District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
09-07-09, 12:44 PM
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
you guys are like a tag team.
I read an interview as well in which the director stated that he didn't want to be preachy, but even though I really liked the movie, I couldn't deny the fact that it was a bit preachy, and that's an opinion, and as i'm not the only one that feels this way, it's not rubbish.
oh, and once again, I really liked this film.
I read an interview as well in which the director stated that he didn't want to be preachy, but even though I really liked the movie, I couldn't deny the fact that it was a bit preachy, and that's an opinion, and as i'm not the only one that feels this way, it's not rubbish.
oh, and once again, I really liked this film.
Last edited by OldBoy; 09-08-09 at 07:35 PM.
09-08-09, 01:02 PM
#402
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
I found this to be a very interesting film and it left me wanting more at the end...how a good movie should leave you feeling. The characters were all good and the "prawns" were done extremely well and you felt charcter from them. For me they were one of the best uses of CGI characters thus far used. They were intricle to the story, had their own agendas and were not simply used to "wow" the audience. The story line was done well and whilst i was apprehensive about the fly on the wall style i feel it worked out perfectly. The hero of the piece was an interesting role to see how a person can develop and overcome due to a fear of losing what is most precious to them. I am going to watch it again this week and see if it holds up on repeated viewings.
09-08-09, 03:13 PM
#403
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Wikus was a tool.. much like Michael Scott is a tool on The Office. They are both characters that walk that fine line of being a total prick to that of being a naive buffoon thinking what they are doing is for the greater good of the company. They are prone to put their foot in their mouth on many occassions and react inappropriately to situations.
09-08-09, 05:32 PM
#404
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
The villains could not have been more one-dimensional or cardboard dull. Of course the father-in-law / nondescript shadowy agency bigwig was going to be totally evil with no redeeming qualities and would coldly and without hesitation order the murder of his son-in-law and condemn his daughter to misery for money. Very pedestrian stuff right here. Also the head solider was ludicrously over-the-top to the point of unintentional comedy. Did Blomkamp think for a second that we wouldn't understand that he was a psychopath? Apparently this was a danger because after slaughtering a bunch of prawns he says something to the effect of "I can't believe I get to do this for a job!" I had to suppress laughter at this point and several others because its so unbelievably poorly done.
There is another small, but worth-noting part that perfectly exemplifies my problem with the movie and it is the scene when the shadowy agency forces Wikus to fire the alien gun. Wikus asks for his wife and a man in a white coat (the international symbol for scientists) says "**** your wife!" Why would he say that? It was totally unprovoked, doesn't help the situation, and is not a way that I think most people would conduct themselves in such an important situation. So why did he say that? Because he's a bad guy (like 99% of everyone working for a big company or the government ever are bad) and bad guys are mean in every situation ever. It's not a big thing by any means, but it shows how the movie overstates its thesis at every bend.
Much is made of District 9's social commentary and the apartheid stuff and social effects are interesting, but the government / shadowy corporation weapon / money bit plays out like every hokey political thriller out there. And being that the film is so pervasive in its shouting down to you it makes the movie endlessly disappointing. And for everyone who is about to chastise me for disliking "one thing," this "one thing" is its spine. The entire tone of the film, the central plot, and a number of characters all converge on this one element. Because Blomkamp was set on yelling his message as opposed to being more subtle, every element suffered severely.
There is another small, but worth-noting part that perfectly exemplifies my problem with the movie and it is the scene when the shadowy agency forces Wikus to fire the alien gun. Wikus asks for his wife and a man in a white coat (the international symbol for scientists) says "**** your wife!" Why would he say that? It was totally unprovoked, doesn't help the situation, and is not a way that I think most people would conduct themselves in such an important situation. So why did he say that? Because he's a bad guy (like 99% of everyone working for a big company or the government ever are bad) and bad guys are mean in every situation ever. It's not a big thing by any means, but it shows how the movie overstates its thesis at every bend.
Much is made of District 9's social commentary and the apartheid stuff and social effects are interesting, but the government / shadowy corporation weapon / money bit plays out like every hokey political thriller out there. And being that the film is so pervasive in its shouting down to you it makes the movie endlessly disappointing. And for everyone who is about to chastise me for disliking "one thing," this "one thing" is its spine. The entire tone of the film, the central plot, and a number of characters all converge on this one element. Because Blomkamp was set on yelling his message as opposed to being more subtle, every element suffered severely.
