Comments (Page 692)

DavidWeyland - Thank you for the link!

VivisectedEngineer - I know that the Phobos story IS on the digital HD!

IRaptus - Thanks for mentioning my topic.

I love your ideas! Believe it or not, I think your movie would be/could be awesome as well.

Everybody knows how popular the Dead Space Universe is, but we have no a live action DS movie. (I love the first animated DS film!) I think you described a possible Alien movie using DS ideas, and it is fantastic!

And your idea can include a smaller space battle at the end of the film as well reaching Alien, no doubt.

Can we see these extended scenes in the digital version tomorrow??? Or, will we have to wait for the Blue Ray/DVD?

Either way, I can hardly wait!!! :D

@cuponator3000

I agree! The Oram chestburster scene was top-notch! You're right, sympathetic character, mid-sentence, very violent. Did you notice Oram was still twitching on the ground with his hand up in this air for like...a full minute?

And David's psychotic fawning over the baby-xeno makes it all the more unsettling. That whole scene is very good, I'd nearly forgotten.

@BigDave

I like your idea for a jumpscare scene! Where there is a false build up with an empty egg and then a facehugger attacks the person we don't expect! That sounds really jarring!

 Oh thanks for the link, I am grateful for the reply.

My request would be a story about David and Vickers. Trying to imagine what it'd be like growing up in the shadows of David, and trying to live up to Sir Peter Weyland's expectations. How did her robot like demeanour evolve? Was David her caretaker? Did they have tea parties when she was little(tea ma'am)? What made her so bitter? Who knows. But I thought it would be an interesting story.

I hope that the Alien Covenant extended scenes offered on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs will be awesome. I hope that the Phobos story will be (at least) as long as the Prologue shorts.

Digital HD from the 1st of August

Blue-ray from the 15th of August

If you have a 4K tv, why don't you own the 4K version?

@Lawrence of Arabia

Being alone, eh? Ok, there is an episode of Black Mirror called "White Christmas" which you really must watch, it would be very effective on you.

The thought of being alone doesn't bother me much. This may be a sort of "be careful what you wish for", but I suspect I'd fare better in solitary confinement than most. I do like: my dad, my husband and my sister...

Everyone else can be entertaining in small doses but I think I'd be good at a job like Walter and David had when everyone was in hypersleep. Years of just looking after things without having to actually talk to anyone. That's my dream job but pretty soon after everyone woke up I would just be so over it...

For me, the two biggest fears are: non-existence and guilt. I have a really big phobia of doing something which might cause harm to someone. That's why Oram was such a sympathetic character to me, he took a lot of decisions that turned out really terribly for his crew so I felt for him.

I agree BD I don't think ul get many jumo scares now with the chest burster scene as we all know whats coming. plus I don't see them trying to surprise us when we haven't seen the face hugger unless its at the beginning of a movie and its say a salvage team going onboard a vessel we later discover encountered the covenant or engineer vessel to explain how it could have happened. but I don't believe anyone would really tire of seeing chest burster scenes, I know I wouldn't.

and I agree with the earlier comment that jump scares are not what defines a horror but id say in some cases they are required more than in others. for instance, texas chain saw massacre doesn't need jump scares as its a bloody gore horror but in the likes of alien, one would definitely expect at least 1 scene where they jump a little, especially once they were back on the covenant and they were definitely going for the more claustrophobic feel to that part of the movie. AC for me didn't have any of these. there was no 1979 alien fear that it could be round any corner or in any air vent waiting for u to stumble into it

do u think it would have the same feel or just be wrong if say, Tennessee is the one who survives awakening and a possible next instalment? r we stuck with a female lead in the franchise do u think? would it seem weird to have a male lead?

The Art and Making details some of his work but that chicken scratch is hard to read lol Hopefully in either the Blu-Ray or the creature book coming with the Target edition is more readable.

I jumped pretty hardcore when the Protomorph burst from Oram! I saw the movie... four times I think? I jumped three of those times. Just, right in the middle of his sentence, losing a character I cared about, and it was f&^%ing violent! Definitely jumped when David stabbed Walter, that was a good little jumpscare. I think that's it. I mean, I might be ridiculous and buy a seperate digital copy of the movie tomorrow before getting the blu-ray on the 15th, so maybe I can count them then!

