Absolutely right.

There is an indoor shooting range just west of Vegas that allows you to shoot machine guns (assault rifles) of your choice on full auto for a fee.
Don't even THINK about not wearing ear protection!:eek:

That's cool! :cool: :D

I thought the sound design was excellent with nice bass when it was necessary. Personally I'm glad that they didn't infuse a bunch of random bass when it wasn't right to do so. It made the ending scenes in particular that much more powerful.

I think when people are saying "real", in this case they are referring to the director's intent, as opposed some cooked, equalized track in a person's home. Not what it really sounds like in real life. In real life there isn't slo-mo or CGI either....

My remarks were simply putting some perspective on what real "real" is wrt gunshots, before people get too adamant about what they should sound like in a movie. There is no "real", in this case. "Real" has been entirely a constructed representation. Big movie gunshots are like the sci-fi version of spaceship sounds in space. You can get pedantic about how it would really be or just enjoy the presentational liberty that is chosen for the movie. ;)

My remarks were simply putting some perspective on what real "real" is wrt gunshots, before people get too adamant about what they should sound like in a movie. There is no "real", in this case. "Real" has been entirely a constructed representation. Big movie gunshots are like the sci-fi version of spaceship sounds in space. You can get pedantic about how it would really be or just enjoy the presentational liberty that is chosen for the movie. ;)

Oh for sure.....wasn't picking you out exclusively, sorry for the quote! Just throwing it out there....:)

Finally watched D9 all the way thru tonight.

The detail in the image was superb, from my perspective.
One of the best I have seen.

The SQ was excellent (in terms of dialog and clarity).
The mix and LFE didn't quite measure up IMO.
NOT as dramatic of a soundtrack as I was hoping for.:(

The movie itself was one of the best of the year.:)

Finally watched D9 all the way thru tonight.

The detail in the image was superb, from my perspective.
One of the best I have seen.

The SQ was excellent (in terms of dialog and clarity).
The mix and LFE didn't quite measure up IMO.
NOT as dramatic of a soundtrack as I was hoping for.:(

The movie itself was one of the best of the year.:)

Yeah, the detail in the image is great, and in the dark too, but they still need to get Digital cameras to work with colour properly. This had the same tan glow that all of the other digital films have. Somebody said that the clipped white is deliberate, but if nobody makes a digital film without clipped whites then you have to be suspicious... Superman Returns didn't even have any white in it at all. But I am a big fan of the way that Red are heading towards.

This flick had the potential for some killer deep bass.

The film makers decided not to go this direction, using a more realistic sound scheme.

This is a production choice.

When you see something as visually impressive as a giant space ship hovering over a major city, you do have some expectation of sound when it fires up and eventually moves. Those of us with big bad subs waited for this moment, which never came.

This flick had the potential for some killer deep bass.

The film makers decided not to go this direction, using a more realistic sound scheme.

This is a production choice.

When you see something as visually impressive as a giant space ship hovering over a major city, you do have some expectation of sound when it fires up and eventually moves. Those of us with big bad subs waited for this moment, which never came.

I watched D9 last night, and you are right in regards to not enough bass throughout the movie...

But the ending, all I can say is wow... My tile over concrete floor was shaking, windows moving, my pant legs were flapping in the wind and my wife was beyond pissed...

When the ship left, you knew it left in my house, the SVS PC13-Ultra did not disappoint nor did the Emo speakers and amps...:D

I watched D9 last night, and you are right in regards to not enough bass throughout the movie...

But the ending, all I can say is wow... My tile over concrete floor was shaking, windows moving, my pant legs were flapping in the wind and my wife was beyond pissed...

When the ship left, you knew it left in my house, the SVS PC13-Ultra did not disappoint nor did the Emo speakers and amps...:D

That rocks... lol!

I finally received my steelbook copy so I will be watching it with my wife tonight, can't wait! Best film of the year!

Yeah, I'm getting confused with some of the comments here. Is it that the big mothership had some bass when it activated, but not the grandiose impact anticipated for it, or it did not have any bass to it, at all?

I didn't get the impression that it was missing bass. It had the upper bass sound of the big horn to a oceanliner, but also a deep rumbling that trembled my couch. What are you guys hearing?

