Alien had just 1 flaw for me....

CanadaPhil

MemberOvomorphMarch 31, 20124435 Views30 Replies

This is one of my all time favourite movies. I think this film is a masterpiece. I love practically everything about it from the story, the selected cast, art direction, cinematography, and on, and on. For 1979, the optical and other effects are top notch...well except for one element and it occurs in the very last moments of the film and this is the flaw for me. Its the scene of the Xenomorph AFTER Ripley has blown it out of the shuttle using the vacuum pressure... and it looks... well... just CHEEZY!... To me its almost like they had run out of money and just had to get the last few scenes done and in the can. Its like they just took a guy on the lot, threw him in a rubber suit and dangled him on a rope outside the wooden mockup of a shuttle... I don't know.. To me there just seems to be something so wrong with it.. Like it doesn't look like any other element in the whole film. I wouldn't call it AWFUL...but ummm... Its pretty close! Hahahaha

Kane77
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 01, 2012

whats looking cheap in this scene for me is the alien dongles but [i]also[/i] dont move vividly like the alien queen in aliens, when she is blown out in space..it just ...hangs. ok, firstly it tries to hide inside the blast pipe..

Lord Ennio
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 01, 2012

I'd have to say the biggest flaw is how the audience knows the creature is behind Ripley, yet they try to sell it as if she didn't know it was there.

CanadaPhil
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 01, 2012

^^^ I think what is going on there is that Ripley is in effect baiting it... But at the same time she is literally scared sheetless and cant bare to look over at it while she is trying to maintain her courage. Up until this point, she really has not been directly confronting it. @ Xeno... I think it was explained that at this point, the creature is starting to get week and is dying and is just curling up in a dark, corner like many animals would "at the end". When Ripley realizes that it doesn't want to budge, she has to flush it out with the hot steam venting in order to piss it off enough to get it to move.

dallas!dallas!
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 01, 2012

@craigamore My thoughts exactly. Maybe cut to Ripley with that intense look on her face, "Can you hear me Ash!" And maybe even a little bit of a jump when we hear, "Yes. I can hear you." Then cut to Ash.

Preston
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 07, 2012

According to Wikipedia, Ridley Scott wanted the ending to be that the Alien bits Ripley's head off and then leaves a final log in her voice. Probably good that this didn't happen.

Spartacus
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 07, 2012

Never Mind...

Carlosnumbertwo
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 07, 2012

Lol . I think someone was trying to be funny when they posted that on Wikipedia. I just saw the directors cut a few days ago and I picked up on how cheasey the triple explosion and the death of the xenomorph was but hey, gotta give them props. They did well with the tools they had. Another part also is when Ashes partly dismembered body is fixed on the table. The difference between the prosthetic head and the live actor is startling and a bit comical.

Rasmm
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 08, 2012

Hey folks, we've been spoiled! I grew up idolizing Lost in Space. Years later when the VHS and DVD copies came out and i watched them I couldn't believe it. Talk about Cheesy! However, Alien still looks even 30+'years later, really good. The shots of the ship corridors early on (especially blu-ray) are crisp and detailed. I could go on. Of course the CRT and graphics shots don't measure up, but Come On! The movie is and will remain a classic.

gritty
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

April 08, 2012

For me there are a few shots which kind of bothered me .. The first is when the chestburster leaves the room... Then the rear shot of Alien approaching Lambert ....... The cut to Ashes head "bobing" through the table.. The shot of the empty alien suit falling away from the shuttle when Rip first fires the dart... There is other lesser things which I would see differently but it's still pretty much perfect..

Moonrunner
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

May 09, 2012

I was glad to see the creature in full view. Its pretty rude to make you watch the entire movie with only partial glimpses of it and then the movie's over. It was a man in a suit and was filmed vertical to hide the wires and seem like zero G. The scene where Ripley is coming up the ladder in telephoto was the one that bothered me. She is all brown and what is the point of extreme telephoto? Plus Mother talking the whole time and the siren was cheesy. In fact my only problem with the film was when the escape sequence began after the others were all gone. It seemed like a different movie and poor Ridley had probably never directed an action sequence before.