# District 9



## Dandred (Aug 16, 2009)

Anyone seen this yet? 

Looking pretty good from the trailers I've seen.


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## gabi (Aug 17, 2009)

Topping the US box office..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8204664.stm

I think its the young saffa director that peter jackson had lined up to direct Halo. Which then fell thru for some reason. Interesting concept anyway... may dload it later


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## xes (Aug 17, 2009)

I've said it before, and i'll say it again. It'll be shit. They all turn out to be shit. No matter how much hype there is. It'll be shit.


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## gabi (Aug 17, 2009)

xes said:


> I've said it before, and i'll say it again. It'll be shit. They all turn out to be shit. No matter how much hype there is. It'll be shit.



What are 'they'?


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## xes (Aug 17, 2009)

fillums


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## gabi (Aug 17, 2009)

xes said:


> fillums



Ah. Well not much room to argue there then..


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## xes (Aug 17, 2009)

I leave no ground for arguments. All films are SHIT. (with exeption to the usual suspects)


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 17, 2009)

I saw the trailer a while back. I liked it.


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## gabi (Aug 17, 2009)

Well, the US reviews are in..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/aug/13/district-9-critics-reviews

Sounds very tasty based on those.


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## Pie 1 (Aug 17, 2009)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I *liked* it.


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## dilute micro (Aug 17, 2009)

I don't think it's going to work from what I've heard. The aliens get treated badly by the humans as if they're inferior...never mind their vast technological superiority.  That alone is going to ruin it for me.


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## Dandred (Aug 17, 2009)

But the aliens are meant to be just some worker aliens that got left behind by their leaders/masters.......

I think...


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## elevendayempire (Aug 17, 2009)

Neill Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg, which was the basis for District 9, is up online here if you want to check it out:

http://www.spyfilms.com/#neill_blomkamp/alive_in_joburg

Along with some of his other stuff - well worth a look.


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## xes (Aug 17, 2009)

dilute micro said:


> I don't think it's going to work from what I've heard. The aliens get treated badly by the humans as if they're inferior...never mind their vast technological superiority.  That alone is going to ruin it for me.



That works the other way for me. It highlights the superiority complex of the human race. Life follws art ect.


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## gsv (Aug 17, 2009)

dilute micro said:


> I don't think it's going to work from what I've heard. The aliens get treated badly by the humans as if they're inferior...never mind their vast technological superiority.  That alone is going to ruin it for me.


It's a very strong allusion to SA recent history in general and District Six in particular. Got to be understood in that context.

GS(v)


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## Barking_Mad (Aug 17, 2009)

Getting excellent reviews by all accounts.


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## gabi (Aug 17, 2009)

Tis a bit of a shame its been marketed largely as a Peter Jackson flick. I mean the young saffa guy (whos younger than me which makes me feel a bit useless) wrote and directed it.

Is that a Producer's job then? To just add his name to it to get it financed?


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Aug 17, 2009)

I think so. 

Same thing happens on a lot of films - The Nightmare before Christmas springs to mind.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 17, 2009)

Barking_Mad said:


> Getting excellent reviews by all accounts.



It managed to make me despise humanity just that little bit more.


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## Dandred (Aug 18, 2009)

Watched this last night aftert finding a torrent which had English subtitles for the Aliens. 

Best big movie of the summer, pisses all over Terminator Salvation and Transformers 2. 

I will definatly being to the Cinema to watch this on the big screen.


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## treefrog (Aug 18, 2009)

Saw this last night. Bloody BRILLIANT. Really, really good. Funny, gross in places, and not the stock ending I'd thought there would be. 

Go see!


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## joustmaster (Aug 19, 2009)

i saw it at the weekend. it was pretty good.
i would have seen it at the cinema if it came out at the same time over here. 
i am impatient


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## Dandred (Aug 19, 2009)

xes said:


> I've said it before, and i'll say it again. It'll be shit. They all turn out to be shit. No matter how much hype there is. It'll be shit.



I think you will be wrong about this one. 

I'm still thinking about how good it was, so refreshing to have a decent action movie that isn't set in the US. In fact only the second half is really action, the first half is excellent and there isn't even a shot fired!! 

Go and see this film!


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## Dandred (Aug 22, 2009)

I just read you won't be able to see this in the UK until September 14th?

Why the wait? 

Shame.


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## Chester Copperpot (Aug 30, 2009)

Anyone seen it yet? Just watched the trailer and it looks pretty good considering its shoe string budget.

Worth a watch?


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## newme (Aug 30, 2009)

Seemed to be fairly well done overall visually, storyline had holes in it tho and wasnt really gripped to find out what happened next. Seemed to have more potential than was delivered.


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## D (Sep 1, 2009)

I saw it over the weekend.  The first...third? or so is EXCELLENT.  The middle is okay.  The last 45 minutes meandered into predictable, excessive-shoot-em-up, everything-belabored-endlessly, make-room-for-the-sequel land.

It's worth seeing.


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## Chester Copperpot (Sep 2, 2009)

Out in the UK on Friday - may have to give it a whirl.


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## May Kasahara (Sep 3, 2009)

I definitely want to see this.


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## Dandred (Sep 3, 2009)

Chester Copperpot said:


> Anyone seen it yet? Just watched the trailer and it looks pretty good considering its shoe string budget.
> 
> Worth a watch?




There is a search function on this site!  

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=299255


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## Crispy (Sep 3, 2009)

merged


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## Dandred (Sep 3, 2009)

I guess you lot in the UK will be able to watch this in the next few days.

Go and see this movie you will not be disappointed.


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## Chester Copperpot (Sep 3, 2009)

Dandred said:


> There is a search function on this site!
> 
> http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=299255




Hmm,

I did look but I couldn't see a thread on it.

Anyway my inlaws are coming down on Friday so I may have to wait until Sunday to see it now.


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## debaser (Sep 3, 2009)

Starts fantastically but peters out to your standard affair block buster ending with sequal potential.

Still worth a watch though its pretty good! Worth the cinema ticket though? mmmm well all I saw was sketchy download but even then it looked alright I imagined its improved considerably on the big screen, so worth the trip. Certainly not much else about at the moment unless you plan to see inglorious basterds for the 3 good scenes.


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## al (Sep 3, 2009)

elevendayempire said:


> Neill Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg, which was the basis for District 9, is up online here if you want to check it out:
> 
> http://www.spyfilms.com/#neill_blomkamp/alive_in_joburg
> 
> Along with some of his other stuff - well worth a look.



just had a look and it's really good stuff - tempbot is a ridiculously good short film, he's got a very 'natural' feel with CG...


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## Karac (Sep 4, 2009)

Saw this a couple of nights ago-on a dodgy torrent-could be worth a trip to a big screen tho 
Its a pretty obvious allegory of apartheid and does sort of lose it towards the end but its engrossing for the most part and the aliens are pretty cool fighting over tyres,getting bombed on catfood and pissing on the streets!


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## Ranbay (Sep 4, 2009)

District.9.R5.LiNE.XviD.1000th.RLS-DEViSE

if you really wanted to like


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## FridgeMagnet (Sep 4, 2009)

At least two independent people in the US have said "GO SEE THIS" to me.


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## butchersapron (Sep 5, 2009)

Very dissapointing. Really bad acting, story simplistic and depthless. Effects like something from the 80s - don't understand the fuss.


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## Ranbay (Sep 5, 2009)

well i thought it was great 

stayed up late to watch it and everything... 

9/10 for me


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## Jonti (Sep 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> It managed to make me despise humanity just that little bit more.


Hey lighten up, they're only one earth species.  Many of the others are every bit as bad.

People expect too much of self-awareness and sentience.  Those abilities evolved just because they helped a certain social, language-using predatory ape survive.  Not to help those lower down the food chain to argue the injustice of our plans.


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## funky_sessions (Sep 5, 2009)

I just got back from seeing this, I thought it totally rocked! well worth seeing 
some of the big action set pieces were awesome, the cgi was well done and the human characters had some real depth to them. it looked awesome on the big screen too.

ok it may not be to everyones movie going taste, but it was worth seeing especially on the big screen. 
the general opinion of people coming out of the theater was that it was better than a lot of what's come out over the summer.

although, after getting treated so poorly by the humans,  I did wonder why the aliens didn't just kick off with their vastly superior weaponry....


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## janeb (Sep 5, 2009)

funky_sessions said:


> although, I did wonder why the aliens didn't just kick off with their vastly superior weaponry....



me too, and also



Spoiler:  



why Christopher didn't just tell the humans he had a way to get back to the ship and I assume get everyone off and away - I think if he had the humans would have just been glad to see them go,



Enjoyed it very much however, thought the first hour or so was amazingly good


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## Karac (Sep 5, 2009)

funky_sessions said:


> although, after getting treated so poorly by the humans,  I did wonder why the aliens didn't just kick off with their vastly superior weaponry....


Because their leadership fucked off in some command pod-and just left "Worker" aliens who couldnt access the weaponry


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## debaser (Sep 5, 2009)

janeb said:


> me too, and also
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler



keeping them there for the technology and the weaponry I believe, I'm sure that was breifly alluded to at the very beginning. Plus they didn't kick off because the majority of the aliens where workers and useless without their leaders.


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## janeb (Sep 5, 2009)

debaser said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> keeping them there for the technology and the weaponry I believe, I'm sure that was breifly alluded to at the very beginning. Plus they didn't kick off because the majority of the aliens where workers and useless without their leaders.



That's what my husband thought, I thought 



Spoiler



the disadvantages outweighed the possible benefits, given they couldn't use the technology after 20 years of trying, and Christopher had the potential to be the leader of the aliens if he had wanted to, esp if he was able to persuade them they could leave



Still, wouldn't been much of a film if that had happened


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## blairsh (Sep 6, 2009)

Saw it this evening at cinema and really rather enjoyed it. Could have been much better and the story was atad patchy in places and i wasn't too keen on the guy who played Vickers (strangest/changeable South African accent i've ever heard)

Anyway i'll give it a thumbs up!


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## D (Sep 6, 2009)

blairsh said:


> Saw it this evening at cinema and really rather enjoyed it. Could have been much better and the story was atad patchy in places and i wasn't too keen on the guy who played Vickers (strangest/changeable South African accent i've ever heard)



I thought the guy who played Wikus was good and found nothing odd about his accent.

I don't know how to do a 'spoiler' thing on here...but let's talk for a moment about the representations of Nigerians in the film.

Amazingly, NO ONE with whom I've discussed this film has commented on this aspect.

In SA, where I lived for a brief period of time, Africans from the rest of the continent (and when I was there, specifically Nigerians and Mozambicans) are often presumed uneducated, unlawful, "savage", and responsible for much - if not all - the organized crime in Jo'burg.  There's a lot of negative sentiment towards Nigerians in South Africa.  In the film those sentiments are justified by the fact that the criminal overlords are cannibalistic, machine-gun wielding, manipulative, hoarding maniacs willing to go to any length to accumulate power and weaponry (despite the fact that they can't USE alien weaponry) who happen to be Nigerian (and that's repeated throughout the film).


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## themonkeyman (Sep 6, 2009)

elevendayempire said:


> Neill Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg, which was the basis for District 9, is up online here if you want to check it out:
> 
> http://www.spyfilms.com/#neill_blomkamp/alive_in_joburg
> 
> Along with some of his other stuff - well worth a look.



That's a quality sitefor an iPhone gonna watch it now, thanks.


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## miniGMgoit (Sep 6, 2009)

I watched it today.
I really liked it.
Very original.


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## MikeMcc (Sep 6, 2009)

Excellent film. Thoroughly enjoyed it.


