Alien Quadrilogy (1979-1997) Retrospective/Review
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- All my retrospectives on the ALIEN series combined into one video!
I have made some minor cuts to help videos flow from one to another and corrected some mispronunciation on my review of ALIEN Resurrection.
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#alien #aliens #alien3 #alienresurrection #oliverharper #retrospectivereview #ridleyscott #jamescameron #davidfincher
I'm addicted to these retrospectives. I watch many of them 3/4 times. These Aliens retros were the best
a quarter of a time?
You should finish them, they’re really good
Try full speed
i used to sit down with a joint, or a big plate of food. Then play these lol
Prometheus and Covenant are both interesting in their own right, but I think Prometheus especially destroys the mystery and menace of the Alien and Space Jockey by just making it a biological weapon and a suit for a big humanoid. It's too much of a basic bitch of a storyline. The original Space Jockey had the feel of an HP Lovecraft story- true cosmic horror.
I have been dying to share this story so here we go.
The following took place in 1993 when I was 22 and as you can see is still burned into my brain.
Took my girlfriend, of about 2 months at the time, to Alien War in the Trocodero Centre in London for her 19th birthday present, best time I have ever had whilst being absolutely terrified.
Before we went in there was a small museum with actual props from the film. Everyone working there was decked out in full costumes too.
They lined us up by the entry hatch, the Marine guide told us to watch the hatch further down the corridor and said "Just wait, you will see your future". After about 2 minutes the door slammed open and the group that had gone in before came sprinting out in absolute terror.
We were then shown into the Shuttle Departure lounge, where another Marine lined us up against a wall and told us to wait, he received a call on his helmet coms and told us we should stay put and he would be right back. He also warned us to stay away from the large container on the other side of the room.
About a minute after he left us alarms started going off and the lid of the container started to rattle and bounce like something was trying to get out.
Suddenly the Entry hatch burst open and the Marine came roaring back in, he let loose a quick burst from his Pulse rifle ' sounded just like the film guns' and ordered us to listen up if we wanted to live.
I was loving the amount of realism they put into this.The atmosphere was intense as all the lights went out when the alarms started and we could hear gunfire and screams from beyond the other door in the room. Everyone was all in at this point.
He then told us that an incident had occured and that we had to travel thru the Departure complex to get to the rescue pods, he made it very clear we had to do exactly what he told us to do.
We then proceeded thru multiple dark corridors encountering several Xenos on the way, all full size with actors in them.
At one point they rushed us into a lift, I was the first one inside and I was stood at the back. Its funny tho, how I was suddenly at the front when the Marine asked for a second volunteer to pull open the lift door, as the last "volunteer" had been pulled from the lift by a full sized Xeno right in front us.
In total we had 6 encounters with full sized Xenos, and a desperate sprint thru the hatchery with eggs opening around us at the end, and, yes I did kick that exit hatch open with plenty of energy only to run out into the corridor we started in. I turned to see the next group lined up, looking at us in just the same way we had looked at the group before.
My girlfriend loved to tell everyone how I had been moving so fast and with such purpose at the end that her feet barely even touched the floor as I was pulling her along behind me thru the hatchery 'she was 6 feet tall, I am only 5 feet 10'.
This was without a doubt one of the most exciting things I have ever done, girlfriend didn't dump me either😆
'edited for awful typing'
That... Sounds.....
AWESOME
I remember that!
The queen alien outside that you could take a picture with, and whilst queuing up you could watch Aliens.
I remember laughing when the alien puppet opened the ceiling panel on the lift.
I will never forget telling the woman I saw a something moving in the Alien egg portion, I was a very young kid at the time... Maybe 8.
The woman guide looked at me and carried on the experience. It could have been my imagination, face huggers scuttling along the floor is kinda scary, but the more I think back on it... I think it must have been a rat I saw and not part of the show.
@@shaderax_storm6165 a rat?? In a basement in Central London? I can't believe that of our glorious capital. Next you'll be telling me the streets aren't paved with gold. I am sure the staff had to fight an unending war with all manner of vermin being underground for that many years, good on them for putting their heart and soul into it as it sounds like it was enjoyed by the majority. I guess they would be like the Hidden Cinema types now, jobbing actors. I would have loved going to it as a kid who definitely wasn't old enough to have watched the film but definitely had repeatedly, missed out big-time :D
Great story makes me wish I was there!
not gonna read all of that crap.
Every single character, in every scene, with every line of dialogue, is effective. There are no awkward cringe lines. No weak performances. It's an incredible feat.
my favorite "line" is when Jonher hints at Christie to do the ricochet shot when they're held at gunpoint by the security,t an he just says "I CANT do it"
One crazy thing about the issues with Aliens Colonial Marines is that the creature AI was broken by a misspelled word in a text config file. This wasn't discovered until years after release by a consumer. The creature AI was supposed to know where it was in the current map, but the misspelled word broke that functionality making the creatures literally lost and confused.
