District 9 - some inspiration for Indies
- Thread starter modernPrimitive
- Start date
Richard J. Johnson
Joystick Member
That was the best film I have seen in a while. The best of the summer by far IMHO.
The CGI was some of the most seamless I have ever seen, especially considering the budget, (But when Peter Jackson is your man, I wouldn't expect much less) I was just floored from start to finish. The lead actor was amazing, It is hard to believe that he never has been in a movie before.
This one is so worth seeing and lives up to the hype. Money very well spent. I absolutely loved the gore, and there was a lot of it.
I also liked the fact that the mockumentary was abandoned and jumped to a action packed, hyper violent sci-fi film. I am not a fan of docs but this had just enough to keep me into it. Just a great film and I really want to check it again.
There were some holes sure, Like the fact that with that weaponry they could have easily left that compound, (and those weapons caused some AMAZING kills) but who cares, it was fantastic and original. I can't think of a film in recent memory that was both of those things.
The CGI was some of the most seamless I have ever seen, especially considering the budget, (But when Peter Jackson is your man, I wouldn't expect much less) I was just floored from start to finish. The lead actor was amazing, It is hard to believe that he never has been in a movie before.
This one is so worth seeing and lives up to the hype. Money very well spent. I absolutely loved the gore, and there was a lot of it.
I also liked the fact that the mockumentary was abandoned and jumped to a action packed, hyper violent sci-fi film. I am not a fan of docs but this had just enough to keep me into it. Just a great film and I really want to check it again.
There were some holes sure, Like the fact that with that weaponry they could have easily left that compound, (and those weapons caused some AMAZING kills) but who cares, it was fantastic and original. I can't think of a film in recent memory that was both of those things.
Last edited:
pathfinder
Well-known member
Not your typical ugly looking aliens that run around killing people for food. I actually got a bit emotional for the aliens and glad that them human soldiers are getting zapped into pieces. The way the movie ends, I'm sure they left lots of room for a pre-quel, sequel, and who knows how many more 'quels. 
Best movie of the summer for me. Incredibly AWESOME movie. Y'all go check it out. It's worth every single penny of your hard earned dollars.
Best movie of the summer for me. Incredibly AWESOME movie. Y'all go check it out. It's worth every single penny of your hard earned dollars.
Rick Meyer
Veteran
I am thinking about seeing this today. Let me ask, is this one of those movies that is going to have me angry at the entire human race (besides the lead obviously) the entire time, ala aliens being wronged by people, etc.?? Or is it deeper and more original than that?
I get really detached from movies that are giving me a lesson in moral aptitude and humanity or lack thereof.
I get really detached from movies that are giving me a lesson in moral aptitude and humanity or lack thereof.
Richard J. Johnson
Joystick Member
I would say no. But your take may be different than mine. There are people, corporations, etc. to be angry with, and if you look at that as a microcosm of society in general then you may be a little upset.
But if you don't want to get that deep just go for the action, VFX and gore.:violent5:
pathfinder
Well-known member
Deeper and more original. It's not preaching any messages even though there are. in my opinion.
Batutta
Major Contributor
I thought this was fantastic. Exciting, original, thought provoking without being preachy. The lead actor was great, all the more impressive for being a non actor. And it didn't seem like he was playing himself, but a real character created out of whole cloth. He kind of reminded me of Borat in the early parts with his cheerful doofiness. But the turn his character takes is fascinating and the actor never drops the ball. Here's to hoping Blokamp gets Halo back on track. In a strange way I felt like this was the greatest video game adaptation ever made, despite the fact that no game exists. But the way the story progressed and the character 'leveled-up' had a game feel to it. That is in no way a criticism. It's part of what makes it exhilarating to watch.
Nektonic
Veteran
Interesting. I've heard it described as video game-ish in terms of the action, but I never really got a proper explanation as to why it feels like a video game. Your description reminds me of comic books and The Matrix, which at the time felt like the first proper comic book to film adaptation, even though it was original source material.
I'm gonna see D-9 tonight, as I have finally gotten out from under some heavy loads of work today.
Austinv
Well-known member
Its 1am and I just got back from the late show heres my 2 cents:
Number 1 just picture Grand Theft Auto except with Prawns, that would be a sick game!
Seriously now the film was really well done and exceeded my expectations. I had no idea where the film was going, was not predictable at all!
