Aliens: 20 years later....

sort of like a prequal to aliens, culminating in the final battle before the marines arrive? great concept!! hell, even a novel of that would be superb!!

 

that would be a great idea. you could even have the occasionally cameo with Paul Reiser as Burke ordering the search of the ship

 

Aliens is great, and very scary. First time I watched it at 15, I had nightmares for a week! Probably an overdose from watching Alien and Aliens back-to-back, though.

 

i've never watched all the movies back to back in one day. although it would be something to do on a rainy day

 

I think he would be too old to pull it off

Referencing him in a potential movie would be good - he basically already is in Aliens:SE during the sequence as they are walking through the colony-plant before the aliens invaded. (saying that the company has sent them out to a grid reference, don't ask why as it takes 2 weeks to get an answer, and the answer is always "don't ask")


Maybe I should pen a fanfic!

 

Eh this is a major point of contention. One could say that Hicks was killed by the faulty safety harness, after all Ripley was not impaled herself and emerged from the landing craft relatively unharmed.

The Alien caused the fire on the ship which in turn jettisoned the escape pods, so yes the Alien set off the turn of events but the Alien had nothing to do with the malfunction that caused Hicks' death.

IMO...of course...and sorry for getting pedantic.

 

but they were responsible for the fire which caused them to release the escape pods.

You think a war vessel like that could have coped with a small fire !

iirc Hick was going to cameo in Alien3, and die at the start or something.

I prefered the comic book plot arc which saw them all returning to earth and the company 'growing' aliens (similar to the start of Alien4).

 

It wouldn't really be a prequel because that sequence of events is already happening during the time frame of Aliens. While Weyland-Yutani is labeling Ripley insane, and either knowing or hoping she is telling the truth about the nostromo incident. The seqence with the aliens vs colonists is happening.

 

true, but the main segment of Aliens occurs after they lose contact with the colonists. It's clearly at the same time as there are people still alive after they marines arrive on the planet (ie Newt, and the women who they find in the alien lair who chest bursts)

 

It would be somewhat interesting, but it's a bit late in the game for something like that to happen.

 

I disagree, as they could use a totally brand new cast - I think it's something the fans would really go far.

 

i could definately go for it

 

I suppose it could work, but there be would just as many fans in opposition as there would be in support of it.

 

why ?

The general feeling here seems positive, however I'm interested to know where you are coming from.

I think it's generally accepted by the fanbase that Alien was a great horror movie, while Aliens was the greatest sci-fi action movie ever made. However, the fanbase probably agree that 3 and 4 were disappointing, and actually harmful for the franchise.

I think the fanbase would appreciate the chance to go back and have another try at developing the existing plot.

I think it would be cool to remake the sets used in Aliens, but populated by colonists rather than junk, marines and aliens.

Seeing from the outset we roughly know where the movie is going I think they could develop a really heart-wrenching survival story.

I love HRGeiger's alien, but recent outings have tarnished a really cracking franchise.

 

I?d definitely oppose the type of film malkie is suggesting. A big reason I love the Alien franchise so much is that each film is pretty much a standalone effort that primarily revolves around Ripley?s own character growth as a central means of plot progression. Hence the reason ideas of a simple Aliens 2 action romp were scrapped in favor of a more individual-driven fantasy horror that delved heavily into the ideas of faith and self-sacrifice (and note that I?m talking more about the original ?wooden-planet? script the third film was green-lighted on than the actual finished product, although I do feel that Fincher?s film is severely underrated.)

But regardless, to me an attempt to cash in on the fan favorite status of Aliens would serve no real purpose. Yes, the colonists were summarily butchered, but that?s pretty much that. A big part of Aliens was a running commentary on the dangers of profit-driven colonization, and I would fear that returning to expand this with an action first-mentality coupled with a bunch of contrived action heroes would lessen the overall impact of Ripley?s own battles with inner and outer demons. If a fifth film ever does see the light of day, then it only makes sense to provide yet another level of personal progression with the Ripely character, as well as another new sub-genre label. I?ve always considered Alien a haunted house movie, Aliens an action/war film, Alien 3 a psychological and philosophical thriller, and Alien Resurrection a dark comedy.

I just don't see any good reason to take an essential aspect like Ripley out of the equation, while returning to do yet another Aliens inspired set of action sequences. Why regress when a narrative with impact that we haven?t seen before is waiting to be made?

 

The general feeling here may be good, but after the 4th film and seeing the less than awesome AVP, I think folks should tread lightly with the series. I loved the first 3 films( haven't seen the new cut of 3, so I might like it more), but I think the fourth film started off pretty good and then took a nose dive halfway through the film.

As far as Aliens goes I have the standpoint of " if it aint broke, don't fix it". Having a film that runs in the same time frame as Aliens, but focusing on the company and the colony doesn't really fit in the franchise. It may be awesome to see the colonists get owned by the Aliens and plastered to the walls of the atmosphere processor and seeing the greediness and recklessness of the company, but it doesn't warrant a film in my opinion. If a new Alien film is made, it should move the series forward, and that wouldn't do it. Also, if a new film is made, I think only Ridley Scott, James Cameron, or a team up of the two should direct/be involved with the film.

 

this could be done well as long as the script is fine. you could say this could be almost like ROTS where we know the ending but we want to know how it happens.

 

I would much prefer to begin a new story on a different planet. Why tell the story of LV4-26 again when you can explore another colony? The original AvP story did so, and was in essence a perfect and plausible vehicle for meeting between the two creatures with man in the middle (as opposed to the rather silly AvP premise that we did get). I'm also opposed to featuring Ripley in further films, her character arc was finished in Alien3 and it was her nonsensical return in Alien4 that spelled that film's doom. It's time to show the effects of the xenomorph on an entirely new character, perhaps a man or a child.

 

That sounds fine with me.

 

ezekiel22x - fantastic post - I really appreciate your interpretation of the themes of the different movies.

However, I'd almost say you were reading too much into Aliens. Personally I think it was put together as an out-and-out action movie without the conscious development of the plot aspects you describe.


Basically, I want more of the alien franchise, but I want quality, and not what we've been given.

My prequel idea won't be made, so I don't think we should stress too much.

 

I heard that he was busy on K2, which is a pretty good movie if you're into that kind of thing.

I also heard that he was going to have a part in the movie and the reason why he died was because they couldn't get Biehn for the role.


Oh and yes another Alien movie would be great so long as it isn't the cookie cut failures we saw in Resurrection and especially AvP.

Ick...

 

one of the things i remember while watching the special features disc for Aliens in the Alien Quadrilogy set is that they got the design for the dropship by randomly putting pieces of a model helicopter kit together. pretty interesting. anyone else have the Quadrilogy set and watch the special features on there?

 

1. The fire was in the cryogenic compartment - the emergency system automatically ejected the cryotubes as a precaution.

2. In one of the script drafts, Hicks survives the crash, and is one of the people who actually survives throughout the film (along with the prisoner Morse).

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned in the thread already, but the series creators (or producers, I forget) were speculating doing a prequel examining the "space jockeys", the mummified alien from the original film.

They expressed maybe doing a backstory on these beings and see how they came to be involved with the Aliens.

Though, I'm not sure I'd want to see it without Sigourney Weaver as she's the heart of the franchise. Still, I don't want the abysmal Alien Resurrection to be the final chapter.

They could still do something cool with the franchise.

 

it would be nice to know the back story