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RTTP - Alien series.
- Thread starter Lightning Count
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SpoonyBard
Banned
Alien 3 ending is fine, but the beginning where they mess with the happy ending of Aliens is bad form.
Some people hate the Alien Queen because they make the Xenomorph look like insects but man, the design of that thing (and the breath noise she does) is just so good.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Trivia fun: the sound of the Queen breathing is James Cameron.
Lightning Count
Member
One thing Aliens did right was expand on the life cycle and establish the species depiction on a realistic manner.
Just a damned shame the next movie to use the Queen in a significant capacity was the awful piece of shit that is AVP.
My issue is that Alien 3, as it currently is, feels like an entirely unnecessary movie. And I feel the entire opening portion of Alien 3 is pretty mean spirited by killing off the other survivors from the previous movie (pretty much off screen) and doing everything short of pretending Aliens didn't happen. There was no real need to continue on with Ripley as the main character, her story arc was finished with the second movie.
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
It amazes me how the first two Alien movies are so different from each other, hitting different emotions, yet still managing to be stellar.
BattleMonkey
Member
Alien Isolation is great, but it didn't need to be a 20 hour story, way too bloated
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
There's nothing wrong with Cameron's take on them, but it should not have been taken as the end-all canon. Unfortunately, the infamous 'deleted scene' from Alien wasn't available at the time (or perhaps fortunate, because that life-cycle is more like The Thing and not really compatible with Cameron's style of doing things), and for Alien 3 at least it makes sense to have a queen parasite (though technically this is irrelevant and only there because of studio meddling). It's beyond that point that you start to get into serious problems with treating it as canon, as evidenced by the fourth flick. Though HR Giger was quite pleased with the hybrid creature as the outcome, apparently. Probably because it had both human genitalia.
In the first AvP it's beneficial again to the plot, and honestly I don't understand why people feel it's "omg so bad", because it's a sufficiently competent movie and story wise both sticking to existing elements in that franchise and somehow not fucking up the movie. For a 'schlock' hybrid of two franchises, it's exactly what it advertises to be, without becoming actual schlock.
The sequel to it however, does, and that's basically where that ended.
Predators, itself appearing to be a attempt to save a burning ship, is lacking in surprises, but otherwise decent. I do hope that we'll get an Adrien Brody reference of some sort in a future movie, if only just as a tip of the hat.
I mean, he clearly (ending spoiler)
escaped that planet.
I am fully prepared to bet any Alien 5 is going to be shit though. That queen thing (and the 'mother' aspect) has got to go, which Prometheus oddly enough actually tried to do (but in the most bizarre shitty way possible). Really, that movie should have been about Peter Weyland, with 'Noami's' story as a subplot, hooking up with Weyland's into the main one about the halfway point, and with the leads only switching places near the end. I mean, this movie had 'engineers' as a working title, how do you not make the movie about the one character that has been established since Aliens to be the engineer that made the androids that are now series regulars. No, let's just make up some random bullshit instead. Come on.
I don't agree with that. It would have been more frustrating if her character was ignored. We can't follow a character for 2 movies and then be done with it when a 3rd one is made. There has to be some sort of conclusion with that character. And I thought that conclusion was fine.
Alien Resurrection was the one that didn't need to exist.
I think there's still life in the franchise. Read some of those amazing comic books. There's so many directions you can go in with the Alien, the Space Jockey, and that universe.
It's probably for the best.
Nappuccino
Member
Maybe so. But this also means I don't care about any of them dying and thus no tension.
MrCunningham
Member
The Space Marines were really there to give a feeling of false hope to the audience. They go in overconfident and the tone gradually changes once they enter the alien queen nest. That sense of security they have backfires and it sets tension for the small group of survivors as they do realize that they are out numbered. It is a pretty solid progression for the movie.
Ontopic, aliens is the best one.
Alien isn't even tense or anything, what it does offer, aliens does a better job at.
U mad? Alien has one of the only scenes in any film to make me scream like a little girl.
when the captain is in the ducts and the alien come out of the shadows - gets me every time.
Lightning Count
Member
I'm wondering if I will see Alien 5, but I have serious doubts it will be of the quality I expect.
