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quote:Just like they'll know that you were responsible for the deaths of 157 colonists! Imagine a large corporation getting worked up about 157 deaths in 2019.
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Mar 19, 2019 15:48
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Tree Bucket posted:Is "in the pipe, five by five" some kind of actual pilot jargon, or is it just techno-gibberish? Not exactly, but it's easy to figure out what it means. As has already been pointed out, "five by five" refers to a signal strength. As far as the "pipe," big planes usually land using what it called "ILS," Instrument Landing System. In VERY brief terms there's a transmitter at the airport that broadcasts a signal to your plane. You have instruments on your panel that show you which directions to steer in to follow it down to the runway.  So, "In the pipe" - we're on the correct path down to where we're landing. "five by five" - we're getting a good signal to follow down.
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Mar 19, 2019 15:55
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Owlbear Camus posted:One of the most low-key sinister early Burke lines is when he immediately and nonchalantly drops that he reads Ripley's psych evals. No HIPAA in space I guess. In space no one can hear your case when you sue your therapist for violating confidentiality after you told him about recurring nightmares where you scream.
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Mar 19, 2019 15:59
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I think in evaluating the tactical choices of the Colonial Marines we must first start with staffing: Not deploying HERK MONDO with those fireteams was just foolish. Absolute buffoonery.
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Mar 19, 2019 16:16
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Tree Bucket posted:Is "in the pipe, five by five" some kind of actual pilot jargon, or is it just techno-gibberish? Ferro was just dropping some foreshadowing for that Bishop scene
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Mar 19, 2019 16:22
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Cessna posted:Imagine a large corporation getting worked up about 157 deaths in 2019. That’s the funny part, Cameron (and to a similar degree, O’Bannon/Schusett/Giler/Hill on the first movie) intended to portray an over-the top corporate amorality where allowing innocent people to suffer and die in the name of The Almighty Dollar would be shocking and unthinkable. Lol
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Mar 19, 2019 16:31
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Owlbear Camus posted:One of the most low-key sinister early Burke lines is when he immediately and nonchalantly drops that he reads Ripley's psych evals. No HIPAA in space I guess. TBF, HIPAA wasn't around whenever this was film (it was passed on 1996), but does make it better in retrospect. Burke is definitely a kind of a mansplainer and gaslighter who would calling women crazy for telling the truth.
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Mar 19, 2019 16:35
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LOL that we have surpassed the over-the-top social commentary of 80's sci fi. Detroit would be better off if there were an incredibly powerful multinational headquartered there with at least a modicum of interest in civic infrastructure.
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Mar 19, 2019 16:35
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I'm gonna sound like a massive nerd because I am one and I actually really like alien to death but gently caress it, this is how I wish the story should've progressed That they are a synthetic universal pathogen, a bio weapon developed to be a near perfect, utterly ruinous organism that natural selection alone could never produce. I like the idea that the Jockey's with unknowable intellect, in their hubris, created them and were driven to an extinction of their own design. And that millions of years later, we, the bumbling humans happened upon the terrible discovery, and in the same vanity as the Jockey's, foolishly thought we could control a wide-awake nightmare. Instead we got giant pale bodybuilders going around planting life like Johnny Appleseed Leaving things unexplained and letting the audience use their imaginations is best, I always wanted the the Jockey's to be some unknowable eldritch thing. Hell, in The Last Crusade I really didn't need to see how Indiana Jones got his fear of snakes. Bah  
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Mar 20, 2019 03:30
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Thanks for the In The Pipe answers, thread! ElectricSheep posted:Ferro was just dropping some foreshadowing for that Bishop scene Fun fact, the script originally called for the pilot to say "we're in the pipe, Ripley uses the power loader as mek armour"
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Mar 20, 2019 03:59
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I read Cold Forge on the recommendation of this thread. As far as established universe fiction goes it's absolutely outstanding, and I recommend it to anyone who needs an Alien fix and enjoys the medium of the written word. Also Space Station 13 just got a huge influx of new players because a popular Youtuber (and goon) made a video about it, so if you wanted to jump in when the bar for competency is especially low and everyone's feeling helpful, now's the time to be a colonial marine.
