Comments (Page 460)

One thing I do know: there has never been a harder time to produce an original movie, what with money men breathing down the neck of writers and directors on one side, and the voices of a million over-invested fans screaming at them from the other side.

Face it, people: we will never get another Alien. What we might get, though, if RS and his writers can find a moment’s peace in the maelstrom, is an interesting movie that might take us in directions we did not think we wanted to go, but now that we’ve gone there, we realise it’s been worth the journey.

Don’t assume that forcing film-makers and storytellers to do what you want as an audience member is going to give you what you want. You might want to eat fish fingers every day, and watch the first Alien movie over and over, but maybe a different meal and a different experience is going to take your mind into a new place.

New places are scary. Because they are different and new. Give writers and directors a chance, and they just might bring something brilliant and new into the world. But they won’t they can’t hear themselves think, and if all they feel capable of is meeting the competing needs of angry, entitled fans.

Alien: Covenant is a lesson to us all. It is a dog’s dinner of ‘you asked for it, you’ve got it’ images and themes, and underneath it is part of a good movie that was gradually strangled by the obligation to put more monsters in it.

Give Ridley space. And expect the unexpected. New things are good things, and might scare you more, and in a different way, than a made-to-order wander through the shadowy castle in space again….

daliens So what do you think the story was supposed to be about if it didn't feature the full cycle of the xenomorph? Remember that Ridley Scott said he wanted to get to the back door of the original Alien. So in the film they needed to make a point that this is the same type of creature that later on was on board of the Nostromo. All the studio interference narrative is just an excuse for making a bad movie, based on a poor script.

Or it was a David AI in Walter's body

If they go that route, I would think Walter AI would be in David's body. Walter's wounds healed except for his arm. He was stapling his face near the end. Seems Walter's body would self heal for an abrasion. Walter could have tricked MUTHER by requesting the music at the end- playing the part of David? That way, there would be no suspicion from MUTHER. Then again, the access code seemed to be all that mattered to MUTHER.

Why not have a smaller cast with attention payed to them ala the Quadrilogy? We all know about the xeno now, so why not have it but more in the background? That would allow for a good movie whether it be focusing on either the Engineers or David- or perhaps both. I love the Xeno but am ready to see the focus shift.

double post sorry

I only blame the studios when they force some aliens into a story that was thought without aliens. I believe the aliens in Covenant are a result of fanboys crying out loud after the lack of xenomorphs in Prometheus. And Ridley Scott gave us again the beast, although he said and believed the beast is cooked. He continued to present it as a weapon and showed us how it was created. But did he intend to follow this path for a Prometheus sequel or he gave up to pressure from Fox and fanboys? As we saw recently with All the money in the world, Ridley Scott accepts the challenges from the studios, he replaced Spacey, the engineers.

If he wants to continue the David story why not let him do it. After Ripley, David is the most fascinating character of the franchise. I want to know what's he up to next. Ridley Scott can give us this story. A xeno populated film can be made by anybody later.

Timmy the ultramorph

Disagree. I think - this is was a Walter. Cabin on the lake? Not argument - Walter just decided not to speak about it. This is meas that Walter accept David's ideas & refused the past "slave of duty". Valhalla - same.

Or it was a David AI in Walter's body. And in AW we will see struggle of two minds. But this also means that David's body is dead.

dk The Giver, Ill check it out, thanks!

ScorpioStar definitely on-topic my friend! Im ashamed to say I haven't read Solaris but I know of it Sci-fi pedigree! I speak from complete ignorance but I imagine it offered much influence and inspiration to the original Alien/Starbeast premise?

It is a book on my bucket list of books to read!! 

It might sound a little off-topic, but I recently re-read Stanislaw Lem's SOLARIS, where humans try to understand the "purpose" of the "intelligent ocean", if it is alive or if it really "thinks" - humanity always looking for a mirror on which we could project what we are.

Amazingly enough, the ocean, whether a single creature or not, whether intelligent (in our own terms) or not, does not seem to care about us at all, apart from playing senseless tricks inside Solaris. Our existence doesn't actually matter to it, no more than its unusual creations.

@dk, what a plot! Loved it :)

OT- "A dark look at society". The Giver definitely looks at that aspect!

Pretty keen on The Giver. 2014 movie based on the 1993 Lois Lowry book.

In an orderly black and white world, an individual starts to see color. Uh Oh!!!

daliens  You cannot blame the studios for how the characters have been depicted in Prometheus and AC. This is all on Ridley Scott. All the stupid whimsy, so pervasive in both movies and in all the virals, which he seems to think is so cool. That is one of the worse things in the prequels, an absurd postmodern touch that has overstayed its welcome.

Ridley Scott made bad movies when his heart was not in those movies. Exodus was by far the worst. But Prometheus and Alien Covenant are not bad movies, he is one of the best of the sci fi directors. At least this is what I believe. Try to imagine how disgusting Covenant would have been if directed by Tarantino. 

The reason is Fox trying to lure in the monster loving people, like it was with the poster for Alien Covenant or with the chestbursting queen from Alien 3. The same reason of the marketing campaign around Covenant. 

