I’ll never tire of Alien ‘making of’s. It’s so rare to have an original screenplay (not based on a book) that has such depth and is rich enough to sustain decades-worth of fascination. Combined with the art and craft of the execution, it truly is a masterpiece. Thanks for the video.🤓🤓🤓
Alien will stick with me forever. Not just for the chest bursting scene. The quiet in the beginning. The almost genuine interaction between the crewmembers. They actually had a mission. There was a mystery. The creature was horrifying.
I've only just noticed when Ash's body dies his hands curl up like spider legs. Its so clever because just like spiders he works on a hydraulic system too
The thing is, other than the chest burster scene there is very little "gore", it's definitely the play on the audience subconscious fears that make it a timeless masterpiece.
Most of the gore was edited out and left to the imagination with the violence suggested rather than shown. That made the Chestburster scene all the more shocking.
@@martinharris5017that nobody sees the alien before their demise is what was so brilliant about alien. Brett thinks he's chasing a tiny creature and is overwhelmed with fear and terror at. Confronting it. Parker only knows it's big nothing more. Dallas has no idea what he's facing in the vent, parker and Lambert were overwhelmed when they encountered the creature before death, and even Ripley never "saw" the creature until the very end
My cat had a physical reaction to a plastic figurine of the alien. It stopped him in his tracks. This horror is straight from Giger’s mind, even has an effect on minds in the natural world. It’s spider like nature of the beast hits the lizard brain, confusing the emotions. The fact that it’s a giant penis trying to kill you does the same.
I stood the Alien action figure[ doll ] in my front yard, then called the dog...the reaction was jaw dropping, to encounter something you can't even comprehend will forever fill you with dread.
As a long time devotee of Alien I watch every analysis I can on UA-cam or read in what is published. I'm old enough to have seen Alien at the cinema on its release and some part of me knew it would be around for a long time because it depicted the first truly ''alien'' visualisation. Nothing like this this had been seen before. I really enjoyed watching your contribution to the volumes that have, over the years, accumulated.
I wrote a whole essay in a comment and then scrapped it. Loved the video and it got me thinking a lot about how the other Alien movies relate to these themes (specifically 3 and Romulus). I think this also made me realize that I actually really like Romulus oddly enough. Glad I found this video, even if I was many years late to the party. It seems I'm not alone and that makes me happy as well, at the very least Romulus has brought Alien back into discussion.
Something I loved about the original, which I felt was lost in a lot of the sequels after Aliens, was the fact that the Xenomorph was the first living extraterrestrial organism mankind encountered. The Xeno was terrifying, of course, but not nearly as scary as the thought of whatever the next thing we find could be...
Before Alien Isolation came out, I felt there was something missing from the representation of the first film in the pop culture minds. Alien isolation scratched an itch I felt was missing. I’ve been a fan for 20 years now and I’m glad this film influenced so much sci-fi stories/games
A lot of the video games were based on James Cameron’s Aliens from 1986 since that film was hugely popular that was a landmark of the 80’s action genre. It was good for Alien Isolation to go back to Ridley Scott’s original Alien from 1979 and its horror roots given that was the film that started it all.
I have always thought that whilst Kane had a horrible death, he avoided the terror that followed. I still find it difficult to watch this film in its entirety. The opening scenes and camera panning around the ship are as horrifying to me as what is to come. When the screen lights up with the incoming message from 'The Pilot' the die is cast.
This was a great commentary. Thank you so much. I’m sorry to see you are no longer making videos and surprised as hell that you didn’t get a sizable subscriber base. Anyway, I saw this film when it first came out. I remember being really impressed at how cutting edge it was. It’s still a classic and has been in my top 5 list ever since.
If you are landing on a strange dark planet - and you come upon strange eggs -- it's always a good idea to get up close - and stick your face right next to it - standard procedure
Experienced Alien opening day. Long awaited and keyed up by marketing & trailers, it was a white knuckle experience, beginning to end. Unable to drive home after the show. Beautifully made. Liked use of hard edits. H.R. Ginger not given nearly enough credit for set design. The creature is terrifying to this day.
Great points. I like the idea that the Alien rewrites the gender roles, occupying the position as an extreme alpha above all the humans, male or female.
Great video !! I knew Alien could be analyzed with the gender and sexuality notions you mentioned, but your video made it clearer for me. This movie is packed with horror potential. There's also the fact that the crew was set up to encounter the alien, leading up to that frightening computer response: "Crew expendable", illustrating the domination of the corporation on "replaceable" workers. And while all that is happening, plus all the things you mentioned, you are stuck in space, hence the iconic phrase of the trailer:"In space no one can hear you scream". Nah I love this movie !!
A very good study of the relationship between the crew and the Alien itself. A timeless exploration of the mind and the unknown. Let’s hope we recognize the dangers in the discoveries of our galaxy.
You made my key argument when it comes to the lasting horror of Alien. It's in essence the loss of control over your body when the alien takes over, by raping humans, and as we have seen in other alien movies: other animals such as dogs, cows or in case of the spin off movies inseminating the predator species in order to procreate. The violation of the body and the ultimate fate resulting of it - certain death - is the terrifying key element. The point of gender roles turned against the host victim, making the alien sort of the dominant male and its victim being forced into a submissive female role is a very interesting one. I'd say, it results kinda automatically from the established fictional life circle of that creature. It's somewhat comparable to inscect life on earth, where there is an established queen laying the eggs and most of the hatching organism fuction as genderless soldiers in order to protect the colony. The only difference is that earth life still functions in most cases on a male/female basis in order to reproduce. Like with bees or ants, where the few male representatives of their species have the exlusive function of reproduction. But with the alien creature, even those last comparable established rules of life on earth as we know it are thrown out the window. All other life is being abused for the xenomorph's drive to procreate. With no rescept and regard for other life and no delusions of morality, as Ash puts it, all non-xenomorphic life is regarded as either food or procreational prey. Furthermore, the species exclusively used non-xenomorphic life to procreate. It doesn't _belittle_ its own species for that, to put it harshly. In the xenomorph's view, all other life is there exclusively for sustaining its own existence. Ultimately, it is the relentlessness of the creature and it very own nature what scares us the most.
