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yeah I mean how the hell does one just "never see" goddamn Alien

I've never seen Alien, sorry guys.

It's pretty good. Some amazing-looking sci-fi sets, great atmosphere, lots of great shots. The story is pretty much haunted-house-in-space, but it's still worth it.

Sar wrote:It's pretty good. Some amazing-looking sci-fi sets, great atmosphere, lots of great shots. The story is pretty much haunted-house-in-space, but it's still worth it.

And if you watch it, you also have to plan on watching Aliens, the action sequel directed by James Cameron. These are classic cinema that have spawned numerous cultural references. Highly recommended.

And congrats on having a baby!

Then there are Alien 3 (generally considered to be completely terrible but I actually liked it a lot) and Alien 4 (generally considered to be completely terrible, though it does have Ron Perlman). You can skip those.

I was pissed at Alien 3 when it came out because it had too much Hollywood cliche scripting (enough with the jokes already, its a goddamn horror movie in an off-world prison ffs!), but over the years it has really grown on me and I quite like it once you look past these minor transgressions. The original script is quite good actually.

Alien 4 never happened, and the people who never conceived of it were severely beaten. Its sad, because A) Ron Perlman and B) Jean-Pierre Jeunet (the surrealism is perfect, the whimsy omfg what were you thinking man????) and C) some very cool ideas all could have gone towards a much better film. But sadly that never happened and the monstrous insult to intelligence that came out instead never saw the light of day. Too bad.

Sar wrote:Then there are Alien 3 (generally considered to be completely terrible but I actually liked it a lot) and Alien 4 (generally considered to be completely terrible, though it does have Ron Perlman). You can skip those.

I liked them too, but many didn't. Three was more a psychological thriller, and four was just cut loose and off the chain, but I'm sure Sigourney Weaver had fun doing it.

The recent Prometheus, by Ridley Scott of the original Alien, is said to be set in the same fictional universe at an earlier time. I liked it, too. "The Company" plays a prominent role.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ridley-scott-prometheus-alien/

[Edit: linked article contains Alien spoilers.]

I thought 3 was pretty damn dark actually, felt much less Hollywood than 2. The original script? Wasn't it the one with some monks on a wooden station, and new Alien would be a plant? Written by William Gibson?

@Aule: Prometheus is visually impressive, but the plot... I learned later the script was written by Lost scriptwriter. Yeah.

Sar wrote:I thought 3 was pretty damn dark actually, felt much less Hollywood than 2. The original script? Wasn't it the one with some monks on a wooden station, and new Alien would be a plant? Written by William Gibson?

@Aule: Prometheus is visually impressive, but the plot... I learned later the script was written by Lost scriptwriter. Yeah.

Spoiler: show

Agree 100% on Prometheus. I was sorely disappointed as were my friends, the build-up to that movie had been so intense.

Sar wrote:I thought 3 was pretty damn dark actually, felt much less Hollywood than 2. The original script? Wasn't it the one with some monks on a wooden station, and new Alien would be a plant? Written by William Gibson?

@Aule: Prometheus is visually impressive, but the plot... I learned later the script was written by Lost scriptwriter. Yeah.

I didn't know about that script. As for Prometheus,

Spoiler: show

Somebody put spoiler tags on daggaz's post! LOL

Aule wrote:
Sar wrote:I thought 3 was pretty damn dark actually, felt much less Hollywood than 2. The original script? Wasn't it the one with some monks on a wooden station, and new Alien would be a plant? Written by William Gibson?

@Aule: Prometheus is visually impressive, but the plot... I learned later the script was written by Lost scriptwriter. Yeah.

I didn't know about that script. As for Prometheus,
Spoiler: show
I took the plot as backstory for more to come, and enjoyed the prominence of the company (always the more menacing threat), as well as Michael Fassbender giving life to a new synth.

Somebody put spoiler tags on daggaz's post! LOL

Shit, sorry! I forget sometimes.

Michael Fassbender was absolutely brilliant.

Not sure about that script, Sar. The one I read (in book form) was just the movie more or less, but with certain parts being way more in depth.

Spoiler: show

Also sorry about apparently completely derailing this otherwise very cool thread. Maybe we should split off the aliens discussion...

"Alien" is easily one of the scariest, most suspenseful movies I've ever seen, and certainly one of the finest. This is in part because of the fantastic practical effects and sets. The titular alien has established itself among the quintessential horror movie monsters and is as influential as any of the others I could name. The movie features shots which have the audience squinting through fog or murky darkness, searching for the terrible creature along with the characters on screen. These shots are long and quiet--"Alien" is much less about action than suspense--and accompanied by a downright sadistic soudtrack of metallic creaks and clinks which could just as easily be the creeping creature as the groans of the aging spacecraft.

Another aspect which draws viewers into anxious suspense and dread is the movie's plausibility as a work of science fiction. The creature is not demonic, but retains all of the best qualities of magical horror monsters, mystery, being an always-present threat, simply by virtue of its brilliant biological design and the inherent isolation and vulnerability of a small crew in deep space.

The crewmembers are brilliantly written as well. They fall far away from stereotypical action/horror movie ensembles and instead seem to be a group of coworkers having a pretty bad day. Sigourney Weaver plays Ripley who is one of the best leads in sci-fi. She's not a macho badass nor an overly cerebral philosophy-spouting romantic. Ripley is so competent and pragmatic that you won't have the opportunity to remark "well she should've just..." because pitfalls in "Alien" aren't the result of buffoonery or hubris, but real motivations and real decisions. Remarkably, each of the characters is as delightfully normal as Ripley. Even those who have, err, rather short roles, speak and behave distinctly and in accord with fleshed-out backstories.

