This is the sort of twaddle I come to these threads for. Retro-spoiling. It's almost dazzling in its twin horns of self-importance and complete irrelevance.
Opinions on the Alien movies
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This is the sort of twaddle I come to these threads for. Retro-spoiling. It's almost dazzling in its twin horns of self-importance and complete irrelevance.
She WAS just some kid that got rescued. She and Ripley hardly knew one another, Ripley was just projecting the feelings of loss she felt for her REAL daughter onto some kid she met. She only knew Newt for a few hours at most.
After Newt died, Ripley realized she was just a "rebound" all along.
Her entire attitude in the 3rd movie was reflective of what happened to Newt and Hicks. She's clearly depressed the whole movie and ends it with suicide.
Alien: GOOOOOD
Aliens: GOOOOOD
Alien 3: What the fuck was that?
The rest I never cared for.
Aliens: GOOOOOD
Alien 3: What the fuck was that?
The rest I never cared for.
Disagree; I say the first two movies are stories about Ripley, through and through.
Few hours in those circumstances when you have just lost your daughter are not simply few hours spent with someone. And Newt represented the loss of her daughter when the film finished, she was meant to take the place of her, filling the emotional hollowness that was left.
Hm, actually, yes, my bad. But the film didn't make me relate to it, and I almost forgot that the depression existed in it. After the autopsy my attention was always somewhere else. It didn't tell that story well enough to justify killing Newt.
This is the argument I see thrown about all the time when it comes to Alien 3. It's dark and depressing so therefore it must be good.
Well forgive me for preferring that the characters I've grown to like get the happy endings that they've earned. How mistaken I must be. Clearly the only acceptable scenarios are those of death and despair for all.
I'm first and foremost a video game enthusiast, so I'll happily rewatch Aliens over and over again. It was an extremely influential movie in terms of, for lack of a better term, space marine aesthetics. I enjoy seeing the abundance of cues so many sci-fi action games have taken from the character and art design.
Actually, your conclusion doesn't follow. Dark and depressing films can easily be bad.This is the argument I see thrown about all the time when it comes to Alien 3. It's dark and depressing so therefore it must be good.
Of course, light and happy films can also be bad.
I think Alien 3 is a good film, because I respond well to its characters and its emotional depth. At the same time, I think Aliens is a bad film because I find it superficial and cliched. I don't like Alien 3 because it's "depressing." I like Alien 3 it makes me feel something.
If you want "happy endings," why are you watching the Alien movies?
Allyn Gibson;5000167If you want "happy endings said:Alien[/I] movies?
Because 3 is the only one bleak, depressing and pointless, it's the exception, none of the others were like that. I stick by my point that once you've seen 3 it ruins your rewatch of Alien/Aliens because you know it's all pointless, 3 throws away everything you love about them.
Ask yourself had 3 been first would anyone ever have bothered to make a sequal? 3 basically rode on the coatails of Alien/Aliens whilst simultaneously destroying them.
I stick to what I said to the thread poster, watch Alien/Aliens and stop there. If you do make the mistake of watching 3 then be sure to watch 4 so that you don't feel like killing yourself. AvP and AvP;R, watch them if you want but don't expect too much
You're conflating a "happy ending" with the opposite of "bleak, depressing and pointless," when that's not true at all.If you want "happy endings," why are you watching the Alien movies?
Because 3 is the only one bleak, depressing and pointless, it's the exception, none of the others were like that.
I would argue that the only Alien film that has a non-bleak ending is Aliens. The ending of Alien is shockingly bleak -- yes, Ripley survived, but she has no idea when/if she'll ever be found. The ending of Alien: Resurrection is also bleak -- an end has been put to the experiments on the Xenomorphs, but there's really no point to it because Earth is a lifeless, blasted world. Only Aliens has anything that qualifies as any kind of "happy ending."
Alien 3 makes me appreciate Aliens more, because Ripley's emotional reaction to the deaths of Newt and Hicks invests her relationships with them in Aliens with more emotional depth than Aliens itself managed. IMHO.
Alien 3 was also deeply influential on comics published by Dark Horse, with Sacrifice and Salvation picking up on the themes of the film.
Strictly speaking, none of the Alien movies, except maybe for AVP, demanded a sequel.
I've never felt like killing myself after watching Alien 3.
The only problem I've ever had with Alien 3 is the acting, which I find a bit all over the place compared to first two. Wasn't it Fincher's first feature? Some of the performances needed to be reined in a bit, or 'directed' better. But it could just be a Brit thing...
Like I said, Ripley was just projecting her feelings of loss onto someone else. Newt was her "rebound" and nothing more, and once she was dead and Ripley had time to think it over she'd realize it too.
Just because you prefer happy endings doesn't mean that they're the only acceptable endings. Movies are allowed to be dark and depressing. Heroes don't always have to ride off into the sunset. Sometimes shitty things happen to people, whether we want them to or not.
Did Ripley deserve for Newt and Hicks to die? Of course not. But who's to say that people get what they deserve? She didn't deserve to be put in the situation with the aliens in the first place! That doesn't mean it can't happen.
What I loved about Alien3 (and yes, I'm one of the weirdos who like it the best out of all the Alien movies) is how Ripley reacted to Newt and Hick's death. It was almost like she saw it coming, and it makes you reflect on the events of the last two movies. From the moment she awoke from stasis in the first movie, her life was doomed to tragedy.
