What Is The Last Film You Watched?

[A24 4,326]

Sometimes studio interveniance is a good thing. Remember, Ridley Scott wanted the Xenomorph to talk English at the end of Alien.

[Quintus 5,399]

I think the conversation with the wife is an effective and worthwhile addition.

I always forget how much I love that movie.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,489]

Sometimes studio interveniance is a good thing. Remember, Ridley Scott wanted the Xenomorph to talk English at the end of Alien.

He WHAT??!! How bollocksy is that?! What on earth would it say: "Nice Knickers, Rip"?

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Sometimes studio interveniance is a good thing. Remember, Ridley Scott wanted the Xenomorph to talk English at the end of Alien.

He WHAT??!! How bollocksy is that?! What on earth would it say: "Nice Knickers, Rip"?

It would have talked in Sigourney's voice to say everything is okay and she is returning home. After killing Ripley, that is.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,489]

Sometimes studio interveniance is a good thing. Remember, Ridley Scott wanted the Xenomorph to talk English at the end of Alien.

He WHAT??!! How bollocksy is that?! What on earth would it say: "Nice Knickers, Rip"?

It would have talked in Sigourney's voice to say everything is okay and she is returning home. After killing Ripley, that is.

Well, I'm glad that didn't happen, but I can now see where the makers of "Alien3" got the idea from.

[Quintus 5,399]

Wolfie's just fine, honey.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I just remember the whole scene with him calling his wife was pointless and then I went online and read it was never part of the original movie, and I was like ahhhhhh makes sense.

Why is it pointless?

because it was added to make the movie a 90 minute feature lenght film. Europe gets no credit for recognizing Spielberg's talent. The movie was an ABC Tuesday night movie of the week shot in 13 days, and shot for television not for theatrical release. You can clearly see the camera and filmmakers in the glass. 2 extra days were given to stretch the film, not to it's betterment.

[King Mark 3,624]

Sometimes studio interveniance is a good thing. Remember, Ridley Scott wanted the Xenomorph to talk English at the end of Alien.

He WHAT??!! How bollocksy is that?! What on earth would it say: "Nice Knickers, Rip"?

It would have talked in Sigourney's voice to say everything is okay and she is returning home. After killing Ripley, that is.

That would have been kind of creepy. If it's the only ending we'd have known maybe we'd think it's genius now

[A24 4,326]

Europe gets no credit for recognizing Spielberg's talent.

Europe's actions speak louder than Joey's words. Europe wasn't snobby about Duel being a TV movie and had no problems with putting it in theaters next to movies like The French Connection, Harold And Maude and A Clockwork Orange.

That would have been kind of creepy. If it's the only ending we'd have known maybe we'd think it's genius now

I think it might've been as bad as making an alien take an elevator to the upper floor. I don't know but I never liked the idea of an alien pushing buttons and operating human machines. And I'm not even contemplating the idea of an alien understanding and speaking 'English'. Yikes!

Alex

[Quintus 5,399]

Sometimes studio interveniance is a good thing. Remember, Ridley Scott wanted the Xenomorph to talk English at the end of Alien.

He WHAT??!! How bollocksy is that?! What on earth would it say: "Nice Knickers, Rip"?

It would have talked in Sigourney's voice to say everything is okay and she is returning home. After killing Ripley, that is.

That would have been kind of creepy. If it's the only ending we'd have known maybe we'd think it's genius now

Gives a whole new meaning to the line in the sequel: "hey whadda we supposed to use man, harsh language?"

[Marian Schedenig 8,158]

That would have been kind of creepy. If it's the only ending we'd have known maybe we'd think it's genius now

I think it might've been as bad as making an alien take an elevator to the upper floor. I don't know but I never liked the idea of an alien pushing buttons and operating human machines. And I'm not even contemplating the idea of an alien understanding and speaking 'English'. Yikes!

That original ending may seem odd from today's perspective, with all the sequels and how they extended (and at times, twisted/mutilated) the concept of the alien. But it fits right in with how the alien's adaptability is portrayed in the first film. I think it's not a bad ending, actually.

[A24 4,326]

That original ending may seem odd from today's perspective, with all the sequels and how they extended (and at times, twisted/mutilated) the concept of the alien. But it fits right in with how the alien's adaptability is portrayed in the first film. I think it's not a bad ending, actually.

