Guides \ Alien Retrospective
Alien Retrospective
Written by Stephen Heller and Gaetano Prestia
The year is 1979. Star Wars was released two years ago, changing the face of movies forever. However, no one could have been prepared for the realistic, dark and truly horrifying experience Ridley Scott would deliver us with Alien, a film that still to this day manages to scare the wits out of us.
Alien
Released: 1979
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Starring: Sigorney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm
Budget: $4.2 Million
Gross Revenue: $104,931,801
Awards:
* Academy Award : Best Visual Design
* Saturn Award: Best Science Fiction Film
* Saturn Award: Best Direction: Ridley Scott
* Saturn Award: Best Supporting Actress: Veronica Cartwright
* Hugo Award: Best Dramatic Presentation
Alien tells the story of the Nostromo, a commercial towing spaceship that is on a return trip to Earth after a mission in deep space. The crew members are awoken from stasis after a transmission from a nearby planet is received by their ship's computers. The crew are told by their employers (only referred to as "the company", although the name "Weylan-Yutani" appears on several set pieces) to land and investigate the distress call. During landing, the Nostromo suffers some minor damage, so while a small search crew of Captain Dallas (Tom Skrettitt), Officer Kane (John Hurt) and Navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) go out for find the source of the code, Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Officer Ash (Ian Holm) and the others repair the ship.
Upon surveying the land, Dallas, Kane and Lambert discover that the signal is coming from a spacecraft on the surface of the planet. The ship is unknown to them and somewhat alien and upon inspecting it, Kane discovers a chamber that contains a field of strange large eggs. In what has become a monumental scene in Hollywood history, a spider-like "Facehugger" latches onto Kane's face and puts him in a state of shock. The crew rush Kane back to the Nostromo and unsuccessfully try to remove the creature from his face. Eventually the creature detaches on it's own and is found dead in the room. The ship is repaired and the crew resume their trip back to Earth.
Kane begins to recover slowly, showing small signs of improvement. Upon relaxing over jokes and a meal in the ships dining area, Kane suddenly goes into a fit of pain, grabbing onto his chest and screaming for help. Suddenly, an unknown creature breaks out of Kane's chest cavity, killing him instantly. An "alien" emerges and quickly slithers away.
The team devise a plan to capture the alien, unbeknown to its quick growth and incredible strength. The crew search the hallways of the Nostromo, but they soon discover that the alien is far more cunning and intelligent than they thought.
How it came about
While studying film and cinema at USC in Los Angeles, Dan O'Bannon had made a film titled "Dark Star". In that film, he had made an alien made from a spray-painted beach ball and that experience had egged him on to make another film with an alien that "looked real". Ronald Shusett, who was currently working on what would become Total Recall, had seen Dark Star and was incredibly impressed by it, so he contacted O'Bannon. By that time, O'Bannon and written a 20-page script title "Memory", which would eventually turn out to be the opening scene in Alien. However, the script only reached the point where the Nostromo had crashed landed on the planet where the distress call was coming from and was yet to come up with a premises for the alien antagonist.
O'Bannon soon signed on to join the making of a film-adaption of the book "Dune", which would have him living in Paris for six months. Eventually, that fell through and O'Bannon moved in with Shusett in LA and they began working on Memory and adapting it into a lengthy motion picture.
The working title was "Star Beast", however O'Bannon changed this soon after to the far more simplistic "Alien", which would end up being the movie's end title. O'Bannon and Shusett liked the simplicity of this title and its double meaning as a noun and adjective.
Shusett put forward an idea to O'Bannon about gremlins infecting bombers during WWII and how they could transform that to a space setting in the future. Eventually, Shusett came up with the idea of an alien implanting an embryo inside a crew member of the ship, eventually bursting out, killing the crew member and wrecking havoc on the ship.
While writing the final script for "Alien", O'Bannon said that he "didn't steal the idea from anybody, he stole it from everybody", citing the fact that he took inspiration from a countless amount of science fiction story ideas and books.
Having almost finished the script, O'Bannon and Shusett pitched it to several movie studios, calling it "Jaws in space". They were on the verge of a deal with a small production company when a friend suggested they show the script to Walter Hill and Gordon Caroll, who had formed an all new production company with good ties to 20th Century Fox. They eventually signed with that company, however, tension arose after several executives at Brandywine didn't like the finished product and made several rewrites and changes to the script that O'Bannon and Shusett had submitted.
O'Bannon claimed that the rewrites were ordered so as the studio could justify taking O'Bannon's and Shusett's names off the script, however some parts of the final script that made it in the movie were praised by Shusett, such as the android character Ash, even though O'Bannon thought it was an unnecessary subplot.
