Sigourney Weaver talks Alien 5... again...

[Reverend]

Oh I know it was a joke, but like I said, it's the only name there is. That is at least until Prometheus 2 comes up with something else. The "Engineer's Mates" perhaps? Or maybe the "Sub-Contractors"?

Using "alien" just seems to me like a set-up for a "yo dawg" joke. As in "Yo dawg! I heard you like the alien in Alien, so I put some aliens in Aliens..."

 

[DarthTom]

There was a weird, inconsistent tone throughout the whole film. Personally I chalk it up to the directing style and some of the casting choices being at odds with writing style. It tried to be a quasi-comedic, cheesey action sci-fi film with a heavy horror element. It's no wonder a lot of stuff felt distinctly off.

Exactly. Re-watching the film years later - another problem was - the scene when the Dr. co-mingles with the Queen Xenomorph - and we get this bizarre long monologue that was as you say part comic rellief - part B rated horror.

Also I like Winona Ryder just fine as an actress but her character was strange as well - she didn't IMO play an adroid well at all. And, calling the computer system, 'Father,' was another strange example and ship even had quasi church to interact with, 'Father.'

 

[Deckerd]

There aren't any other queens in the movie. Why not just say queen? It's like a fascinating experiment unfolding before my eyes. I might write a paper on this.

 

[Reverend]

Pretty sure calling the ship's computer "Father" was just a nod to the Nostromo's "Mother" AI. The use of the chapel was a little odd, but I think it's valid given some allot of the "man playing god" subtext going on. Parent-child relationships were definitely in there too and there could also have been an intentional hints at misogyny in the mix, but like a lot of things in that movie the execution felt muddled.

 

[Teelie]

I don't have much to add but damn that is funny. I see the usual one frequently but never this one before now.

Alien 5 is one of those hopeful, dreadful movies I don't know if I would want to see or not. Ever since Resurrection it's been all down hill disappointments. Even Alien 3 was disappointing. The less said about AVP and AVP2 the better.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

AVP had a single, really cool shot: the ice breaker approaching the whaling village with the wide open starry sky. Great visual reminiscent of the sun-setting ship shots from Alien and Aliens. And it had one really cool set: the whaling village frosted over. Other than that...so sad. I choose to ignore this one.

AVP:R, on the other hand, felt so much like the more entertaining AVP books, I couldn't help but enjoy it. The hard R was a big help too. This one exists in my personal cannon for the two franchises, whereas Aliens 3 is a Ripley cryo-nightmare.

A:R is very proto-Firefly and quite fun. The tone is odd at times, but again, I like this one. It's fucking weird, but still good. I wish Whedon had been able to helm the project and control scripting. I bet it would have been awesome, if he had.

As for "xenomorphs", what else would you call them? You can't just say "aliens", because Aliens establishes humans have come into contact with numerous other alien lifeforms, just none with the characteristics Ripley describes. Lower forms of alien life are so common the marines bemoan going on yet another bug hunt. There's also the issue of naming them removes some of the mystery surrounding the species. In the Predator books, they name the Predators Yautja and it's as lame and disappointing as it sounds.

 

[Lance]

I'm something of a fan of the first AVP movie. I think it bridges between the two franchises pretty well, chronologically speaking, following up Predator 2 but leading into the original Alien. But AVP2 doesn't exist in MY canon. It was too much like just a generic slasher flick for my liking, 'People getting offed in Small Town USA', it just didn't feel like it did either franchise justice in my opinion.

As Sigourney Weaver herself said in the OP quote:

I don’t think Alien belongs on Earth popping out of a haystack, which is where I was afraid it was going to go.

Damn right!

As far as Alien 5 is concerned though... meh. Sigourney must be having trouble paying the bills or something for her to even be considering this. I felt Alien Resurrection was already one step too far for this particular story, let alone bringing out another for the sake of spinning a bit more money out of fans. There's a point I think where every franchise needs to take a long hard look at itself and decide to move on from its own past. Frankly, I just think the ongoing story of Ellen Ripley is done now.

 

[RoJoHen]

AVP:R would have been entertaining if they had turned the lights up a little bit. It was impossible to enjoy because I could never fucking see what was happening.

It was always hold a special place in my heart, however, because I saw it on Christmas Day with my family.

 

[Reverend]

The main problems with the AvP films weren't so much that they mishandled the lore or the chronology, the main problem IMO is that they both had deathly dull scripts with absolutly no memorable characters. Look at the original movies and you can easily name at least five unique characters from each (even Alien 3) the AvP films....even though I randomly caught it on TV just a few weeks ago, I still can't remember the name of main character in the first one (just what she looks like.) As for AvP2: I don't even remember if there was a main character at all. Seriously, I can't recall a single human character from that one at all.

