Aliens movies

[LitmusDragon]

The thing that really blows me away about Aliens is the production design. The infested reactor, the deserted colony, the marines, the Aliens, they are all just so well realized, especially for a movie of it's time when CGI wasn't readily available to do everything in post.

If you go back and look at Alien, you are almost never given a really good glimpse of the creature (which is great, and perfect for that movie). In Aliens, they are in your face and quite believable, and horrific.

It's the movie that launched 1,000 video games about marines blowing up aliens.

 

[Tulin]

That is pretty much what I always say whenever I watch Aliens again.

"This film STILL looks like it was made just last year!"

I guess that's what happens when you use models and practical effects instead of leaning on CGI as a crutch. When I saw the incredible doco on the DVD I was astonished to learn some of the simple techniques used to do the effects like pulling the facehugger on a fishing wire to make it appear like it was leaping. Not to mention all the reverse filming and so on. The one that I STILL have a hard time accepting is that "overhang" miniature they used when the marines first go into the alien lair. It just looks SO DAMNED GOOD and you CANNOT see a seam or join.

AMAZING!!!

 

[Anwar]

Eh, the set designs of Aliens never really made the Colony seem that big. All the narrow small spaces and blue lights.

Now the prison sets in A3, THAT was the right way to show how huge the place was. I especially loved the "Trap the Alien in the Waste Tank" sequence and the Hellfire inferno bits.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

but if it's as good as two of my all-time favorites (The Thing & Alien), I'm gonna have to check it out.

I'm surprised that someone could love "The Thing" and "Alien" equally. Part of the reason my friends and I didn't much care for "The Thing" when we watched it together for the first time was because we thought we'd seen it all before, particularly in "Alien" and "The Terminator" (not to mention "Terminator 2: Judgment Day").

Just another 'dangerous being/individual stalks and kills a bunch of people' movie, except unlike those other ones, it didn't have good characters. The only unique impressive quality of the movie was how wildly creative and gross its special creature effects were, and it takes more than that to make a truly excellent movie.

"Alien" was a truly original movie in so many ways, from direction, to characters, to storytelling, to production design, to special effects. Many movies (including its sequels) are just inferior derivative wannabes.

...

Probably an argument for another thread but I think The Thing is a masterpiece, much like Alien and Aliens you have these characters in utter isolation faced with an unthinkable situation, all three terrific studies of humanity in peril rising to the occasion. And all three films have this creeping paranoia and visceral body horror

This. I love the storyline, the isolation, the dread, the mythology, the things left unsaid, the effects, the acting and the characters. I also love how each time I watch the film, I can come up with a variant timeline and vector of the intruder cell takeover and whether or not the two survivors are human or not. And it's just a fun movie to watch.

 

[saturn5]

That is pretty much what I always say whenever I watch Aliens again.

"This film STILL looks like it was made just last year!"

I guess that's what happens when you use models and practical effects instead of leaning on CGI as a crutch. When I saw the incredible doco on the DVD I was astonished to learn some of the simple techniques used to do the effects like pulling the facehugger on a fishing wire to make it appear like it was leaping. Not to mention all the reverse filming and so on. The one that I STILL have a hard time accepting is that "overhang" miniature they used when the marines first go into the alien lair. It just looks SO DAMNED GOOD and you CANNOT see a seam or join.

AMAZING!!!

The Thing is fantastic, a film you can watch over and over again and always find something new.
The technology of Alien and Aliens still convinces today, I'm currently watching a TV show called Future Weapons and it really is getting to the stage of the pulse rifle etc. The technology and imagination Cameron put into the design and hardware of Aliens is incredbile, still inspires movies today. All Alien 3 had was what looks like the same dank old pumping station you've seen in thousands of b-movies (Hybrid I'm talking to you!), when you could see it which wasn't often. Even when the company arrive they just use pulse rifles and their ship is identical to the Sulocco

 

[Pauln6]

The Thing really is up there in my top ten sci fi/horror movies. I hope they don't stump for CGI in the prequel - the effects in the original were decent enough. CGI would look too slick.

 

[Anwar]

The Thing is superb, though some characters are undeveloped and it seems at points they just arbitrarily decided who was and wasn't the Thing. Still great though.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

That is pretty much what I always say whenever I watch Aliens again.

"This film STILL looks like it was made just last year!"

I guess that's what happens when you use models and practical effects instead of leaning on CGI as a crutch. When I saw the incredible doco on the DVD I was astonished to learn some of the simple techniques used to do the effects like pulling the facehugger on a fishing wire to make it appear like it was leaping. Not to mention all the reverse filming and so on.

As well as slightly undercranking some of the live action scenes so that they would match better with the model shots.

