District 9 [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital] [4K UHD]

For the disc itself and the movie, I will give 5 stars. However, I must try to make potential buyers aware that although the disc case indicates it includes a digital code, the purchase I made here did not include a digital code, and upon getting a replacement I find the replacement also did not have a digital code. Through a little more searching, I find I am not the only one to experience this issue. I have now tried to reach out to Sony directly to see if they would be able to correct this.

This is a testament that shows with a low budget, no major Hollywood backing, a movie can be made that has the power in story telling, character development, and action. I believe this film was budgeted at 30 million? That is what I had read. Peter Jackson was going to have this new comer Neil Blomkamp direct the Halo movie then that fell apart, he felt bad and basically told this young maverick I'll back your next movie... low and behold we have District 9.I couldn't believe the production values here, if this movie were made for 30 million, it looked like 100 million on film, top notch special effects, no name actors, a great story that pulls in the viewer, and the Aliens, giving them almost a Human element. So the film starts off with an alien race stranded in Johannesburg South Africa for like 30 something years, where the Aliens known as Prawns are herded into these slums and kept under a watchful eye of the MNU, a UN type agency. Then there is the protagonist named Wikus who at the beginning of the film, you get a sense he's a man way over his head, but yet a nice guy, never associate him to be the hero type but your average Joe. He get's a promotion at the MNU (MultiNational United) Wikus is a man who just follows orders, kinda nerdy, xenophobic, has a fear of the unknown, maybe too ambitious, selfish, conniving, his job is to relocate the Prawns to a new location away from human population, being more isolated from human contact. Wikus is a character the audience would balk at... In the film we see him going around District 9 evicting the Prawns using intimidation, force, lies, one particluar scene he discovers a shack with dead cow carcasses and prawn eggs, which is illegal to have. So he demonstrates an abortion and he doesn't feel sorry, he doesn't view the prawns as an equal. So Wikus doesn't think twice as he kills the prawn eggs, and they torch the shack and hear the eggs popping and he casually says, "You hear that, that popping? It's the eggs, sounds like popcorn" one would argue he is just doing his job for the MNU. BUT then as the film progresses Wikus is being hunted by the same Company he worked for. He holds the key to what the MNU really want from the Prawns---- their futuristic weapons. I think it is believable that any Nation who would come in contact with another race and they had the technology and advanced weaponary we would want it. Let's face it, Humans have been at war for 1,000s of years, it's a natural order, of course a Government would want to harness that power and use it on their enemies and show who is the Super Power. Anyways Wikus still seems manipulative, conniving as he transforms, his DNA bonding with Alien DNA thus metamorphosing into a Prawn, and his only hope is the Prawn Christopher. I think we would all do the same thing if we were in Wkius' shoes. He's desperate, scared and really just thinking about himself and how to turn back to human again. What drives him is the fear of the unknown.Then there is Christopher the alien Prawn who has found a power source that can ultimately send his race home--- what they had always wanted to do in the first place. Ironically it is Christopher even though being "alien" has human traits, has emotions. He wants to help Wikus. There is a nice scene in MNU headquarters where Christopher finds out what really is happening to his race, they are being dissected, tested on, being used essentially as guinea pigs. Wikus never knew that this is happening, it's MNU's dirty little secret being kept under wraps. Wikus realizes the Prawns never meant no harm, they ultimately didn't do anything to the Humans, it was the MNU cleverly disguising their real intentions in the form of supposedly Humanitarian efforts. One scene Wikus tells Chris and his young Prawn that the reolcation spot would be worse that District 9.The last 30 mins or so is astounding not just visually with the special effects but the action sequences. There is one scene where Wikus who towards the end runs away and we as the viewer feel a sense of anger maybe because he Leaves Chris to his fate which is certainly death but then Wikus comes back.... his ultimate redemption. He Realizes his fate is sealed and he must live with it now and that it's not about him, and ultimately finds sacrifice, he wants to help Christopher get to the mother ship, ultimately Wikus knowing that it's the right thing to do.This is what drew me into this film, the humanity, it wasn't just mindless action, if you want that go see Transformers II. I think we know that under the surface there is the allegory of Apartheid in which happened in South Africa, The War on Terror, the War in Iraq happening now. All cleverly disguised in a Sci/Fi movie.A splendid movie that must be watched.

Literally one of ny favorite movies! From start to finish, it grasps you and doesnt let go. The cast is A1 and the story is incredible! Prawns are intense and convincing. I love district 9