By the way, for whom it may interest: I made a tribute video to Alien last year, too - in accordance with the movie's 40th anniversary. Whoever is interested to check it out: ua-cam.com/video/EaAxlNcuKMI/v-deo.html ...Comments, recommendations and likes are much apprechiated. 😇
For me the freakiest part of the chestburster scene is that Kane's arms are still twitching after the xeno has emerged, meaning he was still alive for a few seconds after it came out of him.
I wouldn't say he's still "alive" afterwards, or at least not conscious; I always viewed that as his body's nerves just involuntarily reacting, which in reality can still happen even a few hours after death has already occurred (before rigor mortis sets in IIRC). I do agree with your overall point though and always thought it was a very nice little touch that adds a sense of realism to the scene.
Two of the greatest/scariest films ever made, shocking tbh. I watched them far too young, thinking no problem Lol. They done it's job to scare the hell out of me. The terror, fear, tension, realism makes it pure horror. Both are groundbreaking masterpieces way ahead of it's time.
The thing that both frightened and fascinated me was the fusion of organism with industrial design( biomechnoid) where " machines appear organic, or organisms have a mechanistic quality." I mean, it stands upright like it's human, but it's truely "ALIEN."
Great analysis. I was not aware of some of the symbolism until seeing this video. One thing your analysis also brought to my attention was a bit of foreshadowing in the scene where the crew awakens. Kane is the first one to open his eyes. He's also the first one to actually get out of his sleep pod. As the film progresses, he's the first one that reacts to the space jockey, finds the egg chamber and after the face hugger and chest buster, the first Nostromo crew member to die. Please keep up the great work Gareth.
I don't know if this fits in with the examples of foreshadowing you listed, but there's a moment during the Breakfast scene where Kane groans and says "I feel dead," to which Parker responds "did anybody ever tell you you look dead, man?" I always found those lines of dialog interesting, considering what would happen later on.
It's such a legendary sci-fi classic. The first time we ever see or hear about the originally terrifying and fascinating...Xenomorph. It's has to be the best movie creature/monster ever made. This is also thanks to the twisted genius artist, H.R. Giger. As a Sci-Fi horror...it nearly stands alone as the ultimate standard of that genre. Masterpiece!
Alien's lasting power is that is a 'danse macabre', filled with instances of memento mori (the intestinal appearance of the spaceship corridors, the genuine viscera inside the alien's egg...), that asserts the ineluctability of disease and death. The alien is the skeletal figure from any number of medieval Dance of Death paintings (see, for example, 'The Abbess' from Holbein's Simolachri), from which there is no escape whatever choices we make (driving it through the air ducts with a flame gun or abandoning the ship in a shuttle) and against which there are no weapons.
I was lucky enough to see this in my early teens (81/82) when there was still nothing quite like it, cinemas still showed it and sneaking in was an art form. There were 6 of us at the start and much like the Nostromo crew that number got whittled down to just 2 of us...Great memories, bad nightmares lol.
Excellent essay and video. Thank you for doing this. As my painting professor said around the time the film came out, “Ya don’t have to be Freud to interpret that movie.” Lolol
Gareth that’s an excellent critique of my favourite movie. I also think there is a parallel that can be drawn in these difficult times that we believe that technological advances can protect us from organic assault but ultimately we can have potentially no answer for?
"Alien" has lasted for me because of Ripley, the first sci-fi heroine, a kick-a-s woman who is brave and heroic. I was 33 in 1979, not a kid. Weaver then became one of my favorite actresses.
I think people try to read too much into Alien. It is being trapped in an enclosed space with something terrifying, but well directed. The Thing has the same situation. I read O'Bannons original script. It was awful. The names were ridiculously bad. Roby, Melkonis, Broussard. If you have seen Dark Star you will know exactly how the characters interact. Scott angered me with the sequels. He took away the mystique of the alien by making it a creation of a human robot. The xenomorph being an unknown entity from a distant world was part of what fascinated me. Ridley took all that away.
How about the alien that burst out of the engineer at the end of Prometheus? Supposedly aliens come from interacting with the black goo, David seemed to be trying to recreate it.
