Discussion
I saw it in the cinema in '79 when I was 14, I can remember the shock of the audience when the creature burst out of the pod into John Hurt's helmet even now. Aliens is a great film in its own right, but the original is still the best for me.
This raised a smile when I first saw it....
Geiger's designs blew me away, it was all so different to anything else sci-fi at the time....
This raised a smile when I first saw it....
Geiger's designs blew me away, it was all so different to anything else sci-fi at the time....
paolow said:
Oh - for those of you that are fans - yes A3 was prettty weak - but the quadrilogy blu ray has the special edition = aka assembly cut which is a marked improvement and in fact is hugely different. Definitely recommended if you havent seen it
What are the key differences please?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. paolow said:
Oh - for those of you that are fans - yes A3 was prettty weak - but the quadrilogy blu ray has the special edition = aka assembly cut which is a marked improvement and in fact is hugely different. Definitely recommended if you havent seen it
The Gibson script for a3 is online if you look. Very different story. And IIRC so is the early a3 treatment before it morphed into what we got.
Monks on a wooden space station with aliens that could shape-shift / camo like an octopus.
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 movieSomeone 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.
littlebasher said:
H.R. Giger must have had some pretty weird dreams to come up with his designs
My sister and i watched it when i was about 7. I couldn't sleep with the light off for a month after that!
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.My sister and i watched it when i was about 7. I couldn't sleep with the light off for a month after that!
In 1973 he produced this classic artwork for the ELP album Brain Salad Surgery:
I loved the first 4 films. A mate had the movie novel which I'd read a lot before seeing the film.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alien-Movie-Richard-J-Ano...
I've not seen anything quite like it for any other film.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alien-Movie-Richard-J-Ano...
I've not seen anything quite like it for any other film.
Lincsls1 said:
What's peoples thoughts on the latest prequels?
I really enjoyed Prometheus, probably a little more than Covenant.
Stylistically superb... I really enjoyed Prometheus, probably a little more than Covenant.
Plots have more holes than a Swiss cheese down range used fit target practice...
Story about a credible as Andy's can't sweat excuse.
Sorry... Thought they were garbage.
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:
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. In 1973 he produced this classic artwork for the ELP album Brain Salad Surgery:
I’ve also got this on the top of a bookshelf...
It’s made from scrap.
I like Alien but I love Aliens.
Totally different films horror vs action was a good starting point. Then add in the fact that these bad ass marines get absolutely destroyed subverting the whole humans are best trope.
I actually preferred the cinema release over the directors cut which added in the discovery and bits with the auto-cannons. I like the rescue party discovering things step by step and slowly starting to believe Ripley and the building panic.
Game over man, game over.
Totally different films horror vs action was a good starting point. Then add in the fact that these bad ass marines get absolutely destroyed subverting the whole humans are best trope.
I actually preferred the cinema release over the directors cut which added in the discovery and bits with the auto-cannons. I like the rescue party discovering things step by step and slowly starting to believe Ripley and the building panic.
Game over man, game over.
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
Lincsls1 said:
What's peoples thoughts on the latest prequels?
I really enjoyed Prometheus, probably a little more than Covenant.
Stylistically superb... I really enjoyed Prometheus, probably a little more than Covenant.
Plots have more holes than a Swiss cheese down range used fit target practice...
Story about a credible as Andy's can't sweat excuse.
Sorry... Thought they were garbage.
My main issue with the xenomorph is how much it drools. It'd have to be waterborne to have that much gob.
Bullett said:
I like Alien but I love Aliens.
Totally different films horror vs action was a good starting point. Then add in the fact that these bad ass marines get absolutely destroyed subverting the whole humans are best trope.
I actually preferred the cinema release over the directors cut which added in the discovery and bits with the auto-cannons. I like the rescue party discovering things step by step and slowly starting to believe Ripley and the building panic.
Game over man, game over.
I'm with you but the sentry gun scene really adds to suspense. Totally different films horror vs action was a good starting point. Then add in the fact that these bad ass marines get absolutely destroyed subverting the whole humans are best trope.
I actually preferred the cinema release over the directors cut which added in the discovery and bits with the auto-cannons. I like the rescue party discovering things step by step and slowly starting to believe Ripley and the building panic.
Game over man, game over.
I agree, the pre-infestation stuff detracts. I'd rather use my imagination and find out when the characters do.
Lincsls1 said:
What are the key differences please?
The xenopedia provides an overview? https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Alien_3_Special_Editio...Bullett said:
I like Alien but I love Aliens.
Totally different films horror vs action was a good starting point. Then add in the fact that these bad ass marines get absolutely destroyed subverting the whole humans are best trope.
I actually preferred the cinema release over the directors cut which added in the discovery and bits with the auto-cannons. I like the rescue party discovering things step by step and slowly starting to believe Ripley and the building panic.
Game over man, game over.
Usually the theatrical version is better than the director's cut for Cameron movies, see T2 as an example. With Aliens though I think the director's cut adds some needed scenes. You can probably do without the LV-426 scenes of discovering the alien spaceship I agree but some of the additional early Ripley scenes add something in my view. The auto cannon scenes are also building tension. Totally different films horror vs action was a good starting point. Then add in the fact that these bad ass marines get absolutely destroyed subverting the whole humans are best trope.
I actually preferred the cinema release over the directors cut which added in the discovery and bits with the auto-cannons. I like the rescue party discovering things step by step and slowly starting to believe Ripley and the building panic.
Game over man, game over.
I was a big Dr Who fan as a kid growing up in the 70s - but "the fear" of watching an episode was beginning to wear off. I remember Alien being on TV, it must have been the early 80s, and watching it with my parents....it was everything I'd wanted in a Dr Who episode but turned up to 100. It had such an impact on me and remains in my top 3 films of all time.
Prometheus I thought was actually decent as an prequel and origin story.
We got enough of the Alien in all the older films so exploring the idea of how it all started was more interesting to me.
Covenant was such a let down after though as the ending for Prometheus set up what could have been a great story with meeting the engineers and what could have followed.
Instead they poo-pooed that whole idea, killing off the engineers in one fell swoop and went back to the typical xenomorph killing people instead with a rogue AI, which I'm guessing they thought was a good idea due to the reception of Prometheus.
Also I've always hated that "mostly comes at night..mostly" line Newt says in Aliens.
Just sounds like such a stupid thing to say with the extra "mostly" added on.
We got enough of the Alien in all the older films so exploring the idea of how it all started was more interesting to me.
Covenant was such a let down after though as the ending for Prometheus set up what could have been a great story with meeting the engineers and what could have followed.
Instead they poo-pooed that whole idea, killing off the engineers in one fell swoop and went back to the typical xenomorph killing people instead with a rogue AI, which I'm guessing they thought was a good idea due to the reception of Prometheus.
Also I've always hated that "mostly comes at night..mostly" line Newt says in Aliens.
Just sounds like such a stupid thing to say with the extra "mostly" added on.
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