Prometheus and Covenant are both interesting in their own right, but I think Prometheus especially destroys the mystery and menace of the Alien and Space Jockey by just making it a biological weapon and a suit for a big humanoid. It's too much of a basic bitch of a storyline. The original Space Jockey had the feel of an HP Lovecraft story- true cosmic horror.
Every single character, in every scene, with every line of dialogue, is effective. There are no awkward cringe lines. No weak performances. It's an incredible feat.
my favorite "line" is when Jonher hints at Christie to do the ricochet shot when they're held at gunpoint by the security,t an he just says "I CANT do it"
I have been dying to share this story so here we go. The following took place in 1993 when I was 22 and as you can see is still burned into my brain. Took my girlfriend, of about 2 months at the time, to Alien War in the Trocodero Centre in London for her 19th birthday present, best time I have ever had whilst being absolutely terrified. Before we went in there was a small museum with actual props from the film. Everyone working there was decked out in full costumes too. They lined us up by the entry hatch, the Marine guide told us to watch the hatch further down the corridor and said "Just wait, you will see your future". After about 2 minutes the door slammed open and the group that had gone in before came sprinting out in absolute terror. We were then shown into the Shuttle Departure lounge, where another Marine lined us up against a wall and told us to wait, he received a call on his helmet coms and told us we should stay put and he would be right back. He also warned us to stay away from the large container on the other side of the room. About a minute after he left us alarms started going off and the lid of the container started to rattle and bounce like something was trying to get out. Suddenly the Entry hatch burst open and the Marine came roaring back in, he let loose a quick burst from his Pulse rifle ' sounded just like the film guns' and ordered us to listen up if we wanted to live. I was loving the amount of realism they put into this.The atmosphere was intense as all the lights went out when the alarms started and we could hear gunfire and screams from beyond the other door in the room. Everyone was all in at this point. He then told us that an incident had occured and that we had to travel thru the Departure complex to get to the rescue pods, he made it very clear we had to do exactly what he told us to do. We then proceeded thru multiple dark corridors encountering several Xenos on the way, all full size with actors in them. At one point they rushed us into a lift, I was the first one inside and I was stood at the back. Its funny tho, how I was suddenly at the front when the Marine asked for a second volunteer to pull open the lift door, as the last "volunteer" had been pulled from the lift by a full sized Xeno right in front us. In total we had 6 encounters with full sized Xenos, and a desperate sprint thru the hatchery with eggs opening around us at the end, and, yes I did kick that exit hatch open with plenty of energy only to run out into the corridor we started in. I turned to see the next group lined up, looking at us in just the same way we had looked at the group before. My girlfriend loved to tell everyone how I had been moving so fast and with such purpose at the end that her feet barely even touched the floor as I was pulling her along behind me thru the hatchery 'she was 6 feet tall, I am only 5 feet 10'. This was without a doubt one of the most exciting things I have ever done, girlfriend didn't dump me either😆 'edited for awful typing'
I remember that! The queen alien outside that you could take a picture with, and whilst queuing up you could watch Aliens. I remember laughing when the alien puppet opened the ceiling panel on the lift. I will never forget telling the woman I saw a something moving in the Alien egg portion, I was a very young kid at the time... Maybe 8. The woman guide looked at me and carried on the experience. It could have been my imagination, face huggers scuttling along the floor is kinda scary, but the more I think back on it... I think it must have been a rat I saw and not part of the show.
@@shaderax_storm6165 a rat?? In a basement in Central London? I can't believe that of our glorious capital. Next you'll be telling me the streets aren't paved with gold. I am sure the staff had to fight an unending war with all manner of vermin being underground for that many years, good on them for putting their heart and soul into it as it sounds like it was enjoyed by the majority. I guess they would be like the Hidden Cinema types now, jobbing actors. I would have loved going to it as a kid who definitely wasn't old enough to have watched the film but definitely had repeatedly, missed out big-time :D
Other studios and dvd manufacturers would do well to look to the success of the Alien Quadrilogy box set, and use it as a template for future home media releases. Each film had its own disc of behind the scenes content, the films themselves had the option of viewing the theatrical version or the director's cut, and...an additional bonus disc with all the trailers and TV spots for each film, plus a couple of retro documentaries on the franchise as a whole. If Disney only did this with Star Wars, they'd have a sure fire best selling product on their hands.
Thank you! Someone finally confirmed it. Drake was clearly in love with Vasquez. And I'm sure she was in love with him. Those two tough Marines were always spending time together, always near each other, always touching. And the way Vasquez falls apart when Drake is left behind is pretty clear.
They spent time as teens growing up as street kids that did the job corp thing then on to becoming 2120 USMCs. Drake fell in love with Vazquez cuz even knowing he always had her back, she held her own. There was love there but only those two know what kind lol
I always felt that she had something for Gorman (opposites attract) and that her interactions with Drake were purely friendship and mutual respect for one another.
One crazy thing about the issues with Aliens Colonial Marines is that the creature AI was broken by a misspelled word in a text config file. This wasn't discovered until years after release by a consumer. The creature AI was supposed to know where it was in the current map, but the misspelled word broke that functionality making the creatures literally lost and confused.
@@acidbath3226 it was not, Gearbox are a bunch of hacks. the same modder who discovered it also ended up including the fix in a big overhaul mod he did which also gives the xenomorphs the ability to climb on walls and ceilings
Thanks. These retros really help me with insomnia. Just tuning into the well laid out summary and analysis of each movie allows me to enter the fictional world and slip into sleep.
Subscribed to your channel because of this excellent video. I've studied the Alien saga for years and your insightful retrospective was delightful to behold. Thanks again for taking the time to make it.
Unbelievable effort. Like a full Alien Documentary. Oliver Harper is the best in the business and does it in an understated way without gimmicks or being mean. The modern Roger Ebert.
The Retrospective Reviews of these movies was what brought me to Oliver Harper. I love every installment of the alien quadrilogy set with ALIEN³ my favorite.
@@andygold007 Aliens had "kahhhhhl maaaaaay people in pods", Ripley's hair and bloody lifter doing the work, with marines sounding like they're from a parody, it wasn't serious since second film.
This is my all-time favorite movie series. Yes, Alien & Aliens are the greatest ever but each Alien film adds something new and fresh to the lore. I love all Alien films. The series has introduced the greatest female heroine and the most unique movie monster.
Holt McCallany, who played Junior in Alien 3, would also go on to work with David Fincher again, with a supporting role as The Mechanic in Fight Club and as FBI agent Bill Tench, one of the lead characters in Fincher's Netflix series Mindhunter (which is an incredible show).
Great retrospective. Aliens is my all time favourite movie and Alien is a classic too. The others are entertaining enough and are the only ones I have seen on the big screen. I've got the quadrilogy on blu ray but have never gotten around to watching them which is something I will rectify.
As someone who has worked as a writer hired on the basis of "we just want you to do your thing!" and then being assaulted with an onslaught of "but actually what if you did this instead" after handing in a draft, I feel so so much for the original writer of Alien 3. Can't fucking believe they signed off on the wooden planet concept and then tried to make him write a completely different story 😂
I think the Assembly Cut of Alien 3 is a must-watch, and makes it one of my favourite horror movies of all time. It's just so terrifying and existential.
Kudos for all the effort you put into this monster of a retrospective! I actually love Resurrection - I think it was far from safe for the studio, it did take huge risks both in story and direction approach - but I agree with you that there has to be a continuation from Resurrection's extended version ending. I would hate to see Alien 3 and 4 retconned.