Tizoc
Member
Quick question regarding the first movie-
The Space Jockey gave birth to a Xenomorph, did that Xenomorph die because there was nothing to sustain it?
Secondly, was the Xenomorph on the Nostromo planned to be able to cocoon its victims so it gives birth to more eggs? I take it that was scrapped, and only the Queen can give birth to more eggs?
The Space Jockey gave birth to a Xenomorph, did that Xenomorph die because there was nothing to sustain it?
Secondly, was the Xenomorph on the Nostromo planned to be able to cocoon its victims so it gives birth to more eggs? I take it that was scrapped, and only the Queen can give birth to more eggs?
L.B. Jeffries
Member
To borrow a point from Max Landis, they just make stuff up to fit the movie. They did it for all the Alien movies, like with 3 deciding the alien mimics the host's biology or Resurrection deciding that Alien DNA makes you good at basketball.
The original alien life cycle as depicted by H.R. Giger didn't involve a Queen, the idea was that the alien turned people into eggs. Or maybe raped them, it's not totally clear how the process works. Even Alien Isolation didn't get stuck on it other than to capitalize on the fact they can reproduce eggs without a Queen. My impression of the Space Jockey situation is that they just went into hibernation because there was nothing much to do or drool on.
The Alien Queen was introduced in Aliens because the whole movie is about the female heroic journey, google Maureen Murdock if you want to know about how that works, but ultimately Ripley's final opponent had to be a woman. So Cameron just made the Queen up, fans liked it, and now it's canon.
Either that fella's costume is falling apart, or Cameron's crappy aliens had trouble maintaining dorsal tube erections.and perhaps my favourite piece of cinematography ever
1. I like to think that these creatures can't die from starvation, and that it simply got bored and decided to go for a hike.
2. The cocoon material was supposed to dissolve the victims and turn them into new eggs, no birthing involved.
The scene was cut because it interfered with the pacing, but was later restored in the director's cut. There isn't much room for this concept in sequels and spin-offs following the second film's alien life cycle (so, pretty much all Alien media, except for Alien: Isolation, whose creators instead chose to ignore that whole "queen" business).
are the Aliens: Directors cut and Alien 3: Assembly cut available on all blurays? They seem pretty cheap at the moment so would be interested in a rewatch in HD.
Aliens was already the conclusion to Ripley's character though. She faced her fears of the Xenos, conquered those fears, and made it out alive. And along with that she was also redeemed because now she had actual evidence to support what happened to the Nostromo. Her arc was over, which is why Alien 3 being another Ripley story is pointless.
The Blu Quadrillogy has the director's cuts of all the movies. Though, the Director's Cut of Alien is a Director's Cut in name only and Scott has said repeatedly that the theatrical cut is his preferred vision and the Director's Cut was done for marketing purposes.
Thanks. Bluray Anthology only £10 on amazon UK - bought.
Lightning Count
Member
Enjoy it, my friend, the quality of the transfers is excellent.
I remember reading up that when no Queen is present the 'normal' alien can make eggs aswell and those should contain a royal facehugger (facehugger that will make a queen).
That said, this reasoning was only made public after Aliens come out so Scott's idea of it differs.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
I still think the cocoon scene can fit. Ridley just put it in the wrong place (it should go on her way to the self-destruct somehow, never at any point after she first gets to it. That's why it fucks up pacing).
Isolation's developers have admitted that there's a Queen somewhere on Sevastopol, though. I don't think they ruled out the idea that some of the warriors are just making people into eggs, too, but I believe there are specific points in a certain level where you can hear the Queen at just the right moment.
Which kinda sucks as I think the "turns you into an egg" thing can/should be reintegrated into the storytelling, as it provides a kind of horror the series doesn't really fuck with anymore. But last time I brought that up, things didn't go very well.
I like this theory, but I think it's just that: a fan-theory. I don't think anyone involved with any of the films or games has actually put that forth as a possibility. It's just a way to combine both lifecycles (Scotts and Camerons) into one.
catotheyounger
Member
The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin recently showed Aliens in 70mm. Effects hold up incredibly well. Watching it with a live audience was amazing.