I haven't watched your other videos and thus don't know your general socio-political alignment, but I think this video perhaps spent a disproportionate amount of time commenting on gender issues. It could be that I am out of touch and that it is the correct interpretation of the film, but me nor anyone else I know took this away from the film. At the risk of sounding like a CISHET barbarian, to me, it's just a classic sci-fi horror not necessarily attempting any deep social commentary. The artistic sophistication comes from its atmosphere, tension, and acting, not any sort of social or metaphysical commentary maybe except that we're too curious for our own good and that companies will do anything to turn a profit, a horror all too real in our world (which is something timeless, not contemporary). I think reading this gender stuff into it is just another example of people interpreting a work of art in light of their own culture. I'm not saying that isn't a valid thing to do, but if that is *always* our default response (*ahem* Star Wars: Acolyte), maybe we have an ego problem. I know you used a quote from Ridley Scott from the time (as well as referencing some other films) to reinforce this notion, but I don't interpret it as much more than a novel aspect of world-building. As for the other quotes, I would need to know if they're contemporary with the film or not. Either way, spending half of the video commenting on this is what _arouses_ (uh oh 😉) my suspicion. Before you write my comment off as reactionary, while it is possible that all of this was there from the beginning, you'll understand if I am skeptical given that I've seen this pattern repeat itself with other IPs in which this contemporary social commentary was never originally intended. Furthermore, I'll just re-emphasize that I'm not reacting to the commentary in of itself as much as how it seems like a *default* reaction or urge instead of not injecting our own contemporary views into something for once. This is something that an LGBTQ+ person doesn't need to be guilty of (I don't know your identity), by the way. A CISHET person can do this in an attempt to be "relevant".
great video, I just watched the movie for the first time (I know I know!) a few days ago and this vid was enlightening and super interesting and illuminated things I definitely didn't pick up my first time. Now I need to see it again and again
As a kid my parents often visited a couple that had Alot of movies on VHS, I asked if I could borrow one and they said shure. I was looking for E.T. but couldnt remeber the name... Been an Alien fan ever since.
Really enjoyed this. Had the same emotional reaction when I saw The Exorcist the week it came out. Still haunts me today. That horror classic also made it seem possible to me that this.... "could really happen ".
This was a pleasure to watch i enjoyed watching your theory, i can only imagine how effective Alien was on an audience back in 1979 seeing it on a cinema screen must have been pretty harrowing, I think the genius of the film was only showing quick glimpses of the creature and letting peoples imagination fill in some of the blanks, i also think it played on people's fear of the unknown but actually when you really think about it the film is just one big fear ride because everything including the environment itself is a hostile place theres really no escape and its all very claustrophobic the whole film is designed to hit as many fears and phobias as possible
In the '90s they made Species, a film about a creature from outer space being placed on earth, the creature being designed by Giger. It would take the form of a young woman, seeking out men for reproductive(/hybridization) purposes; the creature initially tried to acquire semen with the voluntary consent of the men, but would not shy away from sexual violence. It's a rather forgettable sci-fi action flick, but I guess it's the most true to Giger's vision (in some ways at least), and it deals with some of the same themes as Alien except overtly and explicitly.
It's a pretty good flick. More cerebral than a lot of monster movies, and has a pretty good cast who perform their under-written roles well. But yeah, it's no masterpiece like Alien.
I remember, when I was really young, before alien, the things that terrified me the most were biomechanics androids. Like Darth Vador, the android slaves in the ''black hole'', the half machine android girl in Superman 3 IIRC. But when I first saw Aliens, I was 9 years old, that creature terrified me. I could not sleep for 2 weeks, I was imagining the alien under my bed..🤣🤣
You and I have very similar fears, it seems. I think it's part of the reason Ash's turn resonates as much as the Alien does with me. They're almost a mirror image of each other (Ash is a mechanism that presents as organic, Alien is an organism that presents as mechanic). But yes, that Superman 3 moment haunted me for a long time! 😆
@@garethgreen9585 Yes Indeed, I've seen the biomechanical mirroring with Ash too. It deepens the horror of the alien, subconscially realising the company and the doctor you were meant to trust betrayed you, and were also a biomechanical horror. Also mother, which is this maternal ship, betraying the protagonist and emprisoning them. From a cocoon to a prison you have to escape. I'm a big fan of Alien and Giger. Live not far away his museum in Switzerland. Even seen his grave.
Good to hear your voice again, my friend! And this essay is well thought out and illuminating, with insights I'd never contemplated before. I love that the sexuality depicted in the film is what makes such a lasting impression.
Still the very best this franchise has to offer. It's sad they never got to go back to actually meeting real characters and real interplay between the characters. Everything else seemed like comedy in comparison. But hey at least we got one good one. Even though it shows it's age. The dialog and all it still is the closet thing to a great space adventure in modern day cinema.
The only dodgy scene is the metal tongue coming out towards the end in the escape capsule, looked a little like an adjustable spanner, but the rest was mind blowing.
And honestly brilliant suit-actors that provided the creatures with a ton of their lasting screen presence. There are cases to be made for both of them (but particularly Bolaji Badejo) for how under rated they are as horror icons.
Dude i get it, the sexuality in alien is EVERYWHERE, but not once did I ever think about child birth as that chest explodes. Fear of parasites? Yes, having a foreign creature using your body to feed on? Yes. Did my wife ever think of our child as a parasite, no. (I asked).
Its typical snobbery hogwash disguised as some "allegory" And thats not talking about this video, thats about the screenplay writers words found on the very Wikipedia page on Alien. The guy is a quack.
Another thing popped out at me having just seen the end of it. The xeno gets shot outside of the shuttle and is able to survive in the vacuum of space. Perhaps it would have died eventually, but any human would have died almost instantly.
The adult xenomorph is female; Kane's daughter. The Facehugger is the male form, essentially an impregnator. The adult was depicted by Giger as a female with female genitalia and was intended to be performed by a tall slender female (until the casting dept. found Balejo). The "queen" was an invention of Cameron.
But the facehugger is female... its legs are women's fingers, complete with long fingernails, and its underside is a vagina. It is the rape of the masculine by the feminine that makes the 'hugger so terrifying.
@@Tommykey07 Indeed he does. That's the difference between the final script dialogue (by Giler and Hill) and the concept as originally envisaged by O'Bannon, Shusset and Giger.
