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Alien (1979)

ztejas

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ztejas

ztejas 44114

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56 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Watching this again now for the first time in probably 20 years...essentially on mute because it’s still damn tense

I was pretty chill throughout (booze and [redacted] helps).

But, the last 10-15 minutes I was 6 inches from the fucking screen with my hands on my face.

Like I wrote earlier - only other classic film that's done that to me is the OG Texas Chainsaw (which, again, if ya'll haven't seen, do so).

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Patrick Bateman

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It's a great horror film which is set in space and therefore gives it's own science fiction foundation.  The tenseness of the crew and claustrophobia you feel with no place to go is excellent.  A few scenes don't hold up that well.  I think the Skeritt death scene with the man in the alien costume is pretty hockey.  It's successor does a great job of creating the xenomorph is a more detailed manner.  This is basically Jaws in space and Ridley, intentionally or not, sticks to Spielberg's happy unanswered prayer by going less is more with the Alien.  When you do see him, it's mostly in tight shots or dark lighting.  It works wonderfully to give you the terror of not understanding where or exactly what this thing is until the end.

I love The Thing and made my girlfriend watch it.  She's a little bit younger and the movie is a little bit before my time too but it actually doesn't hold up that well.  Yes, the intensity is ratcheted up and the acting is pretty top notch.  Wilfred Brimley is a scary dude?  Masur, Donald Moffat, Keith David!  But the effects are hilariously clunky watching today.  Cutting edge for it's time but pretty funny now.  That film may have aged better by also having a less is more approach, hence I can understand the desire to remake it.  Still love the movie and I can imagine the difficulty in shooting in the snow.

Getting back to the Alien franchise.  I know it's en vogue to hate everything Cameron but I thought his choices on Aliens were genius.  That move is incredible but totally different than the original, which is what he was going for.

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CooterBrown

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Getting back to the Alien franchise.  I know it's en vogue to hate everything Cameron but I thought his choices on Aliens were genius.  That move is incredible but totally different than the original, which is what he was going for.


An interesting fact about Aliens is that they only had the budget to build two aliens. So you never see more than that in one shot.
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Deej

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14 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Half the posters here have probably been to the TCM house, as it was in Georgetown or jolleyville or somewhere around there for  years after filming. 

I’ll say again to watch The Thing, John carpenter version. The Petri dish scene is super intense. 

The house was roughly where La Frontera is now. Last time I checked, the remnants of the old highway where Sally escapes with the trucker were still there.

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mulletpelini

mulletpelini 5220

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11 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

I think the Skeritt death scene with the man in the alien costume is pretty hockey.

Pretty hockey, have not heard that term before.  This was the scene that always got me the most.  Don't care if it obviously a dude or not, that was the most suspenseful part of the movie for me.

giphy.gif

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MrPhlegm

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Aliens is Die Hard in Space.

Doesn't even come close to the awesomeness of Alien.

Alien is better science fiction than Aliens.

The rest of em are meh.


I do have one quibble with Alien and it's the drinking birds you see as the camera traverses the ship before the crew is awakened. Crew has been in coldsleep for a year and the water hasn't evaporated? Yeah right. Unless of course Weylan-Yutani has developed a waterfree drinking bird technology which is possible.

Being a computer person my favorite scene other than the Lucky Star scene is the scene where Mother won't turn the cooling back on and Ripley bashes the shit out of it while exclaiming BITCH!!!

a51fe78c404a0ac67ed10d992b60e229.jpg
Lucky Star scene.

If you get a chance to see this one on a big screen, do it. Sit close to the screen.

Same goes for my other favorite computer movie, 2001.



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Homercles

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The crew was believable, it’s a hallmark of a well written and cast movie...the secondary characters in many movies are so poorly done they’re like the early cooperative NPCs in past war games, you just shoot the friendlies right away as they’re a drag.

Unlike the completely disposable, dumb crew in Prometheus...Alien they were believable, you understood their motivations and personalities.

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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2 minutes ago, Homercles said:

The crew was believable, it’s a hallmark of a well written and cast movie...the secondary characters in many movies are so poorly done they’re like the early cooperative NPCs in past war games, you just shoot the friendlies right away as they’re a drag.

Unlike the completely disposable, dumb crew in Prometheus...Alien they were believable, you understood their motivations and personalities.

Harry dean Stanton, Yaphet Koto thats 2 strong character actors right there.

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ztejas

ztejas 44114

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Apologies for the delay, just got around to Aliens. Honestly there aren't that many screen cap worthy scenes of Sigourney but here's what I got. The quality I dled in was a bit lacking tbh.

sigourney-1.png

sigourney2.png

sigourney-5.png

sigourney-4.pngsigourney3.png

On 1/13/2019 at 7:28 PM, SubliminalHorn said:

Aliens is better 

While I'm at it, need to tell you you're most likely a fucking dumbass. 

Aliens is good. It's an above average 80s sci-fi/action. Probably on the level of Terminator 2. 

It isn't an indispensable classic like its predecessor. 

For one, the girl that plays "Newt" is god awful. I might have turned the damn film off if I had to hear her screech RIIIIIIPPPPLEEEEEEEY one more fucking time. No wonder that actress never did shit after that. 

