District 9

Is there no buzz about this?

Certainly looks like the most original thing to come out this summer.

Any thoughts?

 

Looks good! I watched the short film it's based on, which is good as well. Intriguing idea, kind of a lens through which to view less attractive elements of human nature such as racism, elitism, ethnocentrism, etc.

(NB: There's a thread about the movie in Amphitheatre.)

 

Anything that has Peter Jackson's name on it, I am inclined to want to see and this looks really inventive.

 

Seeing it this Friday. Looks pretty good. Seems like it'll be both an intelligent, thoughtful, and entertaining film.

 

Loved the trailer and it's gotten good reviews so far. Count me in for a Friday showing.

 

Can't wait to see it. Definitely my most anticipated movie this summer, since Transformers came out.

 

It looks interesting. I am looking forward to seeing it.

 

I'm planning to see this. I'm actually not expecting a whole lot; the trailers I've seen don't really interest me. But it's getting good buzz, and I don't want to judge a book by its cover - or a movie by its trailer.

 

We got to watch some of it at Comic Con. I am definitely excited to see it, and am doing so at midnight tonight!

What's intriguing me the most is that it's a very political allegory.

Plus, Peter defined this as a "low budget film." I guess 30 million IS a lot less than 250 million, but still, for a low budget film, it still looks amazing.

 

honestly...30 million can buy pretty decent CGI theses days.

If you avoid dropping 30-50 million on a cast of tigerbeat boys and maxim princesses...you can make good product on low cost.

at least, let's hope.

 

It looks awsome, Im going to see it tonight!

 

Our local arts magazine here in Austin gives the movie 4 stars, calls it the most intelligent and original sci-fi film in decades, heaps praise on the actors, FX work, and on the writer-director, and says it's an instant classic. Sounds good to me! I'll probably see it Saturday night.

 

IGN gave it a perfect score, stating many of the same things. Can't wait to see it tonight.

 

It was phenomenal. Wonderful acting, effects that made you believe it was real, great story... just great.

 

Saw it yesterday ... great film. I wonder if there will be a sequel? It should come out in three years time.

 

I went and saw it earlier this evening. I wasn't particularly impressed.

There was certainly some good in it. The premise wasn't bad, and the actor did a decent enough job of showing a man trying to cope with turning into an alien. The documentary format worked, when it was being used. The alien design was reasonably non-standard. But: this was probably the least subtle, most heavy handed movie I've seen in a long time. And what's worse, it was boring. Oddly enough, it was at its most boring in the second and third acts, with all the shooting going on. The first act was at least interesting, and could have been something worth watching again if it had been the whole of the movie. The format is similar to how I hope that World War Z will one day be made.

You have a people living in ghettos who have a clicking language who don't look anything like the people in charge of the country and have a different set of moral and ethical standards than the ruling class. You have white people with guns who don't even consider them to be worthy of any kinds of rights, and who want to put them in concentration camps. You have a guy who realizes that things are bad, once he's put into a position where he's living like the oppressed peoples. And it culminates in a battle where the good guy just doesn't give up, keeps fighting despite massive damage, coming to act like a hero in the end.

I did like how it was ambiguous as to what Christopher Johnson's intentions were after his escape. Probably my favorite part of the movie. In the end, the movie didn't shine a particularly interesting light on the issues it brought up; as parables go, it was clumsy and overdone. Absolutely no subtly. You can find movies about Nazi's with more moralu complexity coming from the Nazi's. The special effects weren't particularly memorable. None of the characters, except perhaps the wife of the main character, really had any impact on me. I kind of felt for her. The style was decent while documentary format; if the movie had kept entirely to that, using only footage that came from security cameras, interviews, etc, and leaving the things off camera up to the imagination, I think that the film would have been better for it.

Two stars our of four. I don't regret seeing the movie, but I can't really see myself wanting to see it again, and no interest in seeing any kind of sequel. I doubt that the film will stick with me much.

 

So it was pretty good then??!! It looks exciting from the trailers.

Does it have an Independence Day feel to the movie?

 

Not at all. ID was about invading aliens, this is about aliens who are forced to be refugees on Earth.

 

Just saw it last night, and loved it Ties with Moon in my mind as the best movie of the summer, and I totally agree that it is an instant classic. This has been a very good summer for original sci-fi.


I agree with Raven that it was not a subtle film, but I didn't go in expecting it to be. I mean come on, it's about aliens being oppressed in South Africa. We all know what that's about in an instant. Its strength came from how it presented its information, and more importantly what it never told us.


I absolutely loved it, and hope it does well. But please Hollywood, do not ruin it with a sequel

 

Is it present day or a few years in the future?

 

Present day, with a bit of an alternate history (minor spoiler) going on.

 

Not a subtle film? It felt like someone saw Troopsand took it seriously, and expanded it into a full length movie, without any understanding it was a joke. The racism went to the point where it became ridiculous. The mercenary who says things along the lines of "I can't believe I get paid to kill these things!" The abortion scene. The way that every company person in a position of power is Evil. The bad guys were caricatures of villains.

I had hoped that the movie would be an intelligent, thinking person's science fiction film. Instead, I got a movie that makes G.I. Joe seem clever and articulate - and with less interesting action scenes. It failed miserably at being an intelligent film. It's a film that screams RACISMS ARE BAD LOLZ! SEE! RACISM BAD! and expects you to nod sagely, enlightened by the noble parable. And that's even before you take into account the pencil pusher who gains the ability to take on squads of highly trained mercenaries in firefights along with the alien DNA. Pretty much everyone with a gun but the main character made Stormtroopers seem like a deadly threat by comparison.

 

Saw it last night, loved it.

 

I just got in from this movie. Its quite brilliant. Think Children of Men, but with aliens and you kind get the vibe of District 9

 

Saw it and loved it. An absolutely brilliant film from the cast, to the director and especially to the cinematography, everything worked. It was a highly original film and was executed beautifully. I especially enjoyed that the audience got to see his full transformation into a Prawn (and not simply a "he was never heard from again" cop-out), and I liked that they left Christopher's true motives/intentions up for speculation. I highly recommend it.