And I think it's worth pointing out that Aliens was similarly heavy handed with its evil corporation and Paul Reyser's character and his weapons development motive was by far the worst part of the film. Yet it hasn't held that film back from being revered.
09-09-09, 12:02 AM
#405
DVD Talk Hero
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
I said something similar to my brother-in-law as we left the theater.
He is a huge fan of Blade Runner and Alien/Aliens and thinks it is the most original sci-fi film he has seen in a long, long time.
My dad was hating the film during the first thirty or forty-five minutes. He was cussing at me wondering what in the hell I brought him to, yet I think he liked it by the end.
He is a huge fan of Blade Runner and Alien/Aliens and thinks it is the most original sci-fi film he has seen in a long, long time.
My dad was hating the film during the first thirty or forty-five minutes. He was cussing at me wondering what in the hell I brought him to, yet I think he liked it by the end.
09-15-09, 11:30 PM
#406
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Except that's not was he, nor I in my original post, was referring to. He said "I thought it was pretty obvious that he was trying to provoke Wikus, hoping he'd squeeze the trigger in anger. I guess it wasn't as obvious as I thought." And then someone else said "Don't worry. It was obvious to most people." They were referring to the line "**** your wife" as being a provocation to pull the trigger, not the shocking.
That being said I'm sure that they shocked him before every single time the trigger was pulled. Every single time this was immediately followed be the gun going off. Based on Wikus' reaction, his line about wanting to pull the trigger himself, and a basic understanding of forced physical reactions, this said to me that they were causing the reaction externally (like when the doctor hits you knee to make you leg go up). However, maybe I'm giving the movie too much credit by believing it to be doing one thing slightly above the absolutely lamest thing possible. Not that it really matters. It doesn't have anything to do with my point. It's total nitpicking about my post if I'm even wrong about that fact which I don't think that I am. My objection was that a scientist randomly shouted "**** your wife" as a one-dimensional bad guy thing. And that's a pretty lame provocation anyway if it was. I mean, he did have Wikus tied up and tortured already. Not that this even matters. I specifically mentioned this as the least important part of my post and it isn't going to change District 9 from a bad movie to a masterpiece in my mind.
That being said I'm sure that they shocked him before every single time the trigger was pulled. Every single time this was immediately followed be the gun going off. Based on Wikus' reaction, his line about wanting to pull the trigger himself, and a basic understanding of forced physical reactions, this said to me that they were causing the reaction externally (like when the doctor hits you knee to make you leg go up). However, maybe I'm giving the movie too much credit by believing it to be doing one thing slightly above the absolutely lamest thing possible. Not that it really matters. It doesn't have anything to do with my point. It's total nitpicking about my post if I'm even wrong about that fact which I don't think that I am. My objection was that a scientist randomly shouted "**** your wife" as a one-dimensional bad guy thing. And that's a pretty lame provocation anyway if it was. I mean, he did have Wikus tied up and tortured already. Not that this even matters. I specifically mentioned this as the least important part of my post and it isn't going to change District 9 from a bad movie to a masterpiece in my mind.
The way that "**** your wife!" comment from the scientist hit me was, he was sick and tired of having to cut open and experiment on the (mostly) defenseless aliens and if this Wikus guy would just prove that he can shoot the weapons then they could be done with the experimenting and move on (perhaps he knew what the big wigs had in store for Wikus and didn't care/felt it was a bit of payback for sins?). A stretch but that's how I took his anger.
Very interesting film, still digesting all of it with lots of help from this thread
-Gunshy
10-26-09, 10:39 PM
#407
DVD Talk Legend
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Wife and I caught this at the bargain theater over the weekend, and we were both damn impressed. I was able to follow a lot of the concepts, and probably could have speculatively answered a lot of the questions in the FAQ a few pages up myself. And despite the director's intentions, I certainly saw messages, racism/apartheid being only a small one, with the dangers of the military-industrial complex being a really big one for me.
When his arm turned, I thought it was going to get goofy, but it didn't. When he got into the mecha, I thought it would get goofy, but it didn't. I was pretty impressed with the animation of the mecha translating Wikus' detoriating physical condition since I gathered it worked partially via mental commands.
I had to laugh out loud when he launched the pig
Someone else mentioned Cameron's Aliens and I was thinking, even during the final showdown, that the Wikus in the suit vs the MNU soldiers was like a spiritual sequel to Ripley in the powerloader vs the Queen.
