Rakka (2017) User Reviews

Rakka: More goodness from Oats Studios

[Platypuschow · 6/10 · 29 August 2017]

Another fantastic short film from Oats Studios bringing prestige to short films with immense budgets, top stars and competent creation.

Here we follow survivors during an alien apocalypse, after a mass genocide the last of mankind struggle to fight back.

Starring Sigourney Weaver and looking like a AAA movie this is a very enjoyable feature.

But here is the problem, it feels like a scene from a movie and nothing else. Making a short film with such an epic premise was ultimately doomed to struggle and this has no beginning and no end.

Regardless it's very enjoyable but this simply isn't what short films are made for.

The Good:

Fantastic production values

Everything just looks amazing

Brilliant introduction

The Bad:

Feels incomplete due to it's limited length

Amazing movie best 22 minutes I have spent watching something on screen!!

[gautam-devil1 · 8/10 · 22 June 2017]

WOW, just WOW. This move will get you hooked within 30 seconds of its start. If you are a fan of alien sci-fi movies you need to watch this. I was impressed with the idea of the director to release this as a kick starter type project where you can purchase the movie after you have liked it. The end will make you crave for when do these guys come out with the next part.

The CG and the VFX are amazing. The fact that you can watch this movie on YouTube in HD makes you wanna buy this movie. It's not a complete movie but just an episode so you might not like that you didn't get to see the end.

Do buy the movie if you like it and support this kind of cinema. Kudos to the team who worked on this. Can't wait for the next part

Better than anything I have seen this year!

[omendata · 7/10 · 13 March 2020]

Wow what an epic short - This has to be one of the best things I have seen this year Neil Blomkamp is a true visionary director and should be making blockbuster movies such is his vision and skill. Easily a modern day Ridley Scott or John Carpenter and he should be recognised by the industry as such. Hope Neil brings this out as a full blown movie or virtually any of his amazing short films. Sigourney is also back with a vengeance - she has been sorely missed!

"Do Not Be Afraid!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 20 July 2019]

RAKKA is Director, Neill Blomkamp's gloriously grisly, post-apocalyptic short film. Sigourney Weaver adds heft to the project, but it would be fantastic anyway! Blomkamp has a bleak, yet mesmerizing imagination, offering a new take on well-worn subject matter. The humans are convincingly desperate and committed to their survival, and the aliens are truly threatening and utterly merciless. With nods to past films such as THE TERMINATOR, PREDATOR, ROAD WARRIOR, etc., RAKKA still manages to be completely original...

amazing vfx

[JamieMarsTheFanFilmMaster · 6/10 · 3 August 2021]

The CG and the VFX are amazing. The fact that you can watch this movie on YouTube in HD makes you wanna buy this movie. It's not a complete movie but just an episode so you might not like that you didn't get to see the end.

Great story

[michaelgreen-67831 · 10/10 · 3 December 2017]

I stumbled across this and would pay to see a full length movie. Excellent character set up. Always a Weaver fan. Great creature creation with better than expected special effects Any info on if or when the remainder of the story will be told will be golden That's all. Cheers

Blomkamp's newest take on alien invasion

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 19 June 2017]

