Movie Reviews: Alien Franchise
Jun 15, 2017 21:43:42 GMT -5
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Post by Sgt. AWOLaLot on Jun 15, 2017 21:43:42 GMT -5
So I was seeing the advertisements for Alien: Covenant and found myself intrigued. In order to prepare for this movie, I decided it would be a good idea to finally sit down and watch the original Alien and Cameron's sequel, Aliens. It was my first time watching these movies. I'll warn you though, my opinion of Aliens may border on blasphemy.
Written May 16th, 2017
"With Alien: Covenant having just come out in theaters, I decided I finally had to sit down and watch one of Ridley Scott's first films that has set the benchmark for science fiction horror: the original Alien.
Alien came out in 1979 and stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, and John Hurt among others. This was an interesting experience for me though. It was a good film and I'm glad to finally see it, but I was never as scared as people probably where when it originally came out. This is one of those films that has to be watched while thinking about the time period it came out. For example, there is Jerry Goldsmith's score. It was a great score and certainly fit the film, but it was mostly (if not purely) orchestral with little to no synthesized elements. This isn't a negative, at least not to me, but that alone is a telltale sign of this film's age. Many of you have probably noticed (or at least subconsciously know) that a lot of films, especially horror films or science fiction (with the exception of Star Wars), don't use purely orchestral scores with large ensembles. Film scoring has changed a lot, largely due to Zimmer's influence and his colleagues at Remote Control Productions. Those scores now rely a lot on high dissonant strings, low synthesized notes in the lower bass region, sound effects, and will often only be written in minor key signatures. These days hearing music written in major keys in serious horror/science fiction film could seem out of place. In fact, if/when I do see Alien: Covenant, I expect the score to sound very different.
Again though, I liked this movie. And that xenomorph. It is one. Cool. Looking. Alien. A great creature design that would definitely be terrifying to see in real life. And the thing that Ridley Scott did brilliantly with it is that the xenomorph appears very sparingly in the film. This makes those moments that much more special/terrifying. The moment when it's first revealed is also great because it's not a big over the top reveal, but a subdued reveal right before its first kill. And oh, the practical effects and real sets. CGI is a great thing when used smartly, but practical effects are definitely the way to go if you can.
Ridley Scott's directing was also very good. He did very well with getting the audience to feel the isolation of space and the tension of hunting/being hunted by an alien creature. The scenes toward the end of the film with Ripley are some great moments. And of course, the classic chest-burster scene was great. It's been parodied many times and I knew it was coming, so in a way I was robbed of a genuine first time reaction, but it was still a great scene.
The acting is also good, especially for Ripley and Ash. There didn't seem to be a lot of character development though, but enough to get you to feel for the characters. I need to watch it again to learn them better. And Ripley is a fine heroine, capable of taking care of herself. While I do personally find the whole push for strong female leads lately to be blown a little out or proportion, that doesn't mean I don't like seeing those characters. Ripley, Princess Leia, Margaret Houlihan, Rey, and so many others are all characters I've liked in TV and film.
So in the end, I like Alien and have an appreciation for it. Considering that almost every horror/sci-fi movie since Alien has tried to match Alien's success and failed, it certainly deserves praise. But at the moment I can't say I love it. That could change though if I watch it again. And I'm definitely picking up James Cameron's sequel, Aliens, next. Also, who wants to go see Alien: Covenant?"
Written May 23rd, 2017
"So Sunday night I saw Alien: Covenant (which I'll get to later), but before that I watched Aliens in preparation. So that's what I'll discuss first.
Aliens came out in 1986 and starred Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser, and Bill Paxton and was directed by James Cameron. Before I move on, it should be known I'm personally not a huge James Cameron fan. Or at least not for his film Avatar, which I still consider to be hugely overrated. I do remember Terminator 2 being good though, and I haven't seen Titanic in so long I can't give a fair judgement of it. But as for Aliens? I'd say it was... good. Not great to me though, and not as good as the original.
Where the first Alien was a sci-fi horror film, Cameron took a different approach and decided to make more of an action movie. Which I think was a wise decision. How to you make a sequel to one of the best science fiction movies? Make it plural and throw in some Marines that want to go in and kill them.
