'Elysium' Trailer Is Coming After Your Ivory Tower

Are you ready for some heavy, thematically dense science fiction in the guise of a kick ass action vehicle? So are we. Now we have the first trailer “District 9” director Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming “Elysium” to gawk at. And it is good. 

Check it out for yourself after the break.

Infused with Blomkamp’s previous ideas of class conflict and technology run wild, “Elysium” imagines a world where the rich live high above the surface of the Earth, while the rest of us are left to toil in dirt and squalor. Well one every-man is about to change all of that.

The effects and visuals in this trailer are stunning, and when you factor the cast that includes Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Sharlto Copley—who looks like a crazy as Mad Max character—things get even intriguing. This trailer doesn’t tell much about the story, but with all the action here, you won’t miss that for now.

If you’re really hung up on the plot thing, here’s the synopsis:

In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the planet’s crime and poverty, and they critically need the state-of-the-art medical care available on Elysium – but some in Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens’ luxurious lifestyle. The only man with the chance bring equality to these worlds is Max, an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.

The film also stars William Fichtner, Michael Shanks, Diego Luna, Alice Braga, Faran Tahir, Carly Pope, Talisa Soto, Ona Grauer, and Terry Chen.

We still have some time to wait—“Elysium” doesn’t hit theaters until August 9, 2013—but the film promises to be worth the wait.