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Mar 20, 2019 04:18
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Glenn Quebec posted:Aliens is awesome. Now, Aliens based video games.... Not so much.  Aliens Online was one of the best video games of all time, and the first AvP game was also excellent.
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Mar 20, 2019 05:24
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Gorman is awful. Here, the mission will have you guys run through the atmospheric processor, wherein all pulse weaponry will have to be switched to flame units. He could've gone through this in the pre mission briefing but as people have mentioned, his inexperience and lack of command skills were detrimental to the overall mission. Not like it would've helped any.
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Mar 20, 2019 05:58
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Riatsala posted:I read Cold Forge on the recommendation of this thread. What is Space Station 13? Also I’m glad you liked Cold Forge! 
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Mar 20, 2019 05:59
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Just watched this again thanks to the thread. Can confirm it still owns. I really disliked the scene with Newt's family though, which I've only ever seen once before and didn't really remember. Even aside from the pacing issues and spoiling the mystery, it just wasn't a very good scene. Newt's screaming felt pretty fake throughout the entire movie but it was at its worst here.Ka0 posted:Gorman is awful. Here, the mission will have you guys run through the atmospheric processor, wherein all pulse weaponry will have to be switched to flame units. He could've gone through this in the pre mission briefing but as people have mentioned, his inexperience and lack of command skills were detrimental to the overall mission. Not like it would've helped any. At least he went out going back to save Vasquez. Didn't succeed, but it's the thought that counts. Redeemed himself just the same as Hudson.
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Mar 20, 2019 06:50
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If I recall correctly, James Cameron sent all the space marine actors to two weeks of boot camp together, so that they would build up the camaraderie and friendships and bond together. Except for the guy who played Gorman who didn't get to come, so that he would be seen as an outsider just like in the movie.
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Mar 20, 2019 08:58
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sebmojo posted:I would actually kind of dig an effortpost analysis of what the marines should have done, tactically speaking, if anyone is up for it. Not an effortpost, but the obvious answer doesnt need much effort tbh. Get out and return with flamers and shotguns for everyone.
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Mar 20, 2019 09:09
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I think you just have to accept it as a movie 'don't think too hard about this bit' as it is needed to make the movie work. Along with the 'let's leave the main ship empty and put our only pilots on a single airplane, oh and nobody will know we're in trouble for ages because Reasons' as it allows the entire last act with Bishop to take place.
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Mar 20, 2019 09:26
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Vargs posted:I really disliked the scene with Newt's family though, which I've only ever seen once before and didn't really remember. Even aside from the pacing issues and spoiling the mystery, it just wasn't a very good scene. Although that would have been a pretty hilarious way to troll the audience - the Marines show up and find out it actually is just a downed transmitter, cue 90 minutes of the Marines fraternizing with the colonists and generally goofing around before they return to Earth.
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Mar 20, 2019 10:30
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Xenomrph posted:To be fair, what "mystery"? Was there really any doubt that when Ripley and co. got to the colony, that they were going to encounter Aliens? It turns out WE were the aliens all along 
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Mar 20, 2019 11:08
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Xenomrph posted:To be fair, what "mystery"? Was there really any doubt that when Ripley and co. got to the colony, that they were going to encounter Aliens? More meta-ey it would have started the film with two consecutive jump scares which doesn't really leave you with anywhere to go up from. It also significantly changes the audience relationship with Newt. Splicer fucked around with this message at 12:27 on Mar 20, 2019 |
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Mar 20, 2019 12:15
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evobatman posted:If I recall correctly, James Cameron sent all the space marine actors to two weeks of boot camp together, so that they would build up the camaraderie and friendships and bond together. Michael Biehn (Hicks) certainly didn't go either, because he was a last-minute replacement (shooting had already started) for Hicks' original actor James Remar, who was caught being a dickhead and drugging himself up to the eyeballs on set. James Cameron fired Remar immediately, and having previously worked with Cameron on The Terminator, Biehn was an obvious solution; he received a phonecall and was on set over the weekend. This may have saved the movie from a really awkwardly-timed casting crisis and/or possible scene rewrites. It did lead to a few trivial oddities, but nothing that'll ruin the film for you. Hicks is the only combat marine who doesn't share their forename (or at least the first initial) with the actor portraying them (the other marine being Gorman, erroneously given the initial "S" -- possibly in part due to actor William Hope not going to boot camp -- yet he is called William in Aliens: Colonial Marines). Even Bishop has a shared initial with his actor:  (Sorry for the real lovely low-def image quality here but the last few names only show up during a crossfade AND I ripped this DVD years ago when HDD space was important). The locker also has the nametag "J. Hicks", despite him being named Dwayne. On another note, Hicks' combat armour was also personalised by Remar, the design of which being something that Biehn didn't particularly care for.