It would've felt out of place in 1979 too. The first film created a mysterious, otherworldly beast, something we cannot begin to comprehend. Alien did away with how we generally perceived aliens. Alien made us realize that we no longer were in Star Trek land. Then, in Aliens, we saw them being slaughtered as dumb insects and we saw it taking the elevator. To me this felt like something the alien of the first movie would never do. The action is too human. Pushing buttons, picking up the phone and speaking English, wearing a hat and drinking milkshake belongs into the same category. The Xenomorph does not phone Earth to say it's coming. Sorry!

Alex

[Naïve Old Fart 9,489]

That original ending may seem odd from today's perspective, with all the sequels and how they extended (and at times, twisted/mutilated) the concept of the alien. But it fits right in with how the alien's adaptability is portrayed in the first film. I think it's not a bad ending, actually.

It would've felt out of place in 1979 too. The first film created a mysterious, otherworldly beast, something we cannot begin to comprehend. Alien did away with how we generally perceived aliens. Alien made us realize that we no longer were in Star Trek land. Then, in Aliens, we saw them being slaughtered as dumb insects and we saw it taking the elevator. To me this felt like something the alien of the first movie would never do. The action is too human. Pushing buttons, picking up the phone and speaking English, wearing a hat and drinking milkshake belongs into the same category. The Xenomorph does not phone Earth to say it's coming. Sorry!

Alex

The Predator might have. Anyway, who suggested this ending, and where is it documented?

[A24 4,326]

From Wiki: Scott had wanted the Alien to bite off Ripley's head and then make the final log entry in her voice, but the producers vetoed this idea as they believed that the Alien had to die at the end of the film.(48)

I actually like the idea that the whole crew of the Nostromo, including Ripley, is dead at the end of the movie. That's pretty dark! But please, no log entries, no voice, no English, no milkshakes.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,489]

From Wiki: Scott had wanted the Alien to bite off Ripley's head and then make the final log entry in her voice, but the producers vetoed this idea as they believed that the Alien had to die at the end of the film.(48)

I actually like the idea that the whole crew of the Nostromo, including Ripley, is dead at the end of the movie. That's pretty dark! But please, no log entries, no voice, no English, no milkshakes.

"Can she have a puppy?" - Joss Whedon.

[Marian Schedenig 8,158]

It would've felt out of place in 1979 too. The first film created a mysterious, otherworldly beast, something we cannot begin to comprehend. Alien did away with how we generally perceived aliens. Alien made us realize that we no longer were in Star Trek land. Then, in Aliens, we saw them being slaughtered as dumb insects and we saw it taking the elevator. To me this felt like something the alien of the first movie would never do. The action is too human. Pushing buttons, picking up the phone and speaking English, wearing a hat and drinking milkshake belongs into the same category. The Xenomorph does not phone Earth to say it's coming. Sorry!

The first movie revolves around a strange alien organism which, once it's born out of a human host, grows and becomes more human-like (something that applies to neither the facehugger nor the skeleton on the alien ship) throughout the film. It clearly adapts at least some properties of its host, and that's a considerable part of what makes it scary. If it mimics the overall shape of a human, copying its voice and language seems a logical next step of evolution - and it certainly builds directly on what's so worrying about it.

[A24 4,326]

There's a difference of taking over familiar body shapes of the original host and talking English. Looking at his the creature's head, mouth and jaws, it's most likely to be scientifically impossible too. The alien being able to adapt to its environment or situation means it's able to survive. It doesn't include becoming human, speaking English or driving a car. But it's especially a bad idea from a dramatic point of view. The less human it is, the more mysterious and indefinable it is. The first movie was based on the concept and power of the 'unknown'.

[Wojo 2,453]

Adapting to the environment and situations are two different things.

Years before Nostromo reached the moon, the xenomorphs evolved (or were bred to) combine with a host to create an adult alien. In the meantime, the facehuggers (the males of the relationship) sit in stasis inside the eggs. When a potential host happens by (Kane), the facehugger hatches and forcefully rapes the host, then dies. The host is now the "female" of the relationship, because its DNA combines with the xenomorph larva to form a baby, which is born violently, killing mommy.

