Movie: District-9

Off Topic
61

[quote]rassy wrote:
None the less it was entertaining and very clever in that it took place in johanesburg in order to draw parallels between the way aliens were treated and the way blacks were treated during the apartheid. A different take on racism and human nature. [/quote]

Admittedly I haven’t seen it, but I’m reading this movie has a much more controversial current underneath. Is it correct that the aliens are a race that outbreeds the host (the humans)? That they are dim “drones” that need a ruling elite to provide their society any direction? One thing I’ve read points out the film is really focusing on post-apartheid. Especially the way black immigrants (primarily Zimbabweans) are being treated by South African blacks.

62

[quote]Sloth wrote:
rassy wrote:
None the less it was entertaining and very clever in that it took place in johanesburg in order to draw parallels between the way aliens were treated and the way blacks were treated during the apartheid. A different take on racism and human nature.

Admittedly I haven’t seen it, but I’m reading this movie has a much more controversial current underneath. Is it correct that the aliens are a race that outbreeds the host (the humans)? That they are dim “drones” that need a ruling elite to provide their society any direction? One thing I’ve read points out the film is really focusing on post-apartheid. Especially the way black immigrants (primarily Zimbabweans) are being treated by South African blacks.[/quote]

If anything, the film is focusing on smack dab in-the-middle-of apartheid. Only difference in this case is white and black South Africans don’t want the aliens around.

63

This movie had some 100 yard plot holes that really ruined it for me. Great concept and I even thought the lead actor was great. Effects were top notch as well, but once a plot becomes thoroughly contrived with gaping inconsistency issues I lose interest. Could have been great and maybe District 10 will tie up the holes some, but I doubt it.

64

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
This movie had some 100 yard plot holes that really ruined it for me. Great concept and I even thought the lead actor was great. Effects were top notch as well, but once a plot becomes thoroughly contrived with gaping inconsistency issues I lose interest. Could have been great and maybe District 10 will tie up the holes some, but I doubt it.[/quote]

Do you care to explain? I saw one or two but may have missed or didn’t care for the others.

65

The film was fantastic in just about every regard. The most likable character was probably the baby alien, because he was cute and smart as fuck.

66

This movie was incredible, I think they have found the next James Cameron. One of the most original action/sci-fi movies ever.

Neil Blommkamp, the director also made these short films for Halo… All I can say is holy fuck this guy is talented.

67

I saw it a second time just now. Now, I did not love the movie as some others here did, so I did not think it was worth seeing a second time.

However, I do agree that it is one of the most original sci-fi films I’ve seen.

A friend and I were talking tonight and he said the film was based on District 6:

I didn’t know that and I knew there had to be more than the obvious apartheid connection given the SA setting.

68

My son is a film student and saw it with some guys in his class. They all agree that it was well done. He did see 2 couples walk out on it though.

I recommended it to a guy at work who has a taste for off the wall flicks. He comes to me the next day and asks me if I was serious about lauding the movie. He simply hated it.

BG

69

[quote]Rico Suave wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
This movie had some 100 yard plot holes that really ruined it for me. Great concept and I even thought the lead actor was great. Effects were top notch as well, but once a plot becomes thoroughly contrived with gaping inconsistency issues I lose interest. Could have been great and maybe District 10 will tie up the holes some, but I doubt it.

Do you care to explain? I saw one or two but may have missed or didn’t care for the others. [/quote]

A race of beings technologically advanced enough to build a mind numbingly huge space ship housing one million habitants and sporting some really cool unstoppable weaponry. However, 20 years later all but one of them are practically brain dead infantile dumpster divers.

They are routinely abused in a 3rd world ghetto, but are in possession of the aforementioned weaponry that only they can use which gives them, even in a Dr. Seuss book, an insurmountable advantage. Not to mention being physically superior x10 in every category. BUT, rather than throw off their oppressors they trade the weapons to a Nigerian warlord that they could squash for catfood. Catfood they could simply confiscate at will with the initiative and intellect of a carrot which it seems they have not yet achieved despite having traveled here in the spaceship and having developed the weapons themselves.