Yeah, I'm getting confused with some of the comments here. Is it that the big mothership had some bass when it activated, but not the grandiose impact anticipated for it, or it did not have any bass to it, at all?

I didn't get the impression that it was missing bass. It had the upper bass sound of the big horn to a oceanliner, but also a deep rumbling that trembled my couch. What are you guys hearing?
My experience was like yours, and several others as well. I thought the sound design was excellent and that the LFE attendant to the movement of the mothership had a lot of impact.

The mix and LFE didn't quite measure up IMO.
NOT as dramatic of a soundtrack as I was hoping for.:(


After giving this some thought (aka, listening to my wife:o), I offer a possible explanation.
D9 is presented as a faux DOCUMENTARY, with a rudimentary crew recording sound and video.
Therefore, the lack of a "dramatic" soundtrack makes a lot of sense (and keeps up the illusion you are watching a documentary).
IMO, this is the explanation for the audio on this release and withdraw my earlier criticism and hope everyone here realizes it as being the result of ranting by a prawn loyalist.

... Those of us with big bad subs waited for this moment, which never came.

Are you sure about your "big bad sub" status? :p

My insides were vibrating.

Are you sure about your "big bad sub" status? :p

My insides were vibrating.
Yeah, mine, too. Although my sub, a Hsu VTF-3 Mk3 Turbo is very nice by real world standards, I recognize that many AVS posters have subs that are both bigger and badder than mine. Still, I have my sub positioned in a nearfield location, next to my viewing chair, and I can routinely feel the LFE vibrating into my chest and out my back. That happened in the scenes involving the movement of the mothership in District 9. Better yet, it was tight and focused, which is something that some LFE tracks don't accomplish.

Yeah, I'm getting confused with some of the comments here. Is it that the big mothership had some bass when it activated, but not the grandiose impact anticipated for it, or it did not have any bass to it, at all?

I didn't get the impression that it was missing bass. It had the upper bass sound of the big horn to a oceanliner, but also a deep rumbling that trembled my couch. What are you guys hearing?

About 30' from my SVS is a full glass door and a double hung window, the glass was vibrating in both, you could see the reflections in the glass as it "moved". More than enough bass when the ship left, my entire house shook. The dogs even ran for cover...:D

And my wife would not even speak to me until late afternoon the following day, I hate when they do that...:cool:

Room acoustics can affect the frequency response at the seating location, unless treated and/or eq'd. They can also boost certain frequencies to be much louder than they actually are. So it's possible that something that some people find to have a lot of bass, others find to have not very much bass. It could be because the former had room gain boosting those frequencies, and/or the latter is sitting in a "null" where that frequency range is very low (bass bounces off walls, cancels out to reduce the volume).

Room acoustics can affect the frequency response at the seating location, unless treated and/or eq'd. They can also boost certain frequencies to be much louder than they actually are. So it's possible that something that some people find to have a lot of bass, others find to have not very much bass. It could be because the former had room gain boosting those frequencies, and/or the latter is sitting in a "null" where that frequency range is very low (bass bounces off walls, cancels out to reduce the volume).


Very true. I would bet less than 5% of members here use room acoustical treatments. A similar, small number use EQ of some sort. Without using such tools, you are sacrificing sound quality and will have troubles from time to time. And to your point, this doesn't even address room issues we all have to deal with (can't EQ or treat a null)..

Typically the issues are exacerbated when leaving a room to itself (regardless of the quality of equipment employed). This manifests as dialog issues, dialog being drowned out in heavy action scenes, thin or excessive bass, shrillness, lack of a large soundstage and most often, having to change the volume dial more than once during a movie (should be 'set it and forget it).

^^^^^^True, but I dont think that is the "issue" that some (most) are having with this disc. I think it is much simpler in the fact that some just wanted a more typical aggressive LFE mix for the WHOLE film. I think many were expecting more along the lines of a Cloverfield LFE experience and this film is not that (it is not meant to be). The sound design was obviously geared more toward a realistic one as opposed to Cloverfield or TIH or Transformers, etc........If you were expecting that type of LFE throughout the film, you would be disappointed.