I laughed as I watched this retrospective as I also had a similarly older sister with a penchant for renting horror films when I was a kid. I snuck and watched Alien when I was around 6 and it scared the living crap out of me. My tiny little kid brain was convinced that the dinner John Hurt’s character was eating was what caused the thing to burst out of his chest, so I spent the next two years too scared to eat noodles as that’s what I though he’d been eating. Gotta love the ‘80s, right? Who needs parental supervision when you can have nightmares for years and still grow up loving horror films ;)
I always imagined the little alien sitting in Kane's gullet eating the food Kane was sending down to it going: 'mmm, num num, mmm! OK, I'm full. Time to get out of this place now...'
Yeah, I fell asleep with it playing last night. I woke up at 5 this morning with my PC still on and I was wondering what the hell was going on and then I remembered I was watching this.
I love Alien³ - it's as dour as Alien is scary and Aliens is exciting. As good in its own way. Alien: Resurrection gets a pass in that Ripley (well, Ripley-8) finally returns to Earth; her destination at the beginning of Alien (only getting as close as Gateway Station in Aliens). A full circle.
She actually does make it to Earth. Remember she goes back to work at the docks, where she learns to operate a Power Loader (Earth is where tiny appt. Is )
@captnwinkle No. Between the Narcissus being 'salvaged' and the first shot of the Sulaco, Ripley is on Gateway Station. She doesn't break Earth's atmosphere until the end of Resurrection (technically not even then, as it's Ripley-8).
6:13 - This was made as an episode in "Heavy Metal" the animated film (extended edition) that O'Bannon wrote with others. Also his concepts from 'Dune' were there too & later on it 'Blade Runner'
I saw Aliens aged 13 and was blown away for a week. One of my fave movies till this day. Alien 3 I’ve always liked too. It has those bleak hopeless vibes which are ballsy and awesome. Though not a perfect movie it’s still better than 99% of movies made today. The 4th iteration is not of as high quality clearly but still a very fun movie with a stellar cast
Very good! We owe the translation into Latin (Republic) of Plato's Politea (of/pertains to the city state - Polis, 'city state) to Cicero. 'Republic' is a contraction of RES PUBLICA, declined to its Ablative Case Re Publica, translating, roughly, as 'On/concerning the Public realm/matter/thing'. For your classics education; I hope it delights you.
I think the reason you don't see many collectibles of the newborn is that it works very well as a creepy and frightening monster, but unlike the normal xenomorphs it just isn't cool at all. It sure scared/unnerved me way more than the regular kind ever did though.
Nice job as usual Oliver but I’m surprised you didn’t mention the 1995 ac3 Laserdisc of Alien with the Sensurround test mix that not only has some of the temp or alternate Goldsmith cues but in a ridiculously more intensive audio mix that makes the Dolby stereo seem mono in comparison!
Fantastic collection, Oliver! I've never warmed to 3 and 4, but the first two are peerless classics - Alien is in my top 5 films. In a way, I wish they'd never made a sequel, because I loved the idea of Ash saying the alien can't be killed and that actually being true. When Ripley fired it out of the airlock, it didn't technically die. I love that question-mark.
I remember picking up my Alien Quadrilogy DVD set back in 2004. Paid £20 for it, best DVD set I own as you had both the theatrical and special editions of the films and the special features were outstanding! I do hope the upcoming 4k set coming out will be as outstanding, not just in the print of the movie but with some nice additional features since. Great work covering this Oliver.
Amazing job, Oliver. Really satisfying this overview of the original 4 you done here! Will you do the same for the prequels and spin offs? What do you think of the upcoming Alien Romulus flick?
Awesome work as always. One thing I've personally never understood is the preference for Aliens Special Edition over the Theatrical Cut. The Special Edition is enjoyable as a curiosity but the Theatrical Cut is just a better version. My main issues with the Special Edition scenes - 1. Ripley's Daughter -- It's fine but Ripley finding Newt later makes it just a little too neat from a storytelling perspective as a "replacement daughter". 2. Hadley's Hope prelude -- It's totally unnecessary. It's more effective that we as an audience are experiencing the same mysteries and discoveries like Ripley and the marines. The performances are ropey also (as you pointed out). 3. Sentry Guns -- Again, it's unnecessary. It boils the problem down to being essentially that the Marines just don't have enough bullets. 4. Ripley's Goodbye to Hicks -- Nice to see a little more of her connection with Hicks (though it's oddly acted "See. You. Hicks") but it derails the frantic pace and takes away from what Ripley is facing. She's choosing to go into her absolute worst nightmare and potential death. Newt's rescue is understandably her only focus. Her one exchange with Hicks "don't let Bishop leave" is perfect in capturing where her head is at.
@@scottneil1187 Yeah, realise I'm likely in the minority on this but I've tried to briefly explain my reasons. I think Cameron's wrong obviously but at least unlike George Lucas, he doesn't seem to have any problem with the theatrical remaining available for us to choose.
I was too young to watch Aliens when it came out on video, but I had the soundtrack and listened to it endlessly. When I finally saw the movie, it did not disappoint! Alien Trilogy was the last video I bought (mainly because of the facehugger box it came in) and the Quadrilogy is still a high water mark for DVDs
Great video and appreciate all the work put into it. I guess I'll toss in my two cents here as well. I know that so many people love Aliens and I think the first and last 3rd of the movie are truly outstanding, but I feel like there was a lot of dialogue, mainly with Pvt Hudson (Bill Paxton) that became really grating really fast. It was like taking Veronica Cartwright from Alien with her representation of the audience's fears and all but letting it dominate every single scene. That being said, there is a lot to love in the film- it's just when it switches into blockbuster shoot 'em up mode that it loses something. That's part of why I like Alien 3 more- the simplicity of it. No big guns/advance tech, stranded on a prison island, one alien, and just survive.
Alien Resurrection is my favourite Alien movie. I love Ripley 8 and the hybrid. When I was a child I wrote fanfiction continuing that story with Ripley 8 going through a secondary metamorphosis, and the military genetically mixing xenomorphs with animals.
I was thinking about a stand-out remark you made about the change in the tone of Weyland-Yutani between the first and second movies. I wonder if this reflects changes that occurred in the business world between the 70s and 80s. I remember the 70s being a very brutal business environment, still clinging to the vestiges of post-war business practices. The 80s saw a change in tone to a more nuanced, if still brutal business mentality.
I think what happened is that the generation born in the late 1930's/early 1940's was very cut-throat and prone to corruption in the 70's and 80's. Once actual Baby Boomers (born 1945-1964) actually gained more power, in the 80's and esp. 90's, our overall culture (including business culture) softened.
@@knowthycell If you are going to insult someone, at least spell it correctly. It is BOLLOCKS, not 'bullocks'. A bit of irony: bullocks have bollocks!. LOL.
If I am the only person that likes Alien 3 I’m fine with that. It’s additive mythology is wonderful and I can see the films intent looking through its foreshortened ideas that are only partially on screen. I wish I could have seen the wooden planet realized on screen however.
You’re not, don’t fret. Alien3 actually has grown a cult following over the years…it’s my favorite of the bunch…but still a shame we never got to see Fincher’s full vision.
It's a great prologue(if that's the right word). I love all the movies of the alien franchise sans avp requiem. The alien franchise is amazing because every movie is a cross of different genres.
The governor of the prison planet was played by the actor who did the voice over for the British TV commercial for Alinsons bread . . . 'with n'owt taken owt'.