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Mar 20, 2019 12:34
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Xenomrph posted:To be fair, what "mystery"? Was there really any doubt that when Ripley and co. got to the colony, that they were going to encounter Aliens? Directed by Rian Johnson.
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Mar 20, 2019 13:42
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Shut up Meg posted:I think you just have to accept it as a movie 'don't think too hard about this bit' as it is needed to make the movie work. I think that is one of the more realistic parts of the movie. Send'em out there on a half empty boat, no planning, no reinforcements, no promise of juicy colonist's daughters. ColonialMarineCorps.txt Think about the first movie. Through a combination of paranoid secrecy and cheapness, W-Y send a bunch of unarmed space truckers towing an absurdly expensive mining platform as the recon team. Guess they didn't plan on the refinery being as disposable as the crew.
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Mar 20, 2019 14:26
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madeintaipei posted:I think that is one of the more realistic parts of the movie. Send'em out there on a half empty boat, no planning, no reinforcements, no promise of juicy colonist's daughters. ColonialMarineCorps.txt I'm guessing some W-Y executive probably got fired for that.
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Mar 20, 2019 14:36
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madeintaipei posted:I think that is one of the more realistic parts of the movie. Send'em out there on a half empty boat, no planning, no reinforcements, no promise of juicy colonist's daughters. ColonialMarineCorps.txt In the technical manual they mention a restructuring program called Marine 70 that allowed the colonial marines to send out platoons for little low-effort missions (like this is supposed to be) where they used to have to send companies. Although I think in Aliens: Colonial Marines it's revealed that there were more marines frozen on the Sulaco, and I think technically that's supposed to be canon? I might be making that up though, I scrubbed that game from my brain pretty hard.
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Mar 20, 2019 15:23
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Beet Wagon posted:In the technical manual they mention a restructuring program called Marine 70 that allowed the colonial marines to send out platoons for little low-effort missions (like this is supposed to be) where they used to have to send companies. Although I think in Aliens: Colonial Marines it's revealed that there were more marines frozen on the Sulaco, and I think technically that's supposed to be canon? I might be making that up though, I scrubbed that game from my brain pretty hard. Unfortunately I played the game and no, that wasn't the case. All the not-movie marines came from the second ship your player arrives on. Some EU folks interpreted the disastrous outing in the film as a portrayal of how lovely and ramshackle governments had become in comparison to corporations. Businesses like WY were at the forefront of space exploration and effectively monopolized it, becoming gloriously wealthy/powerful while the political offices of Earth languished in the lovely Bladerunner-style future dystopia. By the time Aliens is happening, Earth governments have been largely-supplanted by mega-conglomerates who possess territories and GDP's magnitudes larger than the authorities who "govern" them. So now you have an "investigation" conducted by a skeleton crew of poorly-trained, poorly-disciplined troops who weren't good enough to get picked up by higher-paying private securities (and who might actually be convicts pressed into service), packing equipment made by the lowest bidder using leftover scrap from Vietnam, crammed into what is likely the only valuable asset of the trip, a massive troop transport clearly made for missions it's no longer being used for. And despite being government property, it's all being directed by the Company. Also depending on how much information you believe Burke had about what was actually happening at the colony prior to the trip, the decision to send only a dozen marines with little-to-no integrity may have been deliberate.