"Rakka" is a really new movie from this year (2017) that runs for 22 minutes and was released on Youtube just a couple days ago where it already racked up over a million clicks. The writer and director is South African Neill Blomkamp and once again he tells us about a fictitious alien invasion. This is partially true only though as it is really much more about humans dealing with the invasion than about the way the aliens got to Earth. Similar to "District 9", a film i really enjoy very much. This one here is not on the same level, but still fairly well-done. The difference to the film I just mentioned is that this time the aliens are really evil and they possess the means to control humans' minds and let humans act the way they want them to. In order to oppose this mind control, humans need to improve their own scientific research and there is talk about applications that manage to keep the minds intact. Overall, this was a fairly decent film. Visually, of course it is top-notch as always with Blomkamp. The most known cast member is 3-time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver here and I liked her partially. I could have done without her in the battle scenes to be honest towards the end, but the scene where she talks to the guy they saved from the aliens was well-done. The best part of the film, in my opinion though, was the introduction, the very first act with the bomb explosion and talk about conservatory. Blomkamp is really really strong usually in his films when it comes to introducing us to the scenario and world this film is set in and this short film here is no exception. All in all a pretty good watch, especially if you like SciFi more than I do. I give it a thumbs-up. On a final side-note, this is the maiden projects by Oats Studios, Blomkamp's new production company that seems to be focused on movies with a brief runtime especially, so we may get more strong quality short films from these guys in the future. Would not be a surprise as Blomkamp was a prolific and successful short film director early in his career. Overall, "Rakka" is a film that also would have worked (maybe even will be remade) as a full feature film I think. Go see it.

Excellent

[charlesculpepper · 10/10 · 24 June 2017]

I can't express just how blown away I was by this. I think it would make an awesome full movie. Alien was a great series, I think this could be better and Sigourney Weaver is a perfect fit for it.

Oh and um, please, make a PC based video game for it. I'd buy it in a minute.

great effects and concept, but way too much whispered narration and drawn out scenes

[jdring2007 · 7/10 · 26 October 2021]

You'd figure that a 20min short film wouldn't waste a second. Especially with such an interesting, awesome, and compelling concept as this. Instead, we get at least 10min of drawn out dramatic cinematography (if it can be called that) plastered with whispered narration that feels gratuitous after the first two minutes. I get needing context and exposition; the first few minutes serves as that. But it's beaten down, torturously, as we proceed to watch - or try to watch - incredibly engaging visuals. With the narration so distracting, I nearly stopped with only 10min left. Part 3 is called "Siege" and begins with military guys preparing to move out. So, action, right? Not yet. More narration. Eventually (the last 4min) we get to some footage of these amazingly created creatures, these crocodilian aliens and their technology, which is where the short film shines. Unfortunately I think about 16 of the 21min was narrated by this whispering woman. If this prologue of sorts ever makes it into a full movie, I can only hope that 80% of a 2 hour movie won't be plagued by such a decision.

Fantastic visuals, potential 10/10

[dazjam · 9/10 · 30 June 2017]

Wow!The fantasy visuals are fantastic in a hideous Blomkamp style. Seeing what has been done here reaffirms he should have been handed the keys to Alien and allowed to bring imagination and creativity back to a franchise that has, seemingly, been sold down the river. Money men and, apparently, Ridley Scott himself are OK with remixing what's gone before with unlovable characters and scripts bordering on laughable. Hopefully the old fart will retire before long. That said, though the eagerly-anticipated Aliens follow-up is currently dead, a massive shame no doubt, this could well be the start of something even better. This new alien/human conflict concept is exciting.... Sure, it's a short with a limited purse so it has minor shortcomings, slightly rough edges but just imagine if it had a full budget and Sigourney in a lead role. Happy times, fingers crossed!

Average at Best - Don't Believe the Hyped Reviews

[BornKnight · 6/10 · 3 October 2021]

Positive Points: decent FX, decent prosthetics, famous names in the casting;

Negative Points: cheesy and usual plot, already done to exhaustion (without any thing fresh here), bad lines even with good casting, some action scenes are just bad, looks like a bad B movie from SyFy Channel;

Ok, I get it is an independent low budget movie from the studio of Neill Blomkamp (the director and writer of District 9 and Elysium), but this formula again is way too common and so is the plot.

Nothing new around here, and sadly nothing really well done just the average post-apocalyptic alien invasion / human resistance movie.

It is a 6,0 out of 10 - don't believe the hardcore fans (or production families and friends?) scores.