After 20th Century Fox held back the film for fear that science-fiction was too hard to sell, Star Wars burst onto the scene, changing their perception. Eventually, the film was greenlit and given a budget of $4.2 Million.
The Actors
Bolaji Badejo as The Alien - From Nigeria, Badejo was spotted by a crew member and suggested to Ridley Scott. His 7"2 height and skinny frame made him perfect for the alien suit.
Veronica Cartwright as Lambert - Playing the role of the ships navigator, Cartwright apparently disliked how her character was the weakest emotionally.
Ian Holme as Ash - The most experienced actor of all the crew, Holme played an android that would eventually make a decision that effects the entire crew.
John Hurt as Kane - Hurt played the doomed "Kane" character, who made way for one of the most memorable villains in motion picture history.
Yaphet Kotto as Parker - Kotto was added to the cast to add a bit of "international" flavour in the otherwise all American and British cast.
Tom Skerritt as Dallas - Skerritt played the role of the captain of Nostromo. Initially, Skerritt rejected the role, but once the budget was doubled and Ridley Scott was announced as director, he changed his mind.
Harry Dead Stanton as Brett - Stanton apparently won the role of Brett by making Ridley Scott laugh during the audition process by walking in and stating, "I don't like sci-fi movies".
Sigourney Weaver as Ripley - Weaver played the Warrant Officer and main protagonist of Alien, Ripley. Ripley was the last character to be cast, and a woman was chosen as the lead character to help differentiate Alien apart from other sci-fi films that were mainly male dominated.
Review
By Gaetano Prestia
Even though Alien is almost 30 years old, it still holds up today as one of the most memorable and chilling science fiction movies ever made. What makes Alien so special is that it blends basic science fiction elements - such as horror and references to contemporary society - with great characters, futuristic sets and an antagonist that is seemingly ageless. Alien is science fiction in poetry form, a film that blends so many of the things that scare us into a ship filled with memorable characters and even more memorable scenes. The world has seen so many other attempts at science-fiction horror, but none have truly been able to produce the thrilling and intense experience we get with Alien. It doesn't rely on a spectacular music score or breathtaking special effects, but rather brilliant acting and direction and a script that highlights how fragile the human race is, both emotionally and physically.
Aliens
Released: 1986
Directed By: James Cameron
Starring: Sigorney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser
Budget: $18.5 Million
Gross Revenue: $131,060,248
Awards:
* Academy Award : Sound Effects Editing
* Academy Award: Visual Effects
* Nomination: Best Actress - Sigourney Weaver
* Nomination: Best Music
* Nomination: Best Sound
* Nomination: Best Film Editing
* Nomination: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration
* Winner of 8 Saturn Awards (Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress
Aliens picks up 57 years after the events of the first movie. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the only survivor of the Nostromo is found drifting in Hypersleep and brought back to Earth. Ripley's world has been turned upside down, with everyone she worked with on the ship being killed, her daughter having died while she was in hypersleep and an interview panel from her employer, the Weyland-Yutani Coroporation, tears her apart, not believing her tale of the alien lifeform. Ripley learns that the planet where she found the alien, LV-426, is now home to a terraformed colony. Contact with the colony has been lost, so the company is sending Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) and Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) of the Colonial Marines to investigate, and they want to take Ripley along as a consultant. At first Ripley immediately dismisses the idea, but at the chance to face her fears she eventually decides to go.
The heavily-armed team land on the surface of LV-426 via dropship, where they find the colony station abandoned. They do find two living alien "Facehuggers" in the colony's medical lab, and a young girl known as Newt (Carrie Henn) who has been separated from her family. Newt forms a bond with Ripley and together they discover that the colony inhabitants are being clustered into cocoon like forms in the Nuclear powered atmosphere processing station.
How it came about
James Cameron envisioned a sequel to the first Alien movie, and wrote a 45 page treatment in a total of four days while competing the pre-production of The Terminator in 1983. The idea was put on hiatus, but due to Arnold Schwarzenegger's commitments to Conan the Destroyer, it gave Cameron more time to work on his idea for Aliens. He finished a 90 page script and Fox were so impressed that they told Cameron that if The Terminator was a success, they would let him direct Aliens.
Cameron wanted to create a more action heavy sequel to the first movie with more emphasis on "terror than horror". He is said to have used the Vietnam War as inspiration for the movie, a situation in which a technologically superior force was mired in a hostile foreign environment.
The Actors
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley , the only character who previously encountered one of the Aliens. Ripley accompanies the Colonial Marines to investigate LV-426. Weaver reprised her role from Alien, with Ripley being the only recurring character from that film.
Paul Reiser as Carter J. Burke , a corporate lawyer for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation who meets with Ripley after she is awakened from cryogenic stasis. He accompanies Ripley and the Marines to LV-426 to oversee the company's interests in the mission.