I also dont see hardly anyone disagreeing with the fact that the "Mothership" had killer LFE (which I thought it did as well:D)........it is just that most (not all) of the rest of the film was conservative (again going for more of a realistic thing IMO) in the LFE compared to most action films we watch/listen to today (to me though this was a clear design choice like it or not to emphasize the power of the mothership). Its not that 95% of the people (which may or may not be accurate) are having acoustic problems, just that they were expecting a more typical aggressive type mix in the LFE category.

Overall, I thought this film sounded fantastic. Not quite in the "reference" category, but close.




When you see something as visually impressive as a giant space ship hovering over a major city, you do have some expectation of sound when it fires up and eventually moves. Those of us with big bad subs waited for this moment, which never came.

If it "never" came, I would agree with the others that you have some sort of tech or room problem. The mothership movements were fantastic LFE moments.

If anyone here is looking for a great LFE fix and has not seen "9", give that one a whirl:) NOBODY should have LFE complaints with that film IMO.

Did anyone do waterfall plots of D9, yet? (running spaceship scenes, weapon fire, what have you?) What frequencies are we dealing with here?

Overall, I thought this film [District 9] sounded fantastic. Not quite in the "reference" category, but close.
That was my impression, too,

EXPECTATIONS!

With so many other movies out now on BR with powerful LFE, many have expectations that aren't met. Perhaps D9 is one of those movies? I watched it again last night for the second time. There were a handful of fantastic LFE moments, but not throughout the entire move (a la Terminator Salvation, for instance). Overall, D9 sounded natural and very, very good! No complaints from me.

I agree with Toe, wife and I watched this last night and I thought it sounded good but just lacked the dynamics of some of my favorite reference audio titles. I also noticed I had to turn it up about 3db higher than my normal level.

I've waded through most of this long, drawn out thread and seen the same question asked several times and apparently ignored because people can't decide if the movie looks like crap or is reference quality or if there's no LF at all or if the LF is so powerful, it destroys the foundations of nearby homes.

Anyway, why is there two different icons, one human, one alien in the opening menu that seem to lead to the same menu when selected?

T.B.

I've waded through most of this long, drawn out thread and seen the same question asked several times and apparently ignored because people can't decide if the movie looks like crap or is reference quality or if there's no LF at all or if the LF is so powerful, it destroys the foundations of nearby homes.

Anyway, why is there two different icons, one human, one alien in the opening menu that seem to lead to the same menu when selected?

T.B.
I was wondering as well. Also, great bass & sound here, but I think this movie was intended to affect us more visually.

Anyway, why is there two different icons, one human, one alien in the opening menu that seem to lead to the same menu when selected?

T.B.

When you select one, you are swearing your allegiance to that side, which is then reported to the hive BD-Live server. :p

When you select one, you are swearing your allegiance to that side, which is then reported to the hive BD-Live server. :pAnd your house will be put under surveillance by Nigerians....:D

I clicked on the alien side on my viewing. I'm a prawn-sympathiser.

I clicked on the alien side on my viewing. I'm a prawn-sympathiser.Me too.
If Christopher makes it back to Earth with the cavalry, there is going to be hell to pay....:p

If those were just worker drone aliens, imagine what the soldier aliens will be like?!

After giving this some thought (aka, listening to my wife:o), I offer a possible explanation.
D9 is presented as a faux DOCUMENTARY, with a rudimentary crew recording sound and video.
Therefore, the lack of a "dramatic" soundtrack makes a lot of sense (and keeps up the illusion you are watching a documentary).
IMO, this is the explanation for the audio on this release and withdraw my earlier criticism and hope everyone here realizes it as being the result of ranting by a prawn loyalist.

Then there also shouldn't have been 5.1 surround sound as I've never heard of a documentary running around a shanty town with 5 mics to get positional audio.

Regarding the bass....I think we need some waterfalls for those in the know!

They recovered the surround field with Q-sound transformation! :p

they recovered the surround field with q-sound transformation! :p

rofl.....!

