Alien 'Quadrilogy'

However, the yanks have been one up on us with Indiana Jones too - cannot believe we got the but to pieces BBFC approved version of Temple of Doom.

i prefer to pretend that Ressurection doesn't exist.
bunch of shite, innit?

Rest in Peace, Dan O'Bannon. He was 63.

what?! ah, shit. RIP

nooooooooooooo

he was the real genius of sci fi. I credit him with inventing "Blade Runner."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QozLSpjQc0

i got the blu ray version of the quadrilogy, and just watched Alien 3 the 2003 version (which i've never seen before)

They really changed a lot didn't they. I think I preferred the dog host rather than the ox though.

one question. how did the 'company' know anything about ripley being impregnated?

The little scanner doohickie automatically sent the CAT scan to the company.

^ yes indeed

Preferred the ox host, but only because I'm a squeamish person who didn't like seeing the dog being killed

Surprised at how much better that version of Alien 3 was, and also and how feeble were the attempts to clean up the audio in the extra scenes

dude who came up with word "quadrilogy" should be fucking eaten by wolves

or any form of quadruped

Lobster Quadrillogy

haha I was just coming here to post that Phil.

the blu-ray set's just the "alien anthology" now, thankfully (at least in the US)

they shoulda just called it the "ALIEN THIS-MANY" with a pic of Ripley holding up 4 fingers on the cover

yes Latebloomer correct, i'm in uk and it's called the anthology too.

Bought the Alien Vault 'making of' book recently, pretty nicely produced and lots of detail on the production, pre-production sketches, storyboards etc. Doesn't have the hilarious ron cobb or chris foss visualisation of the spave jockey tho - just a crap humanoid skeleton in an office chair.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845136675/ref=asc_df_18451366757156531?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=1845136675

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8GJbAAr1DY8/TK_1Vxc-DYI/AAAAAAAABv8/Y1GVIAv2REo/s1600/spacejockeypic.jpg

doesn't quite have the belittling office cubicle perspective i recall.

this image satisfied Dan O'Bannon in terms of what he wanted.

obv he deserves a lot of credit for the story and script but you gotta be glad the design work was out of his hands. he didn't even like giger's derelict ¯\(º_o)/¯

http://parkablogs.com/content/book-review-book-of-alien

yeah i remember reading someone else's copy of this as a kid, definitely beats 'alien vault' for concept art.

So I ran into this company Super 7 over the weekend down in Orlando - they've received permission from 20th Century Fox to produce and sell the "Alien" action figures that were planned but never came to be:

In 1979, prototypes for 3 ¾” action figures for the ALIEN film were developed but never manufactured. Through our network of industry and collector contacts, Super7 has unearthed the original 33-year-old prototypes and will utilize these to help make these “lost toys” a reality.

With official authorization from 20th Century Fox, Super7 will produce the full series of ALIEN toys as part of our REACTION Figure Series (Retro-Action.) REACTION Figures are stylized exactly as items from the “golden age” of action figures with approximately five points of articulation, accessories, and period-authentic blister card packaging.

The original line up of 3 ¾” action figures for the ALIEN were scheduled to be RIPLEY, ASH, DALLAS, KANE in NOSTROMO SUIT, and the BIG CHAP (the nickname used on-set for the ALIEN creature).

http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-07-08/nwJHtaDvkluaDxGeJDlCxvprzrjDcrmzEtjFqzBFJGqAzBGAAxntbluehIyg/Alien_Lineup.jpg.scaled500.jpg

Kane in the Nostromo suit looks like one of the dancers from the "True Faith" video.

http://vincentwardfilms.com/concepts/alien-3/unrequited-visio/

http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_III_(Vincent_Ward)

knew those were going to be about the wood-structured satellite thingy

they threw away more interesting ideas making this series than some movies have ever had

wood moon is a trippy idea that should not have made it past the drug session. i'm glad fincher changed it.

films never made and the documentary/speculation bits prob lend well to the imagination, may not have done well on film

the jodorowsky/dune doc being prime territory for that

has anyone seen aliens on 70mm? is it special?

I watched the Alien 3 "assembly cut" once and thought it was OK. Am I misremembering?

I don't know if this was discussed in another thread, but last month the North Bergen, NJ high school put on a stage production of Alien that very quickly went viral. They apparently had zero budget, so they built all their own props and costumes, which all turned out to be very clever. It got some attention from both Ridley Scott, who offered his congratulations and future assistance; and Sigourney Weaver, who recorded a video thanking the school and then attended an encore performance.

