Opinions on the Alien movies

[Elemental]

I'm a sucker for movie sets and am looking for some more films to test out my new 60 inch TV. For some time I have been considering checking out the Alien movies. I've never seen any in their entirity but have probably seen a majority of the first, a lot of the second, and a portion of the third when they aired an Alien maraton some time back. I'm aware the first two are considered classics but 3 and 4 are somewhat reviled.

I guess I'm looking for opinions whether I'll be likely to enjoy them. I'm not all that into just pure action - there's gotta be substance and some content to mull over afterward. A good soundtrack goes a long way as well. From what I saw of the first two, I think I would enjoy a few repeat viewings. I'm curious whether there are enough redeeming qualities in the other two.

One problem I identified in the 2nd film was that it seemed there may be a few too many "jar-head" military bozos who act as little more than cannon fodder. And from the brief amount I saw of the 3rd movie, it makes me wonder if I will have a hard time finding any interesting characters to connect with. If they just amount to pure slasher flicks, I'm not sure I'm that interested. And I'm not sure I want to buy a movie set for just two movies that I might enjoy. Any thoughts?

 

[Gaith]

Rent and see the first two (classic, great films); it's your duty as a geek. Then, knowing what you no doubt already know of the calamity that occurs to certain characters between the second and third films, read some reviews and decide whether or not you care to continue on. I certainly don't.

 

[Aldo]

Even as a Whedon fan I find a hard time recommending Alien Resurrection, despite the fact that it's a very slick film with some interesting characters it never really takes off.

I do really enjoy the third flick though, I think it's far better than most people give it credit for, though I can't deny it has problems.

 

[Auralis]

1st movie is a great suspend horror styled sci-fi monster flick, pretty much the benchmark of the entire genre.
2nd movie is a damn good military horror sci-fi movie, probably the best again.
3rd movie is mostly boring doom and gloom.
4th is a nice action sci-fi movie on its own, but it is at its heart no Alien movie.

 

[FPAlpha]

1st movie is a great suspend horror styled sci-fi monster flick, pretty much the benchmark of the entire genre.
2nd movie is a damn good military horror sci-fi movie, probably the best again.
3rd movie is mostly boring doom and gloom.
4th is a nice action sci-fi movie on its own, but it is at its heart no Alien movie.

Pretty much my opinion too although i absolutely despise the 3rd movie since it's a bad rehash of the 1st movie with different actors and a different set.

The 4th is pretty much forgettable but the 1st one is a classic and the 2nd has awesome quotable stuff.

 

[Too Much Fun]

"Alien" is deservedly hailed as a masterpiece. A great horror/sci-fi film with an excellent cast of characters beautifully acted, each with their own distinctive and memorable looks and personalities. I especially admired the work on the Ash character played by Ian Holm. The speech he gives about the Alien is amazing. The production design, special effects, and direction of the movie are brilliant as well. It's my second favourite movie of the '70s after "Halloween".

"Aliens" is well-directed and has some effective action scenes (especially at the end when Ellen Ripley gets into this big fighting machine), but I hated all of the characters except for Ripley. I also thought they were just a bunch of dumb stereotypes.

I don't remember the third one very much, but there were moments I found entertaining. The one that stands out is one character being an arrogant, closed-minded jerk, then getting killed right in the middle of acting especially obnoxious. I love moments like that .

Like the second one, "Alien 3" has some solid direction (it is directed by David Fincher, after all), so there are chase scenes that are fun on a visceral level. I just didn't find any of the characters very memorable. At least they weren't as irritating as the stereotypes in "Aliens". I never saw the fourth Alien movie. For someone who hasn't seen the Alien movies (in their entirety), I wouldn't recommend any except the first one. I think the first two sequels are pretty dumb, although at least "Aliens" has exceptional craftsmanship from a visual standpoint.

 

[Lonemagpie]

ALIEN - excellent haunted house movie in space, with real shocks and a realistic "feel"
ALIENS - best version of Starship Troopers yet filmed. Takes things in a different route (Vietnam war movie in space meets gender/parental politics) rather than just being a retread.
ALIEN 3 - Flawed attempt to round off the Ripley trilogy. Worth seeing the alternate cut, but is really polarizing. Still, at least Fincher tried, and when you see the shit he had to cope with from the studio and producers, it's amazing how well it turned out.
ALIEN RESURRECTION - blatant cash-in that comes across as a sort of "best of" compilation...

 

[UncleRogi]

Even as a Whedon fan I find a hard time recommending Alien Resurrection, despite the fact that it's a very slick film with some interesting characters it never really takes off.

I do really enjoy the third flick though, I think it's far better than most people give it credit for, though I can't deny it has problems.

The second is the best.

 

[Ethros]

Opinions on the Alien movies

I hear the first two are really lame and mostly everyone hates them, while the latter two are by far the most popular; they get nothing but praise I believe.

Oh and those two AVP movies; most folk on the internet proclaim them superior to Citizen Kane in the annals of cinema

 

[MacLeod]

Well Alien is generally considered a classic as for Aliens depending on your view it was of those movies were it is considered to be on par(or better) than the first one. No doubt because they were different in tone as for the latter two never really cared for them myself.