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## ada (Sep 6, 2009)

D said:


> I don't know how to do a 'spoiler' thing on here...but let's talk for a moment about the representations of Nigerians in the film.
> 
> Amazingly, NO ONE with whom I've discussed this film has commented on this aspect.



I found the representation of Nigerians surprising & offensive - in other respects the film seemed to be critiqueing racism, but then it was, I think, quite racist in how way it characterised the criminal gangs. Weird.


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## elevendayempire (Sep 6, 2009)

ada said:


> I found the representation of Nigerians surprising & offensive - in other respects the film seemed to be critiqueing racism, but then it was, I think, quite racist in how way it characterised the criminal gangs. Weird.


That did jar a bit for me. To be fair, pretty much _every_ human came out of the film looking bad, though.


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## boskysquelch (Sep 6, 2009)

D said:


> *Spoiler=*I don't know how to do a 'spoiler' thing on here...but let's talk for a moment about the representations of Nigerians in the film.*/spoiler*



replace the *s with a [ ]


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## Bob_the_lost (Sep 6, 2009)

I wasn't liking the baby alien, a bit to JarJar for me. Interesting film, I didn't enjoy it as much as I might the first time through because I couldn't work out if I was supposed to like, despise, pity or sneer at the main character. It seems I am too spoilt by simplistic characterisation these days...


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## Idris2002 (Sep 7, 2009)

ada said:


> I found the representation of Nigerians surprising & offensive - in other respects the film seemed to be critiqueing racism, but then it was, I think, quite racist in how way it characterised the criminal gangs. Weird.



Thing is, Nigeria's a big place, and it sends out a lot of things to the outside world, and one of the things it exports is criminal gangs. Which is not to say that all Nigerians, etc., etc. 

Given the situation depicted in the film, it was entirely plausible that you'd have some Nigerian mafia interest.

As for the film itself, I thought it was excellent - the best Sci-fi film I've seen in a long while, and the most original I've seen in a while as well. I'm not even convinced about butcher's point about the acting: a) it's Sci-fi, so you're not going to get RADA unless you hire Capt. Picard, and b) I didn't think the acting was that bad, anyway.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 7, 2009)

My mate who is often cynical about films just texted me saying this is the film of the year and if I have to see one film at the cinema this year make it this one


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## boskysquelch (Sep 7, 2009)

Idris2002 said:


> As for the film itself, I thought it was excellent - the best Sci-fi film I've seen in a long while, and the most original I've seen in a while as well. I'm not even convinced about butcher's point about the acting: a) it's Sci-fi, so you're not going to get RADA unless you hire Capt. Picard, and b) I didn't think the acting was that bad, anyway.





Spoiler



it was _fuuuuuuuukkkkkkkki_n excellent.


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## colacubes (Sep 7, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> My mate who is often cynical about films just texted me saying this is the film of the year and if I have to see one film at the cinema this year make it this one



I saw it yesterday and wouldn't go that far.  It was very good, quite original and pretty dark in places.  I wouldn't have liked to have watched it late at night (but I'm a wuss ).

However, if you only see one film at the cinema this year it should be Moon.


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## butchersapron (Sep 7, 2009)

Idris2002 said:


> Thing is, Nigeria's a big place, and it sends out a lot of things to the outside world, and one of the things it exports is criminal gangs. Which is not to say that all Nigerians, etc., etc.
> 
> Given the situation depicted in the film, it was entirely plausible that you'd have some Nigerian mafia interest.
> 
> As for the film itself, I thought it was excellent - the best Sci-fi film I've seen in a long while, and the most original I've seen in a while as well. I'm not even convinced about butcher's point about the acting: a) it's Sci-fi, so you're not going to get RADA unless you hire Capt. Picard, and b) I didn't think the acting was that bad, anyway.



I think the acting was _terrible_ - truly awful, not helped by the overkill on the _this is documentary_ signifiers in the first section there's nothing worse than people trying to studiously act like they're acting spontaneous (IYSWIM).


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## Idris2002 (Sep 7, 2009)

butchersapron said:


> I think the acting was _terrible_ - truly awful, not helped by the overkill on the _this is documentary_ signifiers in the first section there's nothing worse than people trying to studiously act like they're acting spontaneous (IYSWIM).



I dunno, I've met Saffas who are like that, stiff and Calvinistic - mind you Good Intentions isn't, so maybe the younger generation are getting more liberated.


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## Idris2002 (Sep 7, 2009)

ada said:


> I found the representation of Nigerians surprising & offensive - in other respects the film seemed to be critiqueing racism, but then it was, I think, quite racist in how way it characterised the criminal gangs. Weird.



Also consider this point:



Spoiler



Wasn't there a direct parallel drawn between the Nigerian Muti thing and the MNU attempt to harvest Wikus' organs while he was still alive?


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## D (Sep 7, 2009)

Idris - re your spoiler - yes, I suppose there was...though I don't think I thought of the parallel until just now.

***

Re the documentary/reality TV set-up at the beginning:  I thought it was great and totally appropriate for 'the moment'.  I wondered the extent to which they were conjuring the American version of The Office.  The guy playing Sharlto Copley (the guy playing Wikus) even resembles Steve Carrell.


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## Mungy (Sep 7, 2009)

amazing film. certainly one of the best i've seen in a while.


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## DJWrongspeed (Sep 7, 2009)

I'm suprised so many people thought it was amazing.  The beginning sequence seems very implausible, (after accepting that aliens might come)  the security handling of everything just didn't add up.  This is a strange cut'n'paste job from other films, not sure why it needed to be so unoriginal given the initial premise ?

Independence Day, Terminator, Children of Men, Requiem for a Dream, Robocop, The Fly & Tetsuo (obviously) and the whole film through media's eyes has been so done to death.

Is it racist, probably, they didn't need to specify the mafia were Nigerian did they ?


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## Idris2002 (Sep 7, 2009)

DJWrongspeed said:


> I'm suprised so many people thought it was amazing.  The beginning sequence seems very implausible, (after accepting that aliens might come)  the security handling of everything just didn't add up.  This is a strange cut'n'paste job from other films, not sure why it needed to be so unoriginal given the initial premise ?
> 
> Independence Day, Terminator, Children of Men, Requiem for a Dream, Robocop, The Fly & Tetsuo (obviously) and the whole film through media's eyes has been so done to death.
> 
> Is it racist, probably, they didn't need to specify the mafia were Nigerian did they ?



Why would the security handling of everything not add up? South Africa is one of the major exporters of mercenaries today, and the merc firms include a shit load of bastards from apartheid regime days. Of course they were going to move into District 9 and 'fuck shit up' to use the pithy American phrase.

One quibble - the individual dwelling units the aliens had wasn't really consistent with the idea of them as an insect-like hive society.

Oh and this thread (which has spoilers) contains this comment:



> Once again, YES I AM BLACK and i say, District 9 is NOT racist.



http://io9.com/5340409/is-district-9-racist

The use of human sacrifice does, however, evoke old racist tropes about Africa, that much is true.


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## Ranbay (Sep 7, 2009)

> District 9 doesn't care about black people! And why were Asians so underrepresented? And where were the gay aliens? Still in the closet, I guess, because this film is so obviously bigoted. Also it's clearly anti-Christian because the Bible doesn't mention aliens.
> 
> AND I'M OFFENDED!



love this quote from there


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## Gmart (Sep 9, 2009)

Superb film - and a probable sequel too


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## D'wards (Sep 9, 2009)

Idris2002 said:


> Thing is, Nigeria's a big place, and it sends out a lot of things to the outside world, and one of the things it exports is criminal gangs. Which is not to say that all Nigerians, etc., etc.
> 
> Given the situation depicted in the film, it was entirely plausible that you'd have some Nigerian mafia interest.



Giving that this is the case, i thought it was refreshing that it showed this "how it is" rather than being all PC about it.


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## teecee (Sep 9, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Giving that this is the case, i thought it was refreshing that it showed this "how it is" rather than being all PC about it.



This!

Since democracy in SA  the Nigerian gangs have gained a foothold in SA and all sorts of misdeeds are attributed to them from petty street level crime to drugs to arms to entire no go areas being run by them and it's not the first movie to portray some local warlord as less than pure. They could have portrayed him coming from some imaginary war torn African country so as not offend those that seek out to be easily offended  but ,whether people like it or not, Nigerian gangsters in SA are a reality.

I see they also "borrowed"  a famous phrase from the PAC back in the day "one prawn one bullet"  

Overall a good movie and I look forward to a ludicrous and ultimately disappointing sequel


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## bhamgeezer (Sep 9, 2009)

This is the best film I seen this year, I already watched it twice


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## Structaural (Sep 9, 2009)

According to IMDB the guy who played Wikus wasn't an actor, he was some technician on the director's previous production who impressed him somehow. And he ad-libbed all his lines in District 9. Might explain some of the acting 

I enjoyed it, thought the effects were brilliantly done, bit Cloverfield with the camera shake. All the Aliens were CGI too, so I guess the actors had that to content with (the Star Wars effect).

Oh and the guns and shit were based on Halo - the director's other pet project.


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## D (Sep 9, 2009)

teecee said:


> This!
> 
> Since democracy in SA  the Nigerian gangs have gained a foothold in SA and all sorts of misdeeds are attributed to them from petty street level crime to drugs to arms to entire no go areas being run by them and it's not the first movie to portray some local warlord as less than pure. They could have portrayed him coming from some imaginary war torn African country so as not offend those that seek out to be easily offended  but ,whether people like it or not, Nigerian gangsters in SA are a reality.
> 
> ...



That's my point precisely.  It's interesting to me that in the US, very few people make mention of this element in discussing the films.  Nigerian gangs are a reality.  There is also a lot of xenophobia, correspondingly, towards Nigerians (and Mozambicans - at least there was when I lived there) in general.  I thought the Nigerian specificity was also very much 'of the moment'.  None of my South African friends with whom I'm in contact have seen the movie (!) and I'm curious about the conversation about it there and how people are responding to the representation of Nigerians.


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## D (Sep 9, 2009)

Structaural said:


> According to IMDB the guy who played Wikus wasn't an actor, he was some technician on the director's previous production who impressed him somehow. And he ad-libbed all his lines in District 9. Might explain some of the acting
> 
> I enjoyed it, thought the effects were brilliantly done, bit Cloverfield with the camera shake. All the Aliens were CGI too, so I guess the actors had that to content with (the Star Wars effect).
> 
> Oh and the guns and shit were based on Halo - the director's other pet project.



Wikipedia tells a different story.  According to that, the guy's a media man - producer, director, actor.  Not a 'technician'.


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## D (Sep 9, 2009)

I guess there's a part of the portrayal of Nigerians that reminds me of some of my experiences in South Africa that were troubling.

When I lived in Jo'burg, I found it hard to listen to people rattle off about Nigerians all the time.  And it happened a lot.  People I knew who loved to party, took a lot of drugs, etc, and then complained incessantly about Nigerians and organized crime (without whom they wouldn't have been partying in quite the same ways, no doubt).

And some of the Nigerians I met at university there were definitely in for a hard time *because* they were Nigerian.  It was, to some people, irrelevant that they were graduate students who might ultimately compensate in part for the SA brain drain and not mafia.


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## keybored (Sep 9, 2009)

Saw it last night, not bad if you don't look too deep and just take it as a comedy scifi. The humour and gore/ew reminded me of Jackson's Bad Taste and Brain Dead (the Wikus/Lionel characters were almost interchangeable). With acting to match.


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## Idris2002 (Sep 9, 2009)

D said:


> And some of the Nigerians I met at university there were definitely in for a hard time *because* they were Nigerian.  It was, to some people, irrelevant that they were graduate students who might ultimately compensate in part for the SA brain drain and not mafia.