Then there also shouldn't have been 5.1 surround sound as I've never heard of a documentary running around a shanty town with 5 mics to get positional audio.Good point.
Maybe the South Africans stole some of the advanced Alien AUDIO tech...

They recovered the surround field with Q-sound transformation! :pDOH!!

Yeah, the detail in the image is great, and in the dark too, but they still need to get Digital cameras to work with colour properly. This had the same tan glow that all of the other digital films have. Somebody said that the clipped white is deliberate, but if nobody makes a digital film without clipped whites then you have to be suspicious... Superman Returns didn't even have any white in it at all. But I am a big fan of the way that Red are heading towards.

I think you should do more research before you claim something like that. All films go through a a color correction process before being finalized for theater viewing. Everything is tweaked to the director's liking. Honestly, if you ever think that you are seeing a raw shot (unprocessed regarding color/contrast), you would literally be wrong for every single movie.

No shot, and I mean literally no shot is left unchanged. It may be a simple primary color grade (adjusting black level, mid-tones and highlights), but needless to say no shot or angle is left unturned. I think many of you would be utterly disappointed if you saw raw camera footage.

I'm not saying that what you are saying isn't true, but that it can, most likely, be completely removed in the color correction process. Remember, District 9 wasn't solely shot on the RED camera. It was also shot on the Sony EX1 for portions of the film. Those portions may suffer more in terms of color/brightness because of the EX1's color space of 4:2:0, meaning it has less chroma and color sampling than the RED's 4:4:4 color space.

Sorry for the long winded post. Hope I made it understandable to some.

I saw this movie for the first time last night (finally) and thought it was really great. Original story, interesting characters and great acting. It was also paced very well, and kept my undivided attention the whole way through. I was seriously hooked within the first 5 minutes--not many movies can do that. The way they combined the mockumentary, sci-fi and action genres was very effective. The CGI was realistic enough to not even notice after awhile, and the way they gave the aliens humanistic expressions and body movements was well-done.

Lots of hidden meanings, and a running commentary on corporatism, government, propaganda, globalism, racism and many other hot topics that are rampant in our society. A true sci-fi film that makes you think rather than get lobotomized by loud noises, cliches and terrible, uninspired acting so commonly found in movies today. Overall, a very human, forward-looking film that tears down the walls of our perceived differences and forces us to examine who we are at our core, not only humans, but races from different worlds should we ever meet them. It's a world that you can't help but wonder if we will ever see.

Also, the alien weapons were just plain awesome.

I bought this as a blind buy last week. I didn't know if I would make it through the first 15 minutes, but then the documentary style backed off a bit and I really enjoyed it.

Hey all - I tried to see if this had been covered, but couldn't see it-

I bought the disc, and popped it in my Oppo Blu Ray player, fired up the Panny 4000u projector, and everything was fine until the aliens started talking and the subtitles were off the bottom of the screen!

I have tried everything I know to get this aspect to work, changing the 16:9 ratio that it natively chooses, changing zoom in an out, turning on English subtitles, etc., and nothing seems to work - any suggestions?

Thanks!

K

With the latest firmware you can change the position of the subtitles. Just press and hold the subtitle button and move the subs up or down.

Lots of hidden meanings, and a running commentary on corporatism, government, propaganda, globalism, racism and many other hot topics that are rampant in our society. A true sci-fi film that makes you think rather than get lobotomized by loud noises, cliches and terrible, uninspired acting so commonly found in movies today..

That just about sums up GI Joe and Transformers 2... for those two steaming piles of excrement to have outsold District 9 last year is a sad indictment of the average ticket-buyer...

Yeah, I'm getting confused with some of the comments here. Is it that the big mothership had some bass when it activated, but not the grandiose impact anticipated for it, or it did not have any bass to it, at all?

I didn't get the impression that it was missing bass. It had the upper bass sound of the big horn to a oceanliner, but also a deep rumbling that trembled my couch. What are you guys hearing?
I didn't hear that much bass as much as I felt it. It shock the whole house and it is solid concrete. My wife really did think it was small tremmor b/c that was the exact feeling you got, only the noise of the house shaking.