After all, one thoroughly untrained human who conveniently turns just alien enough in just the right body part to also use their weapons and one alien are able to blast their way in AND out of a top secret militarily secured research facility virtually unscathed. Just think what an army of these things could do if so inclined, but despite having the presence of mind to resist their eviction and relocation with alien spoken yet human profanity it never occurs to them to just pick up their guns and have their way?

They had only one of those exo suits? One that a human has just seen for the first time, but is an instant one man alieo-human commando unit while operating it? They just surrender inexplicably on the ship in the beginning? Nobody bothered to look for them for 20 years?

Maybe I really missed something, but I found myself kind of scowling at the screen despite very much wanting to like this movie more.

70

Tribulus I believe one of the reasons they surrender in the very beginning is discussed…they talk about how when they first arrived they were all extremely malnourished. Now I’m sure you could find a hole in that too…like “Why would being smart enough to make all this stuff not be smart enough to bring enough food?”. But the fact stands if they all arrived malnourished they probably wouldn’t be trying to fight.

Now about the weaponry…from what I gathered in the movie, they were not in possession of most of it. Most of it was taken when they first arrived 20 years previously. There were only little bits here and there that they were trading around to the nigerians and such. And its not like they were invincible, shooting them with a regular gun still killed them just like any other human…and since most of them didn’t have any super alien weapons, it explains why they didn’t just kill the Nigerians rather than trading them money/weapons for food.

Though I do agree about the exo suit. They could def have used that to take them all out and jack all the cat food. But then perhaps they were thinking ahead and realizing if they kill those guys for the cat food they had at the time…where would the supply come from after that ran out? “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

Also…about the brainless comments. That was actually discussed earlier in this thread. And you were supposed to think of them more as a hive, and without leadership they don’t know what to do.

71

Fantastic movie.

Talked with a few idiots tonight who thought the movie was actually about aliens landing on earth. They were arguing with me when I said it’s about apartheid and it’s effects on the blacks of Johannesburg 20 years later. I spent an hour trying to tell them that the catfood only makes sense as a euphamism for cheap alcohol.

72

[quote]Diamond_D wrote:
Fantastic movie.

Talked with a few idiots tonight who thought the movie was actually about aliens landing on earth. They were arguing with me when I said it’s about apartheid and it’s effects on the blacks of Johannesburg 20 years later. I spent an hour trying to tell them that the catfood only makes sense as a euphamism for cheap alcohol.[/quote]

Being the IMDB nerd that I am, I looked up the ‘trivia’ info on District 9 before I saw it. You know how they call the aliens ‘prawns’? Apparently, prawn (shrimp) love catfood and fishermen use it to chum the water before they throw out their nets.

District 9 was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. The political value of the film is undeniable. Your idiot friends are, indeed, idiots.

73

[quote]josh86 wrote:
Tribulus I believe one of the reasons they surrender in the very beginning is discussed…they talk about how when they first arrived they were all extremely malnourished. Now I’m sure you could find a hole in that too…like “Why would being smart enough to make all this stuff not be smart enough to bring enough food?”. But the fact stands if they all arrived malnourished they probably wouldn’t be trying to fight.

Now about the weaponry…from what I gathered in the movie, they were not in possession of most of it. Most of it was taken when they first arrived 20 years previously. There were only little bits here and there that they were trading around to the nigerians and such. And its not like they were invincible, shooting them with a regular gun still killed them just like any other human…and since most of them didn’t have any super alien weapons, it explains why they didn’t just kill the Nigerians rather than trading them money/weapons for food.

Though I do agree about the exo suit. They could def have used that to take them all out and jack all the cat food. But then perhaps they were thinking ahead and realizing if they kill those guys for the cat food they had at the time…where would the supply come from after that ran out? “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

Also…about the brainless comments. That was actually discussed earlier in this thread. And you were supposed to think of them more as a hive, and without leadership they don’t know what to do. [/quote]

All of this just presents different versions of the same issues in my view. I don’t want to have to do that much filling in myself when watching a science fiction movie. Which BTW is not intended to convey that I think anybody who liked this movie is an idiot. Just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I’ll watch it again. I really did want to like it more. Didn’t like Cloverfield very much either though and everybody loved that too.

74

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
josh86 wrote:
Tribulus I believe one of the reasons they surrender in the very beginning is discussed…they talk about how when they first arrived they were all extremely malnourished. Now I’m sure you could find a hole in that too…like “Why would being smart enough to make all this stuff not be smart enough to bring enough food?”. But the fact stands if they all arrived malnourished they probably wouldn’t be trying to fight.