So they made a tristar godzilla game with an alien skin?
was it ever patched at least?
It was still a crap game even when fixing that. I only got some enjoyment out of it because im an alien fan. To the average gamer it was terrible.
@@acidbath3226 it was not, Gearbox are a bunch of hacks. the same modder who discovered it also ended up including the fix in a big overhaul mod he did which also gives the xenomorphs the ability to climb on walls and ceilings
@@disregardthatwait. The aliens couldn't crawl on walls on ceilings?! Egad.
The cast of Alien 3 is actually insane. It’s so good in that respect.
Roc was huge back then.
Too bad the studio interferred so much in Fincher's vision.
@@PhillipJermakian Roc?
@@SuperAlfern Charlse S. Dutton.
@@PhillipJermakian That makes no sense.
Thank you! Someone finally confirmed it. Drake was clearly in love with Vasquez. And I'm sure she was in love with him. Those two tough Marines were always spending time together, always near each other, always touching. And the way Vasquez falls apart when Drake is left behind is pretty clear.
Ofcourse they were in love
They spent time as teens growing up as street kids that did the job corp thing then on to becoming 2120 USMCs. Drake fell in love with Vazquez cuz even knowing he always had her back, she held her own. There was love there but only those two know what kind lol
I always felt that she had something for Gorman (opposites attract) and that her interactions with Drake were purely friendship and mutual respect for one another.
@@eelponna3145 Hmmm, worth the consideration although most people will argue the obvious, but I find your thought intigueing. 🤔
This is a beautiful retrospective, but is saddening that movies are not made with this type of passion anymore.
Alien Romulus will be
When the Quadrilogy came out i was so excited, it was by far my favorite DVD purchase of all time.
Other studios and dvd manufacturers would do well to look to the success of the Alien Quadrilogy box set, and use it as a template for future home media releases. Each film had its own disc of behind the scenes content, the films themselves had the option of viewing the theatrical version or the director's cut, and...an additional bonus disc with all the trailers and TV spots for each film, plus a couple of retro documentaries on the franchise as a whole.
If Disney only did this with Star Wars, they'd have a sure fire best selling product on their hands.
As someone who has worked as a writer hired on the basis of "we just want you to do your thing!" and then being assaulted with an onslaught of "but actually what if you did this instead" after handing in a draft, I feel so so much for the original writer of Alien 3. Can't fucking believe they signed off on the wooden planet concept and then tried to make him write a completely different story 😂
I think that William Gibson did a script before the wooden planet.🤔
@@earthcitizen3939 Gibson did his as did Eric Red i think then it was Vincent Ward's Monks and the wooden Planet
This is my all-time favorite movie series. Yes, Alien & Aliens are the greatest ever but each Alien film adds something new and fresh to the lore. I love all Alien films. The series has introduced the greatest female heroine and the most unique movie monster.
But the character of Ripley would've never been possible if it wasn't for Jennifer Lawrence - the FIRST female action hero. 😂
@@MattPurvis-gt3ww Hahahaha I forgot about Jennifer's huge impact on it LOL
X-Men is mine, but this is my Second!
@@JP47471 X-Men is my Top 3 too.
Thanks. These retros really help me with insomnia. Just tuning into the well laid out summary and analysis of each movie allows me to enter the fictional world and slip into sleep.
Holt McCallany, who played Junior in Alien 3, would also go on to work with David Fincher again, with a supporting role as The Mechanic in Fight Club and as FBI agent Bill Tench, one of the lead characters in Fincher's Netflix series Mindhunter (which is an incredible show).
Such an awesome actor. And show.
I love Alien³ - it's as dour as Alien is scary and Aliens is exciting. As good in its own way. Alien: Resurrection gets a pass in that Ripley (well, Ripley-8) finally returns to Earth; her destination at the beginning of Alien (only getting as close as Gateway Station in Aliens). A full circle.
Me too. I love the Assembly Cut version so much. Charles Dance also elevated it with his talent.
I love that 1,2 & 3 are so different.Each is a masterpiece.
She actually does make it to Earth. Remember she goes back to work at the docks, where she learns to operate a Power Loader (Earth is where tiny appt. Is )
@captnwinkle No. Between the Narcissus being 'salvaged' and the first shot of the Sulaco, Ripley is on Gateway Station. She doesn't break Earth's atmosphere until the end of Resurrection (technically not even then, as it's Ripley-8).
Alien: Resurecction is as campy/tongue-in-cheek as the others are respectively scary/exciting/dour.
