icemann on 10/1/2014 at 15:13
I actually quite liked the first AvP oddly, partly due to it being great to FINALLY see the 2 face off. The human characters were mostly all meh besides the main character and Lance Henricsen. It does have some great bits in it. Also prior to the first movie, AvP had featured quite prominently in books (the dark horse ones), comics and in video games. The plot of the first AvP steals QUITE a fair bit from the AvP book "Prey" right down to the ending.
The 2nd movie on the other hand. Hmm. What WAS good in the first isn't present, and all the human characters are stupid. Freaking gore overload though. Having all those babies and pregnant women killed in the hospital bit was just plain wrong though.
Aliens Resurrection which steals somewhat from the book "The Female War" though only partially, just never clicked for me.
SubJeff on 10/1/2014 at 17:18
Winona Ryder is the only good thing about Resurrection.
june gloom on 10/1/2014 at 23:01
Gary Dourdan too. Of course as the only black guy he dies.
faetal on 11/1/2014 at 13:46
Quote Posted by DDL
S'pose I shouldn't be surprised by all the hatred for resurrection, but personally I've always quite liked it.
It's different, obviously, and has much less overt menace than 1 or 3, and less bombast than 2, but I've always thought of it as "french arthouse crazy" meets "aliens", which is such a staggeringly incongruous combination it almost has to work. Also I keep forgetting the stupid alien baby bit, which probably helps.
Plus it's got Ron Perlman, Brad Dourif, Dan Hedaya, Warrick from CSI and the dude from delicatessen (I almost expected him to pull out l'australien and throw it at an alien). What's not to love? Oh wait, winona ryder. Hrmm.
Better than AvP, at least.
I really enjoyed resurrection. I don't consider it a proper continuation of the series though - it's just good in its own right.
Ostriig on 11/1/2014 at 23:29
Man, I had to watch Alien again today because of you fuckers. And you know what makes that movie even more awesome? The fact that I never heard Mother chime in over the comms saying "and we'd like to remind all crew that this is a non-smoking interstellar mission and anyone caught smoking will be turned over to the police upon our arrival on Earth."
Volitions Advocate on 18/1/2014 at 06:06
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
It isn't canon in the slightest, just the Aliens lifecycle involving the Queen.
The Dallas cocoon scene was a deleted scene and the supposed 2003 "Director's Cut" which restores it isn't endorsed by Ridley Scott.
Quote Posted by Muzman
Ummm, what? Despite his explicit endorsement at the start of the film and discussion in the commentary you mean?
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
You've got the Quadrilogy DVD release? Watch Scott's video introduction. The original 1977 cut remains is his preferred version, the alternative 2003 cut was called "Director's Cut" entirely for marketing purposes.
I feel the need to chime back in even if it's off topic.
Eva was actually right despite my link to Scotts pre-movie blurb on youtube. It WAS named DC for marketing purposes as Eva said. I took my quadrilogy out of the closet and brought it to work with me tonight to watch some alien, and this was inside the booklet that came with. And yes.. I'm typing this out manually b/c I have nothing better to do.
Quote:
In 1979, when ALIEN was originally released, I felt that the theatrical cut of the film was the best i could possibly make it. I was very pleased with its pace and structure, and although there were several scenes left on the cutting room floor, I didn't miss any of them. For all intents and purposes, I felt that the original cut of ALIEN was perfect.
I still feel that way.
The traditional definition of the term "Director's Cut" suggests the restoration of a director's original vision, free of any creative limitations. It suggests that the filmmaker has finally overcome the interference of heavy-handed studio executives, and that the film has been restored to its original, untampered form. Such is not the case with ALIEN: The Director's Cut. It's a completely different beast.
When Twentieth Century Fox approached me to digitally restore the original 1979 cut of the film, they also suggested fully restoring many of the film's deleted scenes to be reincorporated into a proposed expanded DVD version of the film.
Following an exhaustive year-long restoration process, Fox then decided to re-release ALIEN theatrically. It was their hope that I would see fit to include several of the deleted scenes we had restored in order to give moviegoers additional incentive to see the film in theaters.
Upon viewing the proposed expanded version of the film, I felt that cut was simply too long and the pacing completely thrown off. After all, I cut those extra scenes out for a reason back in 1979. However, in the interest of giving the fans a new experience with ALIEN, I figured there had to be an appropriate middle ground. I chose to go in and recut that proposed long version into a more streamlined and polished alternate version of the film. For marketing purposes, this version is being called "The Director's Cut"
To film purists everywhere, rest easy. The original 1979 theatrical version isn't going anywhere. It remains my version of choice and is presented fully restored and remastered under my personal supervision alongside the new Director's Cut in this DVD set.
See which version you like best.
Ridley Scott
Having read this. It's obvious his comments on the DVD are a little reserved. (i'm also annoyed that an Englishman would spell Theatre with an "er" at the end, driving this Canadian speller nuts, that was hard to type properly). So I concede the point.
I still wouldn't say it "isn't canon" because it was after all released, and in the end Fox doesn't care whats canon, they just want their money. If Star Wars fans can tell Lucas to shove it, then hardcore Alien fans could also have enough sub-cultural capital to decide whether or not the extra scenes in Alien DC could be considered canon.
Personally. With the speculation around Prometheus, I don't see how the Scott model (albeit cut from the original movie) and the Cameron model can't co-exist in canon.
When I watch it tonight, I think I'll watch the original version. I haven't watched it once since I bought the Quadrilogy about 10 years ago. High time I do so again.
catbarf on 19/1/2014 at 01:16
Canon in the Aliens series is a tenuous thing considering how many subtle and not-so-subtle alterations have been made in each sequel and derivative work. Just look at how games can't decide if the different appearance of the aliens in Aliens is a retcon, a different caste (Warriors versus Drones), or just variation between hives. Praetorians have become standard in every AvP game, but were never in the movies. Then there's Prometheus, and that whole can of worms.
It's a big enough universe that new works can play fast and loose with the canon without it degrading the rest of the franchise. I'd say it's a fair bit different from the Star Wars films which are all interwoven to a much closer degree.
icemann on 19/1/2014 at 05:53
Completely hated that movie. All but 2 of the characters were just plain stupid and did things that made NO SENSE at all. Terrible movie.
Muzman on 19/1/2014 at 06:07
Yeah, but at the end I do still want to see the continuing adventures of The Girl Without Nerves and her head-in-a-bag companion.
