# District 9: Rave Reviews So Far... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152 "2009-08-12T07:49:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/161 "2009-08-18T17:00:29Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think I’d rather that they _didn’t_ do a sequel. I like the note of open optimism at the end the way it is. You know Christopher Johnson is coming back, probably with a full prawn armada, to rescue the rest of his people, but you don’t know exactly what kind of form the rescue will take. The most natural assumption is that it will be violent, that prawns will want to kick some human ass – maybe even wipe them out completely – but I don’t think that would necessarily be the case. They might be able to effect a rescue with very minimal violence, and I think that might even be more interesting. > > Either way, this is a case where people are going to imagine their own versions of hat will happen in three years, and a sequel can’t possibly please any other, plus it runs the risk of not being able to match everything that was special about the original. I think it’s one of those lightning in a bottle types of movies that might be better left alone. > > If they do make a sequel (and I’m sure Blonkamp and Copley are going to get offered shovelfuls of money to do one), that they try to go away from an _Independence Day_ style alien invasion action movie and find a more unexpected and original angle. Before the movie came out, Blomkamp stated strong interest in doing a sequel if the box office allowed it. Since it is now a bona-fide hit in the making, I would wager that the chances of getting a sequel are good. Fortunately, Blomkamp has _also_ stated that he would like to stay in the same budget range he had for “District 9” ($30-45 million), as he likes the freedom a smaller budget allows. Good news all around, I think. One direction they could go with the sequel is to explore how the humans will react to what they _must_ see as an impending invasion. It’s implied that the prawns are being treated better at the end of the film (though still not well) - are the humans hoping that this will mitigate a potential alien military response? Or are we going to see even more violence as humans give in to fear? A particularly interesting scenario could be if the aliens return with the very specific intent of rescuing their compatriots on the ground, planning to use force only if attacked - but very willing to do so under those circumstances. At that point, the number of casualties will entirely depend upon how the humans respond to their arrival (just as “District 9” was more about the human response to the prawns’ first landing than about the prawns themselves). It would keep the first film’s focus on the politics and character conflicts (human vs alien, human vs human, and even alien vs alien), while allowing for action on a potentially far grander skill. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/162 "2009-08-18T18:31:59Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > Before the movie came out, Blomkamp stated strong interest in doing a sequel if the box office allowed it. Since it is now a bona-fide hit in the making, I would wager that the chances of getting a sequel are good. Fortunately, Blomkamp has _also_ stated that he would like to stay in the same budget range he had for “District 9” ($30-45 million), as he likes the freedom a smaller budget allows. Good news all around, I think. _That_ was a small-budget movie? (OK, $30-45 million isn’t exactly chump change, but I would have guessed it was much higher - in my mind I associate Peter Jackson with the financial orgy that was LOTR) Simply incredible work. I was especially impressed by the tone of the cinematography and CGI but I’m even more excited to learn that it doesn’t take 9 figures to achieve that. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/163 "2009-08-18T18:40:43Z")
I really hope they don’t call the inevitable sequel _District 10_. I absolutely hate that practice, _Oceans 12_ et al. _District 9: The Return_, or whatever. I don’t care, just no District 10. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/164 "2009-08-18T18:46:34Z")
It would make sense in this case, though, because the prawns had already been moved to “District 10” at the end of the first movie. It would be a better title (and make more sense) than \*District 9: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \* (or even worse, _District 9 2_) because in the presumptive sequel, there _is_ no “District 9” anymore. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/165 "2009-08-18T18:48:45Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > _That_ was a small-budget movie? (OK, $30-45 million isn’t exactly chump change, but I would have guessed it was much higher - in my mind I associate Peter Jackson with the financial orgy that was LOTR) Simply incredible work. I was especially impressed by the tone of the cinematography and CGI but I’m even more excited to learn that it doesn’t take 9 figures to achieve that. This is one of the reasons for the somewhat recent trend of taking somewhat obscure independent filmmakers and handing them big movie franchises (Christopher Nolan for Batman, Favereau for Iron Man, many more). Independent filmmakers know how to stretch a dollar. When you can turn a few hundred thousand dollars into a real movie, you’ve learned how to get things done as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Mainstream directors (the Michael Bays of the world) tend to not even consider money, an will waste entire days of shooting at $300k+ per day because they dont like the lighting or whatever. They also tend to be more about flashy effects, whereas independent filmmakers generally have to maximize storytelling with a limited budget by making a compelling story the most important thing. Since Blomkampf was previously making short films with mostly his own money, giving him $30 million is like giving him all the money in the world. By using what he learned making $5,000 movies look like $50,000 movies, he made a $30m movie look like a $100m movie. Studios like that. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/166 "2009-08-18T18:53:04Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It would make sense in this case, though, because the prawns had already been moved to “District 10” at the end of the first movie. It would be a better title (and make more sense) than \*District 9: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \* (or even worse, _District 9 2_) because in the presumptive sequel, there _is_ no “District 9” anymore. Well, lately the way to be creative with sequel titles is with the addition or subtraction of articles. The fourth sequel to _ **The** Fast and **The** Furious_ is\* Fast and Furious\*. The fourth sequel to _Final Destination_ is _ **The** Final Destination_. So, naturally, the sequel to _District 9_ could be _ **The** District 9_ or _District **The** 9_. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/167 "2009-08-18T18:54:40Z")
I read somewhere else that he chose the design of the aliens specifically because he knew that those textures were the ones that looked the most realistic in CGI. Smart guy. They look and behave like actual characters instead of cartoons. George Lucas could learn from this dude. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/168 "2009-08-18T18:58:59Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > _That_ was a small-budget movie? (OK, $30-45 million isn’t exactly chump change, but I would have guessed it was much higher - in my mind I associate Peter Jackson with the financial orgy that was LOTR). In fairness to Peter Jackson, $100 million each for epic action movies that defined the state of the art _is_ cheap. $300 million was for the whole series (though the budget did go up based on the success of “Fellowship”). ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/169 "2009-08-18T19:28:37Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Well, lately the way to be creative with sequel titles is with the addition or subtraction of articles. > > The fourth sequel to _ **The** Fast and **The** Furious_ is\* Fast and Furious\*. > > The fourth sequel to _Final Destination_ is _ **The** Final Destination_. > > So, naturally, the sequel to _District 9_ could be _ **The** District 9_ or _District **The** 9_. They could go with the “2 Fast, 2 Furious” approach and call it “D2str2ct 9.” Or hell, just jump straight to the “Star Trek” approach and call the sequel “District.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/170 "2009-08-18T19:56:57Z")
I’d prefer “District 90210” or “District 9: SVU” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/171 "2009-08-18T19:59:08Z")
Could it _please_ have the words “electric boogaloo” in it? Please? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/172 "2009-08-18T20:46:34Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > This is one of the reasons for the somewhat recent trend of taking somewhat obscure independent filmmakers and handing them big movie franchises (Christopher Nolan for Batman, Favereau for Iron Man, many more). Independent filmmakers know how to stretch a dollar. When you can turn a few hundred thousand dollars into a real movie, you’ve learned how to get things done as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Mainstream directors (the Michael Bays of the world) tend to not even consider money, an will waste entire days of shooting at $300k+ per day because they dont like the lighting or whatever. They also tend to be more about flashy effects, whereas independent filmmakers generally have to maximize storytelling with a limited budget by making a compelling story the most important thing. > > Since Blomkampf was previously making short films with mostly his own money, giving him $30 million is like giving him all the money in the world. By using what he learned making $5,000 movies look like $50,000 movies, he made a $30m movie look like a $100m movie. Studios like that. Amen, and while I don’t get hung up on some productions using the GNP of small nations, I welcome this trend because the \*\*story \*\*ultimately benefits. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/173 "2009-08-18T21:04:16Z")