This also. Apparently, honest Nigerians who travel to other parts of Africa will try to avoid revealing their Nigerian background because of the criminal element have got up to.


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## Structaural (Sep 9, 2009)

D said:


> Wikipedia tells a different story.  According to that, the guy's a media man - producer, director, actor.  Not a 'technician'.



Yeah technician wasn't quite right, but this is only his second real acting role. The first was in the short that relates to this film.


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## mentalchik (Sep 9, 2009)

Just got back from the cinema and have to say i thoroughly enjoyed it !


as for the question of the Nigerian crime gang...........i didn't take from it the message that all Nigerians were criminal, as it was set in SA isn't it more likely the gang element would be african.....it would have been a bit weird if they had been say, Russian...........


think people may be being a tad over sensative !


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## D (Sep 9, 2009)

mentalchik said:


> Just got back from the cinema and have to say i thoroughly enjoyed it !
> 
> 
> as for the question of the Nigerian crime gang...........i didn't take from it the message that all Nigerians were criminal, as it was set in SA isn't it more likely the gang element would be african.....it would have been a bit weird if they had been say, Russian...........
> ...



I don't think anyone's suggesting that they should be Russian (or non-African, for that matter).  If you know anything about the status of and attitude towards Nigerians in South Africa, though, you can imagine how this might be a "hot" issue.


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## FridgeMagnet (Sep 9, 2009)

Idris2002 said:


> This also. Apparently, honest Nigerians who travel to other parts of Africa will try to avoid revealing their Nigerian background because of the criminal element have got up to.



Yeah, there is a big prejudice against Nigerians from all I've seen, not just in SA. People from Joburg have a cheek calling Nigerians gangsters - last I heard, Nigerians were moving back to Lagos from Joburg because it was safer! SA's hardly short of native crooks.


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## mentalchik (Sep 9, 2009)

D said:


> I don't think anyone's suggesting that they should be Russian (or non-African, for that matter).  If you know anything about the status of and attitude towards Nigerians in South Africa, though, you can imagine how this might be a "hot" issue.



I know it can be a 'hot' issue.........

have a few friends at work from different parts of africa and hear this sort of stuff now and again........


difficult one though and i take your point !


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## purplex (Sep 9, 2009)

.


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## revol68 (Sep 10, 2009)

Went to see this last night and thought it was actually pretty brilliant, the opening stuff was really good and pretty funny how it showed the cross over between 'liberal' multiculturalism, policing and militarisation. The look of the film was very impressive and I thought the man characters movement from comic manager to victim/avenger was pretty good, tbh I didn't expect to see anything as brutal as the scenes where he is forced to fire the alien technology.

One of the best big production English language movies I've seen in a very, very long time, and sure the end turned a bit generic action sci fi but then how else would it end, I certainly didn't want to not see Christopher (nice nod to slave names ) and his kid get away.

One thing I wondered was how it could have been if they'd used a black south african lead character, there would have been more room for exploring the tensions in attitudes towards the aliens but then I suppose they maybe wanted the character to in no way 'relate' to the otherness of the aliens at the start but to be forced into breaking it down by external pressures.


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## D (Sep 10, 2009)

revol68 said:


> One thing I wondered was how it could have been if they'd used a black south african lead character, there would have been more room for exploring the tensions in attitudes towards the aliens but then I suppose they maybe wanted the character to in no way 'relate' to the otherness of the aliens at the start but to be forced into breaking it down by external pressures.



Insightful observations.


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## Idris2002 (Sep 10, 2009)

The depiction of the aliens highlights a basic problem in sci-fi generally. If we ever do encounter alien life, it will be just that - alien. There's no reason to assume they would have the same sort of motivations we do (i.e. parent/child relationships and the motivations that flow from that) or that we could even in principle communicate with them.


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## revol68 (Sep 10, 2009)

Idris2002 said:


> The depiction of the aliens highlights a basic problem in sci-fi generally. If we ever do encounter alien life, it will be just that - alien. There's no reason to assume they would have the same sort of motivations we do (i.e. parent/child relationships and the motivations that flow from that) or that we could even in principle communicate with them.



Yeah but it does make a good artistic device for questions of otherness, in many ways it forces you into a position of the racist for whom the other is irrational and unreasonable, after all I did find myself wincing thoroughly at the idea of inter species prostitution.

It also raises issues about assimilation and on whose terms.


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## gracious (Sep 10, 2009)

erm did everyone miss the point about the nigerians? they offer just another layer of parody re racism/apartheid..... the film is littered with ways that white/authority is racist towards aliens, but also ways that aliens are similar to humans.... the same thing happens with nigerians, who have some aspects of being in authority and racist (over the aliens) and some aspects of being the subject of racism, particularly their behaviours in this context being a direct result of previous marginalisation, just as the aliens become more and more savage as a result of their own marginalisation.

i really really liked the film - i love a bit of scifi and you just dont get that much original stuff. i did think the racism theme was hammered home just a little too blatantly (aliens are just like us cos they love their twee ja ja binks children etc).


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 10, 2009)

Have downloaded quite a good quality torrent of this.  Not sure whether to watch or wait til the cinema (not going to get to go for a bit)...


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## revol68 (Sep 10, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> Have downloaded quite a good quality torrent of this.  Not sure whether to watch or wait til the cinema (not going to get to go for a bit)...



It deserves to be seen in a cinema, it looks amazing.


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## grit (Sep 10, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> Have downloaded quite a good quality torrent of this.  Not sure whether to watch or wait til the cinema (not going to get to go for a bit)...



Just finished watching the same torrent, to be honest I'll prob go see it on the big screen again.


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## ChrisC (Sep 10, 2009)

Brilliant film. Just seen it.


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## Kanda (Sep 10, 2009)

I'm 6 mins in, is it a pisstake of apartheid?? lol


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## Structaural (Sep 11, 2009)

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/news/1842105/neill_blomkamp_talks_district_9_rt_interview


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## CyberRose (Sep 11, 2009)

Just got back from seein it (first time to the cinema on my own!)

Absolutely superb, by far the best film I've seen this year and doubt it will be beaten!

Also, I've received this strange email I think might have something to do with the film...



> Dear Prawn,
> Before I start,I must first Apologies for this unsolicited mail to you.I am aware that this is certainly an unconventional approach to starting a relationship but as time goes on you will realize the need for my action.
> 
> My name is Barrister Buba Moha a Solicitor and the personal Attorney to Mr
> ...



Anyway, I'd like to talk a bit about the racism I noticed in the film - the only down side. Did anyone notice how the mercenaries, the laboratory doctors conducting the experiments and those in charge of the evil corporation were all *WHITE*??? I'm offended, really offended. They're trying to say that all white people are evil bastards, and I think that's bullshit. It's pure stereotyping against white people and I'm amazed no-one on U75 has picked up on that


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## D (Sep 11, 2009)

CyberRose said:


> Anyway, I'd like to talk a bit about the racism I noticed in the film - the only down side. Did anyone notice how the mercenaries, the laboratory doctors conducting the experiments and those in charge of the evil corporation were all *WHITE*??? I'm offended, really offended. They're trying to say that all white people are evil bastards, and I think that's bullshit. It's pure stereotyping against white people and I'm amazed no-one on U75 has picked up on that



Shattering commentary.  My entire experience of the film has been completely shifted by your insights!


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## Dandred (Sep 12, 2009)

D said:


> Shattering commentary.  My entire experience of the film has been completely shifted by your insights!


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## Dandred (Sep 12, 2009)

This is one of the best films I've seen this year, even when I saw it on a crappy cam about 2 months ago I knew this would be gold, I can't wait for it to come to South Korea at the cinema.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 12, 2009)

Great stuff.  Reminded me of Verhoeven at his best a little bit.  Which is good. 

I watched a (good quality) torrent but will go and see it again once the dust is settled on my move south


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## dlx1 (Sep 12, 2009)

Went to see last night OK bit disappointed


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 12, 2009)

I enjoyed it - plot has a few holes - perhaps I missed it, but why did they 'prawns' come to earth in the first place - surely it wasn't because they simply ran out of fuel?


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## hendo (Sep 12, 2009)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I enjoyed it - plot has a few holes - perhaps I missed it, but why did they 'prawns' come to earth in the first place - surely it wasn't because they simply ran out of fuel?



Yes, that mystified me, as did their failure to enslave all the stupid humans with their magnificent tech. Surely it would have been us living in District 9 and the aliens capering about on the beach.

Good film though.

Reminded me of Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Trooper mode as well as that underrated movie with James Caan, Alien Nation.


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I enjoyed it - plot has a few holes - perhaps I missed it, but why did they 'prawns' come to earth in the first place - surely it wasn't because they simply ran out of fuel?



It's hardly a plot hole if it's deliberate, the whole point is that we don't know why they are here, it's all part of their otherness, that we don't understand the rational.

I'm hoping the sequel explores the politics of the aliens and how they ended up stuck in a ship nearly starving to death.


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

hendo said:


> Yes, that mystified me, as did their failure to enslave all the stupid humans with their magnificent tech. Surely it would have been us living in District 9 and the aliens capering about on the beach.
> 
> Good film though.
> 
> Reminded me of Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Trooper mode as well as that underrated movie with James Caan, Alien Nation.



Did you miss the part where the aliens are first discovered malnourished and close to death, they have clearly been abandoned or their civilisation has collapsed, they are meant to be more like refugees not kick ass military aliens.

The whole point of the film was to reverse the alien invasion genre and make them the dispossessed.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 13, 2009)

hendo said:


> Reminded me of Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Trooper mode as well as that underrated movie with James Caan, Alien Nation.



Not seen Alien Nation, but I agree about Robocop/starship Troopers.  Must be that common Dutch blood...


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> Did you miss the part where the aliens are first discovered malnourished and close to death, they have clearly been abandoned or their civilisation has collapsed, they are meant to be more like refugees not kick ass military aliens.
> 
> The whole point of the film was to reverse the alien invasion genre and make them the dispossessed.



Indeed. Top notch film which will definitely be in my top 20 of the decade.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 13, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Yeah, there is a big prejudice against Nigerians from all I've seen, not just in SA. People from Joburg have a cheek calling Nigerians gangsters - last I heard, Nigerians were moving back to Lagos from Joburg because it was safer! SA's hardly short of native crooks.



My perception is that Nigerians are seen more as scammers and so on, but Nigeria's a much safer country than South Africa...


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> It's hardly a plot hole if it's deliberate, the whole point is that we don't know why they are here, it's all part of their otherness, that we don't understand the rational.
> 
> I'm hoping the sequel explores the politics of the aliens and how they ended up stuck in a ship nearly starving to death.



Yeah, but if all it took to get the ship back working was a tubeful of black ooze dreived from their own technology (which is found by a child on a scrap heap) then why didn't they derive said ooze from the components when they were first stranded and get the fuck out...?


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> Did you miss the part where the aliens are first discovered malnourished and close to death, they have clearly been abandoned or their civilisation has collapsed, they are meant to be more like refugees not kick ass military aliens.
> 
> *The whole point of the film was to reverse the alien invasion genre and make them the dispossessed*.



Yes - but the set up was questionable.

I enjoyed it, but the script was fucking aertex.

And refugees or not, they still had a bloody great space ship full of weapons, which they could have used to rape/pillage and survive anywhere they chose...but instead they come to earth hungry and desperate and just allow mankind to break in to their ship....

The film wants to be a metaphor for interracial issues in SA, and in order to achieve this used a fairly lame idea which we were all supposed to ignore in favour of the bigger story/concept.......

