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District 9 [Blu-ray]
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District 9 [Blu-ray] | Blu-ray

Starring: Norman Anstey, Anthony Bishop, Anthony Fridjhon, William Allen Young, Mike Huff
Directed By: Neill Blomkamp
Also With: Trent Opaloch (Cinematographer), Clinton Shorter (Composer)

List Price: $39.95  
Price:  $18.99
You Save:  $20.96 (52%)
Available:  Not yet released

Binding:  Blu-ray
Rating:  R (Restricted)
Run Time:  112 minutes
Format:  AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Studio:  Sony Pictures
Number of Discs:  2
Aspect Ratio:  1.85:1
Release Date:  December 22, 2009
Sales Rank:  111th


EDITORIAL REVIEWS


Description
From producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) and director Neill Blomkamp comes a startlingly original science fiction thriller that "soars on the imagination of its creators" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone). With stunning special effects and gritty realism, the film plunges us into a world where the aliens have landed... only to be exiled to a slum on the fringes of Johannesburg. Now, one lone human discovers the mysterious secret of the extraterrestrial weapon technology. Hunted and hounded through the bizarre back alleys of an alien shantytown, he will discover what it means to be the ultimate outsider on your own planet.

Amazon.com
A provocative science fiction drama, District 9 boasts an original story that gets a little lost in blow-'em-up mayhem. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, District 9 begins as a mock documentary about the imminent eviction of extraterrestrials from a pathetic shantytown (called District 9). The creatures, it turns out, have been on Earth for years, having arrived sickly and starving. Initially received by humans with compassion and care, the aliens are now mired in blighted conditions typical of long-term refugee camps unwanted by a hostile, host society. With the creatures' care contracted out to a for-profit corporation, the shantytown has become a violent slum. The aliens sift through massive piles of junk while their minders secretly research weapons technology that arrived on the visitors' spacecraft. Against this backdrop is a more personal story about a bureaucrat named Wikus (Sharlto Copley) who is accidentally exposed to a DNA-altering substance. As he begins metamorphosing into one of the creatures, Wikus goes on the run from scientists who want to harvest his evolving, new parts and aliens who see him as a threat. When he pairs up with an extraterrestrial secretly planning an escape from Earth, however, what should be a fascinating relationship story becomes a series of firefights and explosions. Nuance is lost to numbing violence, and the more interesting potential of the film is obscured. Yet, for a while District 9 is a powerful movie with a unique tale to tell. Seamless special effects alone are worth seeing: the (often brutal) exchanges between alien and human are breathtaking. --Tom Keogh District 9 downloadables (Click for pdf file)


CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 124 reviews)

Witty & wry - just forget the tired cliches by TGav (Boston) 5 Stars
November 24, 2009
My first impression about a quarter way into this movie, was "Oh, NO! Another aliens-as-racial-minority metaphor!" Yes, yes, I know all that, I just wanna be entertained- that theme's been done, then done again, then again ..ad nauseum. I was thinking the only way to save the plot line was to have the aliens relocated to Chicago as new Obama voters. Then I was pleasantly surprised. So what does save this movie and transcends it beyond the predictable racism-is-bad, apartheid-is-bad "message", what saves it is that ultimately it doesn't take itself seriously, at which point the movie becomes immensely entertaining. The matter of fact story telling absorbs the viewer to accept the premise despite one's common sense. Looking like something I ate at last summer's clambake, the alien CGI is nearly flawless. Best of all, the witty screenplay has such wry humor that it leaves nothing and no one unscathed. From the Afrikaner elites, to the S.A. Blacks ( who, themselves victims of cruel apartheid, display the same sentiments to these new arrivals), to the aliens themselves portrayed more like insects with a gusto for cat food and tires, advanced technology notwithstanding. Not to mention the proverbial military-industrial complex (always a good villain). Even political correctness is mocked as we follow that dolt of a protagonist's rise via nepotism to a position of authority. His adventures inspecting the District is a rich example of irony as mockumentary. Of course the tired apartheid-alien message continues throughout the movie: segregated slums, Nazi inspired experiments, sham laws, forced mass evacuations, one from the "majority" transforming into one of the "minority". But as the movie progresses this theme becomes so cliche that it barely rises to consciousness and renders it meaningless. And that is a good thing. There's a world of serious cinema dealing with that subject more worthy to explore than a movie such as this. At best, maybe use it as a teaching tool on your middle-schooler about the lessons of apartheid. So to all initially put off about this film, I say give it a view. It won't disappoint.

Totally Unexpected by Light of Earendil (Middle Earth) 5 Stars
November 23, 2009
This was a totally unexpected movie... the greatest Sci Fi I've seen in a long time. It was so unexpected that I made the mistake of sitting very close to the screen. One advice, if you go see it, sit in the back row, or you will get dizzy... But nevertheless it was GREAT!!!

Great scifi by B. Bates (Santa Fe, NM USA) 5 Stars
November 23, 2009
A really good science fiction movie. The beginning is a little rough, but you cannot stop watching and by the end you realize that you have just seen a damn good movie. The symbolism is so transparent, but watch the movie for entertainment purposes and you won't be disappointed.

Terrible by Russell E. Chatham Jr. (Atlanta, Ga) 1 Stars
November 23, 2009
I saw this movie when it came out in theatres. I fought the urge to get up and leave thru the entire movie and when the end came I really wished that I had left. That is two hours of my life I will never get back. Don't waste your time on this movie the whole documentary style filming was just irritating and distracting. If you have two hours to waste I would use it doing something else.

district 9 by N. M. Hernandez (new york, new york) 5 Stars
November 20, 2009
a first time director with a 10,000 budget created this eye popping and jaw dropping movie. the movie is hitting the millions in profits. one of the best movies that i have ever seen as a critic and one of the most intense metaphors ever putted on motion. must see

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