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"District 9" Best Sci-fi Movie of 09?
Travis wrote in with a story that says much of what my friends have been saying to me all weekend: "Slashdot covered 'District 9' back in July. I was originally excited to see this movie for its exhibition of exoskeleton robot 'mechs' (see images and video at Hizook.com ). After watching the film this opening weekend, I can honestly say that it was an amazing science fiction movie! Everything was spot-on: the plot, the human elements, the alien elements, the technology, and the seamless blend of special effects with real camera capture. This film should vault Neill Blomkamp into sci-fi stardom, on par with George Lucas and the Wachowski Brothers (of Matrix fame). This is certainly a must-see movie — easily the best movie of the year."
The third act is where the movie devolved into traditional Hollywood tropes.
The long-awaited shootout with the asshole who has been hounding the protagonist since the first act. Pitting two factions, MNU + Nigerians, against each other. The hero being saved by the downtrodden prawns at the very last minute.
The little alien Wesley Crusher who's in the downed alien craft and after 20 years discovers how he can wake up the mothership to save the day.
How the love for an adult and his child can make anything happen.
Finally two adversaries become friends much like Dragonball Z.
Everything leading up to the end was good but it's like they ran out of ideas.
Okay, they ran out of good ideas.
I think "Moon" has been the only other major sci-fi non-sequel I've seen in the theaters in a long while...
I liked D9 and hope it does well.
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That is a fucking insult if you ask me.
The film has a great look. I think alien films in daylight and with the psuedo-documentary looks are the hardest things to film.
The viral ad campaign has been very interesting with the fake NMU ads and such.
I have much hope for this movie, but if it ends up being just another EVIL CORPORATION movie, I will be disappointed.
Can't we all at least agree that while this movie may have had its weak points, it also had some very strong ones, and all things considered it is in fact a decent sci-fi film in a year that seems likely to produce a few of those; which, last time I checked, is the exception? From my perspective the past few years have been on average a baron wasteland of terrible purely "Hollywood" style sci-fi films not worth half of what I had to pay to go see them in theaters.
If there is one movie you see all year, see District 9. There's action, aliens, a little romance and one very well written story with some nicely animated cgi. I'm usually picky about sci-fi and almost never wanted to see the latest cool new release, but this movie really is tops. I was even more surprised that parts of the movie brought forth some relatively strong emotions. Also, I think the movie does try to send a message and does a good job of it. Ok, I don't want to be anymore of a movie reviewer here so go see it for yourselves.
I suppose I can agree with the summary if we are talking about the George Lucas that made "Jar Jar" -- but not the George Lucas I imagine existed before that. The movie has a strange mix of incredibly awesome and stunningly amateurish or "dumbed down by committee" pieces that kind of made me angry that it fell short of its total awesomeness potential. Kind of like making a Transformer movie and then produce toys that don't transform. Who would think that's a good idea? Thank god Hollywood would never do something like that, so I wouldn't ever have to explain to a three year old on Christmas, "No, honey, it doesn't transform into a semi truck; it's just a robot" ANYWAY you should see District 9 if you haven't but don't expect it to be soo awesome in total, it's pretty good, though. My wife is the true sci-fi fan so I'll wait for her report back tomorrow.
Saw this yesterday, thought it was awesome. At its heart the plot isn't necessarily that original, but the execution is sublime. The "hero" and many of the other characters and weapons/vehicles/etc. feel so much more vulnerable than in any other holywood movie.
In every other movie you shoot at someone and miss completely if they're the good guy. Or your car/spaceship/cat is invulnerable to missiles conveniently. Not in this movie.
HOWEVER, the combination of shaky cam and gore left everyone I went with feeling a bit nauseous. I'm really not even sure if it was the shaky cam or the gore that did it. Please put a bullet in these shaky cams. For whatever reason they're being used, it's not worth it.