And it just becomes a blatant sci-fi action film by the final third anyway..

I think the praise will fade for this one quite quickly - it's a good, mid-budget, sci-fi film with some intelligent ideas and a bit of social commentary.


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## Beanburger (Sep 13, 2009)

I thought the film was superb, but I do have to agree with this:



Nanker Phelge said:


> And refugees or not, they still had a bloody great space ship full of weapons, which they could have used to rape/pillage and survive anywhere they chose...but instead they come to earth hungry and desperate and just allow mankind to break in to their ship....


It was _full _of similar plot holes. For example... if the aliens were ferried down to earth by humans, it's stretching credibility a little to believe they'd have been allowed to keep their weapons (which weren't, let's face it, exactly subtle). And they definitely wouldn't have been allowed to keep that tooled-up power suit. But still... a fun movie, with more depth than most.

One thing that did strike me: the CGI was superb and I never found myself looking at the aliens and thinking that they weren't real. So they can do this on a buedget of £30 mil, and Avatar is costing what.... £200 mil? With shitter looking aliens. 



D said:


> I thought the guy who played Wikus was good and found nothing odd about his accent.


His accent was fucking excellent. Highlight of the movie. 

"Dunt point yur FOKKEN tentacles et me!!"


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## Beanburger (Sep 13, 2009)

Idris2002 said:


> http://io9.com/5340409/is-district-9-racist


Some of this is laughable.



> I think it would be a better allegory, and a more sophisticated movie, if the aliens weren't unpleasant. If they were peaceful and kind, but the humans still demonized them, the film would be much more chilling; the horror would be "man's inhumanity to lobster-man", not "eew gross they eat pig heads!"


Surely the allegory is strengthened by the alien nature of the... umm... aliens? It illustrates how when a culture is perceived as different and when we fail to understand that culture, it becomes easier to act with prejudice. Thinking about it, the very fact that the author seems to think that it's easier to understand prawn-prejudice because they're so different, kinda illustrates the whole bloody strength of the allegory, surely? 



> The aliens are loathsome, trash-eating vermin who fight endlessly, destroy property for no reason, and piss on their own homes, which isn't a truthful or flattering allegorical comparison for actual black South Africans under apartheid.


This is great. The author has labelled a culture that she doesn't understand as "loathsome", and judged their behaviour on the basis of her own cultural prejudices, and she doesn't see the irony here? Pffff.


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Yeah, but if all it took to get the ship back working was a tubeful of black ooze dreived from their own technology (which is found by a child on a scrap heap) then why didn't they derive said ooze from the components when they were first stranded and get the fuck out...?



Seriously this shit is explained in the movie very explicitly, it took them 20 years to collect and distil that tubes worth of fuel, it's obviously a highly condensed form of energy.




			
				BeanBurger said:
			
		

> It was full of similar plot holes. For example... if the aliens were ferried down to earth by humans, it's stretching credibility a little to believe they'd have been allowed to keep their weapons (which weren't, let's face it, exactly subtle). And they definitely wouldn't have been allowed to keep that tooled-up power suit.



They weren't allowed to keep their weapons, there were constant raids for Alien Weaponry and the Power Suit was under the control of the Nigerian gangs odly enough illegally too.

Do people not actually pay attention to films anymore?


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

Beanburger said:


> Some of this is laughable.
> 
> Surely the allegory is strengthened by the alien nature of the... umm... aliens? It illustrates how when a culture is perceived as different and when we fail to understand that culture, it becomes easier to act with prejudice. Thinking about it, the very fact that the author seems to think that it's easier to understand prawn-prejudice because they're so different, kinda illustrates the whole bloody strength of the allegory, surely?
> 
> This is great. The author has labelled a culture that she doesn't understand as "loathsome", and judged their behaviour on the basis of her own cultural prejudices, and she doesn't see the irony here? Pffff.



Yeah that review is fucking idiotic, it's like her and the whole point of the film just walked off in opposite directions.


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## Kid_Eternity (Sep 13, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> Not seen Alien Nation, but I agree about Robocop/starship Troopers.  Must be that common Dutch blood...



AN is ok but the spin off tv series was a great deal better...


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2009)

Watched for the third time last night. Despite certain distractions midway through it was still a good flick.

Have to say though, Alive in Joburg promised more than D9 delivered


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## Beanburger (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> They weren't allowed to keep their weapons, there were constant raids for Alien Weaponry and the Power Suit was under the control of the Nigerian gangs odly enough illegally too.
> 
> Do people not actually pay attention to films anymore?


And nobody noticed the huge fuck-off guns and power armour when they were ferrying the aliens down from the ship?


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## PacificOcean (Sep 13, 2009)

Fuck me!

Just watched this - a hugely enjoyable film about apartheid (if there can be such a thing?).

Fuck me, people picking holes about what weapons they may have had.

Can't people on the Internet just enjoy a film, without trying to sound all superior?

IT'S NOT REAL!


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## butchersapron (Sep 13, 2009)

It's NOT ABOUT APARTHEID!


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## Ranbay (Sep 13, 2009)

PacificOcean said:


> Fuck me!
> 
> Just watched this - a hugely enjoyable film about apartheid (if there can be such a thing?).
> 
> ...



Welcome to the internets


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## Beanburger (Sep 13, 2009)

PacificOcean said:


> Fuck me!
> 
> Just watched this - a hugely enjoyable film about apartheid (if there can be such a thing?).
> 
> ...


Oh, well if it's not real, then it doesn't need to make any kind of sense! Glad we got _that _one cleared up.


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## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2009)

butchersapron said:


> It's NOT ABOUT APARTHEID!



It doesn't shy from drawing certain parallels imo.


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## PacificOcean (Sep 13, 2009)

Beanburger said:


> Oh, well if it's not real, then it doesn't need to make any kind of sense! Glad we got _that _one cleared up.



Really, you sound like:


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## The Groke (Sep 13, 2009)

I watched it over the weekend.

I was entertained.

Lots of people got bursted.


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## butchersapron (Sep 13, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> It doesn't shy from drawing certain parallels imo.



It's specifically about post-apartheid.


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## The Groke (Sep 13, 2009)

It's specifically about people bursting.


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## Beanburger (Sep 13, 2009)

PacificOcean said:


> Really, you sound like:


What a crazy coincidence. You sound like:


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> Seriously this shit is explained in the movie very explicitly, it took them 20 years to collect and distil that tubes worth of fuel, it's obviously a highly condensed form of energy.



Yes - it was explained that it took 20 years to collect....but my point was that they had it already on the ship before it became stranded/stuck and before it was broken in to and before they were starving. Highly condensed or not it was in their hands before they were forced to live in a shanty town on Earth.

Just because something is explicitly explained in a film does not mean that it makes sense.

I don't feel the explaination answered my questions about the situation, it just answered the needs of the plot and helped to hide the fact the the film's set up was a flimsy one.

As for weapons, they had them all over the camp - enough to sell the Nigerians, who had a stockpile. Including a fucking armoured robot!!!!

We were already lead to believe that these weapons were well advanced beyond our own, therefore, why didn't they use them earlier.

It would have made sense to present the prawns as simply starving and oppressed, but instead it chose to present them as a nuisance...i.e they set fires, de-rail trains and fire their weapons indiscriminately - therefore they need to be controlled.

I'm sorry, but the set up was just not very well thought through. I still enjoyed it, but I won't be told I didn't pay attention because I failed to accept the weak ideas behind the film's premise.


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

Nanker Phelge said:


> Yes - it was explained that it took 20 years to collect....but my point was that they had it already on the ship before it became stranded/stuck and before it was broken in to and before they were starving. Highly condensed or not it was in their hands before they were forced to live in a shanty town on Earth.
> 
> Just because something is explicitly explained in a film does not mean that it makes sense.
> 
> ...



Sorry your approaching this like a sci fi simpleton raised on a diet of 'aliens with kick ass weapons' kick our ass. Firstly the existence of weapons alone doesn't mean they would unite and overthrow the discrimination in a positive manner, fuck just look at how many guns there are in Brazilian ghettoes but they are for the most part pointed inwards upholding a chaotic impoverished existence. Likewise all the soldiers blasting the fuck out of each other with high power weaponry in the service of their own exploitative masters through world history, why didn't they simply unite and turn the weapons around? 

The reason the aliens are portrayed as a nuisance is because the anti social and debased behaviour is what happens to brutalised people, they aren't all beautiful suffering souls as Spielberg would have them, instead they turn on each other, look for atomised forms of escape (drug abuse etc) or desperately try and eek out a basic existence. The fact you juxtapose them being portrayed as a nuisance to them being portrayed as oppressed only shows how much you failed to grasp the point of the film and at the same time strengthen it.

And when you talk about the aliens having enough guns to sell you are already assuming a level of collective leadership and consciousness that simply wasn't there, these are aliens that for whatever reason have ended up on another planet half starving and battling amongst themselves for enough scraps to survive, the notion that they would just magically unite and kick humanities arse is the sort of shit that makes your average big budget sci fi so fucking crap and uninteresting. 

Some of the criticisms this film has got are much more indicative of the viewers failure to grasp things.


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## david dissadent (Sep 13, 2009)

The guy who played Wikus was excellent. He absolutely nailed a certain kind of Afrikaaner. That sort of bureaucratic, petty functionary who would have worked for a big institution like a bank or one of the government guaranteed jobs (in the 80s) for whites. His character development was also very good. His little turns of phrase were also brilliant “I’d never have pornographic actions with an alien”.

As for the Nigerians, I can see why it was done but I think it was not well handled. The story needed a group of gangsters and it kind of fell to the Nigerians by default. Had they been local South Africans it would have probably caused a political storm over the portrayal of black South Africans as criminals, this is a very very touchy subject in SA today. Had they been a white South African crime gang it would have clunked as unbelievable in the plot. Nigerians are very active in crime in SA and they are in the townships with that crime. I am 100% certain some of them were speaking South African languages. Most likely Xhosa by the sound of it but perhaps something like Sotho or Tswana. Perhaps some of them were speaking Nigerian languages at points but I a pretty certain in a couple of spots it was South African languages. 
The film was not about Apartheid. In fact it had virtually nothing to do with apartheid, the only references were really a few times at the start with the no prawn signs. The film drew strongly from experience of apartheid and that experience was part of the film but the film was not a parable or allegory about it. Where the film did touch on being an allegory was in terms of modern South Africa and its treatment of refugees. Production would have been begun before the riots and murders last year, and it is mining a very deep and disturbing trend in modern SA. 

The plot was really just a boiler plate odd couple movie. It was like Beverly Hills Cop or Enemy Mine, it was all about how Wikus changes and the audience being brought along with him for the journey. He wasn’t a hero, and he wasn’t an anti hero. He was a petty bureaucrat who was being used by far more sinister forces and having his lack of empathy exploited. The audience goes on a bit of a journey from loathing him to in the end feeling genuine sympathy for him. The film also works because the aliens are not poor exploited victims with doe eyes like ET or Close Encounters, nor are they super powerful super intelligent implacable foes. They are creatures you have no sense of shared experience with and no empathy for. You can share some of the characters revulsion of them. Its far more like real life, immigrants and refugees do not always act like model citizens or hide what we feel their alieness to be. What I liked was the film took common peoples dislike for them, perhaps the audiences as well and then the powers that be took that and went much further to random killing and experiments on them. This is often how horrific things are done by societies. From Serbia to Nazi Germany. People do not start out on a path of genocide and murder, they start out by wanting problems solved and cleaning their hands of how it is done. Then they react with horror at how authorities use that carte blanche. 

