Alien

[Liz]

Ok, anybody watch this on the telly last night?? I know most of us have it in our collections, but when did you last watch it?
I did, and wow, what a great movie. I dont think I had seen it for a loooong time, as didnt even recognize most of the characters. The captian was Tom Skerritt, had no idea he was in the movie, and SW looks so young!! The cast in the following Alien movies comes to mind immediately.
This was made in 1979, and directed by Ridley Scott, and is a classic.

[NeilW]

Probably my absolute favourite Sci-Fi movie! Love it.

[erick (Eric)]

Yes, superb. But I think Aliens is even better - IMHO.

[CraigS]

I admired 'Alien' when I first saw it. A very dark tale, bridging SciFi and pure horror genres.

HR Giger's artwork, used for the original alien design, and backdrops was, and still is, seriously sick and twisted. None-the-less, it earned him an Oscar in 1980 !

James Cameron, made a legend out of the whole thing with 'Aliens' and did a superb job on it, in my opinion. I can recite most of the dialogue … I've watched it countless times ..

"Yeah … but its a dry heat"
"Game over man, game over !"
"Hudson may be right !"
.. (I could go on for a long while … ).

Beyond 'Aliens' however, it became pretty junky, sadly.

Cheers

[erick (Eric)]

Yes, I lost interest after "Aliens".

"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid."

[gmbfilter (Geoff)]

But, the first time I saw Alien.....
and when the beastie came out of John Hurt ...nearly sh@@ myself
I still have the scars, 3 stitches from the nails of the person sitting beside me, didn't notice or know at the time

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

1 & 2? Up there with the best! The sound of Veronica Cartwright over the two way is a gut churning scene I'll never forget. For sound effects it still makes me squirm. Aliens 3, forgettable. 4? Having SW and Ron Pearlman in it were the only things that saved it, if it could be said to have been saved.

AVP? 1? Yeah, ok, bit of a twist but fun all the same. 2? Went the same way as Aliens3.

And yes I do have them all sitting next to the Predator collection

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

One of my all time favourites too, very scary and dark. I just love it when a scary movie actually doesn't reveal the scary 'object' too much but instead let your imagination run wild. The scene with the cat is just superb.

[Liz]

Doh!! Even though I thoroughly enjoyed ... what I saw, I bloody fell asleep towards the end, and woke when she was safe on the ship.
i will have to rewatch it for the scary bits in latter half.

[Fox]

Definitely one of the most 'landmark' movies in the history of films, ever! I remember seeing it in the cinema in my 20's and I knew nothing about it - within a few seconds of the opening credits, it was apparent to the entire audience that this was one of the scariest and most original movies made to date. It stayed with me for many many years.

I don't know if it has fallen through or not, but there was (is?) serious talk about Ridley Scott doing a 'prequel' movie... I haven't looked for updates at all.

Cheers
Fox

[Suzy]

You fell asleep in THAT movie, didn't think it could be possible? How? What-tha?

Loved the Alien movies. The best one in my opinion is Alien (the first one), I was 15 when it came out, and enjoyed it so much that I read the book too. Best appreciated at the cinema I think.
Tom Skerritt was waa waa waa gorgeous. Brilliant movie, just constant constant suspense. And much like Jaws they leave the build up right to the end when you get to see creature. It was a nice, warm & fuzzy touch that they put Jones the cat in it so she could cuddle up with it at the end, in her underwear . I still remember how Flaaaaaaat her tummy was, I could iron on it. She needed a candy bar that day. Loved the character of Ripley and that she was a woman in charge of all those macho men.
One of the best movies ever ever made. But I still have to close my eyes when the alien explodes from his chest, yuck.

Apparently with the last Alien movie in the series, they paid Sigourney Weaver a whole lot of money to come back and do it and the story line had to be very good. Let's face it, they had their work cut out as she got killed off in the last movie. I thought it was the worst movie. And it was so black and dark and depressing. I don't recall much suspense in it;Just a lot of potty mouthed jail birds on a planet for prisoners.

