Opinions on the Alien movies

[saturn5]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

And unless Star Trek 3 ended with the whole crew dead and an unknown convict redshirt being led off to prison there's no comparison

Trek III undid most of the end of WoK and killed off a major character introduced in the prior film. Same difference.

TSFS ended with the rebirth of a beloved friend, a crew reuninted and the universe safe from the Genisis weapon. Both Ripley and Kirk had lost their child but they both still had everything to live for

 

[saturn5]

Not really, the comics were stupid testosterone poisoning nonsense. 3 at least tried something unexpected.

Unexpected? Sure, no one could have foreseen the travesty it would be

The Alien comics were pretty bad, I'll grant you. Astonishingly the best were the Aliens vs Predator series, a shame they didn't copy the idea for the movies.

Read an interesting fanfic once 'Aliens vs ?'. The Earth is being overrun by the bugs and they capture a family out on a picnic. But once they take them back to their Hive the people break free of their bonds with superhuman strength, free the other captives and slaughter the Aliens, the acid burning away their human flesh to reveal the grinning metal skulls of the reactivated Terminators....

 

[Anwar]

Not really, the comics were stupid testosterone poisoning nonsense. 3 at least tried something unexpected.

Unexpected? Sure, no one could have foreseen the travesty it would be

Do yourself a favor and stick to watching Nickelodeon shows, you clearly don't have the stomach for realistic character death (where it's sudden and often meaningless).

 

[Anwar]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

And unless Star Trek 3 ended with the whole crew dead and an unknown convict redshirt being led off to prison there's no comparison

Trek III undid most of the end of WoK and killed off a major character introduced in the prior film. Same difference.

TSFS ended with the rebirth of a beloved friend, a crew reuninted and the universe safe from the Genisis weapon. Both Ripley and Kirk had lost their child but they both still had everything to live for

It undid the drama done by Spock's death, got rid of an interesting new character, and basically reset everything to the way it was before (though the reset wasn't complete until TVH).

A3 got rid of the useless baggage from Aliens but at least it didn't reset things by having Ripley's daughter suddenly be alive again.

 

[Neroon]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

When the credits are over and the DVD has returned to the main menu.

That was my first thought too!

I've only seen Alien and Aliens and nothing I've heard has yet enticed me to go any further...

I have seen all four of the basic, Alien films - as opposed to Alien vs Predator. Given my choices I just ignore A3 & A4. The first two are interesting in their different approaches, the different kind of film each tends to be (horror vs action). After that.... I suppose it's all a matter of taste, but I've never been inspired to see either A3 or A4 ever again.

 

[Distorted Humor]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

edited away for pointlessness

 

[Distorted Humor]

Just curious, I like Aliens, but I don't think it is the greatest thing since slice bread (but well worth watching...)

Am I the only one?

 

[Teelie]

The Dark Horse comics are utter trash that are unworthy of use as toilet paper.

Far better than that nonsense that wound up on the screen.

What, getting rid of the useless characters (Newt and Hicks) and returning the series from the action nonsense?

All the DH comics offered were more guns and explosions and action stereotypes.

Newt and Hicks were far from useless. Newt was the replacement daughter Ripley lost and Hicks was the love-interest she never had.

Taking them away to do Alien 3 was what was pointless. It didn't require them to be action heroes either. Newt is a kid and Hicks was severely injured so "action" would've been toned down and if anything would have left it to Ripley to protect and save her new surrogate family.

Better than Ripley fending off would-be rapists and a contrived storyline.

 

[Deckerd]

What storyline isn't contrived?

 

[Teelie]

Okay, a less contrived storyline than what we got.

 

[saturn5]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

Trek III undid most of the end of WoK and killed off a major character introduced in the prior film. Same difference.

TSFS ended with the rebirth of a beloved friend, a crew reuninted and the universe safe from the Genisis weapon. Both Ripley and Kirk had lost their child but they both still had everything to live for

It undid the drama done by Spock's death, got rid of an interesting new character, and basically reset everything to the way it was before (though the reset wasn't complete until TVH).

A3 got rid of the useless baggage from Aliens but at least it didn't reset things by having Ripley's daughter suddenly be alive again.

Baggage? They were what the film was about. Not acid spewing bugs and depression
As for TSFS yes it did sort of reset things but I always thought David's death was the price that had to be paid (and the destruction of the Enterprise of course), otherwise his ressurection would be a little too glib. But that's an argument for another post (and board)

 

[Teelie]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

Like the other Alien thread, Newt and Hicks being killed off was a mistake, they weren't excess baggage but could have been used to great effect in Alien 3. They were Ripley's new surrogate family and better subject matter than the prison planet story we got.

As to the movies. Alien and Aliens are great movies for entirely different reasons. They're completely different themes and despite the art house attitude of Aliens being "just another action flick" to write off it actually worked quite well on its own. I think the "Assembly Cut" of Alien 3 really helped it a lot. It's still got serious flaws and mistakes but the restored parts help make up for it somewhat. Resurrection I'd probably skip though. The AVP films are almost completely irrelevant to the core Alien movies so those can be ignored as well. Especially AVP2.

 

[saturn5]

Not really, the comics were stupid testosterone poisoning nonsense. 3 at least tried something unexpected.

Unexpected? Sure, no one could have foreseen the travesty it would be

Do yourself a favor and stick to watching Nickelodeon shows, you clearly don't have the stomach for realistic character death (where it's sudden and often meaningless).

