Rank the Alien films

[CountOrlok]

However, the part about the human reproductive system, and the beige baby alien at the end that sees Ripley as its mother ... all of that is just gross.

The Newborn is meant to be gross. It's an abomination. And the way they did it.. one of the best animatronic creatures.. the way it moved and showed expression was fantastic.

I don't know why so many people hate it so much. Yet they give a pass to the bald albino space jockeys, the silly octopus thing and the blue alien in Prometheus. I can't believe they actually Giger on board yet they still came up with those awful designs.

 

[Teelie]

The Space Jockeys were ridiculous but not as much as the hybrid. The octopus thing and the general idiocy of the scientists in Promethus are still not as goofy as the hybrid. They're all awful and I don't know anyone who praised those parts of Prometheus as good.

 

[CountOrlok]

The Space Jockeys were ridiculous but not as much as the hybrid. The octopus thing and the general idiocy of the scientists in Promethus are still not as goofy as the hybrid. They're all awful and I don't know anyone who praised those parts of Prometheus as good.

What are you talking about? The hybrid was meant to be pathetic and goofy. It was the ******ed offspring of a genetic experiment - a mix between human and alien dna. It was meant to be a total abomination of nature.

However there was no excuse for any of the creatures in Prometheus. Just lazy, stupid designs. A giant squid/octopus? Bald/albino space jockys aka 'jokes'? A blue alien? Really.

 

[Brother Jack]

Comparing the first two at least is kind of a waste of time given that they are so different. It's essentially the same concept but imagined in two radically different ways by two directors. I will say that Alien is about as perfect a movie as I've ever seen. It's pretty much flawless. While Aliens is one of the best action movies maybe ever and has defined the idea of space marines. They're both great.

 

[regwec]

I don't really object to the body horror stuff, since it is a fulfilment of the premise. I don't need to see it again, however.

 

[Lord]

What are you talking about? The hybrid was meant to be pathetic and goofy. It was the ******ed offspring of a genetic experiment - a mix between human and alien dna. It was meant to be a total abomination of nature.

However there was no excuse for any of the creatures in Prometheus. Just lazy, stupid designs. A giant squid/octopus? Bald/albino space jockys aka 'jokes'? A blue alien? Really.

I don't see how any of those is a bad idea at all, they were all pretty much offsprings of Xenomorphs mutagens.

 

[DA_Champion]

The Newborn is meant to be gross. It's an abomination. And the way they did it.. one of the best animatronic creatures.. the way it moved and showed expression was fantastic.

I don't know why so many people hate it so much. Yet they give a pass to the bald albino space jockeys, the silly octopus thing and the blue alien in Prometheus. I can't believe they actually Giger on board yet they still came up with those awful designs.

Come on man, nobody wants to see grossness on film, why do you think we never see dirty bathroom toilets in movies? Because nobody wants to see that. Same with the alien queen in Resurrection that had a human reproductive system: disgusting.

The aliens in Prometheus are not by any means gross. When the engineer fought the giant squid in Prometheus, and then xenomorph popped out of the engineer sometime later, I had a nerdgasm, it was great.

 

[The Endless]

Problem with Prometheus, besides the atrocious acting and conveniently stupid characters, for me is... it's full of these interesting concepts, it poses philosophical questions... but like Lindelof's Lost... there is no pay off. He thinks he can just go "the answer to your questions is... more questions!" and that makes it really deep and intelligent.

No, that just makes it lazy and cheap. The film says nothing, really. It doesn't really even infer or allude to anything, like Scott's Blade Runner at least did. Ultimately Prometheus is as deep as a puddle.

And i agree that the mystique around the Space Jockey's was kinda ruined. I didn't like the designs for them at all.

 

[Lord]

Well, it's indeed true that Prometheus wasn't disgusting at all, the aliens were very clean. But I think Alien Resurrection was worse due to the plot and tone being the oposite of what fits the franchise. I found Promtheus to expand upon interesting elements, with Alien 4 i just found it to be going around the same, but cheesier.

 

[DA_Champion]

Problem with Prometheus, besides the atrocious acting and conveniently stupid characters, for me is... it's full of these interesting concepts, it poses philosophical questions... but like Lindelof's Lost... there is no pay off. He thinks he can just go "the answer to your questions is... more questions!" and that makes it really deep and intelligent.

No, that just makes it lazy and cheap. The film says nothing, really. It doesn't really even infer or allude to anything, like Scott's Blade Runner at least did. Ultimately Prometheus is as deep as a puddle.

And i agree that the mystique around the Space Jockey's was kinda ruined. I didn't like the designs for them at all.

To be honest, I have very little sympathy for people who are "looking for answers" from the ancient alien hypothesis of people like Zacharia Sitchin and Erich von Däniken, it's a dumb theory.

Here's what Prometheus said, long ago, an advanced race decided to accelerate evolution on Earth by sacrificing one of their own. Earth was built as a genetics laboratory. These engineers had other genetics laboratories, like the one we saw in Prometheus, which seemed like it was an abandoned biological weapons laboratory. Unfortunately, the civilisation of the engineers collapsed for unknown reasons. At the end of the movie, Noomi Rapace goes to investigate what happened, and she'll probably find a planet of ruins.

I don't see the problem?