Actually I am in danger of pontificating way too much. But I do think the film also touches on the dehumanisation of those who are the exploiters (as Wikus started out). 
Couple of points the heavy metal in the film was incredibly realistic. So damned realistic that I am pretty sure all the external shots were of real CASPIRS and so on. The hand weapons of the army pissed me off a bit Colonel Cobus was using a R-4 and one of his lieutenants was using an AK 74. Not exactly the weapons of choice of an elite unit. 
I did notice a dig at the Vlakplaas murder squad, when one of the whites being interviewed suggested a virus to wipe out the prawns.
And a nice bit of sychronicity that most people would have missed. The prawns look one hell of a lot like they were inspired by Parktown Prawns. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parktown_prawn
They are legendarily loathed in Jo’burg. And they love........ . ..... yep cat food.
They are closely related to New Zealands Wetas, which is...... the name of Peter Jacksons graphics company. 


Nice film but probably not the best film of the year.


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## david dissadent (Sep 13, 2009)

Nanker Phelge said:


> We were already lead to believe that these weapons were well advanced beyond our own, therefore, why didn't they use them earlier.


Because a group of stranded workers, probibly poorly educated or even from a non intelligent caste are not an elite millitary force. You are ascribing human motivations to them. You are also assuming human social structure. 

And you are confusing weapons little more powerfull than an anti tank rocket with real power.

They may have had weapons to spare but what, 100 out of a population of 1 000 000? Enough to buy drugs (cat food) or food. Not exactly enough to go against field artillary and air strikes.


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

> Yes - it was explained that it took 20 years to collect....but my point was that they had it already on the ship before it became stranded/stuck and before it was broken in to and before they were starving. Highly condensed or not it was in their hands before they were forced to live in a shanty town on Earth.



It wasn't just sitting on the ship in the form needed though, it had to be distilled from many different weapons and sources over years, maybe they lacked the technical knowledge as to how to do it, after all these were desperate aliens abandoned for who knows what reasons, who were starving and fighting amongst each other over scraps of food. You might as well ask why people stuck in the sports stadiums in New Orleans after Katrina didn't all just build some vehicles A Team style and bust out of there on some sort of steam punk steamer. Your inability to grasp the fractured, atomised and brutalised existence of the aliens only shows who spot on District 9's depiction of human reaction to the prawns was, right down to your idiotic juxtaposing of them as oppressed versus nuisances.


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## butchersapron (Sep 13, 2009)

david dissadent said:


> Because a group of stranded workers, probibly poorly educated or even from a non intelligent caste are not an elite millitary force. You are ascribing human motivations to them. You are also assuming human social structure.



So are you.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 13, 2009)

Interesting someone mentions Enemy Mine - it reminded me a little of that too


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

butchersapron said:


> So are you.



That's the really good thing throughout the film, there is that constant tension between rationalising their behaviour in human terms ie oppression, brutalisation etc and then that constant nagging doubt that really they just aren't at all like us, that these behaviours are simply an expression of their nature. It does a good job of raising issues with multiculturalism and the like, for example the scene were the academic explains that acts of vandalism and violence by the aliens aren't seen as that by them but in their culture are just acts of celebration.


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> Your inability to grasp the fractured, atomised and brutalised existence of the aliens only shows who spot on District 9's depiction of human reaction to the prawns was, right down to your idiotic juxtaposing of them as oppressed versus nuisances.



I grasped what the film was about. I understand what it was trying to say. I accept what you're saying about it. My point remains that the set up was weak, and allowed lots of questions to remain unanswered or explained away in a fairly off hand way - what followed was very good - not classic.

Insulting me for asking questions is not very clever on your part, suggesting I'm idiotic and a sci-fi simpleton is just bully boy tactics - fucking easy sat at a keyboard in your bedroom. You've ignored my point, which is aimed only at the film's starting point and not the elements that follow - which mostly work

My favourite sci-fi film is Silent Running - I'm not a fan of action films, therefore your assumptions are wrong, like your approach to my misgivings about the films plot holes.

I watched the same film you did, only you've chosen to fill the plot holes with your own explaination, while I've chosen to ask what should have/could have filled those holes. Sci-fi fans have an answer for everything because unlike real life it's all made up!

As I've said, it just turns in to a fucking action film by the end anyway...so who the fuck cares!?

So, IMO they Aliens set out on a journey, took no advice from the RAC, didn't have enough fuel, or food and drink, got lost, and had a terrible stay in a rotten place.....only to realise that they had a petrol can on board all along...stuff that up your sci-fi intellectual arse!


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## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

Nah mate you should sick to wanking over Cruise in War of the Worlds.


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## FridgeMagnet (Sep 13, 2009)

I'm actually encouraged by some of these posts - I *like* the idea of aliens in a film whose actions aren't meant to be explained, or, for that matter, explicable within the context of the film. They're *aliens*. They're from *another bloody planet*.

There's too much of a fanboy expectation in scifi (not pointing at anyone here, I mean in general) that every aspect of a plot has to be sewn up and be able to be explained in a few Wikipedia entries, otherwise there's something basically wrong. I like things to be left a bit open - it's just when they're inconsistent or unbelievable that there's a problem.


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> Nah mate you should sick to wanking over Cruise in War of the Worlds.



Ha ha.....you don't pay much attention do you - that's the sort of comment a little boy makes when he's running away.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 13, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I'm actually encouraged by some of these posts - I *like* the idea of aliens in a film whose actions aren't meant to be explained, or, for that matter, explicable within the context of the film. They're *aliens*. They're from *another bloody planet*.
> 
> There's too much of a fanboy expectation in scifi (not pointing at anyone here, I mean in general) that every aspect of a plot has to be sewn up and be able to be explained in a few Wikipedia entries, otherwise there's something basically wrong. I like things to be left a bit open - it's just when *they're inconsistent *or unbelievable that there's a problem.



They are inconsistent.


----------



## Wilf (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> *Went to see this last night and thought it was actually pretty brilliant, the opening stuff was really good and pretty funny how it showed the cross over between 'liberal' multiculturalism, policing and militarisation*. The look of the film was very impressive and I thought the man characters movement from comic manager to victim/avenger was pretty good, tbh I didn't expect to see anything as brutal as the scenes where he is forced to fire the alien technology.
> .



Spot on.  I wasn't blown away by the film and the action stuff towards the end was pretty pointless.  Also, the guys family side - wife and father in law was all a bit 2 dimensional.  However, the first section was brilliant as a satire of managerialism.  Like you say a kind of upbeat display of the way that managerial language and targets can persuade anybody they are still being liberal, whilst doing the vilest things.  Like watching a planning meeting of the Auschwitz Railway Company.


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Sep 13, 2009)

revol68 said:


> That's the really good thing throughout the film, there is that constant tension between rationalising their behaviour in human terms ie oppression, brutalisation etc and then that constant nagging doubt that really they just aren't at all like us, that these behaviours are simply an expression of their nature. It does a good job of raising issues with multiculturalism and the like, for example the scene were the academic explains that acts of vandalism and violence by the aliens aren't seen as that by them but in their culture are just acts of celebration.



dear god you've posted something that makes sense, real sense!!


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Sep 13, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I'm actually encouraged by some of these posts - I *like* the idea of aliens in a film whose actions aren't meant to be explained, or, for that matter, explicable within the context of the film. They're *aliens*. They're from *another bloody planet*.
> 
> There's too much of a fanboy expectation in scifi (not pointing at anyone here, I mean in general) that every aspect of a plot has to be sewn up and be able to be explained in a few Wikipedia entries, otherwise there's something basically wrong. I like things to be left a bit open - it's just when they're inconsistent or unbelievable that there's a problem.



Very well said.


----------



## revol68 (Sep 13, 2009)

It says a lot about the thinking of certain people that instead going off and thinking about the issues and politics the film throws up, what it says about tolerance, otherness, multiculturalism and assimilation, they instead focus on the fact that they think it doesn't make sense that the Aliens didn't just kick our ass or that it's took 20 years to distil the necessary fuel.

Talk about missing the fucking point.


----------



## Beanburger (Sep 14, 2009)

revol68 said:


> It says a lot about the thinking of certain people that instead going off and thinking about the issues and politics the film throws up, what it says about tolerance, otherness, multiculturalism and assimilation, they instead focus on the fact that they think it doesn't make sense that the Aliens didn't just kick our ass or that it's took 20 years to distil the necessary fuel.
> 
> Talk about missing the fucking point.


Here's a radical idea. Maybe it was a powerful film with a strong message and a weak plot.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 14, 2009)

revol68 said:


> It says a lot about the thinking of certain people that instead going off and thinking about the issues and politics the film throws up, what it says about tolerance, otherness, multiculturalism and assimilation, they instead focus on the fact that they think it doesn't make sense that the Aliens didn't just kick our ass or that it's took 20 years to distil the necessary fuel.
> 
> Talk about missing the fucking point.



No one's missing the point - especially when they were shoved so prominently to the fore.

Why does a person highlighting holes in the plot, and asking questions about those holes, suggest to you that they've missed the messages that the film delivers?

The questions I asked were simply for the benefit of discussion, maybe I was being a bit flippant about it, actually I was being flippant about it, but I certainly didn't miss anything . The filmmakers wanted to deliver a film which comments on all the themes you've mentioned, and they have done that, but at times they allowed a thin plot to support them.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Sep 14, 2009)

Beanburger said:


> Here's a radical idea. Maybe it was a powerful film with a strong message and a weak plot.



What he said ^


----------



## Dandred (Sep 15, 2009)

Some of my South African friends didn't really like this, they thought the Aliens were meant to represent A.I.D.S or H.I.V. for some reason, they did put their point across very well though to me.


----------



## Garcia Lorca (Sep 15, 2009)

went to see the film last night with more hope than i really should have had for it. 

jackson as director and a story line that could have worked. It was a very poor and weak attempt at what the film intended to do and after watching the first 20 or so minutes i was thinking to myself, well at least its showing a serious and meaningful subject upto the main stream audience.. however that soon changed to "for fuck sake, get me out of here", by the time any action scenes had started.

never mind if they had enough of the damn fluid or not to get out of there.. .there was a whole load of bad acting, unneccessary cheesy action scenes and i do not think it came across well highlighting the issues that it could have done... yup, was a poor over all film. no where near a classic, it wasnt even mediocre.


very disapointed, cannabilistic nigerians! nuff said.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 15, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I'm actually encouraged by some of these posts - I *like* the idea of aliens in a film whose actions aren't meant to be explained, or, for that matter, explicable within the context of the film. They're *aliens*. They're from *another bloody planet*.
> 
> There's too much of a fanboy expectation in scifi (not pointing at anyone here, I mean in general) that every aspect of a plot has to be sewn up and be able to be explained in a few Wikipedia entries, otherwise there's something basically wrong. I like things to be left a bit open - it's just when they're inconsistent or unbelievable that there's a problem.



Yep.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 15, 2009)

Garcia Lorca said:


> went to see the film last night with more hope than i really should have had for it.
> 
> jackson as director and a story line that could have worked.



He was the producer, not the director.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 15, 2009)

revol68 said:


> It says a lot about the thinking of certain people that instead going off and thinking about the issues and politics the film throws up, what it says about tolerance, otherness, multiculturalism and assimilation, they instead focus on the fact that they think it doesn't make sense that the Aliens didn't just kick our ass or that it's took 20 years to distil the necessary fuel.
> 
> Talk about missing the fucking point.



That's fucking film discussion forums for you.

I bet any one of my 'real life' friends will have seriously dug that film...


----------



## Beanburger (Sep 15, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> That's fucking film discussion forums for you.
> 
> I bet any one of my 'real life' friends will have seriously dug that film...


