District 9

[-Snowblind-]

I saw it, I really enjoyed it... But I still want two questions answered...

What kind of substance was in the cylinder that would act as both a fuel source and a mutagen that just happened to turn a human into an alien?

O.o

Why Earth? How did it end up here?

I know, I know, plot devices and I probably shouldn't question too much, but the first one in particular was a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, yes, there's clearly a sequel in the works if this does well at the box office, so maybe we'll find out then... saaaay 3 years from now?

Oh, and...

I think Christopher's faith in Wikus was restored after the rescue. I think Wikus made it clear that he didn't think he was actually going to come out of it alive, and Christopher reiterates the three year promise. He was also clearly upset that his kind were being experimented on, so I suspect he'll be coming back for them, too.

[Mr March]

The makers of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra can all shampoo my crotch. District 9 OWNS this summer and is easily one of the best films this year. South Africa....f**k yeah!

Edited August 16, 2009 by Mr March

[Penguin]

The makers of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra can all shampoo my crotch. District 9 OWNS this summer and is easily one of the best films this year. South Africa....f**k yeah!

Don't mince words... tell us how you really feel!

District 9 easily blows away those so-called blockbusters of the summer.

With District 10 having a population of 2.5 million and rising, I've got sequel hopes.

Edit: Well, I guess they were blockbusters, since they made tons of cash... but who said box office was a mark of quality?

Edited August 16, 2009 by Penguin

[EXO]

I saw it, I really enjoyed it... But I still want two questions answered...

What kind of substance was in the cylinder that would act as both a fuel source and a mutagen that just happened to turn a human into an alien?

O.o

Why Earth? How did it end up here?

I know, I know, plot devices and I probably shouldn't question too much, but the first one in particular was a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, yes, there's clearly a sequel in the works if this does well at the box office, so maybe we'll find out then... saaaay 3 years from now?

Oh, and...

I think Christopher's faith in Wikus was restored after the rescue. I think Wikus made it clear that he didn't think he was actually going to come out of it alive, and Christopher reiterates the three year promise. He was also clearly upset that his kind were being experimented on, so I suspect he'll be coming back for them, too.

Not that I'm happy with this answer but the explanation is that the alien techonology is purely based on their genetical code. I'm not sure how that would turn another species into one of theirs but that's the thoery.

[Nied]

God damn that was a good movie!

The story of a man who finds his humanity by turning into an alien.

I saw it, I really enjoyed it... But I still want two questions answered...

What kind of substance was in the cylinder that would act as both a fuel source and a mutagen that just happened to turn a human into an alien?

O.o

That bugged me too but as my wife pointed out

their technology is all based on their biology, it's not hard to imagine that the fluid was some kind of hyper-concentrated biotechnology, that would have incidental effects on other living creatures

Why Earth? How did it end up here?

They obviously had some kind of emergency, they may have gone to Earth because it was the nearest planet with a habitable biosphere.

[EXO]

It's funny but this movie reminds me more of City Of God and Slumdog, where the location makes the film making and story more interesting. It just happen to be in the Sci-Fi genre.

[nghia59]

God damn that was a good movie!

The story of a man who finds his humanity by turning into an alien.

That bugged me too but as my wife pointed out

their technology is all based on their biology, it's not hard to imagine that the fluid was some kind of hyper-concentrated biotechnology, that would have incidental effects on other living creatures

They obviously had some kind of emergency, they may have gone to Earth because it was the nearest planet with a habitable biosphere.

It's PROTOCULTURE!!!!!

[sidearmsalpha]

This is good news. I was hoping one movie would at least put to shame all the lackluster summer blockbusters, and this looks to be it. I hope to catch it sometime before it circulates out of theaters.

[chowyunskinny]

Amazing film. I tip my hat to all those involved in the making of this movie. Hey FOX! So about that HALO movie you bailed on...

[Ghost Train]

I wonder if the etymology of the name CHRISTopher sheds some light on the character and perhaps his (or her?) future purpose

[wm cheng]

Hey anyone thought of the Glaug Officer when they saw that mech? I think the designers sure did. Nicely done!

[mustang1]

Did anyone else catch the Gravity Gun action! I don't mean the bullets! which was cool enough! I am refering to the Pig scene! Ah! I love the smell of gravity projectile pig in the morning! very Half-life! nothing like taking your enemies out with a nice fat hog!

