District 9 (2009)

This was an outstanding debut by the New Zealander Blomkamp. Consistently enthralling and keeping one at the edge of his seat. THIS is a recent film, like 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World', that should have spawned sequels. Much better than his follow-up, 'Elysium' (I haven't watched any others he's made since; hope he doesn't end up a cinematic one-trick pony like M. Night Shyamalan...).

Kamurai

9.0

Jul 19, 2020

Great watch, will watch again, and highly recommended. This has a wonderfully exciting premise: alien refugees on Terra, how Terrans react and how the aliens react. The premise, as delivered, has some odd holes in though: it's specified that all of the crew have died, mysteriously, and no one knows how to operate the ship, but it's been in the air for some time. The idea of gravity alone should have motivated Johannesburg to evacuate, but their government interaction seems decidedly weak. The advantage of setting the story in South Africa, for an American audience, is that it's a very…

AstroNoud

9.0

Jan 15, 2022

A gritty and original story that is as entertaining as thought-provoking, combining xenophobic satire and political allegory with raucous action. 8/10