Dude, don't you get it? *I* "seriously dug" this film. Best damn movie I've spent money going to see in years. That doesn't put it beyond criticism. It's not a big deal, it's not the end of the world, it doesn't stop it being a fantastic movie, it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.... but I can still point out that it was poorly plotted. What is the fucking problem with that?


----------



## gabi (Sep 15, 2009)

Not seen it. But it's a very interesting concept.

I think too much attention has been put on Jackson's input tho. Would like to know more about this director - I believe he wrote it as well? Must be a talent.


----------



## Pingu (Sep 17, 2009)

the pingu verdict on the film for those who are fans of action films with fuck all plot - preferably invovling explosions\aliens\robots\hot chicks with little clothing\etc

it was alright.

started off too slowly for my liking and picked up a bit when the guns were broken out. 

will probably become a "cult film" at some point 

glad i went to see it but wont be buying the DVD until it becomes a cult film and I want to look cool and hip.


----------



## gabi (Sep 17, 2009)

There's a decent version kicking around on the torrents now. Watched it last night... 

Fucking genius. 10/10.


----------



## gabi (Sep 17, 2009)

Pingu said:


> the pingu verdict on the film for those who are fans of action films with fuck all plot - preferably invovling explosions\aliens\robots\hot chicks with little clothing\etc
> 
> it was alright.
> 
> ...



It's been top of the US box office since it came out. Don't think it can ever become 'cult' as a result of that.

I can understand why Nigerians are complaining about their portrayal in it tho. But if I was a saffa I'd be much more fucked off. I bet it gets right on their tits that a kiwi's behind it too


----------



## Idris2002 (Sep 17, 2009)

gabi said:


> It's been top of the US box office since it came out. Don't think it can ever become 'cult' as a result of that.
> 
> I can understand why Nigerians are complaining about their portrayal in it tho. But if I was a saffa I'd be much more fucked off. I bet it gets right on their tits that a kiwi's behind it too



If you ever want to annoy - I mean _really_ annoy - a Saffa, ask them if they're from Australia or New Zealand.


----------



## elevendayempire (Sep 17, 2009)

gabi said:


> Not seen it. But it's a very interesting concept.
> 
> I think too much attention has been put on Jackson's input tho. Would like to know more about this director - I believe he wrote it as well? Must be a talent.


Neill Blomkamp - his previous work can be seen here.


----------



## Divisive Cotton (Sep 17, 2009)

gabi said:


> There's a decent version kicking around on the torrents now.



Where is it mate


----------



## gabi (Sep 17, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> Where is it mate



I nicked off quicksilverscreen actually i think. Check the divx forum..

Somewhere under here

http://ipb.quicksilverscreen.com/index.php?showforum=96


----------



## jonajuna (Sep 17, 2009)

cant work out if i liked it or not, i think i did and i didnt get bored, the satire aspect is there, the theme in THAT setting is just.. well  i feel sort of odd about it.

with that in mind, ive lent it to a friend with the recommendation to watch, guess that says its worth watching.. i dont know though...

weird


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Sep 17, 2009)

gabi said:


> Not seen it. But it's a very interesting concept.
> 
> I think too much attention has been put on Jackson's input tho. Would like to know more about this director - I believe he wrote it as well? Must be a talent.



I have to say the film really reminded me of his early efforts like Bad Taste and Braindead though in places...


----------



## Infidel Castro (Sep 17, 2009)

Felt it could have been even better, but I really enjoyed it.  I want a prequel based on why the fellers turned up in the first place, and i also want to see the chaps come back and give it some big pwning on the military before taking off again to leave us in peace.


----------



## gabi (Sep 17, 2009)

Kid_Eternity said:


> I have to say the film really reminded me of his early efforts like Bad Taste and Braindead though in places...



Yeh. I saw certain similarities. The aliens for one are totally different from the 'alive in joburg' short on blomkamp's site...

Some nice gore. I wish jackson would go back to that style.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Sep 17, 2009)

Watched it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, a great mix of seriousness and plain fun.

Now stop pointing yorr fwcking tantickles at me


----------



## Gromit (Sep 17, 2009)

My film if the year so far. 

The plot has weaknesses imo but they didn't stop me thinking it was a great film. 

Didn't like the ending being left so wide open for a sequel. So many things unconcluded. Thought it could have been wrapped up a lot more and still left room for a follow up.



Spoiler: Such as



Such as Wikus going on telling everyone they'll be back in three years with help, so I'd be nice to the prawns if I was you. Then society changing their attitudes out of fear. You could easy stir things up for the sequel despite this happy ending. Short term change before old attitudes returned.



Also think that the most obvious senario didn't feature. No excuses were made as to why the government didn't do what I think they would have in reality. 



Spoiler: what I think would have really happened



I think what the government would have really done is create military units of alien weapon wielding prawns and used cat food to bribe and control them. With prawns spread throughout their army South Africa could have become a world power. Embed 1-2 prawns max per unit to limit the chance of them trying to take over.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Sep 17, 2009)

xes said:


> I leave no ground for arguments. All films are SHIT. (with exeption to the usual suspects)



The Usual Suspects?  Now that really was SHIT!


----------



## loud 1 (Sep 17, 2009)

amazing film.


----------



## Pie 1 (Sep 18, 2009)

Hmmm.
Gotta say the 3 of us that saw it tonight left a little underwelmed, tbh.
I was really hoping for something other than a shoot 'em up in the end.


----------



## Sesquipedalian (Sep 18, 2009)

Watched it last night.
Cracking film,loved it.
Looking forward to the sequel....."District10"


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Sep 18, 2009)

I torrented this in the end, there are DVD screeners out. I think I may go see it in the cinema as well because the last half hour or so is pretty spectacular.

I thought it could have been an awful lot cleverer than it was, and that the plot and characterisation of the main alien were much too obvious - but there are also lots of terrific bits. Trying to avoid spoilers... the main character I think is really well played, and both his initial experiences and what happens to him after that are really well done. I thought that after that start, the characters of the aliens involved were far too obvious and predictable, and yes, there were inconsistencies in the background, and a lot of the supporting cast are... not rubbish necessarily, but their roles are stereotypes. But overall I enjoyed it a lot.



Spoiler: end sequence



I'd watch that "alien battlesuit vs mercenaries" fight over and over again, fuck yeah. I might watch it again now. There was no pussying about there - it involved all the fantasies of what you'd do in a situation like that.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 18, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> The Usual Suspects?  Now that really was SHIT!



Fuck off!


----------



## Pingu (Sep 18, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> The Usual Suspects? Now that really was SHIT!


 

i concur

no where near enough battling robots for me


----------



## Pie 1 (Sep 19, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I thought it could have been an awful lot cleverer than it was



Yep. I was expecting it to be too.


----------



## Beanburger (Sep 21, 2009)

Apparently, Sharlto Copley (who plays Wikus.. the main dude) has been cast as Murdock in the new A-Team movie.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Sep 21, 2009)

Beanburger said:


> Apparently, Sharlto Copley (who plays Wikus.. the main dude) has been cast as Murdock in the new A-Team movie.



*Prays this is true*

The A Team film might actually be good if they're making castings like that


----------



## Sesquipedalian (Sep 21, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> *Prays this is true*
> 
> The A Team film might actually be good if they're making castings like that



Hopes it true also,

Just found this;

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/


----------



## teqniq (Sep 21, 2009)

Just watched this. Thoroughly enjoyed it.


----------



## Vider (Sep 21, 2009)

loved it.  not sure it is as politically "deep" as it sometimes feels, but a cracking little show either way!


----------



## david dissadent (Sep 22, 2009)

Have to say well done to Peter Jackson for getting a big budget for a sci fi that had no American cast and set somewhere other than the US. 

You could almost describe it as an Afrikaans sci fi.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 22, 2009)

not enough weepy self obsession


----------



## Bajie (Sep 22, 2009)

I saw this a few nights ago, I liked it. Though the aliens where basically Orcs except the brainy one and his son, who where the ones intended to create sympathy and where more humanised.

But there seemd to be a large strory line hole.. if the aliens where all transported from the mother ship via Helipcopter, how did they bring Big Fucking Guns and Big Fucking Killer Robots with them?


----------



## pengaleng (Sep 22, 2009)

it's well shit.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2009)

Don't point ya fokkin tenticles at me Teeps


----------



## pengaleng (Sep 22, 2009)

I aint.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 22, 2009)

oh. OK then. but if you do grow tenticles, you know where not to point them!


----------



## revol68 (Sep 22, 2009)

tribal_princess said:


> it's well shit.



you're well shit.


----------



## gabi (Sep 22, 2009)

david dissadent said:


> Have to say well done to Peter Jackson for getting a big budget for a sci fi that had no American cast and set somewhere other than the US.
> 
> You could almost describe it as an Afrikaans sci fi.



It only cost $30m. Which aint that big really... It's probably made a healthy profit too. It's a shame he's seen fit to cast big hollywood stars in his next movie (the lovely bones) as this one proves thats unnecessary.


----------



## gabi (Sep 22, 2009)

I wonder if the head of the calais police force has seen the film


----------



## Dr. Furface (Sep 28, 2009)

Bajie said:


> But there seemd to be a large strory line hole.. if the aliens where all transported from the mother ship via Helipcopter, how did they bring Big Fucking Guns and Big Fucking Killer Robots with them?


Exactly, and there were more holes than that too. Like these aliens from fuck-knows-where just happened to breathe air no problem, and eat earth food. Visually it was brilliant but apart from that it was just too fucking stupid for words. It has absolutely nothing to say either, even if it tries to give that idea - and if I were a South African I'd be proper annoyed!


----------



## bouncer_the_dog (Sep 28, 2009)

butchersapron said:


> not enough weepy self obsession



but what about the alien kid.. ((((((alien kid)))))))


----------



## Stigmata (Sep 28, 2009)

Dr. Furface said:


> Exactly, and there were more holes than that too. Like these aliens from fuck-knows-where just happened to breathe air no problem, and eat earth food.



Have you ever seen any science fiction films before?

As for them bringing stuff down, there was a line mentioning that bits occasionally fall off the ship and land in the slum.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 28, 2009)

Dr. Furface said:


> Exactly, and there were more holes than that too. Like these aliens from fuck-knows-where just happened to breathe air no problem, and eat earth food. Visually it was brilliant but apart from that it was just too fucking stupid for words. It has absolutely nothing to say either, even if it tries to give that idea - and if I were a South African I'd be proper annoyed!



of course, if you are human refugee aliens you'd rock up to a gas giant and try to eat heavy chemicals and chat with aliens who haven't even the similarity of the same taste in respiration!

Sci Fi thinking fail mate.


----------



## Divisive Cotton (Sep 28, 2009)

Despite what some people on here have speculated about the film has no deep meaning or any politics at all.

It was the sort of film that I would have loved at 17 - all action and shoot, shoot, shoot.

Frankly, the fact that so many people here are having orgasms over District 9 says more about the dire state of modern cinema and sci-fi in particular than it does about this glossy B movie


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 28, 2009)

No it doesn't. And as Sci Fi b-movies go this one is on a par with Pitch Black for sheer enjoyability. You didn't like it, fine. It's hardly an indictment of sci fi though, that hoary old line is trotted out everytime a sci fi film gets attention from people who aren't usually sci fi fans. It is in fact, a form of artistic snobbery


----------



## Divisive Cotton (Sep 28, 2009)

It's just an alien-shoot-em-up mate like Independence Day - bang, bang, there goes another one

Do enjoy playing the X-Box too? I bet you do.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 28, 2009)

no. I enjoy reading, writing and investigating the roots of speculative fiction from the folk tale to a space opera. 