I laughed as I watched this retrospective as I also had a similarly older sister with a penchant for renting horror films when I was a kid. I snuck and watched Alien when I was around 6 and it scared the living crap out of me. My tiny little kid brain was convinced that the dinner John Hurt’s character was eating was what caused the thing to burst out of his chest, so I spent the next two years too scared to eat noodles as that’s what I though he’d been eating.
Gotta love the ‘80s, right? Who needs parental supervision when you can have nightmares for years and still grow up loving horror films ;)
I always imagined the little alien sitting in Kane's gullet eating the food Kane was sending down to it going: 'mmm, num num, mmm! OK, I'm full. Time to get out of this place now...'
I grew up as an only child, so I had to sneak peaks of restricted films whenever my Dad watched something.
Love the details in your work... when you indicate Sigourney loses her temper with Parker, her lips move as you say 'Parker'. Brilliant.
The editing of these videos is just masterful. I'm often not needing to watch the movies again due to the detail and use i f be ost
I think the Assembly Cut of Alien 3 is a must-watch, and makes it one of my favourite horror movies of all time. It's just so terrifying and existential.
Its brilliant! Would love for somehow Fincher to come back an do the final cut of it. Remastered version.
Resurrection is still better.
@@JP47471 ugh
@@JP47471 ugh
Yes! I think it's my favorite in the franchise.
The editing you done for the Aliens introduction is 100% adrenaline fuelled blood pumping I have to see this movie right now kind of editing . 10/10
Unbelievable effort. Like a full Alien Documentary. Oliver Harper is the best in the business and does it in an understated way without gimmicks or being mean. The modern Roger Ebert.
I probably agree. Unapologetic geek is quite good too
@@andygold007 I think that makes him the best. He truly loves movies...good and bad
the alien quadrilogy is one of my favorite film series (i only rate mad max above it), with 3 being my least favorite. i actually really love resurrection, in spite of its few flaws. for me, the special edition's end was a wonderful bookend to ripley's story, as it was the first time we see her return to earth.
i enjoyed the dark horse comics throughout the 90s, especially the first aliens vs predator series... but those were stories best left in the medium of comics.
as for the prequels, they are filled with flaws, and appear to contradict the opening of alien directly. i do like the idea of films further exploring the larger universe, but i feel like going backwards within the series chronology was not the best choice. i certainly never wanted an 'origin of the xenomorph' story. a creature as strange as they are should have at least a little mystique left about them.
Prometheus aren't canon imo, how can they be?, David made the Alien?, then how are there drawings of the alien on the cave walls many years before he made them?, how could the pilot be fossilized in Alien if David created the xeno relatively recently?, it takes thousands of years to fossilize something, if the pilot is wearing a helmet why did it fossilize?, heck, where did the pilot come from if David wiped them out?, how did he get David's eggs?, so many dumb plotholes.
@@scottneil1187 prometheus isn't the problematic movie when it comes to the xenos, covenant is. and when it comes to canon, there is no 'imo' about it, sadly. we can only speculate until fox and/or ridley scott gets around to giving us a sequel to the prequel that will give us a likely unsatisfying explanation for the contradictions...
my personal theory is that david basically independently recreated what the engineers had already succeeded at, which is the xenomorphs as we saw them...
I like Alien Resurrection more than most people. Thanks for combining these!
The end creature has given me nightmares. It had potential but maybe it was like Bond of that time, too silly in places for a serious film genre.
Annoyingly they didn’t follow it up immediately with one on earth. FOX were fools.
They actually made an audiodrama based on William Gibson's uncovered Alien III script. Check it out
I've listened to parts of it, it's interesting, even though it might not have worked as a movie.
@@earthcitizen3939I agree it is an interesting take, but I sometimes use that audio drama to fall asleep. Make of that what you will lol
If I am the only person that likes Alien 3 I’m fine with that. It’s additive mythology is wonderful and I can see the films intent looking through its foreshortened ideas that are only partially on screen. I wish I could have seen the wooden planet realized on screen however.
You’re not, don’t fret. Alien3 actually has grown a cult following over the years…it’s my favorite of the bunch…but still a shame we never got to see Fincher’s full vision.
The assembly cut is the best movie in the franchise if you ask me
It's a great prologue(if that's the right word). I love all the movies of the alien franchise sans avp requiem. The alien franchise is amazing because every movie is a cross of different genres.
The governor of the prison planet was played by the actor who did the voice over for the British TV commercial for Alinsons bread . . . 'with n'owt taken owt'.
It's pretty decent. I think a lot of the hate is just good 'ol American Bandwagonism. "oh we hate pineapple on pizza now? ok lets repeat it to each other constantly!" "nipples on the batsuit?, it's the worst movie ever!"
I think the reason you don't see many collectibles of the newborn is that it works very well as a creepy and frightening monster, but unlike the normal xenomorphs it just isn't cool at all. It sure scared/unnerved me way more than the regular kind ever did though.
