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District 9

  • 2009
  • R
  • 1h 52m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
738K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,163
58
District 9 (2009)
A TV trailer for District 9
Play trailer1:03
23 Videos
99+ Photos
Alien InvasionPolitical DramaSci-Fi EpicActionSci-FiThriller

In a future Earth in which aliens are isolated in a remote ghetto, a government agent finds himself banished there.In a future Earth in which aliens are isolated in a remote ghetto, a government agent finds himself banished there.In a future Earth in which aliens are isolated in a remote ghetto, a government agent finds himself banished there.

  • Director
    • Neill Blomkamp
  • Writers
    • Neill Blomkamp
    • Terri Tatchell
  • Stars
    • Sharlto Copley
    • David James
    • Jason Cope
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    738K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,163
    58
    • Director
      • Neill Blomkamp
    • Writers
      • Neill Blomkamp
      • Terri Tatchell
    • Stars
      • Sharlto Copley
      • David James
      • Jason Cope
    • 1.5KUser reviews
    • 507Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars
      • 32 wins & 117 nominations total

    Videos23

    District 9: TV Spot
    Trailer 1:03
    District 9: TV Spot
    District 9 -- Trailer #2
    Trailer 2:22
    District 9 -- Trailer #2
    District 9 -- Trailer #2
    Trailer 2:22
    District 9 -- Trailer #2
    District 9
    Trailer 1:48
    District 9
    5 UFO Movies to Stream Now
    Clip 1:05
    5 UFO Movies to Stream Now
    District 9: "MNU CEO"
    Clip 1:03
    District 9: "MNU CEO"
    District 9: Man on the Street: "Jobs"
    Clip 0:37
    District 9: Man on the Street: "Jobs"

    Photos109

    View Poster
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    + 105
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    Top cast99

    Edit
    Sharlto Copley
    Sharlto Copley
    • Wikus van de Merwe
    David James
    • Koobus Venter
    Jason Cope
    Jason Cope
    • Grey Bradnam - UKNR Chief Correspondent…
    Vanessa Haywood
    • Tania van de Merwe
    Mandla Gaduka
    • Fundiswa Mhlanga
    Kenneth Nkosi
    • Thomas
    Eugene Khumbanyiwa
    Eugene Khumbanyiwa
    • Obesandjo
    Louis Minnaar
    • Piet Smit
    William Allen Young
    William Allen Young
    • Dirk Michaels
    Nat Boltt
    Nat Boltt
    • Sarah Livingstone - Sociologist
    • (as Nathalie Boltt)
    Sylvaine Strike
    Sylvaine Strike
    • Dr Katrina McKenzie
    Elizabeth Mkandawie
    • Interviewee
    John Sumner
    John Sumner
    • Les Feldman - MIL Engineer
    Greg Melvill-Smith
    • Interviewer
    Nick Blake
    • Francois Moraneu - CIV Engineer Team
    Morena Busa Sesatsa
    • Interviewee
    Themba Nkosi
    • Interviewee
    Mzwandile Nqoba
    • Interviewee
    • Director
      • Neill Blomkamp
    • Writers
      • Neill Blomkamp
      • Terri Tatchell
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews1.5K

    7.9737.8K
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    Featured reviews

    tomcraft000

    Not what I expected

    I attended a promotional screening for this with a pretty good attitude towards all the hype that surrounded it. It was not what I expected, it was much better.

    Not only were the CGI top notch, but the narrative is driven through a believable plot. Watching this film made me believe that a situation as such had occurred on Earth, and therefore the far fetched notion of an extra terrestrial race visiting us becomes so close to a reality through a story that is so realistically depicted.

    District 9 is a beautifully crafted film which shows signs of great promise for being around for a while, a subject talked about by many people. Can't wait to watch this again with my friends = )
    8Misss25

    Weirdly mindblowing

    This movie different from the rest of the Alien movies. Though the gross awful looking aliens creeps me out most of the time at but that doesn't distract me from enjoying this the unique story. It kept at the edge of the seat whole time. It surprises, saddens, and amazes me at the same time. I never imagined this movie would end in this way.
    8moviesleuth2

    A breath of fresh air in a time of bloated sequels and rip-offs!

    Ever since Neill Blomkamp was lined to do the film version of the "Halo" video game, he's become a household name with the fanboys. But as we all know, that project stalled and Blomkamp is no longer on board as a director. After that happened, Peter Jackson gave Blomkamp $30 million to make whatever movie he wanted. Blomkamp made this film, and it is a stunning debut.

