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Holy Balls. The first two Alien movies are amazing.

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Ultima_5 said:
Oh easily. They held up amazingly. I wasn't bothered by any of the special effects

Both films are older than me.
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Really? The effects of the Nostromo entering the planet atmosphere/landing are pretty jarring and do not hold up well at all. It kind of took me out of the movie for a few seconds on my first bluray viewing. Everything but the flying effects hold up I'd say.

There is another shot that is really creepy but definitely has outdated effects. The alien is approaching for a kill and it looks like they just put a puppet of it on a wagon and pulled it across the floor slowly, dam thing looked like it was floating towards them.
 
Memphis Reigns said:
Really? The effects of the Nostromo entering the planet atmosphere/landing are pretty jarring and do not hold up well at all. It kind of took me out of the movie for a few seconds on my first bluray viewing. Everything but the flying effects hold up I'd say.

There is another shot that is really creepy but definitely has outdated effects. The alien is approaching for a kill and it looks like they just put a puppet of it on a wagon and pulled it across the floor slowly, dam thing looked like it was floating towards them.
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Do you mean the scene where it's approaching Lambert and we only see it from about the waist up?
 
Scullibundo said:
You're a funny guy.
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How is Salvation any worse than any of the Terminator EU content such as the novels, games, the universal studios attraction, and the Dark Horse comic series?? and I seriously enjoyed it way more than part 3 which I felt was just really dumb ("talk to da hand?") T3 was like a parody you would see in Simpsons.
 
I personally think "genre" is only useful in setting the audience's expectations appropriately. People want to know what they're getting into. Beyond that, I don't see the point of dividing things up into clearly defined types.

Then you get nut-jobs like Chichikov who say things like "It's only sci-fi if it's bad. If it's good, it's no longer sci-fi", and writers like Gene Wolfe get passed over for Pulitzer nominations, and all sorts of horrible shit happens.

I'm all about a genre-free future.
 
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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Daaaaaaaaaaamn.
 
Reading this thread, I don't feel bad that I never saw T3 or Salvation.

Ans sxulli, most people still love Aliens, they just aren't willing to praise it as much as you or ignore its flaws.
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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As someone who considers himself a bit of a connoisseur of straight-to-dvd, b-grade pieces of shit i'm gonna have to disagree with you there. It isn't as good as the first 2 movies but it's not that bad.
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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Hyperbole.
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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You don't know what "Straight-to-DVD b-grade piece of shit" is if you haven't seen "Bikini Girls on Ice" on Netflix streaming. hint:
It is not as good as the title suggests
 
Alien 3 is a terrible movie, a non-entity, and I have no words for anyone that prefers it to the first two.
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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So did you like it?
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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I'm *this* close to pulling the trigger on the blu-ray anthology, rather than picking up Alien and Aliens as stand-alones. Are the documentaries worth it? Odds are slim I'd ever put Alien 3 or Resurrection in the player.
 
I feel like the beginning of the original/theatrical version of Aliens 3 was far better (the way they find Ripley and the Xenomorph bursting out from the dog). But there are some additional scenes in the Special Edition/Assembly Cut Edition that explains some things and improves the flow of the movie. I wish they'd keep the beginning instead of changing it completely (for the worse in my opinion) and it would have been an even better movie. Aliens 3 is without a doubt a letdown from the previous titles, but I am still a fan of it because of the dark and depressing atmosphere it brought back which was more similar to the first movie in the series. One thing I hated rewatching Aliens 3 though is the awful special effects (especially the Xenomorph) which looked great 15 years ago, but looks awful and far worse than the previous movies.
 
I only saw Alien 3 once, in theaters, but what I recall is that it was slow but good for 30-40 minutes, and then it turned into a particularly dumb/sloppy action movie not worth the pedigree.

It's like you can tell where in the process the studio stepped in and said "change this."
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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Let us know how you really feel, don't hold back.
I disagree with you, (and prefer 3 to the others) but I don't hate on Aliens either, so we're at an impasse it would seem
 
I like Alien 3, not on the same league as Alien, but settings, photography and composition always made a good impression to me. Too bad the story behind of this movie is so messed.
 