"Alien" remains one of my favorite movies and is a perfect example of those 70s-80s films which predate CGI and yet have effects which are every bit as powerful today as they were years ago (also of note in this category is another of Ridley Scott's movies, "Blade Runner"). Whether you watch it because of its eminent position in cinema history or because it's frankly fantastic, watch it. Quoting the notable critic "yeah I mean how the hell does one just 'never see' goddamn Alien"

another of Ridley Scott's movies, "Blade Runner

I just wanna add that Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is a literary masterpiece and a must-read for anyone interested in artificial intelligence scifi.

Blade Runner is based on the book if there's someone who did not know that.

Another of Dick's novels really rubbed me the wrong way (Man in the High Castle and Ubik, but to a lesser extent) but I've had people recommend Androids so much I'll have to give him another chance

I'll be sure to report back

Oh, man, Dick is huge in film. Numerous films and features have writing credits given to him. Minority Report (story by the same title), The Adjustment Bureau ("Adjustment Team"), Next ("The Golden Man"), Total Recall ("We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"), A Scanner Darkly (same title), Paycheck (same title), Impostor ("The Impostor"), and Screamers ("Second Variety"), are the main ones. Minority Report is better than Blade Runner, IMO. None of the others come even close, as far as their cinematic interpretations go.

I always liked Robert Heinlein, also, but please don't blame him for the film version of his "Starship Troopers." Do, however, see Predestination, based on his story, "All You Zombies." Best time travel movie, ever. A must-see.

And since we're on the topic now of film from sci-fi books, let's not limit it to Western authors, either. Hiroshi Sakurazaka: "All You Need is Kill," made into Edge of Tomorrow, a totally fantastic and underrated/dismissed film that I have watched close to a dozen times already. Makes me wish I could read Japanese.

Aule wrote:I always liked Robert Heinlein, also, but please don't blame him for the film version of his "Starship Troopers."

But Starship Troopers is a great parody!

@daggaz:

Spoiler: show

Aule wrote:I always liked Robert Heinlein, also, but please don't blame him for the film version of his "Starship Troopers."

would be unfair to Verhoeven, he deserves the credit for the great movie that manages to be both an entertaining action film and vicious satire

Seriously how DOES one ever watch goddam Alien?

a) see a random movie on tv one day, and it turns out to be Alien
b) seek it out based on its reputation
c) watch it for class or something

n1000 wrote:Remarkably, each of the characters is as delightfully normal as Ripley. Even those who have, err, rather short roles, speak and behave distinctly and in accord with fleshed-out backstories.

Back to the old freezerinos. Ah hahaha...

@Sar:

Spoiler: show

Sprucery wrote:But Starship Troopers is a great parody!

Do you want to know more?

Starship troopers is a great B movie. Bugs, bombs, and breasts. I think it ended up this way because Hollywood is so radical left these days, the director couldn't touch Heinlein's original script unless he made fun of it somehow.

@daggaz:

Spoiler: show

daggaz wrote:Hollywood is so radical left these days

lol

e: not that I necessarily want to have a big fight over this, even though I disagree; I just think it's pretty funny.

@daggaz:

Wikipedia wrote:The movie started life as a script called Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine. When similarities, especially the "bugs" were pointed out between this and the novel Starship Troopers, plans were made to license the rights to the book and tweak character names and circumstances to match. Verhoeven had never read the book, and attempted to read it for the film, but it made him "bored and depressed", so that he only read a few chapters:
I stopped after two chapters because it was so boring,...It is really quite a bad book. I asked Ed Neumeier to tell me the story because I just couldn't read the thing. It's a very right-wing book.

Pollen_Golem wrote:Seriously how DOES one ever watch goddam Alien?

a) see a random movie on tv one day, and it turns out to be Alien
b) seek it out based on its reputation
c) watch it for class or something

In my wife's case it was incredulity on the part of her husband that she'd seen the second and third movie and not the first, and thereby a demand that it be watched forthwith.

I would put "d) recommendation" in your list

Sar wrote:@daggaz:
Wikipedia wrote:The movie started life as a script called Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine. When similarities, especially the "bugs" were pointed out between this and the novel Starship Troopers, plans were made to license the rights to the book and tweak character names and circumstances to match. Verhoeven had never read the book, and attempted to read it for the film, but it made him "bored and depressed", so that he only read a few chapters:
I stopped after two chapters because it was so boring,...It is really quite a bad book. I asked Ed Neumeier to tell me the story because I just couldn't read the thing. It's a very right-wing book.

This. Basically, they were making what they knew would be a "B" movie at best, then someone said "Hey! This is kinda, sorta, maybe similar to Starship Troopers. If we call it Starship Troopers, we'll get all the Heinlein fans to come see it and at least double the gross!" They didn't start out to make Starship Troopers, and they didn't really even try very hard to make Starship Troopers. They just tacked the name and some window dressing onto the movie they were already making.

I've heard a rumor that someone is planning on making a new version, actually based on the book. I'm generally disappointed whenever Hollywood makes a movie out of a book I like, but I'm pretty sure any remake made by a director who actually read the book would have to be better than what Verhoeven made.

ST is a great movie though.

Thats hillarious. I was right tho about one thing at least, it is a B movie =P

I quite adored both the movie and the book -- I guess that makes me a flip-flopping moderate?

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