242 replies to this topic

[Alexcremers]

Gotta go with Alien, it was my first R rated movie I saw.

Me too! An amazing frightening experience because I didn't know it was a sci-fi horror flick.

[Chaac]

Come to think of it I don't think I actually care about films suggesting me new things every time.

Well, how can you value it if you never experienced it?

What I mean is that I never looked for it.

If something has several interpretations I get more or less it all seeing it once or twice, or simply thinking about it. Plus I have good visual memory so I remember what a film was like.

[chuckster312]

Gotta go with Alien, it was my first R rated movie I saw.

Me too! An amazing frightening experience because I didn't know it was a sci-fi horror flick.

You might be thinking it's a light - hearted family adventure with flying bicycles, huh?

[Alexcremers]

If something has several interpretations I get more or less it all seeing it once or twice, or simply thinking about it. Plus I have good visual memory so I remember what a film was like.

It doesn't really work that way, Chaac. Watching movies, evaluating art in general, is a dynamic process. New personal richness and different stages in life can lead to different views, insights and outlook. You're a young guy, right?

Gotta go with Alien, it was my first R rated movie I saw.

Me too! An amazing frightening experience because I didn't know it was a sci-fi horror flick.

You might be thinking it's a light - hearted family adventure with flying bicycles, huh?

To tell you the truth, I was expecting James Bond in space . Heck, I don't even remember why but you have to remember that there was no virtually no information at that time. It was the dark ages. I loved Star Wars and I was very much into science fiction so I had to see Alien, even though I was too young.

[Chaac]

If something has several interpretations I get more or less it all seeing it once or twice, or simply thinking about it. Plus I have good visual memory so I remember what a film was like.

It doesn't really work that way, Chaac. Watching movies, evaluating art in general, is a dynamic process. New personal richness and different stages in life can lead to different views, insights and outlook. You're a young guy, right?

Yes, but I know that, I've experienced it. A lot.

As for art my opinions usually tend to change for the worse.

[Koray Savas]

Wait, you don't like movies that give you something more each time you watch them?

[nightscape94]

Sorry, absolutely no contest on this one. Alien is a masterpiece, Aliens is a great action movie.

[Alexcremers]

Wait, you don't like movies that give you something more each time you watch them?

I think he cornered himself, which is bound to happen when you always saying the exact opposite.

[Joey]

Aliens is writen in that way consciously and then subverts it. The marines end up being useless, Hudson cries around, and Ripley is the ultimate badass. The final confrontantion is a confrontation of mothers.

Are you serious, what a stupid comment, really stupid.

The final confrontation between the mothers doesn't happen if the marines are useless.

[E.T. & Elliott]

Have you all been through the Alien scene on The Great Movie Ride at Disney World? It's one of the coolest things to experience on this planet.

[Chaac]

Wait, you don't like movies that give you something more each time you watch them?

I didn't say that. I said it doesn't usually happen to me.

Aliens is writen in that way consciously and then subverts it. The marines end up being useless, Hudson cries around, and Ripley is the ultimate badass. The final confrontantion is a confrontation of mothers.

Are you serious, what a stupid comment, really stupid.

The final confrontation between the mothers doesn't happen if the marines are useless.

They were wiped out by the aliens. We can safely say it didn't work out well. Pirric victory.

[Koray Savas]

Wait, you don't like movies that give you something more each time you watch them?

I didn't say that. I said it doesn't usually happen to me.

The getting more part? You don't find more to appreciate, more subtle details and nuances you didn't pick up before, or anything like that, with your favorite films?

[Quint]

Holy crap how did I miss this? That just blew my socks off, I've never seen footage of anything like this. And a seriously good performance, too; not LSO standards but damn, they nailed it.

Horner is the laziest bastard in scoring, but the guy is just ridiculously talented and an absolute master of action music. 4:48 - the way he signs off the cue with impending doom, the piano signalling the "futile" attempts at escape, death closing in. It's terrifying stuff and absolutely marvellous film score.

[crocodile]

You should have listened to it live, Quint. It makes quite an impression. This and Bishop's Countdown. The performance I heard was even better than this one.

Karol

[Incanus]

Well I wish there were concerts around here to perform this stuff. Exhilarating and I always love to see the orchestra at work as you can really see and hear in the live performance more clearly all the layers that make into creating these pieces of music.

[Joey]

Wait, you don't like movies that give you something more each time you watch them?

I didn't say that. I said it doesn't usually happen to me.

Aliens is writen in that way consciously and then subverts it. The marines end up being useless, Hudson cries around, and Ripley is the ultimate badass. The final confrontantion is a confrontation of mothers.

Are you serious, what a stupid comment, really stupid.

The final confrontation between the mothers doesn't happen if the marines are useless.

They were wiped out by the aliens. We can safely say it didn't work out well. Pirric victory.

yes they were all killed except for one, but without them Ripley dies early on...so does poor newt.

[MrJosh]

It's really hard for me (that's what she said...) because I love them both in different ways. I chose Aliens just because to me it's got an awesome "popcorn movie" excitement going for it, just a super FUN movie. Alien, though is more "perfect" a film. And of course yeah, the design is amazing on Alien. "A perfect organism," Ash would call it.

[BloodBoal]

Just finished watching Alien³. After the thriller film, after the action film, this one is the pseudo socio-religious film.

It was worse than I remembered. And I watched the Special Edition, which is supposed to be better!