It sounds a little silly I know, but in my head canon, the AvP films exist in the same universe as the Predator films, but not the Alien/Prometheus films (plus Blade Runner....maybe.) Even so, they're poor examples of the Predator franchise.

 

[Teelie]

AVP:R would have been entertaining if they had turned the lights up a little bit. It was impossible to enjoy because I could never fucking see what was happening.

It was always hold a special place in my heart, however, because I saw it on Christmas Day with my family.

And if they didn't rehash scenes from all the previous movies. You didn't miss much you hadn't already seen in prior movies. Their one original idea was to have the Predalien become a queen and use pregnant women as incubators which was schlock above all else. It contributed nothing beneficial to the story and was just for shock value. It wasn't shocking though, it was just pathetic reaching.

 

[Deckerd]

As for "xenomorphs", what else would you call them? You can't just say "aliens", because Aliens establishes humans have come into contact with numerous other alien lifeforms, just none with the characteristics Ripley describes.

Anyone who takes that word seriously doesn't really get Aliens IMO.

 

[Reverend]

AVP:R would have been entertaining if they had turned the lights up a little bit. It was impossible to enjoy because I could never fucking see what was happening.

It was always hold a special place in my heart, however, because I saw it on Christmas Day with my family.

And if they didn't rehash scenes from all the previous movies. You didn't miss much you hadn't already seen in prior movies. Their one original idea was to have the Predalien become a queen and use pregnant women as incubators which was schlock above all else. It contributed nothing beneficial to the story and was just for shock value. It wasn't shocking though, it was just pathetic reaching.

It also rather missed the whole point of the original Alien concept. It was about the male fear of sexual abuse and childbirth. Impregnating women was redundant, utterly stupid and as you say, done purely for shock value.

 

[Deckerd]

It also rather missed the whole point of the original Alien concept. It was about the male fear of sexual abuse and childbirth.

I'd like a few reputable sources for that please. I remember being told by someone here the android trying to suffocate Ripley was a rape scene. Also the alien raped someone else because her breathing was fast when she was captured. He was deadly serious. So y'know while men are being terrified of getting pregnant by a nasty alien raping them, the women were finding it a bit thrilling.

 

[Set Harth]

Second, complete the story by finishing it on the aliens' original planet.

Yes.

 

[sidious618]

I'm sharing that on my facebook ASAP because that is fucking brilliant.

 

[Starkers]

It also rather missed the whole point of the original Alien concept. It was about the male fear of sexual abuse and childbirth.

I'd like a few reputable sources for that please. I remember being told by someone here the android trying to suffocate Ripley was a rape scene. Also the alien raped someone else because her breathing was fast when she was captured. He was deadly serious. So y'know while men are being terrified of getting pregnant by a nasty alien raping them, the women were finding it a bit thrilling.

I think Ash trying to kill Ripley is a scene just dripping with symbolism. Not only does he try to kill her by stuffing a rolled up magazine down her throat, but it's a porn mag into the bargain.

I think when I was younger I did interpret the Lambert scene as rape, but I think it's clear that this was just a case that she hid from the Alien, was scared shitless and was hyperventalating until the Alien winkled her out and killed her. She doesn't seem to die quickly, but it seems unlikely anything sexual was happening (for starters it doesn't fit with the Alien's lifecycle) I'm willing to be proven wrong on this if anyone does have an official sources that suggests otherwise. If the Alien was doing anything it was maybe impregnating her (the way it must have impregnated Dallas given the delected scene).

 

[Mr Light]

<<I think Ash trying to kill Ripley is a scene just dripping with symbolism. Not only does he try to kill her by stuffing a rolled up magazine down her throat, but it's a porn mag into the bargain. >>

I never noticed either of those things

 

[Starkers]

Of course it's an odd way to try and kill someone, the magazine is too big to even get in her mouth (of course Ash is pretty far from rational at this point and his circuits are probably overloading!)

 

[Deckerd]

<<I think Ash trying to kill Ripley is a scene just dripping with symbolism. Not only does he try to kill her by stuffing a rolled up magazine down her throat, but it's a porn mag into the bargain. >>

I never noticed either of those things

Well neither did I but symbolism I understand. From what Sigourney Weaver said about filming with Ridley Scott was that he didn't tell anyone much before they started filming. I get the impression that he knew the broad strokes but was willing to let the actors wing it to a certain extent. The alien eruption scene was a good case in point of both the above. Now this doesn't mean that careers haven't been built on the symbolism of Ridley Scott films. There was another one, oh I can't remember the name but it was about killer androids , which people have doctorates in.

 

[Starkers]

Legend?