    Normally I despise remakes, but after viewing Blomkamp's short film, "Alive in Joburg," which served as the inspiration for this movie, I can say that calling "District 9" a remake of the short film is about as untrue as it is unfair. Even saying that Blomkamp used the short film as a jumping off point is pushing it (a lot). "District 9" takes the idea and runs with it, not even remembering to pass "Go" and collect 200 dollars.

    South Africa, present day. A spaceship has been hovering over Johannesburg, South Africa, for the past 20 or so years. The aliens were brought down and nourished back to health, but people's apprehension with the new beings caused major clashes, and the visitors, known as "prawns" were moved into a slum called District 9. Today, the shady corporation Multi-National United has decided to move the prawns to District 10, and to make sure that it's handled legally, they enlist Wikus Van Der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) to oversee it. Suffice it to say, things don't go as planned.

    "District 9" is not flawless, but it's so good that I'm more than willing to look the other way at any of its "flaws." But the best part of it is that it takes chances. In broad strokes, the story is familiar, but the details and execution are completely new.

    One of the best things that I liked is how Blomkamp portrays people reacting to the aliens. Everything that the people do in response to them is completely credible. I don't want to give anything away, but the way that the people "acted" in response to the coming of the prawns is so believable it's almost chilling. "Interviews" with people who worked with Wikus and were involved in the story enhance this effect.

    Meanwhile, we have Wikus guiding us through the story. Wikus is eager, but he's not the brightest bulb in the bunch. Sharlto Copley is excellent as Wikus. Copley does a great job playing a poster boy for MNU, but Wikus is also likable, and that's important.

    "District 9" is a mixture of a million ideas all thrown together at once. Past movies have done this and sunk because of it, but "District 9" succeeds because they're competently explained and portrayed. A few technical things cause this to get an 8 instead of a 10 (for example, one scene is interesting, but it's out of place, and the film's big transition doesn't go very well), but it's still a highly recommendable film. And for once, the shaking camera is used effectively.

    Do I think that Blomkamp should direct "Halo?" While there's no question that he could do it, and make a great movie out of the game, I don't think he's the right man for the job. I don't think "Halo" would look good as a grainy documentary. But that's just me.
    8truemythmedia

    Brilliant World-building and Social Commentary

    "District 9" is a film I was lucky enough to see in the theater when it first released. The marketing for the movie was remarkably good, posters everywhere meant that before you even entered the theater, you had already been primed to see the "Prawns" as a nuisance, larger and stronger than humans, and probably best kept at a distance. The film's opening and narrative bookends being from the perspective of a documentary of news crew meant that everything felt very lifelike when you saw ads running on TV. As a Sci-fi lover, my interest was primed and pumping as I bought my ticket.

    Now, 10 years later, my love for this movie is not as strong and has shifted from my previous reasons for liking it, but nevertheless, this is a film I expect will remain on my shelf for years to come.

    "District 9" wowed me in the beginning for many reasons. The first one out of the gate that grabs you is the world building. There are hosts of movies that take similar tacks when it comes to informing the audience about the history or rules of a fantasy, sci-fi, or just slightly left of real, world. Relate everything through news stories that play in the background or are featured in scenes that inform everyone as to what is going on. In fact, this approach is so common that it is considered a crutch by many filmmakers and is classically made fun of in the brilliant "Shaun of the Dead"

    It is truly rare to find films which spin a tried and maybe tired device into something fresh and even featured as a part of their film but Neill Blomkamp delivers a fresh look at documentary news coverage as exposition that simply stunned. Not only does the footage seem real, immersive, and present important concepts to audiences, it does so in a way that they are used to receiving information so that when they are presented with personal stories that contradict the news coverage, it causes them to ask questions about those same sorts of stories in their own lives, but more about that later.

    The next thing that stood out about the film was the performance of Sharlto Copley ("Chappie") which, essentially, launched his international career. One of the most difficult tasks that a writer, director, or actor faces is to make relatable that which is unrelatable. Taking a character like Wikus, who is blind to his prejudice, complicit activities, and general willful ignorance and turn him into someone for whom we have genuine empathy is the essential role of an artist. To not hide from the way that Wikus allows himself to be stupidly used in the beginning of the film and give him a journey which confronts him with the horrific results of his apathy in a way that leaves us hoping for better for him is the essence of good acting and I say Bravura to Copley for his performance.

    The reason that I highlight these two aspects of the film is because they are what I find to be essentially brilliant about the film, yet also what was lost on me about it ten years ago. With the way the film tells its story in two ways: through high level news; stories, documentary footage, and interviews with family and friends of Wikus; as well as on the ground personal interactions; between Wikus and his coworkers, the company, his family, and the Prawns; we end up getting the story from two perspectives.

