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Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Somehow I totally missed this thread.

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Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Young Freud posted:

My puzzle for xenomorphs is that, if the facehugger is the sole method of reproduction, then there's a great deal of lifeforms that are basically immune to it, either due to size or the fact they have no lungs for the 'hugger to lay the embryo in. Like, how would a facehugger implant a chestburster into a gilled animal like a fish? Or how would a facehugger handle a whale or a dolphin, whose blowhole isn't anywhere near it's face*?

And speaking of xeno reproduction, we know that they can adapt using the DNA of their hosts becoming "the perfect organism", but could that mean hosts that would be suboptimal? Like a facehugger manages to impregnate a slug or worm, it would just end up as a limbless xenomorph. Or, lets say it runs into a mutant human that, thanks to haploid fuckery, never developed working legs (but got cyborg legs). Would that mean if this unfortunate mutant host produce an equally unfortunate legless xeno?

Also, I recall one of the comics mentioning someone surviving a chestburst but having a lung replacement, but, since there's some DNA stuff going on, would there be other changes for a survivor?

*yes, I know, it would attach via it's blowhole, but aquatic mammals can hold their breath for long periods, whales in particular. It's also not readily apparent it breathes through the blowhole, so I'm imagining some alien race of sentient, bipedal dolphins delighting in pranking facehuggers into impregnating their embryos directly into their stomachs, where they're digested normally. Also, the occasional 'hugger managing to get one implanted ends up producing an xenomorph with it's mouth on the back of it's head but it's sensory organs facing forward.

Worth pointing out that the Alien doesn't lay the embryo in the lungs (especially since the lungs are just spongy tissue - they aren't "hollow" like, say, a stomach). The common chain of thought is that the Alien is more like a biological virus, and that the facehugger pumps some kind of matter into the host which then suppresses/overcomes their immune system and causes an Alien embryo to spontaneously grow inside the chest cavity.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



etalian posted:

I wonder if a movie nerd did the math on how many aliens got killed in combat.

I imagine they were at least 100 or so warriors left giving the alien team a pretty good K/D ratio.
I participated in this exact discussion like 15 years ago and for the life of me I can't remember what number we mathed out.

Having said that, the newer "expanded universe" stuff from the past couple years through our calculations out the window - it turns out a lot (A LOT) of colonists actually escaped from Hadley's Hope via a cargo lifter and made it to the nearby moon LV-223 (aka, the planet from 'Prometheus' - that and LV-426 are both moons of the same gas supergiant).
Those colonists still had a real lovely day, but it's still like 30-50 colonists that weren't present at Hadley's Hope to turn into Aliens.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Glenn Quebec posted:

Whats fun about this is that if Gorman wasn't such a gently caress up the Marines would have had a real chance against the xenos.


Okay hotshot, put your money where you mouth is. :v:

Here's an adaptation of the old 'Aliens' tabletop game, where you get to play out the hatchery ambush where Gorman fucks up and gets everyone killed. Only this time, you know what's coming.

https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/408816

Good luck!

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Copper Vein posted:

I guess I never thought about it before, but after the first sentry gun scene the aliens have already taken enough losses that even if they xenomorphed all the surviving characters at that point, the alien force would still come out a net loss. Then the aliens attack the second hallway and take even more losses.

I think it hurts the narrative that the aliens are pretty smart, to have them risk so many of their numbers for so few potential victims. Of course, they do get in anyway, and take Hudson and Burke.
I think that might be the wrong way to look at it. For the Aliens, it’s not a numerical net gain/loss problem, it’s a “has the threat been eliminated?” problem. I’d imagine that the Aliens would have sacrificed themselves down to the last drone if that’s what it took - as long as the queen is still alive, more eggs can be made. And as demonstrated in ‘Alien’, new hosts for those eggs will show up eventually.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



purple death ray posted:

As far as the characters in the movie are concerned there are effectively infinite aliens and the movie does everything to convince the viewers of this too. How many people in 1986 do you think even noticed the population on that sign? Coming at the movie in 2019 when you can analyze every frame and pore over extended-universe tie-ins to try and math out exactly how many xenos are in the movie might be a neat thought experiment but like, you can read this last page of posts and literally watch this line of thought sucking the joy and tension out of this magnificent movie.

For what it’s worth, the population sign is part of a deleted scene that wasn’t available until the laserdisc release in like 1991 or something.

That said, I think Ripley name-drops the colony population when she confronts Burke about sending the transmission that doomed the colony in the first place.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Yeah that’s what I was thinking of.

