As alien movies go it was one of the odder ones of the bunch but a lot of people tended to like it once the film really got rolling. District 9 stands as one of the strangest scifi films ever simply because there are a lot of alien movies in which the aliens are stranded on earth, but not a lot in which they are placed in camps. The prawns, as they’re called in the film, are highly evolved creatures that still have very basic appetites at times. They simply want to go home but their ship is so damaged that all it can do is hover above Johannesburg where it came to reside for well over two decades. When the means for them to go home is finally produced however it takes the bumbling of just one man to nearly ruin it all.
Like I said it gained a big fan base, but it would be interesting to know just how much the fans remember.
10. It came on the heels of a failed Halo movie.
The director was supposed to be making a film based off of the popular video game franchise, but was derailed for one reason or another. All hope wasn’t lost however as he still received funding to do pretty much anything he wanted.
9. The director drew heavily from his experience of living in South Africa
The director had first hand experience of living in South Africa during the period of apartheid and saw a great many things. That’s what eventually influenced the film and how the aliens were treated.
8. The name of the main character is meant to be obvious.
Wikus is a fairly common name in South Africa but it generally means a bumbling fool, which is why it was used so well since the character of Wikus is kind of a foolish person and doesn’t always think before he does things.
7. The aliens are all played by the same actor.
The heavy use of CGI left some people wondering just how many different actors there were, but in truth there was only the one that did all the aliens.
6. The lead actor kind of stumbled into the role.
The man that played Wikus wasn’t exactly trying to be the lead but just happened to be in the right place at the right time. In fact he wasn’t even intent on acting at first.
5. The obsession with cat food came from prawn fishing.
Cat food is seen to be a very addictive substance to the aliens, and is a very coveted substance. The director came up with this when he recalled how prawn fishing usually employed cat food being used as bait.
4. There was more than one ending shot for the movie.
The director went with the more obvious ending but there were a few that were shot, one that was so horrible that no one wants to bother speaking of it.
3. The aliens went through a lot of redesigns.
The idea of the prawns didn’t come around until after a few early designs that just didn’t seem right for the picture.
2. The shanty town was an actual place.
There is an actual shanty town in Johannesburg that District 9 was filmed in.
1. The main character’s wife was pregnant.
When Wikus’s wife is talking to the camera about the metal flower she found on her front stoop you can see sonogram pictures taped to the mirror.
As weird as it was, District 9 was still interesting enough to remember.
Follow Us