Michael Biehn as Corporal Dwayne Hicks , a squad leader of the investigating Colonial Marines. Hicks forms a close bond with Ripley during the mission on LV-426.
Lance Henriksen as Bishop , the android Executive Officer of the Sulaco. Bishop accompanies the team investigating the disappearance of the colonists on LV-426.
Carrie Henn as Newt , real name Rebecca Jorden, a child who is the only survivor of the colony on LV-426. She forms a close bond with Ripley.
William Hope as Lieutenant William Gorman , the Commanding Officer of the Colonial Marines sent to investigate LV-426.
Al Matthews as Sergeant Al Apone , the senior non-commissioned officer of the investigating Colonial Marines.
Cynthia Dale Scott as Corporal Cynthia Dietrich, the Marine team's corpsman.
Bill Paxton as Private William Hudson , the Marine team's technician.
Jenette Goldstein as Private Jenette Vasquez , a tough female Marine and operator of the M56 smart gun. She shares a close bond with Private Drake.
Mark Rolston as Private Mark Drake , Private Vasquez's smart gun partner.
Ricco Ross as Private Ricco Frost , the Marine team's APC driver.
Colette Hiller as Corporal Collette Ferro , the Marines' dropship pilot.
Daniel Kash as Private Daniel Spunkmeyer , the dropship's crew chief.
Review
By Stephen Heller
Aliens is a balls to the wall action flick, but it doesn't abandon the emotions or the frailties that were shown in the first Alien movie. Aliens manages to create a sense of tension and suspense that has very rarely been seen since, with characters that are memorable, and an enemy that is truly terrifying. Over 20 years later this still rates as one of the best action movies of all time, featuring some of the best set pieces of all time, and has been an inspiration to some of today's biggest movies. If you want something that is a little bit thought provoking, alongside with your kick ass now, ask questions later type of movie, Aliens is the best
Alien 3
Released: 1992
Directed By: David Fincher
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann
Budget: $50 million
Gross Revenue: $159,773,545
While in stasis, the Sulaco experiences an on-board fire and launches an escape pod containing Ripley, Newt, Hicks and the damaged android Bishop to the planet Fiorina "Fury" 161, a penal colony inhabited by all-male former inmates with "double-Y" chromosome patterns. A facehugger is seen to escape from the pod and attacks an approaching dog. Ripley awakens to discover that she is the lone survivor of the incident.
The dog gives birth to an alien which is then running rampant across the facility killing inmates. Ripley shares her knowledge of the Alien species, and demands that they try to hunt it down and kill it. She is told that there are no weapons on the colony, and their only hope is a rescue ship being sent for Ripley by the Weyland Yutani Corporation.
Back in the infirmary the Alien breaks in and kills Dr Clemens, and it begins to approach Ripley, though it does not kill her. She runs to the mess hall to warn the others, but witnesses the alien kill the colony's warden. Ripley rallies the inmates to attempt to trap the creature, but it all goes haywire and results in more deaths. Ripley discovers using the medical equipment from her escape pod, that she has the embryo of the queen alien inside of her. She begs the inmates to kill her, and they agree if she helps them to destroy the alien. They lure it into the furnace and the alien is destroyed.
The rescue craft from the Weyland-Yutami Corporation arrives and the creator of Bishop tries to persuade Ripley to undergo surgery to remove the embryo. Ripley refuses and throws herself into the furnace just as the queen alien bursts from her chest
How it came about
Originally put forward as a back-to-back production, with Alien 3 focusing on Michael Beihn's character in Aliens and Alien 4 reintroducing Ripley as the main character, the project fell through after Ridley Scott was unable to direct due to other commitments (although he expressed interest). A script was written by David Twohy that didn't include Ripley as the main character, however, Fox rejected this script, as the Alien franchise was the most memorable series with a female protagonist and she was the centrepiece of the franchise.
Sigourney Weaver as originally not interested in being in Alien 3 because of the studios removal of key character scenes from Aliens, which she deemed crucial to the backstory of Ripley.
After several re-writes, a final script written by David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson based on a story by Vincent Ward was used by director David Fincher.
The Actors
Sigourney Weaver as Ripley - The only character to appear in all Alien movies (a part from the alien itself).
Charles S. Dutton as Lenard Dillon - A spiritual leader of Fiorina-161.
Charles Dance - Jonathan Clemen - A former inmate on Fiorina-161, Clemen now acts as the facility's doctor.
Brian Glover as Harold Andrews - Glover plays an aggressive and perfectionist warden, or tries to control rumours and inmate behaviour after Ripley's arrival.
Ralph Brown as Francis Aaron - Aaron is a prison guide. The character is referred to as "85", which is his IQ score.
