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ALIEN Franchise

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  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Covenant takes place a decade after Prometheus, in 2104.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Having seen Alien Covenant, I found it incredibly dull, despite a lot of fascinating ideas. After all, a little dramaturgy goes a long way.

    It´s funny, I heard some crew member or producer say on some DVD doc that in the 80s Ridley Scott was so obsessed with settings and atmosphere that he once almost forgot to bring the actors onto the set before rolling. Yet Alien and Blade Runner show remarkable acting, and not a single character appears that doesn´t leave a strong imprint in the mind of the viewer. I wonder what made him turn away from that. I didn´t even find the settings in Covenant thrilling, as extraordinary as they were.
  • fjdinardofjdinardo
    Posts: 1,970
    Im seeing it this Saturday coming up!. Seems like people are 50/50 about the film
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    fjdinardo wrote: »
    Im seeing it this Saturday coming up!. Seems like people are 50/50 about the film

    Go in with an open mind and don't read too many reviews.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Yes, reviews can be confusing these days.
  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,163
    Well, John Logan is responsible for the omnishambles script of Spectre.... so that doesn't inspire hope. He's messed up one major franchise, so how about another...

    Having seen Covenant, its a lot like Spectre. All spectacle, no substance.
  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    Posts: 6,844
    Ah, don't you mean all "spectrecle"? ;)
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Mallory wrote: »
    Having seen Covenant, its a lot like Spectre. All spectacle, no substance.
    That was exactly my feeling as well. In fact, I thought SP was rather good in comparison to Covenant. Totally by the numbers imho & it was difficult to empathize with any of the characters.
  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,163
    Some_Kind_Of_Hero wrote: »
    Ah, don't you mean all "spectrecle"? ;)

    Ha!

    Ridley is such a good director, but as many others have said, Scott is only as good as the script he has.

    Scott can shoot the hell out of a great script. See Alien, Blade Runner, The Martian, Gladiator etc (ironically part written by Logan).
  • patbpatb
    Posts: 4,615
    Its interesting that so many great Directors are household names BUT how many great scriptwriters can we name? Without a great script, where does the Director go? The scriptwiters IMHO dont seem to get the credit they deserve compared to directors.
  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,163
    patb wrote: »
    Its interesting that so many great Directors are household names BUT how many great scriptwriters can we name? Without a great script, where does the Director go? The scriptwiters IMHO dont seem to get the credit they deserve compared to directors.

    I agree patb...

    A film is a director's medium
    A theatre production is an actor's medium
    A book is a writer's medium.

    Yes, writers do get a raw deal. But a writer can write the best script ever and through a combination of poor creative decisions from directors, actors, the studio etc, can become a bad movie.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    Lindelof and Scott discuss the other direction they almost went in for 'Alien: Covenant' (CONTAINS 'ALIEN: COVENANT' SPOILERS!):

    http://collider.com/alien-covenant-original-story-prometheus-2/#ridley-scott
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    Posts: 12,837
    Saw Covenant the other day. Loved the violence and atmosphere, hated pretty much everything else. Very by the numbers and disappointing and David was the only character worth mentioning.
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    Lindelof and Scott discuss the other direction they almost went in for 'Alien: Covenant' (CONTAINS 'ALIEN: COVENANT' SPOILERS!):

    http://collider.com/alien-covenant-original-story-prometheus-2/#ridley-scott

    I was one of the few that actually enjoyed Prometheus for what it was and was looking forward to seeing the questions it left be answered in a sequel. Unfortunately it seems like Scott and the writers gave into fan backlash too easily. I was really disappointed in how the end of Prometheus was addressed and where the aliens were revealed to come from.

    I would have loved a proper Alien 5 with Ripley and Hicks. I would have loved a Prometheus sequel that actually followed up on the story threads from that film in a satisfying way. Instead it seems like Scott didn't want Blompkamp having all the glory from the fans and sacrificed his own vision as a result. It's a massive let down imo and personally I'm not interested in seeing any other prequels.
    We know where the Aliens come from now and all the Engineers are gone. Instead all we're left with is David, who's brilliantly acted but at the end of the day I really have no interest in seeing how that storyline plays out because it's sort of played out already. What now? He keeps experimenting until we get something that resembles the original even more then it kills more humans? Yay. How exciting.

