Happy 4th anniversary Alien: Covenant!

Happy 4th anniversary.
Honestly, I like it as much as Prometheus.
If Disney or whoever is in control decides to go in different direction, I just hope they get someone who is a fan and cares about the franchise, and not
someone who doesn't give a shit and only cares about $$.

(Some spoilers for Resident evil village)

I recently finished Resident evil village, and one part of the game towards the end reminded me a lot of alien: covenant.
Some previous parts of the game reminded me of other films (Frankenstein's army (2013) for example), but this one specific part immediately reminded me of alien: covenant when I saw it.

I'm talking about this:
https://youtu.be/dBuxkXkc7MY?t=91

Thanks ;)

Never Played RE8 i have to say there is a LOT that is similar to what we have seen in the Prequels in many ways ;)

I always found the Creation Elements and other things with the Prequels interesting and i think its a SHAME that they Felt they NEEDED to give us the Xenomorph and its Origins.  The Sequel to AC seemed like it would TAKE a Inevitable Conclusion but RS had said the NEXT MOVIE would NOT be about Xenomorphs and so it seems it may have NOT been what some Fans may have Expected a Continuation to had shown.

As FAR as Alien Covenant goes i think its left the Franchise in a Pickle because so much of what a Prometheus Sequel could have been had been BRUSHED under the Carpet.... (Engineers, Dr Shaw those Questions).

And WHILE it does take the Themes of Prometheus and Creation to the NEXT LEVEL with David and his Quest to become a Creator/God, i think the Pickle we are in is that some Fans can not Connect to a Movie Franchise about HIM and as we have Begun the Route to the Xenomorph, i think we are Marching to the Inevitable and it seems that its UNLIKELY that some Fans would want to SIT THROUGH another Movie to then SET-UP the Inevitable.  By that if we require say TWO MORE Sequels until we get to the BACK DOOR of ALIEN, and the NEXT ONE will NOT be about Xenomorphs then i am NOT SURE that some Fans would want this they would want to get us to that FINAL CHAPTER

They would want to get to seeing the Space Jockeys turn up, seeing Xenomorphs Tearing things to Shreds and then seeing HOW those Eggs get on the Ship and WHEN the Space Jockey is Infected... i think a LOT of Fans would want to BY-PASS what David has Planned Next....

For me i would be TOTALLY up to go to where David goes NEXT and i dont mind if we have NO Xenomorphs for another 1-2 Prequels before we get the Concluding Movie.

I think its a Shame we may NEVER get to go to other Engineer Worlds, see other Creations and Conflicts be they in the Ancient Past or FAR FAR away... because there is ONE LIMITING FACTOR....

HUMANS so that means Earth right?

It does-not have to had been so, there could be other Humans in other Parts of the Galaxy, who is to say that Mankind was NOT brought to Earth and taken to other Worlds in the Past?

But how would that WORK... surely they wont Speak English?

Caprica (BSG Prequel) those are Humans FAR FAR away who Speak English. Look at Star Wars....  the Skywalkers are HUMAN and they Speak English what a Convenience that is ;)

So yeah you could have had Humans who do-not Speak English we can hear some Ancient Language or Alien with Subtitles then they Speak English as a Convenience for the Viewer.

One more thing.................

Looking back at the Marketing which seemed to IMPLY the Xenomorph a LOT, and when we had the Poster (which we see in the TOPIC BANNER) I am sure that some would have Expected some Xenomorph action against the Engineers.

I think maybe we could see similar in Future (well maybe would have done before DISNEY take over) and i think looking at the Poster then THIS would be something i think that MOST the Fans would have liked to see.  I think the Poster for Alien Covenant was  BIT NAUGHTY.... it Certainly was FALSE Advertising on the Part of FOX

"Do you still hope Ridley Scott gets to conclude his Prometheus prequel series "

That would be GREAT but i am NOT sure we will get that NOW, i think mainly due to HOW the Plot has Written itself into a Corner. 

Looking at the SET-UP i think the Fans would be a bit Reluctant to go and Follow where David would GO NEXT.... but that DOES-NOT mean they have to go the Expected Route!

