Nicker on 19/4/2024 at 22:21
So much wasted effort with Prometheus, but the trailer, especially on the big screen, was one of the best ever.
One huge opportunity lost was when Elizabeth entered the medi-pod to get treatment for an alien infection. Upon detecting xenomorph material it should have activated a secret protocol, from Corporate, to put the subject into stasis for live shipment home. I probably won't watch Covenant so is that why all the loners which nobody would miss were brought along? As incubators?
Cipheron on 20/4/2024 at 05:39
Quote Posted by Nicker
I probably won't watch Covenant
I'd have to say you're not really missing much of anything. You could watch Prometheus or Covenant, but just as easily use the time to watch some completely original sci-fi movie you never heard of, and get a lot more out of it. For example I haven't seen "The Shape of Water" but I can tell I'd get more out of that than seeing any of the Terminator or Alien films after T2 and Aliens, respectively.
The advice as always is to stick to the first two Alien films. Actually I'd say to then watch the two Predator movies and the two Alien Vs Predator films for some schlock. They take themselves a lot less seriously than any of the later Alien movies.
BTW Voice of God (Ridley Scott) is that Alien(s) and Blade Runner occur in the same continuity. So, the Aliens, Predator
and Blade Runner franchises all arguably occur in the same universe.
Sulphur on 20/4/2024 at 06:03
If Philip K. Dick were still around, he'd probably advise Scott to take some more mescaline and fold all of it into UBIK and its school of phenomenology.
<Username> on 20/4/2024 at 10:39
The films in the Alien, Predator and Terminator franchises have been rather lackluster after 1991, with the notable exception of Prey (2022).
Alien (1979) - watch
Aliens (1986) - watch
Alien 3 (1992) - avoid
Alien Resurrection (1997) - avoid
Prometheus (2021) - avoid
Alien: Covenant (2017) - avoid
Alien: Romulus (2024) - not yet released
Predator (1987) - watch
Predator 2 (1990) - maybe
Predators (2010) - maybe
The Predator (2018) - avoid
Prey (2022) - watch
Badlands (2025) - not yet released
Alien vs. Predator (2004) - avoid
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) - avoid
The Terminator (1984) - watch
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) - watch
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) - avoid
Terminator Salvation (2009) - avoid
Terminator Genisys (2015) - avoid
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) - avoid
SD on 20/4/2024 at 19:07
People should watch Alien 3 as it is pretty much the dictionary definition of "noble failure".
<Username> on 27/4/2024 at 06:59
Quote Posted by SD
People should watch Alien 3 as it is pretty much the dictionary definition of "noble failure".
I used to own the Alien Quadrilogy box set. The making-of material for Alien 3 was remarkable in how openly the crew talked how disappointed they felt with how the movie turned out, some being quite critical of their own work. The only one I remember being happy with the results was the director of photography, who was proud of some of the camerawork.
SD on 27/4/2024 at 16:40
I think Alien 3 was fatally hamstrung from the start by the decision to kill off Newt and Hicks. It rendered everything Ripley had gone through at the end of Aliens completely meaningless. It was certainly a brave decision to alienate the fanbase like that right off the bat, but it made the rest of it a real uphill struggle to get fans back on board.
Sulphur on 28/4/2024 at 04:18
It's a big part of the problem with the film, but you can see why they did it - their focus was on bringing Ripley's story to a close by having her confront the alien as a symbol of something that metaphorically and literally has eaten her life up from the inside out. It pretty much makes this text when she says, 'Don’t be afraid. I’m part of the family. You’ve been in my life so long, I can’t remember anything else. Now do something for me.'
I think the ending made a lot of thematic sense, and Goldenthal's score made the scene with her plunge a simultaneously tragic and cathartic triumph, rounded off with a poignant sendoff to the movies before it. It's a real downer, but I don't think that's the issue - I think the isolation of setting it in a penal colony, the relentless antipathy towards humanity, and the lack of any real characters outside of Ripley and Charles Dance's doctor meant the script came off as too nihilistic for its own good. The alternative to this would have been Gibson's Alien 3 screenplay which, uh, was a fair bit worse from what I read of it.
rachel on 28/4/2024 at 19:27
I unapologetically love the theatrical cut of Alien 3. Not a fan of the Director's Cut (same with Aliens), but A3's dark, oppressive setting and the different alien, and the cast, it's brilliant. It's not a fun movie, but it's a great Alien movie.
I would say T3: Rise of the Machines is worth watching. Sure the "Terminatrix" has its silly moments but I've always had a soft spot for this one for how it subverted expectations with its ending and the inevitability of Skynet's war on humans. Nick Stahl was a bit meh as a successor to Furlong's John Connor, but Claire Danes was a great Kate Brewster and really sells the film.