The film opens with Ripley being woken from cryo-sleep, 57 years after the end of the original Alien. During that time the humans have started a colony on the same planet where the alien eggs where encountered in the first one. When Ripley tells her story of what happened though, her story isn't taken seriously and no message is sent to the colony to take precautions. The colony though is then attacked and a squad of Marines, with Ripley as a consultant, is sent to investigate.
To me, the silliest part of Aliens were the Marine characters. Aliens came out in a time when Hollywood was doing a lot of big action movies, like Rambo and Die Hard, to get some confidence and masculinity back in American culture after the Vietnam War. And that's what these Marine characters were. They were meant to be big and tough and say cliched/funny lines. Which is fine. It's a sci-fi action movie, so I don't expect Cameron to hire military consultants to make them act more realistic. But it was still kind of silly, and frankly I thought the movie got better as more of them got killed off... hehe. The actors were certainly trying to be like Marines, but I can guarantee real Marines would have been more structured and disciplined in their movements actions.
Ripley also again gets some pretty cool moments, especially towards the end. And the special effects hold up very well. I saw quite a few practical explosions, and it brought a smile to my face to see that. Again, CGI is an impressive and useful tool. But to go back and look at the way they used to do effects before CGI is still pretty cool.
The storyline was ok, but pretty simple like the first movie. The acting was perfectly fine and there was some pretty good scenes. But out of the 3 I've seen I'd rank the original Alien first, Alien: Covenant second, and Aliens third. Aliens was decent, but I can't share the love for it many other people seem to have. And now for Alien: Covenant. This one is interesting though, because critics liked it. But the fans (as in IMDB) don't seem too impressed. Which surprises me."
Also written May 23rd, 2017
"Now for Alien: Covenant.
Alien: Covenant is a sci-fi horror film directed by Ridley Scott. It stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, and Danny McBride and is the second film after Prometheus in a line of Alien prequel films. I have only seen parts of Prometheus and this film explains questions that Prometheus left, so there were some story elements that I likely missed.
In this film, a ship by the name of the Covenant is on a colonization mission to Origae-6. However, a signal is discovered on a different planet and the crew decide to investigate the planet to see if it would make a better home for colonization. This is the same planet on which Prometheus took place.
After seeing the first two films, I have to say it was nice to see a modernized Alien film. The special effects were good and there seemed to be a good mix between practical effects and CGI. I'd have to watch it again in order to really tell, but other than the aliens themselves the CGI wasn't ever really obvious and was used smartly. The aliens were awesome looking. And man, they were aggressive, terrifying, and deadly. Even the baby ones. I loved it.
Scott's directing was very good. After a not so great period in the mid to late 2000s, it seems with The Martian and this film he is back to form. Covenant also has bigger set pieces than the first two, so we got to see some beautiful landscapes and some abandoned cities.
The acting was also good to great. But Michael Fassbender is the one who really stole the show. Much like the X-men prequel films, the scenes with Fassbender are probably my favorite in the movie. Fassbender was in Prometheus as an android named David. In this film, you see him as both David and a newer model named Walter. It was interesting to see him interact with himself. Katherine Waterston was also pretty good as Daniels.
The biggest problem with this movie though is that it's frankly kind of predictable. If you've seen an Alien movie before, you know what's going to happen at the horror parts. And if you can handle some blood and gore, it won't scare you. That being said, most of them were handled well enough that they were great to behold. Especially the first horror scene. As I said, this film made even the newborns absolutely vicious, and found myself laughing out in enjoyment, much like when I saw the Darth Vader massacre in Rogue One. The ending was also a little predictable. But I liked how this film brought back some of the elements from the first Alien. I also like that Scott is trying to add a lore to the Alien franchise and give it some backstory.
So yeah, I came away liking this movie. The original Alien stands as the best to me, with this one second. It's funny though. Professional critics have been reacting positively to Alien: Covenant, yet it has an IMDB rating of 6.9. That means the fans/general audiences aren't liking it as much. I'd personally give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, and can't say I understand why people don't seem to be liking it.