Fan-f**king-tastic

[ronnievanrijswijk · 8/10 · 18 December 2017]

A fantastic short film by the creator of District 9, Elysium and Chappie. This short shows us a destroyed world which has been taken over by mutant lizards, the unlucky ones are being used as laboratory animals or slaves. Those who menaged to survive, start a war against the enemy. The whole film is probably meant as a demonstration of Mr Blomkamp's cinematic talent, because it's simply to awesome to do nothing more with this project. I absolutely hope that it will turn into a feature film some day, i can only say look it up. And you will know where i'm talking about, give Blomkamp a decent budget to realize this project.

Just another blomkamp movie.

[Prophet89 · 6/10 · 25 October 2021]

There is literal zero original ideas in this. And you could put those scenes in any blomkamp movie and most people wouldn't even notice. Also, what is with him and the metaphorical messages crammed in those as subtly as driving a tank through your living room? I mean, those are so on the nose I felt mine's gonna start to bleed. Same was with Elysium (powerful vs. Underdog) , District 9 (apartheid, racism), and so on. Here it's so obvious, it feels like an edu-film made for schools. Why people keep swallowing those movies if they are nearly identical? Also, the scene writing is usually at a teen-nerd level, I am not even exaggerating here. I gave it six out of ten, because the production value and the actors/acting were good, but overall if you saw any Blomkamp movie before, don't waste your time.

Did I Miss Something?

[bigbadbassface · 3/10 · 8 October 2021]

This is one of those times where I wish IMDb allowed us to comment on each other's reviews. I'm really at a loss as to why this is rated so highly. Special effects were great but beyond that it felt like a really long trailer, and a slow one at that. We learned nothing about any characters, and with the alien's telepathy it seems like they would have wiped out humans in a matter of days. There was no discernible plot and it went nowhere. Both my wife and I couldn't believe how long this made the 20 minutes feel. Maybe I'm missing something...

Great but plot is too general

[yu-85167 · 7/10 · 23 March 2018]

(1.0) Plot... too common, reminding me of Terminater 4 and other alien invasion films. (2.0) Acting... good (2.0) Sounds... good (2.5) Visual... camerawork, CGI, slowmotion, all awesome

Would be a great full feature

[darrel076 · 10/10 · 26 March 2021]

This story, although short, has a lot going on. What most can't get done in 90 min ,we see in 9 min. I love the dystopia genre ,and this is a blueprint. Not the first of it's kind, yet very unique.

Well done

[gianmarcoronconi · 7/10 · 22 January 2022]

Well done and well developed horror short that is very entertaining. Too bad that in general it is not very original as a short because it deals with a theme already extensively treated in an unoriginal way.

Give me more!!!

[lawesy-83036 · 8/10 · 12 October 2021]

Love the Alien invasion genre. If he started from scratch. Created the world before, the invasion. Generated characters that viewers care about. Then boy, would we have a great show. Needs to add something special/different. As they're lots of invasion style ideas out there already. Don't tease me with 21 minutes, then move on to something else!! This should absolutely be his number 1 project.

Rakka is a scifi short from Oats Studios

[truerock2 · 7/10 · 1 December 2021]

Rakka is probably one of the best shorts to come out of Oats Studios.

Sigourney Weaver has a main role and is one of the main reasons Rakka is better than other Oats Studios shorts.

Excellent

[giannissol · 10/10 · 2 October 2021]

I would definitely pay to see a whole movie about it...

I need this

[markvanwasbeek · 9/10 · 2 October 2021]

To be a full feature movie. This was absolutely mindblowing and deserves further exploration. This could even be a mini series! Pleassseee Mr Blomkamp:)

Rather extensive commercial than short movie

[betadron · 5/10 · 4 July 2017]

I'll be THAT guy, who gives one of the rare thumbs-down. A lot of people, who have watched RAKKA for free on Youtube, Steam, etc. have commented: "How is this free?". Well, commercials usually are, even if they are high-profile, expensive short-movie-with-popular-actors commercials.

