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Post by omega on Apr 22, 2018 10:09:47 GMT
With Alien Day (April 26th, after LV-426, the planet where the first two films are set) coming up, I'm rewatching Alien and Aliens.
It's an incredible franchise, which despite some duff entries still boasts some of the best films ever made. Alien is a nail bitingly tense psychological horror. It feels like death and danger could come from anywhere, and it usually does. Despite being a man in a monster suit the Xenomorph still remains the stuff of nightmares, and indeed the stages of the lifecycle we see bring horror from all different angles from the rape of the Facehugger to the gore of the Chestburster. The fact it's only on screen for barely five minutes adds to this horrific mystique, and like Ash we're fascinated despite all sane reasoning telling us to get away from the f**ker. Eagle eyed viewers can see the Xenomorph blending into the surroundings before it kills Brett. It can hide in plain sight.
Aliens is the kind of base under siege you would never want to be stuck in. Despite Ripley being accompanied by armed Colonial Marines and the Xenos taking a heavy death toll, it's still just as much a nightmare as the first film, because this time there's Ripley and the Marines, the aliens and the Weyland Yutani representative, who are trying to obtain a Xenomorph (the fact their efforts invariably lead to death and destruction on an expensive scale should be more than enough to encourage them to look elsewhere).
The whole franchise shows that space isn't all sleek spaceships and ray guns. The whole Alien universe has a gritty feel, the stories taking place on ships that are old, stations that are falling apart, colonies and mines swarming with relentless killing machines. Humour is in short supply and death is a near certainty. After all, in space no one can hear you scream.
Even the expanded universe doesn't give the characters a break. Isolation has Ripley's daughter trying to find out what happened to her mother and getting stuck on a decommissioned station with an invincible Xenomorph on the loose (which can only be avoided, not fought off and learns from your actions), androids that will kill her and scattered groups of survivors scared enough to shoot and loot, not ask questions. There are novels where the characters have to escape a mine swarming with aliens, and the infestation of the colony from Aliens. Comics where characters have to contend with aliens and the cold equations of the space environment.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2018 10:25:09 GMT
The first 2, yes. All the rest, especially the new Ridley Scott films are awful.
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Post by glutamodo on Apr 22, 2018 20:49:41 GMT
The 2nd one was my first - saw it in the theatre back then and it had me jumping and squirming in my seat. I thought it was a great film. I've rewatched it on video and DVD many times over the years.
Question, so which versions are you going to watch here? The last time I saw Alien, it was the reworked one, don't know if I ever did decide which one was the better. Same for Aliens, but I think I like the extended version more, even if it seems like a bit of padding - actually, not sure if I've seen the theatrical version of Aliens since VHS!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2018 21:53:28 GMT
I geniually enjoyed Alien: Conevant and thought it was a great send off for the series. Still wish we'd never had any reveal into the origins of the actual aliens, I get that it's hard to get anything made in Hollywood, but did Ridley Scott really have to hijack his legacy? I love Ripley, her ordinariness, her strength and her gentleness.
Kind of irks me that a lot of people seem to misunderstand THAT line from Aliens, though. It's tearing down the word.
Haven't experienced the extended universe yet.
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Post by omega on Apr 22, 2018 21:56:48 GMT
The 2nd one was my first - saw it in the theatre back then and it had me jumping and squirming in my seat. I thought it was a great film. I've rewatched it on video and DVD many times over the years. Question, so which versions are you going to watch here? The last time I saw Alien, it was the reworked one, don't know if I ever did decide which one was the better. Same for Aliens, but I think I like the extended version more, even if it seems like a bit of padding - actually, not sure if I've seen the theatrical version of Aliens since VHS! I watched the Directors Cut of Alien last night, and have the special edition of Aliens lined up. |
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Post by omega on Apr 22, 2018 21:59:08 GMT
I geniually enjoyed Alien: Conevant and thought it was a great send off for the series. Still wish we'd never had any reveal into the origins of the actual aliens, I get that it's hard to get anything made in Hollywood, but did Ridley Scott really have to hijack his legacy? I love Ripley, her ordinariness, her strength and her gentleness. Kind of irks me that a lot of people seem to misunderstand THAT line from Aliens, though. It's tearing down the word. Haven't experienced the extended universe yet. I can recommend the audio dramas of Out of the Shadows and River of Pain. The final book in the sequence, Sea of Sorrows, is getting a full cast audio adaptation being released later this week. There are a few actors in these and the Alien Isolation video game who have worked with Big Finish. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2018 6:45:27 GMT
In my opinion Alien, Aliens & Alien 3 extended cuts are three classics, the rest are mostly below par efforts.
