alien

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volt55theband

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I wonder how many of you on this thread have bought the 9disc box set of all the Alien movies?

I paid a tenner for it a few months back and using a blu-ray machine to view them on my Sony 40 LCD 1080p they look absolutely superb!!!!

I agree with most of you that the first two are classics, although I like Alien 3 and Alien Ressurection for its entertainment value.

A v P is RUBBISH!!!! though.
 
i love the first alien and the second, but can't be doing with the third and fourth. I've always found the first one rather disturbing, particuarly the deleted scenes. Anyone else?
 
I absolutely love Aliens, however I do enjoy Alien.

The 3rd and 4th IMO don't exist. 3 was watchable, and 4 was dire. The whole series is messed up now, especially with the AVP series and of course the likes of Directors Cuts which introduce new aspects but makes the series almost contradict itself.

Now I do enjoy the DC's version of Alien and Aliens, but I couldn't get away with Brett and Dallas being turned into eggs in Alien. However it is explainable but then it becomes contradicted by the latter movies which is a shame as that process could of been expanded on rather than just ignored.

Like I have said I love Aliens but thats because it was more sci-fi/action/horror than just sci-fi/horror. But Alien is still a very very good film even if there is some sort of dark, sexual over tone to it.
 
alien was a classic, and aliens just ... wow! although, i have to disagree with the posters above about alien 3. the extended edition of the film, which put some footage back in makes for an altogether better film, and i think it is as good as alien and aliens. the reason it is derided is because it shifts tone again from aliens, and i think people wanted more guns, more aliens etc. the general tone is classic david fincher, bleak and depressing.

the less said about jeunet's cartoonish alien resurrection the better...awful. although, the character of frank elgyn had potential, played by the fantastic michael wincott. shame they offed him so early on
 
I bought the 9 disc Alien box set on Amazon last night after reading this thread and remembering how much I love these films :D

It'll be interesting to see how different the director cuts are. I don't think I've ever seen them.
 
Alien 3 was visually stunning, but coming off the back off Aliens, maybe you are right and that we wanted more guns :D, but it seemed like Alien 3 just jumped the gun as it were. Alien 3 should of actually been Alien 4, with a different movie altogether as A3. I couldn't get away with Newt and Hicks dying right at the begining, it basically devalued their fight for survival in Aliens.

The only upside to A:R was Johner and Vriess.
 
aliens director's cut is the definitve version imo, it adRAB depth and excitement

alien assembled cut too, is the definitive version, and deftly puts back into the story an entire subplot surrounding prisoner golic, that enriches the entire film, its superb i think, and a shame it never made the cinematic cut
 
i was going to put in my post that it was a shame that hicks and newt wound up dead, especially as you had invested so much in them in aliens. it completely undermined james cameron's *maternal ripley* subtext, and by all accounts, really angered him.
 
yes agree with comments alien excellent ,aliens brilliant(one of my all time favs never get sick of seeing it), aliens 3 grows on you after several viewings alien 4 ok ! has redeemable features ..they will probbably do an alien 5 one day .. but .they are running out of ideas ,perhaps aliens coming to to earth ? and Ripley saving the planet!!
 
That's been done in the Dark Horse comics & the novelisations (although the planet didn't exactly get saved, lol).


Quite good stories, actually. Mark Verheiden wrote the comics, & Steve Perry wrote the novelisations of them.

IIRC, they were initially meant to follow on from Aliens, so featured Hicks & Newt. After Alien 3 was released, the character names were changed to fit in with Hicks & Newt being dead.
 
Alien 3 is IMO quite underrated - especially if you have seen the special edition which replaces some important plot elements that were missing from the theatrical release but which where present in the book. I agree that coming off the back of Aliens its not how I would have wanted to see the story advanced - but standing alone its actually a very good movie.

Alien resurection just went too far.
 
Aliens is my favourite film of all time

No other film for me gets the combination of action, horror, suspense, comedy, great characters and all the elements of filming as bang on as this film does.
 
The first three films are all fascinating for the vision and style of their respective directors.

Alien is a stunning example of Ridley Scott's emerging talent. The movie is very dark and claustrophobic (themes he would revisit for Blade Runner, a film which was criticised on its release for being visually murky.)

Aliens is much more of an action movie, which is no surprise given the director James "Terminator" Cameron and screenwriter Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hrs, Southern Comfort etc.)

Alien 3 had the same writing team of Walter Hill and David Giler but with David Fincher directing, so it returned to the original movie's atmosphere of claustrophobia and helplessness (as opposed to the gung-ho, guns-blazing second movie.)

Alien Resurrection...well the less said about that the better. I'm not sure why they used the director of Delicatessen and Amelie - a great artist but not one suited to sci-fi / horror. And I'll also consider this movie to be a blip on Joss Whedon's otherwise exemplary career.
 
i agree, i also think it has an outstanding british cast

brian glover, ralph brown, chris fairbank, clive mantle, charles dance, paul mcgann, danny webb, pete postlethwaite, like a who's who of british talent

has anybody read the unmade william gibson script for alien 3? which had the story set on a medieval wooden asteroid populated by monks!
 
thats right, the characters became *wilks* and *billie* in later editions. im all for an *aliens* era movie again, whether it features ripley or not
 
Alien is a masterpiece of a film. We went to see the director's cut at the cinema, whist it was great to actually watch the original on the big screen, the inclusion of the deleted scenes didn't do it any favours but it's a great film none the less.

Aliens, I watched this for the first time in years a few weeks ago and forgotten what a roller-coaster of a film it is. Not as majestically gothic as the first but an equally brilliant film. The directors cut to this though is a bit of a drag IMO.

Alien 3 is probably the film I struggle with the most. It's too clumsy and that American actor who plays the leader of the convicts is a total ham. I actually find the stories regarding the making of this film far more interesting than the film itself. The concept of the wooden planet had me drooling, what a fantastic, almost Gilliam-esque idea, such a pity they didn't go ahead with it.

Alien Resurrection, I preferred this film to A3, although the idea of cloning was a cynical move to restart the franchise it kinda felt coherent with the Alien story and as a plot was more convincing than A3, but it was badly executed.

Has anyone seen the original opening credits for AR? OMG, talk about TV movie.

I think Hollywood made a bit of a balls-up with the choice of directors. Hiring only one half of the directorial duo (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and not Marc Caro) was a bad move, for it seems that Caro would have been better suited to this project than Jeunet, infact his last film Dante 01 looked a more lavish rip off of AR. However, although it looks stunning I hear it's a turd of a film. Had we have had the two working together on AR I think the results could have been very interesting.

I think it's evident that the suits took control of the franchise after Aliens making the directors take a back seat, hence the decline in quality. And as much as I would love to see one more final Alien film I doubt whether this will happen. Ridley Scott toys with the idea every few years, but he seems reluctant, choosing instead to ending his career with 'Monopoly:The Movie' or 'The A Team' (what is he thinking:confused:).
 
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