[NSJ23]

saw it Friday and loved it, i have not enjoyed a movie in the theater since the Hangover. the setting is what really what made the movie, best CGI this summer period! i may go see it again.

[sabretooth]

speaking of the mech...i went a head and made one....

[Cent]

Just saw the movie. Was good, but not stellar omfg blow me down. About 8.5/10.

- The humans are evil message was not over-generalized and repeated ad nauseam.

- Exosuit portion was done well, and it was made clear that Wikus didn't have full control of it, yet he was not frustratingly bad at it. A very fine line to walk here.

- Left some gaps, but you could fill most of it in with your imagination.

- Wikus was a much more believable protagonist than many other sci fi movies, and while he showed some traits of a typical EVA pilot (cough, shinji), being a wimp and all, he showed a more even balance closer to the end.

- The exosuit racing forward and firing guns left and right really made me think of a Mechwarrior movie featuring a 50 ton mech. Agile, yet hefty enough to really do some damage. Pretty sweet stuff.

Some questions and theories I had though.

1. Why did the mothership stop? Or why did it even stop on Earth anyway?

The movie suggests it needed supplies, but why would the aliens not leave the ship and instead just starve to death in quarantine for 3 months?

It also says that a control module broke off, but for the aliens to design the spaceship so poorly that the vital segment just breaks, and the passengers just get locked off to die... seems kinda strange for a race that should be accustomed to long-distance space travel. Or maybe its Yamato that makes their spaceships =P

Furthermore, with their silly vial plot device inserted, they were able to take command of the ship again. The control module theory just drifts further and further from being feasible.

2. We understand that the aliens were brought off the ship by human means, and refused the right to return to their spaceship, thus grounding them, but the aliens were still capable of building alien weapons. Yet they sell these weapons to gangsters for cat food... Instead of just shooting them with their advanced weapons and taking the food for themselves? They get butchered after transactions anyway. So weird and foolish.

3. Who was Chris and why was he so much more intelligent and capable of understanding technology? Some think he's possibly a captain or an engineer of the mothership but was trapped with the passengers in the hull.

4. Near the end, an emergency beacon was sent out from the mothership, activating all alien technology and auto-targetting any foreign species. While the exosuit was activated, no guns on the mothership fired. In fact, where ARE the guns on the mothership? you'd think interstellar spacecraft would have some weapons for defense at least.

5. How the liquid canister both provides the essential activation for the dropship, the remote control of the mothership, and also gene manipulation is beyond me, but it has been speculated it's some unfathomable nanotech thing capable of carrying out different commands dependent on its circumstance. *shrug* It's mostly a plot device, I know. One of my friends suggested their tech was heavily based off of biology, which seems well integrated in things down to their weapons... But their architecture (their guns, ships and all) were essentially steel armor and circuitry, with no biology to speak of. A little contradicting... But this is probably the weakest parts of the story, and thankfully one of the few parts like that.

Here's my theory that tries to answer most of the above... And while there's no direct evidence to support it, there isn't a lot of strong evidence that denies it either.

If anyone has played Homeworld 1, the first 15 minutes of the movie will seem eerily familiar. The ship is a prison ship, there is no designated captain or crew (only autopilot), and it carries within a group of exiled criminals to a far off place in the galaxy, possibly to their own fate. Either through chance, miscalculation or through experiencing damage during its travels, the ship stops over Earth, with its prisoners still in its belly, but without anyone in control. This would explain the primitive level of understanding and hierarchy amongst the aliens, as well as their malnutrition and poor disposition. Shipped across space in a vessel of their own species, yet incapable of controlling or understanding their own technology, only this explanation comes close to fitting. Chris is a rare prisoner; he understands technology and is able to reverse engineer his own species developments. It would make sense if Chris was a scientist or engineer who was convicted of war crimes, or possibly the leaking of intelligence. There would not be many other criminals like him, but he sure as hell would be imprisoned or sentenced to death. Furthermore, since it's a prison ship, it would make sense that much of their armaments would be stripped, so that it's defenses could not be commandeered even if the prisoners managed to wrestle control. One thing that doesn't make a lot of sense is why Chris would return home if he's really just a prisoner sent into exile. Would he expect compassion from his own kind? Would he make a case for mistreatment of a sentient species and thus receive help in saving his brethren? That seems a little sketchy to me, and would be one of the bigger wrenches in my theory.

