Tweet

Neill Blomkamp’s feature debut, District 9, hits theaters this August.  Could it be the science fiction film to beat this summer?  Check out the trailer below.

Watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple.com

Pretty cool, eh? Especially for a film you’ve probably heard next to nothing about beforehand.  Blomkamp has made a handful of commercials and short films including Alive In Joberg (watch it here) which is the basis for District 9.  Peter Jackson saw the short and famously brought Blomkamp onboard to direct the big screen adaptation of Halo… which just as famously fell apart due to budget concerns and squabbling with Microsoft.  Watching that project crumble, Jackson and Blomkamp decided to move forward with District 9.

The film is done documentary style and tells the story of an alien race that comes to Earth for an unknown reason.  They attempt to settle in South Africa but encounter fear, anger, and racism (speciesism?) from the locals.  Like the short it’s based on, District 9 plays as a not-so-subtle analogy for past and present human race relations and segregation.

The effects in the trailer look quite good, and while it may not be as flashy as a Star Trek or Transformers it may still be the most intelligent and thought provoking science fiction film of the year.  Well, second most anyway… go see Moon!

What do you think of the trailer?