It would have to be done well, but I sort of like the idea of the hive curator! I mean, not that design particularly, but having, maybe three variations of Xeno could be done. Ridley would have to hold himself back with limited money for special efects, but having a classic(ish) xenomorph, something more aggressive and wild (like the Neomorph, but possibly easier to kill,) and something that hangs back to start, protect, and further a hive. 

Add the facehugger idea (or something similar) and it could be pretty scary! Having this variety would mean seeing them less, but being able to capitalize on their presence in the ship (or on Origae-6, whatever goes on) to give us that monster-terror aspect. The only thing is that they have to find a way to balance David and the monsters in a scenario such as this. I mean, I feel like if the writers and Ridley went a route similiar to this, David would have to end up being the scariest thing on the ship, you know? Maybe something could happen where David's creations turn on him and it becomes a survival story for him as much as it is for Daniels and McBride. Or David even has to work with them somehow!! We would get to see a whole nother side of David, but they can still end it on a creepy/psycho moment for him, you know? He is almost always one step ahead!

They would have to, once again, try to mash Prometheus and Alien together. Which could be an amazing cinematic experience, but Covenant showed some of the issues with making the prequels and the original come together. 

Thinking about a smaller budget, more claustrophobic horror movie being the next entry, is excting for sure. I don't think it will turn out how I am imagining here at all, but it's a fun exercise. 

Last thought, imagine if we got a full on Alien horror movie, such as I laid out here, it does well in the box office and critically, and then Fox goes for ONE more. They go all out. They go give Ridley his Prometheus budget (or a bit more), Engineers come into the fold, maybe Walter gets back to try and save the day, Waterston's Daniels has progressed in her arc and is kicking ass, we have the Xenomorph back again, David gets one last psycho outting, and a believable story with great characterization. Like, dream scenario for me right there. Wouldn't happen for several reasons, but still. 

I'm hoping all of David's sketches will be legible so you can read all of the details and observations written on all of the sketches.  A lot of it seems like it would explain, or try to explain a lot of the form and function we see in the eggs and facehuggers.

I liked how they executed Shaw's fate. They left it mysterious up until we see her cadaver and it harkened back to Alien 3 (which I'm sure brought back fond memories/feelings lol). Prometheus was never Shaw's story but David's. I really liked the Shaw character as well as she was one tough little son of a bitch and she wasn't dumb. Yeah she had faith and was a bit naive but like BigDave you saw her character grow and adapt. I think that's what David found so interesting about her, her survival instincts. He wanted that for his perfect organism and I think we'll see the same thing with Daniels as she had a knack for survival as well, now David has plenty to experiment with. He has a thing for tough, strong women. I think Ridley is trying to break new ground with these prequels instead of rehashing such as having a female protagonist survive through each film and instead we're getting a male antagonist this go around. 

Its hard to give us Jump-scares within the Franchise as far as Chest Busters, the only way a Jump-scare would work is if the Characters Discover another Character who is about to be Chest Bursted but we have not clues or signs this Character was infected with a Face Hugger.

No soon as we see Character X infected with a Face Hugger, and latter Character X looking worse for wear, we know whats coming next...

The same goes for Eggs, when know when someone approaches a Egg  then we know whats coming.

Alien Covenant gave us these and so we would have expected them... EVEN IF you never saw the Trailers. Unless you did not see the Trailers and never saw a Alien movie before or are very Jumpy.

The Alien Attack Scenes were also predictable, the only Potential one being the Neomorph attack on Rosenthal.

i would say that anyone who sees Alien Covenant who has never seen any of the Trailers, may have been effected by the Neomorph Births but these where quite a slow build up.. i.e they did not happen as Quick as the Alien 1979 Chest Buster.

So getting Jumps is hard...

I think the best way they could have done any would have been a better job done of when COLE came across the Face Hugger.... i think if these Scene had been done a bit different then it definately gives a Jump-Scare.

