Alien Series

The Best of the Alien Films?


  • Total voters
    91

Henry Jones VII

Active member
I loved Prometheus really much. It was a great experience, better than I was expecting after all the bad reviews and the public bashing from so many "fans" of the Alien series. For me it was a pleasant surprise, a great cinematography, strong performances by Fassbender, Elba and Theron. I'll be buying the blu-ray and the making of book.:cool:


ps: I found this pic on the web and loved it, and tought of sharing it with you guys:

Prometheus-noomi-rapace-behind-scenes-12.jpg
 
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Stoo

Well-known member
Dr. Gonzo said:
I like Prometheus for the reason that it leaves some things open up for interpretation.
Agreed. I finally saw "Prometheus" and enjoyed it very, very much. One of the reasons is due to the fact that certain things are left unexplained. This adds to the creepy mysteriousness and helps put you in the shoes of what it could be like to be in an alien environment. You're not going to fully understand everything around you.

The effects were stunningly realistic and sharp. I loved the whole approach to/landing on the planet and when the team starts investigating the pyramid. It's been a long time since a movie really made me feel so tense & uneasy. There were definitely vibes of the original movie all over the place.

The lead female actress did a great job, too. I was wondering why a really old actor for wasn't used for Weyland instead of having Guy Pearce in makeup. Apparently, it's because there was a scene with a younger Weyland which was eventually dropped.

Really, the only scene that I didn't like was when the guy with the beard shows up back at the ship and attacks the crew.

Anyway, this movie is right up there with the first 2. I'm definitely going to buy it!(y)
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Stoo said:
Agreed. I finally saw "Prometheus" and enjoyed it very, very much. One of the reasons is due to the fact that certain things are left unexplained. This adds to the creepy mysteriousness and helps put you in the shoes of what it could be like to be in an alien environment. You're not going to fully understand everything around you.

The effects were stunningly realistic and sharp. I loved the whole approach to/landing on the planet and when the team starts investigating the pyramid. It's been a long time since a movie really made me feel so tense & uneasy. There were definitely vibes of the original movie all over the place.

The lead female actress did a great job, too. I was wondering why a really old actor for wasn't used for Weyland instead of having Guy Pearce in makeup. Apparently, it's because there was a scene with a younger Weyland which was eventually dropped.

Really, the only scene that I didn't like was when the guy with the beard shows up back at the ship and attacks the crew.

Anyway, this movie is right up there with the first 2. I'm definitely going to buy it!(y)

Glad you liked the film Stoo, I think it's growing on me even more as well.

Yeah I've been on the look out for the Jon Spaihts (the other writer) draft. He is an incredible screenwriter, theres an unproduced screenplay of his floating around out there called Shadow 19 it's great and it's basically what got him in Ridley's office and ultimately the job.

If you're interested in what the writers have to say I found these...

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tf8FkE45gqc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EvI_kYY2PLA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Dr. Gonzo said:
Glad you liked the film Stoo, I think it's growing on me even more as well.
I enjoyed it so much that I watched it twice in the same night and noticed more stuff the 2nd time. (Such as: another pyramid in the distance behind the main one and the Weyland logo on David's fingertip.)

It even inspired me to watch the 2 "Alien VS. Predator" movies which I've never really been interested in seeing before.

Will check out those videos, Gonzo. I also want to see the fake TED talk with Guy Pearce as a young Weyland.

P.S. I never voted on this poll because it's a split decision between the first 2 movies.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
It even inspired me to watch the 2 "Alien VS. Predator" movies which I've never really been interested in seeing before.

Steady on, Stoo. Before you know it you'll find yourself watching superhero movies. :p
 

Montana Smith

Active member
...and after that interlude we return to...Prometheus.

Just watched it. Loved it from start to finish.

It begins slowly, in-keeping with Alien, and also reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, in that great revelations come from humble beginnings.

Are spoiler tags still necessary? If so, read no more!

Wasn't Ridley Scott saying that this wasn't a prequel to Alien? A little misdirection, perhaps? Prometheus virtually explains everything, except for why the Engineers decided to destroy their creation.

For a while things are literally 'alien'. We recognize elements from Alien but they aren't identical, such as the 'vases' in place of xenomorph eggs; the 'squid' in place of the facehugger; the Space Jockey and his ship, but not the Space Jockey and ship of Alien.

The final reveal of the adult squid was, however, very much a Lovecraftian terror.

The closing shot of the proto-xenomorph was a rewarding finale.


After one viewing it feels like a very satisfying film, fitting perfectly into the series, answering the questions I wanted answered, but leaving new ones open to maintain some mystery.

A few weeks ago I picked up one of these books:

alien+movie+novel.jpg


A first edition 1979 copy, containing stills from every moment of Alien. A fantastic resource to pore over, especially in light of what we see in Prometheus.


Smiffy said:
The story sounds like humans created the aliens...since Frankenstein's monster was "The Modern Prometheus".

I wasn't too far wrong. Calling the ship Prometheus was a giveaway, implying Peter Weyland, as in the tradition of Weylands, knew that the Engineers were the creators of monsters. And maybe that's how they saw humanity - as a monster that needed to be destroyed...by monsters.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Prometheus premieres this week on sky movies, so I'll be giving it a watch then. Looking forward to it.
 

Paden

Member
In my humble opinion, Prometheus is one of the best science fiction films to come along in quite some time. It's a movie I've watched more than once, devoting some time after each viewing to contemplate its different mysteries. The fact that everything isn't sewn up in a neat little package is actually one of my favorite aspects of it. It also makes me wish that more high concept science fiction films were able to make it to the big screen today.
 

