Unknown User

Well look at me, I'm back from a fairly long hiatus from this site. Time to catch up on my movie blabber!

I saw District 9 a couple nights ago. I know this is going to be the unpopular viewpoint here, but I've got to be honest. My feelings on D9 diminished more and more as the movie progressed. Lots of promise early on. Very realistic documentary style, very cool visuals, great fantasy of a massive alien presence that feels very real.
The movie dives headlong into social commentary about apartheid and people's ability to dehumanize each other due to xenophobia. My interest was piqued.

After the first act, the documentary style is dropped, and the 2nd act of the movie takes off, following the main character of Wikus. It's no longer about social commentary at this point, as the movie begins to ape Cronenberg and get really really nasty. Jackson's influence can clearly be seen here in all the puking, postules, and excessive unpleasant nastiness.

And then the 3rd act is a god **** Michael Bay movie. Including requisite "villain" bad guy.

I feel like the movie betrayed all of its own promise. All it does is tease you with this interesting concept of using an alien scifi film to tell a story about man's inhumanity to man. But then it goes ahead and dehumanizes its own characters by turning the movie into a shoot-em-up action movie with 1-dimensional characters, mech combat, tons and tons of carnage... I mean WTF??!!! It almost seems to me like they didn't know how to intelligently end the movie, so they distract the audience by saying "hey hey! Look at me!! Look over here! Forget what you were watching, have some explosions!"

And the plot... in the necessary spoiler tag...

Alien spaceship fuel turns people into aliens so they can use alien guns and become government experiments... WUUUUUHHHHHH??!!!

Not to mention the movie's almost insulting approach toward women. Aside from the sheer amount of puke, ****, pus, crap, blood, gore, aliens, guns, mechs, explosions, and bullets, the movie also has the balls to:
have only one female character who is utterly 1-dimensional, is there purely to support her "man", who is too cowardly to tell her husband the truth or to say "no" to her father, and that's about all she does (or doesn't do, rather). She's an item, an object, nothing more. And on top of this, did anyone else look at her bedroom? Everything's pink, covered in flowers and roses, and there was probably a Barbie Dream House in the corner of the room.
Yes, ladies and gents, it appears District 9 was made by 9 year old boys.

I definitely seem to be going against popular opinion on this film, but I can't for the life of me force myself to like or even appreciate this movie. It did so few things right, and so many, so so very many things wrong.

If my description of the film doesn't sound like its your thing, go see Ponyo. Ponyo's also a bit on the ridiculous side, it's unbelievably adorable, but it was also a great film with a few masterful, masterful moments of filmmaking. Something D9 was sorely in need of.

Anyone out there with me on this one? Am I all alone in the world?

I thought this was a blind-buy for me on Blu-ray, but you just had to ruin that, didn't you? Didn't you?!

Okay, so I'll rent it first and make a decision after that. This just in, the District 9 BD will come with the God of War III demo. Pretty sweet deal for those on the fence I guess...		2009-10-28 16:36:00

Author:
supersickie
Posts: 1366


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