Sigourney Weaver visiting the NBHS cast and crew at their encore performance of Alien after national media recognition was unbelievable!! #alien #Alien40th pic.twitter.com/2UXL0v1H3X

— Nicholas J. Sacco (@NicholasJSacco) April 27, 2019

The whole thing is now available on YouTube, and it's really nicely done. The special effects and staging are clever, they use pieces of Jerry Goldsmith's score and some video elements from the movie, and for not having any budget, accomplish some really great things on the stage!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX3VaFG7AvU

omg this rules

Got to be Alien : Remus

Honestly, I look a little forward to a Romulus sequel - maybe they'll feel less compelled to wink at the older entries, and keep the (surviving) likeable actors

All two of them!

Watching Alien 3 for the first time. Observations so far:

- Fincher is like, fuck that kid and kills Newt off immediately
- didn’t realise the shot of shaven headed Ripley with the Alien is from this, probably the most memorable thing about the whole film
- the alien looks like absolute shit
- How are semi malnourished prisoners outrunning this thing
- why do they have chewing gum on their prison planet
- brain alien? Ok

Also, Ripley fucking Charles Dance is weird but otoh she’s been in space/cryosleep for like six decades, she’s prob a little horny I guess

It was the Ripley Jesus Christ pose at the end that got me riled. And yet still so indispensable, she was back for Resurrection. Kind of the inverse of Carpenter thinking he’d do a Halloween-themed movie versus Michael Myers XII.

For Halloween III, I mean.

It was the Ripley Jesus Christ pose at the end that got me riled. And yet still so indispensable, she was back for Resurrection. Kind of the inverse of Carpenter thinking he’d do a Halloween-themed movie versus Michael Myers XII.

So dumb - I hadn’t finished the film yet when that happened and when it did I was like, come the fuck on. There’s so much interesting in this film compared to Resurrection which was dogshit, and yet…they still went with that? Anyway that’s the last film of the original series I needed to watch, and I can’t say I regret not having done so sooner.

I remember an interview with Weaver, where she requested she'd die in A3 to finish the series, and only agreed to come back and do Resurrection because otherwise they would go and do "Alien vs Predator, or something horrible like that"....

I think A3 is an OK film, but I always found its obsessive fans so horribly pretentious, based on interactions on message boards etc. They can't seem to praise the film without dragging down its predecessor.

- How are semi malnourished prisoners outrunning this thing

lollll so otm

I think A3 is an OK film, but I always found its obsessive fans so horribly pretentious, based on interactions on message boards

mark finally getting his just desserts i see

the A3 fans will also ACTUALLY you and tell you about the original script and how it's supposed to be blah blah and the movie turned out lesser than that but it's still good etc

I think it's fine, it's just a collection of guys with interesting faces

The first time I noticed Pete Postlethwaite.

that guy, he's a genre

talk about a great face. i saw him do Lear once, he was tremendous

There’s some great faces in it. I could not rest until I found out who this fella was

https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0630405/

His nose in profile looks like someone flattened it in a fight. I’ve never seen such a perfect matchup of casting and role.

One of my main memories of A3 is how bad Ralph Brown is. Dire.

everyone shitting on A3 and forgetting the completely idiotic "oh an alien learns to use an elevator scene" in aliens.

The prisoners going all "yep, time to die for a greater cause", partnered with some terrible CGI really killed the last 1/3rd of A3.

everyone shitting on A3 and forgetting the completely idiotic "oh an alien learns to use an elevator scene" in aliens.

I believe in that more than I believe a human could outrun an alien, especially a quadripedal one. Those things are canonically fast, come on.

rewatched Alien today and i have breaking news, you guys: this movie still rules

10/10 perfect movie

watching the making-of feaurettes again & every time I see interviews w Giger I think of this old Superego bit of HR Giger reading Twas The Night Before Christmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5pj7g9DfdM

The prisoners going all "yep, time to die for a greater cause", partnered with some terrible CGI really killed the last 1/3rd of A3.

― H.P, Saturday, August 30, 2025 2:31 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah it's not great...but when comparing this movie's CGI to so much mainstream fare that has come out since, just not my first complaint. i'm quick to give a pass on anything even attempting CGI pre 1995.

A3: the awkard non-threatening four-legged runt of the xenomorph litter

hear me out guys - what if we remove all the suspense, show the aliens in full lighting, and just load it up with expositional dialogue!? and then add a 90’s piss-filter over the whole thing.

actually i do like some of the vibe of this and in fairness to Fincher I think this is about as watchable as it can be given the ridiculous/untenable circumstances thrust upon him. The Giler/Hill tag-team and studio meddling would put anyone in the looney bin.

the cast and the location give it so much bonus texture - they help to (temporarily) distract from the failings of the script

it’s a bummer because for such a great cast and dramatic setting, a lot of the movie feels strangely inert even when things are happening because the dialogue forces the characters to be constantly explaining the barely-held-together plot

i would not in a million years want this to be my first hollywood movie - but jesus christ if anything is going to open your eyes to how bad a movie set can get, and what not to do, Fincher got the full immersive experience

I recall the extended (but not officially director's) cut on the boxed set being better than the theatrical version. There's also a new fan edit that's supposed to be a worthwhile (if still far from perfect, or by some accounts even good) distraction: https://www.a34k.net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCIXkBEoqeM

I watched the Assembly Cut on the dvd box set

I only saw it once, I think that's what I was thinking of. This fan edit tinkers with other things as well, afaic, from the look to making other cuts and additions to fixing up the FX (which is what it is supposedly most successful at).