I got introduced to the art of Mr. Blomkamp by his early and absolutely brilliant short movies "Tetra Vaal" (which "Chappie" was later based on) and "Alive in JoBurg" (turned into "District 9"). Those movies did not only display technological proficiency by a very young, very talented film student, but more important: originality. I consider "District 9" to be one of the most remarkable sci-fi movies ever made, setting a very high bar, especially for the director himself.

"Rakka" leaves me with the impression that either this bar might be difficult to reach for Blomkamp, or he didn't intend to create something genuine, rather a 22-minute exposition vehicle to demonstrate the capabilities of his own production company. In this regard, "Rakka" excels impressively. It's a tour-de-VFX with stunning, emotionally appealing visuals and CGI designs, altogether recommending Oats Studios for three-digit million dollar heavy Hollywood productions.

But as for the story and it's narrative, it is tedious and uninspired. Let's look at the checklist:

✔ aliens invade earth to destroy everything and exterminate humanity ✔ aliens invade earth to harvest terrestrial resources ✔ aliens probably trying to colonize earth, hence aforementioned measures ✔ humanoid aliens ✔ human survivor resistance ✔ everything exciting exclusively happens in the United States ✔ the obligatory tough guy ✔ the obligatory crazy guy ✔ the obligatory wasted-in-his-first-scene guy ✔ the obligatory female heroine(s) ✔ the obligatory chosen one ✔ alien thought- and mind-control ✔ alien omnipotence, spoiled by a ridiculously exploitable weakness

Unfortunately, this is not the "things I've NEVER seen a dozen times before" list. Especially the setting that is revealed within the first minute reminded me of the series "Falling Skies". I've grown tired of predictable stories like that, where aliens are actually a mere projection of all evil that humanity is capable doing to itself (without any alien intervention). Nice allegory, but this horse has been beaten to death more than once already.

I can only hope and wish that Mr. Blomkamp doesn't turn into a Ridley Scott like director - someone with a great instinct for powerful visuals, but in desperate need of good writers.

Impressive effects and world, although the allegory is a bit uneasy

[bob the moo · 15 July 2017]

Rakka is one of several new sci-fi short films from Neill Blomkamp; seemingly all very well resourced and with a lot of ambition. Rakka creates an entire world in a very short period of time – one where lizard-esque aliens have taken over Earth and crushed humanity, apart from very small patches of resistance. The short is in three chapters, and ends in a way to feel like it is a proof-of-concept for something bigger, but at the same time it is pretty satisfying.

The narrative is not really where that occurs, because it is a sci- fi idea that has been done many times with different beasts or robots in the lead role. However the world that the film creates in a short time is fascinating – from the ideas around the aliens, the nature of the resistance, the experiments conducted, and of course just how impressive and committed the visual elements are. All of this is polished very well, leading the film to feel much bigger than it is. The downside of the short running time is that it perhaps doesn't fully satisfying – in particular I thought the ending could have been a bit less open than it was – not for the wider story, but just for this 20 minutes.

In terms of that polish; visually it is very impressive, with great design, sound, music, and atmosphere. The effects are impressive (not "for a short film" but just impressive), and of course having someone like Sigourney Weaver in your lead role can only help. There was one element that gave me pause though, and it was the way the film put the humans into the role of terrorists but yet didn't make that horrific or seem like a terrible but unavoidable cost. It is not an unique idea (Battlestar Galactica did it in its third season), but here the imagery is so clear (beheading, suicide vests) that it is an unavoidable meaning and connection to groups like ISIS, that it is a weird feeling that the film just lets it happen.

This aside, it is an impressive sci-fi short, with lots of polish, ideas, atmosphere, and potential.

WOW!!!!

[kvt-91198 · 10/10 · 18 March 2020]

Make this a movie, or a series, a web series, anything, just give us more!!!!!!!!!

AMAZING!!

[lora-48700 · 10/10 · 10 October 2021]

WOW. This apocalyptic world is amazing, the aliens, their structures, the technology, their powers are so interesting, it blew my mind. Please make a full length version, I wanna know what that fairy apparition was all about!!