Because in the end it was all she had left to give. In her time fighting these beasts she lost her ship. She lost her career. Her reputation. Her daughter. Her place in time. Her adopted child. All she had left was the aliens. She had a choice between beating them or joining them. She beat them in Alien 3. She gave up her life to save mankind from the alien threat and the threat of human greed. She died a luminous hero so much greater in death than she was in life.

Alien 3 didn't have a downer ending. It had a glorious ending. An ending that lights up the spirit and inspires one to do better for yourself, community, family, humanity. The ending of Alien 3 was inspiring.

You have a point about Ripley's sacrifice. However, even then, the movie's ending is still unbearably bleak because there's this sense that nothing she does will really matter because the Company will still just fuck everyone over somehow.

Alien 3 ruins everything, Fincher couldn't get funding for his own 'monks on a wooden planet' idea (which I actually would quite like to see) so hijacked the Alien series and ruined it, turned it into Seven in space.

Actually, Vincent Ward was the one who came up with "monks on a wooden planet." Fincher wanted nothing to do with the wooden planet. Although, I think it was primarily the studio that wanted to change the monks into prisoners. Interestingly, David Twohy came up with an Aliens vs. prisoners idea, which I've no doubt he cribbed from for his own Aliens rip-off, Pitch Black.

I will say one thing - Chris Claremont's epic story arc "Deadlist of the Species" was UTTERLY INSANE.

Good insane or bad insane?

 

[Anwar]

I thought Fincher LIKED the Space Monks story. They had already spent a ton of dough on unused Monastery sets when they were ordered to drop the Monks stuff.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I thought Fincher LIKED the Space Monks story. They had already spent a ton of dough on unused Monastery sets when they were ordered to drop the Monks stuff.

A lot of the unused monastery sets were built for the Vincent Ward version of the film. Fincher replaced Ward very late in the game, which is part of why Fincher never had a complete shooting script. But like I said, I think it was mostly the studio that wanted to change the monks into prisoners. Fincher may have wanted monks, he just didn't want Ward's wooden planet.

 

[Anwar]

Sounds like they merged David Twohy's script with Ward's. Ward had exiled monks, Twohy had Prisoners.

 

[saturn5]

Sounds like they merged David Twohy's script with Ward's. Ward had exiled monks, Twohy had Prisoners.

I wonder if Joss took up the idea for pt4? I'd also say that the arbitary nature of 'Who is the thing?' is part of the genius. For instance, none of the guys who had access to the blood supply turned out to be the Thing. But the guy who first spots the spider-head and goes 'Oh you got to be f*&%ing kidding me!' IS the Thing. That's genius

 

[Epsilon-9]

I like all the Alien films.

I like "Alien" (1979) for its use of sound design Six-track Dolby stereo mix on the original first edition THX DVD. Good use of crazy wild dialogue panning!

Ridley/Fox can keep the directors cut!

Never saw Alien in the cinema till many years later due to my age, I was only 12 when Alien opened in cinemas with certificate “X” wow the good ole days. huh, he he he

ABC Bournemouth screen 2
The late night double Alien bill Alien/Aliens 35mm Dolby stereo type A thou sadly (Alien was only 35mm monaural print) and this was quite common in early days, it got better as the years progressed.

Guess the print was made for mono equipped cinemas with few Dolby stereo optical versions, and 70mm prints.

“Alien” (1979) (theatrical version only) is the six-track Dolby stereo experience!

I like Aliens (1986) for its Academy Award best (sound effects editing) sound design Six-track Dolby stereo mix, on the theatrical version of the (Alien quad box). The directors cut has poor sound effects editing mixing it’s a bit of rushed version and the sound from theatrical doesn’t transparently match up with the special edition, smoothly enough.

The screen fronts and occasional surrounds that sure appear in stereo have good use of bass and directional effects as well as crazy wild dialogue panning!

Odeon Bournemouth screen 2
Seen Aliens in the cinema on numerous occasions, and several late night Alien double bills!

“Aliens” is the six-track Dolby stereo experience!

“Alien 3” theatrical version wicked the every character that we’re being to like from Aliens was toast, wow what a downer that was. Guess that Alien bitched wanted revenge for what Ripley did to her eggs! LOL

UCI Tower Park screen 4
The sound design mix was cool in, Dolby stereo SR at the cinema on 35mm thou the 70mm print Dolby stereo SR (SS) was the version to really hear!

The good thing about DVD is that I get to hear it many years later and WOW!

The use of stereo split-surrounds is thrilling during the Alien attack in the darken corridors, with creepy eerier menacing music panning, bending twisting around in circle motions (around the and around) the living room.