They could explore this better in the Next Movie if a Team of Humans be it another incoming group or other colonist on the Covenant awake.... and discover a Area of the Ship with a open Egg.... have a Victim go up to the Egg and peer inside, this gives the Audience a False  Build up as they expect something to be seen inside...

Have the Victim say this looks empty while then looking at their Face, we then Pan to who they are talking to from the Person who approached the Eggs POV

Then at this Moment....BANG! A Face Hugger Jumps at this person from behind, maybe hidden in a Shelf behind some object.

THIS would make a Successful Jump-Scare

Sadly AC never had any scenes planned out as such.

The Shower Scene would potentially had been a Jump-Scare provided you never saw the Trailers.

I don't think shaw was a great character but she had a sense of purpose and was something different to what has come before her. daniels didn't give anything new. she may aswell have just been one of the crew that got killed off at any time and I don't think many would have batted an eye. we only get the sense she is the main character as she has been marketed and portrayed that way but I wasn't a fan. id much rather have seen more of Tennessee

I think indeed the way they dealt with Shaw was bad, ok we see she is Dead, with no real explanation but i dont think they did much homework as far as just leaving her Corpse that somehow looks very fresh and her Chest Cavity open with what appears to be a lot of her Organs Removed.

I am sure they at least could have shown us a more sinister Fate for her, rather than what looks like She had been used to Gestate some kind of Organism, and then had her Re-productive Organs used.

With no real HR Giger/Engineer Technology involved was a bit of a Cop Out....

As far as not seeing Dr Shaw, i dont think we will ever see her again, even in Flash Backs.  I know this may disappoint some but i dont think we would ever cover her again apart from dialog from David

@Thoughts_Dreams

I understand her Character was a bit Naive, with her Faith etc, but i have come across some very Religious people who are way more Naive than she is.  I think Noomi Rappace is a Good Actress and i think when you look at her Character, she was brought up Religious, she has her Faith, its what she may have used for Strength to get her through a lot of Hard Times in her Life.

Yet she is also a Scientist and this can conflict, especially when her works is to Study Various Ancient Cultures and connections to who Ancient Mankind had interpreted as GODS.

This is a bit of a Flaw, because the Study of many other Cultures would contradict her Biblical Faith.

But if we ignore this... Dr Shaw had gone through a Traumatic Event, she finds out the clues to this Place (LV-223) which she thinks may answer who our Many Cultures had worshiped as the Gods, has just lead her to Discover these BEINGS are no GOD's they are just Advanced Humanoid's who involve themselves with different Worlds, and Cultures and our DNA Ancestry comes via them.

But these beings had Bad Intentions for US, Shaw has found out that her Faith is Wrong, these beings clearly are not like how she would have expected a GOD or his Servants to had been.  These beings had indeed played a part in our Creation, Evolution and how our Cultures and Religions had developed.. But then they had wanted to Destroy us and Abandon us.

So ignoring how Dr Shaw was in Prometheus, there was some Pretty Big Questions that needed to be Answered.... Dr Shaw has NOTHING, she has no Reason to Go on and Live.

All she has left is her FAITH and indeed while she found out these Engineers are not GODS, or very nice She still holds on to a tiny piece of her FAITH by asking Who Created Them!

These beings and their Agenda conflicts with the Picture Shaw has painted of GOD from her Faith...

She still holds on to the Hope, that some more Powerful Higher Being of Creation must have been above the Engineers, she is still holding out for maybe their being some kind of GOD or Equivalent out there.  She wants to know if this is the CASE.

And so regardless of if their is some higher Being or not, she would still want to know WHY was Mankind created, WHY did these beings visit us and interact with our Ancient Cultures, and then WHY did they want to destroy us.

These 3 Questions and also finding out who Created these Engineers or who are above them, and the ONLY THINGS Shaw has left...

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN.....

A already Broken Woman, who has only her Faith Left finds out her Faith is NOTHING and the True Agendas of who Mankind had persevered as Gods is something very Horrific and Sinister and totally even more darker and further away from her Faith than what she already found out in Prometheus.

