District 9 - 2009

District 9 - 2009 TriStar/Wingnut Films - 112 min. DVD UPC 043396275140; 043396332348; 5035822576032; 6003805113764; 9317731074073; 9317731074141; 043396337176; 6438044235852; 7391772329141; 3512391145156; 8712609591736; 4030521557604; 8013123035073 043396292260(Blu-ray); 5050629576016(Blu-ray); 043396337152(Blu-ray); 9317731074066(Blu-ray); 5051889016496(Blu-ray); 8712609591804(Blu-ray); 5704028220857(Blu-ray); 4030521720183(Blu-ray) Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood, Mandla Gaduka, Kenneth Nkosi, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, Louis Minnaar, William Allen Young. Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell; Director of Photography: Trent Opaloch; Original Music: Clinton Shorter; Editing: Julian Clarke; Production Designer: Philip Ivey; Art Direction: Emilia Roux; Special Effects Coordinator: David Barkes; Visual Effects Supervisor: Matt Aitken; Producers: Carolynne Cunningham, Peter Jackson; Director: Neill Blomkamp In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled human-sized insect-like alien population appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population to a new location outside of Johannesburg. That is the basic setup of this well presented, black-humoured, sci-fi film that is an obvious commentary on Apartheid and the present day South African problems with Zimbabwe refugees. But it is much more, and the presentation technique is quite captivating, utilizing a mock-documentary "you-are-there" style. Highly Recommended. Censor Rating: R - Review rating: A-

AVAILABILITY OF VHS OR DVD COPIES

As of February 2010, there are three versions available from North American sources, all presented 1.85:1 anamorphic with 5.1 dolby digital sound. There is a single-disc ntsc R1 dvd, selling for $9us-20us, with English, English with director's commentary or French language tracks and subtitle options of English, French, English with the commentary optional track or none. It also contains trailers for: Moon, 2012, Legion, Michael Jackson:This is It and Universal Soldier: Regeneration; 22 deleted scenes and a 3-part documentary - The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log (See main disc Special Features listing below for more details).

There is a two-disc dvd edition, selling for $16us-25us, that contains the items found on the single-disc version on its main disc, plus the following on the second disc; Metamorphosis: The transformation of Wikus(9:52min), Innovation: The Acting & Improvisation of District 9(13:18min), Alien Generation: The Visual Effects of District 9(10:18min). The second disc contains subtitles of: English, Spanish, Portuguese, traditional Chinese, Korean or none. The second disc also contains trailers of: Dark Country, Takers, The Damned United, Rescue Me, The Shield and By the People: The Election of Barack Obama.

There is a Blu-Ray version, selling for $20us - $30us, that contains all of the items listed for the two-disc edition plus 'Movie IQ' which allows viewers to immediately access continuously updated information on the cast and crew and explore relevant trivia such as production facts, music and soundtrack information all tied to scenes within the movie via BD-Live and cinechat, where viewers can send on-screen instant messages to their friends while watching the movie. Of course the Blu-Ray presentation is 1080p.

The single disc PAL dvd and Blu-Ray editions are scheduled for release in the UK 28 December, 2009, selling for 10-15# and 16-25# respectively. I have no indication of a 2-disc dvd edition being released in the Uk. The Blu-Ray edition will also contain the same features and extras as the one released in North America, except that it will contain subtitle options of: English, English for the commentary track, Estonian, French, Hindi, Korean, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian. It's soundtrack options are: English DTS 5.1, French DTS 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1 or English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround.

There are PAL single dvd, special edition(2-disc) dvd and Blu-Ray versions scheduled for release 30 December, 2009, in Australia and New Zealand. Single dvd pricing is $30-34au or nz, 2-disc dvd is $35-40au or nz and Blu-Ray is $40-45au or $45-50nz.

PAL single dvd and Blu-Ray editions are scheduled for release 20 January, 2010, in France and 10 March, 2010, in Germany, selling for about 20eur and 25eur respectively.

There is a PAL single disc dvd version available from Thailand, for about $13us, that contains a Thai language track as well as the original English language track. It also contains subtitles in both English and Thai.