Also for those of you willing to dabble in expanded universe stuff, here’s a trio of recommendations:

Alien: Isolation - the video game that made the Alien scary again. The game is pretty long in the tooth in the last third, but the 1970s retro-future art style is fantastic. If you like the art, the game’s concept art book is a must-read. It’s also got a DLC map where you can explore the Nostromo and then reenact two scenes from the movie. The Nostromo isn’t 100% screen accurate, but it’s so close that only the most hardcore turbonerds will notice (and only the most anally retentive turbonerds will be bothered by it).

Aliens: Labyrinth - a goddamn fantastic comic series that does a hell of a job balancing the lethal nature of the Alien and body-horror from the first movie with a good dose of ‘Aliens’-style balls-out action. It’s got some seriously hosed up bits, and one of the most memorable human villains the franchise has ever seen.
I highly recommend the comic version, but it’s been adapted into a novelization as well. The novelization gets the job done, but the comic is better.

Alien: The Cold Forge - a relatively recent novel that’s easily the best Aliens novel released, period. The protagonist is a Weyland Yutani auditor and all around motherfucker that makes Carter Burke seem like Mr. Rogers, he’s a blast to read. Even some non-Aliens fans in the CineD Aliens thread gave it a whirl and came away saying “yeah that was a good time”.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



spacetoaster posted:

I played this on PC, and it was ok.

I'd like if they had offered it on PSVR (the only VR we have at my house).

There was a VR version they demoed at PAX or something like that and by all accounts it was loving terrifying.
For whatever reason the VR version never got an official release; I can’t remember if some fans made a home brew version or not.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Bad call? These people are DEAD, Burke!

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



dev286 posted:

Cameron has a real obsession in all his films of making it very clear who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.
Well I mean, except for T2 up until the Galleria hallway shootout.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



His death in The Abyss was pretty metal.

https://youtu.be/FkhBPF4yfkI

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Which version of 3 did you watch? Because the theatrical cut is cool, but the Assembly Cut is loving awesome.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



RossMan4Life posted:

Theatrical, first viewing/only version I had handy

Do yourself a favor and watch the Assembly Cut, it adds like 40 minutes back into the movie, resolves a couple plot holes, and generally improves the movie.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



It’s also worth remembering that Ripley flies from the colony to the atmosphere processor via the dropship, whereas any Aliens still at the colony following the Ops siege would have had to hoof it back to the Queen on foot.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Smiling Mandrill posted:

Have no idea how I never noticed that all the ships in Alien, and Aliens were named after references to Joseph Conrad books.

And Alien3, if you dig into ancillary materials (the rescue ship is the Patna).

The expanded universe stuff steals some more Conrad references from time to time, as well.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



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

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Riatsala posted:

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.

What is Space Station 13?

Also I’m glad you liked Cold Forge! :)

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



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.
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?

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.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Owlbear Camus posted:

Never in the films.

I think the only time it's name-checked is when Gorman drops it as a two-bit college word in a misguided attempt to impress the troops. But he's using it as a synonym for "alien," not a specific descriptor for a specific category of creature.

It's all the comics and video games and other sundry tie-in material that have run with that one offhanded utterance like scissors.
Never in the films themselves, but the filmmakers have used the word a lot when making the movies, Ridley Scott has used it in interviews, and it shows up in the movie credits in Alien Covenant.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



StarMinstrel posted:

It’s probably been said a bunch of times in this thread, but just to be sure: when the Ai starts counting down at the end of Aliens, start a timer and keep watch. It’s one of my favorite details of this movie for some reason.

I can’t remember if you can do the same thing in ‘Aliens’ or not. Like, I don’t think you can for the entire countdown to the AP station’s explosion, but you can for certain countdown milestones.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Young Freud posted:

T-600s. Disappointed that we never see one in Salvation that hasn't been shot a few dozen times.

But yeah, he looks like a younger Mr. X...

T-600s show up in an episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series, they’re done as humans in makeup rather than practical puppets like in Salvation. The ones in the TV show are more Working Joe-esque and are more convincing than the movie ones, but like Kyle Reese said, “we spotted them easy.”

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



The 90s were a magical time, when companies like Kenner were making children’s toys based on hard-R action movies.

I got my first Aliens toy at age 9, and it’s been downhill from there ever since. The first one I got was the Snake Alien, chosen specifically because my mom is afraid of snakes.



And now, 25 years later, NECA has released a remake.



My inner 9-year-old is losing his goddamn mind. :kiddo:



Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Vargs posted:

I saw Alien at 7 or 8 and loved it. Getting freaked the gently caress out by horror movies as a kid is the best. I wish they could still scare me like that.


I had that one, and all of the other ones. They owned. My favorite was the one that exploded into guts and body parts when you pressed the button on its butt.

You’re thinking of the Scorpion Alien, that one was my favorite too.



