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Go see it. NOW.

It wasn't bad. I felt sorry for the aliens, and the story was good, but something just didn't feel right. I think the aliens were too human, and that creeped me out.

The aliens didn't look human, but their facial expressions and social interactions with the humans did. I suppose it could have been a learned response.

Overall, I thought it was an excellent movie (although I did think it was a little unrealistic how the rest of the world governments apparently didn't have much vested interest in the aliens).

Orkeosaurus wrote:The aliens didn't look human, but their facial expressions and social interactions with the humans did. I suppose it could have been a learned response.

Well they had 20 years to adapt.

The Director and Producer didn't to get to bogged down in politics and messages to much because they first and foremost wanted to make an exciting film. At least that is what they said. It is there if you want it but they didn't want it to be Ghostbusters II where the audience is just hammered over the head with a hammer that says "MESSAGE" on it. In 90ish minutes you can't really get into all the nuance of internation relations and exploring the pro-prawn movement, for example.

I kinda hope they don't make a sequel. Sometimes a little mystery is good and I don't see how they could top without making a very different type of movie. Studios don't tend to care for radical tangents, they want the original only a little different.

Sequel? I thought this was a prequel to Independence Day.

I enjoyed this movie very much, and as a former film major I'm a pretty harsh critical personally. I rarely see anything in the theater twice, but I saw it once with a friend and want to see it again with my wife so that I can start unpacking it, now that I know the story and can just concentrate on the movie from a little distance.

(SPOILERS)

It wasn't what the reviews and the pre-release talk made it sound like it would be. It was not a serious allegory for any modern-day political problems, and whatever "messages" were in there were pretty standard wisdom for anyone with a neuron firing...corporations are evil, humans are close-minded and self-serving, prejudice is bad. This was just straight narrative and entertainment.


What I found interesting about the film were two things:

1) There is not a single sympathetic human character in the ENTIRE movie. You would think there would be at least ONE...but even the main character, Wikus, is still a selfish donkey-cave. He has one act of potential redemption at the end of the film, and I would have liked to have seen that explored a little more because it was entirely incongruent with everything he had done prior to them.

He must have known that the aliens were intelligent to a degree, but he didn't seem to mind too much that they got shot and killed. When he waved off security personnel, it was more with a subtext of largesse or "Look how nice I am being," not "What are you, crazy? Don't shoot the fething alien!"

His behavior when they roasted the alien eggs was disgusting. I know there was a throwaway line at the beginning about thinking the aliens were "just workers" and hence they got treated like insects, but come on...they had language. There's only a single species on the planet Earth with true, spoken language, and that's us. You would think that meeting another species with whom we can communicate through the spoken word would have indicated SOME sort of higher intelligence and thus a reason to treat them a little better.

I agree with an earlier poster that it's kind of amazing that the MNU corporation got put in charge of them, and not the UN or something...I get that there was violence between the humans and the aliens before they got moved into District 9...it would have been nicer, also, to see more how things devolved to the point they're at when we get into the movie.

Back to Wikus, however...everything he did wasn't to help Christopher, but to help himself...so why did he turn around to help Christopher at the end? If it was to enable him to come back in three years to save him, why did he not just help automatically as soon as he had the means? Was he just so furious with the humans trying to kill him that he snapped and it was a rampage with a side helping of "What the hell, I'll help you out too?"



2) The only characters I gave a damn about were Christopher and his son, and neither of them were real. George Lucas could learn a thing from this movie - it's all fine and dandy to have CGI technology, and to make CGI characters, but the audience isn't going to have the same technology fetishism you do, George. What matters is whether they care about the characters or not.

The most "human" character in the movie was not only not human, but he wasn't even physically present in the film. He was pixels. That's an amazing achievement IMHO.

Another film student/buff friend of mine and I agree on a principle when it comes to CGI - it should be like salt and pepper, not the entire meal. CG is best used to flavor traditional effects and photography, not as the entirely of the film.