When his arm turned, I thought it was going to get goofy, but it didn't. When he got into the mecha, I thought it would get goofy, but it didn't. I was pretty impressed with the animation of the mecha translating Wikus' detoriating physical condition since I gathered it worked partially via mental commands.
I had to laugh out loud when he launched the pig
Someone else mentioned Cameron's Aliens and I was thinking, even during the final showdown, that the Wikus in the suit vs the MNU soldiers was like a spiritual sequel to Ripley in the powerloader vs the Queen.
12-26-09, 11:07 AM
#408
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
F****** awesome movie. I think for the first time ever I actually felt for an alien in a film - unreal.
As mentioned previously, the shifts in behaviour\actions from the main character were a nice touch - I still didn't really like him much by the time the film was over but the movie did make me have some sympathy for him. That and the fact that
And just when I thought this movie was going to down the typical hollywood formula route...it shifter gears in a big way (I'm talking after the MNU break in, the main character
, and a couple of other parts).
The effects weren't overdone at all either which is something I like seeing in sci-fi movies as I am not a big fan of them.
What I was not expecting was how raw and brutal this movie was - that shocked the shit of me when I started watching it.
Excellent film - even for those who are not into sci-fi - just watch it - you'll love it.
As mentioned previously, the shifts in behaviour\actions from the main character were a nice touch - I still didn't really like him much by the time the film was over but the movie did make me have some sympathy for him. That and the fact that
Spoiler:
And just when I thought this movie was going to down the typical hollywood formula route...it shifter gears in a big way (I'm talking after the MNU break in, the main character
Spoiler:
The effects weren't overdone at all either which is something I like seeing in sci-fi movies as I am not a big fan of them.
What I was not expecting was how raw and brutal this movie was - that shocked the shit of me when I started watching it.
Excellent film - even for those who are not into sci-fi - just watch it - you'll love it.
12-26-09, 01:21 PM
#409
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
I guess it's just me, but I watched this yesterday as a blind buy on Blu-ray and didn't like it at all. The pseudo-documentary stuff just never sold me from the start, and the first 30 minutes had me bored to tears. It picked up a little bit once Wikus started mutating, but other then some decent action I just couldn't get into the story at all. Probably my biggest disappointment of the year.
The only thing I thought that really stood out was the alien design and effects; they blended in fantastically and they truly amazed me. Fantastic effects work.
The only thing I thought that really stood out was the alien design and effects; they blended in fantastically and they truly amazed me. Fantastic effects work.
Last edited by fumanstan; 12-26-09 at 02:10 PM.
12-26-09, 01:55 PM
#410
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
I really liked it, but the sound of the aliens talking made me gag a little bit.
12-26-09, 04:18 PM
#411
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
I mean it started as a mockumentary and then tried to get serious, but they never established any authenticity for me to feel anything for the characters. Oooh wow puking, pissing, some gross-out effects...insert fake tv broadcastings...now let's throw some heartless PMCs in there to add more conflict...now let the alien find out the truth about human nature...etc etc. And then draw out the conflict to the end by not letting characters get killed even though there were many chances.
Forgettable.
12-26-09, 05:01 PM
#412
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Being that the movie has a 90% on RT, means that you're mostly alone in your opinion. I could understand not loving the movie, but bad? That's just nutty.
12-26-09, 05:10 PM
#413
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
While I don't think D9 is a bad movie, I certainly agree that the writing was weak. It's like they started with a good concept for intelligent sci-fi and then tried their best to turn it into an action movie.
12-26-09, 05:58 PM
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Yes the CG is above average, yes the BR picture looks stunning in parts...but there are many elements even beyond what I posted above that just didn't work. And again it all stems from the writing. Honestly, this could have been a videogame script. There's nothing there - they had a somewhat unique idea (at least this year) that probably made a decent treatment, but when it came to filling 90+ minutes, it failed.
Like I said, the movie failed to establish any authenticity for me. I didn't buy that it was a "documentary", I didn't buy that it was set in the future, and I didn't buy the relationship between the main character and the alien. None of it. Why should I? Because there was hokey, cliched social commentary themes? Oooo apartheid, holocaust, abortion, intolerance, etc., all turned on its head cause now it's against aliens. Dumb. Sorry, it was all intellectually offending like 95% of the other made-for-masses drivel that comes out. At least with some of that stuff it's written well enough that one can escape into it.
