Alien

Author
Discussion

popeyewhite

19,863 posts

120 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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SpudLink said:
Buried in a box somewhere I have a book of Giger‘s artwork. If you’ve not noticed the sexual subtext in some scenes in the original film, his work will be an eye opener.
I had one of his artbooks as a teenager. Some drawings were quite racy, but never really...erotic.



paolow

3,209 posts

258 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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popeyewhite said:
I had one of his artbooks as a teenager. Some drawings were quite racy, but never really...erotic.
Many fans speculate that Lambert was raped by the alien before her death (probably borne from the tail between her legs clip). Interestingly in the DLC for Alien: Isolation (ok not really canon) when Lambert is found she has blood between her legs - but apparently this was put in more as a point of interest.

As a titbit - I am sure i read that an alternative ending Ripley is killed and the final monologue was delivered by the alien speaking 'through' Ripleys severed head. (not filmed)

For interest on youtube there is a 3.5 hour long 'making of alien' documentary (probably ripped from a special edition blu ray) that really is worth a watch (when i used to work long and tedious nights)

ch37

10,642 posts

221 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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I went to the anniversary cinema release not too long ago, really does look incredible to this day, that'll be all the practical work instead of CGI I guess.

My most vivid childhood memory to this day is doing the Alien Experience at the BIC with my Dad, it was basically Secret Cinema decades before Secret Cinema, fully immersive experience (well, it felt it at the time!). I remember going to the loo after and being absolutely certain that a Zenomorph was going to burst through the wall!

Edited by ch37 on Thursday 4th March 19:18

Gary C

12,427 posts

179 months

Thursday 4th March 2021
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SpudLink said:
Gary C said:
Thing is, they weren't x rated films. I went and saw Jaws when I was 8 and the X rated film posters all looked like adverts for porn films.
Pretty sure they were X rated. The 18 certificate hadn't been invented yet. X covered anything with violence, horror or sex. All the cool stuff you wanted to see as a teenager.
Yep, it was, my mistake.

It was Jaws that wasn't

satans worm

2,376 posts

217 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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RizzoTheRat said:
JagLover said:
Alien is a very different movie, being horror sci-fi. It is a very good movie and clearly the most inventive, but Aliens is the superior movie, imo, set in the world that Alien created.

Someone said that each of the Alien movies in the franchise (1-4) were the same movie but just shaped by who the director was. Cameron in his prime was the best sci-fi action director hence my preference for Aliens.
For me the fact that thier such different films is brilliant. So many sequels are basically the same movie because they knew that worked, and in some cases (Eg Terminator) that works brilliantly. But Alien is atmospheric horror/thriller, while Aliens is action movie. Aliens is my favorite, and I think that's because like you I love and action film, but Alien is also a great movie
I have been to Gieger house/ museum in Switzerland, a very disturbed man to be honest, something you realize when you look at the drawings that are displayed behind a curtain , still, setting in an alien chair at an alien table in the cafe was pretty cool smile

Mcphisto

830 posts

135 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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popeyewhite said:
Giger had been drawing similar designs for a number years before Alien came along, and was already a noted artist. He did work for Dune (unreleased version) pre-Alien.

In 1973 he produced this classic artwork for the ELP album Brain Salad Surgery:

Also done the cover for a Debbie Harry album called Koo Koo
Interesting article here
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/h.r._giger_bod...



captain_cynic

11,991 posts

95 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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Fun fact about Aliens, the entire film was made with just 12 Xenomorph costumes, it was clever writing and brilliant cinematography that made us think there was hundreds of them.

Also the APC in that film was an airport pushback tug in disguise.

There were a few other ideas for A3 before they settled on that script including one where the Xenomorphs made it to earth and they had to nuke a city, as per usual for sequels, the budget was revised downward and they had to abandon grand ideas.

tardelli

342 posts

116 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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Aliens - Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way

Trevor555

4,437 posts

84 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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tardelli said:
Aliens - Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way
He can't make that decision, he's only a grunt.

My favourite film, ever....

SpudLink

5,775 posts

192 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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Trevor555 said:
tardelli said:
Aliens - Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way
He can't make that decision, he's only a grunt.

My favourite film, ever....
It does have some great lines.

"Oh! That's great. Why not put her in charge?"

JagLover

42,400 posts

235 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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Aliens is a series of quotable lines from start to finish. Highlighting again the difference between Alien and Aliens.

Alien grounded and with workaday language. Aliens far more bombastic and with larger than life characters.


Radec

3,837 posts

47 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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Bill Paxton, the only guy to be killed by a Alien, Predator and Terminator.

Loved him in Weird Science too.

toasty

7,472 posts

220 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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SpudLink said:
Trevor555 said:
tardelli said:
Aliens - Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way
He can't make that decision, he's only a grunt.

My favourite film, ever....
It does have some great lines.

"Oh! That's great. Why not put her in charge?"
All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for?
Breakfast in bed?
Another glorious day in the Corps!
A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm.
Every meal's a banquet!
Every paycheck a fortune!
Every formation a parade!
I *love* the Corps!

