'Avatar' vs 'District 9' - what do you think?

Chadford

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OK I agree these films are targeted at different audiences, but I watched District 9 at the weekend and thought It was a mighty fine yarn :smashin::smashin::smashin: - it delivered for me all the things that I expected from Avatar but I found were lacking.
There are certain films that I can watch again and again, District 9 is one of these, Avatar sadly is not.

District 9, weird film though, nearly turned it off after about 10 minutes because I (and the Mrs) thought it was incredibly amateurish - ultimately not so.
Did you think Sharlo Copley's (Wikus) voice almost morphed into Colin Farell's performance in In Bruges - '**** those ****ing prawns' and such like? made the Mrs chuckle anyway.

I guess if you're into Sci Fi - this is one I think IMHO you should see.
 
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well they both have "hidden" political messages

avatar is just a giant guilt trip about humanity "destroying" the planet, half expected it to contain blip verts "BUY A TOYOTA PIOUS"

district 9 is about the problems in the townships in South Africa with the locals turned into aliens


both ass water to me

avatar was very pretty thou



oh and In Bruges - Genius :)
 
Haven't seen Avatar, but District 9 was superb. Having lived in South Africa during the apartheid years, it was an unusual twist to an often told story.

I have to admit that there were a few Afrikaans swear words which really made me laugh as I had forgotten all about them. Pity that these "gems" will be lost on most.

The other bit of "local knowledge", as it were, is that the main character's surname is van der Merwe (pronounced "Merver"):- v.d. Merwe is to South Africa what the Polish are to Americans and what the Irish "Murphy" was to the Brits in pre-PC days.... i.e. caricatured as the local thicko who never attained much. It was interesting see how the main character developed from the stereotype to a local "hero".
 
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I really enjoyed both movies. I have seen District 9 4 times so far and I would love to see Avatar again at the cinema. IMO 2009 was a great year for sci-fi what with these two movies and Star Trek. :)
 
Whilst Avatar was visually spectacular, I thought it was quite a predictable Hollywood blockbuster. Whereas I thought District 9 was an unusual and thought provoking film. Very violent, and gritty, but not a run of the mill film. I liked it more than Avatar.
 
Well...

We saw both. Avatar is technically amazing of course. But I wonder if it will hold it's appeal in a few years when the technology is mainstream. After all, the story, characterisation etc are not particularly amazing.
District 9 was just a wonderful funny different film with great story, dialogue, acting etc.

So that is my answer! District 9!

Phil
 
Haven't seen Avatar (have seen District 9), but I'm not sure you could compare them...
 
Haven't seen Avatar, but District 9 was superb. Having lived in South Africa during the apartheid years, it was an unusual twist to an often told story.

I have to admit that there were a few Afrikaans swear words which really made me laugh as I had forgotten all about them. Pity that these "gems" will be lost on most.

The other bit of "local knowledge", as it were, is that the main character's surname is van der Merwe (pronounced "Merver"):- v.d. Merwe is to South Africa what the Polish are to Americans and what the Irish "Murphy" was to the Brits in pre-PC days.... i.e. caricatured as the local thicko who never attained much. It was interesting see how the main character developed from the stereotype to a local "hero".

i suspect you had a perspective on this film that lifted it to a different level
 
i loved District 9.. i was blown away throughout.

I haven't seen Avatar and I don't really want to any more after all the hype has died away...crap story = crap film.
 
i loved District 9.. i was blown away throughout.

I haven't seen Avatar and I don't really want to any more after all the hype has died away...crap story = crap film.

It's worth seeing just for the visual aspects, but sadly lacking in story and dialogue. A bit like Assassin's Creed - visually stunning, but they forgot to add in the gameplay to go with it.
 
It's worth seeing just for the visual aspects, but sadly lacking in story and dialogue. A bit like Assassin's Creed - visually stunning, but they forgot to add in the gameplay to go with it.

I would like to compare it with a video game but the video game visuals aren't as good
 
'District 9' is by far the better film. It's darkly comic, witty, thought-provoking and well-written. 'Avatar' is none of these.
 
I thought this was GC?
 
I'm still waiting to see District 9 (its on my blockbuster online list), but I saw Avatar and agree with what people are saying. It looks incredible and presents the most technically detailed and beautiful depiction of an alien planet so far, and the final battle is truly epic.

But the story is a cookie cutter 'white man meets the natives' story that we've seen a hundred times before:
'Cynical white man meets the Na'vi/ Samurai/ Native American tribe (which includes an elderly leader, a beautiful girl and an angry, hotheaded young warrior). They dont like him at first but he slowly gains their trust and falls in love with the native girl, before the other whites cause him to break their trust so he has to redeem himelf by leading the tribe in battle against his own people during the climactic conflict'.

Consequently, there are no surprises in the film at all- its so 'join the dots' its almost insulting.

Another irritation is that Cameron doesn't seem to care about explaining the scientific wonders of Pandora- he thinks the audience prefer spirituality and mysticism and reduces the scientists in the film to mere 'sample collectors'.
 
And I'd be more inclined to watch a sequel to District 9 than Avatar.
 
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I really enjoyed Avatar, seen it twice now the first was with the wife & children. Everyone loved it, it was the talk of the house for days. This was naturally due in large doses to the whols visual feast, but we have collectively never enjoyed a film as much as Avatar.

Yes the story/plot has done a few laps before, very few original scripts exist these days and even if they do its no guaranteed pre-cursor for it to be a good film.

District 9 was also a enjoyable film, both hold their own, have their place in their respected genres.

Sid
 
I really enjoyed Avatar, seen it twice now the first was with the wife & children. Everyone loved it, it was the talk of the house for days. This was naturally due in large doses to the whols visual feast, but we have collectively never enjoyed a film as much as Avatar.

Yes the story/plot has done a few laps before, very few original scripts exist these days and even if they do its no guaranteed pre-cursor for it to be a good film.

District 9 was also a enjoyable film, both hold their own, have their place in their respected genres.

Sid
I agree. I thoroughly enjoyed Avatar and District 9, despite both having flaws. I enjoyed the central love story of Avatar, and it gave a convincing enough core around which all the action unfolded. And the world of Pandora was - at times - mesmerising. Yes, the plot has been done before, but that's like saying you didn't like The Magnificent Seven because Kurosawa did it first.

District 9 was thought-provoking, spectacularly violent (in the literal sense - I can't recall ever seeing so many over-the-top deaths. This is a good thing, by the way :D), but ultimately pulled its punches - it could've been more political, more provocative, but instead chose the easier option of all-out action stunts for the latter half of the film.

Basically, my point is this: I thoroughly enjoyed both, and would watch either of them again quite happily; I don't prefer one to the other. Neither is perfect, though.
 
itchin to see avatar, but skint at moment. sorry i dont agree but i thought district 9 was quite poor!:thumbsdow

Yep agree, District 9 had a pretty duff storyline and script, unfortunately exactly the same can be said about Avatar, spectacular visuals though in some respects.

This is a wooden spoon vote in my opinion.
 
'District 9' is by far the better film. It's darkly comic, witty, thought-provoking and well-written. 'Avatar' is none of these.

Whatever the question is in District 9, the answer is Prawn DNA. Seriously dodgy storyline in my book, the trailer was a miss-sell of the actual film. It was witty in parts i'll grant that.
 

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