Thinking About Aliens (the movie): You have to admire its purrity

The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Thinking About Aliens (the movie): You have to admire its purrity

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Parkingtigers posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntKLXqvrd8Q

Okay, I still hate boosting AI art stuff, but this slideshow of Aliens as an �80s anime is once again super relevant to this thread�s interests.

Not sure how I feel about kawaii Vasquez.

This makes me want an Aliens / EDF style game.

# ¿ May 30, 2023 02:35

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 09:02

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

HiroProtagonist posted:

i am sad i saw this so now you have to be too

I picked a weird time to cruise back into this thread :catstare:

# ¿ Aug 28, 2023 14:17

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

edogawa rando posted:

He also talks about the suit Tom Cruise wears in the film - it's tailored, but not in Europe, but rather, somewhere like Thailand. When he got the script, he imagined Vincent living near or in the vicinity of a Buddhist monastery, where he'd be left alone and be able to live quietly.

I always thought there was something unique about the suit, but that actually makes a shitload of sense. In retrospect its very obviously a Hong Kong suit. ( :lol:

I wonder if the suit from Burn Notice was modeled on the same thing)

Also I'm watching Terminator Dark Fate on the recommendation of this thread (maybe 400 posts back :doh:

) and its surprisingly good.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2023 04:31

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

redshirt posted:

I doubt that. But what about different species? Is a Xeno from a human the same as from a monkey, or a dog?

Pennywise the Frown posted:

No, in fact!

The xeno in Alien 3 was different because it came from either a dog or a water buffalo or whatever depending on which version you watch. Ripley says she's never seen one like this before because of the way it moves. Also, the cute whippet dog costume that they didn't use.

edit: this little fella

this gets weird in the comic books

# ¿ Oct 3, 2023 23:45

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Ya know what was surprisingly good? Prey. I only watched it recently and expected nothing ( :350:

) but I was pleasantly surprised. I�d watch more predator historical stuff

# ¿ Oct 9, 2023 00:26

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Android Apocalypse posted:

If we're going to nitpick the weapons of Aliens even as a kid I recognized that a pulse rifle holding about 100 rounds in a magazine that size was kinda ludicrous.

You can see a 10mm round near the middle. You're not jamming 100 of those in a magazine as seen in the film. Also it should be noted that the bullets in that pic are handgun rounds (the 5.56 at the far right is a rifle round) so in essence the M41A pulse rifle is actually just a sub-machinegun.

Really more of a carbine IMO - something rifle sized firing pistol ammo with the appreciable uptick in muzzle velocity from the longer barrel

Also

MrMojok posted:

This post and the following discussion reminds me of something I saw on Facebook last night (which was probably written by one of you):

IIRC modern nuclear power plants are effectively immune to terrorist attacks, because the amount of explosives it would take to effectively damage one is nonsensical

# ¿ Oct 21, 2023 16:58

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Has anyone used a katana against a Predator before? because thats 10000000% happening :getin:

Probably an epic cameo from Hiroyuki Sanada

# ¿ Dec 9, 2023 03:10

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

zenguitarman posted:

Actually the best scene in the Adrien Brody flick.

Azubah posted:

We got that in Predators

well poo poo I guess I gotta watch that

# ¿ Dec 9, 2023 03:13

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Ok i'm watching Predators now :stare:

katana stand was bad rear end. is that the first time a human has killed a predator in physical combat?

this movie deserves to be revisited. it came out in that nadir of sequels where they had to speedrun every plot point from the first movie. If you have never seen a predator movie before, this movie may as well be in latin. Otherwise the action is good, the effects are good, but the aforementioned issues mean the pacing/weight is loving terrible.

Maybe its Adrian Brody, but I kinda want to see Wes Anderson remake this movie. Weirdly i think he could make it work

# ¿ Dec 9, 2023 05:22

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Xenomrph posted:

Yeah it burns through his helmet; you can hear the sizzle when it hits the helmet and then you can see the aftermath when they cut the helmet off of him.

I read the Alien novelization long, long, long before I ever saw the movie, and in the book Kane's last thoughts are basically 'oh god, its burning through the helmet'

# ¿ Dec 15, 2023 02:29

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

G is for Game Over, Man

# ¿ Dec 29, 2023 14:39

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

The Xenomorph who bled on my rug, I can't go give it a bill so what the gently caress are you talking about?

