The first thing that came to mind was the Vogons' ships from from Hitchhiker's Guide; "It looked like it was not so much designed as congealed" (apologies to Doug Adams)
I like the original idea he had that after 20 years, the ship would have graffiti and advertisements plastered across the ship's surface. I love combining everyday mundanity with the fantastic and out-of-this-world. But I think the gray, drab look suited it to create that looming and imposing feature in the sky. If they make a sequel, it'll be a sad movie without it.
Hopefully the DVD/Blue Ray special editions will have all this art work and more. Also the District 9 short which ive seen on youtube. Its just awesome. Here it is for anyone whos never seen it.
The great thing about the movie is it leaves quite a lot to personal interpretation, much a like a good novel.
Though it does seem that Neill here is still trying to figure out the whole plot so let's assist!...
- Christopher had been working on the fuel pod for 20 years (fact) so he is already a different classification of alien, much like ants or bees, worker, soldier etc. He must be 'Tech' and most likely the pilot of the ship who broke away from the mother ship at the very beginning - so he already was/is sentient and there was no transformation going on there
- I'm not too sure how long it takes for the 'prawns' to reach maturity but Chris's kid is smart, now is this because of education or he has the Johnson genes? Or are all the newborn prawns 'smart' and the drones were actually 'created'?
- Wikus's transformation was pretty quick and if an alien race needed 'workers/slaves' to do whatever it is they need done then it would make sense to invade a planet and convert the species into 'bugs'. I mean why all the weapons on the ship?
Something sinister about these prawns gentlemen, don't be fooled by their sad expressions......!
I don't know if I would call them plot holes, but there was very definitely something lacking in this film that didn't enable me to fully engage with it. Perhaps it is the product of too much nit picking, but I think you'll find a lot of the people complaining about it are basing their criticism on lingering questions they had that they felt should have been addressed in the film. For example the nature of the aliens. Were they in fact unintelligent hive like workers who couldn't organize themselves? If you take that for granted, then many of the problems people seem to have with the film go away.
But then why was Christopher Johnson so smart? Some could say it took him twenty years to evolve into the leader role in his species etc. etc. But none of that was explained or even hinted at. I could very easily fill in the cracks for myself and make it into an awesome movie. Some people don't want to do that.
All in all I was entertained and it was most certainly original. Plus, the guns and the mecha armor and all of the other effects will instantly push the pure sci fi pleasure centers in your brain.
@lukeoneil47:
One of the interviewees explained that most of the aliens seemed to be worker bees and that the intelligent ones had all been killed off. No one knows why and I'm glad they dont explain every damn detail. I don't like being spoonfed.
@Multibocks: Right, but that was the opinion of an "expert" on tv. Not necessarily spoken as gospel within the world of the film anymore than we would lend automatic credence to a talking head IRL.
Anyway, it didn't bother me as much as it seems to for others. But if they did explicitly establish that it would have answered many of people's questions. Whether or not that is to the film's detriment is certainly open for debate/a matter of taste.
Very entertaining, fun and thoughtful film - even with the violence. One thought tho' - any one old enough here to remember an super low budget cheapy from the 70s called "Laser Blast"? Add elements of "Enemy Mine" and "Id4" and you have D9.
If you read all of it, they didn't come here to mine. Their ship made an emergency landing on the closest planet that could sustain life. There are a lot fewer of those in this side of the universe.
The video posted here does not show the 'Tesla gun' that makes people pop like zits...it is actually showing the 'Sonic Boom gun' which blows out a wave of concussive force...it is just as bloody cool, but, not what they were intending to show I believe...
@se7a7n7: I noticed there wasn't any interrogations, there was no real need truthfully. When would have taken place? When they were found on the ship, when they even couldn't understand them? An interrogation 5 years later would have been..silly really.
They didn't WANT the prawns to be in their society. Why buy the cow when you've got the milk at home? It's just figuring out how to pasteurize it and you're set. End of story, once they figured it out a mass extermination would have obviously taken place.