So we was told that the NEXT MOVIE would follow where David would be going, asking WHAT KIND of World would he Create?  The Plot would NOT be about Xenomorphs (does-not mean there would be NONE) and that there would be 3/4 Incoming Parties with ONE being the Engineers as they Return to Discover the Ruin left behind by DAVID and they will want to get the CULPRIT!

From this i think a LOT of Fans would be wanting to get to when the Engineers Turn Up and some other Humans and then let the Carnage Commence throw in the Xenomorph and i think THIS is what would appease the Fans in General (By-Pass what David is doing for the Most Part).

WELL.....................a Sequel can still FIX things a Little for those Fans who would NOT be interested in another David Movie!

If we look at the SET-UP we have David with the Covenant who will be Continuing with his Journey to Origae-6 which will take him 88 Months, it will be some TIME before his ADVENT Message reaches the Company and his LOG as Walter so the Company will KNOW that David is going to Oriage-6 and as the Ship was likely 11 Months on its way to Origae-6 before it diverted to Planet 4 and with the ADVENT Message likely to not be received for a bit then we can ASSUME that David would have a 2 Year or so Head Start over the Company.

NOW... we see that Planet 4 was within a YEAR from Earth, the Company would be AWARE of that Place and its LIKELY they would SEND a Mission to Planet 4 they would even Consider LV-223 i reckon.  (I was surprised they NEVER went back to Investigate the Disappearance of the Prometheus)

So going Forwards then YES i see the Company going to Origae-6 i ASSUME this may take them 8 Years, (Less with Ships Faster than the Covenant) but then with Planet 4 being like 7+ Years Closer i think the Company is BOUND to send a Mission to Planet 4.

We have the Neomorph Spores to Worry about but also that CAVE of Eggs!

We had Ridley Scott say that Engineers come back to Planet 4 every now and again and they WILL RETURN to Planet 4 at some Point....

So Potentially you could have a Company Science/Military Ship arrive to Planet 4 and they Struggle with the Xenomorph.... and then THINGS get Worse when the ENGINEERS turn up!

The Engineers would have a Tough Time with the Xenomorphs but the Survivors are BOUND to be Impressed with this KILLING MACHINE... they will also KNOW that THEY had NOT created it and seeing LOADS of Human Bodies they would suspect that the HUMANS had something to do with the Creation of it and the DEATH of the Civilization on Planet 4

If your a Engineer you are going to maybe be Impressed with the Xenomorph and WANT to get Humanity Destroyed before we can Spread Across the Galaxy and so you would take NOTE of the workshop of David, you would take some Eggs to your OUTPOST on LV-223 and Prepare to EVOLVE and MASS PRODUCE them to TAKE OUT the Earth.

When they get to LV-223 and Complete the Mass Production and are ABOUT to leave to DEPLOY them then we KNOW that something GOES TO POT!

And so you can Conclude the Prequels without having to go where David is going, and YET you dont Conflict what David does and so it leaves it OPEN to go to Origae-6 where the PLOT does-not have to STEER to ALIEN anymore.

I like portions of Prometheus and parts of AC. I think I like them both about equally the same. AC has some very unique special effects that help tell the story. Stylistically AC has powerful scenes and definitely creates some great sci-fi suspension of disbelief.

Objectively on the other hand both movies for me have plots I just do not care for and so I agree with BigDave that to reveal the origins of the Alien was a mistake.

I would much rather have not known where the Alien came from. I would be just fine if only the Engineers had kept researching the Aliens as weapons of war.

The black goo that David drops from Juggernaut looked more effective and faster than the Aliens as bio-mechanical weapon anyway.

Obviously I want Scott to complete the films and wrap it all up if he can. Disney threw everything in the vault. It looks like there will never be another film. Not sure really what will happen. When Disney put everything away though that was not a good thing for the property as a whole.

I enjoy Alien:Covenant. 

I have two problems with it: 

1.) David creating the Xeno. I thought this was pointless......Unless they can show me why it was necessary? 

2.) I felt no connection to the main characters. Didn't care if they lived or died.

Prometheus was the same. Both are cool space monster movies....but....crazy weak on characterization.

Too many characters in A:C?  Should they have limited the cast to three or four?