    As a young man, I wasn't asking myself the questions I now ask myself so I only saw the interesting story, the horror of realizing something alien is happening to you, and the thrill of some impressive action sequences especially considering the budget. As an older man I realize that while the film is about these things on the surface, it is also about the difference between what we receive through screens, second hand accounts, and media outlets, as opposed to that which we experience personally.

    The film is about perception, propaganda, prejudice, and personal connection. It is about what is real and what is not. Questions like this continue to be begged more and more as our world becomes more saturated, debate if you will for good or ill, with screens, vlogs, stories, commercials, news stories, reality shows, and everything in between. "District 9" is a reminder that while our world has gotten wider with the advent of new technologies there is always the threat that it may not get deeper as it grows in breadth. We must remember that the tactile person to person contact which is the enemy of prejudice requires us to seek specifically for the individual and to see them for who they are as an individual and not just what group they belong to.

    The Prawn in this film is a stand in for all of the things we fear at a knee's jerk whether it is the immigrant, refugee, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Communist, Fascist, Snowflake, or Boomer. May we all seek to understand each other more despite the efforts of the powerful to shape our understanding through media.
    9planktonrules

    This is mind-blowing!

    This is such an incredibly weird movie that I am not even sure if I can adequately describe it, but I'll try. The film is, through the first half, a mockumentary about a problematic alien problem that will supposedly be happening in the near future. In 2010, an alien ship appears over Johannesburg and just hovers there. When humans eventually decide to cut through the hull, they find the ship packed with over a million aliens--aliens that are starving and look like giant bugs. Well, there seems to be no one in charge and they all are apparently workers who have no real purpose other than to work. When the UN decides to finally do something about it, the aliens are herded into a giant ghetto like those used during apartheid. And, for the most part, they are reviled or exploited--and kept as a permanent underclass.

    The film mostly centers around a rather dim civil servant, Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley). He is the leader of an organization sent in to move the bugs to a new facility that also totally sucks--but is away from the humans--who have come to totally distrust and hate them. But, in the process he accidentally infects himself...and where this goes next is just amazingly weird! And, once infected, the film stops being a mockumentary and follows his new life as a wanted man. Why is he wanted, who wants him and what this is all about is just too much for this short review--really.

    So let's talk about the film. I used to think that movies like "Happiness of the Katakuris", "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" and "Delicatessen" were weird films, but "District 9" clearly sets a new standard for weird and creative. You simply cannot find anything like it--and it's wonderful to find a film that is this unique. Plus, like good sci-fi, this one is a great allegory with deeper contemporary meaning--with a lot to say about us screwed up humans! By the way, this movie is rated-R and it clearly deserves this. The language is very, very rough but the film is also very gross--with lots of blood, guys, vomiting and the like. It is NOT for a person with a weak stomach or children...seriously...do NOT let the kids see this one! Because of this, although I loved this film and was blown away by it, I also cannot see it as a perfect film--hence my not giving it a 10. It's just unnecessarily adult when it could have been a great film for a much wider audience.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The language used by the aliens (clicking sounds) was created by rubbing a pumpkin.
    • Goofs
      When Wikus is first admitted to hospital and is having his arm checked, it is quite clear that he has a hairy chest under his vest. Afterwards, he is seen with his shirt off and is hairless. Because the surgeons are planning on opening his chest to remove his heart, it is likely that his chest was shaved in preparation for the procedure. Another reason may be, due to the changes his body is undertaking (fingernails falling off, etc.), his hair may have fallen out.
    • Quotes

      Automated MNU Instructional Voice: [in MNU Humvee] When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm. And always remember that a smile is cheaper than a bullet.

    • Crazy credits
      The end credits are back to front, with the actors' names on the left and character names on the right (as opposed to most films where it's the other way 'round).
    • Connections
      Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Wolverine/Ghosts of Girlfriends Past/Battle for Terra (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Zingu 7
      Performed by Zola

      Written by Zola (as Bonginkosi Dlamini), Kabelo Ikaneng and Thabiso Tsotetsi

      Courtesy of Ghetto Ruff Records

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    FAQ27

    • How long is District 9?Powered by Alexa
    • When Wikus goes to the restaurant what does he order?
    • What is 'District 9' about?
    • Is "District 9" based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 14, 2009 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • South Africa
      • United States
      • New Zealand
      • Canada
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Nyanja
      • Afrikaans
      • Zulu
      • Xhosa
      • Sotho
    • Also known as
      • Sector 9
    • Filming locations
      • Johannesburg, South Africa
    • Production companies
      • TriStar Pictures
      • Block / Hanson
      • WingNut Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $30,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $115,646,235
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $37,354,308
      • Aug 16, 2009
    • Gross worldwide
      • $210,889,681
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 52 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Atmos
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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