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Alien
May 14, 2010 2:54:55 GMT -5
Post by mangler on May 14, 2010 2:54:55 GMT -5
Alien is a classic horror film. This one was an innovator at the time it dropped, and became a standard for other films to follow. Or rip off. Story is simple: people are stuck on a ship with a monster. This one came out BITD when horror was truly about horror rather than gore. The special effects worked well enough, but they weren't the show; the story was. I loved the setup to the story too. These people are just tryin to get home, but the bigwigs demand more. None of the characters are really heroes at a glance, just stressed out workers doin what they gotta do. They don't wanna check out the mystery planet. Technically, they ain't supposed to allow dangerous organisms in the ship. But they're forced to, and all hell breaks loose. The duel horror of the facehugger and the actual monster works great here. Both creatures are scary in their own way. Nobody knows what the facehugger is doin, and later they dunno what the big alien really is. Hitchcock effect is in full swing here; the horror builds then strikes suddenly, so the scare is in the wait just as much as the attack. I really liked that the script makes the alien a force of nature in this movie; no complicated reason is offered for what it's doin. It's just as trapped as the people are, and it's doin what it has to in order to survive. The real evil in the movie is the greedy company that cares only for its own profit, even at the expense of its own people. This one got ripped off a lot, but never topped imo. It's one of my favorite movie monsters. The original cut shows more of the alien's intelligence, but it's good they left that part out since it made room for the sequel to fill in the blanks. Nothin I can complain about in this one.
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Alien
May 14, 2010 3:11:25 GMT -5
Post by mangler on May 14, 2010 3:11:25 GMT -5
Aliens was a great sequel. Rare followup that beats the original, and actually beats it by far. Cameron says he likes a sequel to be good enuf to be a standalone film, and that formula works in this one. Not only does it answer unresolved questions from the 1st movie, it builds on the story a lot and doesn't play like a retread. The angle of Ripley bein in space for so long she's really lost everything makes her character more badass here. She's really got nothin but fear leftover, so she has to do sumthin about it. She was forced to be a hero the 1st time, but she chooses to be one in this movie. She's ostracized by her peers and fired from her job, left with really no choice but to go kick some ass. The original cut of this one has some cool extra footage, some of which I don't think shoulda been cut out. The most important parts are her learnin of her daughter's death, and the setup behind Newt findin herself all alone on the planet. The marines are hardasses who think they got it under control, but they end up pretty much screwed once they see what they're really up against. Burke does a great job givin the company an actual face in this movie, and his performance as the greedy exec is great. I liked the bonds Ripley forms with Newt and Hicks too. Hicks is a quasi love interest, but they don't go full tilt with it, which is a smart move. No time for romance in a war against killer aliens. And Newt is really the drivin force behind everything Ripley does in this movie. The queen is a cool addition to the monster lineup, and the perfect antithesis for Ripley, since she's basically in the same role for the aliens. The answer to where the eggs come from is cleared up here, and the aliens are shown to be a smart creature society, not just monsters that kill for the hell of it. Nothin to complain about in this one either. More action than the 1st one, but an equal amount of scares mixed in. They really shoulda stopped the series after this one since it seemed to complete the story.
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Alien
May 14, 2010 4:17:47 GMT -5
Post by mangler on May 14, 2010 4:17:47 GMT -5
Alien 3 is ok. It's a dropoff from the 1st 2 movies, but doesn't deserve a lot of the scorn it's gotten. In short, the horror and action levels take a dip here, but it's not a bad movie; it just ain't as good as the other ones. The obvious idea behind this movie was to end the story emphatically. That's ok, but the way they went about it was kinda odd. Turns out Ripley's heroism in part 2 was for naught, since she loses her allies instantly, during the opening credits in fact. Wasn't crazy about that, but it helps drive the movie, so that angle can be given a pass. The big shock of the movie isn't much of a shock at all tho, which is why this one lost some points with me. It's really given away at the very beginning. Now Ripley has crash landed on a planet inhabited by murderous ex cons who've undergone a religious conversion. This is thanks to a facehugger that hatched from an egg the queen laid on the ship in part 2. The original version of this one is a lot better and has some good footage that again, shouldn't have been cut out. The religious angle is played up better in that version with the alien basically embodying Satan himself, bringing the apocalypse to the inmates in the flesh. Ripley comes full circle with the alien conflict here, as she now knows she's basically doomed. She finds a new love interest here, but he's killed off quickly, and she's instantly alone again. It's pretty much her against the alien, and it'll never be over until she's dead. This sets up the climax, where the evil company is again intent on getting the aliens under their control, and Ripley is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop them. I liked the ideas this movie goes for, but it's kinda underwhelming. They're back to just 1 single alien, which is cool. And it's a new kind of alien that's quicker than the previous ones. The claustrophobia is back, since there's no way to escape and the characters have no weapons. The big bad convicts are reduced to bein helpless victims here and have to accept the lone woman present as their leader. The prison is dark and gloomy, so it's like a haunted house. And of course the're not gettin any help, since the company has its own agenda. Problem is there's too many characters. The horror element is gone because you aren't really scared for the prisoners since you don't care about em. They're just fodder for the monster. This makes the movie play like a slasher film where you're kinda rootin for the anti hero alien, just watchin it do its thing. Given the big plot twist, it made no sense for the alien to kill so mindlessly; it waters down the effect. I was disappointed in Alien 3, but I still like it. The quadruped alien is a cool idea, Ripley is still a good heroine, and Dillon is a badass character. The movie is good, but not great.
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Alien
May 14, 2010 16:52:01 GMT -5
Post by mangler on May 14, 2010 16:52:01 GMT -5
Alien Resurrection isn't that good. It's definitely more about action than horror, but the action is kinda tepid. Some people liked this better than part 3, but I don't think it's up to par, and certainly nowhere near the other 2. The title is a play on the Ripley-alien conflict; they died together and are brought back together. It's never explained just how cloning Ripley automatically clones the queen embryo also, but that can be overlooked for the sake of enjoying the movie. The company has been succeeded by military scientists as the greedy profit seekers here, this time wanting aliens for medical research. The key angle of this film is Ripley's DNA mixing with the aliens', so she's not fully human and is actually part alien herself. Right away, it's harder to care about her simply because it isn't the real Ripley. The other heroes in the film aren't that likable either; they're interstellar pirates who've hijacked cryotubes for the scientists to breed aliens through. Call is a sort of right hand to Ripley, with whom she shares a tenuous alliance and bond; both are outsiders, neither is really human. When the aliens break loose, it's hard to pick a side to root for. By default you're supposed to want the humans to win, but there's nothin in the plot that really urges you to do so this time. The central conflict is with Ripley's clone, trying to figure out what exactly she is and where her loyalties lie. This is tested when a semi human alien is born through the queen, product of the DNA mixing. The new alien embraces her over the queen, and Ripley can't decide if she's with it or against it. This is supposed to be the film's payoff, but comes too late to really do much for anyone. Hard to say what exactly they were lookin for story wise with this movie. Ripley is the only interesting character, but she doesn't get much to do, be it ass kickin or being emotional. She does a bit of both, but it doesn't evoke any strong reaction. The aliens look cool and all and produce some fun scenes, but they're not scary or as exciting to watch as they were before. As an alien film diehard, I got some luv for this movie, but not much. I can definitely see why some people hate it. I only rate it an average flick.
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