This orphaned baby has all of the qualities it needs to survive in the environment of the host, its prey. It can tolerate the atmosphere, it has two legs, two arms, and looks vaguely like its host. As a xenomorph, it has acidic blood, impervious exoskeleton, a tail as a weapon, lethal cunning, and instinct. It acts on instinct to kill everyone aboard the ship.

Does it adapt to do so? No, it reacts to the situation. It can move in the ductwork between decks to move swiftly and silently. We don't see if it will eat its prey or develop the ability to asexually reproduce to produce more facehuggers, because Ripley expels it into space. If it survives the vacuum, radiation, and lack of nutrition in deep space is left a mystery, and the audience is content to believe it dies, as Ripley and Jones survive at movie's end.

The xenomorph species does not adapt. Adaptation means that a parent's genetic traits are passed on to the children via natural selection. The xenomorph facehuggers will require a host to guide their adult qualities. Even though we see a queen -- in obvious albeit colossal human-xenomorph combination -- in Aliens, its progeny are still facehuggers, and would make goldfish-xenomorph aliens if they mated with goldfish.

Speech? That's a mix of genetics and behavior. The animal has to have the mouth or some other mechanism to form the words or sounds, like a human speaking, a chimpanzee making monkey sounds, or a dolphin clicking. It also has to have the behavior to do so; these animals gain something by communicating.

I still don't know how the mouth-within-a-mouth of a xenomorph works, but while it looks human-like thanks to Kane, it doesn't look like it could speak. Why would it? It's not on a mission to kill humans by learning human culture and read our computers to open doors. It's a hunter. To suggest that the Alien will pick up English after only a few hours of hunting humans, when your dog or a chimpanzee cannot, is ludicrous.

[A24 4,326]

It's no secret that fans of Ridley's talking alien are also fan of:

Mommy ... sssssshhhh .... mommy

[Charlie Brigden 7]

It's no secret that fans of Ridley's talking alien are also fan of:

Mommy ... sssssshhhh .... mommy

I hate, hate, hate that film. Awful, awful crap-o-rama.

[Quintus 5,399]

It is crap, but strangely watchable. It's got quite a fruity cast of characters, I think that's it.

[A24 4,326]

It's probably "watchable" if one can emotionally detach himself from the first movie(s). But that scene is so horrendous!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,489]

It would've felt out of place in 1979 too. The first film created a mysterious, otherworldly beast, something we cannot begin to comprehend. Alien did away with how we generally perceived aliens. Alien made us realize that we no longer were in Star Trek land. Then, in Aliens, we saw them being slaughtered as dumb insects and we saw it taking the elevator. To me this felt like something the alien of the first movie would never do. The action is too human. Pushing buttons, picking up the phone and speaking English, wearing a hat and drinking milkshake belongs into the same category. The Xenomorph does not phone Earth to say it's coming. Sorry!

The first movie revolves around a strange alien organism which, once it's born out of a human host, grows and becomes more human-like (something that applies to neither the facehugger nor the skeleton on the alien ship) throughout the film. It clearly adapts at least some properties of its host, and that's a considerable part of what makes it scary. If it mimics the overall shape of a human, copying its voice and language seems a logical next step of evolution - and it certainly builds directly on what's so worrying about it.

For me, that is what makes "The Thing" so very scary: that one cannot tell The Thing from a human being.

It is crap, but strangely watchable. It's got quite a fruity cast of characters, I think that's it.

It's easy to see where Whedon got his inspiration for "Firefly" from (well, it certainly wasn't from "Toy Story"!).

Earth, man: what a shit-hole.

[Quintus 5,399]

Lines like that one get me through Alien 4.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,489]

Yeah, I get that a lot.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Is that the one with Winona Ryder and the short hair cut? Why Winona, why?

[Quintus 5,399]

She had short hair for most of her young career, though.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Too short in Alien. It was boyish. Gah. Overall I did not find her attractive there, strange considering she's one of my biggest crushes. Alien 4 made her unattractive...

[Quintus 5,399]

Her hair never takes away from the fact that she's a beautiful woman.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

She didn't look very good physically. The hair sucked and she looked too thin. Her character was also annoying.