I find it curious you didn't mention how different the alien killing Lambert vs the male cast is since you discussed the sexuality of the movie so much (how it didn't face/skull puncture her for a quick death and the audience can hear her screams throughout the ship). A great review or informative piece regardless.
Truth be told, a lot of this comes from an essay I wrote quite some time ago and the Lambert death was indeed a focal point for discussion. But when it came to adapting the essay to a video format I felt that others had covered her death and the violently sexual nature of it elsewhere. Plus the runtime was growing rapidly and I had to make some hard choices regarding what got cut. In retrospect, perhaps not the best decision (and I think it makes for a rushed conclusion). But yeah, great observation and maybe something to explore further in the future. Thanks for watching!
All this because Steve O'Bannon's "beach ball" alien from the mostly overlooked (and underappreciated) Dark Star didn't make too many people laugh. " If we can't make 'em laugh, we'll make 'em scream." You sure did.
I did hear that the characters were written and cast without assigned gender. So they hired whoever was best at the role. I don't know if that is true or not. If it is it is interesting to imagine the changes in perspective had the gender of the characters been switched. For instance Dallas, although Captain is a character I could easily see as being seen as traditionally feminine. He's non threatening and fairly passive despite being the leader. Ripley can be authoritative, aggressive and decisively active which are traditionally assumed male characteristics. Kane , Brett and Lambert could easily be either sex. Lambert perhaps shows the most physical fear but men can be afraid too. That leaves Parker and Ash. If played by a woman Parker would be a character not totally unlike Vasquez from Aliens. Dominant, aggressive, physically strong. Where does that leave Ash. Personality wise there is no reason he couldn't be played as female but what would the message be when coupled with his actions? pretty much the same I think. Because despite looking female he is genderless and wants to sexually dominate like the Alien. The point is it doesn't matter what sex these characters are. They are so well written that the message would still thematically be the same. That is good writing. Writers should bear it in mind more often.
I disagree on Alien (but I always say, to each their own). However, I wholeheartedly agree with you on John Carpenter's The Thing. If anything, I feel the film has gotten better and more rewarding for me over the years.
@@garethgreen9585 it's still really good don't get me wrong. But certain things like the jazz hands scene in the vents or where at the end the Xenomorph looks like it's gonna give Ripley a hug takes me out of it. But the set designs with the really cool industrial tech is awesome. The thing just has less scenes that take me out of it and the tension and atmosphere is still fantastic. And I just recently rewatched it probably for the tenth time and will probably watch it again soon. I can't say that for many movies. Have you seen "The Return of the Living Dead"?
A critical tour de force, Green's sexual and birthing interpretation brings together apparently disparate elements of the story for viewers who were consciously unaware of the unconscious impact of recurring symbols.
the xenomorph basically the creature that is called in the film is a silicon life form no unlike humans carbon based life forms like us it's rare to see a silicon based life form like the xenomorph in franchises like alien
It was an Alien spacecraft (it goes by the name The Derelict) designed to look like it was once some sort of bio-mechanical monstrosity itself. As if it could have been almost "alive" at one point but has long since perished.
13:25 false sense of security..? uhm yeah nah, them things look nasty as all hell. You’d be a loon to have a “false sense of security” around that . . .
I’ll never tire of Alien ‘making of’s. It’s so rare to have an original screenplay (not based on a book) that has such depth and is rich enough to sustain decades-worth of fascination. Combined with the art and craft of the execution, it truly is a masterpiece. Thanks for the video.🤓🤓🤓
Alien will stick with me forever. Not just for the chest bursting scene. The quiet in the beginning. The almost genuine interaction between the crewmembers. They actually had a mission. There was a mystery. The creature was horrifying.
Basically the only crew we've ever seen in space that isn't an incompetent bumbling mess. Aliens is one of the worst contenders.
I've only just noticed when Ash's body dies his hands curl up like spider legs. Its so clever because just like spiders he works on a hydraulic system too
The thing is, other than the chest burster scene there is very little "gore", it's definitely the play on the audience subconscious fears that make it a timeless masterpiece.
Very little gore?
Watch Parker's death frame-by-frame...
Most of the gore was edited out and left to the imagination with the violence suggested rather than shown. That made the Chestburster scene all the more shocking.
If you have to watch it frame by frame to notice it, then it must not be that gory. @@experi-mentalproductions5358
@@martinharris5017that nobody sees the alien before their demise is what was so brilliant about alien. Brett thinks he's chasing a tiny creature and is overwhelmed with fear and terror at. Confronting it. Parker only knows it's big nothing more. Dallas has no idea what he's facing in the vent, parker and Lambert were overwhelmed when they encountered the creature before death, and even Ripley never "saw" the creature until the very end
Except when the robot's head got knocked off and caused an usher to faint in the aisle.
My cat had a physical reaction to a plastic figurine of the alien. It stopped him in his tracks. This horror is straight from Giger’s mind, even has an effect on minds in the natural world. It’s spider like nature of the beast hits the lizard brain, confusing the emotions. The fact that it’s a giant penis trying to kill you does the same.
I stood the Alien action figure[ doll ] in my front yard, then called the dog...the reaction was jaw dropping, to encounter something you can't even comprehend will forever fill you with dread.
As a long time devotee of Alien I watch every analysis I can on UA-cam or read in what is published. I'm old enough to have seen Alien at the cinema on its release and some part of me knew it would be around for a long time because it depicted the first truly ''alien'' visualisation. Nothing like this this had been seen before. I really enjoyed watching your contribution to the volumes that have, over the years, accumulated.