I saw District 9 this Friday, and I have to agree that it was a great piece of cinematic sci-fi: an allegory for apartheid with a very human unlikely hero and some great popcorn-fodder action sequences. I'd like to remind everyone, though, that it still has some competition for year's best sci-fi movie in the form of Moon, which is a drama of isolation, loneliness, and ethics set in the stark, cold beauty of space, very reminiscent of 2001. While it doesn't match the action of D-9, it makes up for it with its emotional intensity and thoughtfulness. I highly recommend any Slashdot movie fans out there see both.
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Overall, was tremendously impressed with the look, feel, cinematography, etc. Documentary style absolutely made the movie. And I generally loath shaky-cam. Thing is, shaky-cam has generally been used to imply that you *are* someone, so you never see what the hell is happening, whereas in District 9, it makes you feel like you're *watching* something, so you follow the action but feel the peril. Very effective.
There were some *amazing* scenes - I can't go into it due to spoilers, but really, unbelievably cringe-inducing moments of humanist horror. There is a richness to the interaction of the main character with his world that I just haven't seen elsewhere.
My friends and I kept looking over at each other with wild grins on our faces, unable to believe how intense, crazy, and just totally new the whole thing was. I really can't recommend it highly enough.
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Are you saying that this movie is as good/groundbreaking as Star Wars or The Matrix? I am somewhat dubious.
Lots of movies have been billed as "the next star wars" but in terms of success and popular impact, the Matrix is the only one that really nailed it, at least as far as sci-fi's gone. I don't know if geeks will be having matrix-themed weddings decades from now but hey, it's already got ruinous sequels just like Star Wars!
I hear District 9 is good but will probably remain on the scifi geek list rather than crossing over into the mainstream like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. Probably more like a Blade Runner or Terminator 1 or 2. I wouldn't quite put LOTR on the same cultural impact comparison list since Star Wars and Matrix did not exist in any form before the theatrical release whereas LOTR has been loved for decades beforehand -- in other words, it had already made quite an impact before Peter Jackson touched it.
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Moon. He's on the dark side, mining Helium-3. And he's on the frickin' MOON. Not to mention that the story and acting is excellent. I liked District 9, but Moon is better.
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I suppose Peter Jackson's name was the only thing that kept this from being laughed out of Hollywood. 'District 9' and 'Moon' are the best sci-fi movies I've seen in awhile.
Are you saying that this movie is as good/groundbreaking as Star Wars orThe Matrix? I am somewhat dubious.
Yes. It. Is.
No one has done anything like this before. The style of seamless blending of handheld, real documentary, fake news, CCTV (security cam) and live action fluid is tight. There is even first-person/third-person shooter cams. It's a distinctly unique style of "omniscient" camera person which can which from any source / any angle, yet while blending and cutting between all of them, it still feels cohesive and non-jarring.
The integration of the aliens into the movie is especially groundbreaking and unique. There are aliens in literally 80-90% of the scenes and they look real. Not like Jar-Jar Binks or people in outfits. The look dirty and solid. Their textures reflect the environment. They move and interact with the environment like real creatures. You can actually *BELIEVE* they are there. Trust me, the special effects on this movie are unlike ANYTHING you've even seen before and that doesn't even count the action scenes.
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Looks interesting, I'll definitely Netflix it.
To be honest, if I could only have see one film in the actual Theatres this year out of all the ones I've already seen, I would chose District 9 - that includes comparing it to Star Trek, Harry Potter, Transformers, etc. It's definitely a "Big Screen"-worthy experience.
This movie really is groundbreaking in many facets and there is no way you can simply dismiss it regardless of how many other movies are coming out this year. Your whole, "hum drum oh maybe I'll watch it on Netflix" attitude shows you're not even seriously interested in District 9. I didn't know much about it but it blew me away completely Besides, you're in now way qualified to pass any judgements on this movie until YOU'VE ACTUALLY SEEN IT.
I enjoyed the film quite a lot. I think it has had one of the best ad campaigns in years. I've seen billboards with advisories against picking up alien hitchhikers (warning of a $10,000 fine). The best was the ad banner on a bus simply saying "This bus is for humans only!" and the prawn icon with the red slashed circle. Brilliant, and massively attention getting. I can't recall the last time I heard people at work discussing a billboard.