It's pretty decent. I think a lot of the hate is just good 'ol American Bandwagonism. "oh we hate pineapple on pizza now? ok lets repeat it to each other constantly!" "nipples on the batsuit?, it's the worst movie ever!"
The first Alien and Aliens are the only Alien movies i can really accept as canon. I like some of the direction of Alien 3 and its Assembly Cut but I'm still not a fan of the movie due to how they treat Hicks and Newt, an incredibly depressing watch and the alien effects look worst than the first two movies. Watch the fanedit Alien 3: The Long Nightmare turning the whole movie's event into Ripley's nightmare/dream. Less said about Alien: Resurrection the better, they turned the franchise into a popcorn action flick. I prefer the score for the theatrical version of Alien more than Goldsmith's intended score but James Horner's score for Aliens still remains my favorite.
Really good assessment! The first movie is a smart, gritty, sci fi film and the fourth one is just mindless trash. The first two movies absolute classics!
One for the fact fans. The actor who was the original 'Kane' was Jon Finch probably best known for playing the lead in Hichcock's 'Frenzy' but he was also a former paratrooper and later served in the SAS Territorials.
Years ago I read that each film was made around a Genre. Alien = Thriller Aliens =Horror Alien 3 = Drama Alien Resurrection = Comedy Looking back, I think that list hit the head on the nail on how the movies were presented
The studio intereference in Alien 3 will always be one of my biggest bugbears. I really like the assembly cut version that was later released. I never had a problem with the off screen killings of Hicks and Newt, for me it just reinforced the hopelessness of Ripleys life (something nastily reinforced by Resurrection). As a Brit I loved the cast and it presented a refreshing change from the usually US dominated sci-fi movies.
the alien quadrilogy is one of my favorite film series (i only rate mad max above it), with 3 being my least favorite. i actually really love resurrection, in spite of its few flaws. for me, the special edition's end was a wonderful bookend to ripley's story, as it was the first time we see her return to earth. i enjoyed the dark horse comics throughout the 90s, especially the first aliens vs predator series... but those were stories best left in the medium of comics. as for the prequels, they are filled with flaws, and appear to contradict the opening of alien directly. i do like the idea of films further exploring the larger universe, but i feel like going backwards within the series chronology was not the best choice. i certainly never wanted an 'origin of the xenomorph' story. a creature as strange as they are should have at least a little mystique left about them.
Prometheus aren't canon imo, how can they be?, David made the Alien?, then how are there drawings of the alien on the cave walls many years before he made them?, how could the pilot be fossilized in Alien if David created the xeno relatively recently?, it takes thousands of years to fossilize something, if the pilot is wearing a helmet why did it fossilize?, heck, where did the pilot come from if David wiped them out?, how did he get David's eggs?, so many dumb plotholes.
@@scottneil1187 prometheus isn't the problematic movie when it comes to the xenos, covenant is. and when it comes to canon, there is no 'imo' about it, sadly. we can only speculate until fox and/or ridley scott gets around to giving us a sequel to the prequel that will give us a likely unsatisfying explanation for the contradictions... my personal theory is that david basically independently recreated what the engineers had already succeeded at, which is the xenomorphs as we saw them...
There was an Alien The Gun coin-op in the foyer of the Showcase cinema in Peterborogh which I used to go to as a massive treat as the Cannon in nearby Cambridge had gotten so grotty and parking was such a pain and it was before the crapper but closer Warner Village opening. Prior to screens being available at the Showcase you'd queue across and around the foyer and I would eye the cabinet like Luke eyeing his lightsabre in ROTJ when the Emperor's got it. I think I was allowed to waste £1 of my pocket money on it once in several years of temptation and pleading. As prophesised this amounted to about 40 seconds of playtime as I was really unused to playing games at all, especially difficult change-hoovers like that. I spent plenty of time pretending I was playing it during the wait for people to finish having a piss before the long drive home. It was a full life.
Alien 3 was the first one I saw. I loved it, and it's probably the one that captures my imagination the most. I know 1 and 2 are some of the best sci-fi/horror movies ever made, just saying I think Alien 3 is better when you aren't expecting more of the same coming from 2.
The term 'quadrology' is etymologically inconsistent, as 'quadro -' comes from the Latin for 'four' and -'logy' derives from the Ancient Greek 'logos', meaning 'word'/'discourse'. It is customary for the Greek to give us the term meaning 'to study'/'to describe systematically', we should use the Greek also, for the first component, being derived from word for 4 - 'tetra'. This would give us 'tetrology', which is etymologically consistent. Other etymological inconsistencies exist, the most well-known being 'television', being cobbled together from Greek + Latin. If it were all Latin, the whole word would be 'procolvision'; if all Greek, that would give us 'telerama'.
@@stephenhardy312 Also, homophobia. Homo is Latin for men and Phobia is Greek for fear, so guys who fear humans should be either, Androphobic or Homoterrory. And yes, this is a tertralogy, though Romulus totally fits for Alien 5, unless they make its own series. Just forget the Ridley Scott prequels.
Given that they don’t have a time frame for the space jockey, I always assumed it just ran off and died somewhere, maybe due to lack of food+ old age? We don’t really know a xenomorphs life span Tbf
@@itsjustcavan I'm going to go with your explanation, the actual lore is too inconsistent for me. The eggs in the hold were ancient, but I'm not sure if the blue light was supposed to be a stasis field or not. The xenomorphs don't seem to need sustenance, air, or water, so there's that. Big Chap seemed to not be affected by the heat from the propulsion engine from the escape shuttle, but in Aliens flame throwers work on them.
I was too young to watch Aliens. I lied to my father so he could buy me and my one year older brother the tickets. He spotted the age limit on the movie poster outside and said NO. We took our cousin as he looked older than he actually was while being only one and a half years older than my brother. I was only 7. It was a miracle that we got the tickets. Can't remember the age limit in my country but I'm sure it was more than double of my 7. 15+ or 16+. The next problem faced was my parents showed up. There was a mess of discussion with my cousin. I took the highest risk and moved toward a cinema ticket agent. He was looking at the rush in his foyer. Moved his eyes down only to check my ticket and said the usual: "- Welcome, Sir. Row 11, place 18. Have a nice show." What a lucky pass! I was in heaven! My brothers entered only because my parents said they are both teens. I was 7 and I watched it with my mouth open reading all dialogue by myself. I was so scared. I love Sigourney Weaver ever since.
I really liked the characters in Alien and except for Ripley they all got bitchered.Similar with Aliens.Alien movies are supposed to be frightening and horrific,not Little House on the Prairie.😅
To this day I still have no idea how the alien got on the ship in Alien 3. AAALLLSSSOOOO how the heck did both Ripley AND the dog/ox get impregnated by an alien? Was it a special type of face hugger or something?
I think it was a queen facehuhgger capable of implanting more than one egg. How the egg got on the ship is anyones guess,the only logical way is the queen had it on her somehow 😅🤷♂️
i remember when i was a kid.( im 27) now ..my fam was wwatching aliens and then another movie came on about these killer alien babies i wish i remembered the name but that shit scarred me. like alien demon babies. ill find the name hahhaa
Just saw Alien in the theaters. Seen it many times in the past but never seated in a theatre. It’s definitely a legendary movie and it’s hard to define why it’s really scary (but it is). The shape of the alien is in many cases excellent; a weird human reminiscent form blended with some form of bug and reptile is so creepy to watch, the brain is trying to make sense of it. The scenery, visuals and audio are just splendid. The full on terror of the nature of the xenomorphs and their behavior, relentless, emotionless and unforgiving in their natural survival methods is what makes it scary. If any complaints it’s the chest burster which unfortunately really shows its FX age against the horrific scene. I wish you wouldn’t see it sprint across the table in full on view, if it would have just slithered off the edge on the short side it would have been better (easy to say 45 years later, I know). Also it’s a bit messy around the air duct scenes where it’s illogical and confusing both in pacing and visuals.