I wrote a whole essay in a comment and then scrapped it. Loved the video and it got me thinking a lot about how the other Alien movies relate to these themes (specifically 3 and Romulus). I think this also made me realize that I actually really like Romulus oddly enough. Glad I found this video, even if I was many years late to the party. It seems I'm not alone and that makes me happy as well, at the very least Romulus has brought Alien back into discussion.
Something I loved about the original, which I felt was lost in a lot of the sequels after Aliens, was the fact that the Xenomorph was the first living extraterrestrial organism mankind encountered. The Xeno was terrifying, of course, but not nearly as scary as the thought of whatever the next thing we find could be...
Before Alien Isolation came out, I felt there was something missing from the representation of the first film in the pop culture minds. Alien isolation scratched an itch I felt was missing. I’ve been a fan for 20 years now and I’m glad this film influenced so much sci-fi stories/games
I need to try it in VR.
A lot of the video games were based on James Cameron’s Aliens from 1986 since that film was hugely popular that was a landmark of the 80’s action genre.
It was good for Alien Isolation to go back to Ridley Scott’s original Alien from 1979 and its horror roots given that was the film that started it all.
I have always thought that whilst Kane had a horrible death, he avoided the terror that followed. I still find it difficult to watch this film in its entirety. The opening scenes and camera panning around the ship are as horrifying to me as what is to come. When the screen lights up with the incoming message from 'The Pilot' the die is cast.
This was a great commentary. Thank you so much. I’m sorry to see you are no longer making videos and surprised as hell that you didn’t get a sizable subscriber base.
Anyway, I saw this film when it first came out. I remember being really impressed at how cutting edge it was. It’s still a classic and has been in my top 5 list ever since.
If you are landing on a strange dark planet - and you come upon strange eggs -- it's always a good idea to get up close - and stick your face right next to it - standard procedure
Experienced Alien opening day. Long awaited and keyed up by marketing & trailers, it was a white knuckle experience, beginning to end. Unable to drive home after the show. Beautifully made. Liked use of hard edits. H.R. Ginger not given nearly enough credit for set design. The creature is terrifying to this day.
Great points. I like the idea that the Alien rewrites the gender roles, occupying the position as an extreme alpha above all the humans, male or female.
Great comprehensive analysis of the psychology behind the horror of this series.
Now I have to watch it again. Lots of stuff I didn't realize.
Great video !! I knew Alien could be analyzed with the gender and sexuality notions you mentioned, but your video made it clearer for me. This movie is packed with horror potential. There's also the fact that the crew was set up to encounter the alien, leading up to that frightening computer response: "Crew expendable", illustrating the domination of the corporation on "replaceable" workers. And while all that is happening, plus all the things you mentioned, you are stuck in space, hence the iconic phrase of the trailer:"In space no one can hear you scream". Nah I love this movie !!
A very good study of the relationship between the crew and the Alien itself. A timeless exploration of the mind and the unknown. Let’s hope we recognize the dangers in the discoveries of our galaxy.
You made my key argument when it comes to the lasting horror of Alien. It's in essence the loss of control over your body when the alien takes over, by raping humans, and as we have seen in other alien movies: other animals such as dogs, cows or in case of the spin off movies inseminating the predator species in order to procreate. The violation of the body and the ultimate fate resulting of it - certain death - is the terrifying key element.
The point of gender roles turned against the host victim, making the alien sort of the dominant male and its victim being forced into a submissive female role is a very interesting one. I'd say, it results kinda automatically from the established fictional life circle of that creature. It's somewhat comparable to inscect life on earth, where there is an established queen laying the eggs and most of the hatching organism fuction as genderless soldiers in order to protect the colony. The only difference is that earth life still functions in most cases on a male/female basis in order to reproduce. Like with bees or ants, where the few male representatives of their species have the exlusive function of reproduction.
But with the alien creature, even those last comparable established rules of life on earth as we know it are thrown out the window. All other life is being abused for the xenomorph's drive to procreate. With no rescept and regard for other life and no delusions of morality, as Ash puts it, all non-xenomorphic life is regarded as either food or procreational prey. Furthermore, the species exclusively used non-xenomorphic life to procreate. It doesn't _belittle_ its own species for that, to put it harshly. In the xenomorph's view, all other life is there exclusively for sustaining its own existence.
Ultimately, it is the relentlessness of the creature and it very own nature what scares us the most.
By the way, for whom it may interest: I made a tribute video to Alien last year, too - in accordance with the movie's 40th anniversary. Whoever is interested to check it out: ua-cam.com/video/EaAxlNcuKMI/v-deo.html ...Comments, recommendations and likes are much apprechiated. 😇
TSS noted in the “ beasts “ it wwoulxc make, amount. Would my Be enough z.
@@clinttaylor4032yeah, no.
For me the freakiest part of the chestburster scene is that Kane's arms are still twitching after the xeno has emerged, meaning he was still alive for a few seconds after it came out of him.
I agree. It's a small but vital touch that sells the authenticity of the scene completely. Tragic.
I wouldn't say he's still "alive" afterwards, or at least not conscious; I always viewed that as his body's nerves just involuntarily reacting, which in reality can still happen even a few hours after death has already occurred (before rigor mortis sets in IIRC).
I do agree with your overall point though and always thought it was a very nice little touch that adds a sense of realism to the scene.
"It's a reflex action....:
Two of the greatest/scariest films ever made, shocking tbh. I watched them far too young, thinking no problem Lol. They done it's job to scare the hell out of me. The terror, fear, tension, realism makes it pure horror. Both are groundbreaking masterpieces way ahead of it's time.
