Elysium [DVD] [2013]

District 9 [DVD] [2009 ] writer/director Neill Blomkamp brings us a new movie. Which is also near future set science fiction. And which shows how the world could be in years to come should the gap between rich and poor get even wider.In this near future, the rich have dealt with pollution and other problems that effect the planet by getting away from it. They live in a space habitat called Elysium. A luxury city in near Earth orbit, where the dwellings are high class and all illnesses are quickly and easily cured.Life is good for residents.It's not so good for those who still live on the Earth. A place of run down cities and robot police, where the rich from Elysium control the workforce. Putting people before profit.Max [Matt Damon] grew up in an orphanage, and was entranced then by dreams of Elysium and the possibility of getting there. He and a girl orphan became best friends and shared the same dream.Flash forward to the realities and mundanetities of adult life. When both are struggling to get by and Elysium is further away than ever. Max is trying to keep on the straight and narrow and not fall back into a criminal lifestyle. When a workplace accident leaves him in a critical condition, he has to do whatever it takes to help his soulmate. And get to the city of his dreams.Trouble is, a ruthless official on Elysium [Jodie Foster] would rather those from Earth never got there. And she has a ruthless mercenary called Kruger [Sharlto Copley. Wikus in District 9] to help her make sure that happens...This starts very promisingly, making great points about childhood dreams and how such slip away as you grow up. It also sets up a very convincing future society. There's lots of great little details to show this. There are many obvious metaphors about certain political issues as well. None of which are overstated.But once it's done all that, it doesn't have anywhere to go other than to become an action movie. As an action movie, it's not bad. But that takes away from the setting and the set up. We never get to see too much of Elysium itself, and certain moments there that could be powerful emotionally never quite have the impact because it's more concerned with the action.A bigger problem is the characters. All the actors are fine, and all the characters are believable. But Kruger, thanks to another charismatic performance from Sharlto Copley, is the only one who really makes an impression. Max is meant to be an everyman, which is a fine approach, but compared to Wikus from District 9, he's just too average a character and not really very memorable.As an action film this is fine. As a bit of near future science fiction it has it's moments. But overall it just doesn't have the impact District 9 did, and it isn't likely to stick in the memory for as long. There's a fair amount to admire about it though, and Blomkamp does remain a director to watch.The dvd has the following language and subtitle options:Languages: English, German.Subtitles: English, German, Hindi, Polish, Turkish.The disc begins with a short anti piracy advert. Which can be skipped via the next button on the dvd remote. There are no trailers at the start of it. These can be found in the previews section of the extras. Which contains a generic blu ray trailer and a couple of unrelated movie ones.There are two featurettes:Collaboration: crafting the performances in Elysium. Which runs for thirteen minutes and is about the casting and the acting.Engineering utopia: creating a city in the sky. Which runs for eleven minutes and is about the design of Elysium.Both of these are very good viewing, the former among other things mentioning one little bit of movie history the film creates. And the latter giving some good advice on designing science fiction setting.There's also the usual flyer with link to website and code that you can use to download digital copy of the film.

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An excellent portrayal of what is possible in the future. Consider the extreme difference between the world's richest and the rest. As technology develops further it is quite possible that the super rich could build orbiting environments (Elysium) where they could live avoiding the horror of massive overpopulation on earth, terrible pollution beyond anything we have today even in China, most of the population living in hovels like the ghettos of Rio or Johannesburg. This film considers such a possibility. It also shows how much life becomes totally empty of value when the population is so vast.Matt Damon, an ordinary worker with a rough and not so good past works at a factory building robots. He like many are regularly accosted by android policemen who treat non-citizens basically like trash. He tries to complain to the local robotic help which provides no help at all and when in a dangerous situation at work he is exposed to high levels of radiation and has 5 days to live. Desperate to get to Elysium where medical care and technology is, to say the least, incredible he promises to do anything for a criminal element. His job, obtain secret information downloaded into the head of a corporation just about to leave for Elysium.The idea was excellent and carries on the approach used so successfully in "District 9". I very much liked the idea although felt that the violence was very graphic a little overdone in the action sequences. Nonetheless a good film.

I liked this; Elysium is a popcorn sci-fi movie, a noisy, dystopian, futuristic vision where the elite live on a massive orbiting space habitat and everyone else lives in drudgery on a run-down, squalid Earth.Max (Matt Damon) has to get to Elysium following an industrial accident which leads to him agreeing to work with a group of people-smugglers which begins a roller-coaster ride of action, shoot-outs and confrontation with those who run Elysium.It's an imaginatively designed film full of special effects, CGI and set-piece scenes; the plot is convoluted but clear-cut along an obvious social struggle, with Kruger (Sharlto Copley) as Elysium`s psychotic agent and Max`s nemesis.Unlike some reviewers I wasn't in the least troubled by Jodie Foster's performance – but you can judge that aspect for yourself.This is a pretty good film taken on it's own terms - it's engaging, entertaining and visually impressive.The DVD release presents a good clear digital transfer of the movie in 16x9 ratio with the subtitles as listed in the product description above.There are two short “making of “documentaries included as extras.

A great masterpiece that has your mind on the go, Cast are terrific and storyline is just as good so where can you go wrong. We have the rich and the underdogs so one has got nothing to lose by trying everything and everyway getting to what they want. The only thing is you have a slight problem and that is you need to have a space craft to achieve your goal, make the flight or die trying is the motto.The effects are fantastic that will make you sit up with envy to that I rated this an A grade plus for continuing action every which way that you wont move for fear of missing something. Now telling more will spoil it so I will let you plunder on that and think but not for to long as we don't want you to get a headache. Fast and delivering exploding ideas that you will be wrapped up so much once you start watching you'll forget everything else so I suggest you collect the popcorn run to the lounge put your feet up ready for a fabulous night of entertainment you wont regret and than you can pass on what you think to others. Enjoy!