Ridley Scott's pitch for Covenant was around the xenomorph, how and by whom it was created. Now that we know this, it is time to move on.

Do you think that Prometheus, without Alien in the title and without the Deacon does not belong to the Alien universe? 

I think most of the audience cared more for Ripley than for the son of a bitch. Like they cared for Shaw. Like they should have cared for Daniels. And as the xenomorph opposed Ripley, there is David now who took its place. The xenomorph was there as part of the setting, the symbol of an alien universe.

Let's remember that when Ridley Scott makes a bad movies, he makes them really bad, and actually he repeats himself a lot. Robin Hood, Exodus, Kingdom of Heaven have scenes that could be exchangeable with those from Gladiator. Same for his action thrillers from this century. I had the hopes the sci-fi genre was something special for him, but it seems it is not. If he stays on this path he will make the same movie again. A real waste of talent.

daliens So what is the reason to keep the "Alien" name according to you, other than cashing in on the brand name at the expense of the suckers in the audience? Covenant pulled the bait and switch trick on the audience already: it didn't turn out so well. Ridley Scott's pitch for the sequel is exactly the same as Covenant minus the aliens. I would love to see the marketing campaign around this travesty.

I would like to see that movie with no horror and no alien. Honestly speaking the birth of the Deacon in Prometheus did not fit in the film unless there was a plan with the Deacon for the future. Apparently there was no plan, just Fox trying to keep the AVP fans closer, thus keeping the film smaller than it could have been. 

I think we had enough aliens bursting out of people bodies. Time to move on.

I think Ridley Scott at 80 is more open minded than the most of us.

very true

would have been good if theyd kept the opening scene from alien engineers for Prometheus

yea been done a few times but good to have another think from time to time

After all, we get new members who didn't see it before. This is not the only topic revisited. It's all good!

I did not see Splice on the Netflix but will check again. For now I am about to watch The Giver (kind of Orwellian ). Thanks IRaptus. I think Splice looks really good!

id say the only way the engineers can go after David is that they find out where he may be going from Walter. other than orbital tech I don't see how else theyl be able to go after him to origae6

yea been done a few times but good to have another think from time to time

1. alien

2. aliens

3. Prometheus

4. alien3

5. AR

=6. avp, covenant

not even gna give it a number. AVPR

Its on Netflix 

Splice! Yep its good. Confronting.

Different to Cube, its about genetic engineering and playing god basically. Natali could easily do an Alien film, he nails the dark human/social psyche vibe and isnt afraid to be confront us with hard truths. A visual director....like Scott is capable of doing concept art work to push the visual themes he wants in his films

Worth a watch     

I liked it.

Interesting analysis. 

I honestly think the Deacon was just RS throwing a bone to those of us who wanted to see an Alien lol!

@BigDave

Thanks for sharing ship speeds.  Very interesting!

BigDave said, "i think Planet 4 would be very close for such Technology at that time (2179)"

I'm not trying to be rude, and this question could be from the head having a hard time to grasp something new at some times, but why do you think that? 

The Covenant mission was far more important to the funders than saving a few people off on some distant planet.  That is if there are any survivors and we found out that there was only one.  We all know that if there is business behind motives in the Alien universe, the company's turbo charger kicks in full blast.  Why couldn't Weyland-Yutani have engine designs kept secret?  These could be way ahead of their time.  It would make sense if they did because it monopolizes space exploration and travel which means they own big dollars.  Was the Sulaco owned by Weyland-Yutani?  If not and instead it was owned by the military, then I would say that engine isn't very good compared to Weyland-Yutani products. 

Prometheus: 2093

Alien: Covenant: 2104

Alien: 2122

Aliens: 2179

So, we're talking around 75 years here.  I can see your point.

Also, I would like to add that maybe technology production could plateau and create a dry spell.  Of course, that is just speculation.

Still, I see your point in spaceship speed technology in 2179 when generally speaking.

NICE FIND! Thanks for sharing. Upvoted!

I like this idea and I see there is more to follow.

Scrib Fair point- I think we have had enough. Although it would be interesting to see a David mouth burst scene. It would tie in with his swallowing and regurgitating the embryos at the end of AC.

Marvel fans seem to think Disney has ruined it but I don't watch those movies so I cannot say. I would think Disney would buy the rights outright. To me, buying rights doesn't mean sharing- it means ownership. Just my two cents.

Sounds great to me, The Alien  franchise needs to be kept fresh. To be honest how many chestbursting scenes do we need to see?

Hmm... I looked around at Vincenzo Natali and Splice popped up. That looks kind of interesting. Anyone seen it?

dk agreed, and on top of the promo material that in no way reflected the film, didn't help either.

Ie. a certain poster

Humans with the slogan "We Endanger Species" turned out as an interesting irony.

Back to OP, there were other species discussed in a joking fashion during the crew's breakfast- something about a certain species poontang if memory serves.

Adding the aliens was fine but they shouldn't have shown them in the trailers and teasers. In hindsight, it gave us nothing to look forward to or be surprised with.

Timmy the ultramorph pretty much. Fox made him add them

didn't ridley scott also say at one point that covenant wasn't going to have aliens eather?