Written By: Ken HulseyWith so many good horror movies being made these days, it is not too surprising that a really good looking sci fi movie was able to sneak in under our radar.
"Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson has been working on a good old sci fi epic, which until very recently, has been kept under pretty tight wraps, called "District 9". The film is about a group of alien refugees who are held against their will in a prison camp in South Africa.
The trailer for this one is quite impressive. It looks a lot like "Terminator" and "Transformers" mixed in with a good chunk of "Alien Nation." Unlike "Alien Nation", however, the aliens in this one haven't come to settle in with us humans. In fact both the insect-like refugees and the human powers that be seem to be doing everything in their power to keep each other segregated. It is easy to gather that 'racism' and 'prejudices' are the underlying themes to this one. Certainly the choice of the location for "District 9", South Africa, is a big giveaway in that department.
Jackson is serving as producer on "District 9", the directing duties were given over to Neill Blomkamp, whose short film, "Alive in Joburg" was the main inspiration for the production. In fact just about every facet of Jackson's film comes directly from the prior short.
Here is the film's synopsis:
"District 9" is the tale of extraterrestrial refugees stuck in contemporary South Africa.
It's been 30 years since the aliens made first contact, but there was never any attack from the skies, nor any profound technological revelation capable of advancing our society. Instead, the aliens were treated as refugees. They were the last of their kind, and in order to accommodate them, the government of South Africa set up a makeshift home in District 9 as politicians and world leaders debated how to handle the situation.
As the humans begin to grow wary of the unwelcome intruders, a private company called Multi-National United (MNU) is assigned the task of controlling the aliens. But MNU is less interested in the aliens' welfare than attempting to understand how their weaponry works. Should they manage to make that breakthrough, they will receive tremendous profits to fund their research. Unfortunately, the highly advanced weaponry requires alien DNA in order to be activated. When MNU field operative Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) contracts an unusual virus that causes his DNA to mutate, the tensions between the aliens and the humans intensifies.
Wikus is the key to unlocking the alien's technology, and he quickly becomes the most wanted man on the planet. Ostracized and isolated, Wikus retreats to District 9 in a desperate bid to shake his dogged pursuers.
"District 9" looks like the good old kind of sci fi a lot of us have been craving for a while. A good combination of top-end special effects and a thought provoking story. There seems to be a lot to savor here, great looking alien creatures, great looking alien and human tech and machines, including what look like cool robot designs.
The marketing machine for "District 9" has just begun getting into full swing. Trailers and adverts are starting to pop up just about everywhere in preparation for the film's August 14th release.
Check out this cool MNU website that has been set up by Tristar - http://www.d-9.com/
Here are a couple of pics and the trailer for "District 9":
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