That’s one of the later repaints, but I do have the original brown one in a box somewhere.

The Scorpion Alien just got a modern remake, too:



Also it’s pretty cool to finally get a screen-accurate Apone figure.



:v:

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



I posted this offer in the Alien thread in CineD, and I figure I’ll extend it here.

‘Aliens: Labyrinth’ is the best Aliens comic and deserves to be a movie, and more people should read it. There’s a seller on eBay selling bulk lots of the trade paperback for stupid cheap, and I’m up for buying the lots and distributing them to interested goons for basically the price of shipping + whatever tip you feel is appropriate (I will not be offended if the tip is $0). It looks like I can get 9 copies from one lot, and another 10 more if there’s interest.

I just don’t want to buy a bunch of copies if only 2 people are interested. :v:

Post in the thread and/or shoot me a PM if you’re interested.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



WatermelonGun posted:

is it as good as dead orbit

that was the last one i read and it was dope/gross

Is that the one with a character saying “HGK!” a dozen times per page? If so, Labyrinth is a lot better.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



SilvergunSuperman posted:

It'd be a lot cooler if it was an original idea and not just ripped off from a bob's burgers episode.

As someone who hasn’t watched a lot of Bob’s Burgers, what do you mean?

Also since I’m an Aliens corporate media whore and not buying every piece of licensed tie-in merchandise will cause the shotgun collar around my neck to go off, expect more merchandise/toy photos when I get home. :suicide:

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Literally every scene in the movie makes it a cool movie.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



On that note, here's an (animated) alternate take on Alien3, for your viewing pleasure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoRrZ3WCZD8

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Bortus posted:

Should’ve been Danny Glover or Arnold in that role imo

It was originally going to be Danny Glover, but he turned it down because he felt he was too old.

Another fun tidbit, Robert Joy's character in 'AvP: Requiem' was supposed to be Adam Baldwin's character from 'Predator 2', but Baldwin had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Young Freud posted:

Legit surprised Baldwin didn't turn up in The Predator, but then he burned his last bridge with Hollywood going after Sesame Street for being too socialist.
If it makes you feel any better, his character got offed in a recent anthology of Predator short stories. :v:

There's also an anthology of Alien short stories, but even as a hardcore Alien fanboy shill, I can't recommend it in good faith.

The Predator anthology is good poo poo, though.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Xenomrph posted:

I posted this offer in the Alien thread in CineD, and I figure I’ll extend it here.

‘Aliens: Labyrinth’ is the best Aliens comic and deserves to be a movie, and more people should read it. There’s a seller on eBay selling bulk lots of the trade paperback for stupid cheap, and I’m up for buying the lots and distributing them to interested goons for basically the price of shipping + whatever tip you feel is appropriate (I will not be offended if the tip is $0). It looks like I can get 9 copies from one lot, and another 10 more if there’s interest.

I just don’t want to buy a bunch of copies if only 2 people are interested. :v:

Post in the thread and/or shoot me a PM if you’re interested.

Just a reminder on this so I can do a final head count and know if I need to buy both bulk lots or not. If you’re interested and haven’t spoken up yet, please do so now. :)

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Millions of Crows posted:

This is a boring collection of painfully familiar tropes. Now I'm worried all the shorts will be like that, since apparently corporate film makers are incapable of original ideas. I wonder if everyone at 20th century fox is either too prideful or stupid to just adapt one of the better Dark Horse Comics Aliens stories.

Like 'Aliens: Labyrinth', perhaps? :v:

Speaking of, here's a head-count of who's claimed a copy of Labyrinth. If you don't see your name here and it should be, please scream at me - in space no one can hear you scream, but I'll hear you just fine in this thread. They're all claimed at this point, but I can do a waiting list if people change their minds!

1. Xenomrph
2. SiL
3. Celtic Predator
4. oldpainless
5. alf_pogs
6. Sentient Data
7. Riatsala
8. MacheteZombie
9. MrMojok
10. WatermelonGun
11. MisterSpeaker
12. Pennywise the Frown
13. Linux Pirate
14. Code Jockey
15. l33tfuzzbox
16. Class Warcraft
17. MonsieurChoc
18. Leavemywife
19. mllaneza
20. Vim Fuego


Vincent Van Goatse posted:

I don't know whether to applaud or shove your face-first into a xenomorph egg.
If it makes you feel better, he's far from the first person to make that joke. :v:


Vim Fuego posted:

What did the alien in alien eat to grow from chestburster size to 9 feet tall?
In the original script, when Ripley, Brett, and Parker go looking for the chestburster, they were going to find that something (reads: the chestburster) had gotten into the Nostromo's food stores and gone to town.

