Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa's District 9 as the world's nations argued over what to do with them. Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens' welfare - they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens' awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA. The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe, contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable - he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: "District 9".

Easily one of my favorite films of 2009 and by far one of the best sci-fi movies of the past decade. This is a film that needs to wake Hollywood up to the fact that it doesn’t take a huge name or monstrous budget to make a solid film. Just a great story and the filmmakers to back it up. While we’ve seen this premise before (Alien Nation), the South African setting and documentary feel make it feel a bit more personal. The stunning special effects don’t hurt either. An absolute must see.

This is probably one of the best looking Blu-ray presentations I’ve seen this year. Shot in digital, including a lot of 4K capture, District 9 is stunning in detail and depth. Fine object detail is about as good as it gets and the shadow detail, strong contrast, and outstanding camera work culminate in one of the richest visual presentations I’ve seen on the format. The soundtrack is also first rate with incredible dynamic range and plenty of great sound design. The last half is almost a constant demo reel for great audio.

While I wasn’t that impressed with the rather sluggish menu system Sony has employed for this one, the extras overall were pretty solid. You get a lot of behind the scenes features that look at the production of the film and the key players. You also get a feature commentary with the director, interviews and a digital copy of the film for portable devices. PS3 owners also get a game demo for the upcoming installment of God of War.

One of the best films of the year gets one of the best Blu-ray presentations as well. A must own for any Blu-ray and sci-fi fan!