Thirty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth.
Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa’s District 9 as the world’s nations argued over what to do with them.
Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens’ welfare – they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens’ awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA.
The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable – he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.
South African-born short film director Neill Blomkamp established himself in his field with a hand-held, first-person camera style. He also became highly sought after for his ability to blend computer-generated effects with a film’s naturalistic elements, soon becoming a popular director for commercials. He provided his visual effects services for a number of American TV shows, like Smallville and Dark Angel, before combining his skill sets as the director of a feature film, helming the sci-fi epic District 9 in 2009. The film earned strong reviews, and was a box-office hit. In addition, Blomenkamp earned a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination from the academy for his work on his debut. —allmovie guide
Why the movie decides to give us such a stereotypical nerdy character as the lead is beyond me. It ruined the mood of the film for me.
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Sometimes I think that the guys making the trailers in Hollywood are the least talented bunch of morons you could come across. District 9 is an intelligent and moving, yet playful take on the issue… read review
What makes District 9 an instant classic is that is brings together elements seen in other movies but which have never been put together in this particular fashion so that even though there’s a familiarity… read review
South Africa in the apartheid years was not much different than its depiction in District 9, the title itself an evocation of Cape Town’s infamous District 6. In a nation divided by race… read review
Title: District 9
Year: 2009
Country: USA, New Zealand
Language: English, Nyanja
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writers: Neil Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Cast:
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