Aside from that, it seems like Christopher would make good on his promise to return... But his goal seemed clear: to save his people... He never mentioned anything in the line of vengeance or retribution, so it seems like it'd be more of a campaign of liberation.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Cent

[sabretooth]

more pics of my little murder machine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32946498@N04/...57621937467125/

Edited August 17, 2009 by sabretooth

[wolfx]

I'm abit disappointed that the possibility of it exploring social segmentation issues wasn't really explored.

The aliens seem to be mostly isolated in District 9 which is essentially a slum area and the aliens are left to fend for themselves there and live amongst dodgy nigerian gangs. D9 is a refugee camp....so the aliens themselves do not ever interact with the people outside D9. Why are there signs that say "No Aliens Allowed" in human areas where normally an alien would be immediately arrested and put back into D9 anyway? There's also the africans who are pressuring them to be moved out of johannesberg for some reason. Someone in the interviews said that the government was spending money in keeping them there, and not for other things spending it to improve the African people's lives or something. But looking at the state of D9, and considering the MNU is a UN org, there doesn't seem to be much funds being thrown into D9 anyway.

EDIT: correction MNU is a private compay apparently and leading developer for weapons apparently.

Edited August 17, 2009 by wolfx

[Cent]

I think the signs were more of a xenophobic precaution than anything. On top of that, there may have been some limited rights given to the aliens when they initially landed 20 years ago. Chris had a son, which seemed to have been conceived when it was still legitimate to do so, and you would think that following the trend of the movie, the prawn's rights were diminishing rapidly. So perhaps at one point they were allowed out to tour human civilization, except that's changed quite dramatically for some time before the start of the movie.

[DarrinG]

ANYONE reading this thread who has NOT seen this movie - SEE IT.

Amazing. Intense. Intelligent. Detailed -- and freaking unique!

If T2 and Aliens are 10s, this is about a 8.75 or 9.

Perfect casting. I'm so sick of pretty people saying perfect things - This felt so much more real.

Not sure I liked the alien design in the first 10 or 15 minutes but they quickly grew on me.

SEE IT, SEE IT, SEE IT . . .

[wolfx]

I'm not sure if District 9 can be considered a sequel to Alive In Joburg, since AiJ takes place around roughly the same time the aliens landed. AiJ depicts the plight of the aliens better since the alien psyche is almost the same as a human's where they understand "rights" and what they are entitled to as living beings. In D9 they're more like feral animals needed to be kept in check by the humans.

Edited August 17, 2009 by wolfx

[chowyunskinny]

Secrets of District 9's gungy alien realism

[Dax415]

I liked the concept of the movie, but honestly wouldn't give it a 8 or 9. Dont get me wrong, I liked the open concepts/theories, weaponry and mech, but the first half of the movie with its documentary style was putting me to sleep and a bit too scattered for my taste and the main character was ANNOYING as hell. I was very curious though about several things.....

Alien weaponry didn't seem widespread and was curious if it was brought down from the ship or did they build it from cast off human junk? From what I remember the alien weaponry was fairly uniform, so I'm guessing the aliens were allowed to have some of their items when they were evacuated. Was also curious if the mech was built out of junk as well, cause I find it hard to believe the mothership would be able to control it if it wasn't part of its original alien technology.

[Cent]

Actually, imo Alien weaponry was very diverse. You had projectile based weapons, the handheld machine gun that looked like a hedge trimmer and the arm mounted one of the exosuit. There was the resonance/sonic emitter weapon, the lightning bolt guns, the force shields, the taser-like weapon that fires a tethered projectile and then transmits energy, the gravity gun, the missile packs, and the explosive burst autopistol weapons.

Most of their weapons were painted in a similar red/white scheme though, so it could imply they were just hastily reassembled alien hardware... But imo, it looks like its made up of stuff you'd find in a garage, just repainted over. I honestly cannot believe they'd spend the effort to repaint it >_> However, the exosuit seemed impossible to be built from scrap. It was machined in a fashion that you wouldn't find anywhere except a plant. Even with 20 years, it'd be hard to put that together, so I'm sure they found it off the ship. The ship Chris rode back up on is speculated to have been the massive control module piece that fell off.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Cent

[Vic Mancini]

Thumbs down.

I was really looking forward to this movie, but it wasn't the film I thought it was going to be. The documentary style of it faded after the first act and it deteriorated into a fairly standard shoot em up summer blockbuster popcorn flick.