The first Alien and Aliens are the only Alien movies i can really accept as canon. I like some of the direction of Alien 3 and its Assembly Cut but I'm still not a fan of the movie due to how they treat Hicks and Newt, an incredibly depressing watch and the alien effects look worst than the first two movies. Watch the fanedit Alien 3: The Long Nightmare turning the whole movie's event into Ripley's nightmare/dream. Less said about Alien: Resurrection the better, they turned the franchise into a popcorn action flick. I prefer the score for the theatrical version of Alien more than Goldsmith's intended score but James Horner's score for Aliens still remains my favorite.
For me the script that became an audio drama is the real alien 3
Perfectly summed up ….
Alien 3 is terrible, barring a couple of EXCELLENT shots, no matter the cut.
Agreed!
Really good assessment! The first movie is a smart, gritty, sci fi film and the fourth one is just mindless trash. The first two movies absolute classics!
Yeah, man, the effects in Alien are astonishing. I think I take it for granted, but everything looks so good.
It’s very realistic and gritty.Masterpiece.
Alien 3 the Assembly Cut is a MASTERPIECE
Fully agree. I didn’t mind the theatrical cut...I loved the character performances and it’s bleakness, reminiscent of the original. The Assembly Cut blew me away. I was told about the cow by workmates who worked with Chris Cunningham in the creature department.
david should be celebrating not condoning alien 3 cos it showed his skill in film making and over coming all odds that was in his way
It's still a huge mess of a film. The story is terrible,after so many scripts it shows,and nothing can help some of the bad effects shots. The characters are still bland and uninteresting and the entire thing feels generic and not worthy of the first two films. The smart move would have been to focus on Hicks and Newt and do something different. That's why Cameron's film works so well. Alien 3 just had so many issues Fincher couldn't do anything to save the film. Like Star Wars, Predator,Star Trek and many other franchises it's been dragged out far too long. The Alien series is a perfect example of a film that never should have been a franchise.
It's not a masterpiece by any stretch lol
I prefer the Dog Alien story line though.
The refinery is huge, the Nostromo is a tiny spaceship towing the refinery.
Brilliantly written and researched. Hope you cover the Predator and or Terminator retrospectives 👍🏾
He’s done them both
The Retrospective Reviews of these movies was what brought me to Oliver Harper. I love every installment of the alien quadrilogy set with ALIEN³ my favorite.
Long cut - WITH dog & Queen burst - would be my Alien³½
Fantastic analysis of these films! Really well done.
This has been a wonderful experience! Thank you so much.
I loved Glen Danzig's performance in Alien Resurrection!
it was actually a guy named Dom Pinon
as the" baby"?
@@wilfredoUbatuba as Sigourney Weaver
Wow, where do you get the energy my dude? This is top shelf content. I approve.
I saw Aliens aged 13 and was blown away for a week. One of my fave movies till this day. Alien 3 I’ve always liked too. It has those bleak hopeless vibes which are ballsy and awesome. Though not a perfect movie it’s still better than 99% of movies made today. The 4th iteration is not of as high quality clearly but still a very fun movie with a stellar cast
The studio intereference in Alien 3 will always be one of my biggest bugbears.
I really like the assembly cut version that was later released. I never had a problem with the off screen killings of Hicks and Newt, for me it just reinforced the hopelessness of Ripleys life (something nastily reinforced by Resurrection).
As a Brit I loved the cast and it presented a refreshing change from the usually US dominated sci-fi movies.
get a life bud
Couldn’t agree more… a lot of the line delivery works better because of the theatre trained Brits. It’s also so horribly nihilistic yet bitter sweet.
Can you provide a link to this assembly version??
@@hiltrud2001 it’s in the quadrilogy box set or the seven film blu ray set. Which isn’t very expensive. 👍
@@stefan3900 thank you very much! I'll try to find if I can order it online. Living in Greece...
The best movie franchise of all time! The only bad film is Resurrection the rest are great and add their own style
Resurrection is a million times better than whatever Prometheus and Covenant were supposed to be.
Could have been but post ALIENS it’s been wasted and miss managed
@@scottneil1187 nah, the score alone of both films are better than Resurrection and look amazing, very few people has Scott’s eye for the camera, not to mention David, Walter and the Engineers being one of the best additions to the franchise, if you were a true fan of the Alien franchise you’d know this.
Resurrection is pretty bad. It tries too hard to be edgy and comes across corny.
The first is my favourite. The sequel is great too, but I prefer having the slower pace and the horror feel. The third is surprisingly good if you know the backstory about the production. I prefer the Assembly Cut by far though. Didn't like the premise of Alien Ressurection at all though...