 

[The Endless]

To be honest, I have very little sympathy for people who are "looking for answers" from the ancient alien hypothesis of people like Zacharia Sitchin and Erich von Däniken, it's a dumb theory.

Here's what Prometheus said, long ago, an advanced race decided to accelerate evolution on Earth by sacrificing one of their own. Earth was built as a genetics laboratory. These engineers had other genetics laboratories, like the one we saw in Prometheus, which seemed like it was an abandoned biological weapons laboratory. Unfortunately, the civilisation of the engineers collapsed for unknown reasons. At the end of the movie, Noomi Rapace goes to investigate what happened, and she'll probably find a planet of ruins.

I don't see the problem?

My problem is... the film set out to ask the ultimate question. Why do we exist? The characters are constantly asking it.

But it's all just lip service. The film doesn't really explore that question or those themes at all.

I'm not asking for a distinct answer. There is no answer to that question i don't think. But the film does nothing really. It's just a meandering mess with stunning visuals, a couple of good performances and a load of lip service towards existential themes. Like i said, it is a very pretty film that is ultimately as deep as a puddle, but dresses itself up in an air of intelligence by having it's characters talk about gods and the meaning of life etc.

Compare Prometheus with Blade Runner. Blade Runner doesn't specifically ask or answer the question "What does it mean to be human if androids can have feelings too?". But it explores that theme, it challenges the viewer to answer that question throughout.

Prometheus? It does nothing, it says nothing, it explores nothing.

After seeing Blade Runner my mind was racing. After seeing Prometheus my mind was just kinda numb lol.

 

[Lord]

I think comic book girl gives a good analysis on how certain scenes would probably have improved upon the movie

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[DA_Champion]

My problem is... the film set out to ask the ultimate question. Why do we exist? The characters are constantly asking it.

But it's all just lip service. The film doesn't really explore that question or those themes at all.

I'm not asking for a distinct answer. There is no answer to that question i don't think. But the film does nothing really. It's just a meandering mess with stunning visuals, a couple of good performances and a load of lip service towards existential themes. Like i said, it is a very pretty film that is ultimately as deep as a puddle, but dresses itself up in an air of intelligence by having it's characters talk about gods and the meaning of life etc.

Compare Prometheus with Blade Runner. Blade Runner doesn't specifically ask or answer the question "What does it mean to be human if androids can have feelings too?". But it explores that theme, it challenges the viewer to answer that question throughout.

Prometheus? It does nothing, it says nothing, it explores nothing.

After seeing Blade Runner my mind was racing. After seeing Prometheus my mind was just kinda numb lol.

Within the movie, we exist because an advanced race was conducting genetics experiments. It's a boring, deflating, answer. If the ancient alien hypothesis were real, that might be the answer.

If you want a more exciting answer, watch Babylon 5.

 

[regwec]

It seems a bit hopeful to expect the answer to the question "why do we exist" to be provided by a sci fi movie.

 

[The Endless]

I already said i didn't expect a distinct answer. I expected something more than lip service though. It wasn't really explored at all. Just some dialogue from characters talking about it.

 

[regwec]

How should it have been explored other than by dialogue? A voiceover?

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Aliens/Alien ( I prefer Aliens by a small margin )
Alien 4
Alien 3 ( the assembly cut )

Prometheus : it means nothing to the Alien sage if there is not a ( decent ) sequel to it.
AvP movies : forgettable spin off, they don't count.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Aliens
Alien
Alien 3
Alien Resurrection

Do I include Prometheus? If I did then it's above Resurrection.

 

[The Endless]

How should it have been explored other than by dialogue? A voiceover?

By actually exploring how we'd react to find out that fact? I don't really know tbh. But i'm sure the guy who did Blade Runner could have made it much more interesting and thought provoking.

In interviews with Scott and Lindelof they were telling us how these themes would be explored bla bla bla. Well in the film itself, it wasn't.

Honestly, i found the "making of" interviews with Scott and Lindelof where they are talking about these deep existential themes and what would happen if we found out the "truth" more interesting than the film itself. That is a problem.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

You're expecting too much from a simple film ( simple as : it's only a scifi movie ) or expecting too much from what a director/producer can say about his movie.

 

[The Endless]

Not really. A film should do what it was meant to do. Prometheus was trying to reach for the stars and it failed. The director and writer had more interesting things to say in their interviews about the film. This is a problem. The film itself should communicate their ideas.

And i don't know what you mean by it's only a sci-fi movie. 2001, Scott's own Blade Runner, Children of Men... countless other sci-fi movies have more to say than Prometheus.

 

[DA_Champion]

Yeah that was the problem with Prometheus.

People were expecting answers from that movie.

 

[The Endless]

I didn't expect answers. I expected something interesting.

The interviews with Scott and Lindelof were interesting. It's a shame they couldn't communicate those ideas through the film itself though.

 

[DA_Champion]

Watch Babylon 5.

 

[The Endless]

I don't want to watch Babylon 5 lol.

I mean it's not like i'm some crazy guy alone on this opinion. A lot of people were left wanting, considering the hype it was a huge let down and i don't think anyone expected the answer to the ultimate question. They just wanted something interesting that explored that concept.

The film didn't. Like i said, the interviews with Scott and Lindelof were really interesting and more thought provoking than the film itself. This is undeniably a problem.

Read what FILM CRIT HULK has to say on Prometheus. He breaks it down in a much better way that i possibly could.