BaseJester 1 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I liked it a lot. The horror level was high enough that I didn't sense that any of the characters had "script immunity" and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The premise that the fuel source also changes people into aliens is completely stupid. I tried not to think about that. Link to post Share on other sites
Jadaki 0 Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 The premise that the fuel source also changes people into aliens is completely stupid. I tried not to think about that. Not really. Considering the alien weaponry is DNA based it's not that far fetched to assume that their fuel would be similar in some way. Link to post Share on other sites
hank213 1,823 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 weapons for cat food program: the vast majority of the prawns were the "worker class." Without their leadership they aren't all the capable of organized effort toward a common objective. One could arrive at the conclusion that there may be a prawn class we haven't seen yet. A "warrior" class that probably won't have much trouble extracting the refuge prawns and most likely exploding large numbers of humans in the process. Link to post Share on other sites
loogie 115 Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 SPLAT! Link to post Share on other sites
BaseJester 1 Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Not really. Considering the alien weaponry is DNA based it's not that far fetched to assume that their fuel would be similar in some way.The DNA feature of the weapons is presumably intentional. Do you think that they intentionally engineered their fuel so that it could attack the DNA of humans or that this effect is accidental? It seems like a very specific and difficult effect. Or perhaps it works on anything alive? Say a fruit fly or a whale or a tree? Link to post Share on other sites
Jadaki 0 Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Just assuming that the DNA may not just be for security. That's the way it's presented in the movie because we are given the human POV, but that tech might be the reason they are a space traveling species assuming it can be applied to more than just weapons. Link to post Share on other sites
hank213 1,823 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 toward the beginning of the movie they said that prawn tech is biologically based. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Found this interesting, 5 little tidbits about District 9http://io9.com/5341120/5-things-you-didnt-...bout-district-9 Link to post Share on other sites
jmbreslin 0 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 I love aliens and science fiction, but this movie was just plain silly. Like it was written by an 8th-grader.The social message about discrimination and apartheid was so painfully direct it was annoying. Setting it in South Africa? C'mon.Why didn't the aliens with their head-ripping skills and brutal weaponry just go ape-shit on the humans? Why did they let themselves get stuffed into a ghetto?The aliens understanding English was just dumb.And the Nigerian gang choosing to live amongst them? Huh?Just stupid. Link to post Share on other sites
Plus one 0 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 I love aliens and science fiction, but this movie was just plain silly. Like it was written by an 8th-grader.The social message about discrimination and apartheid was so painfully direct it was annoying. Setting it in South Africa? C'mon.Why didn't the aliens with their head-ripping skills and brutal weaponry just go ape-shit on the humans? Why did they let themselves get stuffed into a ghetto?The aliens understanding English was just dumb.And the Nigerian gang choosing to live amongst them? Huh?Just stupid.An unexpected yet welcome post. Link to post Share on other sites
hank213 1,823 Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 I love aliens and science fiction, but this movie was just plain silly. Like it was written by an 8th-grader.The social message about discrimination and apartheid was so painfully direct it was annoying. Setting it in South Africa? C'mon.yeah, it's painful to realize that, as a species, we have to repeat mistakes numerous times and still may not learn from them.Why didn't the aliens with their head-ripping skills and brutal weaponry just go ape-shit on the humans? Why did they let themselves get stuffed into a ghetto?see my previous post about classes of prawn. Also: Jews, Rwandans, Japanese-Americans, and Russians etc etc must be pretty stupid too.The aliens understanding English was just dumb.Yep, no waaaay anyone could learn a language after being immersed in it for 20 years. it's stupid.And the Nigerian gang choosing to live amongst them? Huh?Because gangs never setup shop in slumsJust stupid. Link to post Share on other sites
jmbreslin 0 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 1) That's not the point, the point is that good movies have more subtlety to their messages. This one was just so boringly obvious about it.2) So they could organize themselves to fly to Earth in their spaceship but couldn't manage to fight back against an enemy? And there's a major difference between the groups you mention and the aliens: they didn't have the ability to rip people's heads off and blast them to nothing with an array of signficantly more advanced weaponry!3) To the point at which they would be able to understand the concept of putting their signature on an eviction notice? And they weren't exactly immersed in the language. They were stuffed in a ghetto and segregated from the English world. And if they have the cognitive abilities to learn to speak fluent English under those conditions, they could sure as hell figure out how to get home and/or how to kick the crap out of the humans. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 3) To the point at which they would be able to understand the concept of putting their signature on an eviction notice? And they weren't exactly immersed in the language. They were stuffed in a ghetto and segregated from the English world. And if they have the cognitive abilities to learn to speak fluent English under those conditions, they could sure as hell figure out how to get home and/or how to kick the crap out of the humans.Umm, they actually lived within the human society for sometime. Maybe you missed parts of the movie because you were out yelling at the popcorn guy for giving you too much/too little butter? Link to post Share on other sites