Ultimately most sources don't bother explaining how they grow so big so fast other than "it's an unexplainable space monster", but once in a while a comic or video game will show a chestburster eating stuff.

Xenomrph fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Apr 1, 2019

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Young Freud posted:

One of the AvP games has their tutorial with the chestburster growing to full-size by eating a kennel of cats.

That's AvP2, yeah. That's a game that I wish would get a digital re-release, but it's stuck in legal limbo. :sigh:

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Somehow I missed a person in my head-count; all 20 copies of Labyrinth are now claimed, but I can do a waiting list if people change their minds!

1. Xenomrph
2. SiL
3. Celtic Predator
4. oldpainless
5. alf_pogs
6. Sentient Data
7. Riatsala
8. MacheteZombie
9. MrMojok
10. WatermelonGun
11. MisterSpeaker
12. Pennywise the Frown
13. Linux Pirate
14. Code Jockey
15. l33tfuzzbox
16. Class Warcraft
17. MonsieurChoc
18. Leavemywife
19. mllaneza
20. Vim Fuego

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



:siren: Yo! Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen, it's Labyrinth time. :unsmigghh:



Okay here's how this is going to work. If your name is on the list below, email me your address at xenomrph (at) gmail (dot) com, and put your username and "Labyrinth" in the subject line. I'm aiming to ship via Media Mail (except for the lone crazy person in Australia, I'll figure yours out later), which looks like it'll be about $2.75.

As for paying for shipping, like, I'm not going to hound every individual person for $2.75, because I think this is a fun project and people being excited to read Labyrinth puts a smile on my face. I've got the bubble mailers ready to go, I'm going to slap labels on them and mail everything out in one big trip to the post office once I've got addresses. The way I see it, people can pay me what they want and it'll all come out in the wash - a couple goons have already tossed some money my way to help balance things out if people can't pay, which is really awesome. My paypal is xenomrph (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Also if you've sent me a PM about this at some point, I'm going to send you a PM in a minute just in case you don't regularly look at this thread or something.

Xenomrph posted:

1. Xenomrph
2. SiL
3. Celtic Predator
4. oldpainless
5. alf_pogs
6. Sentient Data
7. Riatsala
8. MacheteZombie
9. MrMojok
10. WatermelonGun
11. MisterSpeaker
12. Pennywise the Frown
13. Linux Pirate
14. Code Jockey
15. l33tfuzzbox
16. Class Warcraft
17. MonsieurChoc
18. Leavemywife
19. mllaneza
20. Vim Fuego

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Hell Stink posted:

Why do I feel like I just missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime? Put this on my list of regrets and put me on that loving wait list.

You got it! Out of the 20 people on the list there’s still like 10 that I haven’t heard from yet; I figure I’ll give people a couple weeks, post a couple reminders in the thread, maybe send out PMs to those that have platinum, and then all the unclaimed ones will be fair game.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Just a Labyrinth update, I’ve gotten emails with addresses from everyone but two people (I’ll check when I get home and figure out which two and post here as a reminder).

Here’s the game plan:
Tonight I’m going to package everything up and type up the addresses.
Tomorrow I’m going to print the addresses at work and tape them to the packages.
Saturday morning I’m going to take everything to the post office and unleash this horrible scourge upon you all ship everything out. :woop:

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Xenomrph posted:

Just a Labyrinth update, I’ve gotten emails with addresses from everyone but two people (I’ll check when I get home and figure out which two and post here as a reminder).

Here’s the game plan:
Tonight I’m going to package everything up and type up the addresses.
Tomorrow I’m going to print the addresses at work and tape them to the packages.
Saturday morning I’m going to take everything to the post office and unleash this horrible scourge upon you all ship everything out. :woop:

Forums user :siren: Riatsala :siren: , you are being publicly shamed for not sending me your address.

Or if you did send it, then I'm a dumbass and I accidentally deleted it or something, in which case I am publicly shaming myself.

Either way, please send/re-send me your address!

Everyone else, I've got your addresses and I'll be printing/packaging everything tomorrow so I can mail it out Saturday morning.

Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Here's my fun Isolation moment:

https://www.trueachievements.com/gameclip.aspx?clipid=8654079

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Xenomrph
Dec 9, 2005

AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill



Drunken Baker posted:

This idea will either have people heralding me as a genius or I might get burnt at the stake.

Alien3 special edition but they use CGI to fix the terrible lighting problems with the puppet.

The only time I can think of where I'd be fine with someone going back to an old film and loving around with digital effects.

I’d be okay with them going back to ‘The Terminator’ and cleaning up the stop-motion bit of the endoskeleton limping down the hallway, so it looks less like something out of ‘Jason and the Argonauts’.

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