[Quintus 5,399]

Crimson Tide again.

Still a cracking good thriller, very entertaining. I love Gene Hackman, wish he'd make a comeback. James Gandolfini's OTT performance is somewhat cringy though.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

That original ending may seem odd from today's perspective, with all the sequels and how they extended (and at times, twisted/mutilated) the concept of the alien. But it fits right in with how the alien's adaptability is portrayed in the first film. I think it's not a bad ending, actually.

It would've felt out of place in 1979 too. The first film created a mysterious, otherworldly beast, something we cannot begin to comprehend. Alien did away with how we generally perceived aliens. Alien made us realize that we no longer were in Star Trek land. Then, in Aliens, we saw them being slaughtered as dumb insects and we saw it taking the elevator. To me this felt like something the alien of the first movie would never do. The action is too human. Pushing buttons, picking up the phone and speaking English, wearing a hat and drinking milkshake belongs into the same category. The Xenomorph does not phone Earth to say it's coming. Sorry!

Alex

you obviously don't even see the flaw in your comments. The Alien in Alien had to manipulate buttons as it got in the shuttle at the end. It is the same as taking the elevator.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I never imagined the alien in the first movie pressing buttons or taking any kind of intended entryway into the shuttle. I imagined it just sort of crawled in somehow behind the scenes in passageways/jefferies tubes, like it was doing throughout the ship.

[King Mark 3,624]

You don't exactly know what it is in Alien. It could be intelligent. In Aliens they are more like insects

[indy4 155]

I saw Salt. What a horrible patchwork of cliche and predictable film sequences. Usually I can at least enjoy the ride--here I was just bored. And if The Last Airbender showed us the wonders a Zimmer-influenced JNH can create, Salt showed us the horrors. The score was just as generic as the worst RC Zimmer clone's work.

[A24 4,326]

It would've felt out of place in 1979 too. The first film created a mysterious, otherworldly beast, something we cannot begin to comprehend. Alien did away with how we generally perceived aliens. Alien made us realize that we no longer were in Star Trek land. Then, in Aliens, we saw them being slaughtered as dumb insects and we saw it taking the elevator. To me this felt like something the alien of the first movie would never do. The action is too human. Pushing buttons, picking up the phone and speaking English, wearing a hat and drinking milkshake belongs into the same category. The Xenomorph does not phone Earth to say it's coming. Sorry!

you obviously don't even see the flaw in your comments. The Alien in Alien had to manipulate buttons as it got in the shuttle at the end. It is the same as taking the elevator.

So cute, Joey. The thing is Ridley keeps it concealed. We don't know how it got there because WE NEVER SAW how it got there. You think it pushed buttons but I surely don't.

Her character was also annoying.

All the characters of Resurrection were annoying. Jeunet only made one good movie. It's called Amélie. It's a nice film to have on Blu-ray, I think.

Reservation Road: Phoenix gave his best but the film and direction were TV-movie-ish.

Alex

[Marian Schedenig 8,158]

Jeunet only made one good movie. It's called Amélie. It's a nice film to have on Blu-ray, I think.

Delicatessen?

La cité des enfants perdus?

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I enjoy The City of Lost Children, but I don't like Amelie at all and have never really made it through the whole thing. His style is interesting, but it was absolutely the wrong choice for an alien movie.

[A24 4,326]

Jeunet only made one good movie. It's called Amélie. It's a nice film to have on Blu-ray, I think.

Delicatessen?

La cité des enfants perdus?

Un Long Dimanche De Fiançailles?

His style is interesting, but it was absolutely the wrong choice for an alien movie.

But why is it wrong? And does that mean the script and dialogue were not to blame?

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Jeunet only made one good movie. It's called Amélie. It's a nice film to have on Blu-ray, I think.

Delicatessen?

La cité des enfants perdus?

Un Long Dimanche De Fiançailles?

His style is interesting, but it was absolutely the wrong choice for an alien movie.

But why is it wrong? And does that mean the script and dialogue were not to blame?

Because a quirky near-parodic tone does not fit a film starring what's supposed to be the scariest thing in the universe. At least not when it's made and conceived that badly. Yes, the script and dialogue were also to blame as Joss Whedon's screenplay was terrible.