What's the other film?
@@novelty8theory494 Aliens
@@novelty8theory494Aliens
The thing that both frightened and fascinated me was the fusion of organism with industrial design( biomechnoid) where " machines appear organic, or organisms have a mechanistic quality." I mean, it stands upright like it's human, but it's truely "ALIEN."
Very good visual essay on the masterpiece of this classic film.
It is still by far, my favorite of all the Alien movies !!!!
You his the algorithm with this title and subject, I hope you keep trying man
I was coming into this skeptical, but this was an absolutely brilliant analysis, thank you!
That's the best kind of comment to receive. Really happy you enjoyed the video.
Great analysis. I was not aware of some of the symbolism until seeing this video. One thing your analysis also brought to my attention was a bit of foreshadowing in the scene where the crew awakens. Kane is the first one to open his eyes. He's also the first one to actually get out of his sleep pod. As the film progresses, he's the first one that reacts to the space jockey, finds the egg chamber and after the face hugger and chest buster, the first Nostromo crew member to die.
Please keep up the great work Gareth.
Oh ffs! That's anal-ysis.
I never imagined seeing this as rape,but it's so clear now in several ways especially now that I know the resulting xenomrph contains the hosts DNA.
I don't know if this fits in with the examples of foreshadowing you listed, but there's a moment during the Breakfast scene where Kane groans and says "I feel dead," to which Parker responds "did anybody ever tell you you look dead, man?" I always found those lines of dialog interesting, considering what would happen later on.
It's such a legendary sci-fi classic.
The first time we ever see or hear about the originally terrifying and fascinating...Xenomorph.
It's has to be the best movie creature/monster ever made.
This is also thanks to the twisted genius artist, H.R. Giger.
As a Sci-Fi horror...it nearly stands alone as the ultimate standard of that genre. Masterpiece!
Well done man 🎉🎉🎉
Alien's lasting power is that is a 'danse macabre', filled with instances of memento mori (the intestinal appearance of the spaceship corridors, the genuine viscera inside the alien's egg...), that asserts the ineluctability of disease and death. The alien is the skeletal figure from any number of medieval Dance of Death paintings (see, for example, 'The Abbess' from Holbein's Simolachri), from which there is no escape whatever choices we make (driving it through the air ducts with a flame gun or abandoning the ship in a shuttle) and against which there are no weapons.
The greatest sci fi horror fim of all-time by far.
Wow, my comment was flagged as disrespectful?
Big Tech is out of control with sensorship
I'd recommend Under The Skin
EXCELLENT VIDEO
I watch this movie when I was 7 years old I'm 45 and until this day it terrifies me , insane powerful,i think the best ever
the music was fantastic to say the least as well.
I was lucky enough to see this in my early teens (81/82) when there was still nothing quite like it, cinemas still showed it and sneaking in was an art form. There were 6 of us at the start and much like the Nostromo crew that number got whittled down to just 2 of us...Great memories, bad nightmares lol.
Its what you dont see, but know's its there the Alien, which makes its so scary and brilliant !
Because it’s a timeless and perfect move.
Excellent essay and video. Thank you for doing this. As my painting professor said around the time the film came out, “Ya don’t have to be Freud to interpret that movie.” Lolol
Gareth that’s an excellent critique of my favourite movie. I also think there is a parallel that can be drawn in these difficult times that we believe that technological advances can protect us from organic assault but ultimately we can have potentially no answer for?
You should also read "Alien and Philosophy" for more essays on the film.
Great video and breakdown of the film, by the way!
Great video man, shame your channel doesnt have more recognition
Great analysis on this. Hope there will be more in the future
"Alien" has lasted for me because of Ripley, the first sci-fi heroine, a kick-a-s woman who is brave and heroic. I was 33 in 1979, not a kid. Weaver then became one of my favorite actresses.
I think people try to read too much into Alien. It is being trapped in an enclosed space with something terrifying, but well directed. The Thing has the same situation. I read O'Bannons original script. It was awful. The names were ridiculously bad. Roby, Melkonis, Broussard. If you have seen Dark Star you will know exactly how the characters interact.
Scott angered me with the sequels. He took away the mystique of the alien by making it a creation of a human robot. The xenomorph being an unknown entity from a distant world was part of what fascinated me. Ridley took all that away.
How about the alien that burst out of the engineer at the end of Prometheus? Supposedly aliens come from interacting with the black goo, David seemed to be trying to recreate it.
I haven't watched your other videos and thus don't know your general socio-political alignment, but I think this video perhaps spent a disproportionate amount of time commenting on gender issues. It could be that I am out of touch and that it is the correct interpretation of the film, but me nor anyone else I know took this away from the film.
At the risk of sounding like a CISHET barbarian, to me, it's just a classic sci-fi horror not necessarily attempting any deep social commentary. The artistic sophistication comes from its atmosphere, tension, and acting, not any sort of social or metaphysical commentary maybe except that we're too curious for our own good and that companies will do anything to turn a profit, a horror all too real in our world (which is something timeless, not contemporary).
I think reading this gender stuff into it is just another example of people interpreting a work of art in light of their own culture. I'm not saying that isn't a valid thing to do, but if that is *always* our default response (*ahem* Star Wars: Acolyte), maybe we have an ego problem. I know you used a quote from Ridley Scott from the time (as well as referencing some other films) to reinforce this notion, but I don't interpret it as much more than a novel aspect of world-building. As for the other quotes, I would need to know if they're contemporary with the film or not. Either way, spending half of the video commenting on this is what _arouses_ (uh oh 😉) my suspicion.