I found the gore was tasteful for this film, not overdone and meaningless like a rob zombie flick but just right. The guns were sick the CGI flowed with the film and after the first 10 min of seeing the CGI you really do not notice it.
Overall this is the best movie of the summ-- YEAR so far since really have you seen the crap that has come out? Yeah I thought so.
Either way its worth your 10 or 4 bucks (yay tuesday) to go see a movie that will actually make you think and kind of have some sympathy for the main character (which at some points you need to stop and think how much that would have sucked if that were you).
GO SEE DISTRICT 9
Number 1 just picture Grand Theft Auto except with Prawns, that would be a sick game!
Seriously now the film was really well done and exceeded my expectations. I had no idea where the film was going, was not predictable at all!
I found the gore was tasteful for this film, not overdone and meaningless like a rob zombie flick but just right. The guns were sick the CGI flowed with the film and after the first 10 min of seeing the CGI you really do not notice it.
Overall this is the best movie of the summ-- YEAR so far since really have you seen the crap that has come out? Yeah I thought so.
Either way its worth your 10 or 4 bucks (yay tuesday) to go see a movie that will actually make you think and kind of have some sympathy for the main character (which at some points you need to stop and think how much that would have sucked if that were you).
GO SEE DISTRICT 9
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Very good film! Best summer flick.
Saw it today. Very good indeed. To me, however, the story weakened toward the end - became too conventional... after being quite original for so long, the creators ran out of steam and resorted to old tropes and well-worn story ideas... too bad, it could have been epic, but ended up merely very good.
In order of awesome: fantastic acting from the lead - so utterly convincing; very good acting from most (wife was somewhat weak). Very well thought out style - quite impressive. Excellent pace. Engaging story. Very nice SFX. The camp is an awesome location.
Weak stuff: music. Some plausibility trouble - f.ex. I just couldn't get over how easy it would've been to track him through his cell phone, yet we're asked to believe there was a huge manhunt for him, yet nobody thought of tracking him through his cell phone he always, always, always had with him... it would've been trivially easy to do technically - but they screenwriters needed him to have the phone so we could get the cheesy emotional stuff with his wife going throughout... fail.
Overall: A-
I was impressed and entertained.
In order of awesome: fantastic acting from the lead - so utterly convincing; very good acting from most (wife was somewhat weak). Very well thought out style - quite impressive. Excellent pace. Engaging story. Very nice SFX. The camp is an awesome location.
Weak stuff: music. Some plausibility trouble - f.ex. I just couldn't get over how easy it would've been to track him through his cell phone, yet we're asked to believe there was a huge manhunt for him, yet nobody thought of tracking him through his cell phone he always, always, always had with him... it would've been trivially easy to do technically - but they screenwriters needed him to have the phone so we could get the cheesy emotional stuff with his wife going throughout... fail.
Overall: A-
I was impressed and entertained.
Mattykins
Cute Member
I feel as though Christopher and his son out-acted almost everyone in that movie.
Dialogue was weak at the end. It became almost hysterically redundant. "Oh man! F*CK! Oh Man!"
Or really any derivation of "Oh", "Man", and "F*ck" comprised almost all of the dialogue towards the end.
Aside from that - I was truly blown away. Excellent film.
Dialogue was weak at the end. It became almost hysterically redundant. "Oh man! F*CK! Oh Man!"
Or really any derivation of "Oh", "Man", and "F*ck" comprised almost all of the dialogue towards the end.
Aside from that - I was truly blown away. Excellent film.
Michael Anthony Horrigan
More Cowbell Pictures
They did track him with the cell. Every time he used it didn't you notice that they showed up? Remember all the copters flying it at once?
The main enemy even asked the guy if he got the trace? Then they went after him.
Scott F
Pug Life
Just saw it, recommended.
SPOILER:
It takes on a real dark tone for a brief spell. When he is infected and starts showing the symptoms, I was feeling nauseous myself. I thought they nailed that whole vibe. (You know, that vibe where you grow an alien claw and puke up black liquid) The sound design when he's in the MNU lab was phenomenal. You can hear prawns (or something) screaming in the background as if they were being operated on.
The dark vibe continues up till the point where he busts loose from the operating table. Then it kinda jumps into an action adventure flick, which is OK in my book. But yes, maybe a bit too conventional. Lot of great visual effects. Plenty of things getting blown up.
