Audience Member
With its decent production values given Neill Blomkamp's fairly limited resources at the time and solid premise when it comes to the way it discusses apartheid, Alive in Joburg provides a pretty darn good prototype for the movie that would become the sci-fi mockumentary classic, District 9.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This is a very interesting short film that would obviously go on to inspire the critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated, 'District 9' and for something that is just about 6 minutes long, it's quite thought provoking. We get a little glimpse into a very different world and while we only see a little bit of it, probably for production reasons, it works well to its advantage and really conveys a powerful theme. Sharlto Copley makes an appearance, which is great and it even has the same music style that would go on to be used in the feature film. I also liked how the title was shown a few minutes in, even though I thought that was kind of funny because it seemed so close to the end but this was actually a good length. The visuals are dirty and grimy and it really sells everything that is going on, we learn a lot about the aliens and people's reactions to them and when the credits roll around I was left thinking about a few things.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
"We don't want to be here, this place doesn't want us... we have nothing, nothing."
I feel like Neil Blomkamp has been receiving a lot of criticism lately for Elysium and Chappie, but there is no doubt in my mind that much of that has to do with how much expectations we put on him after delivering one of the better sci-fi pics of the decade, District 9. His style hasn't changed much, but of course the social commentary from that film hasn't had the same impact in his most recent films. In 2005 Blomkamp made an interesting short that would later be the basis for his feature film District 9. In Alive in Joburg he already had the social commentary of the story worked out through this documentary style film making and even had Sharlto Copley play a small role in a film he would later star in (and which would change his career). The social commentary here is just as sharp as in District 9, and Neil actually incorporated interviews of many South Africans referring to Zimbabwean refugees in real life which in the short are made to be referring to the aliens that have invaded Johannesburg. It is a clear metaphor of racism and division of social classes (referring to South Africa's Apartheid era). It's also impressive to see some of the special effects here, which look great for a film shot on such a low budget. So impressive that it caught Peter Jackson's attention at the time who wanted Neil to direct the screenplay adaptation of Halo, but the project was later shelved. I'm glad Blomkamp was given the funds to expand this small film into a full feature length movie, because it turned out to be one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade: District 9.
http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
Audience Member
"We don't want to be here, this place doesn't want us... we have nothing, nothing."
I feel like Neil Blomkamp has been receiving a lot of criticism lately for Elysium and Chappie, but there is no doubt in my mind that much of that has to do with how much expectations we put on him after delivering one of the better sci-fi pics of the decade, District 9. His style hasn't changed much, but of course the social commentary from that film hasn't had the same impact in his most recent films. In 2005 Blomkamp made an interesting short that would later be the basis for his feature film District 9. In Alive in Joburg he already had the social commentary of the story worked out through this documentary style film making and even had Sharlto Copley play a small role in a film he would later star in (and which would change his career). The social commentary here is just as sharp as in District 9, and Neil actually incorporated interviews of many South Africans referring to Zimbabwean refugees in real life which in the short are made to be referring to the aliens that have invaded Johannesburg. It is a clear metaphor of racism and division of social classes (referring to South Africa's Apartheid era). It's also impressive to see some of the special effects here, which look great for a film shot on such a low budget. So impressive that it caught Peter Jackson's attention at the time who wanted Neil to direct the screenplay adaptation of Halo, but the project was later shelved. I'm glad Blomkamp was given the funds to expand this small film into a full feature length movie, because it turned out to be one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade: District 9.
http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The mockumentary sci-fi short that spawned the superb 'District 9' - stunningly conceived.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
Audience Member
An interesting sci-fi short by Neill Blomkamp -- who would later develop this original concept into the fantastic ''District 9.'' What I really love about this film is that - for once - the aliens choose somewhere else than the USA to land, the low-budget visuals, the convincing prosthetic aliens (rather than your usual CGI aliens), the documentary-style of filming (which makes it feel realistic) and the social commentary (Wikipedia: ''All of the interview statements which do not explicitly mention extraterrestrials were taken from authentic interviews with many South Africans who had been asked their opinions of Zimbabwean refugees''). Everything is just nicely put together during the 6 minute run time.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
Full Review
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