I was 17y/o when I saw Resurrection on Thanksgiving Day. The Queen-Human hybrid was gross, but interesting. Having the hybrid sucked out the ship was great. The callback was nice too, as Peter Parker got to use it in Infinity War. That being said, I liked Resurrection more than Alien3. Although Roc was nice to see again.
Thanks for this video @oliverharper but I can’t believe you didn’t touch on the alternate ending in Alien 3 when the real Weyland appeared, played by Bishop.
Love your video, not knocking it at all. Just wanted to suggest anything after a trilogy is called a series. Alien Series, Terminator series etc. Great video either way you call it
@oliver The two shots with the burster in the added Ox shots, are CGI, I personally did those shots for the DVD (almost 20 years ago,) collection release. Pleas ebe kind, it was that long ago, I am still not happy with them, but had limited time to model and animate them.
@@scottneil1187 nah, the score alone of both films are better than Resurrection and look amazing, very few people has Scott’s eye for the camera, not to mention David, Walter and the Engineers being one of the best additions to the franchise, if you were a true fan of the Alien franchise you’d know this.
Oh man I wish we'd got the Danny Boyle version of an Alien film. His style would have been perfect. I wonder what that might have done for the series more generally also.
Made a slight mistake when you were talking about alien, isolation. Yes you play as Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ripley from the movie. However, you state in this video that you are also on a mining ship. That’s not exactly the case. You are on a space station. it’s called a space station many times throughout the game. It is not a ship. I still have this game today. And I love going back and playing through the different modes and such in the game. I would love to see this game today next generation remaster with updated graphics and such. It would be spectacular. The only time she’s like shit that even resembles the Nostromo when she’s traveling to the space station. And that is for a very short time at the beginning of the game. You’ve done a review, so I’m sure you already know this stuff I will be looking up your review to see what you thought of the game. Personally I thought the game was amazing. As I said, I still love playing this game today. It’s still has a lot of tension and a lot ask Gary terrifying sections.
I’ve always thought of Aliens 3 as a kind of sci-fi Lord of the Flies…..the dystopian vibe gives the film its own character and the cast often give it the feel of a theatre play rather than a Hollywood blockbuster. It has its faults but the Directors Cut made a huge difference to the overall narrative of the film.
I'm addicted to these retrospectives. I watch many of them 3/4 times. These Aliens retros were the best
a quarter of a time?
You should finish them, they’re really good
Try full speed
i used to sit down with a joint, or a big plate of food. Then play these lol
Prometheus and Covenant are both interesting in their own right, but I think Prometheus especially destroys the mystery and menace of the Alien and Space Jockey by just making it a biological weapon and a suit for a big humanoid. It's too much of a basic bitch of a storyline. The original Space Jockey had the feel of an HP Lovecraft story- true cosmic horror.
Every single character, in every scene, with every line of dialogue, is effective. There are no awkward cringe lines. No weak performances. It's an incredible feat.
my favorite "line" is when Jonher hints at Christie to do the ricochet shot when they're held at gunpoint by the security,t an he just says "I CANT do it"
I have been dying to share this story so here we go.
The following took place in 1993 when I was 22 and as you can see is still burned into my brain.
Took my girlfriend, of about 2 months at the time, to Alien War in the Trocodero Centre in London for her 19th birthday present, best time I have ever had whilst being absolutely terrified.
Before we went in there was a small museum with actual props from the film. Everyone working there was decked out in full costumes too.
They lined us up by the entry hatch, the Marine guide told us to watch the hatch further down the corridor and said "Just wait, you will see your future". After about 2 minutes the door slammed open and the group that had gone in before came sprinting out in absolute terror.
We were then shown into the Shuttle Departure lounge, where another Marine lined us up against a wall and told us to wait, he received a call on his helmet coms and told us we should stay put and he would be right back. He also warned us to stay away from the large container on the other side of the room.
About a minute after he left us alarms started going off and the lid of the container started to rattle and bounce like something was trying to get out.
Suddenly the Entry hatch burst open and the Marine came roaring back in, he let loose a quick burst from his Pulse rifle ' sounded just like the film guns' and ordered us to listen up if we wanted to live.
I was loving the amount of realism they put into this.The atmosphere was intense as all the lights went out when the alarms started and we could hear gunfire and screams from beyond the other door in the room. Everyone was all in at this point.
He then told us that an incident had occured and that we had to travel thru the Departure complex to get to the rescue pods, he made it very clear we had to do exactly what he told us to do.
We then proceeded thru multiple dark corridors encountering several Xenos on the way, all full size with actors in them.
At one point they rushed us into a lift, I was the first one inside and I was stood at the back. Its funny tho, how I was suddenly at the front when the Marine asked for a second volunteer to pull open the lift door, as the last "volunteer" had been pulled from the lift by a full sized Xeno right in front us.
In total we had 6 encounters with full sized Xenos, and a desperate sprint thru the hatchery with eggs opening around us at the end, and, yes I did kick that exit hatch open with plenty of energy only to run out into the corridor we started in. I turned to see the next group lined up, looking at us in just the same way we had looked at the group before.
My girlfriend loved to tell everyone how I had been moving so fast and with such purpose at the end that her feet barely even touched the floor as I was pulling her along behind me thru the hatchery 'she was 6 feet tall, I am only 5 feet 10'.
This was without a doubt one of the most exciting things I have ever done, girlfriend didn't dump me either😆
'edited for awful typing'
That... Sounds.....
AWESOME
I remember that!
The queen alien outside that you could take a picture with, and whilst queuing up you could watch Aliens.
I remember laughing when the alien puppet opened the ceiling panel on the lift.
I will never forget telling the woman I saw a something moving in the Alien egg portion, I was a very young kid at the time... Maybe 8.
The woman guide looked at me and carried on the experience. It could have been my imagination, face huggers scuttling along the floor is kinda scary, but the more I think back on it... I think it must have been a rat I saw and not part of the show.
@@shaderax_storm6165 a rat?? In a basement in Central London? I can't believe that of our glorious capital. Next you'll be telling me the streets aren't paved with gold. I am sure the staff had to fight an unending war with all manner of vermin being underground for that many years, good on them for putting their heart and soul into it as it sounds like it was enjoyed by the majority. I guess they would be like the Hidden Cinema types now, jobbing actors. I would have loved going to it as a kid who definitely wasn't old enough to have watched the film but definitely had repeatedly, missed out big-time :D
Great story makes me wish I was there!
not gonna read all of that crap.
When the Quadrilogy came out i was so excited, it was by far my favorite DVD purchase of all time.
Other studios and dvd manufacturers would do well to look to the success of the Alien Quadrilogy box set, and use it as a template for future home media releases. Each film had its own disc of behind the scenes content, the films themselves had the option of viewing the theatrical version or the director's cut, and...an additional bonus disc with all the trailers and TV spots for each film, plus a couple of retro documentaries on the franchise as a whole.
If Disney only did this with Star Wars, they'd have a sure fire best selling product on their hands.
The cast of Alien 3 is actually insane. It’s so good in that respect.
Roc was huge back then.
Too bad the studio interferred so much in Fincher's vision.