Culminating on April 26th, Alien Day devotees will rally for the fourth year in a row for 24 hours of worldwide fanfare. Fans eager to participate can share their own personal memories or recreations of their favorite moments for a chance to become part of the 40 Year

Kabosucash

"The black goo that David drops from Juggernaut looked more effective and faster than the Aliens as bio-mechanical weapon anyway"

Absolutely ;) I have said a Number of times the Xenommorph is NOT really a Great Weapon, its more like a NUKE OPTION, well its Risky and by NUKE i mean it seems a Weapon you can use to WIPE OUT a Enemy but its NOT a Good One if you want to Reclaim/Occupy that Land/World.

The Black Goo from LV-223 as seen in Prometheus would be likewise, turning a Civilization into Fifield Mutants that will each other, and other LIFE being turned into Aggressive Hybrids like the Hammerpedes and even if we get to Deacons or Similar would ALSO make the Weapon something thats NOT ideal if you want to either TAKE OVER/RECLAIM a Planet.

The Neomorph Spores also would be the same...

But YES what we saw happen to the Engineers where there Genetic Material became like Calcified into Mummies.... then YES as a Bio-Weapon that was QUICK and EFFECTIVE and then Weeks, Months latter you can WALK around the City/World and all that remains of the Target are like Statues of the Fallen.

If the Black Goo can be Programed to cause that EFFECT (what we saw with the Engineers on Planet 4) then YES thats all the Bio-Weapon you NEED ;)

Another Point is that Ridley Scotts says the Engineers are Creators and Space Gardeners and it seems the Bio-Weapon is ONLY something they USE to RESET/RECLAIM the Worlds they SEED and so the Effects in Alien Covenant (not Neomorph Spores) would be PERFECT!

And so in Context to above then the SACRIFICIAL GOO would also be a IDEAL FACTORY RESET, if you had URNS full of that Stuff and so say those Engineers would then just START to become DUST/PARTICLES like in Prometheus Opening Scene then THIS would also be PERFECT.

So the MOTIVE behind the Mural and DNA in the Urns on LV-223 and any attempts to YIELD a Xenomorph/Deacon like Horror must be BEYOND merely to KILL a Enemy and TAKE OVER/BACK their World.... something more Twisted is going on with the Minds of those who WISH to USE the Creation/Reset Tool in this way.

"Unless they can show me why it was necessary? "

They decided to go and give us the ORIGINS and to make it FIT with the Theme at Play about Sub-Creation that can become Sentient, feel Superior to their Creator and NOT happy with their ROLE.  with David he had FELT he was Superior to Mankind and the Engineers and he wanted to see what he could CREATE and so they felt LETS MAKE it that David is the Creator...

They could have had him Create something SIMILAR and it still would have FITTED the THEME/PLOT.... but then some Fans be like so where are the Xenomorphs and WHAT HAPPENED on LV-426 so you would have to give the Xenomorphs the LIGHT again and so they thought LETS MAKE it that David was the Creator (it seemed the Earlier Drafts that WOULD-NOT connect to LV-426 and give us the Xenomorph we would have seen David go and Create a NEW kind of Monster).  But this was Changed so that we could FIT the Xenomorph and eventually HOW it got on the Derelict into the Prequels. (while still having David as the Focus).

WHAT A MISTAKE!

"I felt no connection to the main characters"

This has been a Problem since Alien Resurrection really.... if say you have ONLY seen AR (so you never saw ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN 3) then the ONLY Character who stood out was CALL....

I think its NOT quite how many you have, but you have to have 3-4 Main Characters who you can Really Connect with..... taking away the ROBOTS.  Then with AR, P and AC we never had any Characters who stood out, Certainly as far as Survivors....  it was WORSE with AC as for me only Karine, Faris and Oram stood out.... then that was NOT too Well, Daniels and Tennessee you just had NO CARE for..... they was more like Milburn, Ford and Ravel/Chance from Prometheus than any Main Characters. And so  Alien Covenant lacked its Dr Shaw, Janek and Vickers.

My TWO CENTS on the Prequels....

What we have to look at is the ALIEN Franchise was about the XENOMORPH you could not have said had a Sequel to ALIEN R that had No Xenomorphs or had NOTHING you could relate to it with.  You then also had RIPLEY and she was the Continuation, the Anchor Point/Proxy for us, the Character that we EXPERIENCE the Horrors through her Experiences.