It's not the job of sci fi to make deep points, but it can and does. Even amongst the bang-bang. Stick to The Royal Tenembaums and other middlebrow shite if you can't accept that some 'low art' can carry message as well as entertain.


----------



## Stigmata (Sep 28, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> It's just an alien-shoot-em-up mate like Independence Day - bang, bang, there goes another one
> 
> Do enjoy playing the X-Box too? I bet you do.



It had aliens in, and lots of shooting. Beyond that I can't fathom what you're talking about.

I'm also curious as to what you would consider to have been a 'good' period for SF cinema, if the modern stuff in particular gets your goat.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 28, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> Despite what some people on here have speculated about the film has no deep meaning or any politics at all.



I guess some people can't see meaning unless its thrown at them. 

When it buried gently in popular media it zooms over their head.

I had a massive talk in work with a colleague about the mechanics and tools of oppression as a result of this film. 

You could swap the aliens for blacks in south Africa and catfood for drugs and make the same film. But hardly anyone would go to see it. By wrapping it in sci fi though its reached a bigger audience. Clever stuff in my book.


----------



## revol68 (Sep 28, 2009)

Divisive Cotton said:


> Despite what some people on here have speculated about the film has no deep meaning or any politics at all.
> 
> It was the sort of film that I would have loved at 17 - all action and shoot, shoot, shoot.
> 
> Frankly, the fact that so many people here are having orgasms over District 9 says more about the dire state of modern cinema and sci-fi in particular than it does about this glossy B movie



You're a fucking idiot.


----------



## revol68 (Sep 28, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> no. I enjoy reading, writing and investigating the roots of speculative fiction from the folk tale to a space opera.
> 
> It's not the job of sci fi to make deep points, but it can and does. Even amongst the bang-bang. *Stick to The Royal Tenembaums and other middlebrow shite* if you can't accept that some 'low art' can carry message as well as entertain.



I love you Dotty!

Love you!

I suggest Divisive Cotton reads some Ernst Bloch.


----------



## Beanburger (Sep 29, 2009)

Gromit said:


> I had a massive talk in work with a colleague about the mechanics and tools of oppression as a result of this film.


And when we're discussing whether the film had "a message", or "tackled issues", this kinda thing is all that really matters. If it gets people talking about important stuff, then it's doing a job above and beyond the provision of simple visceral entertainment. 

I bet Shakespeare used to get dissed for catering to the masses with all that blood and violence.


----------



## kyser_soze (Sep 29, 2009)

I thought the various messages the film had to have about oppression were pretty much delivered with a sledgehammer TBH. It's a great film - well structured, paced, Wikus is a great 'everyman' character etc and the weapons are proper, full on gore-fest specials...but jesus, it's doesn't even begin to touch on 'subtle'. After the film we had a 10-15 minute chat about the various issues raised (the longest point being how the aliens were 'properly' alien, which is kinda ruined by Christopher Prawn who displays any number of anthro characteristics (altho perhaps this is indicative of his 'higher' status among the prawns?).

Good film, but it's not the work of excellence that many here seem to think it is. IMV.


----------



## Stigmata (Sep 29, 2009)

I thought some of it was quite subtle. The comment by one of the interviewees that "if they were from another country, we'd understand" looked like an ironic reference to all the anti-foreigner violence that flared up in SA recently. I reckon a local audience would have registered a lot more satire.


----------



## kyser_soze (Sep 29, 2009)

Is it? Was it written so that period could be taken into account? This film probably wrapped the actual filming stuff 12-18 months ago, so that scene could've been shot anything up to 2 years ago, possibly even longer...


----------



## Stigmata (Sep 29, 2009)

Well now look what you've done, you've gone and made me look it up:




			
				wikipedia said:
			
		

> The film was shot on location in Chiawelo, Soweto during a time of violent unrest in Alexandra, Gauteng and other South African townships involving clashes between native South Africans and Africans born in other countries.


----------



## butchersapron (Sep 29, 2009)

But..but..africans...


----------



## kyser_soze (Sep 29, 2009)

Cool, sorry for the Q&A, my knowledge of recent RSA history isn't..._chronologically sound_...yes, that's the best way of describing it...


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 30, 2009)

This film is far and away the most utterly bonkers thing you are likely to see in any cinema this year and for that reason alone it should be supported. 

It's very far from perfect - like a lot of people I liked it less as it went on. Thought the first half-hour was absolutely inspired, but the teasing intelligence of the start just couldn't survive the all the splattery stuff later. But still, even to see a sci-fi (or effectively ANY popular 'genre' film) in the South African context was a whole new thing and deeply deeply interesting - just the new nuances it throws on sci-fi cliches makes it worth a go.

I too felt pretty squeamish about the "Nigerian muti orgy" scenes and thought the director & producer should have been cannier about not falling into this trap. I also wondered whether for any of the mini-soundbites near the start with people talking about prawns - how many had just been asked to spout off their opinions about non-SA migrants living there?

It's hard to get across to those with no or little real-life experience of apartheid or of Saffies just how accurate (and genuinely sharp and funny) some of the jokes and the dialogue are. It's a lot more than just the heavy-handed NO ALIENS HERE signs: so much of the dialogue is lifted straight from the daily absurdities of the apartheid era ... like:
"you want to talk to him or you want to talk to me?" (a textbook 'technique' for apartheid-era police and army guys interrogating 'subversives')
"it's a lovely new facility built especially for prawns" (verbatim from the public statements preceding mass deportation of black South Africans to their 'Bantu homelands')
"um, I think this one's a bit sharper than the average" (could be overheard weekly in any white-collar setting where a white moron had to deal with a non-moronic black customer)

And the whole van der Merwe figure (his nerdiness, his stupidness, the way his father in law hates him) is classic classic Saffie - in SA 'van der Merwe' is the stereotypical dolt/victim in popular culture and van der Merwe jokes are the equivalent stock of jokes at the expense of Irish / Poles / southern Italians / yokels, which every country has. 

While it flagged for me towards the end I thought in general the CGI and directing work was excellent, the acting perfectly serviceable. The first 45 minutes or so induce a genuine feeling of unfamiliarity and disorientation and nobody really knowing what the hell's going on, which is always refreshing in a so-called 'stupid'  genre film. Liked the look of that particular 'future', as well, though - as grimy, incoherent and messy as the present, not overdesigned into art-directed sleekness or impossibly picturesque decay.

Go and see it! Because even if you don't believe it's worth 10/10, a bunch of stars or that it's the best thing evah, it will make you THINK about some stuff - and that's more than you can say for most films, even the highbrow arty ones never mind a sci-fi flick.

And don't ivvah point yor fakken tentacles at me again, aw-raat?


----------



## kyser_soze (Sep 30, 2009)

trab - spot on, especially:



> It's hard to get across to those with no or little real-life experience of apartheid or of Saffies just how accurate (and genuinely sharp and funny) some of the jokes and the dialogue are.



and 



> And the whole van der Merwe figure (his nerdiness, his stupidness, the way his father in law hates him) is classic classic Saffie - in SA 'van der Merwe' is the stereotypical dolt/victim in popular culture and van der Merwe jokes are the equivalent stock of jokes at the expense of Irish / Poles / southern Italians / yokels, which every country has.


----------



## Beanburger (Oct 2, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> *Prays this is true*
> 
> The A Team film might actually be good if they're making castings like that


Looks like it's confirmed.

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/330248/ready_to_meet_the_ateam.html


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## big eejit (Oct 11, 2009)

Nice tags. Went to see this today a month after everyone else, so we were the only two people in the cinema. Which felt rather decadent.

I thought it was great. Some fairly subtle political messages plus massive alien guns. Ding dong!


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## Sesquipedalian (Oct 11, 2009)

Beanburger said:


> Looks like it's confirmed.
> 
> http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/330248/ready_to_meet_the_ateam.html




YAY !


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## Paulie Tandoori (Oct 11, 2009)

big eejit said:


> Nice tags. Went to see this today a month after everyone else, so we were the only two people in the cinema. Which felt rather decadent.
> 
> I thought it was great. Some fairly subtle political messages plus massive alien guns. Ding dong!


were you at the rio by any chance?

we went to watch this as well today and i'd largely agree with you on this.


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## camouflage (Oct 11, 2009)

Brilliant movie, loved it!


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## big eejit (Oct 11, 2009)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> were you at the rio by any chance?
> 
> we went to watch this as well today and i'd largely agree with you on this.



We were at Avon Meads in Brizzle. Where's the rio?


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## Paulie Tandoori (Oct 11, 2009)

big eejit said:


> We were at Avon Meads in Brizzle. Where's the rio?


sunny dalston.


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## big eejit (Oct 11, 2009)

Sounds lovely. London rather than Cumbria I presume.

I also loved Wikus's endearing use of "fokken" which sounded v scouse to my ears.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Oct 11, 2009)

yes, we laughed at that as well. focking focker...


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## teecee (Oct 12, 2009)

Some District 9 humour

Loose translation : Now those fucking prawns are going to shit themselves


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## stupid dogbot (Nov 1, 2009)

Finally got around to seeing this last night.

Really enjoyed it. Nicely done, entertaining and very engaging movie.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Nov 1, 2009)

Glad you liked it, dude, it's ace isn't it?

I hope this director does more of the same, it's like having Verhoeven in his prime back


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## London_Calling (Nov 1, 2009)

I've just seen it as well. What a trip!

It'll take a week to unravel wtf was going on. Beautiful stuff.


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## DotCommunist (Nov 1, 2009)

Quite something, isn't it?

Unless somebody acts fast I'm probably going to put it forward as the best film released this year.


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## Gromit (Nov 2, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Quite something, isn't it?
> 
> Unless somebody acts fast I'm probably going to put it forward as the best film released this year.



Its my best film of the year at the moment.

Watch it get nothing at the Oscars though.


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## Kid_Eternity (Nov 2, 2009)

trabuquera said:


> This film is far and away the most utterly bonkers thing you are likely to see in any cinema this year and for that reason alone it should be supported.
> 
> It's very far from perfect - like a lot of people I liked it less as it went on. Thought the first half-hour was absolutely inspired, but the teasing intelligence of the start just couldn't survive the all the splattery stuff later. But still, even to see a sci-fi (or effectively ANY popular 'genre' film) in the South African context was a whole new thing and deeply deeply interesting - just the new nuances it throws on sci-fi cliches makes it worth a go.
> 
> ...



Good post.


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## Gromit (Nov 2, 2009)

Just to add. I don't think as a film its perfect either. It is short of perfection but some of the best classics are.


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## fen_boy (Jan 13, 2010)

Finally got round to watching it. I thought it was excellent.


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## Reno (Jan 13, 2010)

trabuquera said:


> This film is far and away the most utterly bonkers thing you are likely to see in any cinema this year and for that reason alone it should be supported.



Have you seen _Antichrist_ or _Synecdoche New York _? 

I thought it was a good, if conventional sci-fi action movie, with a plot cobbled together from _Alien Nation _and Cronenberg's _The Fly_, but done in a shaky cam-style.


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## Griff (Jan 13, 2010)

Watched it the other week and thought it was excellent too.

'Prawns' LOL!


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## Gromit (Jan 13, 2010)

Reno said:


> Have you seen _Antichrist_ or _Synecdoche New York _?
> 
> I thought it was a good, if conventional sci-fi action movie, with a plot cobbled together from _Alien Nation _and Cronenberg's _The Fly_, but done in a shaky cam-style.



Miles deeper and darker than Alien Nation (a film I like loads I must say).