@@PhillipJermakian Roc?
@@SuperAlfern Charlse S. Dutton.
@@PhillipJermakian That makes no sense.
Thank you! Someone finally confirmed it. Drake was clearly in love with Vasquez. And I'm sure she was in love with him. Those two tough Marines were always spending time together, always near each other, always touching. And the way Vasquez falls apart when Drake is left behind is pretty clear.
Ofcourse they were in love
They spent time as teens growing up as street kids that did the job corp thing then on to becoming 2120 USMCs. Drake fell in love with Vazquez cuz even knowing he always had her back, she held her own. There was love there but only those two know what kind lol
I always felt that she had something for Gorman (opposites attract) and that her interactions with Drake were purely friendship and mutual respect for one another.
@@eelponna3145 Hmmm, worth the consideration although most people will argue the obvious, but I find your thought intigueing. 🤔
One crazy thing about the issues with Aliens Colonial Marines is that the creature AI was broken by a misspelled word in a text config file. This wasn't discovered until years after release by a consumer. The creature AI was supposed to know where it was in the current map, but the misspelled word broke that functionality making the creatures literally lost and confused.
So they made a tristar godzilla game with an alien skin?
was it ever patched at least?
It was still a crap game even when fixing that. I only got some enjoyment out of it because im an alien fan. To the average gamer it was terrible.
@@acidbath3226 it was not, Gearbox are a bunch of hacks. the same modder who discovered it also ended up including the fix in a big overhaul mod he did which also gives the xenomorphs the ability to climb on walls and ceilings
@@disregardthatwait. The aliens couldn't crawl on walls on ceilings?! Egad.
Thanks. These retros really help me with insomnia. Just tuning into the well laid out summary and analysis of each movie allows me to enter the fictional world and slip into sleep.
This is a beautiful retrospective, but is saddening that movies are not made with this type of passion anymore.
Alien Romulus will be
Love the details in your work... when you indicate Sigourney loses her temper with Parker, her lips move as you say 'Parker'. Brilliant.
The editing of these videos is just masterful. I'm often not needing to watch the movies again due to the detail and use i f be ost
Subscribed to your channel because of this excellent video. I've studied the Alien saga for years and your insightful retrospective was delightful to behold. Thanks again for taking the time to make it.
Unbelievable effort. Like a full Alien Documentary. Oliver Harper is the best in the business and does it in an understated way without gimmicks or being mean. The modern Roger Ebert.
I probably agree. Unapologetic geek is quite good too
@@andygold007 I think that makes him the best. He truly loves movies...good and bad
Fantastic analysis of these films! Really well done.
Brilliantly written and researched. Hope you cover the Predator and or Terminator retrospectives 👍🏾
He’s done them both
Wow, where do you get the energy my dude? This is top shelf content. I approve.
So nostalgic watching these films in review. Aliens best action and Alien best suspense. Well done Oliver.
The Retrospective Reviews of these movies was what brought me to Oliver Harper. I love every installment of the alien quadrilogy set with ALIEN³ my favorite.
Long cut - WITH dog & Queen burst - would be my Alien³½
I like Alien Resurrection more than most people. Thanks for combining these!
The end creature has given me nightmares. It had potential but maybe it was like Bond of that time, too silly in places for a serious film genre.
Annoyingly they didn’t follow it up immediately with one on earth. FOX were fools.
@@andygold007 Aliens had "kahhhhhl maaaaaay people in pods", Ripley's hair and bloody lifter doing the work, with marines sounding like they're from a parody, it wasn't serious since second film.
This is my all-time favorite movie series. Yes, Alien & Aliens are the greatest ever but each Alien film adds something new and fresh to the lore. I love all Alien films. The series has introduced the greatest female heroine and the most unique movie monster.
But the character of Ripley would've never been possible if it wasn't for Jennifer Lawrence - the FIRST female action hero. 😂
@@MattPurvis-gt3ww Hahahaha I forgot about Jennifer's huge impact on it LOL
X-Men is mine, but this is my Second!
@@JP47471 X-Men is my Top 3 too.
This has been a wonderful experience! Thank you so much.
Holt McCallany, who played Junior in Alien 3, would also go on to work with David Fincher again, with a supporting role as The Mechanic in Fight Club and as FBI agent Bill Tench, one of the lead characters in Fincher's Netflix series Mindhunter (which is an incredible show).
Such an awesome actor. And show.
Great retrospective. Aliens is my all time favourite movie and Alien is a classic too. The others are entertaining enough and are the only ones I have seen on the big screen. I've got the quadrilogy on blu ray but have never gotten around to watching them which is something I will rectify.
Missed this when it premeired 2 weeks ago! But I have some long car rides and this is gonna be welcome company. Thanks for your wonderful work.
As someone who has worked as a writer hired on the basis of "we just want you to do your thing!" and then being assaulted with an onslaught of "but actually what if you did this instead" after handing in a draft, I feel so so much for the original writer of Alien 3. Can't fucking believe they signed off on the wooden planet concept and then tried to make him write a completely different story 😂
I think that William Gibson did a script before the wooden planet.🤔
@@earthcitizen3939 Gibson did his as did Eric Red i think then it was Vincent Ward's Monks and the wooden Planet
I think the Assembly Cut of Alien 3 is a must-watch, and makes it one of my favourite horror movies of all time. It's just so terrifying and existential.
Its brilliant! Would love for somehow Fincher to come back an do the final cut of it. Remastered version.
Resurrection is still better.
@@JP47471 ugh
@@JP47471 ugh
Yes! I think it's my favorite in the franchise.
Kudos for all the effort you put into this monster of a retrospective! I actually love Resurrection - I think it was far from safe for the studio, it did take huge risks both in story and direction approach - but I agree with you that there has to be a continuation from Resurrection's extended version ending. I would hate to see Alien 3 and 4 retconned.
I laughed as I watched this retrospective as I also had a similarly older sister with a penchant for renting horror films when I was a kid. I snuck and watched Alien when I was around 6 and it scared the living crap out of me. My tiny little kid brain was convinced that the dinner John Hurt’s character was eating was what caused the thing to burst out of his chest, so I spent the next two years too scared to eat noodles as that’s what I though he’d been eating.
Gotta love the ‘80s, right? Who needs parental supervision when you can have nightmares for years and still grow up loving horror films ;)
I always imagined the little alien sitting in Kane's gullet eating the food Kane was sending down to it going: 'mmm, num num, mmm! OK, I'm full. Time to get out of this place now...'
I grew up as an only child, so I had to sneak peaks of restricted films whenever my Dad watched something.
Very detailed and entertaining review. Thank you!
Amazing video man! Really appreciate it!
Really appreciate the amount of work which has gone into this
Best thing to fall asleep too. And I mean that with the utmost respect. Incredible stuff my man. You should have a million plus subs…
For sure. I love falling asleep to his retrospectives. Respectively. Its amazing stuff.
Nothing wrong with that. It helps you relax and listen to something interesting while you try to sleep.
Yeah, I fell asleep with it playing last night. I woke up at 5 this morning with my PC still on and I was wondering what the hell was going on and then I remembered I was watching this.
I love Alien³ - it's as dour as Alien is scary and Aliens is exciting. As good in its own way. Alien: Resurrection gets a pass in that Ripley (well, Ripley-8) finally returns to Earth; her destination at the beginning of Alien (only getting as close as Gateway Station in Aliens). A full circle.
Me too. I love the Assembly Cut version so much. Charles Dance also elevated it with his talent.
I love that 1,2 & 3 are so different.Each is a masterpiece.
