Movie Marathon - Alien quadrilogy
Just over a month ago creative genius, H.R. Giger, past away. Famous for his unsettling art work, his imagination gave life to Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror, Alien. And having just recently seen the fourth and final instalment in the franchise, I decided to check out the Alien quadrilogy.
(Spoilers to the previous film at the start of the next)
The most recent addition in the series was Scott's poorly received, Prometheus; a somewhat spin-off/ prequel. While visually impressive, the film suffered from odd character decisions and numerous plot holes. Turning the clock back to 1979, we begin with Scott's sci-fi classic, Alien.
Now overshadowed by its sequel, Alien seems quieter in tone but by no means less affective. Set aboard a spacecraft returning to Earth, the crew notice a distress call coming from an unknown planetoid and decide to inspect. A few of them go in search of the signal and come across a strange ship containing large eggs. One then hatches and an alien springs onto one of the explorer's mouth. Trying to save their crewmember, they bring him onboard and seemingly save him, until things start to take a turn for the worse. What follows is a vicious hunt to find the alien before it kills everyone onboard.
In comparison with The Shining, I put Alien among those films that brought a huge impact to audiences at the time of release. However, with today's modern culture, older films such as these don't quite appeal for those in search of quick thrills and jump-scares. Where The Simpsons spoofed The Shining, the Halo video game franchise almost mimics the Alien sequel entirely. But, while time can often be cruel to older films, Alien still brings across the same desired effect it first presented in the 70s. There is still the quiet, dreading atmosphere as Sigourney Weaver's Ripley senses something is amiss, and Giger's influences are subtle but no less brilliant, and disturbing once you come to notice them.
Cast members, that include Ian Holm and John Hurt, are all fantastic in their subdued performances. And while we have become desensitised to some of the violence and have a knowledge of what might happen to X character if they go down that hall, Alien is still a brilliant film and holds up to today's standards.
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So in space, no one can hear you scream, as was Alien's tagline. Screaming became almost hard to hear over the booming gunfire and explosions in James Cameron's classic sequel, Aliens. If Alien was a small film before Aliens, then it became a huge film following the latter's release with famous characters and iconic one-liners.
Having escaped with her life, Ripley is picked up by a military spacecraft many years later. With the intention of returning to the planet where her crew were attacked, she is pressured into assisting with the colonial soldiers as they go about their mission. This time, however, Ripley now finds herself up against a whole swarm of aliens - as the plural title suggests.
Everything about this film is meticulously thought through thanks to Cameron's brilliant direction, making it one of my favourite films. He takes everything that made Alien one of the best, and builds on that. We get everything from the dry, stuffy spaceships, to the dark, sweaty corridors as the soldiers check their scanners for alien life-form. Aliens is quite literally dripping in atmosphere. Continuing with what also made Alien so amazing, Cameron's clever use of practical effects ensure an exciting sense of realism that the following sequels fail to deliver. Another mention should also go to the Oscar winning sound and Oscar nominated score that complete the film.
Weaver continued to impress, and also earned herself an Oscar nomination in the process. But, a special mention should also go to the flawless supporting cast as we see them go from brash, cocky marines to the sudden realisation of what they're up against when it hits them hard. The ever cool star of 1980s action films, Michael Biehn, (who was cast at the last minute due to a dropout) makes Hicks his own and delivers some good chemistry between Weaver that never overrides the rest of the film. Another mention should also go to Bill Paxton as Hudson, who shows an impressive amount of range in a smallish role that any other actor may mistaken for simplicity. All are great to watch, and Cameron balances the cast nicely.
Quite simply, Aliens is a film I strongly recommend. It's tense, smart and really good fun. Many will jump straight to it and miss out Alien, but to do so would be a mistake. Were the series to have ended here, people would hear the name Alien and have fond memories of two masterpieces, but in 1992, things were about to change.
Since completing the quadrilogy, Alien³ is a hard film to judge but I'll come back to that later. Directed by a young, fresh-faced, David Fincher, the series takes place with Ripley having crash landed on a prison planet. But now here's the bit that really killed the fans - all the other passengers are dead.
Yep, so after all that time spent developing them in Aliens, they are killed off immediately. This decision divided fans right here, but what saves Alien³ from complete damnation is the new situation Ripley find herself within. Stranded on a prison planet where the entire population is male takes the series in a new direction to unexplored territory. Here, she is greeted by one of the prison leaders, Dillon (Charles S. Dutton), one of the more interesting characters in the series, while developing a love interest in the shape of Tywin Lannister (couldn't resist!), Charles Dance. All the meanwhile, an alien presence looms large as speculations about her crash landing start to come up.
This is by no means a great film, and it suffered heavily due to production problems via the studio that has made Fincher disassociate himself from it entirely. What saves it from being considered the worst is that it has some good ideas, and some are used effectively. The cast all perform well, particularly Dutton, and there are some nice visuals, but nothing comes close to the two predecessors.
Again, had the series ended here, Alien³ would have been considered a weak ending but a decent one. At the time of viewing the film, I really did not enjoy it, but it is only in hindsight that I start to appreciate it, despite all of its problems.
Come 1997, eleven years after Aliens, Alien: Resurrection was released. Should you check this film out? Well that depends on if you have the need to finish the series or not. If you've seen enough, then you can walk away generally happy, but to truly appreciate Alien³, first you must endure Jean-Pierre Jeunet's instalment in the franchise. The odd thing is that this by the same man who later directed Amélie, but you wouldn't have guessed it.
200 years after the events of the last film, Ripley is brought back to life on a ship heading towards deep space. Aboard this ship are a group of mercenaries who have just arrived and hundreds of the dreaded aliens that are now being tested upon. Sounds like a bad idea, and it is. Stronger than before, Ripley must now work with the mercenaries to defeat the aliens before the ship returns to Earth.
