Alien (1979) - 40th Anniversary

[PlacidCasual]

You'll have to stick with me here. I watched Pacific Rim uprising the other day with it's kiddie cadet core and each one fulfils some stereotypical team function and you watch the movie and don't give a damn about them despite the fact they mostly survive until the end. They just don't feel like real characters.
In Aliens the majority of the marines are only in the film for 30 mins tops yet they are far more adeptly fleshed out as a group than in most other films I've ever seen. The marines that survive to the penultimate act feel as real as most of the leads in other films, Hudson and Vasquez aren't the leads but we feel we know despite relatively short screen time I think it's really well done.
It's the essence of what separates a good action film from a shoddy one.

 

[mid_gen]

I haven't actually seen Alien 3 Director's Cut all the way through :S

Did Prometheus or Covenant get a directors cut?

 

[SixTwoSix]

I haven't actually seen Alien 3 Director's Cut all the way through :S

Did Prometheus or Covenant get a directors cut?

There is a fan made cut of Prometheus that makes the film more coherent, it includes extra/deleted scenes which explain certain stupid decisions later on in the film.

For example when Milburn and Fifield are lost earlier on, Milburn is handling worms/snakes with no issue which explains why he has no worries approaching the hammerpede later on.

Nothing ever explains running from a rolling object in the same direction though

 

[mid_gen]

I don't get too hung up on the 'daft things people do' stuff, Aliens has plenty of people doing dumb things (taking away magazines? Really?)..(we've developed interstellar travel but we still rely on meatsack grunts pointing rifles at things?) . Sometimes in big spectacular scenes, sensible decision making takes a back seat to framing the action.

 

[SixTwoSix]

I don't get too hung up on the 'daft things people do' stuff, Aliens has plenty of people doing dumb things (taking away magazines? Really?)..(we've developed interstellar travel but we still rely on meatsack grunts pointing rifles at things?) . Sometimes in big spectacular scenes, sensible decision making takes a back seat to framing the action.

Thing is, if you look at the Prometheus thread I started when it was first rumoured, after the movies release there was an echo chamber of annoyed people pointing out stupid things people did in the movie.

I'm obviously biased but even trying to be objective, there isn't a lot wrong with that film...if you disregard stupid things people do.

The trouble with Prometheus was that it started as a direct Alien prequel, then went off at a weird tangent and was re-written poorly by Lindelof.

https://www.indiewire.com/2011/06/s...cript-made-like-a-less-direct-prequel-117784/

 

[Baron C]

I haven’t.

You need the first 2 movies in your life. If you game in any way it will resonate so much! I'm jealous you get to watch them with fresh eyes!

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[SixTwoSix]

t's still an alien creature, and they've still just been running around like headless chickens, scared out of their minds... why would this fully explain why he suddenly switches and starts fondling an alien?

I should have said he was handling alien snakes/worms after they landed on lv223, he stupidly assumed the new one was harmless as well.

Didn't say it was perfect, just makes more sense.

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[Bubo]

I vastly prefer Alien to Aliens, but Aliens was memorable for the fact that some of the guns required scaffolding to use, if nothing else.

 

[Rroff]

I was going to say, if you're a good enough director you shouldn't need a Directors Cut to tell the story properly... But then I remembered, this is Ridley "7 Different Blade Runner Cuts" Scott!!
I also expect the studio dictated what was cut, which is why the film ended up being such utter ****!

I kind of wish there were more movies with decent extended cuts - on some movies there is a ton of footage that is of good quality, fits in the narrative, etc. but deemed too long and boring or similar reasons for the theatrical release but can make for really good watching at your own leisure.

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[melmac]

I liked all the Alien movies apart from Prometheus. The first two, obviously, are the best. I thought the 3 and 4 were watchable. Even though 3 just felt a little stale as the Alien lost some of it's shock value and Resurrection went for all out action more than any kind of plot.

But Prometheus, man, that was one stupid thing after another. There was no tension because of stupid they all were. I am surprised those morons even managed to open the door to exit the ship.

 

[melmac]

Where it adds to the film, sure. The LotR films are good for that.
But where it's just a few seconds of additional fluff, save it for the Special Features.

for the First two films the extended cuts were good, but, they really messed up the last movie.

 

[wolfie138]

I don't get too hung up on the 'daft things people do' stuff, Aliens has plenty of people doing dumb things (taking away magazines? Really?)..(we've developed interstellar travel but we still rely on meatsack grunts pointing rifles at things?) . Sometimes in big spectacular scenes, sensible decision making takes a back seat to framing the action.

that's not a patch on "the ship's about to go meganuclear and there's a homicidal indestructable lifeform on the loose. better go looking for the cat"

 

[SixTwoSix]

that's not a patch on "the ship's about to go meganuclear and there's a homicidal indestructable lifeform on the loose. better go looking for the cat"

That's just a typical "rescue the princess" trope and frankly, if it was a dog, i'd do the same.

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[melmac]

That part was handled for them by the ship crew, who of course had to die... Can't have competent people interfering with the plot!

 

[MookJong]

You'll have to stick with me here. I watched Pacific Rim uprising the other day with it's kiddie cadet core and each one fulfils some stereotypical team function and you watch the movie and don't give a damn about them despite the fact they mostly survive until the end. They just don't feel like real characters.
In Aliens the majority of the marines are only in the film for 30 mins tops yet they are far more adeptly fleshed out as a group than in most other films I've ever seen. The marines that survive to the penultimate act feel as real as most of the leads in other films, Hudson and Vasquez aren't the leads but we feel we know despite relatively short screen time I think it's really well done.
It's the essence of what separates a good action film from a shoddy one.

Spot on, the Aliens characters should be completely over the top but they feel pretty fleshed out after a couple of minutes of seeing them wake up and get something to eat. This is the power of a good script and the ability to tell a story. The hinted backstory between Drake and Vasquez for example probably fills 5-7 seconds of screen time yet you understand it. So when Drake takes the hit you feel Vasquez pain all the more. The cliques and dynamics of the group are so totally rich and it really feels natural and like situations you know yourself in life.

I don't know what goes wrong with so many films now but I would say visual effects possibly have a lot to answer for. Standing in front of green screens surely does not get the best out of actors or the crew. In a real world set you would rework and develop a scene probably a lot more than in a green environment. Just making sure you stand in exactly the right place and pretend to be interacting with something not there must be the highest priority.

Script and story telling is everything....and possibly real sets.

Thoughts on Ripley having a daughter at home or not based on the directors cut? I really dislike the idea Ripley had a daughter. It detracts from the family dynamic created between her Hicks and Newt at the end.

 

[wolfie138]

all of that is totally derailed by the stupidity/tropes of the rest of it. i get the inexperienced leader, as the company may well have been using this simply as a test to see how good a bioweapon the alien is, but it jars w/ me that none of the other soldiers seem to know anything about their surroundings and their weaponry. having ripley point military tactics and strategy out to a military team just makes the film annoying to me. also jarring is that it plays that they are the only people on the Sulaco - i can't believe a craft that size wouldn't need more staff/synthetics to run it.