She actually does make it to Earth. Remember she goes back to work at the docks, where she learns to operate a Power Loader (Earth is where tiny appt. Is )
@captnwinkle No. Between the Narcissus being 'salvaged' and the first shot of the Sulaco, Ripley is on Gateway Station. She doesn't break Earth's atmosphere until the end of Resurrection (technically not even then, as it's Ripley-8).
Alien: Resurecction is as campy/tongue-in-cheek as the others are respectively scary/exciting/dour.
Always love the reviews and this one was amazing. Will we be seeing more Long form, multi film franchise reviews like this?
6:13 - This was made as an episode in "Heavy Metal" the animated film (extended edition) that O'Bannon wrote with others. Also his concepts from 'Dune' were there too & later on it 'Blade Runner'
Yeah, man, the effects in Alien are astonishing. I think I take it for granted, but everything looks so good.
It’s very realistic and gritty.Masterpiece.
I saw Aliens aged 13 and was blown away for a week. One of my fave movies till this day. Alien 3 I’ve always liked too. It has those bleak hopeless vibes which are ballsy and awesome. Though not a perfect movie it’s still better than 99% of movies made today. The 4th iteration is not of as high quality clearly but still a very fun movie with a stellar cast
Actually have this downloaded as a playlist but now you have given this gift.
Very good! We owe the translation into Latin (Republic) of Plato's Politea (of/pertains to the city state - Polis, 'city state) to Cicero. 'Republic' is a contraction of RES PUBLICA, declined to its Ablative Case Re Publica, translating, roughly, as 'On/concerning the Public realm/matter/thing'.
For your classics education; I hope it delights you.
I think the reason you don't see many collectibles of the newborn is that it works very well as a creepy and frightening monster, but unlike the normal xenomorphs it just isn't cool at all. It sure scared/unnerved me way more than the regular kind ever did though.
Nice job as usual Oliver but I’m surprised you didn’t mention the 1995 ac3 Laserdisc of Alien with the Sensurround test mix that not only has some of the temp or alternate Goldsmith cues but in a ridiculously more intensive audio mix that makes the Dolby stereo seem mono in comparison!
Fantastic collection, Oliver! I've never warmed to 3 and 4, but the first two are peerless classics - Alien is in my top 5 films. In a way, I wish they'd never made a sequel, because I loved the idea of Ash saying the alien can't be killed and that actually being true. When Ripley fired it out of the airlock, it didn't technically die. I love that question-mark.
3 has some good points but it’s far too bleak to entertain. 4 is corny and full of dumb characters.
I remember picking up my Alien Quadrilogy DVD set back in 2004. Paid £20 for it, best DVD set I own as you had both the theatrical and special editions of the films and the special features were outstanding! I do hope the upcoming 4k set coming out will be as outstanding, not just in the print of the movie but with some nice additional features since. Great work covering this Oliver.
I bought the face hugger set on VHS which around 1998 which was epic. Sold it sadly like I do with most of my collectibles to buy booze 😂
Your narrative of these awesome movies is amazing 👍
They actually made an audiodrama based on William Gibson's uncovered Alien III script. Check it out
I've listened to parts of it, it's interesting, even though it might not have worked as a movie.
@@earthcitizen3939I agree it is an interesting take, but I sometimes use that audio drama to fall asleep. Make of that what you will lol
@@glasspretender It was somehow even MORE boring than Alien 3 movie? Wow...
Not gonna lie, this just made my 2023 more awesome ❤. Thanks Oliver!
Amazing job, Oliver. Really satisfying this overview of the original 4 you done here! Will you do the same for the prequels and spin offs? What do you think of the upcoming Alien Romulus flick?
The refinery is huge, the Nostromo is a tiny spaceship towing the refinery.
Awesome work as always. One thing I've personally never understood is the preference for Aliens Special Edition over the Theatrical Cut. The Special Edition is enjoyable as a curiosity but the Theatrical Cut is just a better version. My main issues with the Special Edition scenes -
1. Ripley's Daughter -- It's fine but Ripley finding Newt later makes it just a little too neat from a storytelling perspective as a "replacement daughter".
2. Hadley's Hope prelude -- It's totally unnecessary. It's more effective that we as an audience are experiencing the same mysteries and discoveries like Ripley and the marines. The performances are ropey also (as you pointed out).
3. Sentry Guns -- Again, it's unnecessary. It boils the problem down to being essentially that the Marines just don't have enough bullets.
4. Ripley's Goodbye to Hicks -- Nice to see a little more of her connection with Hicks (though it's oddly acted "See. You. Hicks") but it derails the frantic pace and takes away from what Ripley is facing. She's choosing to go into her absolute worst nightmare and potential death. Newt's rescue is understandably her only focus. Her one exchange with Hicks "don't let Bishop leave" is perfect in capturing where her head is at.
Nobody agrees dude, the Special Edition is the definitive version and it's what Cameron wanted.
@@scottneil1187 Yeah, realise I'm likely in the minority on this but I've tried to briefly explain my reasons. I think Cameron's wrong obviously but at least unlike George Lucas, he doesn't seem to have any problem with the theatrical remaining available for us to choose.
I completely agree. Cameron is a director who's better when mauled by studios. Those awful extended Terminator 2 and Abyss cuts are further proof.
I was too young to watch Aliens when it came out on video, but I had the soundtrack and listened to it endlessly. When I finally saw the movie, it did not disappoint!
Alien Trilogy was the last video I bought (mainly because of the facehugger box it came in) and the Quadrilogy is still a high water mark for DVDs
Great video and appreciate all the work put into it. I guess I'll toss in my two cents here as well.
I know that so many people love Aliens and I think the first and last 3rd of the movie are truly outstanding, but I feel like there was a lot of dialogue, mainly with Pvt Hudson (Bill Paxton) that became really grating really fast. It was like taking Veronica Cartwright from Alien with her representation of the audience's fears and all but letting it dominate every single scene. That being said, there is a lot to love in the film- it's just when it switches into blockbuster shoot 'em up mode that it loses something. That's part of why I like Alien 3 more- the simplicity of it. No big guns/advance tech, stranded on a prison island, one alien, and just survive.
I Concur - too wordy / too “ explaining “ = done to help an American audience? 🤔
Alien Resurrection is my favourite Alien movie. I love Ripley 8 and the hybrid. When I was a child I wrote fanfiction continuing that story with Ripley 8 going through a secondary metamorphosis, and the military genetically mixing xenomorphs with animals.
I was thinking about a stand-out remark you made about the change in the tone of Weyland-Yutani between the first and second movies. I wonder if this reflects changes that occurred in the business world between the 70s and 80s. I remember the 70s being a very brutal business environment, still clinging to the vestiges of post-war business practices. The 80s saw a change in tone to a more nuanced, if still brutal business mentality.
I think what happened is that the generation born in the late 1930's/early 1940's was very cut-throat and prone to corruption in the 70's and 80's. Once actual Baby Boomers (born 1945-1964) actually gained more power, in the 80's and esp. 90's, our overall culture (including business culture) softened.
@@ryanjacobson2508 bullocks
@@knowthycell If you are going to insult someone, at least spell it correctly. It is BOLLOCKS, not 'bullocks'. A bit of irony: bullocks have bollocks!. LOL.
This retrospective is a movie in itself . Thank you
If I am the only person that likes Alien 3 I’m fine with that. It’s additive mythology is wonderful and I can see the films intent looking through its foreshortened ideas that are only partially on screen. I wish I could have seen the wooden planet realized on screen however.