[Mr March]

The makers of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra can all shampoo my crotch. District 9 OWNS this summer and is easily one of the best films this year. South Africa....f**k yeah!

Don't mince words... tell us how you really feel!

Will do

District 9 (2009)

District 9 is a story about alien visitation to Earth. A group of over a million alien beings arrive in a gigantic gravity-defying spacecraft that has met with mechanical failure, necessitating the aliens habitation near their landing site in South Africa. Unprepared and at times unwilling, the humans accommodate the aliens in a segregated area called district 9. Managed by a multinational corporation called MNU, the living conditions in district 9 falter and most of the aliens live in squalor. In an effort to alleviate inter-species tensions and poverty after nearly two decades of makeshift housing of the aliens, recently promoted MNU employee Wikus van der Merwe (played by Sharlto Copley) is given the task of relocating the alien population to a new district 10 located several hundred kilometers away from Johannesburg.

District 9 does not sell itself on the strength of the fictional science, which ranges from plausible to outright fantasy. Rather, the film floats upon the power of the viscerally violent action, the wonderfully performed drama and the intense issue-infused subtext. Or is it subtext at all? Through use of the visually revolting aliens derogatorily referred to as “prawns”, District 9 vividly places at its forefront a story grappling with such issues as racism, war, immigration, integration and poverty. The film’s setting placed in Johannseburg, South Africa provides not only a relevant social geography for the issues explored in the story but also a welcome creative vacation from more conventional North American-centric alien visitations.

District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is offering promise with his first full length feature. Shot and staged largely in a documentary-like style, District 9 plays like both a linear drama and a talking-head retrospective of that same story. While the film is interesting and always visually dynamic, the script is lacking in pacing and at times the story drags. The script also relies a bit too much upon convention and the staples of the science fiction genre. Yet District 9 is hard to fault when the conventions are used for such worthwhile subject matter and performed to perfection by an able cast. District 9 lead Sharlto Copley offers a solid portrayal of Wikus van der Merwe, a largely despicable MNU employee complicit in many of the film’s harrowing alien atrocities. That Sharlto’s subsequent plight and tragic choices ultimately allow us to identify with his humanity is doubly impressive praise for Copley given the initial dislike the audience feels for Wikus.

There is plenty in District 9 to please many different audiences, from action junkies and horror aficionados to socially conscious film philes and serious drama fans. Perhaps no more does District 9 service certain audience demographics than when displaying the amazing alien technology. From unusual gravity and lightning weapons to spacecraft and bipedal mecha, the toys of District 9 show heavy technical and stylistic influences from such notable video games as Valve Software’s Half-Life 2. A final nod must also be given to the competency of the special effects, particularly the alien “prawns” which are created via pervasive and near-seamlessly integrated CGI throughout the film.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Not as creative or innovative as it might be billed, District 9 is nonetheless stand out science fiction, engaging action adventure, important filmmaking and serious drama that audiences won't want to miss.

[HappyPenguins]

Amazing film. I tip my hat to all those involved in the making of this movie. Hey FOX! So about that HALO movie you bailed on...

The Halo movie isn't dead just yet

have a go at this http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175533

Edited August 17, 2009 by HappyPenguins

[Ghost Train]

5. How the liquid canister both provides the essential activation for the dropship, the remote control of the mothership, and also gene manipulation is beyond me, but it has been speculated it's some unfathomable nanotech thing capable of carrying out different commands dependent on its circumstance. *shrug* It's mostly a plot device, I know. One of my friends suggested their tech was heavily based off of biology, which seems well integrated in things down to their weapons... But their architecture (their guns, ships and all) were essentially steel armor and circuitry, with no biology to speak of. A little contradicting... But this is probably the weakest parts of the story, and thankfully one of the few parts like that.

Although I agree that it's a leap in logic, in my view it's not inconceivable that the

fluid used to activate the dropship

has "genetic properties" as well. I mean even the gasoline we use is merely a mush of hydrocarbons - some of the simplest forms of organic molecules. I mean in theory a turkey in an oven could generate "power" (though it's highly inefficient). Anything organic, like DNA and pretty much any living tissue, with an appreciable amount of Carbon/Hydrogen/Oxygen can undergo combustion.

As for the mutation properties, this is my theory, ready?

the aliens are humans....... from the distant future.

ZOMG!