Yes I do and that's what Aliens had, 4 survivors out of 200 but somehow that was enough. But A3 makes all the heroism and sacrifice of Aliens and Alien pointless. It would have been SOOOO easy just to write them out, a couple of lines on a computer screen saying that all three were safely on their way back to earth and only Ripley's pod was ejected. It would still have sucked but I wouldn't have hated the film as I do

Aliens is the greatest sci-fi action film of all time and the best sequal ever, better even that WoK, TESB, Mad Max 2 and Magnum Force. 25 years later it still stands up as does Alien in fact even though it was over 3 decades ago, Cameron and Scott's vision (and production design) just extraordinary.

 

[Basill]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

Alien and Aliens... That's all you really need.

Alien 3 is actually an enjoyable film, but it's quite the black sheep and I don't care to include it in family gatherings.

The rest are a bunch of interbreedin' cousins that can just go off and practice their Predator/Alien incest in the hills for all I care.

 

[Set Harth]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

There are certain things in 4 that I like.

Any scene with just Winona and Ripley.

The sit-down scene with Michael Wincott and Dan Hedaya, and not just because of the laser melting the drink cube, which is also cool.

Basically the whole portion from after the opening credits up to when the Betty arrives.

The underwater sequence.

Most, if not all, of the Brad Dourif material.

The flame thrower clone lab destruction scene.

The shot of the Auriga passing Jupiter.

The emphasis on Earth being a shithole.

The shot of DiStefano's head getting crushed.

 

[saturn5]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

There are certain things in 4 that I like.

Any scene with just Winona and Ripley.

The sit-down scene with Michael Wincott and Dan Hedaya, and not just because of the laser melting the drink cube, which is also cool.

Basically the whole portion from after the opening credits up to when the Betty arrives.

The underwater sequence.

Most, if not all, of the Brad Dourif material.

The flame thrower clone lab destruction scene.

The shot of the Auriga passing Jupiter.

The emphasis on Earth being a shithole.

The shot of DiStefano's head getting crushed.

What I love about Alien 4;

Every scene between Ripley and Cal.

Ripley's basketball skills

The scene where they show Ripley a picture of a little girl and she smiles sadly at the memory of Newt/her daughter

The fact that The Company has been bought out by Wallmart

Kim Flower's ass

The scene where Ripley is carried off by the drone (as close to Got-fic as the series ever was)

The hybrid deciding it's more human than alien and killing the hive queen.

Ripley telling the hybrid she's sorry before blowing it out the airlock

Ripley and Cal getting their humanity back

Ripley finally making it back to Earth, getting her ship, her crew and her little girl back, getting her happy ending after all (SCREW YOU FINCHER!)

The clouds over the lush Earth at the end, despite the way everyone slags it off, it's still a beautiful world

 

[I am not Spock]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

I have the first four core Alien movies, and I have no desire to see AvP or Requiem ever again.

 

[Anwar]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

Baggage? They were what the film was about.

Hicks was a walking dummy prop with an attached gun, and Newt was plot device incarnate.

They were Ripley's new surrogate family and better subject matter than the prison planet story we got.

No they weren't. Newt was her "rebound" and Hicks was just some random soldier who lived. There was nothing deeper than that.

Doctor Clemens from A3 was a much better love interest than Hicks ever could've been.

 

[Anwar]

Aliens is the greatest sci-fi action film of all time and the best sequal ever, better even that WoK, TESB, Mad Max 2 and Magnum Force. 25 years later it still stands up as does Alien in fact even though it was over 3 decades ago, Cameron and Scott's vision (and production design) just extraordinary.

Newt and Hicks were far from useless. Newt was the replacement daughter Ripley lost and Hicks was the love-interest she never had.

Newt was just her "rebound daughter", she hadn't come to terms with the loss of her REAL child and was just projecting feelings onto some random kid she knew for a few hours.

And Doctor Clemens was a far better love interest than Hicks ever could've been. Having the crippled Hicks in A3 would've at least been interesting for him to realize that Clemens had attracted Ripley and Hicks then dies in a heroic sacrifice later on but nothing more.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

Re: When should you stop watching the Alien films?

Clemens was a great character, played by a great actor. He had a real background and motivations. And he was a character every bit as lonely and haunted as Ripley. When he was killed there was a real feeling of loss.

As much as I like Michael Biehn I can't say the same about Hicks or even his acting in Aliens. He put in a fine showing as an earnest, young grunt and there was some minor sexual tension with Ripley but that was it. He didn't have a real backstory and motivation. He was just a plot function. I didn't feel much when Hicks died, except for maybe the feeling that he was just a delayed casualty of Aliens.

Personally I don't know what I was expecting when I saw Alien 3. My mind was pretty open at the time. I have the feeling that those that hate Alien 3 don't hate it because it's awful. It isn't. I just don't think they're able to really articulate their feelings about the movie very well.

Those that hate Alien 3 hate it because it's Alien 3 and NOT Aliens 2.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. If it were Aliens 2 people would have every right to expect that the characters, situations and tone would be continued in a similar vein to Cameron's.

But that wasn't Alien 3's purpose. Alien 3 much like Aliens was a story set in the universe of Alien and with Alien's main character, but just like Alien and Aliens it had it's own tone and story to tell.

I applaud the people behind Alien 3. It takes guts to tell your own story, when the ignorant, slobbering masses would rather you just remade James Cameron's again and again and again...