THIS.... could surely change a Naive Character and i think exploring the After Math of a Broken Woman whos Faith is Destroyed and proved False, really gives a very INTERESTING Dynamic to how Dr Shaw's Character could be Evolved into something very interesting and given Noomi Rappace something interesting to Portray.

So YES missed opportunity because FOX felt most Fans want Xenomorphs, and i think now FOX is now panicking and will crack in to make the Prequels Connect to Ripley who after Aliens started to become a boring Character, and rightly should have died in Alien 3 and never to be resurrected.

I fill FINALLY add that Daniels Character i felt got a bit Bland at the end also. The change was very Forced.... i think there is potential to evolve her Character after the Events of Alien Covenant but sadly how the Movies ended can-not bold well for her as She realizes Walter is David and David knows this and so she is definitely a Thorn to any Plans David has.

This Logically would lead to her Character being killed off rather early.... hope fully its not done in the same way as Dr Shaw, i.e  if its done like Captain Jacobs Character was.

No, Fox owns the original Alien design.

If we are talking about the proto xeno in Covenant, it was not supposed to look exactly like the one in Alien. The production artists made dozens of proto xeno designs that Ridley was not happy with. He told them to go BACK to Giger's design and mix that with a waxwork figure of a man he saw in the La Specola Anatomical collection if Florence Italy. That is where the thinner look of the limbs-with-muscles-stretched-across-them aesthetic came from.

Love this art work. Definitely feels Giger-esque.

VivisectedEngineer I can see why that scene resonated with you so well lmao I'm sure a lot of people have this fear as well. I know when I was being put under for a surgery the gas made me laugh like a madman but I wasn't afraid lol Weird things make me scared, like the thought of being alone.

Raised brow, raised nose bridge, hairless, muscular bodies. Pretty clear they were indicating these are Engineers to me.

without changing the entire look of the protomorph enough that it doesn't resemble the original design fox will be coughing up dough to the giger family anyway.

In the Art and Making of Covenant, Ridley instructed Dane and Matt to emulate Giger as much as they can. You can see the similarities through David's drawings. As for the biomechanical look, I think they are purposefully trying to stay organic right now to show the growth of the Alien and his origins considering the ancestor is an organic Deacon. I'm sure in the next film we'll see a more biomechanoid Alien.

Certainly a lot of interesting concepts, and when the DVD/Blu-Ray are out on the 15th August will give us a chance to Study Davids Workshop in detail and lets hope the Extras covers a lot of these Designs and Concepts.

Certainly a lot of interesting Concepts, a number that would have lead to some differences to what we ended up with and raise some more Questions.

Would have been interesting to see how Cameron would have tackled a Sequel to Aliens....   and i think Exploring a Rogue Bishop would have been a Good thing to had explored.

No doubt a Camerons Alien 3 would have had to introduce the Xenomorph but how if Hadleys Hope was destroyed?  And so having it that Bishop is actually doing some Dirty Work for the Company in Pursuit of the Xenomorph and Acquiring some Eggs etc would certainly had been a good way forward.

Would Bishop had started to behave in a sinister way due to damage he suffered by the Queen?  Or could he have already Sinister Motives and when Caught out.... would attempt to use this damage as a Excuse?

@joylitt

If you are going to quote, it may be helpful to pull the quotes where they clearly say they are just speculating about not being allowed to use Giger's designs and don't know.

"I'm just speculating here, but I do understand it can be a bit fuzzy"

"Yeah, it's a little fuzzy to me"

"I don't know, it's all pretty murky to me...we're not in exactly the rights spots to know exactly what went on between Fox and the Giger estate"

"Even though Necronomicon 4 was was what pricked Ridley's ears up and, and that sort of thing, and brought him on, by the same token, Giger did the xenomorph in its final state and everything and all of that sort of language for the production".

If you read Dane's Facebook page he talks about superimposing his art over Giger originals to show how they may appear. One was Necronomicon 4, which Fox does not own. Dane also said in the art book that Ridley had a bunch of Giger artworks that he wanted them to adhere to and capture the spirit of.  Matt shows some drawings on his instagram page that were copies of, or very close to Giger paintings NOT created for Alien. He says something like 'these didn't get past approval of Giger's estate and weren't used'.