RIP Al Matthews

pquinn

7,167 posts

46 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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captain_cynic said:
Also the APC in that film was an airport pushback tug in disguise.
And where they're driving it back out of the atmosphere processor they had to build the set with a big slope in it to get the model version to move fast enough.

Both great films.

mike80

2,248 posts

216 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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I can't decide which I prefer out of Alien or Aliens. Both amazing films, but with very different atmosphere.

I also like 3 and Resurrection, and will happily watch Prometheus. I've seen Covenant, but found that one a bit more forgettable.

I can't remember how old I was when I first saw Alien, but not very old... my dad was reluctant to let me watch it at first, but relented. It used to freak me out for months, I was worried there was a Xenomorph hiding behind my bed... also, I didn't see the end for years as he had recorded it off the TV, and there was an hours worth of news in between the two halves of the film. It cut off just before Ripley gets to the shuttle.

I first saw Aliens one Christmas morning, or the first hour or so at least. Christmas lunch was interesting, with every mouthful I thought I was a step closer to a chestbuster!

We went to the Alien War experience in London when I was about 13, great fun being chased around in the dark. Someone got knocked down, or sprained an ankle and had to be helped out.

Great series of films!

daddy cool

4,001 posts

229 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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captain_cynic said:
Fun fact about Aliens, the entire film was made with just 12 Xenomorph costumes, it was clever writing and brilliant cinematography that made us think there was hundreds of them.
Fun Alien fact - to make the Space Jockey structure appear bigger, they used two children in scaled-down spacesuits walking around it - one was Ridley Scott's son, the other was Charlie Boorman (of "Long Way..." fame)

For the ubernerds, this webpage is far more interesting that it has any right to be.
https://typesetinthefuture.com/2014/12/01/alien/

Resolutionary

1,259 posts

171 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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This is my kind of conversation - the Alien franchise is by some margin my favourite of all time. Total geek for anything about this universe, I have toys, collectibles, books, comics, special release junk, etc. Obsessed is an understatement.

I watched the first when I was about 10, echoing some of the responses here. Didn't sleep right for weeks - haunting cinema.

The second nudges top spot from the whole series, again as some of you have said. Just a brilliant film, and impressive sequel by any standards.

I actually really like the third; the mix of British actors, gritty settings, and a return to the moody 'feel' of the first works for me - although the CGI really didn't age well.

Resurrection plays out like a comic book but again, really enjoyed it the first time and will happily watch it once a year (during a marathon of all the films, of course!).

Then.. the prequels.

I know they weren't received well generally. Prometheus has all the hallmarks, certainly felt like something from the same cinematic universe but there were definite plot holes, and I would love to have seen more from / about the engineers here. The soundtrack is great.

Covenant was actually the first Alien release I got to watch on the big screen - excited was an understatement. I left feeling relatively satisfied, but slightly saddened that in effect the Xenomorph was a narcissistic concoction of a fatherless droid. The very end scene with the incubator gives me some hope that the next instalment, whenever it may arrive, gives us at least some epic scenes featuring the creature that ignited the space horror genre in the first place.

To surmise, Alien remains universally worthy of praise, despite the tech ageing it somewhat. The rest of the films still, to a varying degree, give me the fizz and I remain hopeful that whatever comes next is worthwhile - regardless of the Disney connection.

Someone else mentioned the games; Isolation is fantastic and genuinely scary at points. I have fond memories as a kid of playing the AVP stuff and running about as a Xeno, doing in marines and predators.

darreni

3,788 posts

270 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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Alien for me, dark & uneasy with no frills. Aliens is a great film, but a little to hollywood.

Wayoftheflower

1,328 posts

235 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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Aliens is my #1 favourite film and the extended edition really ups the tension with the sentry guns running dry.

The "See you Dwayne" line must've been thrown in for laughs.

A-cubed was inevitably disappointing undoing any potential of Newt becoming the next Ripley. I read the comics but forget exactly what they do in this alternate timeline, Earth is invaded, there's a super Queen and more power loader / combat armour battles.

A4 I forgive its flaws for SW still being awesome.

The original I recognize as a terrific horror film but I'm no great fan of horror.

Prequels rely too much on characters being dumb to move the plot along. Rather than scheming, or careless, or inexperienced, or greedy. Just dumb. Such wasted potential.

AVP game with Xenos wall and ceiling running was ace and had surprisingly good balance for the 3 asymmetric races playable. Rose tinted glasses firmly on.

P-Jay

10,564 posts

191 months

Friday 5th March 2021
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JagLover said:
Aliens is a series of quotable lines from start to finish. Highlighting again the difference between Alien and Aliens.

Alien grounded and with workaday language. Aliens far more bombastic and with larger than life characters.
There's a level in one of the COD games called "Crew Expendable" itself a reference to Alien. The characters / NPCs pretty much just use lines from Aliens, including one who pulls a pump-action shotgun from it's home over his shoulder "I like to keep this for close encounters".