It's a fun action flick and great sequel. Nothing more. Not nearly as well-crafted or visceral as the original. Just like T2 is a fun sequel to a badass, groundbreaking action film. 

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Apologies for the delay, just got around to Aliens. Honestly there aren't that many screen cap worthy scenes of Sigourney but here's what I got. The quality I dled in was a bit lacking tbh.

sigourney-1.png

sigourney2.png

sigourney-5.png

sigourney-4.pngsigourney3.png

While I'm at it, need to tell you you're most likely a fucking dumbass. 

Aliens is good. It's an above average 80s sci-fi/action. Probably on the level of Terminator 2. 

It isn't an indispensable classic like its predecessor. 

For one, the girl that plays "Newt" is god awful. I might have turned the damn film off if I had to hear her screech RIIIIIIPPPPLEEEEEEEY one more fucking time. No wonder that actress never did shit after that. 

It's a fun action flick and great sequel. Nothing more. Not nearly as well-crafted or visceral as the original. Just like T2 is a fun sequel to a badass, groundbreaking action film. 

Here ya go.

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smuggs

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6 hours ago, ztejas said:

While I'm at it, need to tell you you're most likely a fucking dumbass. 

Aliens is good. It's an above average 80s sci-fi/action. Probably on the level of Terminator 2. 

It isn't an indispensable classic like its predecessor. 

For one, the girl that plays "Newt" is god awful. I might have turned the damn film off if I had to hear her screech RIIIIIIPPPPLEEEEEEEY one more fucking time. No wonder that actress never did shit after that. 

It's a fun action flick and great sequel. Nothing more. Not nearly as well-crafted or visceral as the original. Just like T2 is a fun sequel to a badass, groundbreaking action film. 

 

Aliens is one of the greatest sequels of all time. It is absolutely an indispensable science fiction classic and indeed a badass groundbreaking action film. Cameron wrote Aliens while he was still working on Terminator. He didn't set out to rehash the suspense of the original - he created a new story where hypermasculinity, false supremacy and corporate greed in the face of war are squashed by the reality of a fucking brutally efficient enemy. And he superbly used the foundation and components of the original film to accomplish this.

The special effects are phenomenal even to this day. Cameron's vision of a stark, militaristic space occupation still has an influence on the science fiction genre 33 years later.

The cast is incredible. Henriksen, Paxton, Reiser, Biehn... and Sigourney. Cameron told the studio to fuck off when they didn't want her in the film. She is the OG ass-kicking female lead and she did it effortlessly because she is an incredible actress. Her nomination for Best Actress in '86 is a testament to the quality of this film.

 

I agree with you -  Alien is my favorite of the two films. But to dismiss Aliens as nothing more than a fun 80's action flick is preposterous.

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ztejas

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6 minutes ago, smuggs said:

 

Aliens is one of the greatest sequels of all time. It is absolutely an indispensable science fiction classic and indeed a badass groundbreaking action film. Cameron wrote Aliens while he was still working on Terminator. He didn't set out to rehash the suspense of the original - he created a new story where hypermasculinity, false supremacy and corporate greed in the face of war are squashed by the reality of a fucking brutally efficient enemy. And he superbly used the foundation and components of the original film to accomplish this.

The special effects are phenomenal even to this day. Cameron's vision of a stark, militaristic space occupation still has an influence on the science fiction genre 33 years later.

The cast is incredible. Henriksen, Paxton, Reiser, Biehn... and Sigourney. Cameron told the studio to fuck off when they didn't want her in the film. She is the OG ass-kicking female lead and she did it effortlessly because she is an incredible actress. Her nomination for Best Actress in '86 is a testament to the quality of this film.

 

I agree with you -  Alien is my favorite of the two films. But to dismiss Aliens as nothing more than a fun 80's action flick is preposterous.

Fair points. I'm probably trying to put it on the pedestal that is the original having watched them close to back-to-back. 

I don't think it's nearly as endearing, and some of the performances leave a little to be desired.

And, while more ambitious from a special effects standpoint than its predecessor, I think there are quite a few sci-fi films pre '86 that age better visually. Had Aliens come out in '84 and Terminator in '86 I would give it more praise. (without even getting into Bladerunner, ESB, 2001 etc.)

Keep in mind I've only seen it once. Sometimes re-watches tend to dull critiques. I doubt my stance changes on Newt (the little girl). I mean I know you have to cut child-actors some slack but God she is off-putting, and why is she the only one in the film with a British accent? They couldn't find an American 9 year old blonde girl? It's at best distracting. 

And I think Sigourney's best actress nod is a testament to her absolutely slaying the role. Saying it's a testament to the film itself seems to be doing her a disservice. She basically is the film...

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wood

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Welp, for me, I'll still go outta my way to watch Alien, and I know the whole thing by heart. Every sequel, including Aliens, is utterly forgettable imho. I don't rate Aliens as low as the rest of the Alien sequels, but I won't bother to change the channel to watch any of em.