I felt that if a 4th installment HAD to be made and HAD to have Sigourney Weaver, I would have preferred that the ending of Alien 3 should have beenin her head, where whe was shot with a tranquilizer when attempting her suicide. She wakes up in a lab stasis chamber after 10 years with a scar on her chest due to the queen being removed and have the storyline go through the process that Wetland Yutani intended to do in regards to responding the Xenomorph.
Including the cybernetic Xenomorphs featured in Aliens vs PREDATOR PC.
It could have been a very new approach in the franchise.
I too find the original to be the undisputed champion; it's my personal favorite horror film of all time. I still love Aliens, but as I grew older I found myself somewhat resenting a few of the changes that were made, such as making the aliens more insect-like rather than the almost sinister, calculating creature from the original (it seemed to bask in the fear of its victims, taking its time to terrify them before killing them; I always pictured that it would take on the more aggressive characteristics of its host species, which in that case was a human--Kane). I also prefer the whole eggmorphing concept from the director's cut of the original to the egg-laying queen of the sequel, as that also seems more alien-like and is absolutely horrifying to imagine going through.
In the novelization, it's explained that Burke has arranged for Gorman to be the LT specifically BECAUSE he is inexperienced.
I always assumed that to be the case. Not so much Burke but the company as a whole. Same as they swapped out for Ash
The term 'quadrology' is etymologically inconsistent, as 'quadro -' comes from the Latin for 'four' and -'logy' derives from the Ancient Greek 'logos', meaning 'word'/'discourse'. It is customary for the Greek to give us the term meaning 'to study'/'to describe systematically', we should use the Greek also, for the first component, being derived from word for 4 - 'tetra'.
This would give us 'tetrology', which is etymologically consistent.
Other etymological inconsistencies exist, the most well-known being 'television', being cobbled together from Greek + Latin. If it were all Latin, the whole word would be 'procolvision'; if all Greek, that would give us 'telerama'.
Alien 3 was the first one I saw. I loved it, and it's probably the one that captures my imagination the most. I know 1 and 2 are some of the best sci-fi/horror movies ever made, just saying I think Alien 3 is better when you aren't expecting more of the same coming from 2.
I saw Highlander 2 before the first one. The same can be said there...
Great retrospective. Aliens is my all time favourite movie and Alien is a classic too. The others are entertaining enough and are the only ones I have seen on the big screen. I've got the quadrilogy on blu ray but have never gotten around to watching them which is something I will rectify.
So nostalgic watching these films in review. Aliens best action and Alien best suspense. Well done Oliver.
Aliens is the absolute best, movie just gets better everytime I watch it. So many classic lines
I wish we could have gotten Neil Blomkamp’s version !!! I think he could’ve restored the horror and ended Ripleys character with a bang. He also had newt and Hicks back.
Neil Blomkamp is a plagiaristic hack.
Nope, just another terrible 'film' from Ridley, he's been trash since his brother died.
Would have been really good
No thanks, I doubt that it would be better than Alien 3. I don't want a happy alien-movie (that Newt and Hicks survived), the alien-universe contains tragedy, bad things happen and people die.
One for the fact fans. The actor who was the original 'Kane' was Jon Finch probably best known for playing the lead in Hichcock's 'Frenzy' but he was also a former paratrooper and later served in the SAS Territorials.
Years ago I read that each film was made around a Genre.
Alien = Thriller
Aliens =Horror
Alien 3 = Drama
Alien Resurrection = Comedy
Looking back, I think that list hit the head on the nail on how the movies were presented
Alien Resurrection is my favourite Alien movie. I love Ripley 8 and the hybrid. When I was a child I wrote fanfiction continuing that story with Ripley 8 going through a secondary metamorphosis, and the military genetically mixing xenomorphs with animals.
6:13 - This was made as an episode in "Heavy Metal" the animated film (extended edition) that O'Bannon wrote with others. Also his concepts from 'Dune' were there too & later on it 'Blade Runner'
Yes I was horrified by aliens as a child and had to sleep in my parents room afterwards for a while ... hahaha
i remember when i was a kid.( im 27) now ..my fam was wwatching aliens and then another movie came on about these killer alien babies i wish i remembered the name but that shit scarred me. like alien demon babies. ill find the name hahhaa
Subscribed to your channel because of this excellent video. I've studied the Alien saga for years and your insightful retrospective was delightful to behold. Thanks again for taking the time to make it.
I was too young to watch Aliens. I lied to my father so he could buy me and my one year older brother the tickets. He spotted the age limit on the movie poster outside and said NO. We took our cousin as he looked older than he actually was while being only one and a half years older than my brother. I was only 7. It was a miracle that we got the tickets. Can't remember the age limit in my country but I'm sure it was more than double of my 7. 15+ or 16+. The next problem faced was my parents showed up. There was a mess of discussion with my cousin. I took the highest risk and moved toward a cinema ticket agent. He was looking at the rush in his foyer. Moved his eyes down only to check my ticket and said the usual:
"- Welcome, Sir. Row 11, place 18. Have a nice show."