The same use of crazy wild dialogue panning thou, mostly non-principle characters voices, (only few cast members have there voices hard panned left and right, to create realism).

“Alien3” (1991) is the six-track Dolby stereo experience!

“Alien Resurrection” (1997) was a different strange beast over the rest its kinder telling the story of Ripley? Alien3 was a very down beat sad ending killer her off and cloning her, well she’s partly Ripley just not all Ripley, but still humanized and did she make it back to Earth or did the ship run out of fuel and take a huge noise dive into the ground! LOL I don’t know, we don’t know? LOL

Fair use of crazy wild dialogue panning thou not a lot it is heard unlike Alien, Aliens and Alien3.

Saw free viewing of “Alien Resurrection” at the Lee Valley UCI site when attending a projectionist interview. Too bad it sounded all bass mid with hardly “Earthquake sensurround” vibration to match!

UCI Lee Valley one of the two main large mirrored screens?
it was dts presentation thou there was Dolby SR-D track on the print it was the dts that wasn’t showing its fantastic awesomeness.

No, “Alien Resurrection” (1997) in dts wasn’t the 6-channel experience! Maybe I should have gone to THX cinema instead!

Still at home it’s the six-track Dolby stereo experience on my JBL sound system, now then!

 

[Tulin]

Wow.

Probably more information than we needed but, ah, thanks for sharing!

 

[RoJoHen]

Epsilon-9 apparently likes speakers.

 

[Bones2]

You know, I've only seen Alien 3 once, but I'm coming around to the idea that it may be the best. Aliens is a good action film with an effectively oppressive atmosphere, but it does have a Disney ending and the characters other than Ripley and Bishop are forgettable. Alien may be the first and considered a classic, but it's a bit slow really. Alien Resurrection is horrible, and I'm never sitting through that again. Not just because I don't have a huge tolerance for nasty gore, but it's also just daft.

 

[byron lomax]

byron lomax wrote:
I will say one thing - Chris Claremont's epic story arc "Deadlist of the Species" was UTTERLY INSANE.

Good insane or bad insane?

Kinda good, although a lot of alien and predator fans hated it for taking serious liberties with alien and pred behaviour. It's really a ponderous sci-fi story that happens to feature aliens and predators. It's on AvP Omnibus Volume 2, if you're interested.

 

[saturn5]

You know, I've only seen Alien 3 once, but I'm coming around to the idea that it may be the best. Aliens is a good action film with an effectively oppressive atmosphere, but it does have a Disney ending and the characters other than Ripley and Bishop are forgettable. Alien may be the first and considered a classic, but it's a bit slow really. Alien Resurrection is horrible, and I'm never sitting through that again. Not just because I don't have a huge tolerance for nasty gore, but it's also just daft.

The special edition of Alien 4 has Ripley and Cal landing on Earth outside a ruined Paris, she makes, she lives happily ever after
I'd hardly call the ending to Aliens 'Disneyfied' it's been 130 minutes of non-stop gore, violence and mayhem, it's very similar to the end of Alien just now Ripley has three companions and not just Jonesy. And Hicks and Newt are terrific characters, they could have been twee but they're well written and believable. After all they've been through surely they all deserved their happy ending?

 

[DonIago]

I think what shapes one's opinion of which movie is the best is whether you want there to be a light at the end of the tunnel...or whether that light's an oncoming train.

I agree with the above poster that for everything that occurred in Aliens the survivors earned their happy ending, and to have it taken away from them in the sequel so senselessly just rankled me. I don't remember how the opening is portrayed in the film, but in the novel it didn't even make sense to me. A facehugger is on the ship for some reason, which means there must have been an egg on the ship (I wouldn't have thought the queen had time to do that) and something to stimulate it to hatch, and in the facehugger's attempts to break into Newt's tube it causes a sequence of events which kill it, etc. But then, how exactly did Ripley get impregnated to begin with?

Ugh.

 

[Reverend]

If memory serves, the idea was that it was a "Queen Facehugger" in that it could impregnate two hosts. First the Queen in Newt and then later the warrior/drone in the ox (later changed to a dog.) As for how it got from Newt to Ripley, again if memory serves I think the idea was that when Newt drowned, the Queen embryo climbed out of her throat and into Ripley's. So yeah, a very contrived mess.

As I've said before I actually really like Alien 3 in all aspects except what it did to Newt and Hicks, which I utterly abhor. None of it should be put on Fincher though, he was new and unknown and was handed a script that'd already been through numerous re-writes and square one conceptual overhauls and by all accounts was treated like crap by everyone who didn't actually work on the set (i.e. the producers and the studio.)