As Toe put it in the right sense, District-9 is a missed opportunity in terms of Sound. Aforementioned, a movie like this should have a punishing sound mix. The bass moments doesn't last for more than a minute or two.

I am not saying that there was no bass. There was bass but nothing amazing to brag about.
Not saying that there could have been more bass scenes in the movie, but the really low bass was destroying good. The F'cking irene scene in Blackhawk Down doesn't have anything on it.

I think the major hurdle for many viewers who didn't like D9 was Wikus. He is such a grating jackass, especially for the first 1/3 of the movie, that he threatens to really sour you on the experience.

I loved the movie, but afterwards could only give it a cautious recommendation to my friends because of that character. Turns out they all loved it as well, but I think a slightly less jarring portrayal of that character would have been better.

^ Hard to say if a smoother Wikus would have served the story as well or not, since his "changing" (on multiple levels) was such an integral part of the story, but I do understand what you're saying. He wasn't very likable at all....not that he was supposed to be. Still, the average movie goer would most likely do as you said and be somewhat turned off by him (and therefore, the movie).

^ ^ That was the part I really did not get. Ran into a fair amount of folks that said they almost turned it off after the first 10 minutes or versions of that. C'mon! It's a movie. You have to build up the character(s) so you appreciate what they go through or, heaven forbid, actually grow as a dynamic character. The first 20 minutes of Wikus is what separates this movie from others in its genre.

^ Hard to say if a smoother Wikus would have served the story as well or not, since his "changing" (on multiple levels) was such an integral part of the story, but I do understand what you're saying. He wasn't very likable at all....not that he was supposed to be. Still, the average movie goer would most likely do as you said and be somewhat turned off by him (and therefore, the movie).
I agree that Wikus was hard to take early on, when he was just the none too bright son in law of a corporate titan. But I liked him better and better after he got infected. Wikus handled all the horrible things that were happening to him effectively and with dignity, I thought. What impressed me most about Sharlto Copley's performance as Wikus was that, while Wikus was rising to the occasion, Copley showed us that some of the old hapless Wikus remained. Some of that was owed to fine writing, too.

Except he stayed a selfish d-bag when he knocked the dad out and tried to take the ship on his own.

Except he stayed a selfish d-bag when he knocked the dad out and tried to take the ship on his own.To me, it's all part of the convincing job of acting and writing (as Gwsat said) that took place. Just look at the amount of stress Wikus was going through. It's not like he wasn't probably borderline insane at that point. Very realistically portrayed, in my opinion.

I was adding my 2 cents because the person above me said "Wikus handled all the horrible things that were happening to him effectively and with dignity". I disagreed because went and knocked the dad out and tried to take the ship himself.

Yes, his acting was great. And from my understanding from watching some of the BTS stuff, much of the movie, aside from the major plot points and action sequences, was ad-libbed. The fact that he knocked out the dad was in the script, his acting helped him portray it.

I loved the movie. I agree with many that he wasn't a very likable character. You start to pity him part-way through the movie, and he has the viewer's sympathy because of what he's going through and how he's being treated and used. But then, for me at least, it was thrown away when he knocked the dad out. Whether or not that was a believable thing to do for his character, or realistically portrayed, or a good or bad thing to do at that point, I didn't like the character in the movie for doing it and I lost some of my sympathy for him at that point.

I did not like it when he knocked out the Dad and took the ship. One because I was starting to like/root for Wikus and two I thought it would be a fun ride up to the mother ship for the big reveal.

I can see the reason they wrote it that way but would still have preferred it my way. :cool:

Is Red One's use in D9 their biggest success so far (critically and commercially)?

Is Red One's use in D9 their biggest success so far (critically and commercially)?This (http://www.red.com/shot_on_red/) is from the Red One site.

This (http://www.red.com/shot_on_red/) is from the Red One site.

Not a bad list.