What a lucky pass! I was in heaven!
My brothers entered only because my parents said they are both teens. I was 7 and I watched it with my mouth open reading all dialogue by myself. I was so scared. I love Sigourney Weaver ever since.
Gravey! (Also only 3 Alien movie's, in my opinion)
Alien, Alien Isolation, and Aliens are my headcanon trilogy.
Despite the few issues I have with some of the changes that were made for Aliens, this is my headcanon as well. Hopefully the new Alien series being developed by Noah Hawley for FX will be good enough to become part of that canon; judging by his track record with both Fargo and Legion, I'm very optimistic. It's actually the first time I've been excited for a live action Alien project in decades.
Colonial marines is cannon
I always say Alien 3 is my favorite movie ever made. have gorgeous photography. It has the best soundtrack in the whole series for me. has the wildest alien shots. The only alien movie where the alien runs. Dillon is my favorite character after Ripley and I love the mature character of Clemens. I love the Religious tone of this piece and I am a fan of the shorter version. the longer one doesn't have that much power.
There was an Alien The Gun coin-op in the foyer of the Showcase cinema in Peterborogh which I used to go to as a massive treat as the Cannon in nearby Cambridge had gotten so grotty and parking was such a pain and it was before the crapper but closer Warner Village opening. Prior to screens being available at the Showcase you'd queue across and around the foyer and I would eye the cabinet like Luke eyeing his lightsabre in ROTJ when the Emperor's got it. I think I was allowed to waste £1 of my pocket money on it once in several years of temptation and pleading. As prophesised this amounted to about 40 seconds of playtime as I was really unused to playing games at all, especially difficult change-hoovers like that. I spent plenty of time pretending I was playing it during the wait for people to finish having a piss before the long drive home. It was a full life.
Aah the simple jogs of youth … when life was soo less complicated.. 😌
Kudos for all the effort you put into this monster of a retrospective! I actually love Resurrection - I think it was far from safe for the studio, it did take huge risks both in story and direction approach - but I agree with you that there has to be a continuation from Resurrection's extended version ending. I would hate to see Alien 3 and 4 retconned.
It’s wild how much the scene where she finds out that her daughter died really enhanced her relationship with newt.
I was too young to watch Aliens when it came out on video, but I had the soundtrack and listened to it endlessly. When I finally saw the movie, it did not disappoint!
Alien Trilogy was the last video I bought (mainly because of the facehugger box it came in) and the Quadrilogy is still a high water mark for DVDs
Alien Isolation DLC for the 1st Alien movie was very good, wish there was a museum mode just to explore the map.
Yeah, Elite Force had that as an expansion, where you could wander around Voyager.
@@PetersonZF it was awesome
I agree with everything that was said about Alien 3 in this video. It's a fascinating film, whatever angle it's viewed from.
The book for Alien 3 is what they wanted the movie to be. Its based off the original script and so worth it
To this day I still have no idea how the alien got on the ship in Alien 3. AAALLLSSSOOOO how the heck did both Ripley AND the dog/ox get impregnated by an alien? Was it a special type of face hugger or something?
I think it was a queen facehuhgger capable of implanting more than one egg.
How the egg got on the ship is anyones guess,the only logical way is the queen had it on her somehow 😅🤷♂️
As much as I like the movie, that's something that I still don't have a clue about.
It was basically just a retcon so they can make a third movie lol
Holt McCallany is also in alien 3 and worked with Fincher a lot after
So we've come to Oliver's "Republic", his "Nicomachean Ethics", his "Meditations on First Philosophy". I am pleased.
I love Alien and ALiens, that goes without saying as they are true classics but i do love Alien 3, Ressurrection was too slapstick and commic booky for me. The newborn is truly horrifying though.
Fantastic collection, Oliver! I've never warmed to 3 and 4, but the first two are peerless classics - Alien is in my top 5 films. In a way, I wish they'd never made a sequel, because I loved the idea of Ash saying the alien can't be killed and that actually being true. When Ripley fired it out of the airlock, it didn't technically die. I love that question-mark.
3 has some good points but it’s far too bleak to entertain. 4 is corny and full of dumb characters.
Missed this when it premeired 2 weeks ago! But I have some long car rides and this is gonna be welcome company. Thanks for your wonderful work.
Best thing to fall asleep too. And I mean that with the utmost respect. Incredible stuff my man. You should have a million plus subs…
For sure. I love falling asleep to his retrospectives. Respectively. Its amazing stuff.
Nothing wrong with that. It helps you relax and listen to something interesting while you try to sleep.
Yeah, I fell asleep with it playing last night. I woke up at 5 this morning with my PC still on and I was wondering what the hell was going on and then I remembered I was watching this.