[A24 4,326]

The script of Resurrection was by Joss Whedon? GTFOOH!

[Marian Schedenig 8,158]

Un Long Dimanche De Fiançailles?

I haven't seen that.

[A24 4,326]

Anyway, Amélie is his best film because it's his most mature, less juvenile, best scripted, strongest, most restrained work. This is the film that people will remember him by. If Jeunet should die this year, news shows from all over the world will illustrate his work by showing a clip of Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain. His other movies tend to be 'overcooked', depending a little too much on style and Gilliamesque zaniness.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Anyway, Amélie is his best film because it's his most mature, less juvenile, best scripted, strongest, most restrained work. This is the film that people will remember him by. If Jeunet should die this year, news shows from all over the world will illustrate his work by showing a clip of Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain. His other movies tend to be 'overcooked', depending a little too much on style and Gilliamesque zaniness.

If he dies, he may get a clip on a French news show. May.

[Marian Schedenig 8,158]

Anyway, Amélie is his best film because it's his most mature, less juvenile, best scripted, strongest, most restrained work. This is the film that people will remember him by. If Jeunet should die this year, news shows from all over the world will illustrate his work by showing a clip of Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain. His other movies tend to be 'overcooked', depending a little too much on style and Gilliamesque zaniness.

Possibly. I'd still call the films I've cited "good films" though - as far as I recall, it's been a long time since I've seen them. And I actually like his Alien, too. As far as Alien films go, much of it is lousy, and it certainly doesn't stand up to the first three, or Jeunet's "own" films. But for a dumb action/horror/popcorn movie, it's more enjoyable than many others.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

It would've felt out of place in 1979 too. The first film created a mysterious, otherworldly beast, something we cannot begin to comprehend. Alien did away with how we generally perceived aliens. Alien made us realize that we no longer were in Star Trek land. Then, in Aliens, we saw them being slaughtered as dumb insects and we saw it taking the elevator. To me this felt like something the alien of the first movie would never do. The action is too human. Pushing buttons, picking up the phone and speaking English, wearing a hat and drinking milkshake belongs into the same category. The Xenomorph does not phone Earth to say it's coming. Sorry!

you obviously don't even see the flaw in your comments. The Alien in Alien had to manipulate buttons as it got in the shuttle at the end. It is the same as taking the elevator.

So cute, Joey. The thing is Ridley keeps it concealed. We don't know how it got there because WE NEVER SAW how it got there. You think it pushed buttons but I surely don't.

Her character was also annoying.

All the characters of Resurrection were annoying. Jeunet only made one good movie. It's called Amélie. It's a nice film to have on Blu-ray, I think.

Reservation Road: Phoenix gave his best but the film and direction were TV-movie-ish.

Alex

sure Alex it magically appeared in there. The Aliens are clearly intelligent, how much? Don't know since it's a fiction. Ridley didn't show it probably because he's not the best director in the world, probably didn't have the budget to film it, and for time sake he didn't need to show it.

[Brónach 1,301]

The alien in the first one is very mysterious and I like that. The aliens in the second one solve part the mystery about it but not all, they're more down to Earth (if that makes sense) and I like that too.

And they always seem to have some kind of intelligence, which makes those things more scary.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

As much as I love the film, I dislike the way Cameron dumbed down the aliens into your average insect society. They were cool monsters in that movie, but had little of the sheer power of the first.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Aliens was a dumb action movie. A far cry from the original. The problem is that it IS a sequel, so it'll naturally be judged against the first no matter what its deal is. I get that Cameron & co. did their own thing with Aliens. But in my mind, it did indeed dumb down the aliens and make them less interesting overall. The first alien is one of the greatest movie monsters/villains ever. Now look at Aliens. Really? I didn't even like that there were a bunch of them in that one. I prefer every aspect of the original. Pay the sequels little mind. Though I'll watch Aliens if it's on because of the marine characters. They are fairly memorable and hilarious in the case of Paxton.

[A24 4,326]

I always say, stupider aliens for a stupider audience. OTOH, one might also say Cameron was smart enough to change the sequel into a different kind of movie. There's no need to repeat the original movie. David Fincher never quite understood that.

Alex