New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Reviews were overwhelmingly positive and many cited how the film used the sci-fi genre to explore other themes, such as immigration and apartheid, which made potential audiences realise that this was more than just special effects eye-candy. It got people talking. Unlike most sci-fi blockbusters with aliens, the difference with District 9 was that these aliens aren’t necessarily invading Earth. Sharing similarities with Alien Nation, these aliens are just looking for a place to stay. “District 9 certainly doesn’t ram many themes or morals down anyone’s throat,” said Jackson, “but at its heart it does have interesting questions that are raised about the way people view each other, especially other cultures.”

The sheer look of the film on a $30 million budget is incredible. “For the budget of this film I think the effects that we did were really, really, really awesome,” said Blomkamp. He proved that he didn’t need a huge budget to create fantastic special effects that not only wow the audience but also serve the story. From speaking to Vanity Fair, Blomkamp revealed that he managed to keep the budget low by cutting the number of visual effects shots to under 600 and casting mostly unknown actors. “It was a very sort of barebones way of making it,” said Blomkamp. “There weren’t hundreds of producers and hundreds of people involved in the film, really. It was more that every dollar that was being spent ended up on the screen.”

“I think, if anything, just to make a film that’s engaging as your first film was what I was hoping to achieve,” said Blomkamp. He succeeded. As well as the moral messages within the film, District 9 doesn’t forget to be entertaining too. It was nominated for four Oscars, Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Visual Effects. It didn’t win any, but it was astonishing just to see that it was recognised by the Academy.

2009 was a year where most eyes were on a different sci-fi blockbuster, James Cameron’s Avatar. For that reason District 9 was initially very much under the radar. However, the clever marketing (quite similar to Cloverfield) worked and once the reviews came in people sat up and paid attention. I myself wasn’t really sold on District 9 till after the reviews came in. I viewed the film on its opening day when it was released in the UK. Many critics placed the film on their “Best Of 2009” lists. While promoting his second feature, Elysium, Blomkamp revealed that there is a treatment for a sequel, titled District 10, but he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get around to it for he’d like to film other ideas first.

Continued:       1       2       3