I will add that if we are speculating how such a thing could connect to the current Canon, its hard to say unless they are to reboot the Alien Sequels?  Or leave some Big Plot Devices/In-continuity Errors.

We do-not know the State of the Engineers/Hierarchy that is above them, where the Engineers fit within this, where the LV-233 Engineers fit.  We have to assume Earth is not the First or Last Place they (or factions of them) had created Humanoid Life, or indeed that Paradise/Planet 4 and LV-223 are the only other places these Engineers are involved in.

And so as with Mankind, there could be a number of different Engineer Parties with different Agendas, we could see the Return of the Engineers who come to Planet 4 and then they go off to Stop David David.... we have to Question would these guys want to also then Wipe Mankind out?

We could speculate they would want to Stop David and the Damage and Harm he has caused.... but what if some of those who intercept David etc,  come across the Xenomorph Bio Weapon and then after they succeed in stopping David, some of them decide that instead of Destroying Davids Creations they intend to take them away to Study.

THIS IS LIKELY what kind of event would lead to ALIEN

But we have to remember, any Engineers coming back to investigate Paradise/Planet 4  would also likely come across Davids Experiments and discover his Early Prototype Xenomorph Eggs, and so if the Engineers wanted Eggs, they could try and harvest them.... 

If they do not want the Eggs but attempt to destroy those on Paradise, there is the potential this could go very wrong for them.

Which if there are some kind of Saboteur or one of a few Engineers who have a alternate Agenda, some with such Motives could see Davids Experiments on Paradise as something they could use, to overthrow the Governing Body within their Culture.

It would be just like some peoples in our Worlds Governments come across a Weapon or something that could change the Game.... Imagine if their is a Rogue Nation who discovers Alien Technology of a Virus on Earth that they can then use to their Advantage to hold the Entire World to Ransom or use as a Weapon of Fear against the more Powerful Nations.

So the Discovery of Davids Experiments by some Engineers could make some of these Engineers maybe consider with this Weapon they could use it to Gain some kind of Power or Advantage within their whole Society and Hierarchy.

something like this would then surely Trigger a Inter Engineer Galactic War/Power Struggle for sure.

I think its very interesting idea, but one i am not 100% sure we may see.  Not unless we see this set in the following.

1) Future after Alien Resurrection or even many years after Aliens if they Ret-con Alien Resurrection (maybe).  Where Mankind has Managed to salvage and Reverse Engineer the Engineers Technology but eventually this Alerts the Engineers to then intervene.

2) Maybe as above but the Android AI are the ones who Master the Engineers Technology and Enslaved Mankind, and they are then off to Engineer Worlds where the Engineers then come into the FOLD.

3) If we go for a whole Android/AI vs Humans kind of Space Conflict.

As i dont think within the constraints of the current Time-Line so the year 2104-2179 that Mankind would be anywhere near enough Advanced to be dealing with Engineers Technology.

I also think while the Franchise has Huge Potential due to the Engineers Plot, i would think FOX would only ever consider a Movie that has to connect to the Xenomorph and the Xenomorph or similar related Organism/Weapons would have to  be one of the KEY Plot Elements.

But i understand this Topic is a Speculative one... and so indeed their is Potential within the Broader Franchise to bring about some Galactic Type Wars.

That could be even set in the much further reaches of our Galaxy, or in the distant past, or future...  as surely we cant assume that LV-223 is the only Engineer Related Outpost to have Advanced Engineer Technology or even Bio-Weapons.

And surely Earth is not the only World these Engineers have ever created Humanoid Life on, there could be many many other Worlds who may have became more Advanced than us, or even Managed to use and Turn the Engineers Tech Against them.

There could even be a number of different Engineer classes and Race who could be at conflict with each other, where they use Humanoid Creations like Mankind as Conscripted Military Fodder etc.

@Lawrence of Arabia

Let me tell you a 100% true story:

That scene is one of my favorites because, a few years ago I went in for minor surgery (tonsils/sinus) and right after the anesthesiologist put the mask on me, my ENT surgeon decided to waggled his fingers at me and say "Nighty night." in (what I perceived to be) the most ominous way.