Balloon guy 158 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Umm, they actually lived within the human society for sometime. Maybe you missed parts of the movie because you were out yelling at the popcorn guy for giving you too much/too little butter?I hate that..I mean too much butter should be grounds for firinging..It's not even butter anyway, it's like butter flavoured oil or something.I used to get no butter on my popcorn, but my wife corrupted me and now I have to have butter. When I order it I watch the person to see if they layer the butter or just pump 40 strokes along the sides of the bag after they fill it to the top. Whenever I see them layer it I want to tip them. But I don't because you don't tip butter people do you?One theatre that is really close, has great seats, and is never really full has terrible popcorn and they let you put on your own butter, but you CAN'T LAYER it if they give you a full bag. I refuse to go back to that theatre and drive a mile farther away just because of their popcorn policy. AND I don't tell them because I don't want them to change their butter policy and think they can court me back. I am a fickle man and when crossed, I rebel!Yea, and Christopher was kind of a scientist who could fly the ship and brew a complex oil based fuel that took him 20 years to make using primitive methods found in scrap heaps...but reading english????? DO THEY THINK WE ARE IDIOTS? Link to post Share on other sites
jmbreslin 0 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Umm, they actually lived within the human society for sometime. Maybe you missed parts of the movie because you were out yelling at the popcorn guy for giving you too much/too little butter?Yeah, I forgot. Some of the aliens must have enrolled in human school, or perhaps took some ESL classes. And Christopher obviously took some night classes at law school so he could understand his legal rights as a tennant. Not to mention learning how to use human computers to brew his special fuel. You're right, it's not nearly as silly as I thought. Link to post Share on other sites
Balloon guy 158 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Yeah, I forgot. Some of the aliens must have enrolled in human school, or perhaps took some ESL classes. And Christopher obviously took some night classes at law school so he could understand his legal rights as a tennant. Not to mention learning how to use human computers to brew his special fuel. You're right, it's not nearly as silly as I thought.[x] Hovering alien ship for 20 years[x] Aliens allowing themselves to be concentration camp style living conditions[x] DNA based weapons [ ] Aliens can read or understand basic legal mattersSorry, I got worked up over that popcorn thing Link to post Share on other sites
hank213 1,823 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 1) That's not the point, the point is that good movies have more subtlety to their messages. This one was just so boringly obvious about it.2) So they could organize themselves to fly to Earth in their spaceship but couldn't manage to fight back against an enemy? And there's a major difference between the groups you mention and the aliens: they didn't have the ability to rip people's heads off and blast them to nothing with an array of signficantly more advanced weaponry!3) To the point at which they would be able to understand the concept of putting their signature on an eviction notice? And they weren't exactly immersed in the language. They were stuffed in a ghetto and segregated from the English world. And if they have the cognitive abilities to learn to speak fluent English under those conditions, they could sure as hell figure out how to get home and/or how to kick the crap out of the humans.Because you're soooo good at subtlety.The leadership caste (which Christopher was the last [or second to last, his buddy that got killed early on may have been one too] of on the ship) would be the organizing force behind the rest of the prawns. For all we know it takes more than one to make any kind of functioning leadership structure, but that really doesn't matter. Maybe it would help to think of the vast majority of Earth bound prawns as adolescents. They're not disciplined, nor none to savvy in the ways of deception, violence, or teamwork. In short, they're not your typically hollywood aliens."To the point at which they would be able to understand the concept of putting their signature on an eviction notice?" THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!!!eleventy!!1 They didn't understand it, the corporate goons knew they wouldn't understand it and didn't care, the technicalities standing in the way of their objective were obeyed. Perhaps that was too subtle for ya. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Yeah, I forgot. Some of the aliens must have enrolled in human school, or perhaps took some ESL classes. And Christopher obviously took some night classes at law school so he could understand his legal rights as a tennant. Not to mention learning how to use human computers to brew his special fuel. You're right, it's not nearly as silly as I thought.lolI may have forgotten but I don't remember Christopher discussing his legal rights, only stating that he was not going to leave. But you are right, nowhere in the history of time have two people with different languages ever spent time together and learned to communicate and understand each other. Never. Ever. Much less in a movie about aliens. You don't think you can give someone who never used a computer a computer and in 20 years can't figure things out? Especially when they used to live on a BIG SPACE SHIP??????hahaYou seem more worried about language barriers and landlord-tenant statutes then realizing your freaking out over a movie about aliens from another world. I have no issue with you disliking the movie, I, after taking time to let it all sink in, have decided that I was glad to have seen it but won't be rushing out to see it again or get it on DVD. I commend the creators for making an original movie in a time where everything is a sequel, a remake, or an feature length film based on a old sitcom. I saw a completely different film then you and at times I think I paid better attention to what was on the screen. I just think your reasoning is a little off the track but I will agree to disagree. Link to post Share on other sites