You’re not, don’t fret. Alien3 actually has grown a cult following over the years…it’s my favorite of the bunch…but still a shame we never got to see Fincher’s full vision.
The assembly cut is the best movie in the franchise if you ask me
It's a great prologue(if that's the right word). I love all the movies of the alien franchise sans avp requiem. The alien franchise is amazing because every movie is a cross of different genres.
The governor of the prison planet was played by the actor who did the voice over for the British TV commercial for Alinsons bread . . . 'with n'owt taken owt'.
It's pretty decent. I think a lot of the hate is just good 'ol American Bandwagonism. "oh we hate pineapple on pizza now? ok lets repeat it to each other constantly!" "nipples on the batsuit?, it's the worst movie ever!"
What a great great great job u did Oliver. What a pleasure to watch this amazing retrospective. As usual u did an outstanding job here.
amazing vid and discription of two iconic films thanks for this oliver nice one
The first Alien and Aliens are the only Alien movies i can really accept as canon. I like some of the direction of Alien 3 and its Assembly Cut but I'm still not a fan of the movie due to how they treat Hicks and Newt, an incredibly depressing watch and the alien effects look worst than the first two movies. Watch the fanedit Alien 3: The Long Nightmare turning the whole movie's event into Ripley's nightmare/dream. Less said about Alien: Resurrection the better, they turned the franchise into a popcorn action flick. I prefer the score for the theatrical version of Alien more than Goldsmith's intended score but James Horner's score for Aliens still remains my favorite.
For me the script that became an audio drama is the real alien 3
Perfectly summed up ….
Alien 3 is terrible, barring a couple of EXCELLENT shots, no matter the cut.
Agreed!
Really good assessment! The first movie is a smart, gritty, sci fi film and the fourth one is just mindless trash. The first two movies absolute classics!
It’s wild how much the scene where she finds out that her daughter died really enhanced her relationship with newt.
I agree with everything that was said about Alien 3 in this video. It's a fascinating film, whatever angle it's viewed from.
One for the fact fans. The actor who was the original 'Kane' was Jon Finch probably best known for playing the lead in Hichcock's 'Frenzy' but he was also a former paratrooper and later served in the SAS Territorials.
Years ago I read that each film was made around a Genre.
Alien = Thriller
Aliens =Horror
Alien 3 = Drama
Alien Resurrection = Comedy
Looking back, I think that list hit the head on the nail on how the movies were presented
The studio intereference in Alien 3 will always be one of my biggest bugbears.
I really like the assembly cut version that was later released. I never had a problem with the off screen killings of Hicks and Newt, for me it just reinforced the hopelessness of Ripleys life (something nastily reinforced by Resurrection).
As a Brit I loved the cast and it presented a refreshing change from the usually US dominated sci-fi movies.
get a life bud
Couldn’t agree more… a lot of the line delivery works better because of the theatre trained Brits. It’s also so horribly nihilistic yet bitter sweet.
Can you provide a link to this assembly version??
@@hiltrud2001 it’s in the quadrilogy box set or the seven film blu ray set. Which isn’t very expensive. 👍
@@stefan3900 thank you very much! I'll try to find if I can order it online. Living in Greece...
I loved Glen Danzig's performance in Alien Resurrection!
it was actually a guy named Dom Pinon
as the" baby"?
@@wilfredoUbatuba as Sigourney Weaver
The book for Alien 3 is what they wanted the movie to be. Its based off the original script and so worth it
the alien quadrilogy is one of my favorite film series (i only rate mad max above it), with 3 being my least favorite. i actually really love resurrection, in spite of its few flaws. for me, the special edition's end was a wonderful bookend to ripley's story, as it was the first time we see her return to earth.
i enjoyed the dark horse comics throughout the 90s, especially the first aliens vs predator series... but those were stories best left in the medium of comics.
as for the prequels, they are filled with flaws, and appear to contradict the opening of alien directly. i do like the idea of films further exploring the larger universe, but i feel like going backwards within the series chronology was not the best choice. i certainly never wanted an 'origin of the xenomorph' story. a creature as strange as they are should have at least a little mystique left about them.
Prometheus aren't canon imo, how can they be?, David made the Alien?, then how are there drawings of the alien on the cave walls many years before he made them?, how could the pilot be fossilized in Alien if David created the xeno relatively recently?, it takes thousands of years to fossilize something, if the pilot is wearing a helmet why did it fossilize?, heck, where did the pilot come from if David wiped them out?, how did he get David's eggs?, so many dumb plotholes.
@@scottneil1187 prometheus isn't the problematic movie when it comes to the xenos, covenant is. and when it comes to canon, there is no 'imo' about it, sadly. we can only speculate until fox and/or ridley scott gets around to giving us a sequel to the prequel that will give us a likely unsatisfying explanation for the contradictions...
my personal theory is that david basically independently recreated what the engineers had already succeeded at, which is the xenomorphs as we saw them...
This channel is doing the Lord's work!
. . . . meaning. . ?
There was an Alien The Gun coin-op in the foyer of the Showcase cinema in Peterborogh which I used to go to as a massive treat as the Cannon in nearby Cambridge had gotten so grotty and parking was such a pain and it was before the crapper but closer Warner Village opening. Prior to screens being available at the Showcase you'd queue across and around the foyer and I would eye the cabinet like Luke eyeing his lightsabre in ROTJ when the Emperor's got it. I think I was allowed to waste £1 of my pocket money on it once in several years of temptation and pleading. As prophesised this amounted to about 40 seconds of playtime as I was really unused to playing games at all, especially difficult change-hoovers like that. I spent plenty of time pretending I was playing it during the wait for people to finish having a piss before the long drive home. It was a full life.
Aah the simple jogs of youth … when life was soo less complicated.. 😌
Thanks!
Is this a new retrospective or just all the old ones stitched together, I thought, and then I read the video description
Alien Isolation DLC for the 1st Alien movie was very good, wish there was a museum mode just to explore the map.
Yeah, Elite Force had that as an expansion, where you could wander around Voyager.
@@PetersonZF it was awesome
Alien 3 was the first one I saw. I loved it, and it's probably the one that captures my imagination the most. I know 1 and 2 are some of the best sci-fi/horror movies ever made, just saying I think Alien 3 is better when you aren't expecting more of the same coming from 2.
I saw Highlander 2 before the first one. The same can be said there...
In the novelization, it's explained that Burke has arranged for Gorman to be the LT specifically BECAUSE he is inexperienced.
I always assumed that to be the case. Not so much Burke but the company as a whole. Same as they swapped out for Ash
The term 'quadrology' is etymologically inconsistent, as 'quadro -' comes from the Latin for 'four' and -'logy' derives from the Ancient Greek 'logos', meaning 'word'/'discourse'. It is customary for the Greek to give us the term meaning 'to study'/'to describe systematically', we should use the Greek also, for the first component, being derived from word for 4 - 'tetra'.
This would give us 'tetrology', which is etymologically consistent.
Other etymological inconsistencies exist, the most well-known being 'television', being cobbled together from Greek + Latin. If it were all Latin, the whole word would be 'procolvision'; if all Greek, that would give us 'telerama'.
@@stephenhardy312 Also, homophobia. Homo is Latin for men and Phobia is Greek for fear, so guys who fear humans should be either, Androphobic or Homoterrory. And yes, this is a tertralogy, though Romulus totally fits for Alien 5, unless they make its own series. Just forget the Ridley Scott prequels.