Now about the weaponry…from what I gathered in the movie, they were not in possession of most of it. Most of it was taken when they first arrived 20 years previously. There were only little bits here and there that they were trading around to the nigerians and such. And its not like they were invincible, shooting them with a regular gun still killed them just like any other human…and since most of them didn’t have any super alien weapons, it explains why they didn’t just kill the Nigerians rather than trading them money/weapons for food.

Though I do agree about the exo suit. They could def have used that to take them all out and jack all the cat food. But then perhaps they were thinking ahead and realizing if they kill those guys for the cat food they had at the time…where would the supply come from after that ran out? “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

Also…about the brainless comments. That was actually discussed earlier in this thread. And you were supposed to think of them more as a hive, and without leadership they don’t know what to do.

All of this just presents different versions of the same issues in my view. I don’t want to have to do that much filling in myself when watching a science fiction movie. Which BTW is not intended to convey that I think anybody who liked this movie is an idiot. Just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I’ll watch it again. I really did want to like it more. Didn’t like Cloverfield very much either though and everybody loved that too.[/quote]

I picked up everything he just told you from the movie. They were from a society like ants, and the ones you saw were probably workers, who without leadership would be mindless animals. They explicitly stated this in the movie.

75

i loved this movie. it was good sci/fi.

there were a lot of great plot twists. the main character went through the fire. i loved the character development. so much action and a ton of irony.

as a film, it was an experience like i had when i saw the abyss which i still love.
it’s a sharp commentary on humanity as a whole; doesn’t leave any point out.

spoilers:

mikas’ pompous attitude in the beginning was funny as he didn’t have a clue he was a pawn; that his father-in-law owned him and decided to get him as a mate for his girl and get rid of him when he felt like it. when he realizes his predicament the story takes off.

the greed, opportunism and violence were boldly stated.

the cruelty of oppression was stated simply, without a heavy-handed approach which made it more real, as it is in real life. when they kept referring to the alien as christopher johnson, that was just heavy to me.

76

[quote]sdjohn67 wrote:
when they kept referring to the alien as christopher johnson, that was just heavy to me.[/quote]

I agree.

77

Just saw it. I liked it except for a few plot holes that I wish were explained a little further.

spoiler, maybe

Question. Why was Christopher Johnson the only alien portrayed with a semblance of rationality? Considering that rationality is a precursor for entering into a social contract, it would seem like the human’s treatment of aliens could be otherwise justified akin to how we treat most farm animals. I remember a line near the beginning of the movie that most of the aliens were like the “worker bees” or something along those lines. So, do the bulk of the brain dead aliens otherwise have the biological capacity to reason or do they not? I guess you could draw parallels to brain dead people, who, IMO, still retain their natural rights. But, if you were an alien in an alien world and a bunch of brain dead humans showed up, would you automatically assume they were intelligent at some point and still possessing the ability to reason and thus inherently possessing rights or would you treat them based on their present condition?

78

[quote]sdjohn67 wrote:
i loved this movie. it was good sci/fi.

there were a lot of great plot twists. the main character went through the fire. i loved the character development. so much action and a ton of irony.

as a film, it was an experience like i had when i saw the abyss which i still love.
it’s a sharp commentary on humanity as a whole; doesn’t leave any point out.

spoilers:

…

the greed, opportunism and violence were boldly stated.

the cruelty of oppression was stated simply, without a heavy-handed approach which made it more real, as it is in real life. when they kept referring to the alien as christopher johnson, that was just heavy to me.[/quote]

x2

It was original and it did not overemphasize the whole apartheid thing, nor any other moral niceties. It was raw, dusty, and ugly. Also I liked how the main character did what the situation called for, no major heroics.

79

SPOILER!!!

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
A race of beings technologically advanced enough to build a mind numbingly huge space ship housing one million habitants and sporting some really cool unstoppable weaponry. However, 20 years later all but one of them are practically brain dead infantile dumpster divers.

… [/quote]

I think you didn’t pay attention. They explained in the beginning how after 3months the gov’t decided to just bust the door open because nothing was happening. And all that was there was a bunch malnourished aliens dying, with no real initiative or drive, who need a leader to tell them what/how/when to do things.