To answer some shaky-cam queries, in some instances my eyes had trouble focusing. A lot of whip-pans, especially when it's more of the faux-doc shots.
I think this came across as a big, ambitious film. The ghetto or camp or whatever you want to call it was amazingly designed. It's gigantic, as seen from the aerial shots.
District 9 is one of those films that left me questioning, "who's the good guy here?" No one character seemed to do the "right thing" all time. (Aside from Christopher and the son.)
Negative notes would be a fair amount of plot holes and questions raised in my mind. And a lot of, "Wait a minute, how'd he get out of that one?" moments.
SPOILER:
It takes on a real dark tone for a brief spell. When he is infected and starts showing the symptoms, I was feeling nauseous myself. I thought they nailed that whole vibe. (You know, that vibe where you grow an alien claw and puke up black liquid) The sound design when he's in the MNU lab was phenomenal. You can hear prawns (or something) screaming in the background as if they were being operated on.
The dark vibe continues up till the point where he busts loose from the operating table. Then it kinda jumps into an action adventure flick, which is OK in my book. But yes, maybe a bit too conventional. Lot of great visual effects. Plenty of things getting blown up.
To answer some shaky-cam queries, in some instances my eyes had trouble focusing. A lot of whip-pans, especially when it's more of the faux-doc shots.
I think this came across as a big, ambitious film. The ghetto or camp or whatever you want to call it was amazingly designed. It's gigantic, as seen from the aerial shots.
District 9 is one of those films that left me questioning, "who's the good guy here?" No one character seemed to do the "right thing" all time. (Aside from Christopher and the son.)
Negative notes would be a fair amount of plot holes and questions raised in my mind. And a lot of, "Wait a minute, how'd he get out of that one?" moments.
Didn't bother me in the least.
Spoiler....
I really liked this film and it is one of those rare cases where if you actually give a movie a chance to get good, it actually does. The first half or so was take it or leave it, but the second half is so good I can forgive the first half.
Pursuit of Happyness was like this too but it wasn't good enough for me to forgive the first half.
They did track him with the cell. Every time he used it didn't you notice that they showed up? Remember all the copters flying it at once?
The main enemy even asked the guy if he got the trace? Then they went after him.
OK, I missed the "do we have a trace" moment - but this continues to be super stupid, because it assumes that W is unaware of the fact that he can be traced on his phone - I mean a 6-year old knows this. So how is he running while keeping the phone on him? And why doesn't he at least remove the battery, cause you can trace the phone even if he's not talking on it - the way it's shot it seems to imply that the dangerous moment is when he talks on it - which is bullshi*... it's traceable even so - and we know he doesn't even switch it off (!), cause the moment it rings he grabs it. And if we assume that both he and the bad guys know about the cell phone - then I gotta say, it's a pretty incompetent job they are doing tracing him... the way he's operating, it would be child's play to nail him. Not realistic AT ALL.
Like I say, this may seem a minor issue, but when you get something so basic so very wrong, you undermine the rest of what you ask us to believe.
The main enemy even asked the guy if he got the trace? Then they went after him.
OK, I missed the "do we have a trace" moment - but this continues to be super stupid, because it assumes that W is unaware of the fact that he can be traced on his phone - I mean a 6-year old knows this. So how is he running while keeping the phone on him? And why doesn't he at least remove the battery, cause you can trace the phone even if he's not talking on it - the way it's shot it seems to imply that the dangerous moment is when he talks on it - which is bullshi*... it's traceable even so - and we know he doesn't even switch it off (!), cause the moment it rings he grabs it. And if we assume that both he and the bad guys know about the cell phone - then I gotta say, it's a pretty incompetent job they are doing tracing him... the way he's operating, it would be child's play to nail him. Not realistic AT ALL.
Like I say, this may seem a minor issue, but when you get something so basic so very wrong, you undermine the rest of what you ask us to believe.
Scott F
Pug Life
Another thing that bugged me about this film: (and certainly not just D9, they do it all the time)
The humans and aliens have a comprehensive conversation, although human is speaking English and alien is clicking and beeping away.
"Click click beep click bloop"
"What? 3 years? I gotta wait 3 years?"
The humans and aliens have a comprehensive conversation, although human is speaking English and alien is clicking and beeping away.
"Click click beep click bloop"
"What? 3 years? I gotta wait 3 years?"