# ¿ Jan 7, 2024 15:45

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

SidneyIsTheKiller posted:

t one of the biggest is that its whole concept was just killer, the kind you hear and it puts a big grin on your face and makes you say "oh, I gotta see THAT."

that is my experience with Aliens actually. My buddy in 3rd grade got to see it with his dad in the theatre and he literally explained the entire movie to me. When he was describing Ripley going down "into this big bowl chamber, and she duct-tapes her flame thrower to the machine gun with the grenade launcher " it literally blew my mind. I was instantly hooked on all things Aliens, although I didn't see the actual Aliens movie until a decade later.

it also got me to read the Alien novelization, which is a p. decent sci-fi horror story

# ¿ Jan 30, 2024 04:22

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Cessna posted:

GW had you covered:

I would watch the everloving poo poo out of a Space Hulk movie made by James Cameron

MrMojok posted:

Prey director is directing a new, standalone Predator film called Badlands

https://deadline.com/2024/02/dan-trachtenberg-predator-movie-badlands-1235820417/amp/

YES! YES! YES!

I didnt know that I desperately needed to see cowboys fight Predators until right now

# ¿ Feb 9, 2024 22:13

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Owlbear Camus posted:

you will want to look at this guys scale model APC, as he was thinking about aliens on a level we cannot even comprehend:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/594532837265674/posts/7519695934749295/

this is impressive as gently caress

dude must be working on a coffee table sized dropship

# ¿ Feb 18, 2024 02:58

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

IIRC they used jets of nitrogen to torture Xenos in Aliens Resurrection.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2024 20:09

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

ImpAtom posted:

I just loathe how humancentric it became.

Alien 1-3 are humans encountering these ancient uncaring creatures who have nothing to do with us and view us just as breeding stock.

Prometheus and Resurrection tie them indelibly directly to humanity. They become less alien. Not as bad as 'David explicitly created them' Alien but thr more Alien becomes about humanity the more it loses to me.

Alien 1-3 were awesome because it was humans stumbling across some wildly ancient bio weapon; the remnants of a war fought a kerjillion years ago that is both unknowable and unstoppable, all in a weird cyberpunk-ish dystopia. Even the evolution of the movies makes sense - a singular Xeno is introduced in Alien, and a lot of the audience is left thinking "well, if I had a shotgun :clint:

" then Aliens happens, and its proven that shotguns will not save you. Then Alien 3 shows a return to form - they know exactly what they're fighting, and how to fight it, but even knowledge and preparation aren't enough. Resurrection follows the return theme, revisiting Aliens and people-with-shotguns but actually know what they're fighting, and its the same.

Prometheus and Covenant gently caress all of that up and devalue the story.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2024 18:02

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

SuperMechagodzilla posted:

I think that kind of broad explanation is, ironically, missing how particular aspects of the film shape the narrative. Like, this 'more information = less scary' formula. Why can't a shark-eyed, murderous giant ape-man be scary? It's like saying Jaws can't be scary because we know what a shark is. (We certainly know less about the aliens in Prometheus than we do about sharks.)

A major fan complaint about Prometheus, after all, is that it paradoxically doesn't provide much exposition about what's going on. Why did these shark-apes create/influence humanity? Why are they plotting to dump this mutagenic goo on us? What is the black goo??? You can reach obvious conclusions, but you have to puzzle them out on your own. But that's the rub: Prometheus encourages you to think about the monsters as characters, with motivations and stuff. Moreover, you start thinking in terms of their material reality: these alien guys are a part of a larger society, producing their tech through work, probably because someone ordered them to. They have religious beliefs that justify their actions, etc. They're probably getting a space paycheck, just like Ripley. This marks a transition from sci-fi horror to full-on speculative fiction - and the bridge is comedy.

Prometheus is the fifth movie in a multimedia franchise (the tenth, if you include Predator films). It goes without saying that not all of these stories are actually scary at all, nor even intended to be. In this context, Prometheus is specifically a horror-comedy where a guy smokes the weed in a haunted castle and then dies of a sex joke. To that end, the story is presented from the point of view of this entertainingly amoral Hannibal figure, David. And this is again grounded in the material: David is a slave owned by a deranged Thiel/Musk-like billionaire. We understand where he's coming from.

