The Movie
With a pinch of this and a dash of that, District 9 combines elements of past works of science fiction (and other genres) to create something fresh, new and undeniably powerful. Images, themes, and even large chunks of scenes are borrowed from The Fly, Alien Nation, RoboCop and even TV's The Office in this tale of 1.8 million-and-growing alien "prawns" who arrive in the skies above Johannesburg and eventually wind up cordoned off in a ghetto for the better part of 20 years.
When an oafish bureaucrat stumbles upon one of their secrets, he soon becomes an unwilling ambassador of sorts between the mostly hostile humans and the extraterrestrials, and this transformation is where the movie develops its true heart. The story can be seen as an allegory for Apartheid, or even those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, but the hard R rating and frequent use of the word "fook" also assure lots of bloody thrills and more than a few chuckles.
For an alternate take, see Joe Lozito's review of District 9.
The Picture
Shot in 4K digital video and presented at 1.85:1, District 9 shows surprisingly little noise and few artifacts, with an image that is generally quite sharp and blacks that are enjoyablly detailed. The aliens are digitally rendered in many different scenarios, with frequent subtleties of focus--and subtle beauty despite their apparent scaly, tendrilled hideousness--that really help sell the effect. Some streaking is evident, most notably in fast motion, but the shifts between different media; the assorted video formats of news reports, surveillance cameras and a documentary film; are well preserved.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track flaunts excellent utilization of the discrete channels, with lots of off-camera voices including the unseen interviewer in the rear speakers in addition to specific environmental sounds. Directionality is also strong here, with smooth helicopter flyovers and more. The respectable bass imparts a certain seriousness to the proceedings, maintaining a weighty overall tone. The alien weapons meanwhile kick butt (and other body parts), with an enormous firefight across most of Act III that will likely leave you breathless.
The Extras
The audio commentary with director/co-writer Neill Blomkamp kicks off a generous array of extras, some exclusive to Blu-ray. "Joburg from Above: Satellite and Schematics of the World of District 9 - Interactive Map" uses the remote control to guide us through this world and its technology, with a great layout featuring multiple video windows and news headlines along the bottom of the screen. Twenty-two deleted scenes total 23-and-a-half minutes, and a three-part "The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log" runs 34 minutes. Further featurettes focus on prosthetic makeup (ten minutes), the acting technique (twelve minutes), design (13 minutes) and the visual effects (ten minutes). All of the video extras are in high definition.
Also on Disc One is a demo version of one of the most hotly anticipated videogames for the PlayStation 3 system, God of War III, which shows up on the XrossMediaBar under Games as "GOW3 E3 DEMO 2009." When we complete it, we unlock a special "making of" video. District 9 supports Sony's up-to-date BD-Live-powered "movieIQ" in-movie information feature, as well as the "cinechat" social networking function. The PlayStation Portable-ready Digital Copy of the movie is included here as well, for transfer to the PS3 hard disk drive and then on to a PSP if so desired. Copying the sub-two-gigabyte file took less than four minutes. Disc Two is a DVD-ROM carrying the Digital Copy for iTunes and Windows Media, transferable over on the computer.
Final Thoughts
While definitely a bit offbeat by mainstream standards, District 9 is nonetheless an "important" science fiction film, a rarity that gives us more than aliens, rayguns and thrills. There are plenty of those too, in addition to terrific picture and sound and ample futuristic bonuses.
Product Details
- Actors: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, Elizabeth Mkandawie. John Sumner, William Allen Young, Greg Melvill-Smith, Nick Blake
- Director: Neill Blomkamp
- Audio Format/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English, French), Dolby Digital 5.1 (English Audio Descriptive Service)
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, English Commentary, French, Hindi
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rating: R
- Studio: Sony
- Release Date: December 22, 2009
- Run Time: 112 minutes
- List Price: $39.95
- Extras:
- Audio commentary by Neill Blomkamp
- Joburg From Above: Satellite and Schematics of the World of District 9 - Interactive Map
- movieIQ (BD-Live)
- cinechat (BD-Live)
- Deleted Scenes
- "The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log"
- "Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus"
- "Innovation: Acting and Improvisation"
- "Conception and Design: Creating the World of District 9"
- "Alien Generation: Visual Effects"
- God of War III on-disc playable PlayStation 3 game demo
- Digital Copy for PSP, iTunes and Windows Media