District 9 is one of those movies that I bought on DVD (though I soon upgraded to blu-ray) on a whim and wasn't burned by a bad movie. This was one of those times that I wish I watched the movie in theaters, and that when the hype behind a hit movie is largely justified.STORYIn 1982, a giant alien ship grinds to a halt above Johannesburg, South Africa. The aliens are referred to negatively as "Prawns" for their scavenger-like personalities, and are treated like garbage by both the public and government. The Prawns are forced in a giant slum called District 9, and Multi-National United (MNU) is really interested in getting their hands on the Prawn weapons and engineering them for human use (Prawn weapons won't work on human hands since they're only made to work with Prawns). Wikus van de Merwe, an MNU manager, is putting up eviction notices for the Prawns into District 10, and comes into contact with Prawn fluid that'll turn him into a Prawn himself. He's being hunted down by the MNU and has to make a reluctant alliance with a Prawn named Christopher Johnson if he wants any chance to come back to normal.CHARACTERSFor the most part, I thought the characters were done really well. Of course, the best character is Wikus (Sharlto Copley). In the beginning, you see him as a mild-mannered jerk (if that makes any sense), and doesn't really care about the Prawns (though he doesn't want Prawns getting killed by MNU troops). The neat part of Wikus is that his character becomes "more human" when his metamorphosis makes him less human, physically-speaking.The only character that I would say is closer in line to being the more traditional "good guy" would be Christopher Johnson (Jason Cope). Out of the other human and Prawn characters, he's really the only one who doesn't want to fight, but is forced into combat against the MNU near the end of the movie.The antagonists, such as Colonel Koobus Venter (David James) and Obesandjo (Eugene Khumbanyiwa), are good in their roles. Some may complain that Koobus and Obesandjo lack depth, since they're straight-up maniacs, but I think this works out in their favor since for the former, it would dilute the menacing feeling if he was written to have sympathetic moments. Koobus's menacing vibe is enhanced with his superb tactical skills when in combat, and while he's not going to rival the Terminator in terms of supervillains, he's quite effective as the cold, murderous maniac.However, I wish that some characters, like Wikus's wife, Tania (Vanessa Haywood), would have been developed a little more.THEMES/COMMENTARYDistrict 9 is noted for having quite a few things to say about humanity. As stated earlier, with Wikus, his physical transformation into a Prawn makes him more "human." Also, this movie takes an interesting stand by showing the aliens in a more sympathetic light than the humans, thought I think the allegories relating to the Apartheid in South Africa are way too obvious. However, I think Neill Blomkamp did a better job at handling the way the humans and Prawns were handled than James Cameron did the humans and Navi in Avatar, since there was some nuance in the characters in D9 to make them more believable. I also applaud Blomkamp for pulling off his message without the use of making the Prawns look like eye candy (more on visuals later).I also commend Blomkamp for not just portraying the big businesses (MNU) as evil to reflect the "evils of humanity," but also shows it through the Nigerian warlords (headed by Obesandjo) taking advantage of and brutalizing the Prawns for their advanced weapons.STORYTELLINGI thought the way D9 was told was pretty interesting, as it's not everyday that you see a sci-fi film with pretty strong action scenes told as a documentary in the beginning and end like one. I thought Blomkamp handled the fusion of documentary-styled film and traditional film well, since I thought the transitions were smooth.SOUNDTRACKClinton Shorter's music for this movie wasn't bad, though I wouldn't put in the same league of the soundtracks in movies like Blade Runner, The Terminator, or Total Recall. However, I'll say that Shorter captured the mood of the gritty settings really well with tribal chanting and other musical elements very fitting to the geographical setting.CINEMATOGRAPHYTrent Opaloch's cinematography for District 9 is quite good. The cinematography perfectly captures the gritty and violent atmosphere of the Prawns' lives, and I think the idea of it taking place in South Africa is a neat decision, since it's not everyday that you get a sci-fi movie taking place in this part of the world.APPEARANCEWhat really struck me in a positive way is the look of the Prawn technology, especially their weapons. I love how they don't look like totally outlandish guns more akin to a fantasy story in space, but look more like our weapons with a strong "alien" visual aesthetic to them. This also makes them look pretty nasty compared to other alien weapons in sci-fi (such as the Covenant weapons in the Halo games).The MNU's personnel and equipment were made perfectly in this movie, since they're a potent military force that also reflects the fact that they're a private military entity. This is reflected in the fact that the personnel have a more "casual" look to them than official military personnel and that they don't have access to really powerful weapons like tanks and gunships.The looks of the Nigerian warlords were done really well for the movie as well. They're shown as more "rag-tag" through their dilapidated vehicles and dwellings.SPECIAL EFFECTSThe special effects done by Weta Workshop are marvelous. The movie combines "traditional" special effects with CGI, and you hardly even notice that the effects are, well, effects. The mutations on Wikus's body are very convincing (these were make-up effects), and the same can be said with how the Prawns look (the Prawns were made by CGI). I think it's funny that despite the very convincing effects in the movie, the pricetag for them was drastically lower than what was needed to make everything in Avatar.ACTION SCENESDespite the fact that District 9 is often labeled as an "action" movie along with its sci-fi tag, there really isn't that much action that goes on. However, the action that does take place is done very well. The movie decides to build up to the action near the end, which I thought was a good thing since it gave them more power.I thought the scene where Wikus and Christopher storm the MNU building was awesome, as it showed the two armed with Prawn weapons and dishing out some unique deaths to the MNU mercenaries in the building (such as the arc gun making its targets blow up in a shower of blood).The final action scene near the end was pretty amazing. The MNU and the Nigerian warlords are after Wikus, and donning a Prawn combat exosuit, dishes out some awesome damage against the enemies. The exosuit even uses a magnetic force to collect all the incoming bullets and uses them as lethal projectiles against those trying to harm Wikus, and even fires a mini bomb into someone's head. In one scene, he uses the suit's graviton device to pick up a pig and uses it as a projectile against an MNU mercenary. That scene was one of the most unintentionally funny things I've ever seen. I wish this Prawn exosuit was real, because I'd like to have this thing for home security.MATURE CONTENTThis is not a movie for the kids since there's a good deal of gore and bad language throughout. There's scenes with both humans and Prawns getting dismembered, blown up, and shot at with plenty of bloodshed. One of the hardest to watch was actually against a Prawn, since MNU scientists start conducting experiments on Wikus's abilities to interact with Prawn weapons, and Wikus is forced into killing a Prawn with one of the guns (which is highlighted by Wikus begging to shoot at the pig carcasses instead).FINAL WORDWhile I wouldn't say that this is quite in the same league of movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, or Total Recall, this was a really solid sci-fi movie. In terms of sci-fi movies that came out in 2009, this runs rings around Avatar since it had much better character development and storytelling, not to mention better action scenes. I strongly suggest you at least rent this.

One of my favorite movies of all time