So, the trouble isn't exposure to too much information, but the fact that Prometheus is a powerful artwork. Alien remains the same movie, but you've changed in how you interpret it and now react very differently to the "unknown and terrible".

What I really love about Covenant is that, at that point, even the individual 'xenomorphs' are treated as characters with particular behaviors, shaped by their experiences. Covenant, presented from the fearless Walter's point of view, is specifically a gothic romance.

Prometheus would have been a 1000x better movie if they didn't include the opening scene. Covenant too.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2024 23:28

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Robert Facepalmer posted:

I have been meaning to rewatch the Sarah Conner Chronicles. Curious to see if it holds up and if the last episode still makes me big mad.

IIRC that ends with the one Terminator butchering the SWAT team while Johnny Cash plays, and the Hunter-Killer drone confronting Sarah Conner outside Cyberdyne? I was really into that show but then it got canceled

SuperMechagodzilla posted:

Well, if you watch Alien 1, there�s a real undercurrent of sadness to everything. There�s some fun banter, but also quiet bits like Dallas just sitting in the escape shuttle by himself. They hold a sad little funeral for Kane. Even Jokey died, seemingly, alone. The last thing that happens is Ripley recording a message stating that she and the poor cat might not survive the trip home.

Prometheus doesn�t do that, obviously. And it�s not some kind of deficiency, like they tried to be sad and failed. While I wouldn�t go so far as to say prequels are inherently comedic, they do inherently deal with a fatalism that can be mined for comedy. These characters are doomed from the outset, and we know from all the other films.

Even if you�ve never seen a movie before, though, Prometheus is told from the perspective of David, who scans the human crew�s dreams - before they even wake up - and concludes that they�re all idiots. Because he�s so far beyond the humans while simultaneously bound by the butler programming imposed upon him, David ends up an arch, camp figure. He plays up his artificial servility while cracking dry jokes about his masters� ironic �monkey�s paw� comeuppances. That the context in which the guy who literally says �I�m not here to make friends� gets attacked by a penis monster and turned into a space werewolf.

So Shaw�s arc, in the end, is to surprise David. Or, rather, to impress him by overcoming her too-human psychological limitations: �I didn�t know you had it in you.�

In a broader context, Prometheus�s depiction of Weyland Corp is very much making fun of tech-bro hipster types and a more liberal version of corporate culture. Vickers - the strong female character �girlboss� CEO - is doing this mission under the guise of philanthropy, but literally serving the same patriarch who ostensibly died. The movie also came out right after Avatar, and was a refreshing piece of counterprogramming to that film�s neon hippie take on Aliens. I still think of it as the anti-Avatar.

Just rewatched it - The movie is such a mess of non-sequitur poo poo. Tattoo-head dude smoking weed is a stoner-horror-death trope. Also David, with the immaculate hair, riffing witty comments in Fassbender's not-quite-American accent while everyone else is panting and sweating and screaming gives it a surreal quality. Also making Idris Elba do a fake-Texan accent is a waste.

edogawa rando posted:

Prometheus would've been a 1000000000x better movie if they didn't make it in the first place. Covenant too.

I dont understand why they made this movie. I'm not sure what story its trying to tell. Major plot lines are two sentences "Oh they're the Engineers, because they Engineered us :smugbert:

" They got all that from ancient societies cave paintings? That one engineer drank their own bioweapon to seed life, although there was already green moss on the rocks when it happened?

# ¿ Mar 23, 2024 04:26

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 09:02

Vampire Panties: Apr 18, 2001; nposter; Nap Ghost

Jimbone Tallshanks posted:

It's like they tried to mash the four previous movies into one by picking the most iconic bits

Yes, exactly. From David playing with the basketball, Idris's mustache, the flamethrowers, "decontaminating" the surgical bed with nitrogen, the Engineer inexplicably running towards Nooni instead of going to a different ship, they obviously felt they needed to hit very specific Alien/Aliens/Aliens³/Aliens:Resurrection notes, and instead of it being a medley its just people hammering at the piano keys

EDIT

they should've brought proto-marines. Guy Pearce spent a trillion dollars to ask some randos how to extend his life. Weyland & Weyland-Yutani famously dont take no for an answer.

Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Mar 23, 2024

# ¿ Mar 23, 2024 04:51

The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Thinking About Aliens (the movie): You have to admire its purrity