I think they certainly could have written a happy ending that would have worked just fine, but I applaud them for telling a different kind of story.
Point is, she could very easily have become a great deal more - it isn't at all unrealistic to suppose that a gal whose parents took such a proletarian job as they did hasn't got any other relatives better suited than Ripley to care for her. And, sometimes "rebound" relationships last a lifetime. This isn't like Keanu and Sandra at the end of Speed, where they're equal adults whose connection may not last beyond the passion stage; this is a girl who, for all her survival skills, still needs a mother. There was, in short, nothing trivial about their bond.
I consider the first two films in the series nothing less than classics.
Alien is pretty much the film to beat when it comes to sci-fi/horror. It's tense, creepy, skillfully directed, flawlessly performed -- truly excellent.
Aliens is one of my favourite films ever (incidentally, it also has a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes). It's more sci-fi action than sci-fi horror, but everything that made the first one great works just as well here. The movie is a total blast, but it has a lot of heart as well -- plus, I find it extremely quotable.
Alien 3 is criminally underrated by a lot of people. Yeah, it kind of shits all over the end of Aliens, but once you get past that, there's a lot to admire here, especially considering everything Fincher had to endure from the studio while he was making the film. I'll admit there's some very uneven effects work, and the climax is somewhat confusing and overlong, but ultimately I find this one to be haunting, poignant, and wonderfully atmospheric.
Alien Resurrection -- ughh. Completely unnecessary, and while it has a few memorable moments, it largely does not work as a film. It also feels very awkwardly out of place withing the series as a whole. Shouldn't have been made, IMO.
I'd also suggest avoiding the AvP films, unless you're in an "I'm drunk and think it would be fun to watch some bad movies" sort of mood.
Alien is pretty much the film to beat when it comes to sci-fi/horror. It's tense, creepy, skillfully directed, flawlessly performed -- truly excellent.
Aliens is one of my favourite films ever (incidentally, it also has a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes). It's more sci-fi action than sci-fi horror, but everything that made the first one great works just as well here. The movie is a total blast, but it has a lot of heart as well -- plus, I find it extremely quotable.
Alien 3 is criminally underrated by a lot of people. Yeah, it kind of shits all over the end of Aliens, but once you get past that, there's a lot to admire here, especially considering everything Fincher had to endure from the studio while he was making the film. I'll admit there's some very uneven effects work, and the climax is somewhat confusing and overlong, but ultimately I find this one to be haunting, poignant, and wonderfully atmospheric.
Alien Resurrection -- ughh. Completely unnecessary, and while it has a few memorable moments, it largely does not work as a film. It also feels very awkwardly out of place withing the series as a whole. Shouldn't have been made, IMO.
I'd also suggest avoiding the AvP films, unless you're in an "I'm drunk and think it would be fun to watch some bad movies" sort of mood.
Yevetha
Commodore
This is the argument I see thrown about all the time when it comes to Alien 3. It's dark and depressing so therefore it must be good.
Well forgive me for preferring that the characters I've grown to like get the happy endings that they've earned. How mistaken I must be. Clearly the only acceptable scenarios are those of death and despair for all.
If its a horror movie...
OR, she could easily have just gone back to other relatives on Earth whom she knew for more than a few hours and just occasionally kept in touch with Ripley.
All we're left with are "What ifs?" and I'm saying that in canon, Ripley just realized Newt was her rebound after she died.
Game over, man. GAME OVERAliens is one of my favourite films ever (incidentally, it also has a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes). It's more sci-fi action than sci-fi horror, but everything that made the first one great works just as well here. The movie is a total blast, but it has a lot of heart as well -- plus, I find it extremely quotable.
The first film is great, awesome atmosphere and really behaves lik the haunted house in space it was supposed to be.
The second rips off many elements of the first, but the war angle keeps it going and is very impressive both in story, scope and direction.
The third isn't everyone's cup of tea; gone are the spaceship-based plots and gung-ho weapons. This is a favourite of mine, mainly because they tried to do something different, and to be most of it worked. The workprint adds to the feel of what Fincher wanted but ultimately the ulternate scenes (the ox instead of the dog, Ripley's dicovery on the beach instead of the EEV) don't really work. The only added sequence I liked was the 10-minute capture sequence that was dropped from the film. It gives it a breather part way through the turmoil.
saturn5 is lying, this is really his favourite movie ever.
The fourth is my least favourite. Ripley isn't her usual self, the direction is unsettling, the Newborn is porrly executed and overall it didn't seem to gel for me.
The Predator movies I ignore their existence.
The second rips off many elements of the first, but the war angle keeps it going and is very impressive both in story, scope and direction.
The third isn't everyone's cup of tea; gone are the spaceship-based plots and gung-ho weapons. This is a favourite of mine, mainly because they tried to do something different, and to be most of it worked. The workprint adds to the feel of what Fincher wanted but ultimately the ulternate scenes (the ox instead of the dog, Ripley's dicovery on the beach instead of the EEV) don't really work. The only added sequence I liked was the 10-minute capture sequence that was dropped from the film. It gives it a breather part way through the turmoil.
saturn5 is lying, this is really his favourite movie ever.
The fourth is my least favourite. Ripley isn't her usual self, the direction is unsettling, the Newborn is porrly executed and overall it didn't seem to gel for me.
The Predator movies I ignore their existence.
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