There were Under-layers such as Company Agenda, Androids etc.  But it seems they RAN OUT of ideas as to HOW to Continue with the Franchise if you dont have Ripley and Xenomorphs (we in the same Boat Now).

And so the PREQUEL route was the Option and when you are doing a Prequel you are going to be EXPECTED to get Answers to the Xenomorph and LV-426.

But the other PART of the Mystery was the SPACE JOCKEY as to WHO WAS HE? and WHERE WAS HE GOING? and WHY did he have that Cargo... these in addition to HOW/WHERE the Xenomorphs came from are WHAT the Basis of the Prequels were.

During the Production of the Prequels they had Expanded a Plot/Background to the SPACE JOCKEY that could OPEN UP the Franchise to a Expanded Universe, and we got to a POINT when they was like "you know what that Engineers, Creation Plot and Connection to Ancient Mankinds Origins is a Interesting Plot" It was like ONCE you showed the Xenomorph and Origins and then WHERE do you go NEXT!  More Xenomorph Movies?

And so they felt the other PLOT Points are where you could GO NEXT and then it was like "actually we dont have to give the Answers to LV-426 and the Xenomorph we could KEEP them a Mystery"  The Problem was the Clues to WHAT happened on LV-426 and WHY was toned down too much and the Xenomorph did not get a Satisfactory Replacement! with Mutant Fifield doing MOST the Killing in ONE ATTACK and then the Angry Engineer in another Single Attacking Spree.

And so to CONTINUE with a Sequel that would NOT give those Answers and STEER AWAY from ALIEN and Explore more about WHO those Engineers are and WHY they Create Life and then WHY they would Destroy is, well US with Dr Shaw wanting to get those Answers... we also had the Creation/Rebellion Hierarchy which David was the Last Branch of.

After Years of NOT being able to come up with a Story, and FEELING that maybe such a STORY would NOT get a Interest, they FELT that maybe you NEED to give those Answers and to them bring back the Xenomorph and get us to LV-426.

And so the Xenomorph and LV-426 was Brushed Aside with Prometheus while it went to SET-UP another Avenue... and that Avenue was Brushed Aside to actually get us to the Xenomorph and LV-426.... but they FELT that David was the Central Character to  the Prometheus Theme and so the EMPHASIS was still on him.... and the Xenomorph would be BROUGHT BACK... but to CONNECT those TWO... in which they did so with having HIM become the Creator.

But so much more about what else the Engineers had Created, other Horrors, other Worlds and Dr Shaw getting those Answers were all THROWN OUT!

What we got was a Wasted Potential of a Prometheus 2 where a Prometheus 2 may NOT have Pleased those who wanted XENOMORPHS and the Answers (LV-426).... to NOW giving those GUYS the Answers (Path to LV-426) but in a way that makes the Xenomorphs Creation NOT be that Special and the EMPHASIS on that Robot David which well is something that does-not PLEASE many.

Alien Covenant is a part of a conversation between two opposing dynamics:-

1) Ridley Scott's return to science fiction and the matters that interest him. 

2) The A L I E N fanbase involved in its own internal construct of what it believes anything attached to the name should be about with a set of fixed parameters.

In Prometheus, Bladerunner and Raised By Wolves we see Ridley's preoccupations, a fascination with what is life, how much is constructed and to what extent is there a blurring of the lines or could be. How were we created (Engineered benign accident) and mankind's reaction to mortality (Weyland) and how religiosity enters the narrative.

In Alien Covenant we see an attempt to get inside the ALIEN construct and try and attach the monster to the creation riff which pleases no one. 

Fans like to blame the messenger for not being invested enough or lacking belief in the monster.

The reality is whether Prom/BR49/RBW are any good the subject matter is far more interesting than recycling the monster. 

That Ridley would have placed the monster on the edge of the follow up to AC is unsurprising we see the comment in RBW that the monsters are degraded humans just as in Prometheus the rule book was set up that the monster was a degrading of the original intent. 

Put simply Ridley's natural constituency is not the ALIEN fan base. His view of AC is "I told you so" the fans view is "try harder." AC reminds of the dichotomy and gap between deliverer and recipient.   