I wonder if the upcoming Avatar movie is going to be another Star Wars prequel-esque CGI mess...

Well, Wikus tried to help himself at the expense of the aliens, and failed, and then the aliens came back and helped him anyways.

Maybe he decided he owed something to the aliens after all? Maybe his xenophobia concerning his transformation was lessened as well through the combination of the aliens helping him, his own mutations helping him, and two different types of humans trying to kill him?

I agree that he was kind of an idiot though. When he escapes to District 9 he just goes on some sort of catfood-eating spree instead of working to find out more about his transformation.

Cairnius wrote:
His behavior when they roasted the alien eggs was disgusting. I know there was a throwaway line at the beginning about thinking the aliens were "just workers" and hence they got treated like insects, but come on...they had language. There's only a single species on the planet Earth with true, spoken language, and that's us. You would think that meeting another species with whom we can communicate through the spoken word would have indicated SOME sort of higher intelligence and thus a reason to treat them a little better.

You've already unpacked the movie. Don't bother seeing it again, unless you fetishize deconstruction.

Cairnius wrote:
I agree with an earlier poster that it's kind of amazing that the MNU corporation got put in charge of them, and not the UN or something...I get that there was violence between the humans and the aliens before they got moved into District 9...it would have been nicer, also, to see more how things devolved to the point they're at when we get into the movie.

The whole movie reminds me of Liberia.

Cairnius wrote:
Back to Wikus, however...everything he did wasn't to help Christopher, but to help himself...so why did he turn around to help Christopher at the end? If it was to enable him to come back in three years to save him, why did he not just help automatically as soon as he had the means? Was he just so furious with the humans trying to kill him that he snapped and it was a rampage with a side helping of "What the hell, I'll help you out too?"

Maybe he just helped Chris because he could. Man has strange works. Heelfaceturns do happen in real life.

Cairnius wrote:
The most "human" character in the movie was not only not human, but he wasn't even physically present in the film. He was pixels. That's an amazing achievement IMHO.

Very good point.

Cairnius wrote:
Another film student/buff friend of mine and I agree on a principle when it comes to CGI - it should be like salt and pepper, not the entire meal. CG is best used to flavor traditional effects and photography, not as the entirely of the film.

Oh, you old folk!

I loved the battlesuit... and seing what happens when a 50 cal sniper rifle shoots at one.

What happens when a man is hit by a flying pig, whilst he is standing in front of a shack.

Also when he starts throwing the cans and the assistant asks if they are grenades... and he says that it is cat food... hillarious.

I really enjoyed it. Makes a nice twist on the usual hollywood aliens ariving movie because the aliens arrive in Johannesburg in apartheid south africa.

The white and blacks seem to be getting along alright, but now both of them can look down on the prawns...

I thought the movie was great, and it had clear apartheid references throughout, though there was no message that was clearly beaten into the audience other than "corporations are evil" and "nigerians are evil".

I do have a few gripes about the glaring plotholes presented in the film though.

:spoilers:

When the ship landed, the "command module" fell out of it? Why? At that point the aliens had clearly been lost and starving for a good while anyways, given the conditions shown when the ship was opened. The fix to the command module was to fill it with an alien fluid that had both the effect of powering the module, as well as turning humans into aliens? That doesn't even make sense. Secondly, if the fluid came from within their technology, why didn't they just ask to get to their ship? Why after 20 years did the ship not get incredibly looted by MNU and human governments? Why did they try and create human alien hybrids, rather than just reverse engineering the weapons, or the technology of the ship? Why, if they were capable of returning home from the start, did they not do so? Why were there so many giant alien weapons, even battlesuits, when they couldn't return to their ship? It's hard to imagine one of those suits fitting in a helicopter. The entire plot to this movie hinges around the fact that no one bothered to try and search around inside the giant floating empty alien mothership, and that MNU is a corporation of the truly stupid. The plot in effect hinges around the concept that everyone is really, really, really dumb. Illogical and huge leaps of logic abound in the film that had me scratching my head.