And I need to comment on Michael Fassbender's performance again. I loved it. I think that he, Tom Hardy, and James McAvoy are shaping up to be some of the best actors in the near future."
Written May 16th, 2017
"With Alien: Covenant having just come out in theaters, I decided I finally had to sit down and watch one of Ridley Scott's first films that has set the benchmark for science fiction horror: the original Alien.
Alien came out in 1979 and stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, and John Hurt among others. This was an interesting experience for me though. It was a good film and I'm glad to finally see it, but I was never as scared as people probably where when it originally came out. This is one of those films that has to be watched while thinking about the time period it came out. For example, there is Jerry Goldsmith's score. It was a great score and certainly fit the film, but it was mostly (if not purely) orchestral with little to no synthesized elements. This isn't a negative, at least not to me, but that alone is a telltale sign of this film's age. Many of you have probably noticed (or at least subconsciously know) that a lot of films, especially horror films or science fiction (with the exception of Star Wars), don't use purely orchestral scores with large ensembles. Film scoring has changed a lot, largely due to Zimmer's influence and his colleagues at Remote Control Productions. Those scores now rely a lot on high dissonant strings, low synthesized notes in the lower bass region, sound effects, and will often only be written in minor key signatures. These days hearing music written in major keys in serious horror/science fiction film could seem out of place. In fact, if/when I do see Alien: Covenant, I expect the score to sound very different.
Again though, I liked this movie. And that xenomorph. It is one. Cool. Looking. Alien. A great creature design that would definitely be terrifying to see in real life. And the thing that Ridley Scott did brilliantly with it is that the xenomorph appears very sparingly in the film. This makes those moments that much more special/terrifying. The moment when it's first revealed is also great because it's not a big over the top reveal, but a subdued reveal right before its first kill. And oh, the practical effects and real sets. CGI is a great thing when used smartly, but practical effects are definitely the way to go if you can.
Ridley Scott's directing was also very good. He did very well with getting the audience to feel the isolation of space and the tension of hunting/being hunted by an alien creature. The scenes toward the end of the film with Ripley are some great moments. And of course, the classic chest-burster scene was great. It's been parodied many times and I knew it was coming, so in a way I was robbed of a genuine first time reaction, but it was still a great scene.
The acting is also good, especially for Ripley and Ash. There didn't seem to be a lot of character development though, but enough to get you to feel for the characters. I need to watch it again to learn them better. And Ripley is a fine heroine, capable of taking care of herself. While I do personally find the whole push for strong female leads lately to be blown a little out or proportion, that doesn't mean I don't like seeing those characters. Ripley, Princess Leia, Margaret Houlihan, Rey, and so many others are all characters I've liked in TV and film.
So in the end, I like Alien and have an appreciation for it. Considering that almost every horror/sci-fi movie since Alien has tried to match Alien's success and failed, it certainly deserves praise. But at the moment I can't say I love it. That could change though if I watch it again. And I'm definitely picking up James Cameron's sequel, Aliens, next. Also, who wants to go see Alien: Covenant?"
Written May 23rd, 2017
"So Sunday night I saw Alien: Covenant (which I'll get to later), but before that I watched Aliens in preparation. So that's what I'll discuss first.
Aliens came out in 1986 and starred Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser, and Bill Paxton and was directed by James Cameron. Before I move on, it should be known I'm personally not a huge James Cameron fan. Or at least not for his film Avatar, which I still consider to be hugely overrated. I do remember Terminator 2 being good though, and I haven't seen Titanic in so long I can't give a fair judgement of it. But as for Aliens? I'd say it was... good. Not great to me though, and not as good as the original.
Where the first Alien was a sci-fi horror film, Cameron took a different approach and decided to make more of an action movie. Which I think was a wise decision. How to you make a sequel to one of the best science fiction movies? Make it plural and throw in some Marines that want to go in and kill them.