The fuel had alien properties in it, nothing human made machinery. Christopher Johnson was clear of pointing that out to his friend.
@se7a7n7: The alien interrogation scenes were done by Sony purely for the trailers - the producers of the film didn't have a lot to do with them, and readily admit they're not part of their story.
@toadkick: Why does it sound so dumb, when their weapons are keyed to their DNA? Perhaps they have a more advanced bio-fuel? Biotechnology is the highest standard for any science. Nanobots seem cool, but mitochondria have been doing tough work for millenia.
I just saw the movie and I loved it. I don't know if it's Oscar quality, but it is definitely a well done/well executed movie. Definitely a pretty good movie.
As for the weapons. My take on it is that these things project a lot of energy onto the target. This energy is often transferred as heat. When you super heat water in seconds, it turns into high pressure steam. Imagine that doing to a human body which is roughly 60-70% water. The cells are going to rupture from the water. Poof. Although probably not as dramatically as in the movie.
09/21/09
09/21/09
09/21/09
08/23/09
Though it does seem that Neill here is still trying to figure out the whole plot so let's assist!...
- Christopher had been working on the fuel pod for 20 years (fact) so he is already a different classification of alien, much like ants or bees, worker, soldier etc. He must be 'Tech' and most likely the pilot of the ship who broke away from the mother ship at the very beginning - so he already was/is sentient and there was no transformation going on there
- I'm not too sure how long it takes for the 'prawns' to reach maturity but Chris's kid is smart, now is this because of education or he has the Johnson genes? Or are all the newborn prawns 'smart' and the drones were actually 'created'?
- Wikus's transformation was pretty quick and if an alien race needed 'workers/slaves' to do whatever it is they need done then it would make sense to invade a planet and convert the species into 'bugs'. I mean why all the weapons on the ship?
Something sinister about these prawns gentlemen, don't be fooled by their sad expressions......!
08/19/09
But then why was Christopher Johnson so smart? Some could say it took him twenty years to evolve into the leader role in his species etc. etc. But none of that was explained or even hinted at. I could very easily fill in the cracks for myself and make it into an awesome movie. Some people don't want to do that.
All in all I was entertained and it was most certainly original. Plus, the guns and the mecha armor and all of the other effects will instantly push the pure sci fi pleasure centers in your brain.
08/19/09
One of the interviewees explained that most of the aliens seemed to be worker bees and that the intelligent ones had all been killed off. No one knows why and I'm glad they dont explain every damn detail. I don't like being spoonfed.
08/19/09
Anyway, it didn't bother me as much as it seems to for others. But if they did explicitly establish that it would have answered many of people's questions. Whether or not that is to the film's detriment is certainly open for debate/a matter of taste.
08/19/09
MNU was actively preventing people from learning about the aliens. They didn't even have proper names, for pete's sake.
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/19/09
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/18/09
Makes more sense than "cat food" in District 9.
Does the brand make a difference?
08/18/09
08/18/09
Why didn't MNU just train the prawns as soldiers to use their weapons? Or find anything else to make themselves useful for that matter?
Alien spaceship fuel will turn humans into aliens?
08/18/09
Logic does not enter into this in the real world.
08/18/09
They didn't WANT the prawns to be in their society. Why buy the cow when you've got the milk at home? It's just figuring out how to pasteurize it and you're set. End of story, once they figured it out a mass extermination would have obviously taken place.
The fuel had alien properties in it, nothing human made machinery. Christopher Johnson was clear of pointing that out to his friend.
08/18/09
08/18/09
08/19/09
08/18/09
As for the weapons. My take on it is that these things project a lot of energy onto the target. This energy is often transferred as heat. When you super heat water in seconds, it turns into high pressure steam. Imagine that doing to a human body which is roughly 60-70% water. The cells are going to rupture from the water. Poof. Although probably not as dramatically as in the movie.