Henry Jones VII

Active member
I liked it and enjoyed very much.

I think many people were expecting another "Alien" and had their expections too high and were disappointed.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Finally watched this tonight and really enjoyed it. It's certainly a film that makes you think and leaves many questions. I liked that the evolution of the alien was probably one of the main focuses of the film. But it certainly makes you think about the engineers motives and if what we see in this film is what was found in Alien.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
AndyLGR said:
But it certainly makes you think about the engineers motives and if what we see in this film is what was found in Alien.

I don't think what they found in the film was what they found in Alien, but one of a number of similar vessels containing different 'bio-weapons'.

There are lots of theories here, especially down in the 'comments' section.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Montana Smith said:
I don't think what they found in the film was what they found in Alien, but one of a number of similar vessels containing different 'bio-weapons'.

There are lots of theories here, especially down in the 'comments' section.
That's what made the film good. The fact that it didnt try to fill in all the blanks leading up to alien. Initially I thought they would do the typical prequel stuff and show how the space jockey ended up in the pilots chair etc, but clearly it couldn't have been the same ship otherwise the other human bodies would have been found in the cockpit.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Gonna go ahead and toot my own horn from a post I made just about 3 years ago...

Dr. Gonzo said:
Well Francis Ford Coppola wanted to have the last Godfather film be called "The Death of Michael Corleone" [to dissociate it from the previous 2] Paramount superseded his decision and slapped the title "Godfather Part III" on the film. Generally most people dislike the godfather 3, would it have made a difference if the film would have been titled as originally intended? who knows.
Maybe Scott see's the fact that most "Alien" franchise fans might be disappointed with the lack of actual "alien" (xenomorph) material in this prequel and is therefore disassociating this film with the franchise name and saving the film from future criticism from those fans...

Gonna go ahead and toot my own horn from a post just about 3 years ago...

...This IS EXACTLY why they didn't have "ALIEN" in the title.

but hell still did rain/reign/rane down from most "Alien" fans anyway.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Dr. Gonzo said:
Gonna go ahead and toot my own horn from a post I made just about 3 years ago...



Gonna go ahead and toot my own horn from a post just about 3 years ago...

"Toot toot!"

I hear ya, Dr. G.


I think that's the reasoning behind it. It's Alien, but not exactly Alien as we know it.

In this age of information such dissociation isn't really effective, with people reading between the lines about it being Alien related, but not Alien. Then expecting something more when they get there.



I liked the film for showing us more of the back story, and opening up more of that universe on film. It could so easily have fallen flat on its face by trying to remake the original too closely. Which is another reason for Ridley having chosen the direction he did.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Dr. Gonzo said:
but hell still did rain/reign/rane down from most "Alien" fans anyway.
Bah, I still can't get over how freaking excellent "Prometheus" is. It exceeded all my expectations and the part when the "ghosts" run by through the tunnel really creeped me out the first time I watched it.

Gonzo, if you ever come to Switzerland, you MUST go to the H.R. Giger museum in the tiny village of Gruyères (where the cheese comes from). Heck, I'd gladly take you there and we could have some drinks at the Alien bar.:)

Here's a post I made about it in 2010.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Stoo said:
Bah, I still can't get over how freaking excellent "Prometheus" is. It exceeded all my expectations
I agree. The first (Alien) film had a massive impact on me as it was one of the first 'horror' movies I ever watched. Equally Promethues had a big impact on me,. but in a different way, as there is so much to think about afterwards that demanded another viewing.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
AndyLGR said:
The first (Alien) film had a massive impact on me as it was one of the first 'horror' movies I ever watched.
Like you, "Alien" was also one of the 1st horror movies that I saw but my initial viewing was a disappointing experience.

It had a 14+ rating in Quebec so I was a bit too young to see it in the theatres, even though I really wanted to because of all the hubbub surrounding it. A year later, my school showed it one Friday night in the auditorium but they didn't even have a proper screen (it was a big, white cloth) and, the picture was so dark, it was hard to tell what was going on most of the time. The face-hugger & chest-bursting scenes freaked me out but I didn't care for the rest of the movie until I saw it on TV and taped it.
AndyLGR said:
Equally Promethues had a big impact on me,. but in a different way, as there is so much to think about afterwards that demanded another viewing.
Too right. That's one of the main aspects that make it so good. Great story. Great movie. Great science-fiction.

One minor thing leaves me hanging, though: What would the heroine eat to survive while travelling the cosmos aboard that alien ship?:confused:
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Stoo said:
One minor thing leaves me hanging, though: What would the heroine eat to survive while travelling the cosmos aboard that alien ship?:confused:
You're not supposed to think about that.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
I've been on an Alien marathon.

So there's ten films in the series, listed in the following chronological storyline order:

Predator 1987
Predator 2 1997
AVP 2004
AVP2: Requiem 2004
Predators 2010
Prometheus 2089-2093
Alien 2122
Aliens 2179
Alien3 2179
Alien Resurrection 2380

Artistically, the crowning peaks are the two Ridley Scott entries, Alien and Prometheus. James Cameron's Aliens follows close behind. Then Alien3.

Even the 'low art' entries have their good bits, and I find them worth the effort to see them fit into the entire chronology: the Weyland-Yutani enterprise to harvest Predator and Xenomorph technology, while attempting to conceal the existence of the extra-terrestrials.
 
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