I agree that Wikus was hard to take early on, when he was just the none too bright son in law of a corporate titan. But I liked him better and better after he got infected. Wikus handled all the horrible things that were happening to him effectively and with dignity, I thought. What impressed me most about Sharlto Copley's performance as Wikus was that, while Wikus was rising to the occasion, Copley showed us that some of the old hapless Wikus remained. Some of that was owed to fine writing, too.
Pretty much my take with a few tweaks here and there.
Wikus was supposed to be an annoying, bumbling boob.
An unquestioning, clueless cog in the bureaucratic machine.
He only had the job because of his father-in-law(kind of like Jerry Lundegaard) and was the perfect foil to carry out their agenda, .
The film slowing reveals Wikus' redeeming qualities and innate humanity.
The scenes with the alien and his kid were great.
I loved D9 for it's sense of humor and all too real look at how we treat creatures that don't fit the norm.

I love the last 2/3's of the film, but Wikus was just a little too much at the beginning. Just pulled back a little we would still have the same opinion of him, with him being a little less grating.

I know it was the actor's first role, I wonder how much of the character being over the top at the beginning is because of that. I'd be interested in how sequentially D9 was filmed, since I think he was much better later on.

Overall, this film was pretty solid and a million times better than that sh!tfest Pandorum or even the horribly over-rated Moon.

If I had any problems with D9 it was simply the Blood Diamond-esque gangsters and the shoot outs with them. I felt a little too much time was spent with them in the film and that irrtated me more than anything Wikus did.

Its far from perfect but is well worth a watch or two and I'll prolly add it to the collection if I can find a deal on it or even used.

I love the last 2/3's of the film, but Wikus was just a little too much at the beginning. Just pulled back a little we would still have the same opinion of him, with him being a little less grating.

I know it was the actor's first role, I wonder how much of the character being over the top at the beginning is because of that. I'd be interested in how sequentially D9 was filmed, since I think he was much better later on.I didn't think his acting changed, I just thought his character changed. The whole point of him being a bumbling doofus in the beginning was to setup the path he'd be forced (or choose) to take as the story progressed. The drastic changes are almost akin to going from child to adult in the course of a few days (the movie's timeline). Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel that we were supposed to dislike him very much at first, and even beyond that. Then, it was left up to us to decide whether or not we liked him at all, based on his actions up to the end.

Christopher was always the sympathetic role here, from the very first scenes where he showed affection for his child. There was nothing ever given to us to make us feel ill towards him, which was quite the opposite of Wikus. However, I do think that Wikus' moment of truth at the end was fully intended for us to forgive everything he'd done prior.

I think you have a full understanding of the character roles sb1; that's exactly how it all seemed to me. District 9 was my surprise movie of the year.

sb1 you're still missing my point. Of course you're not supposed to like him, I agree completely. My point is that he's just too over the top at first, cartoonish in his buffoonery and almost ruining a viewer's suspension of disbelief - in a movie with 7' alien insects!

I think maybe it was more his mannerisms, as I think all the dialog was fine and, again, slightly toned down in the first act you'd still despise him just as much.

sb1 you're still missing my point. Of course you're not supposed to like him, I agree completely. My point is that he's just too over the top at first, cartoonish in his buffoonery and almost ruining a viewer's suspension of disbelief - in a movie with 7' alien insects!

I think maybe it was more his mannerisms, as I think all the dialog was fine and, again, slightly toned down in the first act you'd still despise him just as much.No, I see your point quite clearly. I simply don't see it the same way. By no means am I suggesting he did a perfect job here, but I didn't think anything he did directed my attention towards his acting in a negative way. What I saw was an idiot clearly favored for being married to the daughter of the head of the MNU.

On another note, I really think that Copley was quite able and did a great job in this role. If Blomkamp hadn't been pleased with how he portrayed Wikus in the beginning, I'm guessing he could have told Copley to tone it down and Copley could have done exactly what he wanted. That leads me to believe we got what the director wanted us to see (but, not everyone has to like it).

Wikus was supposed to come across as a bigotted prig. (I heard their first choice was Archie Bunker. :) ) Him being so over the top adds to his character arc and gives more power to his emotional changes. Still surprises me how many people were put off by the first 20 minutes.

Rather old thread, but thought I'd post on my thoughts of Wikus in the first 20 minutes. I'm actually suprised there are so many people that didn't like his character. I thought it was great. Not knowing anything going into the movie, I wasn't sure if he was even going to be a main character, but 10 minutes in I already was on board.