Ahtman wrote:

Orkeosaurus wrote:The aliens didn't look human, but their facial expressions and social interactions with the humans did. I suppose it could have been a learned response.

Well they had 20 years to adapt.

The Director and Producer didn't to get to bogged down in politics and messages to much because they first and foremost wanted to make an exciting film. At least that is what they said. It is there if you want it but they didn't want it to be Ghostbusters II where the audience is just hammered over the head with a hammer that says "MESSAGE" on it. In 90ish minutes you can't really get into all the nuance of internation relations and exploring the pro-prawn movement, for example.

I kinda hope they don't make a sequel. Sometimes a little mystery is good and I don't see how they could top without making a very different type of movie. Studios don't tend to care for radical tangents, they want the original only a little different.

Forgive my ignorence but... what was the message in ghost busters two?

ShumaGorath wrote:When the ship landed, the "command module" fell out of it? Why?

Is it possible aliens have non-human motivations and/or procedures? Ask a prawn.

ShumaGorath wrote:The fix to the command module was to fill it with an alien fluid that had both the effect of powering the module, as well as turning humans into aliens? That doesn't even make sense.

Could it be that Alien technology doesn't work like human technology? We don't really know how that fluid worked but we do know that prawn technology is deeply ingrained with their DNA. I imagine it is no different for the spaceships as well as the weapons. This strong DNA link has something to do with the power source as well, powerful enough that coming into contact will overwrite anything else's DNA.

ShumaGorath wrote:Secondly, if the fluid came from within their technology, why didn't they just ask to get to their ship?

I'm sure MNU would have let that happen. They were such a good group. It also may have needed other components to process it that weren't on the ship.

ShumaGorath wrote:Why after 20 years did the ship not get incredibly looted by MNU and human governments?

It probably did but there was only so much they could do.

ShumaGorath wrote:Why did they try and create human alien hybrids, rather than just reverse engineering the weapons, or the technology of the ship?

Well, if you ever get to see the movie then you well notice they explained they tried to reverse engineer and it didn't work. The DNA coding is a fundamental part of the technology that makes it work.

ShumaGorath wrote:Why, if they were capable of returning home from the start, did they not do so?

Well obliviously they weren't able to, now were they?

ShumaGorath wrote:Why were there so many giant alien weapons, even battlesuits, when they couldn't return to their ship?

That I myself was wondering as well.

ShumaGorath wrote:The entire plot to this movie hinges around the fact that no one bothered to try and search around inside the giant floating empty alien mothership

I suppose one could come to that conclusion if they weren't paying attention to detail. We aren't given an omnipotent view in this world, much as we don't have one in our own. There are a few specific POV's that we follow with a bits of a documentary thrown in that are about one specific person. To try and cover every single aspect and impact of alien contact and it's ramifications would have made for a much longer movie that was off message. 3 hours of intensive back-story leading up to 30 minutes of action would not have done as well. This isn't the story of humanity or the prawn but of Wikus. He doesn't know everything and neither do we.

ShumaGorath wrote:and that MNU is a corporation of the truly stupid. The plot in effect hinges around the concept that everyone is really, really, really dumb. Illogical and huge leaps of logic abound in the film that had me scratching my head.

Much of your criticism is hinged on the argument that truly alien things should work under the known, limited principles of what humans know. Your argument is a human-centric one that doesn't take into consideration that aliens aren't humans.


One of the things I liked about the movie was that Wikus was neither incredibly strong nor an incredibly weak person. He sometimes reacted well to a stressful situation and sometimes he did so poorly, as most real people do. He was a decent, but not perfect, guy in an incredible situation trying to deal with it.

Well, if you ever get to see the movie then you well notice they explained they tried to reverse engineer and it didn't work. The DNA coding is a fundamental part of the technology that makes it work.

No, they explain that it's DNA coded to use. The basics of the technology itself is not some sort of half DNA biotech. Even then, the concepts of studying power sources and engineering aren't locked into alien DNA. That doesn't make sense.