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mchookem

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Alien is one of my top 5 favs.

one of the best things about the cinematography was how claustrophobic every scene was.

the Nostromo was this mammoth cargo ship with giant cavernous rooms and compartments, but they shot most scenes from a low angle so everything felt so close in. brilliant.

anybody seen the director's cut with the few extra scenes? the one where Ripley comes across HDS and Dallas cocooned and Dallas is still alive, begging her to kill him... that scene creeped me the fuck out!

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ztejas

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5 minutes ago, mchookem said:

anybody seen the director's cut with the few extra scenes? the one where Ripley comes across HDS and Dallas cocooned and Dallas is still alive, begging her to kill him... that scene creeped me the fuck out!

I think the Director's cut is what I watched for both of them, because the scene in Aliens where they find the guy and he's begging to be killed made me recall the scene from Alien. 

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Onboard 2.0

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3 hours ago, smuggs said:

 

Aliens is one of the greatest sequels of all time. It is absolutely an indispensable science fiction classic and indeed a badass groundbreaking action film. Cameron wrote Aliens while he was still working on Terminator. He didn't set out to rehash the suspense of the original - he created a new story where hypermasculinity, false supremacy and corporate greed in the face of war are squashed by the reality of a fucking brutally efficient enemy. And he superbly used the foundation and components of the original film to accomplish this.

The special effects are phenomenal even to this day. Cameron's vision of a stark, militaristic space occupation still has an influence on the science fiction genre 33 years later.

The cast is incredible. Henriksen, Paxton, Reiser, Biehn... and Sigourney. Cameron told the studio to fuck off when they didn't want her in the film. She is the OG ass-kicking female lead and she did it effortlessly because she is an incredible actress. Her nomination for Best Actress in '86 is a testament to the quality of this film.

 

I agree with you -  Alien is my favorite of the two films. But to dismiss Aliens as nothing more than a fun 80's action flick is preposterous.

Definitely agree. The Aliens series has been pretty strong all the way thru  IMO.  II being among the best sequels out there at maintaining the concept while giving you a new cast, location, and plot line.  It stands on its own merits.

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ChickenSandwich

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20 hours ago, ztejas said:

Apologies for the delay, just got around to Aliens. Honestly there aren't that many screen cap worthy scenes of Sigourney but here's what I got. The quality I dled in was a bit lacking tbh.

sigourney-1.png

sigourney2.png

sigourney-5.png

sigourney-4.pngsigourney3.png

While I'm at it, need to tell you you're most likely a fucking dumbass. 

Aliens is good. It's an above average 80s sci-fi/action. Probably on the level of Terminator 2. 

It isn't an indispensable classic like its predecessor. 

For one, the girl that plays "Newt" is god awful. I might have turned the damn film off if I had to hear her screech RIIIIIIPPPPLEEEEEEEY one more fucking time. No wonder that actress never did shit after that. 

It's a fun action flick and great sequel. Nothing more. Not nearly as well-crafted or visceral as the original. Just like T2 is a fun sequel to a badass, groundbreaking action film. 

You are wrong and you should feel bad. T2>>>>>>>>>>T1 and is still the standard most action films are compared to today. T1 is a solid afterthought but T2 is a legend in its genre 

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Bama Llama

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Ridley deserved the knighthood for Alien alone.  Saw this with my lovely bride in a packed theater before word was out about the chest bursting scene.  There was a whooshing mass intake of breath immediately followed by 300 shrieks / groans, followed by several outright giggles as the little penis-squirrel with gnashing teeth wiggled and ran out the door.  As a whole, this was art on film without gratuitous, nowadays mundane CGI.  When you saw Harry Dean enter that dank space of dripping chains you knew his life expectancy was down to mere seconds.  Finally, the uncoiling Alien on the escape pod shelf was sheer genius and terror.  The exhausted audience was whimpering for it to just somehow end with at least one thing living other than the alien.  And two made it.  Hooray.

Haven't missed anything by Ridley since Alien.  None have been as good.  Suspense increased scene by scene from start to finish.  Hitchcock would be proud.

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GottaB

GottaB 604

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Alien was great. Building suspense throughout. Scariest movie at the time.

Something I always appreciated is that the ship was dirty. Contrast that to the USS enterprise. Functional cargo ship in space with a speedboat vs elegant craft with magical devices. And it looked like the eventual evolution of space travel: corporate focused with expendable crew. Not humanitarian focused. Star Wars was mentioned earlier which is somewhere in between the two for ship environment but it was a long, long time ago not the eventual future.

Also, don’t forget, in 1979 we were still relatively early in the space exploration business. Aliens were humanoid or whatever Star Trek suggested (fuzzy critters or blobs but usually humanoid). This was a very a different alien and presented an existential threat we were introducing to the world. In jaws, we knew the enemy. In Alien and the Thing, we didn’t know what we were dealing with and it could be hiding in plain sight or viciously hideous. Either way, it appeared unescapable.

My favorite aspect in this horror is the same in most zombie flicks. There may be a horrible monster but the worst monster is human nature. When presented with a threat, in this case greed (in zombie flicks it is usually self preservation) was more important than saving lives.

I liked the actors. I liked the pace. I liked the cinematography. It was great.

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