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Mar 20, 2019 16:03
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Since it was brought up one of my "favorite" parts of Aliens: CM is how they bring back Hicks from cryosleep and go on to set up that the guy who was impaled crash landing on Fiorina "Fury" 161 was actually some other dude who fell into his cryopod on accident like Phillip J. Fry. lol
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Mar 20, 2019 16:13
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IIRC about the technical manual, the Sulaco could carry more troops, but, yeah, what we see is what they have. Also, I recall the Sulaco itself had a reputation of being an unlucky ship. Like complete crew loss but the ship returned home type of unlucky.
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Mar 20, 2019 16:17
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In the directors commentary Cameron literally apologizes to the USMC and said if he had it to do over again he would have made the characters regular army and potentially conscripts, not Marines and he regretted the slight against the noble Marine Corps. (lol)
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Mar 20, 2019 16:20
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Owlbear Camus posted:Since it was brought up one of my "favorite" parts of Aliens: CM is how they bring back Hicks from cryosleep and go on to set up that the guy who was impaled crash landing on Fiorina "Fury" 161 was actually some other dude who fell into his cryopod on accident like Phillip J. Fry. lol I'll take that over his ignoble death.
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Mar 20, 2019 16:34
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Owlbear Camus posted:Since it was brought up one of my "favorite" parts of Aliens: CM is how they bring back Hicks from cryosleep and go on to set up that the guy who was impaled crash landing on Fiorina "Fury" 161 was actually some other dude who fell into his cryopod on accident like Phillip J. Fry. lol Randy Pitchford quality writing, slightly worse than Alien Ressurection. Fits the Poochie trope: writers thought they could come up with something better later.
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Mar 20, 2019 16:37
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ChickenHeart posted:Unfortunately I played the game and no, that wasn't the case. All the not-movie marines came from the second ship your player arrives on. Ah okay, I was misremembering the 'Stasis Interrupted' DLC thing. I just looked over the plot and yeah, there's nobody else. The rest of that fits with the idea that the Colonial Marines are stretched thin and reorganize to a more adaptable force that can afford to send smaller units to put out small fires. Young Freud posted:IIRC about the technical manual, the Sulaco could carry more troops, but, yeah, what we see is what they have. That's right. Conestoga class troop carriers have beds for 90 but can have their cargo bays swapped out with more beds (up to 2000) and the technical manual contains a bunch of flavor text about how the Sulaco itself is notoriously unlucky.
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Mar 20, 2019 17:00
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I always thought they should've kept Drake alive longer, and had him, doing the grenade suicide with Vasquez rather than Gorman. Mark Rolston, and Jenette Goldstein did an amazing job building chemistry between their characters. I love the way they seem to have a deeper bond with each other than the rest of the marines.
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Mar 20, 2019 17:05
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Owlbear Camus posted:In the directors commentary Cameron literally apologizes to the USMC and said if he had it to do over again he would have made the characters regular army and potentially conscripts, not Marines and he regretted the slight against the noble Marine Corps. Wasn't it marines who bitched so much about being lumped in with mere soldiers that the term "warfighter" was coined?
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Mar 20, 2019 18:06
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Owlbear Camus posted:In the directors commentary Cameron literally apologizes to the USMC and said if he had it to do over again he would have made the characters regular army and potentially conscripts, not Marines and he regretted the slight against the noble Marine Corps. Why? It's a surprisingly accurate portrayal. Not the "getting killed by acid-blooded monsters part, but the general vibe of the USMC.