It’s a really terrible looking brown movie with bad acting, and the action is weirdly elliptical - on purpose, I’m guessing, but instead it looks like everything got left offscreen to cut the budget. The death scenes (Charles Dance, Brian Glover) look cheaply staged. And Dance gets killed much too soon.

yeah they spend so much time setting up Dance & ripley its kinda jarring that he’s offed so early

I remember reading the supposed William Gibson script for... does Ilxor do superscript? Can I nest superscript inside italics? How in the name of living heck am I going to write about the third Alien film if I can't accurately write its title. If I can't accurately write the title that God and David Fincher intended. Alien Cubed? Imagine a cube of aliens. Or imagine if the prisoners had lured the alien into a car crushing machine, like in Goldfinger.

Why would they have a car crushing machine on a prison planet? To crush cars. "But there aren't any cars in the Alien universe". That's true. There aren't any cars. Because they were crushed. For their juice. By prisoners.

William Gibson script. I vaguely remember that Hicks and Newt ended up being sent off to recuperate on a space station, which got them out of the way. Which makes sense, because they're interesting characters and Michael Biehn is excellent in small doses. But I can't remember anything else about it. Which is a lot like the third Alien film. I remember the opening scenes. There's a great shot in one of the outtakes of Ripley being rescued by a chap in a cape, who carries her through a rainy wilderness with cranes:
https://highwaytohorror.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clemens-runs-1024x576.jpg

And yet the rest of the film is a blur of individual scenes. I can't remember the entire second half. I think it lost me with the scene where they autopsy Newt. It just felt needlessly sadistic. At that point in the film we know she's dead, and there's no doubt that she's dead. The film didn't have to rub it in by having her dissected. Bear in mind that that was only six or seven years after Colin Baker had been Dr Who. It was released only seven short years after "Vengeance on Varos". My mind only has a finite capacity for misery.

I remember that Ridley Scott had planned to give Alien a downbeat ending, where the alien bites off Ripley's head and then imitates her voice - he did something similar with one of his prequel films - but the producers held up their hands and said "enough". That was one of the things that made the first two Alien films stand out. For all the horror and misery there was a sense that there was something worth fighting for, and the fictional universe of the films wasn't completely grim. The evil megacorporation in Aliens came across as uncaring rather than omnipotently evil.

In fact that was one of the things that made The Dark Knight (the Frank Miller comic) and the first Robocop stand out from the tide of dark and edgy media that came after, including the latter film's sequel. They both had humour and they weren't unremittingly nasty. Whereas the third Alien film felt like a bad 1990s comic, in the sense that it was about a bunch of doomed, mostly nondescript characters in a shitty world, so who do you root for? Robocop 2 had a similar problem, where the villain was a twelve-year-old boy and the film seemed to revel in being mean. Yes, mean.

That's why David Fincher cast Brian Glover. From the Tetley Tea adverts. He wanted to pick a beloved cultural icon and kill him off so that the audience would feel depressed. He originally wanted to cast Arthur Lowe from Dad's Army - this is a true fact - but he couldn't, because Arthur Lowe was already dead. His second choice? John Sessions. Imagine how horrified you would have felt if John Sessions had been eviscerated by an alien. His third choice? Norman Pace. These are all true facts.

His ninth choice? Hugh Dennis from The Mary Whitehouse Experience. Do you remember how you felt when Hugh Dennis was killed in No Time to Die? I do. I remember thinking "they killed off Hugh Dennis. Truly there is no goodness in the world. This film is capable of anything." That was exactly what David Fincher was going for in the third Alien film. Obviously Hugh Dennis wasn't available. He was busy writing The Imaginatively Titled Punt and Dennis Show. But that was the plan, and this is another true fact. These are all true facts.

True. Facts.