Well...having up to that point been trying my damnedest to conceal my extreme nervousness over the surgery and with me being probably the most anxious person you'll ever meet, I began having an all out panic attack.

I remember the anesthesiologist yelling at me "Slow down! Slow down!" because I was hyperventilating (but I did not slow my breathing down. I was in a blind panic. I think he must have reduced the flow of anesthesia so I wouldn't overdose or something).

Anyhow, I went under like that - freaking the hell out.

My fear was not as justified as Daniels' obviously, but when I see that scene I get a little flashback, lol. I can really relate to Daniels' sense of "OH DEAR GOD, I AM DEFINITELY GONNA DIE, YET I'M ABOUT TO FALL ASLEEP AND THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT."

engineer backstory I believe is what we need more than anything. theyv been held back so far and they need let loose but they cant be shown to be easy pickings like the other 2 movies have portrayed them. they should be bad ass and lets see ridley bring back the 12-15 foot giants from the derelict. these could be older generals per say of the military and the ones wev seen are say our equivalent of say grunts who join when they were teenagers but are now seasoned, tough and capable warriors. other than that I don't care. im a huge fan of the franchise but I got myself so hyped for AC and left so disappointed that I refuse to let it happen again. im not expecting anything from awakening so hopefully ill be thrilled with what we get

I cannot remember whether or not I jumped, but the scene when Daniels happens upon Dr. Shaw's corpse was a bit unsettling, for me!

Ordinary people with a huge problem to face, that's what I liked so much in Alien, Alien 3, Prometheus and Covenant. So, as I am not a Marine/Company Scientist person (not an "Aliens"/"A:R" fan), and loved the Engineers so much, I hope to see those giants again dealing with David and his creations, and maybe some fortunate crew members who managed to survive that long, long trip with a mad android.

Wow, neat! I didn't notice that! Looks pretty significant! Almost like Stonehenge! Yeah, maybe some sort of astrological calendar!

Good observation Cerulean Blue!

Maybe they use it for predicting when an Engineer ship is prophesied to come for a visit..?

with eggmorphing being the favoured choice of ridleys for how the species procreates id love to see the process beginning to end. once the xeno has extruded the enzymes we can get a look at what it does at a molecular level in breaking down the human tissue and reorganising it into an egg that then develops the hugger

"Plus, the scene where Daniels finds out it's David not Walter, but there's nothing she can do about it. That scene is just deeply chilling." 

In space, no one can hear you scream ;)

I agree with Starlogger , jumpscares are not really necessary for horror. I think they can be useful, if the thing that initially made you jump turns out to actually be something scary.

Unjustified/"It's just a cat" types of jumpscares tend to be a little unsatisfying (unless they lull you into a false sense of security and something truly horrifying happens shortly thereafter).

As for me, for some reason jumpscares almost never actually make me jump, which probably means I'd have really poor reaction times in an actual flight-or-fight situation.

But, I do know that there were several jumpscares in this movie, because I saw it separately with my husband and sister and I recall they each jumped several times.

I think... the scene where the neomorph suddenly appears next to Rosenthal in the drizzle room was one of them (also, one guest at my birthday said that that specific scene gave him a nightmare).

The facehugger jumping out at Oram, obviously a good and very justified jumpscare.

But, there were so many other scenes that were scary on a psychological level which, for me, is just so much scarier than being startled.

For example: every time I saw this movie, at the part right after the neomorph bursts out of Ledward, and he/his body falls backwards over the table and his back snaps, causing his ribs to protrude at an unnatural angle - I always like...seriously gag, and contort in my seat at that scene.

Plus, the scene where Daniels finds out it's David not Walter, but there's nothing she can do about it. That scene is just deeply chilling.

I concur with Starlogger but the wheat field, Rosenthal's death, David and the flute, Facehugger jumping at both Oram and Cole, and the shower scene with Upworth and Ricks.

All great ideas. The hunter killer/xeno tag team could make for some interesting scares.