Before you write my comment off as reactionary, while it is possible that all of this was there from the beginning, you'll understand if I am skeptical given that I've seen this pattern repeat itself with other IPs in which this contemporary social commentary was never originally intended.
Furthermore, I'll just re-emphasize that I'm not reacting to the commentary in of itself as much as how it seems like a *default* reaction or urge instead of not injecting our own contemporary views into something for once. This is something that an LGBTQ+ person doesn't need to be guilty of (I don't know your identity), by the way. A CISHET person can do this in an attempt to be "relevant".
great video, I just watched the movie for the first time (I know I know!) a few days ago and this vid was enlightening and super interesting and illuminated things I definitely didn't pick up my first time. Now I need to see it again and again
This is a masterpiece of an analysis! Really appreciate your work. Keep it up!
Excellent breakdown!
Excellent work.
As a kid my parents often visited a couple that had Alot of movies on VHS, I asked if I could borrow one and they said shure. I was looking for E.T. but couldnt remeber the name... Been an Alien fan ever since.
Aside from the Alien being female and laying eggs, I don't see sexual undertones in the film. He's reading too much into it.
Really enjoyed this.
Had the same emotional reaction when I saw The Exorcist the week it came out.
Still haunts me today.
That horror classic also made it seem possible to me that this.... "could really happen ".
This is an exelent analysis. I learned a lot about the film and the subtext of it.
This was a pleasure to watch i enjoyed watching your theory, i can only imagine how effective Alien was on an audience back in 1979 seeing it on a cinema screen must have been pretty harrowing, I think the genius of the film was only showing quick glimpses of the creature and letting peoples imagination fill in some of the blanks, i also think it played on people's fear of the unknown but actually when you really think about it the film is just one big fear ride because everything including the environment itself is a hostile place theres really no escape and its all very claustrophobic the whole film is designed to hit as many fears and phobias as possible
Well done. Thought provoking at it best . I give you a 9.97. ....... I didn't know Alien still had a fan base this deeo..... Bravo.
In the '90s they made Species, a film about a creature from outer space being placed on earth, the creature being designed by Giger. It would take the form of a young woman, seeking out men for reproductive(/hybridization) purposes; the creature initially tried to acquire semen with the voluntary consent of the men, but would not shy away from sexual violence.
It's a rather forgettable sci-fi action flick, but I guess it's the most true to Giger's vision (in some ways at least), and it deals with some of the same themes as Alien except overtly and explicitly.
It's a pretty good flick. More cerebral than a lot of monster movies, and has a pretty good cast who perform their under-written roles well. But yeah, it's no masterpiece like Alien.
This movie can be interpreted in several different ways.
Yeah I don’t really care for it, like it’s. A lot as a teenager but I rewatched it recently and it doesn’t hold up.
Great content. Subscribed. Alien is one of my favorite movies. I must have watched it countless times as a kid on video tape 😅
This was a very skilfully written video essay. If you're not a journalist already, you should be....
I remember, when I was really young, before alien, the things that terrified me the most were biomechanics androids. Like Darth Vador, the android slaves in the ''black hole'', the half machine android girl in Superman 3 IIRC. But when I first saw Aliens, I was 9 years old, that creature terrified me. I could not sleep for 2 weeks, I was imagining the alien under my bed..🤣🤣
You and I have very similar fears, it seems. I think it's part of the reason Ash's turn resonates as much as the Alien does with me. They're almost a mirror image of each other (Ash is a mechanism that presents as organic, Alien is an organism that presents as mechanic).
But yes, that Superman 3 moment haunted me for a long time!
😆
@@garethgreen9585 Yes Indeed, I've seen the biomechanical mirroring with Ash too. It deepens the horror of the alien, subconscially realising the company and the doctor you were meant to trust betrayed you, and were also a biomechanical horror. Also mother, which is this maternal ship, betraying the protagonist and emprisoning them. From a cocoon to a prison you have to escape. I'm a big fan of Alien and Giger. Live not far away his museum in Switzerland. Even seen his grave.
Good to hear your voice again, my friend! And this essay is well thought out and illuminating, with insights I'd never contemplated before. I love that the sexuality depicted in the film is what makes such a lasting impression.
Good video thanks for posting it.
Great analisys!
Best remake of A remake of A remake ad nauseam ever
It’s still soooo sooo scary every time sooo good
excellent essay, well reasoned and some stimulating ideas
Love you man, keep up the amazing work.
Nicely done. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Still the very best this franchise has to offer. It's sad they never got to go back to actually meeting real characters and real interplay between the characters. Everything else seemed like comedy in comparison. But hey at least we got one good one. Even though it shows it's age. The dialog and all it still is the closet thing to a great space adventure in modern day cinema.
Thanks man very interesting matter. I enjoy your vid. Years later it is still very actual.
That was very good.
The only dodgy scene is the metal tongue coming out towards the end in the escape capsule, looked a little like an adjustable spanner, but the rest was mind blowing.
Subscribed
Well done, Gareth. 👍
What's the movie at 0:14 seconds?
Assault on Precinct 13
@@garethgreen9585 didn't know they had an original 1976 Assault on Precinct 13, thanks!
John Carpenter’s first major film in the UK
Seen an alien feeling is giving him a hug of death
"Alien and The Predator" were both black actors.
And honestly brilliant suit-actors that provided the creatures with a ton of their lasting screen presence. There are cases to be made for both of them (but particularly Bolaji Badejo) for how under rated they are as horror icons.
It created the "Face Hugger" meme.