This is amazing this should definitely be a part of In Search Of Darkness and horror Norms trilogy
I have a list of gripes with this series, but my most immediate concern is... what happened to the xenomorph that burst from the space jockey?
Given that they don’t have a time frame for the space jockey, I always assumed it just ran off and died somewhere, maybe due to lack of food+ old age? We don’t really know a xenomorphs life span Tbf
@@itsjustcavan I'm going to go with your explanation, the actual lore is too inconsistent for me.
The eggs in the hold were ancient, but I'm not sure if the blue light was supposed to be a stasis field or not.
The xenomorphs don't seem to need sustenance, air, or water, so there's that.
Big Chap seemed to not be affected by the heat from the propulsion engine from the escape shuttle, but in Aliens flame throwers work on them.
I wasn't expecting to hear the phrase "She never had the chance to poop out an egg" - ever - but I'm here for it.
I was too young to watch Aliens. I lied to my father so he could buy me and my one year older brother the tickets. He spotted the age limit on the movie poster outside and said NO. We took our cousin as he looked older than he actually was while being only one and a half years older than my brother. I was only 7. It was a miracle that we got the tickets. Can't remember the age limit in my country but I'm sure it was more than double of my 7. 15+ or 16+. The next problem faced was my parents showed up. There was a mess of discussion with my cousin. I took the highest risk and moved toward a cinema ticket agent. He was looking at the rush in his foyer. Moved his eyes down only to check my ticket and said the usual:
"- Welcome, Sir. Row 11, place 18. Have a nice show."
What a lucky pass! I was in heaven!
My brothers entered only because my parents said they are both teens. I was 7 and I watched it with my mouth open reading all dialogue by myself. I was so scared. I love Sigourney Weaver ever since.
Holt McCallany is also in alien 3 and worked with Fincher a lot after
Oliver Harper is that guy we all knew, who knew everything about movies:D
Excellent work on this video!
When I first watched it in 93 and 5 min in hicks and newt are dead it was brutal. A punch to the gut. I like it now more than I did then.
I really liked the characters in Alien and except for Ripley they all got bitchered.Similar with Aliens.Alien movies are supposed to be frightening and horrific,not Little House on the Prairie.😅
Laying in bed hanging, this was thoroughly enjoyable and made me forget about my hangover 💯
To this day I still have no idea how the alien got on the ship in Alien 3. AAALLLSSSOOOO how the heck did both Ripley AND the dog/ox get impregnated by an alien? Was it a special type of face hugger or something?
I think it was a queen facehuhgger capable of implanting more than one egg.
How the egg got on the ship is anyones guess,the only logical way is the queen had it on her somehow 😅🤷♂️
As much as I like the movie, that's something that I still don't have a clue about.
It was basically just a retcon so they can make a third movie lol
Wow, four reviews in one.....Thank you!
Aliens is the absolute best, movie just gets better everytime I watch it. So many classic lines
Yes I was horrified by aliens as a child and had to sleep in my parents room afterwards for a while ... hahaha
i remember when i was a kid.( im 27) now ..my fam was wwatching aliens and then another movie came on about these killer alien babies i wish i remembered the name but that shit scarred me. like alien demon babies. ill find the name hahhaa
I like how each movie had a certain specific group to each deal with the Aliens:
-Miners/Transport
-Marines
-Prisoners
-Mercenaries
Engagement.
You will forever be my favourite youtuber, because you introduced me to the best movie: LIFEFORCE
Just saw Alien in the theaters. Seen it many times in the past but never seated in a theatre. It’s definitely a legendary movie and it’s hard to define why it’s really scary (but it is). The shape of the alien is in many cases excellent; a weird human reminiscent form blended with some form of bug and reptile is so creepy to watch, the brain is trying to make sense of it. The scenery, visuals and audio are just splendid. The full on terror of the nature of the xenomorphs and their behavior, relentless, emotionless and unforgiving in their natural survival methods is what makes it scary.
If any complaints it’s the chest burster which unfortunately really shows its FX age against the horrific scene. I wish you wouldn’t see it sprint across the table in full on view, if it would have just slithered off the edge on the short side it would have been better (easy to say 45 years later, I know). Also it’s a bit messy around the air duct scenes where it’s illogical and confusing both in pacing and visuals.
Dan Hedaya (General Perez) was famous for playing Cheers' Nick Tortelli, Carla's ex-husband - and was comedy gold whenever he was on screen.
I was 17y/o when I saw Resurrection on Thanksgiving Day. The Queen-Human hybrid was gross, but interesting. Having the hybrid sucked out the ship was great. The callback was nice too, as Peter Parker got to use it in Infinity War. That being said, I liked Resurrection more than Alien3. Although Roc was nice to see again.
Thanks for this video @oliverharper but I can’t believe you didn’t touch on the alternate ending in Alien 3 when the real Weyland appeared, played by Bishop.
Isn't he bleeding in both? I only thought the queen bursting was different really
Ohhh im going to safe this one for tomorrow during my roadtrip. Thanks in advance Oliver!
That is the longest represpective of a lot of the alien movie great job.
Love your video, not knocking it at all. Just wanted to suggest anything after a trilogy is called a series. Alien Series, Terminator series etc. Great video either way you call it
The set of four films was released and named as Alien Quadrilogy. It is a correct word.
@oliver
The two shots with the burster in the added Ox shots, are CGI, I personally did those shots for the DVD (almost 20 years ago,) collection release. Pleas ebe kind, it was that long ago, I am still not happy with them, but had limited time to model and animate them.
Love your Alien 3 review.
The best movie franchise of all time! The only bad film is Resurrection the rest are great and add their own style
Resurrection is a million times better than whatever Prometheus and Covenant were supposed to be.
Could have been but post ALIENS it’s been wasted and miss managed
@@scottneil1187 nah, the score alone of both films are better than Resurrection and look amazing, very few people has Scott’s eye for the camera, not to mention David, Walter and the Engineers being one of the best additions to the franchise, if you were a true fan of the Alien franchise you’d know this.
Resurrection is pretty bad. It tries too hard to be edgy and comes across corny.
Oh man I wish we'd got the Danny Boyle version of an Alien film. His style would have been perfect. I wonder what that might have done for the series more generally also.
Sunshine but with an Alien instead of a sunburnt guy at the end?
“ sunburnt guy” ? THAT’S your sun up of the unsung masterpiece that is Sunshine ?!! 🙄
😆
Made a slight mistake when you were talking about alien, isolation. Yes you play as Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ripley from the movie. However, you state in this video that you are also on a mining ship. That’s not exactly the case. You are on a space station. it’s called a space station many times throughout the game. It is not a ship. I still have this game today. And I love going back and playing through the different modes and such in the game. I would love to see this game today next generation remaster with updated graphics and such. It would be spectacular.
The only time she’s like shit that even resembles the Nostromo when she’s traveling to the space station. And that is for a very short time at the beginning of the game. You’ve done a review, so I’m sure you already know this stuff I will be looking up your review to see what you thought of the game. Personally I thought the game was amazing. As I said, I still love playing this game today. It’s still has a lot of tension and a lot ask Gary terrifying sections.
I also edit videos, how did you create the personalized logo in the style of Cannon Films?
my favourite series, thanks for this
I’ve always thought of Aliens 3 as a kind of sci-fi Lord of the Flies…..the dystopian vibe gives the film its own character and the cast often give it the feel of a theatre play rather than a Hollywood blockbuster. It has its faults but the Directors Cut made a huge difference to the overall narrative of the film.
Assembly cut, I don't think there is a director's cut