Lance Henriksen as Bishop II - Appearing only in the final scene of the film, Bishop II, who states that he is the human creator of the Bishop android from Aliens, tries to persuade Ripley to allow the company to surgically remove the alien queen growing inside her.
Review
By Gaetano Prestia
Alien 3 is a very difficult film to like, if not for its obvious exploitation of the franchise, then for 20th Century Fox's supposed poor treatment of the film direction. When you watch Alien 3 for the first time and if you've watched the first two, you'll noticed something significantly different; it lacks thrill and terror. If Alien 3 can be applauded for anything, it's its unique set-design and relatively good acting from the likes of Weaver and Dutton. However, it's the films lacking script and minimal alien appearances that ultimately bring it down. The first two films were able to mesh great characters with some incredibly intense and horrifying scenes, whereas Alien 3 tries too hard to be a character study instead of a sci-fi horror flick. Fincher's direction is solid, especially considering it was his first major picture and how terribly bland the story is.
Alien Resurrection
Released: 1997
Directed By: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman
Budget: $70 million
Gross Revenue: $161,295,658
Alien Resurrection picks up 200 years after the end of Alien 3. Ripley has been cloned on a Military ship the USM Auriga using some blood samples that had been recovered from Fiorina 161. The aim of the clone was to extract the queen embryo from Ripley's body, which they complete successfully, and decide to let the Ripley clone live. Ripley's DNA infuses with the Alien's, giving her enhanced reflexes and strength, acidic blood, and an empathic link with the Aliens.
A mercenary ship, "The Betty" docks with the Auriga to deliver several kidnapped humans in hypersleep for the scientific experiments. The ship uses them as hosts for the Alien Facehuggers, raising adult aliens for further study. The aliens break out of confinement and kill the crew members, so Ripley and the mercenaries are left to kill the aliens before the ship makes it back to Earth.
Several of The Betty's crew are killed by the Aliens, and after a faceoff with the Queen, Ripley and the survivors escape the Auriga just as it impacts into Earth.
How it came about
20th Century Fox hired up and coming writer Josh Whedon to bash out a script for Resurrection, a task he found extremely difficult. Originally the story was going to revolve around a clone of Newt from Aliens, but after the studio insisting that Ripley was the staple of the series, he managed to work it as a clone of Ripley. Weaver was apprehensive to take on the project, but after reading Whedon's script was impressed, and thought the interesting connection that Ripley had with the Aliens would help her to throw even more depth into the character.
The Actors
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley
Dan Hedaya as General Perez
J. E. Freeman as Dr. Wren
Brad Dourif as Dr. Gediman
Carolyn Campbell as Dr. Williamson
David St. James as Dr. Sprague
Raymond Cruz as DiStephano
Michael Wincott as Frank Elgyn
Kim Flowers as Sabra Hillard
Gary Dourdan as Christie
Ron Perlman as Johner
Dominique Pinon as Vriess
Winona Ryder as Annalee Call
Leland Orser as Purvis
Review
By Stephen Heller
Alien Resurrection is a forgettable chapter in what started out a bright shining star in the Science Fiction realm. A visual style and flare that deserves to be applauded is backed up with a rather ridiculous plot, dismissible dialogue and a cast of stars that can easily be forgotten. It feels like some of them are there just to collect the paycheck, with the exception of Ron Perlman who stands out in a movie that seemed doomed from the beginning. If you go in expecting the tension or the excitement of the first two installments, you will walk away very disappointed. If you are a fan of the series you will want to see this, otherwise we could pretend this just never happened.
Sources:
Wikipedia
awardsdatabase.com
IMDB
Time Magazine
Chicago Reader
MichaelBeihn.co.uk
TheDigitalBits.com
EW.com
WashingtonPost.com
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Comments
Kudos: 8
excellent retro guys - good read, and spot on 
15/01/2009
Gold Coast, QLD
Kudos: 1,379
awesome work guys, nice to read the history behind the series
Kudos: 987
Thanks for the kind words lads and ladettes, let's get this out there for the rest of the community to see that we talk about a lot more than just Blu-Ray releases!
Please Digg!
12/01/2009
Melbourne, Vic
Kudos: 743
Awesome work!
12/01/2009
Adelaide / He looks like a horse in a man costume
Kudos: 12,169
****ing great work lads!!! Well done 
I have all 4 movies, but haven't watched any of them. I will definately watch em now.
Thanks.
12/01/2009
Nut Up or Shut Up!
Kudos: 4,178
gdmatt said: Great work Tano and heller!
Not submitting this into Digg?
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Great Retro article too guys!
Kudos: 1,127
Great work Tano and heller!
Not submitting this into Digg? 
12/01/2009
Melbourne, Victoria