Alien-1979
When Alien was first released during the summer movie season of 1979, science fiction films were all the rage. The trend had been started two years earlier with the unexpected success of Star Wars, and, by 1979, anything even remotely connected with space and/or aliens was guaranteed to raise some interest. It was into this climate that Alien was unleashed upon the general public.
The film's memorable tag line, "In space, no one can hear you scream", promised a far different experience than the popcorn entertainment of Star Wars. In fact, Alien was as much horror as it was science fiction. Alien is about shocks and chills and thrills. Where Star Wars has light sabers and
blasters, Alien has intense atmosphere.
In many ways, Alien was the first of a kind. True - it wasn't the first space movie to feature a homicidal monster, nor was it the first time a group of characters were hunted down one-by-one in dark, dank spaces. However, this "haunted house in space" film was one of the first to effectively cross-pollinate these two genres. Alien became the blueprint for dozens of rip-offs and three sequels. With one exception (James Cameron's superior Aliens, which substituted all-out action for creepy horror), none has come close to what the filmmakers attained with the 1979 feature.
In addition to blending graphic horror with science fiction, Alien has another distinction - it is one of the first films to feature a female action hero. Even today, on those rare occasions when a woman takes the lead in an action/adventure movie, she is typically measured up to Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley. In actuality, much of Ripley's reputation is based on events in Aliens, where she strikes back against the creatures with a vengeance. In Alien, Ripley is essentially just one of several crew members - until the end, when she's the last one standing (not counting Jones the cat). Having Ripley as the hero of Alien is an interesting twist. In 1979, viewers automatically expected that role to be filled by Tom Skerritt - not only because he had top billing, but because he is a man.
Alien is a perfect example of a director gradually elevating the level of energy and anticipation in a motion picture. The way Scott meticulously raises the sense of menace and tension is worthy of Hitchcock. Like Steven Spielberg's great thriller Jaws, this atmosphere-soaked production relies on the viewer's imagination to enhance the alien's nightmarishness. Scott carefully restricts how much we see of the creature. All-in-all a win.
Aliens-1986
Directed by James Cameron, the man who created Terminator (Freaking AWESOME) and Titanic, this is one of those rare moments where the sequel beats the first film in true entertainment.
Aliens replaced horror with action and it worked beautifully. Perhaps the best single word to describe James Cameron's Aliens is relentless. Tautly paced and expertly directed, this roller coaster of a motion picture offers a little bit of everything, all wrapped up in a tidy science fiction/action package. This is one of those rare motion pictures that involves the audience so completely in the story that you're as worn out at the end as the on-screen counterparts.
In Alien, we learned virtually nothing about the creatures beyond the essentials of their life cycle.: they hatch from an egg, use a paralyzed human as a host for gestation, then emerge, exploding from the host's chest, to grow into a monstrous entity. Aliens gives us a clearer picture of the aliens' "society" - they function as an insect colony, with soldiers and an egg-laying queen. They learn and adapt, and understand rudimentary forms of communication. The queen can even work an elevator.
When it comes to the marriage of action, adventure, and science fiction, few films are as effective or accomplished as Aliens, and there's nothing on the market, that will leave you as thoroughly entertained.
Alien 3-1992
This is where it all failed hard. First, there was the creepy horror of Alien. Then, James Cameron took elements from the first and elements of his own and crafted one of the best science fiction/action films of all time, Aliens. After two superior movies, anticipation was high for the third installment.
Alas, Alien 3 is not the movie fans were hoping for. Plot inconsistencies abound and, by killing off Ripley’s surrogate daughter, Newt, before the movie even began, much of the emotional underpinning of the previous film has been rendered moot. A character with that much importance in determining the heroine's motivation deserves something more noteworthy than an off-screen murder.
Alien 3 is, simply put, a mess. The storyline frequently doesn't make sense, with actions occurring for which no explanation is given. Another lackluster aspect of Alien 3 is its feeble score, while pales in comparison to James Horner's rousing work for Aliens.
The characters were paper-thin, in large part because there are too many of them. Had individuals been better-developed, their uniform unviability might have been interesting. The few denizens of Alien 3's prison planet given any personality are treated badly by the script. There are a number of action scenes, but, there's little excitement or suspense.
As for that tag line about screaming on Earth -- our home world is nowhere to be found. The film takes place on a weaponless prison planet where Ripley has crash-landed, conveniently bringing an alien with her. In many ways, this is just a higher-tech rehash of the first film.
As a science fiction or horror film, Alien 3 is barely passable, but, compared to its two predecessors, it's a sorry excuse for a sequel.
Alien Ressurection-1996
They couldn't stop could they? Those bastards at 20th Century Fox had to agree to making a fourth installment even with the bitter taste of Alien 3 still in their mouth. Well, no surprise here, it sucked big time.
If nothing else, Alien Resurrection emphasizes something that became apparent with Alien 3 -the series hasn't only run out of steam, it was getting thin on new ideas. No one seems willing to take any chances with the franchise, so you keep seeing the same basic story over and over again. There's very little in Alien Resurrection that wasn't done better in either of the first two films.
It begins 200 years after the events of Alien 3. Military scientists on the outer space vessel, USM Auriga, successfully create a clone of Ellen Ripley using DNA from blood samples taken before her death. They extract from her the embryo of an Alien queen that had been growing inside her at the time of her death, and raise it to collect its eggs for further use.
The Ripley clone is kept alive for further study. As a result of her DNA being mixed with the Alien's during the cloning process, she develops enhanced strength and reflexes, acidic blood, and an empathic link with the Aliens.
Soon to nobody's surprise, the aliens escape and go on a murderous rampage on the crew. So basically it's a remake of Alien. GREAT JOB BEING ORIGINAL GUYS!
So in the end, you really should only get Alien and Aliens. Those two movies formed a huge foundation for sci-fi that has lasted to this day. Alien 3 and Resurrection shouldn't even exist. In fact if you watch the first 2 films only, there won't be any need for the other two.
What are your thoughts?
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