Oliver Harper is that guy we all knew, who knew everything about movies:D
Amazing video man! Really appreciate it!
Very detailed and entertaining review. Thank you!
I was 17y/o when I saw Resurrection on Thanksgiving Day. The Queen-Human hybrid was gross, but interesting. Having the hybrid sucked out the ship was great. The callback was nice too, as Peter Parker got to use it in Infinity War. That being said, I liked Resurrection more than Alien3. Although Roc was nice to see again.
This retrospective is a movie in itself . Thank you
Alien Resurrection is a guilty pleasure of mine.
When I first watched it in 93 and 5 min in hicks and newt are dead it was brutal. A punch to the gut. I like it now more than I did then.
I really liked the characters in Alien and except for Ripley they all got bitchered.Similar with Aliens.Alien movies are supposed to be frightening and horrific,not Little House on the Prairie.😅
This channel is doing the Lord's work!
. . . . meaning. . ?
Dan Hedaya (General Perez) was famous for playing Cheers' Nick Tortelli, Carla's ex-husband - and was comedy gold whenever he was on screen.
I wasn't expecting to hear the phrase "She never had the chance to poop out an egg" - ever - but I'm here for it.
As a huge fan of the series, there is something for me to like about each film. Are they equal in my mind? Absolutely not. It's obvious which two are the strongest, and that's partly because those two films didn't have two prior Alien films to contend with. The novelty was somewhat diminished. In addition to this, the Studio didn't seem to have much faith in the franchise, and it's clear that they didn't really know what made the Alien Universe so appealing. It was a lived-in setting that heavily-implied so much more through the dialogue and visuals. Just the addition of a humanoid synthetic being that can almost perfectly integrate into a crew without anyone suspecting is grounds for so much speculation. What's this company and how much control do they have? What do they want with the Alien? Who was the petrified giant and what was that ship all about? So many questions, that could be answered, but were better left a mystery on the periphery of a much more focused horror story.
As fans, we love Ripley and will stan her till the end of days, but keeping her as the focus really limits the universe and forces writers to convolute her into new stories. I grew up loving Alien 3, but looking back, they should've given Ripley and Co a nice send off, and sent the Xeno somewhere else to carry on the legacy. Unfortunately, branding and marketing requires familiarity, and sadly, Ripley's character has been somewhat dragged through the mud. I know Sigourney Weaver was really wanting to stretch her acting wings during Resurrection (see: Galaxy Quest & Heartbreakers), but this was such a bizarre take on the character that was not at all a welcome addition. I know I've always been a minority on this, but I don't like Joss Whedon's writing. I hate how he strings together quippy dialogue, because it always sounds like some dork giggling from the back of the room. Conflictingly, I absolutely adore Jeunet's work, so it makes Resurrection a hard watch.
I'm cautiously optimistic about Alien: Romulus. That being said, I have some doubts from what I've heard and seen. I personally think they should do a series, which could be similar to the Dark Horse comics and expand the Alien universe into some truly bizarre stories. I feel like this hyper-fixated brand messaging with the Xeno has really lost a lot of its allure and mystique. One thing I did like about Ridley Scott's alien-adjacent stories were that they were strange and mysterious. I just wish the Studio and Scott chose better writers. Then again, people like David S. Goyer get to helm one of the greatest sci-fi franchises into the ground (Foundation), at the behest of a multi-million dollar budget curtesy of Amazon, so what do I know. Fingers crossed we'll see some better expansions into the Alien Universe, or at the very least, a really, really good sendoff.
The Alien Quad boxset is debatably the best boxset out there in terms of extras.
I’ve always thought of Aliens 3 as a kind of sci-fi Lord of the Flies…..the dystopian vibe gives the film its own character and the cast often give it the feel of a theatre play rather than a Hollywood blockbuster. It has its faults but the Directors Cut made a huge difference to the overall narrative of the film.
Assembly cut, I don't think there is a director's cut
That is the longest represpective of a lot of the alien movie great job.
Awesome work as always. One thing I've personally never understood is the preference for Aliens Special Edition over the Theatrical Cut. The Special Edition is enjoyable as a curiosity but the Theatrical Cut is just a better version. My main issues with the Special Edition scenes -
1. Ripley's Daughter -- It's fine but Ripley finding Newt later makes it just a little too neat from a storytelling perspective as a "replacement daughter".
2. Hadley's Hope prelude -- It's totally unnecessary. It's more effective that we as an audience are experiencing the same mysteries and discoveries like Ripley and the marines. The performances are ropey also (as you pointed out).
3. Sentry Guns -- Again, it's unnecessary. It boils the problem down to being essentially that the Marines just don't have enough bullets.
