Alive in Joburg

I very much liked this, Blomkamp obviously has a lot of potential. The blend of documentary and sci-fi is well done and interesting. Gets my recommendation, with District 9 coming out I can't wait to see where Blomkamp's bright future will take him.

Interesting short (very short!) film that makes its statement quite simply, although the soundtrack makes it far too solemn. Worth the brief time it takes to watch it.

An auspicious and propitious effort by dilettante Canadian filmmaker Neill Blomkamp. He has a lot of capabilities and possibilities of success heading into District 9, and I hope he can pull it off.

Relies a little too much on the gimmick of putting sci-fi elements in gritty, documentary-style footage.

A great opening scene especially, with some fantastic, moody music. It's built on an interesting and original idea and it delivers as well. Yeah, the alien suit is a little wonky/fake looking but I'm assuming Neill didn't have a massive budget... and even so, the fact it's so clunky and unlike anything in this world adds to effect a bit.

There's potential but that's about it.

Really cool to see the sketch of the film that was to come...

I probably would have got more out of this had I seen it before I saw District 9. Now it exists as an interesting look at what spawned a feature film a loved.

It's a nice promo/starting point for what would become District 9

An interesting premise, but felt like a demo that was trying to sell this premise as it brings up a lot of different ideas and never explores any of them

7- recommended, good

Considering I've seen this short after watching District 9, I can't think of it as anything more than a demo for the feature length movie. A pretty good demo, but nothing more.

All the social commentary of District 9, compressed into six well-made, thought-provoking minutes.

In its way, it might actually be even better than the feature it turned into.

When taken on its own, not all that interesting.

Curta que deu origem ao filme District 9, gostei mais desse curta-metragem que do longa, os aliens são bem mais "reais", assim como os atores.

Very nice atmosphere and visuals.

Cute South African short film that would become the genesis of the feature length District 9. Great special effects for a short, but zero narrative, and subject matter that begs for a longer treatment (which it eventually got). Regarding Blomkamp's short films, I prefer his Halo shorts, but Alive in Joburg is at least interesting for its now historical significance.

More of a proof-of-concept for D9 than a short of its own, really.

Felt incomplete, left a lot of questions. Hopefully District 9 will fill those in and do a better job.

Some shots resemble video game cut scenes (but apparently, you don't know what's real and what's CGI in "District 9"). Many films already tackled the issue of coexistence, but this one manages to add something new.