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It's not very often that a film turns a genre on its ear. Very few films can take a well worn story idea, say aliens showing up on earth, and come up with a completely new and original twist that shines a light into story lines that have never even been considered.
DISTRICT 9 is such a film. Director Neil Blomcamp, with the help of Producer Peter Jackson have crafted a visually stunning, smart, little sci-fi masterpiece that is right up there with the ranks of films like Blade Runner, 2001 and Alien.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
DISTRICT 9 dirives its title from the name of the area in which the world places the aliens when they show up on our doorstep parking their space craft over Johannesburg South Africa. When authorities enter the huge spacecraft they find it full of half starved sickly aliens. DISTRICT 9 is built to house and nurse the aliens back to health. It works for a while but over time DISTRICT 9 disintegrates into a filthy, violent slum.
As the film opens it does so in documentary style where we are following WIKUS (wonderfully portrayed by Sharlto Copley) as he prepares to start cleaning up DISTRICT 9. They are going in to start evicting the aliens and Wikus is trying to keep everything cool and calm. As they work themselves from shanty to shanty the secrets of what has been going on in DISTRICT 9 are revealed.
Things take an interesting turn when Wikus finds himself exposed to a DNA altering toxin that begins slowly turning him into one of the aliens and he finds himself on the run from the aliens as well as his government whom he finds out has been secretly testing ways to use the aliens weapons and technology.
Wonderfully written and very inventive the film is as intelligent as it is visually stunning. The aliens themselves are a huge part of the film and they look great. Every thing about this film, visually, is ground breaking.
The DVD itself is available several different ways. You've got the bare bones single disc edition, the double disc set which is loaded with all the good behind the scenes stuff and then of course the Blu-Ray.
I got my hands on the double disc set and it has everything you could possibly want:
Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus
Director's commentary
Deleted scenes
The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log -- three-part documentary Innovation: Acting and Improvisation
Conception and Design: Creating the World of District 9
Alien Generation: Visual Effects
Great movie, great DVD package. It's pretty much a must own release.
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