This was just a paint-by-numbers production with a bunch of pulled-from-the-headlines/history topics written in to try and be relevant.
12-26-09, 06:12 PM
#417
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
I don't follow RT and I've never even been to the site. I'm just posting my opinion, and to me there was far more "bad" than "good" in District 9, so I'll call it a bad movie. Just because some website that's likely frequented mostly by movie-buffs with polling stats that contain many variable factors (just like this site) largely disagrees with my opinion, that's means I'm nutty? Wow, the fans of it actually like it and voice their opinion so, what a shock.
I don't see why everyone has to agree with the Tomatometer. I can't imagine anyone agrees with EVERY single fresh movie on the site. Now THAT's nutty.
12-26-09, 06:44 PM
#419
DVD Talk Hero
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Stating your opinion is well and good, and your subjective opinion of not liking it is fine. But calling it a "bad" movie is an invalid objective statement from both of you.
Last edited by slop101; 12-26-09 at 06:46 PM.
12-26-09, 06:51 PM
#420
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
12-26-09, 10:21 PM
#421
DVD Talk Legend
12-26-09, 10:31 PM
#422
DVD Talk Hero
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Those literally hurt my eyes - that's about as objective as you can get.
12-27-09, 02:07 AM
#423
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12-27-09, 02:31 AM
#424
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Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Watched this as a rental off Netflix. Thought it was a pretty decent sci-fi fantasy.
For a relatively low budget movie shot guerillia style with an entirely no-name cast, I thought the creative team behind this film pulled it off well. I liked the design of the Prawns. Thought they were actually kinda creepy looking in certain instances. I also liked the character of Wikus. It was cool to have a somewhat offbeat lead character. The special effects were pretty solid too and I thought the mother ship looked fantastic.
But overall, I don't think this movie has really any replay value for me. The story was developed really slow and I wasn't really crazy either about the documentary-style filmmaking for the 1st half of the movie and in bits throughout the film. Honestly, the trailer for the movie annoyed the crap out of me during the summer and I was really never sold on it. But, I am glad that I rented it on Blu-Ray, because it looked and sounded great.
For a relatively low budget movie shot guerillia style with an entirely no-name cast, I thought the creative team behind this film pulled it off well. I liked the design of the Prawns. Thought they were actually kinda creepy looking in certain instances. I also liked the character of Wikus. It was cool to have a somewhat offbeat lead character. The special effects were pretty solid too and I thought the mother ship looked fantastic.
But overall, I don't think this movie has really any replay value for me. The story was developed really slow and I wasn't really crazy either about the documentary-style filmmaking for the 1st half of the movie and in bits throughout the film. Honestly, the trailer for the movie annoyed the crap out of me during the summer and I was really never sold on it. But, I am glad that I rented it on Blu-Ray, because it looked and sounded great.
12-27-09, 09:00 PM
#425
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) — Ex-Halo director fleshes out "Alive in Joburg"
Hmmm, I'm liking all of the bad reviews\comments as I will be watching this movie again this coming weekend.
Obviously really dug it the first time out but I'm curious to see what I will think upon a second viewing.
I can definitely say right away that film was easy for me to get into from the beginning because of what was shown in the first half hour.....meaning if you can get into the mindset of the aliens already being around for 20 or so years and catch why they are unable to leave, and that they do not have "super human strength" by default......maybe that's why I liked it so much and was willing to overlook any possible shortcomings.....we'll see.
The only negative vibe I started to get that was thrown away was the typical "hero factor" summer movie bullshit but even that took a huge turn when it started to go down so It didn't bother me at all.
The main scenes that are still in my head though are the intense ending action shots/drama - really liked that and it never once came off as goofy - thought it was really well done.
Obviously really dug it the first time out but I'm curious to see what I will think upon a second viewing.
I can definitely say right away that film was easy for me to get into from the beginning because of what was shown in the first half hour.....meaning if you can get into the mindset of the aliens already being around for 20 or so years and catch why they are unable to leave, and that they do not have "super human strength" by default......maybe that's why I liked it so much and was willing to overlook any possible shortcomings.....we'll see.
The only negative vibe I started to get that was thrown away was the typical "hero factor" summer movie bullshit but even that took a huge turn when it started to go down so It didn't bother me at all.
The main scenes that are still in my head though are the intense ending action shots/drama - really liked that and it never once came off as goofy - thought it was really well done.