I'll say that Weaver's work gets more stripped down with each film; she's pure id by the 4th one

I still think of it as the Ripley series, not the Alien series. IMO Alien stories without Weaver have never quite fixed that absence; it’s like watching a Die Hard that’s all building and no Bruce Willis.

yeah they spend so much time setting up Dance & ripley its kinda jarring that he’s offed so early

this totally works for me, even in the theatrical version — we know how tired and lonely and presumably horny Ripley is, and spend just enough time with Dance to appreciate how similar his position is. So, therefore, does Ripley, and presumably vice versa. The time is telling us how these characters can find a moment of solace and communication in each other; it’s not telling us that everything else we know about their lives will suddenly stop having happened because they had one (1) fuck.

everything else we know about their lives

ie: dead soon. any minute now.

i started Alien: Resurrection last night and guys, i know some of you ride for this space cartoon but i am here to say it still sucks

I know I must have posted this years ago, but back when I was in college in the '90s I used to know this guy with Hollywood connections who would often get scripts of upcoming movies, like "Pulp Fiction" (didn't read it because I didn't want it ruined) or Danny Boyle's forgotten follow-up to "Trainspotting" ("A Life Less Ordinary," which I did read and which was ... not good). I remember him bringing in a copy of "Alien: Resurrection," which I was excited about, because I liked the Alien movies and I liked Jean-Pierre Jeunet, though didn't know much about Joss Whedon. I vividly recall scratching my head at it, thinking, nah, there's got to be something else to it, maybe this is a draft or something, and then I saw the movie and no, the script was accurate. It just soured me, on Jean-Pierre Jeunet, on the Alien series, on Weaver (who was so good that year in The Ice Storm), on Ryder, on Jeunet's muse Dominique Pinon and Ron Perlman (both of whom I liked in City of Lost Children), just a disappointing time all around. Glossy schlock but iirc awkward and dumb. I'm sure I've seen it again since then, but I don't recall ever being swayed.

one of those movies, i remember being in the cinema and thinking I WANT THIS TO END

Maybe three genuine creep-outs (esp the hybrid lab obviously) but the rest of the film was so asinine and self-consciously wacky that I came out hating Jeunet permanently. Weaver I still love, how could you not?

Though now that I think about it, "Alien: Resurrection" kind of set the template for the series going forward, from all the themes of hybrids (even "back to basics" Romulus had that) to broad, bad characters to, yeah, glossy schlock.

I was a big Jeunet fan. Delicatessen might have been the first non-English language film I had ever seen? I wasn't sure how he was going to handle it, given that the tone of that film was so wildly different from those found in the Alien series, but I was nonetheless hyped. Instead, it was pretty much just hollywood blockbuster shit done slightly weird and with a ridiculous story.

And speaking of Danny Boyle, he was the producers first choice to direct Resurrection, but passed to make...A Life Less Ordinary. Took a date to see that one and we were both miserable.

I think of it as a French guy trying to make an Alien movie like it’s a Moebius comic (namely The Incal, written by Jodorowsky) but hampered by an American’s goofy script. Now that I think of it, I generally enjoy whimsical films from French directors but comedy from French directors is very hit or miss, and there was just too much attempted comedy in the script

At the time I thought Alien: Resurrection was dreadful. However when we did a rewatch of all the films without taking it all as seriously as I probably used to I found it an absolute hoot and very welcome relief after the dull tones of 3.

yeah last rewatch i really loved a:r despite the stupid nerd script. my reaction is probably recorded upthread. hard for me to dislike an alien movie where there is a sex scene between ripley and the alien and it's filmed so beautifully

if you don't take it as canon, resurrection is delightful camp.

i rewatched resurrection the other day and frankly the ideas and images are too good to be entirely sunk by the fuckboy script. it's still whedon's worst tendencies all at once, particularly the crew dynamic... and yet it is the only alien movie to really dwell on abortion, and the only alien movie that is aggressively lesbian and trans, and the only alien movie where a human has sex with a xenomorph. god, what can you do except appreciate its mutant form

― ivy., Thursday, September 5, 2024 9:20 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh yeah, i'm right

only alien movie to really dwell on abortion

At the time!

Gotta say I loved the Prometheus treatment of that topic

ivy. otm

I still think Prometheus should have included “give me my damn space abortion!” as a line when she’s yelling at the medical machine

Meantime:

https://gizmodo.com/fede-alvarez-wont-direct-the-alien-romulus-sequel-2000654731

watching all these making-ofs through the first 3 movies, i’ve started developing this theory that Brandywine/Giler & Hill are the consistent fly in the ointment that seem to be constantly dicking w scripts etc

like they dont SAY that, it’s always “the studio” as the big bad but the offhand comments from Giler & the fact that, for example, he & Hill *hated* O’Bannon’s original script, that they tried to rewrite the whole thing to get story credit etc… and i know that Giler/Hill came up w the trucker part & made Ripley a female character etc, so its not like theyre full-on black hats…but producers who are also writers in this era, of this ilk, just seem like more harm than good idk
i dont know enough to know for sure but i get real underhanded-weasel vibes anyway lol