Really an awful film. It feels cheap. Really, really cheap. Almost feels like a TV film, actually. Most of the FX are awful (although there is one shot where the xenomoph never looked better: the one where it's close to Ripley's face. Amazing animatronic here.).
Same for the characters: I didn't care about any of them, there are all so cliché it's not even funny. Most are nameless cardboards that are just here to die. And the others who actually have names and are developped are just plain boring.
Every attack of the xenomorph feels lame. There is no tension, no thrills, nothing. You can feel here that the series had run its course at this point.
I was also tired of all those low angles shots. Seriously, there are so many, it made me sick.
And one last thing I didn't like: the whole facehugger business, which isn't pretty clear, and that has lead to the whole bullshit "Two facehuggers"/"One superfacehugger" theories.

Spoiler

Oh, and the "real" Bishop appearing at the end felt lame and served no purpose at all

There are few good things, though. Always liked the opening sequence (even though it creates one major plot hole that is never solved), with Goldenthal's music which really enhances the scene. I know a lot of people don't like the fact that they killed all the characters who survived in the previous film, but that wasn't a problem for me. In fact, it lead to a scene which was pretty good

Spoiler

(when they have to open Newt's chest).

Charles Dance is also quite good in this (but is there any film in which he is not good, anyway?). The only interesting character in the bunch.

Spoiler

His death scene is pretty cool, too.

The fact that Ripley is pregnant with a xenomorph was also an interesting idea (and frankly, the last you could really develop with the franchise concept), but I'm not sure it was handled properly.
About the xenomorph scene, I've read it differs in the Theatrical Version and the Special Edition. Don't remember the dog scene, but the ox scene was a bit stupid. Can you imagine a facehugger on an ox? Looks pretty stupid, huh? The only thing that saved this scene was the editing, with the black dude speech being shown at the same time. It made the scene work, in a certain way. The alien coming out of a dog makes more sense for the rest of the film, though. It explains why the xenomorph is faster. With the ox, that simply doesn't cut it.

Anyway, all in all, clearly the worst film of the trilogy. Goldenthal's score has probably the most interesting cues from the franchise, though.

I'd be interested in knowing Cremers' thoughts on this one.

P.S.: On a unrelated note, why is the film titled Alien³? There are not mathematics involved in the film, and there are no aliens mating in this one to justify an Alien², let alone an Alien³.

[Chaac]

I read how that film started and I thought it wasn't worth seeing it.

[BloodBoal]

You're a wiser man than I ever will be.

[Alexcremers]

i agree, Alien3

Just finished watching Alien³. After the thriller film, after the action film, this one is the pseudo socio-religious film.

It was worse than I remembered. And I watched the Special Edition, which is supposed to be better!

Really an awful film. It feels cheap. Really, really cheap. Almost feels like a TV film, actually. Most of the FX are awful (although there is one shot where the xenomoph never looked better: the one where it's close to Ripley's face. Amazing animatronic here.).
Same for the characters: I didn't care about any of them, there are all so cliché it's not even funny. Most are nameless cardboards that are just here to die. And the others who actually have names and are developped are just plain boring.
Every attack of the xenomorph feels lame. There is no tension, no thrills, nothing. You can feel here that the series had run its course at this point.
I was also tired of all those low angles shots. Seriously, there are so many, it made me sick.

Well, I agree with everything you wrote here. Although, I'm not sure whether the characters are that cliché. I certainly don't like how they are presented, that's for sure. There is something overly serious, swollen, almost bombastic about them.

[Quint]

I haven't seen it in years. Not a good movie, but I do remember thinking the sequence where they are working together to lure and trap the alien was pretty tense and genuinely well done. But the cgi was shit even back then.

[KK.]

I read how that film started and I thought it wasn't worth seeing it.

Likewise. I didn't bother with this film.

[Alexcremers]

The early CGI is shockingly terrible. Couldn't believe it was that bad. Much worse than I remembered it. It's the film's deathblow.

[Miles Prower]

I love Alien3 - though maybe it's because I'm the only one on the planet (aside from Fincher, maybe) who doesn't care about how the first five minutes craps on Aliens' ending.

[Alexcremers]

Even Fincher doesn't care about Alien3.

[Quint]

Nobody cares about it.

*weeps a single tear, runs down cheek*

[Miles Prower]

Even Fincher doesn't care about Alien3.

Never said he did.

[Koray Savas]

Yeah he disowns it. They offered him to make his own cut for the new anthology but he refused.

[Alexcremers]

Nobody cares about it.

I amazes me to this very day that Fincher was able to recover from Alien3. That there was actually some money dude who said to him, "Don't worry, Finch, here's the money. Now go and make your next movie! "

With Se7en, Fincher bounced back with a triumph.


Alex

[Chaac]

I loved Se7en on first viewing. But seeing it later I lost interest on it.

[Quint]

Massively overrated movie. Good though.

[Alexcremers]

Hmm, I understand why it's rated so highly. Even when the horror or thriller effect has worn out on you, which tends to happen with this genre (we get used to it), it is still a great mood piece.

[crocodile]

?

Karol

[Alexcremers]

Oops

[crocodile]

I read the updated post again.

Karol

[Koray Savas]

I love Seven.

[Quint]

Hmm, I understand why it's rated so highly. Even when the horror or thriller effect has worn out on you, which tends to happen with this genre (we get used to it), it is still a great mood piece.

The ending feels like a different movie, though. Feels like Tony Scott suddenly got behind the camera.

[Koray Savas]

How so?

[Quint]

The swirling helicopter shots, the sweaty desert heat, the style of the score. Scott trademarks.