Warning, might be spoilers:
:-/
Let me say that I was highly disappointed with this movie, and surely I can't be the only one. I went to see it last night, and walked away not recommending it to anyone. There were definite plot holes, the hero (Van De Merwe) I had a hard time rooting for instead of rooting that we would just get shot. He was weak and pathetic, and only had courage while in the exo-suit, and even then, he was wishy-washy. His character was sort of like Borat, the sound effects sounded like the Matrix, and I just couldn't believe the government would allow the Nigerians to become so powerful inside the district, especially when they knew how dangerous they were. The father in law was evil for no apparent reason, and his wife suddenly believes Wilkus without explanation why? I don't know, I just don't buy it at all. A lot of the gore was unneeded, and made me turn away from the screen a few times... Did we really need to see him biting off his nails? And yes, I did think the parts where the humans blew up from the alien weapons were cool, but it just begs the question, why weren't the aliens using the weanpos to revolt instead of selling them to the Nigerians?
All in all, I just found the movie to be simply unbelievable (yes, I KNOW it is only sci-fi, but still, c'mon!) that were this situation to occur, I just can't see people acting like that. I'd expect tighter government controls, with more international pressures. If this movie wanted to be about apartheid, which is a good social justice issues movie, it needed a little more believability to it, and a little more on the interactions between humans/aliens when the aliens first arrived.
Mod me up or down, I don't care, it was just that I was expecting so much more, and left feeling like I got a better deal on the popcorn
You're wrong. In fact, one of the real strengths of the movie is that both the white people and the black people involved are inherently self-interested and capable of huge atrocities. Even the aliens come off as wretched individuals (though you don't really see them do anything that isn't unjustified.)
It isn't about alien apartheid. It's about South Africa.
Starship Troopers?
*ducks* ;)
Well, it does tell us something about ourselves: how easily we resort to fascism in times of war, and how tempting it will seem to do so. And I don't think the movie, lame though it may be, is all that wrong there.
Keep in mind that the ship has been sitting there for 28 years, without any noticeable change. The scientists, the media, the philosophers all got bored and went home 20 years ago.
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
the CGI effects were astoundingly good. Best I've ever seen
The fact that they produced the best looking special effects you've EVER SEEN on a budget less than 1/10 that of a normal summer blockbuster didn't phase you as something groundbreaking or revolutionary ?
There were plenty more elements to the plot than apartheid. Personally, I felt the bigger parts of the plot were the interactions between the main character and his wife -- who is rarely shown but constantly mentioned throughout the movie. Despite everything that Wikus is undergoing, he is actually gaining humanity throughout the movie rather than losing it -- and his connection to his wife is the greatest force driving him... not some apartheid or megacorporation. Yes, those are shallow devices to setup the situation and they certainly have some flaws, but in the end, this is a uniquely personal and human journey of fear and loss that Wikus takes us through.
Whereas the apartheid metaphor was obvious, it was certainly not central to understanding and appreciating the story. If anything, the film seemed to go out of its way to make the point that this was NOT an exercise in so-called "white guilt" -- the reluctant human hero was a white guy and some of the nastiest villains were black.
This was a concept film. As such, yes, the concept was simple and there wasn't much "story." It told the story it needed to tell and nothing more.
(spoilers ahead)
To me, one of the most interesting and most genuinely SF-like aspects of the film was the way the that we were easily led to interpret the behavior of the prawns as random and aimless, inscrutably alien. Old junk collecting, circuit boards hung from the walls, seemed like weird habits until the film switched to giving us translations of the aliens' thoughts. When we learned they were collecting fuel and building an apparatus to distill it, we had to reevaluate what looked moments earlier like low-level scavenging.
Then there were the unanswered questions: Was the captain a higher mental caste than the rank and file aliens? Why did the captain evacuate the ship in the first place if it was safe to return to? I like that the film didn't even attempt to resolve such issues. In real life situations are not neatly wrapped up and I feel that added to the verisimilitude.
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