Aliens is my favorite movie ever and Alien is one of my favorite movies ever.

Prometheus had better deliver. It had better not just be movie of the summer, it needs to be one of the best science fiction movies ever.
 
Nappuccino said:
That and no one really seemed to believe Ripley until it was too late.
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this is where I'm confused, so hopefully someone can clear this up.

The board of directors (or whatever they are) early on in ALIENS. They are Weyland-Yutani reps, right?

Or not?

Didn't Weyland, via Ash & Mother, intentionally have the Nostromo (in Alien) key in on LV426's derelict craft's distress signal? So Weyland must have had some idea of what was down on the planet. Ash intentionally does all he can to ensure that the organism gets on board... and stays on board.

So was the Hadley Hope colony in ALIENS really just a massive experiment by WY to see how the organism could effect a larger group of people in a more isolated (i.e. not Earth) setting? I can't remember- did Newt's parents randomly find the derelict or were they sent out there?
The company's fear for the colonists' well-being, thus sending the colonial marines to investigate, definitely seems to contradict that. I find it hard to believe the company would be that ignorant of it after the Nostromo incident. Ash must have been processing information back to his handlers. It also took the company 50+ years (can't remember the exact length) to get humans, and an entire processing plant construction no less, on the same exact planetoid.

:/
 
Scullibundo said:
So I just watched Alien 3 for the first time in many years since the blu quadrilogy just arrived.

And I have to say I'm quite surprised. The film was much worse than I remembered it being. It really is like a straight-to-dvd, b-grade piece of shit at best. Anybody who prefers Alien 3 and then tells me there are some shocking pieces of dialogue in Aliens can bite the curb and wait for me to lace up.
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alien3005ywktp.jpg


Chill out, Sculli, and have a cool, refreshing bottle of coca cola. We can have a chat over a few.

Was it the workprint or theatrical?

Did you realise Pete Postlethwaite is in it? Because he automatically makes anything A-grade. Like, I really hated The Lost World: Jurassic Park, but then years later as an adult I knew who Pete Postlethwaite was and I realised I had been wrong about The Lost World all along.

What did you think of the camera work? It's not exemplary but it has a wonderful sense of movement; I really liked some of those shots.

Of course, Coca Cola, so it's a bad film.

The question is, in a fight between Coca Cola and Pete Postlewaithe for the fate of Alien 3, who'd win? The excellent documentary was sadly lacking in such an analysis.
 
TheJollyCorner said:
Didn't Weyland, via Ash & Mother, intentionally have the Nostromo (in Alien) key in on LV426's derelict craft's distress signal? So Weyland must have had some idea of what was down on the planet. Ash intentionally does all he can to ensure that the organism gets on board... and stays on board.
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If Weyland had any idea there was some interesting organism on the planet ahead of time, why not just send a bunch of scientists and specialists to retrieve it? It doesn't make sense that the Company with so many resources at its disposal would rely in error-prone subterfuge instead of a more direct approach.
So was the Hadley Hope colony in ALIENS really just a massive experiment by WY to see how the organism could effect a larger group of people in a more isolated (i.e. not Earth) setting? I can't remember- did Newt's parents randomly find the derelict or were they sent out there?
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The colonists were ordered to the alien crash site after Ripley told the Company of its existence. If they Weyland already knew about it and had some ulterior motives, they wouldn't have waited so long before sending people to find it.
 
tuffy said:
If Weyland had any idea there was some interesting organism on the planet ahead of time, why not just send a bunch of scientists and specialists to retrieve it? It doesn't make sense that the Company with so many resources at its disposal would rely in error-prone subterfuge instead of a more direct approach.