And no they were not infertile. Did you see the cow/donkey setup to feed the young? Did you see how at the end Disctrit 10 now had 2+million aliens instead of 1+million?

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
…
They are routinely abused in a 3rd world ghetto, but are in possession of the aforementioned weaponry that only they can use which gives them, even in a Dr. Seuss book, an insurmountable advantage. Not to mention being physically superior x10 in every category. BUT, rather than throw off their oppressors they trade the weapons to a Nigerian warlord that they could squash for catfood. Catfood they could simply confiscate at will with the initiative and intellect of a carrot which it seems they have not yet achieved despite having traveled here in the spaceship and having developed the weapons themselves.
…
. [/quote]

refer above…

Also:

Not that superior, bullets and machetes killed them. You can also beat them to death. Most of their weapons were confiscated, and the few they had they didn’t use in any organized way.

Did you their negotiating skills???
Alien- We will give u all these weapons + robot if you give us 10,000 cans of cat food.
African- I’ll give you 100.
Alien- DEAL!!!

And when they were walking out, one of their buddies get cut up by a Nigerian to get his weapon, and the others just keep walking, not doing a damn thing.

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
After all, one thoroughly untrained human who conveniently turns just alien enough in just the right body part to also use their weapons and one alien are able to blast their way in AND out of a top secret militarily secured research facility virtually unscathed. Just think what an army of these things could do if so inclined, but despite having the presence of mind to resist their eviction and relocation with alien spoken yet human profanity it never occurs to them to just pick up their guns and have their way?
… [/quote]

wtf??
He could fire their weapons with either hand. Did u see the tests done to him?
That was NOT a top secret military facility. That was a research facility 4 floors bellow a corporate building with its own security detachment, in the middle of a city.

Only one of them, Christopher, had the presence of mind to know what an Eviction notice was. All others were like “Whats an evition?”, some got hostile, some didn’t, one just hit the clipboard walked back inside his shack.

It was Christopher who said “I am not signing this” and that thrown off Wikus and the rest because they didn’t know what to do. Then Wikus came up with the idea of taking Christopher son to child services to coerce him into signing the paper, and then entered his shack and started pointing out illegal stuff inside of it.

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
They had only one of those exo suits? One that a human has just seen for the first time, but is an instant one man alieo-human commando unit while operating it? They just surrender inexplicably on the ship in the beginning? Nobody bothered to look for them for 20 years?..[/quote]

Yes only one laying around and they traded it for 100 cans of cat food.
Did you not see that there was no training for using the mini-ship and robot? All you have to do is get inside and by merely thinking the machine moves. Remember him shouting “fire fire fire!” and then small missiles coming out of the upper back of the robot?

Read above about how humans encounter them in the ship, and their group dynamics.

The universe is a HUGE place man, easy to get lost. Even Christopher, who knew the coordinates to get home, said it would take him 3 years.

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
…
Maybe I really missed something, but I found myself kind of scowling at the screen despite very much wanting to like this movie more. [/quote]

I am afraid you were busy questioning the movie instead of watching it.

80

Just to add to Neospartan’s post above, there is also the implied notion that perhaps the prawns do indeed have separate classes where one class is raised or maybe even bred to think critically and strategically. Whereas the ‘drones’ exist to take direction and work.

Again, I saw this as drawing a connection between the ‘privilaged’ SA classes with access to top education and being riased to hone their abilities to think critically and the blacks trapped in the slums who will never have the opportuniy to escape, given their circumstances (no education, poor nutrition, etc.).

The prawn race has just taken this to another level in the movie where the drones are literally incapable of making strategic decisions. There is also the, seemingly, genetic need for meat that is introduced. We saw that with Wikus where he made a bad decision to enter a burger joint to get some meat, despite being hunted by authorities. Even after Wikus was discovered he still hung around to scarf down some burgs. This begs the idea that perhaps they were blinded by their need for meat that nothing else mattered, including banding together and creating a resistence (see connection to blacks reliance on drugs). You will also notice that Christopher and his son were not influenced by the catfood (drugs) and were able to escape the slums.

All in all, I thought it was one of the better movies of the past few years. It was unique and thought-provoking while still having excitment, action and overall entertainment value.