I don't think doing another Ripley story is inherently a bad idea, but this is definitely a strength of Aliens and a weakness of Alien 3. There was a sense of closure at the end of Aliens for Ripley. For Alien 3, I don't feel they were really able to justify the whole thing. The plot doesn't seem like a natural consequence of the last movie. It basically feels like a desperate and half-assed attempt to shoehorn Ripley into a sequel--which is exactly what it was. Of course, they decided to give closure again at the end only to undo it again in an even more ridiculous fashion for the fourth one.
That's not quite accurate.
Alien: Isolation did have the Queen in it. Creative Assembly were going to add a section where you saw her, but realized the player would expect to fight her. Instead they took her out and just added her scream for that one part when you were in the hive. Canonically, they consider the Queen to be in the game and responsible for the eggs. They explained this in an interview awhile back. I'll have to track down the link.
EDIT2: Found a recent interview where they mention it: http://www.onlysp.com/alien-isolation-post-mortem-interview/
A special Queen facehugger was in the Assembly Cut of 3, so it may not be enitirely fan conjecture.
Yeah, it's a theory but sounds logical. They used a variant of it in the AvP games aswell.
Lightning Count
Member
I am hoping it will get a cinema rerelease here, I would go and see it.
IISANDERII
Member
The Prometheus score is awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIH4T2TXUDo
My fav score since Legacy Tron.
My fav score since Legacy Tron.
so scary
:/
The alien 3 doc alone is worth the trade
Fancy Clown
Member
Just picked up the anthology. Popped in Alien to watch a scene or two to see how the transfer looked and OHMYGODITSBEAUTIFUL. Ended up watching the first act in its entirety, which I didn't really have time for but I got sucked in. Looking forward to seeing how Aliens looks as well. Blade Runner final cut has shown that color retiming is not always a bad thing.
Lightning Count
Member
Aliens transfer is very good, but IMO inferior to the transfer on Alien.
Fancy Clown
Member
That's what I figured. Alien was always the better looking film anyway, and Cameron filmed Aliens on some type of film stock that ended up not working out too well.
Lightning Count
Member
Aliens was filmed in anamorphic for the effects, Cameron talks about it during the commentary.
Lightning Count
Member
Rewatched Alien last night, still as amazing as always. Going to rewatch Aliens and Alien 3 assembly cut later this week.
outunderthestars
Banned
I have not watched any of the films. Was thinking about starting with the original Alien.
Is the Quadrilogy blu-ray set the best option? Which versions of the films should I watch?
Is the Quadrilogy blu-ray set the best option? Which versions of the films should I watch?
Fancy Clown
Member
Alien Anthology blu ray set. Amazing transfers, especially for Alien and Aliens, more extras than you know what to do with, and it's got slick--if not the most functional--packaging.
Alien - original cut
Aliens - original cut (director's on second viewing).. original cut is better paced
Alien 3 - director/assembly cut
Alien Resurrection - doesn't matter
outunderthestars
Banned
Amazon has the Trilogy from 2010 and the Quadrilogy from 2014 for the same price. Does anyone know if they are the same transfers? Any UV codes with either set?
Fancy Clown
Member
IIRC the new sexy transfers for Alien and Aliens are only available in the Alien Anthology set (Or I guess called Quadrilogy in the UK) and their corresponding individual release blu's. And only the Anthology set has the two extra discs with all the special features
So definitely don't get the 2010 trilogy because the new transfers are spectacular.
Lightning Count
Member
This month is interesting because Ridley Scott confirmed that his next film is a new Alien film. Interested to see what the series can give us with the original director at the helm one more time.
I like the idea that the Aliens might not all "hive" based or rely on a Queen, I mean it did work for one film but it took something away from them as well being a terror alone that did it's own thing and behave in ways you might not expect. But I'm also a fan of the whole cocoon thing from people too. Distilling them down to an ant mentality just made them a bit too basic and simple.
cyberheater
PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
It's a good movie. I don't get the hate.
User 479360
Banned
The first two are really good, and I need to watch them again. I think I've seen 3, but can't remember much and believe I started 4 but turned it off because it was boring.
CadetMahoney
Member
prometheus will make up for them.
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