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## Reno (Jan 13, 2010)

Gromit said:


> Miles deeper and darker than Alien Nation (a film I like loads I must say).



What's is it you find so deep about it ? The apartheid/immigration allegory was clunkingly obvious and the  sadistic corporate villains were like something out of a pantomime. Essentially it's just a re-run of the racism allegory of Alien Nation, "darker" or not. 

Btw., these days people throw the adjective 'dark' around in regard of movies as if that was a sign of depth and meaning in itself, which it isn't. As a sci-fi satire District 9 lacks the wit and subversiveness of Paul Verhoeven's Robocop or Starship Troopers.


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## London_Calling (Jan 13, 2010)

AFAIK 'dark' or 'black' refers to taboo subjects - not much taboo about immigration or apartheid these days.

I'd agree Starship Troopers was a sharper, far cleverer piece of work but D9 had several successful moments of physical humour. I suspect the themes were probably more accessible, as well. It was the makers first film wasn't it?

ST was also more about empire, imo.


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## Reno (Jan 13, 2010)

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed District 9 a lot. It's a cracking action film with great special effects and characters you come to care about. I just don't think there is anything original or "deep" about it's plot.


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## TitanSound (Jan 13, 2010)

I really enjoyed it. I thought the story was solid, characters identifiable and the action sequences awesome. One of my fave sci-fi films.


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## DJWrongspeed (Jan 13, 2010)

Why's everyone still goin on about this film ? 

It's very over-rated although the initial premise is good.  Anyone with a small history of cinema will see it as an unimaginative patchwork of Tetsuo , The Fly, Terminator, Indpendence Day et al. The fake reportage sequences are a very tired tool these days.


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## krtek a houby (Jan 13, 2010)

Thoroughly enjoyable. Don't think it went down too well in Nigeria, where it was eventually banned due to Nigerians in the film being portrayed as gangsters.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 13, 2010)

Reno said:


> Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed District 9 a lot. It's a cracking action film with great special effects and characters you come to care about. I just don't think there is anything original or "deep" about it's plot.



Where as Avatar was the height of originality and depth?


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## stupid dogbot (Jan 13, 2010)

DJWrongspeed said:


> Why's everyone still goin on about this film ?
> 
> It's very over-rated although the initial premise is good.  Anyone with a small history of cinema will see it as an unimaginative patchwork of Tetsuo , The Fly, Terminator, Indpendence Day et al. The fake reportage sequences are a very tired tool these days.



Sorry, Roger. 

Meanwhile, you're not seriously suggesting that Independence Day is somehow a better movie? Cos, that would be _fucking mental_...


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## Pingu (Jan 13, 2010)

watched this on dvd over the weekend. tbh i think it works better than it did at the piccies


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## Reno (Jan 13, 2010)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Where as Avatar was the height of originality and depth?




Did I ever say it was ? In terms of plot neither is very original or deep, but because both films were well crafted I enjoyed them a lot more than any of the other blockbusters Hollywood churned out last year.


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## Voley (Jan 13, 2010)

I thought it was laughably bad.


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## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2010)

i smell an icon being clasmed


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## Voley (Jan 13, 2010)

No I genuinely thought it was terrible. A hamfisted first half and then An Independence Day / Terminator ending. Awful film and I'm quite surprised how many people liked it.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 13, 2010)

Reno said:


> Did I ever say it was ? In terms of plot neither is very original or deep, but because both films were well crafted I enjoyed them a lot more than any of the other blockbusters Hollywood churned out last year.



So you admit that Avatar was unoriginal and superficial?


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## Reno (Jan 13, 2010)

Kid_Eternity said:


> So you admit that Avatar was unoriginal and superficial?



Sure, in terms of plot Avatar was unoriginal and I never made any claims otherwise, so I'm not sure why I have to "admit" anything. Apparently it's compulsory that one now has to point that out in every discussion about Avatar, while that doesn't seem to be the case with the equally unoriginal District 9 

Film aren't books though and they consist of more than just plot. Technically and in terms of imagining its alien world and in the way the action scenes were directed, Avatar was an exciting piece of cinema.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 13, 2010)

Reno said:


> Sure, in terms of plot Avatar was unoriginal and I never made any claims otherwise, so I'm not sure why I have to "admit" anything. Apparently it's compulsory that one now has to point that out in every discussion about Avatar, while that doesn't seem to be the case with the equally unoriginal District 9
> 
> Film aren't books though and they consist of more than just plot. Technically and in terms of imagining its alien world and in the way the action scenes were directed, Avatar was an exciting piece of cinema.



Can something that's clearly superficial and unoriginal be exciting?


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## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2010)

In pure geek terms, Avatar had the best ornithopters I have ever seen on film. I even paused it to give a 10 minute rant about ornithopters when one of my fellow viewers unwisely asked why they had wings with helicopter blades on.


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## Crispy (Jan 13, 2010)

They're not ornithopters. Orni- meaning bird-like, ie flexible, shape-shifting, beating wings. They're multi-rotor helicopters.


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## Reno (Jan 13, 2010)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Can something that's clearly superficial and unoriginal be exciting?



Blow jobs are superficial and unoriginal, yet they are always exciting.

The  smiley at the end of everyone of your posts is starting to get very old though.


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## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2010)

Crispy said:


> They're not ornithopters. Orni- meaning bird-like, ie flexible, shape-shifting, beating wings. They're multi-rotor helicopters.



But the rotors on the ends of the wings are maneuverable.


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## Crispy (Jan 13, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> But the rotors on the ends of the wings are maneuverable.


They don't flap or flex like a bird's wings, therefore =/= ornithopter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter


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## DotCommunist (Jan 13, 2010)

Fucking misleading Dune artwork.

Good job I am the biggest geek in the circle else my rant would have been cut to pieces.


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## Crispy (Jan 13, 2010)

The videogame got it right


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## London_Calling (Jan 13, 2010)

Kid_Eternity - I've never seen you like anything. Are you on some kind of intellectual trip where, if you find fault in everything, you feel like you're on NewsReview ?


What do you like?


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## Reno (Jan 13, 2010)

London_Calling said:


> Kid_Eternity - I've never seen you like anything. Are you on some kind of intellectual trip where, if you find fault in everything, you feel like you're on NewsReview ?
> 
> 
> What do you like?



I think you can drop "intellectual" from that post.


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## G. Fieendish (Jan 14, 2010)

DotCommunist said:


> In pure geek terms, Avatar had the best ornithopters I have ever seen on film. I even paused it to give a 10 minute rant about ornithopters when one of my fellow viewers unwisely asked why they had wings with helicopter blades on.



They're tilt-rotor/nacelle aircraft, with a guard ring attached to the ends of the rotors/propellors _(Think son of the V-22 Osprey, or it's smaller brother the BA609)_...


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## bonjour (Jan 28, 2010)

xes said:


> I've said it before, and i'll say it again. It'll be shit. They all turn out to be shit. No matter how much hype there is. It'll be shit.


Just watched it, It started out ok, a few chuckles. but I've spent most of my time on here or playing the guitar. It seemed to have switched genres in between, from sort of mockumentary to hardcore action thriller with serious morality issues being discussed under the floorboards.

Definately not one I'd want to watch again. 

If anyone is desperate for something to keep their eyes occupied give it a go, else just wank or something.


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## skyscraper101 (Mar 8, 2010)

I didn't like it.

Despite a bit of lol at the beginning I got bored half way through. I pretty much agree with bonjour entirely.


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## T & P (Mar 8, 2010)

I thought it was brilliant, and funnily enough the beginning is what I liked the least. Luckily the mockumentary style all but dies out as the film progresses.


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## skyscraper101 (Mar 8, 2010)

There was just way too many explosions, CGI and green screen stuff. The whole sequence towards the end was just a 20 minute fire fight and after 3 minutes I was just willing it to progress to the next scene. I hate action/sci-fi films where they just pad out the film with explosion after explosion.


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## kyser_soze (Mar 8, 2010)

I've got a few Saffa mates and they all adore this film, but I showed a couple of them this thread and they pissed themselves laughing.


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## beeboo (Apr 7, 2010)

Bumpage as I've just seen this.

There's a very good film in there somewhere but I didn't really enjoy it.  Found the whole documentary/reportage aspect at the start was hackneyed and poorly executed, then having set that whole format up, just transmogrified clumsily back out of it.  It felt like they just used it for ease of exposition at the start, then dumped it in favour of a fairly standard odd-couple buddy action movie format.  Frankly I was glad when they'd dropped the whole pretence and wish they'd never gone there in the first place.  IMO It'd have been a better movie to have weaved the social commentary aspects into the structure of the film rather than lump it all in a heavy-handed 'THIS IS AN ALLEGORY' section at the start.

On the up side the effects were some of the most realistic I've seen and whilst the I didn't find the expository style credible at all, visually I thought it was wonderfully believable.  

Interesting reading the thread and think it would be quite a different experience to view this as a South African or someone who was familiar with SA life - I think the contrast between the culturally familiar aspects of the film with the very 'alien' (in all senses) would have really enhanced the film.  Whereas I've got little knowledge beyond a general understanding of apartheid so both sides of the fence were looking pretty alien to me.  From my perspective the portrayal of the Nigerians really jarred as well, but I'm prepared to put that down to my lack of knowledge.


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## tendril (May 18, 2010)

I have just watched this (dunno why I didn't see it when it came out) and loved it. Thought the Wickas character was inspired 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 and was moved by the allegory to District 6


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## London_Calling (May 19, 2010)

Fwiw, it's still largely about immigration imo, and not a commentary on apartheid but hey ho.


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## krtek a houby (May 19, 2010)

kyser_soze said:


> I've got a few Saffa mates and they all adore this film, but I showed a couple of them this thread and they pissed themselves laughing.



You show them urban threads?


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## tendril (May 25, 2010)

London_Calling said:


> Fwiw, it's still largely about immigration imo, and not a commentary on apartheid but hey ho.



so was the district 6 affair about immigration or apartheid?


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## bouncer_the_dog (May 25, 2010)

District 9 is wikkid... it has everything you could possibley need in a film.


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## bouncer_the_dog (May 25, 2010)

Crispy said:


> They're not ornithopters. Orni- meaning bird-like, ie flexible, shape-shifting, beating wings. They're multi-rotor helicopters.



indeed


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## Jeff Robinson (Jun 3, 2012)

Network premier tonight c4 9:00pm. I never got round to seeing this, so I'm looking forward to it!


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## ruffneck23 (Jun 3, 2012)

You're in for a treat !


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## Kuso (Jun 3, 2012)

ruffneck23 said:


> You're in for a treat !


 
I agree, thoroughly enjoyable film.  And the accents are a source of constant amusement


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## Kid_Eternity (Jun 3, 2012)

Great film!


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## skyscraper101 (Jun 3, 2012)

Thought it was shit myself, but probably great if you like TONS OF FIGHT SCENES AND EXPLOSIONS!


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## zoooo (Jun 3, 2012)

Well that wasn't remotely what I was expecting.

Kind of fun though. And I liked the little baby alien.


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## editor (Jun 3, 2012)

Just watched it now and very much enjoyed it. Great film.


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## yardbird (Jun 3, 2012)

I turned it on and stayed with it - always a good sign.


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## southside (Jun 3, 2012)

Prawns eat cat food.

 Brilliant!


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## 8ball (Jun 4, 2012)

Excellent film though there was some controversy when some of the bad guys turned out not to be white.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Jun 4, 2012)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Can something that's clearly superficial and unoriginal be exciting?


 
most fight sequences can be considered unoriginal and superficial.

they are exciting.


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## dilute micro (Jun 4, 2012)

District 9 was good.  I was surprised.


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