 

[Starbreaker]

Alien - Awesome
Aliens - Great
Alien 3 - Awful
Alien Resurrection - Good
Alien vs Predator - Extremely Awful
Alien vs Predator Requiem - Suck's Awful's dick

 

[Goji]

I'm not really a fan of any of them. I like the first half of the first one. It builds a nice creepy atmosphere and feels extremely, well, 'alien'. But then the adult creature shows up and starts knocking off the crew one by one, which is simply nowhere near as interesting. The Ian Holm subplot comes off as silly and there's too much of Ripley running around the ship in the dark. It's not bad for what it is... but it fails to hold my interest.

I don't really remember much of anything about "Aliens" other than I was unimpressed by it. I can't recall why so maybe it's unfair of me to judge it. But I don't really feel like watching it again, ever, so I will probably never be in a better position to do so.

The third just seemed like a mess of poor special effects and worse acting. The mildly interesting characters kept getting killed off and I couldn't care less about any of the others. I did kind of like the ending, though. It seemed like a gutsy move and I hadn't been spoiled on it, so it came as a bit of a surprise. It made me sit up and take notice after at least an hour of just wanting the movie to end, so that's something at least.

I haven't seen any of the others. It will probably stay that way.

 

[Harvey]

The first two movies are terrific, and classics of the sf film genre. The third and fourth films have excellent casts, come from decent writers, and were both directed by excellent filmmakers. Unfortunately, neither the third or fourth film really comes together. They're worth seeing, but not worth repeated viewings unless you really like the series.

 

[Warped9]

Alien and Aliens.

After that... and

 

[the G-man]

Alien and Aliens.

After that... and

I'm the G-man and I approve this message.

 

[Mage]

People compare the third movie way to much with the first two movies, which were very American movies to begin with. The style of this movie, the cinematography, is very different. So is the storytelling itself. So, for people expecting the horror elements of the first or the action of the second, they will come out dissapointed. Watch this film with no expectations, and you might be pleasently surprised. In the quadrilogy, it's not the strongest of the bunch, but as a movie by itself, I've always found it a very nice film.

Resurrection was a French movie trying to be american. Some might not understand what I mean with this, but if you've seen more movies by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, you'll recognize his style and way of filming. Joss Whedon's way of writing is very evident in some parts, less so in others. I still enjoy it.

The biggest issue with the Alien movies, is that some people feel you need to compare them with eachother. That's just impossible, since all movies were made by different directors in different decades in different styles. All these three big factors (and several others) make these movies so different from each other you need to view them as seperate movies.

As always, YMMV, and each to his own.

 

[Anwar]

Alien and Aliens.

After that... and

Eh, I give the pukes to RES really. A3 was a pretty good ending to the immediate story and had a better cast than the second one.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Alien - An amazing suspense horror film set in space, wonderfully depicting the isolation that you're going to experience in very deep space. The atmosphere and feeling are there from the start to end, and it features some chilling surrealistic designs done by H. R. Giger that must be seen. It has the most suspenseful scene I've seen in a film. Watch the regular version, not the extended one, although I heard the opening on the latter is better.

Aliens - A complete departure in the style of the film, but builds wonderfully on top of what you've seen in the first one. It has wonderful character moments exploring further the situation that you were left with, it explores the emotions further from other perspectives, and gives the story much more weight. It's less artsy and more straight-forward, but in a way it's much more moving. Oh, and it has the only properly bad-ass woman I've seen in film. Watch the director's cut.

Alien 3 - I was bored. But don't let that discourage you to watch it. It's a well-written story and the idea is more or less the perfect continuation, it just didn't work for some reason. It was supposed to be a departure to the more isolated and suspenseful atmosphere of the first one, but it didn't work on me at all. Watch it but don't expect to be too impressed.

Alien: Resurrection - When I first read the premise, I couldn't believe someone would come with something so silly. But I was obsessed with Alien enough to give it a shot. Turns out that same premise worked amazingly well, and the first half of the film was great in a variety of ways. It paid off every bit, and it turned out more brutal and chilling than silly. The second half was a horrible mess that ruined everything badly, but I'd still watch it for the first half. And it has the best film shots of the Alien that aren't AvP. And if you liked that actor that played the betazoid in VOY: Meld, you should definitely see it. Oh, and Winona Ryder.

 

[Distorted Humor]

Alien - Is the best SF-horror film ever. It is amazing. I might argue that it is a "Flawless" movie.
Aliens - a fun miltary SF that is very good, even if it not flawless, it is darn fine.
Alien 3 - Not as bad as some make it out to be, but it not very good if your looking at Alien and Aliens...
Alien Resurrection - Other then Winona Ryder, I am not sure is really worth waching except for laughs...

 

[throwback]

For myself, the issue is that the last two films are built on a flimsy premise - the alien queen, while aboard the Sulaco, managed to lay an egg, than that egg hatched, forcing the evacuation of the ship. Sorry, I don't buy it. The aliens are highly intelligent animals. They adapt their environment to their needs, and have evolved to the point where they can infect a host with their young for gestation. However, like most animals, humans excepted, they have on-off thinking. This means that they focus on one task at a time, and when they divert their attention to something else, they forget what the other task was until they dealt with this new situation. On board the Sulaco, the queen was focused on pursuing and killing Ripley. If the queen had succeeded in this task, then maybe the queen may have laid eggs on the starship. However, the queen was killed by Ripley. Thus, no egg, no 3rd and 4th films. I dismiss these latter two films.