JubilantLankyLad 1,957 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 lolI may have forgotten but I don't remember Christopher discussing his legal rights, only stating that he was not going to leave. But you are right, nowhere in the history of time have two people with different languages ever spent time together and learned to communicate and understand each other. Never. Ever. Much less in a movie about aliens. You don't think you can give someone who never used a computer a computer and in 20 years can't figure things out? Especially when they used to live on a BIG SPACE SHIP??????hahaYou seem more worried about language barriers and landlord-tenant statutes then realizing your freaking out over a movie about aliens from another world. I have no issue with you disliking the movie, I, after taking time to let it all sink in, have decided that I was glad to have seen it but won't be rushing out to see it again or get it on DVD. I commend the creators for making an original movie in a time where everything is a sequel, a remake, or an feature length film based on a old sitcom. I saw a completely different film then you and at times I think I paid better attention to what was on the screen. I just think your reasoning is a little off the track but I will agree to disagree.this is far too level headed. perhaps some chips would help? Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 this is far too level headed. perhaps some chips would help?I DON"T WANT THE FUCKING CHIPS!!! Link to post Share on other sites
jmbreslin 0 Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Because you're soooo good at subtlety.LOL, you got me! I never said I was good at it, and I don't get paid zillions of dollars to make movies. I expect people who do get paid zillions of dollars to be much better at it.Perhaps aliens could have learned all those things in 20 years, but that's a very simplistic way of avoiding having to put any real thought into making an intelligent movie. Rather than putting any effort into developing the backstory we'll just make 20 years pass and then people who love the movie will be able to explain all the far-fetched crap we've fed them by pointing to the fact that 20 years passed. Oh, and to satisfy the people who want some sort of explanation let's start the movie by summarizing the backstory in 5 minutes. Then we can get right into the cool special effects and stuff. Link to post Share on other sites
hank213 1,823 Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 LOL, you got me! I never said I was good at it, and I don't get paid zillions of dollars to make movies. I expect people who do get paid zillions of dollars to be much better at it.Perhaps aliens could have learned all those things in 20 years, but that's a very simplistic way of avoiding having to put any real thought into making an intelligent movie. Rather than putting any effort into developing the backstory we'll just make 20 years pass and then people who love the movie will be able to explain all the far-fetched crap we've fed them by pointing to the fact that 20 years passed. Oh, and to satisfy the people who want some sort of explanation let's start the movie by summarizing the backstory in 5 minutes. Then we can get right into the cool special effects and stuff.Well, I think this pretty much sums it up:I saw a completely different film then you and at times I think I paid better attention to what was on the screen. I just think your reasoning is a little off the track but I will agree to disagree.But, I'm curious, what are some flicks with aliens that you love? I'm trying to get a sense of scale here. Link to post Share on other sites
SBriand 4 Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Someone seems to be unclear what science fiction means.Also, I am glad they took 10 minutes to do backstory which to most people was clear and concise or else jb's movie would have been 14 hours long.I am curious how he reacted to MIB and Independence Day.Again, this could really be solved by learning the definition of science fiction, or fiction in general.And my last point that I keep forgetting to mention, crazy how a South African makes a movie that takes place in South Africa. Link to post Share on other sites
Theraflu 1,035 Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 LOL, you got me! I never said I was good at it, and I don't get paid zillions of dollars to make movies. I expect people who do get paid zillions of dollars to be much better at it.Perhaps aliens could have learned all those things in 20 years, but that's a very simplistic way of avoiding having to put any real thought into making an intelligent movie. Rather than putting any effort into developing the backstory we'll just make 20 years pass and then people who love the movie will be able to explain all the far-fetched crap we've fed them by pointing to the fact that 20 years passed. Oh, and to satisfy the people who want some sort of explanation let's start the movie by summarizing the backstory in 5 minutes. Then we can get right into the cool special effects and stuff.I rarely agree with Steve Briand over there, but I'm curious as to what your ideal movie would that would fit into a ~2 hour movie scheme? Not every movie gets to have a full explanation of what's going on, while also accomplishing everything that the director is looking to do. A couple reviews I read of this thought they didn't delve into the apartheid scenario enough, since that probably should have been the main purpose o the film. You don't just get to make a whole movie about aliens that attempts to explain how much/how awful apartheid was. I really don't know shit about the whole subject, but I do want to learn more after watching this and knowing its basis was on something that affected an area for multiple decades, and how awful it was. You either get to watch a movie blindly and enjoy it for what it is, or you're going to go into it fully versed on the previous historical concepts that its based off of and try to figure out what the director was trying to say as a bigger message. Why play the middle role, where you don't like what the movies about, plus are disgusted with how it was executed? This was a relatively low budget film that, in some ways, attempted to give a different perspective on one of the bigger human tragedies of the last 30 years. You either have to narrow or broaden your perspective on this, and not just pick some middle of the road aspect that doesn't really accomplish much aside from bitching about what is, in most opinions, a very well thought-out and executed movie. I'm not saying its an amazing film that can never be equaled, but I enjoyed it immensely on a bunch of different levels, and look forward to rewatching it and learning more about what actually happened in the weeks to come. What's to hate? Link to post Share on other sites
Plus one 0 Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Kinda entertaining movie, but with more holes than swiss cheese.My favorite holes are, why would a hovering spacecraft be left untouched for twenty years. If nothing else the humans woulda gutted it for technological reasons,and would the rest of the world really just sit around and allow outer s[pace visitors be mistreated by some 2nd rate nation? Link to post Share on other sites
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