District 9Follow

So who has seen the movie, and what are your thoughts on it?

I particularly enjoyed the documentary style of presentation with the little "interviews" with other characters in the movie. The open cheerfulness of the main human character during the first hour of the movie really put a surreal feel to what was occurring on screen. I definitely loved the power armor battle at the end of the movie, especially the pig ammo.

SpoilerWell the fluid isn't any different from water (keeps us alive and is used to cool machinery). My guess is that the fluid is produced by another caste of their race, perhaps it's their version royal jelly and their queen died in whatever event brought them to Earth.

SpoilerAs for their sudden ability to go back didn't it say in the movie that it took them 20 years to collect enough of the fluid to power the drop ship? The humans thought the ship only had "workers" left, but obviously Christopher was the only surviving member of the leadership caste. He tasked the others to scavenge parts during the 20 years to repair the ship, but wasn't specific on how they get them hence the high crime rate.

Yeah, I liked those trailers; did you see the trailer for Law Abiding Citizen too?

Yes, forgot about that one. It looks like a gooder too.

I saw this earlier and I really enjoyed it. There were some things that didn't make sense, Spoilerlike why Chris was going back home to get help when it was implied that the prawn were refugees in the first place, or why rocket fuel has mutagenic properties and can turn a human into a prawn though simple skin contact, but that didn't really detract much from the movie over all. I mean come on, it had a decent story and special effects, aliens, explosions, blood, exploding blood... what more do you really want?


On a side note, this would also make a totally kick *** video game if done right. Doesn't even matter which side you play as. It would be awesome either way.

Second side note, was anyone else thinking of NieA_7 when they saw this, or is it just me?

I came into this thread two hours ago to say I liked this movie but some ******* linked TvTropes.

SpoilerAgain, it makes sense why he would want to go back; it doesn't make sense as to why he can go back. The film hints a some type of disaster that occurred for the prawn. Maybe a plague, maybe a war, maybe oppression. Something really bad happened that forced all these prawn to leave their world and maKe it to earth in horribly condition, and now they're able to return? Poorly written.

Spoiler That doesn't make sense at all. The presence of a live prawn should already be sufficient to activate there ship technology. Even if the fluid was highly concentrated prawn DNA, which is a ridiculous thing for it to be, that doesn't explain the mutation. I can't just inject dog DNA into my body and become a dog. In order for the main character to mutate into a prawn it would require a substance specifically designed to mutate humans into prawn. This is exactly like a nuclear submarines core melting down and mutating a person to have submarine powers instead of just killing them, this is exactly what is occurring. Fluid is giving radioactive superpowers. It is a magical plot-forcing substance.

SpoilerRight, it's never explained "why" they were there. It seems more that something went wrong, but it's not explained, which I think the "telling" of what happened being left out might have been deliberate to fuel future content for possible sequel script(s).



SpoilerLet's imagine for a moment that the fluid used to power the ship was a concentrated DNA-based liquid similar to the fluid used in their weapons to allow activation. If the fluid itself was DNA-based and reacts on a genetic level with beings other than the Prawns (since the Prawns obviously wouldn't be affected from their own genetic material)...it doesn't sound so outlandish to me. Then again, we're talking about Aliens dubbed "Prawns" and genetically coded weapons & vehicles here. You have to suspend disbelief on some level to even consider it.

Also, it's not explained "how" it interacted with human DNA, nor is the "cure" explained...but it is stated that it can be done. Again, it's not poorly written or thought out, it's just not explained in detail. But the fact the fluid is genetic in nature, and they state that he's the "first human to survive the metamorphasis" which suggests it's not the first time Human/Prawn genetic combination, is enough to outline the possibility so that it's not utterly random and absurd due to no logical basis.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is you comparing human science to alien technology.

It's fictional technology, not magic. The fluid is plotonium, plain and simple. People who disagree with that statement are the same people who believe radioactive spider bites give people mutant spider powers instead of itches or cancer.

Yes, technology, not bloody magic. I take it you are very much not familiar with the idea of hard and soft science fiction, internal consistency, or common literary pitfalls. This is just a lost cause.

Fictional worlds establish rules, explicitly or implicitly stated. Sometimes--due to poor writing--fictional worlds break their own rules, defy their own rationale, or spontaneously introduce new and inconsistent elements.

For example. District 9 takes place approximately in the the near future. The earth's technology in the movie is about comparable to our own. Seeing people fly in helicopters is consistent with the time period and technology level the movie has established for humans, consistent with the rules. Seeing people flying around in hover cars or jet packs is, while still a fictional element in a fictional movie, not consistent with the technology level the movie has establish for humans.

The movie is attempting to be fairly hard science fiction. Technology isn't so much magical as it is advanced in District 9. Heroes, the American tv series, is an example of soft science fiction where a genetic mutation can allow a person to manipulate time and space.

Being harder science fiction, the idea that a "fluid" designed to operate alien technology could do something as improbable as mutate a person into an alien breaches the hard science reality the movie has established. Shooting myself up with dog dna, sleeping in a dog bed, or doing other dog related stuff doesn't turn me into a dog. Specific, controlled mutations as an unintended consequence of an accidentally administered substance are inconsistent with the hard science the movie has tried to establish. The movie doesn't allow for for this to be a realistic possibility.

This is a common mistake in fictional stories. Authors do not take time to carefully plan the story universe out before they begin writing, so new elements are introduced seemingly spontaneously into stories without developing them cohesively into the universe. The writer wants to get the story somewhere, but hasn't adequately planned a route to take it there.

Edited, Aug 21st 2009 11:01pm by Allegory

You're still comparing things to our technology. That liquid wasn't made by humans. It was a fuel that was invented on their planet. On Earth it wouldn't make sense, but perhaps where they come from the logic is perfectly sound, especially given that all of their tech seems to involve their DNA.

So, how long have you and your dog been dating?




Sorry, couldn't resist.