    I think if this is the direction the franchise is heading in I'm done. Unless by some miracle Blompkamp's Alien 5 actually happens.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    I've decided I'll wait a few months to catch 'Alien: Covenant' digitally, I have a big feeling I'm not going to be crazy about it and would rather save my money for a movie that seems more promising. Hopefully it surprises me when the time comes.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    edited May 2017 Posts: 5,767
    thelivingroyale wrote: »
    We know where the Aliens come from now and all the Engineers are gone. Instead all we're left with is David, who's brilliantly acted but at the end of the day I really have no interest in seeing how that storyline plays out because it's sort of played out already. What now? He keeps experimenting until we get something that resembles the original even more then it kills more humans? Yay. How exciting.
    Not that it changes anything about the outcome, but I think it´s not quite like that:
    - Except for the royal teint, the people on that planetoid don´t look very much like those in Prometheus.
    - It would be very weird if such a sophisticated civilisation as the engineers should live exclusively in one singular small city. But then again, the film didn´t attempt to explain anything about them, the way their existence and end is thrown in like a cigarette butt into an ashtray. I think I never saw a bigger waste than that engineer city. A whole series of films could have been made just about that.
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    Are their more engineers or are they now extinct
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    Eating my words just a few hours later; got a friend coming over to see the first two 'Alien' movies tomorrow (his very first time seeing them), so I'll probably catch 'Covenant' this week or something now. I don't have high hopes for it but hopefully it manages to impress me.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    Eating my words just a few hours later; got a friend coming over to see the first two 'Alien' movies tomorrow (his very first time seeing them), so I'll probably catch 'Covenant' this week or something now. I don't have high hopes for it but hopefully it manages to impress me.
    Good luck with the latter.

  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    JamesBondKenya wrote: »
    Are their more engineers or are they now extinct
    That is a matter of interpretation.

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Prometheus was what Scott intended to be the next film after Alien. It only took three decades to get the greenlight from the studio.
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    why dont we do a little tally here
    which is better

    Prometheus: 0
    Covenant: 1

    vote once
  • SharkBaitSharkBait
    Posts: 2,107
    Only seen Covenant once, so I say Prometheus.
    and I don't think all the engineers are gone. For one, the engineers in zprometheus were bigger and more pale. Military bred faction of the more human like race seen in Covenant. Then there's that space jockey in the first Alien.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Prometheus easily.
  • fjdinardofjdinardo
    Posts: 1,970
    How long was the trip from earth to LV-426 in Aliens? Does anyone know? They made it seemed like it was a short trip
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    edited May 2017 Posts: 5,767
    It seemed short because those Space Marines are tough motherf*****s who make it look easy.



    I only remeber seeing them waking up from cryo-sleep, no mention how long they slept.
  • noSolaceleftnoSolaceleft
    Posts: 1,162
    Mallory wrote: »
    Well, John Logan is responsible for the omnishambles script of Spectre.... so that doesn't inspire hope. He's messed up one major franchise, so how about another...

    Having seen Covenant, its a lot like Spectre. All spectacle, no substance.

    Actually it would be the third one since he already bombed the last next generation Star Trek movie. That one was so bad it almost made SF and SP's writing look good. Remember I said almost!
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    I posted my review here if you want to know how I feel about the film. I've watched it twice to make sure I got the whole thing. Can't say I'm overjoyed, can't say I'm completely disappointed either.
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    Alien: Covenant North American box office is hugely disappointing, this surely could threaten the proposed future films.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/05/30/box-office-alien-covenant-suffers-record-71-memorial-day-weekend-drop/#2dc60fdd6a32
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,216
    fire_and_ice wrote: »
    Alien: Covenant North American box office is hugely disappointing, this surely could threaten the proposed future films.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/05/30/box-office-alien-covenant-suffers-record-71-memorial-day-weekend-drop/#2dc60fdd6a32

    That's disappointing. Although I would imagine that at least one more is a certainty.
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,526
    Because these films are what they are? Your audience demographic is pretty small.
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