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Post by glutamodo on Apr 23, 2018 11:30:06 GMT
I felt so horribly let down by Alien 3 that I never revisited it, although I have heard the reworked version was an improvement and I am not against watching it, but I've never sought it out - perhaps I should.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2018 7:29:54 GMT
I felt so horribly let down by Alien 3 that I never revisited it, although I have heard the reworked version was an improvement and I am not against watching it, but I've never sought it out - perhaps I should. I can recommend it. There's also the Vincent Ward and William Gibson scripts that were nearly put into production which make for interesting curios. A friend of mine and I got onto the subject of shared universes a couple days ago and we were thinking about which films could be included as part of the Alien universe, even if they don't have any overt connection to it (so putting things like the Alien skull in Predator 2 to the side). Blade Runner was one with the Tyrell Corporation or its successor providing the replicants for Weyland-Yutani. Outland was another just based purely on its "used world" aesthetic alone. Escape from New York was a bit of a stretch, but we liked the idea of it and Blade Runner's LA existing together side-by-side. Can anyone think of any other movies that might fit in there? |
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Apr 24, 2018 11:51:08 GMT
Ive read all the available scripts for Alien 3. There are some interesting takes on it. David Twohy's has some touches they actually took for the final film. Although Eric Red's script is awful. Just awful
But Alien 3 is actually what got me into the franchise. So ive always had a soft spot for it. The way its shot and the casting is great. Its just Giler and Hill who really ballsed it up
#F**kGiler
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Apr 25, 2018 1:06:51 GMT
My memory of Alien 3 is having 2 free passes to a Sunday morning session, I think we were all 18 years old by then- and my mate managed to talk them into letting a 3rd of our group in for free as well..  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 6:41:29 GMT
Ive read all the available scripts for Alien 3. There are some interesting takes on it. David Twohy's has some touches they actually took for the final film. Although Eric Red's script is awful. Just awful But Alien 3 is actually what got me into the franchise. So ive always had a soft spot for it. The way its shot and the casting is great. Its just Giler and Hill who really ballsed it up #F**kGiler I always liked Alien 3 but i LOVE the extended cut, a far better version with more drama, more Paul McGann & a lot more emotion. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 8:33:21 GMT
Ive read all the available scripts for Alien 3. There are some interesting takes on it. David Twohy's has some touches they actually took for the final film. Although Eric Red's script is awful. Just awful But Alien 3 is actually what got me into the franchise. So ive always had a soft spot for it. The way its shot and the casting is great. Its just Giler and Hill who really ballsed it up #F**kGiler I always liked Alien 3 but i LOVE the extended cut, a far better version with more drama, more Paul McGann & a lot more emotion. And way more coherent. He had a hard task poor ol' David Fincher, having to do something that both films hadn't done before while still keeping their core themes intact. The Assembly Cut starts with that scene on the beach and just gets better from there. It's a much more solid effort with some genuinely beautiful directing and acting from those involved. With the benefit of hindsight... I have a real soft spot for Vincent Ward's try at a sequel. I love Gibson's stuff, but the first draft felt a little too much like an appendix to Aliens (maybe it could have worked as a TV pilot?). Ward's, in contrast, is just so... ha, alien. Really alien. I mean, a wooden abbey planet in space full of men condemned for "corporate heresy", what a brilliant premise. I'm always a little tickled by how far a story can be stretched and reinterpreted while still staying true to its original character. If there's one film I'd love to see, I'd be very curious about an adaptation of a story called Labyrinth. It's one from the comics. A mad scientist tale with a twist and a genuinely interesting extrapolation of how aliens might think. Their behaviour and their instincts. Genuinely creepy going from panel to panel as things unfold. I think it turns up in either the third or fourth omnibus Dark Horse put out. |
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Post by omega on Apr 25, 2018 8:42:43 GMT
The Wirrn in Doctor Who, definitely an influence on the Xenomorphs, were able to inherit both race memory of the Wirrn and memory from their host. I wonder if Xenomorphs are like that. On one hand it gives them more intelligence on their environment (and thus how better to use it to catch their prey), but on the other hand it allows foreign memory to potentially infect the Xenomorph.
