District 9

Locations
Call Number: DVD Science-Fiction District
On Shelf At: Malletts Creek Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Malletts Adult A/V 1-week checkout	DVD Science-Fiction District	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult A/V 1-week checkout	DVD Science-Fiction District	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult A/V 1-week checkout	DVD Science-Fiction District	1-week checkout	On Shelf

DVD release of the 2009 motion picture.
Special features: deleted scenes; directors commentary ; "The alien agenda: a filmmaker's log" three-part documentary.
Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, John Sumner, William Allen Young, Nick Blake.
Twenty years ago, aliens from another planet made contact with Earth. Now, the refugee camp they are forced to live in has deteriorated into a slum-like ghetto. When field operative Wikus van der Merwe is put in charge of evicting the aliens, he contracts a strange virus that changes his DNA to match that of the refugees. As his body begins to mutate, he becomes a hunted man, and the aliens' only hope for freedom.
DVD ; anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) presentation ; Dolby digital 5.1 surround (English and French).

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Good... enough submitted by CasualTim on March 3, 2010, 6:12pm There is plenty of creativity here to keep a sci-fi fan interested – even past the 90-minute rule (although the film could easily benefit from significant cuts). Perhaps I'm easily impressed by CGI, perhaps I'm the right age, but something feels like science fiction cinema in general is making significant leaps lately. But I don't think it's the visuals (which are adequate, if heavily relied-on) or my late-20's maleness - I think it's a return to an attempt to try to say something important (rather than show how many different explosions can be animated) and to represent the creation of myth. District 9 does keep the viewer involved and attentive, listening to what is trying to be said. With the exception of the final act (see previous note about cuts), the story is wonderfully paced and utilizes both patience and a teasing quality that leads the viewer to feel that the coin has already been flipped, but the hand is still closed.

But there are a lot of things that don’t work, as well: mainly stemming from Blomkamp’s lack of faith in the intelligence of the viewer. I could point to specific problems, but the movie really is entertaining enough to not deserve being trampled on so much. Just one more thing must be said: no matter what kind of emotional or personal attachment the director/writer had, setting the film in South Africa is kind of like being slapped with a large trout: “YEAH BUT ARE YOU SURE YOU GET WHAT WE’RE SAYING HERE?” Yes, we get it.

In a larger perspective than this film, I’m concerned about Blomkamp’s assumption that I’m a ditz. He shows a lot of potential, he's gotten a lot of praise for this movie... but in the end the somewhat thinly constructed 'issues' stuff is built up by an awful lot of 'look at the pretty pictures' stuff. (But what, did we expect producer Peter Jackson, lord of the 80-disc set, to tell him to tighten it up? Indeed, I'd be tempted to blame the 'pretty pictures' problem entirely on the heavy hand of Mr. Jackson if there weren't other signals that this film was a little personal for Blomkamp) I truly hope Blomkamp can recognize which parts worked in terms of cinema and which parts just served as trickery, because if he can do that, he'll go on to create some truly good, potentially great, and definitely meaningful things.

But, nevermind all that. The little Prawn is totally adorable.
And maybe deserves his own sequel.

yep submitted by lekendrick on January 8, 2011, 10:44am actually quite good! It's currency of tone is very good! Neill Blomkamp the twenty nine year old in direction might be the Michael Bay his day. It's an overly political tale removed level Sci-fi for distance the assigning terror those alienated? Great effort!

Must WAtch submitted by bbelalggazali on June 18, 2011, 4:29pm You must watch this movei
e

This submitted by tcaldera97 on July 12, 2011, 11:30am one of the best movies ever made

Love this movie submitted by ashflowtuff on July 18, 2011, 10:58am I thought this was an excellent movie. I even recommend it to people who don't usually watch sci fi because it really is a great political drama.