I thought the second movie was really good. The little blond girl in it brought a different element. I still remember her saying, "they only come out in the dark - only". And then there's that scene where the Alien stands right next to Ripley as she's carrying the girl and he rubs up against her as she breathes very deeply and nervously (oops sounded like a romantic novel there) but to her surprise doesn't hurt her, because she later finds out that she is the carrier of its baby. Hmmm so the Alien got to her while she was sleeping on the way to Earth in the first movie. Wonder what happened to the cat. Jones would have scratched his eyes out .
Or a reward treat. On the scale of things, Jones would have been about the size of a smacko bar.

I've babbled

[TrevorW]

Goes in my list of Top 10 Sci-fi movies (not chronologically)

1. Forbidden Planet
2. Silent Running
3. Star Wars
4. Alien
5. The Thing
6. Enemy Mine
7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
8. Solaris
9. Aliens
10. Blade Runner

[Liz]

Ha Suzy, I thought I would be honest, and knowing the guys wouldnt notice. Yes, I love this movie, but laying in bed watching movies ate at night = dozy.
I have similiar memories to you of this, we are of similiar age, great movie, and will definitely rewatch it!!

[CraigS]

Aha !!
.. Silent Running ..!!… now there's a movie which just sums up the seventies perfectly !

Also reminds me of the immortal John Carpenter classic, "Dark Star".

Folks might remember the Killer Beachball with claws … or the self arming intelligent "Exponential Thermostellar Bombs", designed to destroy unstable planets. The only way to save themselves from an out of control bomb was to teach the bomb the rudiments of phenomenology. The movie ends with the immortal lines uttered by that pesky bomb, believing it was God … "Let there be light" ….. boom !!

What an absolute classic !


What does this have to do with Alien ?

Absolutely nothing ! .. Sorry Liz ! .. oh yes .. that's it … it was made in 1974, two years after Silent Running, (made in 1972) and Alien sneaked in at the end of the same decade in 1979.

They don't make movies like that anymore !

Cheers

[Liz]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Goes in my list of Top 10 Sci-fi movies (not chronologically)

1. Forbidden Planet
2. Silent Running
3. Star Wars
4. Alien
5. The Thing
6. Enemy Mine
7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
8. Solaris
9. Aliens
10. Blade Runner

Great list Trevor.
havent seen a few of those for awhile.
Heard a movie 'Dark Star' was VG, DL it and ohhhhh, didnt like it all, so quickly deleted.
Must watch 'Close Encounters' again, love that movie too.
watched 'Solaris' a few years ago, and despite George I wasnt keen, might try again.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Do not answer the beacon.
Do not land on the cloudy, rainy, stormy, dark and unexplored planet.
Do not enter the abandoned spacecraft.
Do not poke the sinister object.
Do not re-activate the probe.
Ignore the anomoly.
If you spaceshipmate(s) start acting "odd" - throw them out the air-lock.
Do not get caught in a red uniform.
Always have your shields up and phasers charged.
If in doubt-kill them all.

These are my ten rules for a long, happy life in space.

[Liz]

Originally Posted by Waxing_Gibbous

Do not answer the beacon.
Do not land on the cloudy, rainy, stormy, dark and unexplored planet.
Do not enter the abandoned spacecraft.
Do not poke the sinister object.
Do not re-activate the probe.
Ignore the anomoly.
If you spaceshipmate(s) start acting "odd" - throw them out the air-lock.
Do not get caught in a red uniform.
Always have your shields up and phasers charged.
If in doubt-kill them all.

These are my ten rules for a long, happy life in space.

[NeilW]

Do not answer the beacon.
Do not land on the cloudy, rainy, stormy, dark and unexplored planet.
Do not enter the abandoned spacecraft.
Do not poke the sinister object.
Do not re-activate the probe.
Ignore the anomoly.
If you spaceshipmate(s) start acting "odd" - throw them out the air-lock.
Do not get caught in a red uniform.
Always have your shields up and phasers charged.
If in doubt-kill them all.

...and never, never, never go back for the bloody cat!!

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Aliens ... ooooooooooh no ... !!! NOW YOU'VE DONE IT ....!!! Gonna have to check under my bed before I go to sleep tonight.

I've been told ... ' Bunnings ' sell a ' Monster Proof Kit ' for the Bed.

I'm on my way .... back in 20 or so.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by NeilW

...and never, never, never go back for the bloody cat!!

Is that how the Alien got in? Because she went for the cat? I forget

Very funny list there Peter.