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Mar 20, 2019 18:13
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Xenomrph posted:What is Space Station 13? It was great, Dorian was one of the better literary villains I've seen in a long time. I might have liked him more because he spoke to the angry anti-capitalist within me that thinks all executives are psychopaths, but yeah, great stuff. I'm trying to describe Space Station 13, but words are failing me, so I'm going to steal the description from the SA topic (very appropriately named "There's a fire and a flood and I'm covered in blood'") Space Station 13 is a top down 2D multiplayer spaceman game, running on BYOND. It features an overwhelming amount of depth and complexity beneath simplistic cartoon graphics. It is a melting pot of ideas and genres, has tons of replayability, and generates fantastic and often hilarious stories. The game centres around a research station, owned by a giant corporation known as NanoTrasen somewhere off in deep space. The game functions in rounds, and at the beginning of each round every player picks a job as a crew member on the station. These vary from anything to an Engineer, Scientist or Medical Doctor, down to the lower responsibility roles such as Janitor and Assistant. The gist is to perform your role and help keep the station running in a tidy and ordered fashion, which you'll quickly find to be impossible. When the crew aren't turning on each other through sheer paranoia, they will also face various kinds of danger depending on the round: Sleeper Agents hell bent on sabotage, Soul-Sucking Aliens, RPG toting Syndicate Operatives and more. Not to mention the occupational hazards of working in space: Meteor showers, Radiation storms, Airlock mishaps and Catastrophic engine failure. These dangers have their toll, and can usually result in the death of everyone on board; or for those that survive long enough, a death defying run for the escape shuttle. So it's a chaos simulator and video game story generator of the highest order. It's a relatively straight forward space station role playing game that inevitably devolves into hilariously creative shenanigans, often with deadly results. Take the kingdom of Cargotopia, a former cargo bay that declared independence from the station and subdued the station security that attempted to intervene by creating a heavily lubricated slip and slide trap that lead right into an endless circular conveyor belt surrounded by hacked vending machines that repeatedly pelted and concussed the endlessly prat-falling officers with cans of soda. Or the Engineers who modified an air cannon to launch hallucinogenic drug-laced donuts directly into the mouths of unsuspecting station employees under the guise of "free donut day" Or the crazed roboticist who kidnapped naive assistants, surgically removed their butts, and created rolling butt robots that screamed and farted ceaselessly as they chased staff around with their tazer batons. The list goes on and on. To bring it all back around, Space Station 13 Colonial Marines is a modified SS13 server where all (200+) players are either Xenomorphs that have infested a human colony or the hapless Marines and support staff that arrive to investigate it. As you can imagine it's a bit more combat heavy than most servers, but also happens to be a great Colonial Marines simulator as you get dragged off, impregnated, and chest burst by hungry aliens that lurk in the shadows of a doomed planet or space station. Comes complete with all the Aliens trappings, including pulse rifles, smart guns, drop ships, incompetent lieutenants and all the dripping, resinous caves you could ever want. And right now there's a huge influx of new players, so you won't stand out at all for not knowing the controls or killing 5 of your squadmates with a mis-handled grenade.
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Mar 20, 2019 18:53
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Ginette Reno posted:Yeah mystery is good. The more you explain something, the less scary it is. I'd rather speculate on whether the Alien is a bioweapon or a natural organism. Fun to imagine. And that goes double for the Derelict. I re-watched the first movie the other day and honestly the best part of the film in some ways was the utter creepiness of them exploring the shipwreck, finding this massive creepy corpse, and then the eggs. The atmosphere of it is amazing, the sense of threatening mystery, like no humans had ever been around any of this at all, the unknown the unknown the unknown... lol at WELL ACTUALLY ALL OF THIS HAS A RATHER NICE EXPLANATION
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Mar 22, 2019 13:17
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That's one thing that I hate about prequels. Their entire existence is to tell people how the original movie came to be instead of just letting it be as it is.
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Mar 22, 2019 17:33
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Pennywise the Frown posted:That's one thing that I hate about prequels. Their entire existence is to tell people how the original movie came to be instead of just letting it be as it is. I would have gladly watched movies about engineers doing crazy sci-fi poo poo with aliens as a tertiary thing. What I don't want to watch is Michael fassbender looking like a rentboy playing a recorder to himself with heavy sexual undertones.
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Mar 22, 2019 17:37
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