The film opens with Ripley being woken from cryo-sleep, 57 years after the end of the original Alien. During that time the humans have started a colony on the same planet where the alien eggs where encountered in the first one. When Ripley tells her story of what happened though, her story isn't taken seriously and no message is sent to the colony to take precautions. The colony though is then attacked and a squad of Marines, with Ripley as a consultant, is sent to investigate.
To me, the silliest part of Aliens were the Marine characters. Aliens came out in a time when Hollywood was doing a lot of big action movies, like Rambo and Die Hard, to get some confidence and masculinity back in American culture after the Vietnam War. And that's what these Marine characters were. They were meant to be big and tough and say cliched/funny lines. Which is fine. It's a sci-fi action movie, so I don't expect Cameron to hire military consultants to make them act more realistic. But it was still kind of silly, and frankly I thought the movie got better as more of them got killed off... hehe. The actors were certainly trying to be like Marines, but I can guarantee real Marines would have been more structured and disciplined in their movements actions.
Ripley also again gets some pretty cool moments, especially towards the end. And the special effects hold up very well. I saw quite a few practical explosions, and it brought a smile to my face to see that. Again, CGI is an impressive and useful tool. But to go back and look at the way they used to do effects before CGI is still pretty cool.
The storyline was ok, but pretty simple like the first movie. The acting was perfectly fine and there was some pretty good scenes. But out of the 3 I've seen I'd rank the original Alien first, Alien: Covenant second, and Aliens third. Aliens was decent, but I can't share the love for it many other people seem to have. And now for Alien: Covenant. This one is interesting though, because critics liked it. But the fans (as in IMDB) don't seem too impressed. Which surprises me."
Also written May 23rd, 2017
"Now for Alien: Covenant.
Alien: Covenant is a sci-fi horror film directed by Ridley Scott. It stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, and Danny McBride and is the second film after Prometheus in a line of Alien prequel films. I have only seen parts of Prometheus and this film explains questions that Prometheus left, so there were some story elements that I likely missed.
In this film, a ship by the name of the Covenant is on a colonization mission to Origae-6. However, a signal is discovered on a different planet and the crew decide to investigate the planet to see if it would make a better home for colonization. This is the same planet on which Prometheus took place.
After seeing the first two films, I have to say it was nice to see a modernized Alien film. The special effects were good and there seemed to be a good mix between practical effects and CGI. I'd have to watch it again in order to really tell, but other than the aliens themselves the CGI wasn't ever really obvious and was used smartly. The aliens were awesome looking. And man, they were aggressive, terrifying, and deadly. Even the baby ones. I loved it.
Scott's directing was very good. After a not so great period in the mid to late 2000s, it seems with The Martian and this film he is back to form. Covenant also has bigger set pieces than the first two, so we got to see some beautiful landscapes and some abandoned cities.
The acting was also good to great. But Michael Fassbender is the one who really stole the show. Much like the X-men prequel films, the scenes with Fassbender are probably my favorite in the movie. Fassbender was in Prometheus as an android named David. In this film, you see him as both David and a newer model named Walter. It was interesting to see him interact with himself. Katherine Waterston was also pretty good as Daniels.
The biggest problem with this movie though is that it's frankly kind of predictable. If you've seen an Alien movie before, you know what's going to happen at the horror parts. And if you can handle some blood and gore, it won't scare you. That being said, most of them were handled well enough that they were great to behold. Especially the first horror scene. As I said, this film made even the newborns absolutely vicious, and found myself laughing out in enjoyment, much like when I saw the Darth Vader massacre in Rogue One. The ending was also a little predictable. But I liked how this film brought back some of the elements from the first Alien. I also like that Scott is trying to add a lore to the Alien franchise and give it some backstory.
So yeah, I came away liking this movie. The original Alien stands as the best to me, with this one second. It's funny though. Professional critics have been reacting positively to Alien: Covenant, yet it has an IMDB rating of 6.9. That means the fans/general audiences aren't liking it as much. I'd personally give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, and can't say I understand why people don't seem to be liking it.
And I need to comment on Michael Fassbender's performance again. I loved it. I think that he, Tom Hardy, and James McAvoy are shaping up to be some of the best actors in the near future."