Excellent submitted by hemant_rao on April 6, 2012, 4:10pm Go for it.

mistake submitted by ftan on July 16, 2012, 3:29pm i watched this movie by mistake. for some reason, i thought it was an action movie. but it highly leaned towards horror. it wasn't like "saw" scary, but it slightly disturbed me. i recognized the main character from the "a-team", which is a great film. that is why i finished the movie. i would only recommend this movie to 14+ or people with strong guts.

Great Movie submitted by jarroyo on July 9, 2013, 2:37pm This is a great movie. I wasn't expecting much, but I really liked it. It was a neat story line and the movies actors did a great job.

Surprising submitted by crazypockets on August 2, 2013, 2:47pm I agree with CasualTim that this movie could have used a few cuts. It did drag on in a few parts, but overall, I really was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I don't know that I was expecting such a political message, but it really did make me think about some of the issues surrounding immigration and migration in the world we have today, let alone what it would be like if another intelligent species needed to share our planet. There were a lot of parts that were completely gross-out cringe-worthy though which I personally could have done without. But I loved the whole premise where they took something that seemed "naturally" abhorrent and managed to make it charming...I get that was the message of the whole movie, but I guess I just think they did an exceptional job of doing that.

Documentary style submitted by beeniepie on August 11, 2013, 11:12am There were times where this movie dragged on, but I thought it did a great job using the popular "documentary" style of story telling.

Check this out submitted by rmhawkins on June 18, 2014, 9:18pm When I watched this movie, I did not know much about the plot line. Quite frankly, it surprised me in a positive way. Even if you only watch the movie for a surface level plot, it is a compelling and engaging film. It is in the subtext and metaphors that this movie finds its feet and its heart. A worthy watch.

Great pace and action sequences submitted by leenajong on August 18, 2015, 9:45pm The action in this movie was continuous and any political or social message which this movie had was tempered by it.

Great, but gross submitted by ishhewitt on July 14, 2016, 5:38pm This was a powerful film. It was also really gross. Too real? I watched it once and I won't watch it again, but it was really well done.

Intense submitted by toschag on August 4, 2016, 7:05am A lot of the movie is visually very intense, and the effect are good, parts of it can be disturbing though.

A New Alien Encounter Story submitted by Meginator on July 26, 2017, 12:26pm This is an excellent film and a new twist on the human-alien encounter genre. The effects are exactly what they need to be and the design of the prawns is chillingly good. Moreover, the story has obvious implications for our own treatment of each other (as the best alien encounter narratives often do) and offers an opportunity for introspection without being overly didactic or judgmental.

Pretty good submitted by c_zhang on June 29, 2019, 1:50pm This is a great movie. I wasn't expecting much, but I really liked it. It was a neat story line and the movies actors did a great job.

Summery submitted by shivatavane on July 17, 2019, 7:33pm Twenty years ago, aliens from another planet made contact with Earth. Now, the refugee camp they are forced to live in has deteriorated into a disgusting place. When field operative Wikus is put in charge of evicting the aliens, he contracts a virus that changes his DNA to match that of the aliens. As his body begins to mutate, he becomes a hunted man and the aliens' only hope for freedom.

A movie Frank Darabont could be proud of submitted by Morty on January 30, 2020, 3:58am Finally, a movie about aliens in which the aliens act and talk like humans. There's "The Man Who Fell to Earth" abuse of them, there's "Casablanca"-style profiteering in the alien camp, and in the middle of the film, former enemies become buddies. Production design is beautiful on both the practical and CGI levels. It's a satisfying film -- very satisfying.

The Sweetie Man Can submitted by tarascon on July 8, 2023, 10:40pm Subversive. One of the more original movies bar none of the first decade of the 2000’s. Make sure to enable subtitles to get what the aliens (I won’t use the P Word) are saying.

It’s social commentary, unlike in a film such as “Avatar,” is happily free of the typical white savior trope or the usual “alien” female who’s fallen for the hero’s Earthly charm. It’s far better for it.
And just for the record, I enjoyed “Avatar” for what it was… a Big Money studio production.