Another Doctor Who story I feel could have influenced Alien is Seeds of Doom. An egg that can infect someone in the cause of creating a seemingly unstoppable monster. The first two episodes evoke The Thing (also known as the Thing from Another World), which has characters who are trapped in a confined environment in a hostile setting, and the potential for anyone to be a threat directly linked to the creature.
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Post by mark687 on Apr 25, 2018 9:23:48 GMT
The Wirrn in Doctor Who, definitely an influence on the Xenomorphs, were able to inherit both race memory of the Wirrn and memory from their host. I wonder if Xenomorphs are like that. On one hand it gives them more intelligence on their environment (and thus how better to use it to catch their prey), but on the other hand it allows foreign memory to potentially infect the Xenomorph. Another Doctor Who story I feel could have influenced Alien is Seeds of Doom. An egg that can infect someone in the cause of creating a seemingly unstoppable monster. The first two episodes evoke The Thing (also known as the Thing from Another World), which has characters who are trapped in a confined environment in a hostile setting, and the potential for anyone to be a threat directly linked to the creature. Didn't RS once say Ark in Space was in his mind when shooting?
Regards
mark687
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 11:48:22 GMT
The Wirrn in Doctor Who, definitely an influence on the Xenomorphs, were able to inherit both race memory of the Wirrn and memory from their host. I wonder if Xenomorphs are like that. On one hand it gives them more intelligence on their environment (and thus how better to use it to catch their prey), but on the other hand it allows foreign memory to potentially infect the Xenomorph. Another Doctor Who story I feel could have influenced Alien is Seeds of Doom. An egg that can infect someone in the cause of creating a seemingly unstoppable monster. The first two episodes evoke The Thing (also known as the Thing from Another World), which has characters who are trapped in a confined environment in a hostile setting, and the potential for anyone to be a threat directly linked to the creature. Didn't RS once say Ark in Space was in his mind when shooting?
Regards
mark687 I'm not sure, but Scott was slated to be production designer for The Daleks way back in 1963. The role fell to Raymond Cusick when he left to train as a director and the rest is history. Maybe they had a subconscious influence? Who was pretty popular and 1979 wasn't that far away. I do know screenwriter O'Bannon got influence from The Thing as The Seeds of Doom did. If not, then I guess it kind of falls into the same category as Earthshock's troopers aboard an infested Nostromo-like starship -- eerie prescience. In any case, Alien certainly has a presence in Doctor Who. Most notably, ol' Sixie scrutinising a preserved chestburster in Mindwarp:
 Ooh. Oh, now, there's a troubling implication. |
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Apr 25, 2018 11:56:57 GMT
I always liked Alien 3 but i LOVE the extended cut, a far better version with more drama, more Paul McGann & a lot more emotion. And way more coherent. He had a hard task poor ol' David Fincher, having to do something that both films hadn't done before while still keeping their core themes intact. The Assembly Cut starts with that scene on the beach and just gets better from there. It's a much more solid effort with some genuinely beautiful directing and acting from those involved. With the benefit of hindsight... I have a real soft spot for Vincent Ward's try at a sequel. I love Gibson's stuff, but the first draft felt a little too much like an appendix to Aliens (maybe it could have worked as a TV pilot?). Ward's, in contrast, is just so... ha, alien. Really alien. I mean, a wooden abbey planet in space full of men condemned for "corporate heresy", what a brilliant premise. I'm always a little tickled by how far a story can be stretched and reinterpreted while still staying true to its original character. If there's one film I'd love to see, I'd be very curious about an adaptation of a story called Labyrinth. It's one from the comics. A mad scientist tale with a twist and a genuinely interesting extrapolation of how aliens might think. Their behaviour and their instincts. Genuinely creepy going from panel to panel as things unfold. I think it turns up in either the third or fourth omnibus Dark Horse put out. Gibson's second draft is so much better. It swaps stuff around, and cuts a lot of the fat away.
Dark Horse should do a comic based on it.
Labyrinth and its prequel Backsplash are a great story, shame we never got more from those characters
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Apr 25, 2018 11:58:52 GMT
A podcast I was involved in last year. Actually looking at the date it was posted on Youtube, it was nearly a year ago I did this lol |
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Post by omega on Apr 26, 2018 6:33:27 GMT
There’s a new book out, The Cold Forge. Doesn’t look like it features established characters.
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