Post by pimpinainteasy on Jun 16, 2017 6:40:57 GMT
i rewatched the first four ALIEN movies this week with my wife. i thought i should start a discussion thread. i hope everyone will take part.
ALIEN (1979) - It is usually called a tough survival flick. There isn't much action. The two classes of employees in the ship Nostromo is established earlier on when technicians Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Kotto humorously complain about the discrepancy in salaries between them and the rest of the crew. But this is never really developed upon. Ripley's cold hard bitch nature is underscored when she refuses to let in the search team that has comeback with an alien being on the face of one of the explorers. I felt a distance from the characters. They all came across as cold and sterile. ALIEN was a really disturbing film. The claustrophobic environment filled with electronic hatches deserves special mention. Jerry Goldsmith's terrific background score that sounds like an army of rats swarming over earth was very apt for this film. Sigourney Weaver is used as a sex object towards the end of the film when she takes off her clothes while escaping in one of the smaller space vehicles. Sigourney looked gorgeous. I felt bad for her when Veronica Cartwright slapped her. I felt like Sandra Bullock might have tried to replicate this in GRAVITY. Ian Holm has the best bit of dialog in the film. The scene where the alien takes away Harry Dean Stanton and cuts to the cat watching meekly was very clever.
(8.5/10)
ALIENS (1986) - One of the greatest sci-fi action films ever made. If the first film was horror, this one was more like an adventure. It was a lot less darker than Alien. There were quite a few likeable characters. Epecially Jennette Goldstein as the tough dikey soldier. Even Lance Henriksen as the robot was a lot more amicable compared to Ian Holm in the first part. I think the Alien series could be a bit right wing. In the first part, you had Ripley not letting in the compromised explorer team that has brought back an alien with them. In the second part, the soldiers are not allowed to use guns while exploring the space station even though there are indications that alien creatures are coming towards them. All this because the mother corporation wants some of these aliens alive. This is more of an out and out action film than the first one which relied on tense build ups. It could be my favorite of the series.
(8.5/10)
ALIEN 3 (1992) - I would give this film a (10/10) for setting and characterization. Man, this film had the darkest setting and characters for a $50 million film. Ripley crash lands into a woman-less prison colony filled with rapists and hardened criminals. A Christian fundamentalist preacher keeps things in line at the prison colony by using religion to keep the crazy men away from their base instincts. But after Ripley's arrival, prisoners start dying and everyone covets Ripley, she nearly gets raped, but also finds love for a brief period. Charles Dance is fantastic as the once morphine addicted doctor. What a great actor this man is. His character's back story was very touching. Charles.S.Dutton is also cool as the preacher. He mouths lines like "I am a rapist and murderer of women". The film ought to have been directed by Rob Zombie who would have provided back stories to many of the colorful characters in the prison. It deserved a "The Devil's Rejects" treatment. But unfortunately, there isn't much character development. And the actions scenes when the aliens begin to attack are boring. The film is also very long at almost 144 minutes. The special effects were also quite tacky. It has a different look compared to the last two films. An orangish hue is used instead of the dark greenish or white colors of the previous films. Sigourney Weaver looked gorgeous.
(8/10)
ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997) - Alien Resurrection is very camp and funny compared to the dark tone of the first three films. The alien has penetrated into the resurrected Ripley. In fact, she is part alien. Ripley does not look tortured or depressed anymore. A quiet strength has replaced the ruthless pragmatism. The film does tackle some existential questions like in the exchanges between cloned Ripley and the robot played by Wynonda Ryder. I liked the part where Wynona asks Ripley - how do you go on living despite knowing what you are? Ron Perlman is a great addition to the cast. This film was pretty good fun what with the scenes of the aliens attacking underwater and all. More big budget films should try to be like this. I am sure a lot of people would disagree with my 8/10 rating. But nobody can deny the fact that it was an entertaining film.
(8/10)
ALIEN (1979) - It is usually called a tough survival flick. There isn't much action. The two classes of employees in the ship Nostromo is established earlier on when technicians Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Kotto humorously complain about the discrepancy in salaries between them and the rest of the crew. But this is never really developed upon. Ripley's cold hard bitch nature is underscored when she refuses to let in the search team that has comeback with an alien being on the face of one of the explorers. I felt a distance from the characters. They all came across as cold and sterile. ALIEN was a really disturbing film. The claustrophobic environment filled with electronic hatches deserves special mention. Jerry Goldsmith's terrific background score that sounds like an army of rats swarming over earth was very apt for this film. Sigourney Weaver is used as a sex object towards the end of the film when she takes off her clothes while escaping in one of the smaller space vehicles. Sigourney looked gorgeous. I felt bad for her when Veronica Cartwright slapped her. I felt like Sandra Bullock might have tried to replicate this in GRAVITY. Ian Holm has the best bit of dialog in the film. The scene where the alien takes away Harry Dean Stanton and cuts to the cat watching meekly was very clever.
(8.5/10)
ALIENS (1986) - One of the greatest sci-fi action films ever made. If the first film was horror, this one was more like an adventure. It was a lot less darker than Alien. There were quite a few likeable characters. Epecially Jennette Goldstein as the tough dikey soldier. Even Lance Henriksen as the robot was a lot more amicable compared to Ian Holm in the first part. I think the Alien series could be a bit right wing. In the first part, you had Ripley not letting in the compromised explorer team that has brought back an alien with them. In the second part, the soldiers are not allowed to use guns while exploring the space station even though there are indications that alien creatures are coming towards them. All this because the mother corporation wants some of these aliens alive. This is more of an out and out action film than the first one which relied on tense build ups. It could be my favorite of the series.
(8.5/10)
ALIEN 3 (1992) - I would give this film a (10/10) for setting and characterization. Man, this film had the darkest setting and characters for a $50 million film. Ripley crash lands into a woman-less prison colony filled with rapists and hardened criminals. A Christian fundamentalist preacher keeps things in line at the prison colony by using religion to keep the crazy men away from their base instincts. But after Ripley's arrival, prisoners start dying and everyone covets Ripley, she nearly gets raped, but also finds love for a brief period. Charles Dance is fantastic as the once morphine addicted doctor. What a great actor this man is. His character's back story was very touching. Charles.S.Dutton is also cool as the preacher. He mouths lines like "I am a rapist and murderer of women". The film ought to have been directed by Rob Zombie who would have provided back stories to many of the colorful characters in the prison. It deserved a "The Devil's Rejects" treatment. But unfortunately, there isn't much character development. And the actions scenes when the aliens begin to attack are boring. The film is also very long at almost 144 minutes. The special effects were also quite tacky. It has a different look compared to the last two films. An orangish hue is used instead of the dark greenish or white colors of the previous films. Sigourney Weaver looked gorgeous.
(8/10)
ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997) - Alien Resurrection is very camp and funny compared to the dark tone of the first three films. The alien has penetrated into the resurrected Ripley. In fact, she is part alien. Ripley does not look tortured or depressed anymore. A quiet strength has replaced the ruthless pragmatism. The film does tackle some existential questions like in the exchanges between cloned Ripley and the robot played by Wynonda Ryder. I liked the part where Wynona asks Ripley - how do you go on living despite knowing what you are? Ron Perlman is a great addition to the cast. This film was pretty good fun what with the scenes of the aliens attacking underwater and all. More big budget films should try to be like this. I am sure a lot of people would disagree with my 8/10 rating. But nobody can deny the fact that it was an entertaining film.
(8/10)