Nah, my opinion is kind of the same compared to back then. There are some good parts and then there are things that are just not good. Covenant has mostly lame characters, it is too much about a crazy robot, and he is also given the role of the creator of the Xeno. There is too little about the Engineers which is a shame. Even though Prometheus was so and so at least it introduced the Engineers and therefore expanded the franchise.

The could have left the Xeno alone, cool monsters don't make a movie good. They could have showed the Xeno as a cameo at the end of the third prequel. Having new monsters is something that the prequels did right.

“Do you still hope Ridley Scott gets to conclude his Prometheus prequel series…”

It depends on if he gets better human characters, reduce the David part heavily, make the Xeno something that David didn't create, and have more about the Engineers. Keep Scott far away from the story, he can be involved with the visuals but not more than that. Not interested in a movie about a mad android, forget it.

I haven't watched Covenant in a long time, there are fan-edits that improve it a little but it is still not enough because it isn't a very good movie. When the foundation is lame then it doesn't help to add things.

More Engineers please but if it's supposed to be a trilogy it might be a bit too late to introduce much about them in the last movie. Covenant should have expand on that but it didn't for whatever reason.

The poster with the Engineer sand the monsters was cool but it implied a movie that we never got. It would probably have been better than the actual movie. It implied that the Engineers created something that they shouldn’t have and it became their downfall, it could also imply David releasing the monsters on them which didn’t happen. Having David recreating the monster and releasing it on the Engineers could have been better than to have him responsible for the monster.

A problem with the prequels is that they removed a lot of the mystery and replaced it with things that are not as interesting.

“I would be just fine if only the Engineers had kept researching the Aliens as weapons of war.”

This is something that I totally agree with.

Monsterzero brings up two points that I agree with. The last time that there were enough well-done characters was in Alien 3, the rest have been disappointments mainly for that reason. To me only Faris and Oram had any personality in AC among the humans, Daniels wasn't that good and was too much like a rip-off of Ripley but she didn’t have that much of a personality either.

Certainly it seemed that for RS the BIGGEST thing about the Prequels was about Creation, what makes Creation (does Creation have to be Organic Only) and also to look at the Pit Falls of Creating something Intelligent that becomes Sentient.

For me the Creator of the Xenomorph Plot was not so BAD it makes PERFECT SENSE in Context to the Theme/Arc but i do think it would have FITTED just as much if David had Created something Different more PERFECT than the Xenomorph, lets say the Ultramorph.

The Creation Theme would likely had Continued with a Sequel as RS had said it would NOT be about the Xenomorph, and also it would seem that DAVID would be Playing the MAIN ROLE again, which is something else that has NOT settled well with Fans.

Its a Case that NOW they had gone the Route to getting to LV-426 and Xenomorphs then THESE are what Fans are Expecting and NOT a Series about a Would-be Creator as in David and his Quest to become his own GOD/CREATOR.

In HINDSIGHT they should have made a Prometheus Sequel that goes to LV-223 where we get more of a Action Horror and more Clues Regarding the Connection to LV-426 and maybe even a Xenomorph appearance or VERY SIMILAR so then the DOOR to ALIEN could be Closed.

And the Franchise could begin with a Spin-Off thats NOT connected to LV-426 and Xenomorphs and the START of this Spin-Off begins WHEN we see David and Dr Shaw go to where they are OFF TOO.

So Prometheus would then had been a Bridge between ALIEN and a SPIN-OFF.

"Covenant should have expand on that but it didn't for whatever reason."

Sadly this was a Sacrifice as a Consequence of them thinking so HOW do we make a Prequel that will Eventually lead to ALIEN, and HOW do we get more Human Characters as we ONLY have Dr Shaw.

And so you had the Covenant Ship and its Plot,  and sadly to give that enough Screen Time and then have the Engineers get more Screen Time would have meant a Extra 30-40 Min....  i would say that WITHOUT the Engineers then AC had needed a Extra 20-30 Min to Build on Characters... a lot of AC seemed Rushed/Forced.

Every Movie has Lame Characters as LONG as you have 3-4 say who Stand Out and well we have NOT had that since Alien 3.  A Good Plot and Special Effects will always FALL FLAT if the Characters are NOT Good or we cant Connect with.