The colonists were ordered to the alien crash site after Ripley told the Company of its existence. If they Weyland already knew about it and had some ulterior motives, they wouldn't have waited so long before sending people to find it.
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Unless Ripley's communication at the end of Alien is retrieved before she's picked up at the beginning of Aliens, the company knew something was on the planet, the signal was originating from something after all, as they rerouted the Nostromo to find it and had Ash added to the crew before hand in order to do so. Prometheus may shed some light on the how and why of them knowing, we'll have to wait and see.

If said company is breaking laws in order to get its hands on alien organisms, a direct approach wouldn't have worked. So either the colony is a front for cheaper shipping crates (Dick and Jane SpaceProspector are cheaper than Bill Nye the Xenomorph Specialist Guy to use as xenomorph cold storage) or the Nostromo incident had been forgotten and buried in paperwork and someone up top forgot about said signal on LV-427.
Given that Burke is in sent with the Marines, leads me to believe the former is more likely.
 
GhaleonEB said:
I'm *this* close to pulling the trigger on the blu-ray anthology, rather than picking up Alien and Aliens as stand-alones. Are the documentaries worth it? Odds are slim I'd ever put Alien 3 or Resurrection in the player.
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Well the only reason I bit the quadrilogy set is because it was cheaper than buying the first two films standalone. I do think the documentaries are very good though, so I'd say yes. $20? Can't go wrong.
 
GhaleonEB said:
I'm *this* close to pulling the trigger on the blu-ray anthology, rather than picking up Alien and Aliens as stand-alones. Are the documentaries worth it? Odds are slim I'd ever put Alien 3 or Resurrection in the player.
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I picked up Alien+Aliens on BR at Walmart for $10 each and couldn't be happier. Save your wallet the needless pain, man.
 
As for how Alien 3 was shot - I really do think the movie looks like shit. Fincher seemed to lack a lot of the subtle movement and restraint her has now. Going for really awkward zooms (like when the medic looks down into the acid-burnt pipe) and some of the most boring art design I've seen. This all contributed to what I felt was a b-grade experience. Felt like I was watching Starship Troopers 3 or something. So I have to disagree with whoever said the composition of shots in Alien 3 is good, as I found it anything but.

But all of that pales in comparison to the terribly written script. Yikes.
 
Man, if you think Alien 3 is that bad, I want to see your description of Resurrection. I've got the Quadrilogy BR, and I don't feel like I wasted any money. I never saw Alien 3 nor Resurrection prior to buying it. Alien 3 is an okay movie. Of course, it is no way comparable to either Alien or Aliens.

I'll go along with the popular sentiment here with Resurrection. It is really, really bad. It's bad as a standalone movie, and it's completely tragic that it is actually considered an Alien movie.
 
I would not watch it again. Life is too short.


I havent' found the need to rewatch Aliens even... and Alien not it about 10 years or more.
 
TheJollyCorner said:
this is where I'm confused, so hopefully someone can clear this up.

The board of directors (or whatever they are) early on in ALIENS. They are Weyland-Yutani reps, right?

Or not?

Didn't Weyland, via Ash & Mother, intentionally have the Nostromo (in Alien) key in on LV426's derelict craft's distress signal? So Weyland must have had some idea of what was down on the planet. Ash intentionally does all he can to ensure that the organism gets on board... and stays on board.

So was the Hadley Hope colony in ALIENS really just a massive experiment by WY to see how the organism could effect a larger group of people in a more isolated (i.e. not Earth) setting? I can't remember- did Newt's parents randomly find the derelict or were they sent out there?
The company's fear for the colonists' well-being, thus sending the colonial marines to investigate, definitely seems to contradict that. I find it hard to believe the company would be that ignorant of it after the Nostromo incident. Ash must have been processing information back to his handlers. It also took the company 50+ years (can't remember the exact length) to get humans, and an entire processing plant construction no less, on the same exact planetoid.

:/
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They knew there was something there (detected the signal) but not what. When they found out, through Ripley's report (if not through Ash and Mother's), they sent the colony there to basically get Alien specimens and then sent the marines to determine their battle capabilities. I think they assumed they could subdue them easily, but still use them as a weapon.