On writing, it doesn't sound too bad, and that's also what writer, Joss Whedon, must have thought, who later criticised the direction that failed to notice the comical elements he had incorporated. The end result feels weak, with characters having strange conversations that don't flow, to weird motivations. The action itself is poorly handled, resulting in an unfortunate mess to the end of the Alien series.
Where the previous three films contained many interesting moments, the only point I can think to mention is an underwater scene where the team are swimming away from the aliens. The CGI doesn't hold up well but the cinematography is decent, particularly during one of the character's deaths. Otherwise, this is unredeemable.
Weaver by this point is passable, but if my research it correct, money not creativity was what brought her back to the series after Aliens, and with each return, she demanded certain ideas to be included. Unfortunately, there are many examples where this is not a good idea when the cast have more power than the director, and it shows. Supporting cast members including Ron Pearlman and Winona Ryder are poorly used, failing to resonate what previous actors achieved before.
Overall, Alien: Resurrection is the worst in the series and a terrible film, making Alien³ look pretty good in comparison. The idea that this film is connected to Alien and Aliens is deeply unfortunate, so lets not mention the AVP series.
As a whole, the Alien series is well worth checking out. Hey, you could just watch the first two and have a great time. Unfortunately, everything starts to go downhill with Alien³. Regardless, two bad eggs shouldn't spoil what Scott, Cameron and Giger have achieved in creating two of the very best films around.
(Spoilers to the previous film at the start of the next)
In comparison with The Shining, I put Alien among those films that brought a huge impact to audiences at the time of release. However, with today's modern culture, older films such as these don't quite appeal for those in search of quick thrills and jump-scares. Where The Simpsons spoofed The Shining, the Halo video game franchise almost mimics the Alien sequel entirely. But, while time can often be cruel to older films, Alien still brings across the same desired effect it first presented in the 70s. There is still the quiet, dreading atmosphere as Sigourney Weaver's Ripley senses something is amiss, and Giger's influences are subtle but no less brilliant, and disturbing once you come to notice them.
Cast members, that include Ian Holm and John Hurt, are all fantastic in their subdued performances. And while we have become desensitised to some of the violence and have a knowledge of what might happen to X character if they go down that hall, Alien is still a brilliant film and holds up to today's standards.
So in space, no one can hear you scream, as was Alien's tagline. Screaming became almost hard to hear over the booming gunfire and explosions in James Cameron's classic sequel, Aliens. If Alien was a small film before Aliens, then it became a huge film following the latter's release with famous characters and iconic one-liners.
Having escaped with her life, Ripley is picked up by a military spacecraft many years later. With the intention of returning to the planet where her crew were attacked, she is pressured into assisting with the colonial soldiers as they go about their mission. This time, however, Ripley now finds herself up against a whole swarm of aliens - as the plural title suggests.
Everything about this film is meticulously thought through thanks to Cameron's brilliant direction, making it one of my favourite films. He takes everything that made Alien one of the best, and builds on that. We get everything from the dry, stuffy spaceships, to the dark, sweaty corridors as the soldiers check their scanners for alien life-form. Aliens is quite literally dripping in atmosphere. Continuing with what also made Alien so amazing, Cameron's clever use of practical effects ensure an exciting sense of realism that the following sequels fail to deliver. Another mention should also go to the Oscar winning sound and Oscar nominated score that complete the film.
Since completing the quadrilogy, Alien³ is a hard film to judge but I'll come back to that later. Directed by a young, fresh-faced, David Fincher, the series takes place with Ripley having crash landed on a prison planet. But now here's the bit that really killed the fans - all the other passengers are dead.
Again, had the series ended here, Alien³ would have been considered a weak ending but a decent one. At the time of viewing the film, I really did not enjoy it, but it is only in hindsight that I start to appreciate it, despite all of its problems.
Come 1997, eleven years after Aliens, Alien: Resurrection was released. Should you check this film out? Well that depends on if you have the need to finish the series or not. If you've seen enough, then you can walk away generally happy, but to truly appreciate Alien³, first you must endure Jean-Pierre Jeunet's instalment in the franchise. The odd thing is that this by the same man who later directed Amélie, but you wouldn't have guessed it.
On writing, it doesn't sound too bad, and that's also what writer, Joss Whedon, must have thought, who later criticised the direction that failed to notice the comical elements he had incorporated. The end result feels weak, with characters having strange conversations that don't flow, to weird motivations. The action itself is poorly handled, resulting in an unfortunate mess to the end of the Alien series.
Where the previous three films contained many interesting moments, the only point I can think to mention is an underwater scene where the team are swimming away from the aliens. The CGI doesn't hold up well but the cinematography is decent, particularly during one of the character's deaths. Otherwise, this is unredeemable.
Weaver by this point is passable, but if my research it correct, money not creativity was what brought her back to the series after Aliens, and with each return, she demanded certain ideas to be included. Unfortunately, there are many examples where this is not a good idea when the cast have more power than the director, and it shows. Supporting cast members including Ron Pearlman and Winona Ryder are poorly used, failing to resonate what previous actors achieved before.
Overall, Alien: Resurrection is the worst in the series and a terrible film, making Alien³ look pretty good in comparison. The idea that this film is connected to Alien and Aliens is deeply unfortunate, so lets not mention the AVP series.
In Conclusion
As a whole, the Alien series is well worth checking out. Hey, you could just watch the first two and have a great time. Unfortunately, everything starts to go downhill with Alien³. Regardless, two bad eggs shouldn't spoil what Scott, Cameron and Giger have achieved in creating two of the very best films around.
H. R. Giger
1940 - 2014
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