Dude i get it, the sexuality in alien is EVERYWHERE, but not once did I ever think about child birth as that chest explodes. Fear of parasites? Yes, having a foreign creature using your body to feed on? Yes. Did my wife ever think of our child as a parasite, no. (I asked).
Its typical snobbery hogwash disguised as some "allegory"
And thats not talking about this video, thats about the screenplay writers words found on the very Wikipedia page on Alien. The guy is a quack.
Bro but aren't you scared of gender like me!!!!???? lul
Alien was just so well rounded and the look of the artistic style
Great job
Another thing popped out at me having just seen the end of it. The xeno gets shot outside of the shuttle and is able to survive in the vacuum of space. Perhaps it would have died eventually, but any human would have died almost instantly.
“Look at me. I’m the man now.”
The adult xenomorph is female; Kane's daughter. The Facehugger is the male form, essentially an impregnator. The adult was depicted by Giger as a female with female genitalia and was intended to be performed by a tall slender female (until the casting dept. found Balejo). The "queen" was an invention of Cameron.
But the facehugger is female... its legs are women's fingers, complete with long fingernails, and its underside is a vagina. It is the rape of the masculine by the feminine that makes the 'hugger so terrifying.
Ash refers to it as Kane's son
@@Tommykey07 Indeed he does. That's the difference between the final script dialogue (by Giler and Hill) and the concept as originally envisaged by O'Bannon, Shusset and Giger.
If you watch the film carefully .The Alien just wants to be left alone .Its got a short lifecycle and is in the shuttle craft hiiden so it can die .
But it's laying eggs and trapping the crew in cocoons. That's survival, not death.
I find it curious you didn't mention how different the alien killing Lambert vs the male cast is since you discussed the sexuality of the movie so much (how it didn't face/skull puncture her for a quick death and the audience can hear her screams throughout the ship). A great review or informative piece regardless.
Truth be told, a lot of this comes from an essay I wrote quite some time ago and the Lambert death was indeed a focal point for discussion. But when it came to adapting the essay to a video format I felt that others had covered her death and the violently sexual nature of it elsewhere. Plus the runtime was growing rapidly and I had to make some hard choices regarding what got cut. In retrospect, perhaps not the best decision (and I think it makes for a rushed conclusion).
But yeah, great observation and maybe something to explore further in the future. Thanks for watching!
That was excellent.
That fanny fart gets me every time
All this because Steve O'Bannon's "beach ball" alien from the mostly overlooked (and underappreciated) Dark Star didn't make too many people laugh. " If we can't make 'em laugh, we'll make 'em scream."
You sure did.
I did hear that the characters were written and cast without assigned gender. So they hired whoever was best at the role. I don't know if that is true or not. If it is it is interesting to imagine the changes in perspective had the gender of the characters been switched. For instance Dallas, although Captain is a character I could easily see as being seen as traditionally feminine. He's non threatening and fairly passive despite being the leader. Ripley can be authoritative, aggressive and decisively active which are traditionally assumed male characteristics. Kane , Brett and Lambert could easily be either sex. Lambert perhaps shows the most physical fear but men can be afraid too.
That leaves Parker and Ash. If played by a woman Parker would be a character not totally unlike Vasquez from Aliens. Dominant, aggressive, physically strong. Where does that leave Ash. Personality wise there is no reason he couldn't be played as female but what would the message be when coupled with his actions? pretty much the same I think. Because despite looking female he is genderless and wants to sexually dominate like the Alien.
The point is it doesn't matter what sex these characters are. They are so well written that the message would still thematically be the same. That is good writing. Writers should bear it in mind more often.
I still love this movie but after repeat watches it doesn't quite hold up. The Thing however is still just as good as I remembered.
I disagree on Alien (but I always say, to each their own). However, I wholeheartedly agree with you on John Carpenter's The Thing. If anything, I feel the film has gotten better and more rewarding for me over the years.
@@garethgreen9585 it's still really good don't get me wrong. But certain things like the jazz hands scene in the vents or where at the end the Xenomorph looks like it's gonna give Ripley a hug takes me out of it. But the set designs with the really cool industrial tech is awesome. The thing just has less scenes that take me out of it and the tension and atmosphere is still fantastic. And I just recently rewatched it probably for the tenth time and will probably watch it again soon. I can't say that for many movies. Have you seen "The Return of the Living Dead"?
Something that's puzzled me for years is that in Parker's porno corner there's a photo of four eggs.
Come back to Podcasting! x
It's still a while off returning in some form. But I wouldn't count us out. Life finds a way, as they say.
@@garethgreen9585 This Alien is great. You should just do some talking heads film essays.
Thanks! You'll like what I have planned for the future then!
A critical tour de force, Green's sexual and birthing interpretation brings together apparently disparate elements of the story for viewers who were consciously unaware of the unconscious impact of recurring symbols.
the xenomorph basically the creature that is called in the film is a silicon life form no unlike humans carbon based life forms like us it's rare to see a silicon based life form like the xenomorph in franchises like alien
Great movie
Wow … that’s quite a sexualized interpretation.
Wait! The cave that they were in was actually an alien?
It was an Alien spacecraft (it goes by the name The Derelict) designed to look like it was once some sort of bio-mechanical monstrosity itself. As if it could have been almost "alive" at one point but has long since perished.
Is nobody gonna comment on the spraying of “semen” all over that android’s face?
It's pretty "on-the-nose" isn't it? LOL
13:25 false sense of security..? uhm yeah nah, them things look nasty as all hell. You’d be a loon to have a “false sense of security” around that . . .