Great movie, for me best movie of that year!

Copley is amazing in the movie.

If theres a problem with the character, its in the writing, not the actor.

I just thought it was a bit too much how a guy who earlier was taking pleasure in aborting alien babies and kicking around children all of a sudden had problems with military tests on those same aliens. The characters arc was just too much of a stretch considering what a jackass he was.

Didn't really affect my enjoyment of the movie though. At the end of the day its a verhoeven style sci-fi imo.

Copley is amazing in the movie.

If theres a problem with the character, its in the writing, not the actor.

I just thought it was a bit too much how a guy who earlier was taking pleasure in aborting alien babies and kicking around children all of a sudden had problems with military tests on those same aliens. The characters arc was just too much of a stretch considering what a jackass he was.

Didn't really affect my enjoyment of the movie though. At the end of the day its a verhoeven style sci-fi imo.

I agree with the writing being the problem. My biggest hackle with the film is how Wickus suddenly became Rambo. His character is believable up until the point where he gets the suit.

Copley is amazing in the movie.

If theres a problem with the character, its in the writing, not the actor.

I just thought it was a bit too much how a guy who earlier was taking pleasure in aborting alien babies and kicking around children all of a sudden had problems with military tests on those same aliens. The characters arc was just too much of a stretch considering what a jackass he was.[quote]

I agree.

[quote]Didn't really affect my enjoyment of the movie though. At the end of the day its a verhoeven style sci-fi imo.

Unfortunately it did affect my enjoyment of the film, as did other things.

On the contrary, I consider the Wikus character arc to be one of the strengths of this film.

Each to their own of course.;)

On the contrary, I consider the Wikus character arc to be one of the strengths of this film.

Each to their own of course.;)

100% agreed!

I just thought it was a bit too much how a guy who earlier was taking pleasure in aborting alien babies and kicking around children all of a sudden had problems with military tests on those same aliens. The characters arc was just too much of a stretch considering what a jackass he was.

I agree with the writing being the problem. My biggest hackle with the film is how Wickus suddenly became Rambo. His character is believable up until the point where he gets the suit.

I don't defend movies, but in the case of the comments above, don't forget that his DNA was changing at a rapid pace, which may have accounted for certain aspects of his behavior changes. As for him turning into a badass when he got the suit, I'd say he really didn't do anything at all except release some severe amounts of pent up aggression and stress in a mech suit that practically did everything for him. It literally invited him to get in it, so I figure it would have been pretty difficult for even him to have not done some impressive amounts of damage in it. Just my take...

I don't defend movies, but in the case of the comments above, don't forget that his DNA was changing at a rapid pace, which may have accounted for certain aspects of his behavior changes. As for him turning into a badass when he got the suit, I'd say he really didn't do anything at all except release some severe amounts of pent up aggression and stress in a mech suit that practically did everything for him. It literally invited him to get in it, so I figure it would have been pretty difficult for even him to have not done some impressive amounts of damage in it. Just my take...

Valid points. Still don't care for the film though. ;)

What's up with the sequel for this? For this genre, what a smart and well done movie. Believable and looked great on its smallish budget.

I don't defend movies, but in the case of the comments above, don't forget that his DNA was changing at a rapid pace, which may have accounted for certain aspects of his behavior changes. As for him turning into a badass when he got the suit, I'd say he really didn't do anything at all except release some severe amounts of pent up aggression and stress in a mech suit that practically did everything for him. It literally invited him to get in it, so I figure it would have been pretty difficult for even him to have not done some impressive amounts of damage in it. Just my take...
Then if thats the case, his behavioral changes are induced not by character progression, but by a plot devide which would make it worse.

On a related note, if you like D9, I strongly suggest you to find and purchase the Art of District 9 book by Weta workshop. There's a pretty astounding amount of stuff that never made it past the design stage. It wasn't until I saw this book that I realized just how limited D9 was by its budget.

I don't defend movies, but in the case of the comments above, don't forget that his DNA was changing at a rapid pace, which may have accounted for certain aspects of his behavior changes.
Exactly right.

The movie's impact was rather severely lessened for me though, when it resorted to its extreme "robocop" ending.