Basically, once they heard about what was on that planet they started trying to get it to use as a weapon. The colony was just a tool to that end. As for the timespan, the company is just very patient.
 
gabbo said:
Unless Ripley's communication at the end of Alien is retrieved before she's picked up at the beginning of Aliens, the company knew something was on the planet, the signal was originating from something after all, as they rerouted the Nostromo to find it and had Ash added to the crew before hand in order to do so. Prometheus may shed some light on the how and why of them knowing, we'll have to wait and see.

If said company is breaking laws in order to get its hands on alien organisms, a direct approach wouldn't have worked. So either the colony is a front for cheaper shipping crates (Dick and Jane SpaceProspector are cheaper than Bill Nye the Xenomorph Specialist Guy to use as xenomorph cold storage) or the Nostromo incident had been forgotten and buried in paperwork and someone up top forgot about said signal on LV-427.
Given that Burke is in sent with the Marines, leads me to believe the former is more likely.
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But WY didn't send the Nostromo to check out the signal, the ships crew simply intercepted the signal and went to check it out per law (remember how Brett and Parker didn't want to check out the signal unless they were able to rework their contract bonus?).

Also from the time Ripley went to sleep to when she got picked up 60 years had passed, the signal from the derelict space craft could have died long before then, the colony had only been in place a matter of years at the point of Aliens.
 
Wolfe said:
But WY didn't send the Nostromo to check out the signal, the ships crew simply intercepted the signal and went to check it out per law (remember how Brett and Parker didn't want to check out the signal unless they were able to rework their contract bonus?).

Also from the time Ripley went to sleep to when she got picked up 60 years had passed, the signal from the derelict space craft could have died long before then, the colony had only been in place a matter of years at the point of Aliens.
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Twenty years.
 
Wolfe said:
But WY didn't send the Nostromo to check out the signal, the ships crew simply intercepted the signal and went to check it out per law (remember how Brett and Parker didn't want to check out the signal unless they were able to rework their contract bonus?).

Also from the time Ripley went to sleep to when she got picked up 60 years had passed, the signal from the derelict space craft could have died long before then, the colony had only been in place a matter of years at the point of Aliens.
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The Nostromo's course back to Earth was set (or reset) to go through the system and pick up the signal. The crew didn't know where they were when they come out of hypersleep or why they were there, but WY certainly did. Until Dallas asks Mother, the crew has no idea whats going on. Parker and Brett just want more money if they're given a new assignment because they're low ranking and don't want to get shafted. Why add Ash to the crew right before this job? What do some space truckers need a new science officer for?

The signal had been there quite a while, if Prometheus' trailers are any indication, another 60 years on top of that wouldn't stop it. Twenty years is new in relative terms I suppose but that doesn't mean WY didn't knowingly send the people there as a means to obtain samples of the creatures. That Burke's job was to send frozen humans back with xenomorphs inside them means somebody up top knew what was down there and wanted it.
 
Wolfe said:
But WY didn't send the Nostromo to check out the signal, the ships crew simply intercepted the signal and went to check it out per law (remember how Brett and Parker didn't want to check out the signal unless they were able to rework their contract bonus?).
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As the previous post above this one said, yes they did. Ash and Mother confirm that the ship was deliberately sent on a diversionary route to investigate, and that Ash was required to bring back samples of alien life if found at the expense of the crew.
 
MrToughPants said:
Just rewatched the series.

Something I missed before, Walmart bought out Weyland-Yutani...LOL
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Part of me found that hilarious originally, but another part of me feels it dates A:R needlessly and doesn't really add anything to the 'evil corporation' trope that series has run with since '79.
 
The Lamonster said:
I picked up Alien+Aliens on BR at Walmart for $10 each and couldn't be happier. Save your wallet the needless pain, man.
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are you forgetting all the amazing bonus features that don't come on those single blurays?

Because I know I did and I definitely regret it considering the Anthology can be found for the price of Alien and Aliens, you know, the two good ones.
 
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