Is it possible aliens have non-human motivations and/or procedures? Ask a prawn.

I prefer to assume that space faring alien races aren't by in large herp derp morons.

Could it be that Alien technology doesn't work like human technology? We don't really know how that fluid worked but we do know that prawn technology is deeply ingrained with their DNA. I imagine it is no different for the spaceships as well as the weapons. This strong DNA link has something to do with the power source as well, powerful enough that coming into contact will overwrite anything else's DNA.

And that fluid that changes humans into aliens through an unexplained and illogical process is also the aliens power source? This is a logical leap thats too extreme for me to really accept easily. I liked the movie, but that made no sense.

Well obliviously they weren't able to, now were they?

And yet, they apparently were. Since all it takes to leave with the ship is one prawn that was aboard it at the start and fluid from items that were also on the ship before they ever opened it up.

To try and cover every single aspect and impact of alien contact and it's ramifications would have made for a much longer movie that was off message. 3 hours of intensive back-story leading up to 30 minutes of action would not have done as well. This isn't the story of humanity or the prawn but of Wikus. He doesn't know everything and neither do we.

Which is why the movie worked. If the plot more heavily hinged on such things it would have fallen apart immediately.

Much of your criticism is hinged on the argument that truly alien things should work under the known, limited principles of what humans know. Your argument is a human-centric one that doesn't take into consideration that aliens aren't humans.

There are no truly alien things. All things exist within the same reality that we exist in. District nine didn't take place in some odd alternate dimension.

a good movie and an ironic look at the apartheid in south Africa.

You know Shuma, you could have just admitted you don't understand instead of lashing out. Just take a deep breath and recognize your weakness's. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

Ahtman wrote:You know Shuma, you could have just admitted you don't understand instead of lashing out. Just take a deep breath and recognize your weakness's. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

Would you like to explain what I don't understand? Because as it is it appears that I'm simply not taking blind leaps of logic to suspend disbelief and ignore massive, and glaring plotholes. Actually, I apologize. It's clear now that you haven't understood any of my posts. You should have just said so! I would have used smaller words.


As it is I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I just wish the setup had been more cohesive.

ShumaGorath wrote:

Ahtman wrote:You know Shuma, you could have just admitted you don't understand instead of lashing out. Just take a deep breath and recognize your weakness's. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

Would you like to explain what I don't understand? Because as it is it appears that I'm simply not taking blind leaps of logic to suspend disbelief and ignore massive, and glaring plotholes. Actually, I apologize. It's clear now that you haven't understood any of my posts. You should have just said so! I would have used smaller words.

See, you are proving you didn't understand. It's always sad to see the hissy-fit a person throws when their ego can't accept it's limitations.

Ahtman wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:

Ahtman wrote:You know Shuma, you could have just admitted you don't understand instead of lashing out. Just take a deep breath and recognize your weakness's. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

Would you like to explain what I don't understand? Because as it is it appears that I'm simply not taking blind leaps of logic to suspend disbelief and ignore massive, and glaring plotholes. Actually, I apologize. It's clear now that you haven't understood any of my posts. You should have just said so! I would have used smaller words.

See, you are proving you didn't understand. It's always sad to see the hissy-fit a person throws when their ego can't accept it's limitations.

So we've graduated from actually discussing the issues with the movie to full on trolling. Cool. Anyone else care to throw in also? Ahtman says I was asleep during the movie and I'm claiming he is actually Peter Jackson, secretly trolling people with any form of criticism of the film online.

Loved it, plan on seeing it again. Also, was it actually mentioned that the fluid that transforms the protagonist is actually need to power the ship? Maybe it serves another purpose such as transmitting data between the pilot and the ship. Just my two cents.

Cairnius wrote:George Lucas could learn a thing from this movie - it's all fine and dandy to have CGI technology, and to make CGI characters, but the audience isn't going to have the same technology fetishism you do, George. What matters is whether they care about the characters or not.

Yousa don't cares about mees? But muy muy Isa loves you!