[Cent]

So uh.. If we take human corpses, put them under immense pressure and turn it into a fuel... And then inject that into cavemen... They become homosapiens? I still don't get the mutagenic properties. =/. It's not like feeding gasoline to a reptile will make it a dinosaur either. Reminds me of: http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/07/20/kid-dr...e-transformers/

[wolfx]

So uh.. If we take human corpses, put them under immense pressure and turn it into a fuel... And then inject that into cavemen... They become homosapiens? I still don't get the mutagenic properties. =/. It's not like feeding gasoline to a reptile will make it a dinosaur either. Reminds me of: http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/07/20/kid-dr...e-transformers/

As someone else mentioned it might be a nanotech biometric system, not biological per se. My theory:

When the nanotech fluid is gathered in huge numbers (which isn't much since Christopher needed 20 years to collect that small vial) it becomes invasive and rather than becoming a biometric system, it invades the target and turns it into what is required to allow the locked object to work.

[MilSpex]

Looks like a good straight forward SF story, no contrivance noticable.

[DarrinG]

I'm very critical and I think it was awesome. The mech is Swwweeettttt.

Casting is perfect. Want to see it again . . .

[Mr March]

WOOHOO!

Weekend Report: Humans Welcome District 9

Many humans ventured into District 9 over the weekend, propelling the alien spectacle to an excellent $37.4 million start, while another science fiction-themed picture, The Time Traveler's Wife, had a solid debut. Though the weekend's other new movies disappointed, overall business was up 14 percent from the same weekend last year, when Tropic Thunder opened in first.

Launching on approximately 4,000 screens at 3,049 sites, District 9's estimated opening attendance was slightly less than Cloverfield and slightly more than Starship Troopers among past comparable movies. The picture was sold not only as a sci-fi action horror with striking visuals but also as a dramatic mystery, taking a different approach than recent, more disaster-oriented alien invasion movies with a plotline concerning a segregated alien race. One way the marketing helped the picture stand out was through posters done up as signs from the world of the movie, marking bus stops and other areas as "humans-only" or offering a toll-free number to report "non-human" activity. Distributor Sony Pictures' exit polling reported an audience composition of 64 percent male and 57 percent aged 25 years and older.

August Generates Box-Office Heat

Ordinarily August is the time of year when many young moviegoers realize that they've blown a lot of money on the studios' big blockbusters during the summer and now's the time to cut back. Well, they haven't reached that conclusion this August, which has seen big increases over last year. This past weekend, the top 12 movies earned about $125 million, according to studio estimates -- up 12.3 percent over the comparable weekend. Leading the pack was Sony's District 9, which earned $37 million -- more than the $30-35 million it reportedly cost to produce. In second place was Paramount's G.I. Joe, down 59 percent from last week's opening to $22.5 million. Although it is on the verge of breaking the $100-million mark, some analysts are expressing doubt about the movie's ability to earn enough to justify its reported $175-million budget.

Go District 9! I'm cheering for ya

[Cent]

While I too hope this movie is greatly successful, I really don't want it to spur development of a sequel. I can't really see how they'd make a sequel without retreading the path laid down by other scifis in a inanely predictable manner.

[Mog]

Yeah, I agree with you there.

Sometimes things are better left to the imagination.

Besides if Hollywood really likes these guys' work, how about we clear up all those annoying issues and get 'em working on that Halo movie again?

[Spiff]

I was really disappointed.

There are so many holes in this story you could drive the mothership through. The ending to me was an obvious teaser for the second movie. Which also explains all the huge holes in the story, cause they will be "answered" in the next movie, District 10 perhaps.

So an alien ship appears over earth, humans go up to investigate, find aliens dieing inside. South African govt hires a corp. to handle the "problem". 28 years later they have no answers! Just, duh we cant make it work. Why was there not research teams on the ship?

Why are they not working with the aliens? Would it not make sense to do that to decifer their tech than just letting them rot in a slum.

Why were there a group of armed nigerian gangsters handling the food and supplies, collecting weapons and tech? In a secured zone no less!

Did the humans transport all the weapons and mechs down to earth for them? And left them in a slum with all those weapons and tech? It is pretty clear the prawns did not have the capacity to build those items.

The aliens could obviously operate the tech but they had no initiative or will to do anything about their plight mostly. The movie hints they are drones more or less but does not make any sense. Some do show individuality when pushed. Did they try to talk and reason with them to no avail? Do the prawns just not have the ability to act on their own?

I could keep going but you get the point. These are all rhetorical I don't really expect anyone to answer.