I forgot to mention Sam Raimi, of Evil Dead fame and relative obscurity, who was handed Spider-Man. That’s perhaps the earliest-to-most significant example. The earliest example, though, would probably be Bryan Singer with the first X-Men movie, which basically started the whole comicbook movie trend. Trying to emulate that success, almost every major comicbook movie has been handed to an independent filmmaker. S’pose you could include Doug Liman and The Bourne Identity, though there wasn’t a lot of support behind that one. Gone are the days where the famous directors come up through the music video or commercial route. That whole schtick accounts for much of the mediocrity in movies in the late 80s to mid 90s. The movies of the 90s that really stick out as great are mostly all independents anyway. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/174 "2009-08-18T22:51:42Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > The earliest example, though, would probably be Bryan Singer with the first X-Men movie, which basically started the whole comicbook movie trend. Trying to emulate that success, almost every major comicbook movie has been handed to an independent filmmaker. In my opinion, I think 1998’s Blade kicked off the modern (post-Burton [blegh]) successful comic book franchise era – and it was rated R no less. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/175 "2009-08-18T23:02:51Z")
It may have started the comic book renaissance chronologically, but everything I read from industry insiders says that it was X-Men’s financial success that motivated the production of Spider-Man and its record earnings. Blade made $17m its opening weekend (summer movie, too), X-Men made $54m. Spider-Man made over $100m opening weekend, I believe the first to do so. A lot of people probably don’t even know that Blade is a comic book character and not just an outlet for Snipes’s ego. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/176 "2009-08-19T01:09:33Z")
Just came back from seeing this. Absolutely floored me. Plenty of times where I was almost up and out of my seat because I was so engrossed. I have a couple ideas. I’m wondering if the mech was basically a Trojan horse. Christopher knew he couldn’t get all the prawns out of District 9, and he would have to leave and come back later. The Nigerians were the biggest threat to the prawns, as a supplier of cat food and because the head guy wanted to eat them and gain their powers. He sold the mech for cheap (didn’t he want 10,000 cans, but he took 100 without complaining). So once the mothership activated, and woke all the tech up, the mech took out all threats. I also think the module was never meant to fly up to the ship. Maybe just get up out of the ground. But Wickus didn’t know what he was doing so he just took off. I’m wondering if maybe Christopher was originally something other than a prawn. He’s obviously much smarter, he wears clothing, and he instantly knew what was going on with Wickus. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/177 "2009-08-19T01:38:01Z")
It wasn’t Christpher that sold the mech. The prawn that sold the mech got a machete in the back as soon as the deal was done. ETA: And the mech only killed the Nigerians because it detected Wikus as an alien, and detected that the Nigerians were attacking (and about to kill) him. Most likely, it went into defend-the-horde mode. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/178 "2009-08-19T03:24:54Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’m wondering if maybe Christopher was originally something other than a prawn. He’s obviously much smarter, he wears clothing, and he instantly knew what was going on with Wickus. Well there are supposed to be hierarchies in the prawn society just like ours, and the majority of the prawns on that ship happened to be dumb worker drones. In the FAQ **jackdavinci** posted (thanks for that) Blomkampf explains that the disease that affected them killed off the more intelligent ones but not the workers who were bred to be more physically resilient. His explanation as to why Christopher survived posits that maybe the hive-minded society is wired to select a new leader in time who could physically change to become smarter and have a purpose, but I don’t really like that explanation. I like to think he was a dorky engineer type who didn’t catch the disease because he just never left his room. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/179 "2009-08-19T04:23:42Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > It wasn’t Christpher that sold the mech. The prawn that sold the mech got a machete in the back as soon as the deal was done. Actually, the prawn (or “praun” as one of the protesters in the movie spelled it) who got the machete was the armed guard of the one who sold the suit. The first prawn walked out, and it was the second who was held back and then hacked to death. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/180 "2009-08-19T04:31:55Z")
Hmm… yeah, I do remember there being two sellers. However, I can’t say for certain that it was/wasn’t Christopher. I think the prawn/praun thing is just a matter of language differences between SA and the US. Color/colour, prawn/praun [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152.md?page=10)