4. Ripley's Goodbye to Hicks -- Nice to see a little more of her connection with Hicks (though it's oddly acted "See. You. Hicks") but it derails the frantic pace and takes away from what Ripley is facing. She's choosing to go into her absolute worst nightmare and potential death. Newt's rescue is understandably her only focus. Her one exchange with Hicks "don't let Bishop leave" is perfect in capturing where her head is at.
Nobody agrees dude, the Special Edition is the definitive version and it's what Cameron wanted.
@@scottneil1187 Yeah, realise I'm likely in the minority on this but I've tried to briefly explain my reasons. I think Cameron's wrong obviously but at least unlike George Lucas, he doesn't seem to have any problem with the theatrical remaining available for us to choose.
I completely agree. Cameron is a director who's better when mauled by studios. Those awful extended Terminator 2 and Abyss cuts are further proof.
I agree with you about Charles Dance, he was done so dirty. When you have Charles Dance you have to treasure him, his time, his talent, his voice that smoother than warm butter spread over a pile of flapjacks
I was thinking about a stand-out remark you made about the change in the tone of Weyland-Yutani between the first and second movies. I wonder if this reflects changes that occurred in the business world between the 70s and 80s. I remember the 70s being a very brutal business environment, still clinging to the vestiges of post-war business practices. The 80s saw a change in tone to a more nuanced, if still brutal business mentality.
I think what happened is that the generation born in the late 1930's/early 1940's was very cut-throat and prone to corruption in the 70's and 80's. Once actual Baby Boomers (born 1945-1964) actually gained more power, in the 80's and esp. 90's, our overall culture (including business culture) softened.
@@ryanjacobson2508 bullocks
@@knowthycell If you are going to insult someone, at least spell it correctly. It is BOLLOCKS, not 'bullocks'. A bit of irony: bullocks have bollocks!. LOL.
Nice job as usual Oliver but I’m surprised you didn’t mention the 1995 ac3 Laserdisc of Alien with the Sensurround test mix that not only has some of the temp or alternate Goldsmith cues but in a ridiculously more intensive audio mix that makes the Dolby stereo seem mono in comparison!
I remember picking up my Alien Quadrilogy DVD set back in 2004. Paid £20 for it, best DVD set I own as you had both the theatrical and special editions of the films and the special features were outstanding! I do hope the upcoming 4k set coming out will be as outstanding, not just in the print of the movie but with some nice additional features since. Great work covering this Oliver.
I bought the face hugger set on VHS which around 1998 which was epic. Sold it sadly like I do with most of my collectibles to buy booze 😂
Not gonna lie, this just made my 2023 more awesome ❤. Thanks Oliver!
The pulse rifle sound is a more iconic sound than the robocop gun sound
A series that works better if you watch them backwards. I can enjoy resurrection the same way I enjoy Terminator 3, it's an entertaining movie, but obviously falls short to what came before, but it's still better than a lot of other movies in the same genre.
Life is too short.... Skip 3 and 4 unless you can turn your brain off and pretend the first two didn't happen. Most movie series' basically fall apart after the first 2 or three movies, anyway.
Resurrection is WAY better than 3, which is one of the worst movies ever made. I mean ... they just re-made Alien, only they did a terrible job of it, and that's without even mentioning the killing of beloved characters off screen, changing the whole aesthetic, changing the behaviour of the xenomorph, making Ripley a moron who didn't check for aliens before going into hibernation, and the ridiculous premise. At least Resurrection advanced the story and introduced a new alien in a sensible way (i.e. as opposed to making the xenomorph behave completely differently from every other movie in the franchise). I'm happy to watch 1, 2, and 4, but I will never watch the steaming pile of $@^# that is Alien 3 again. Why on earth would I? Can you name ONE redeeming feature of that crap-fest?
Aliens is and will always be one of my favourite movies, been with me since childhood and I know the script so well (closet geek) similar with Alien. Thanks, Oliver. I am excited for this one monster Vid, has chased away my Monday blues.
EDIT: I do actually enjoy Alien 3 and Resurrection too.......despite their failings.
Why closet geek?, there's no stigma anymore to being a fan of something, us geeks rule the world now.
@Scott Neil aye, appears to be the case now, but I am 41, whilst growing up, any obsessive fandom for anything was a surefire way to becoming an outcast - unless it was your football team or the band Oasis. I hid my horror/Sci Fi/comic and goth/grunge band obsessions for a number of years growing up(until i was about 15). Different world now, I agree.
Oh man I wish we'd got the Danny Boyle version of an Alien film. His style would have been perfect. I wonder what that might have done for the series more generally also.
Sunshine but with an Alien instead of a sunburnt guy at the end?
“ sunburnt guy” ? THAT’S your sun up of the unsung masterpiece that is Sunshine ?!! 🙄
😆
This is amazing this should definitely be a part of In Search Of Darkness and horror Norms trilogy
Always love the reviews and this one was amazing. Will we be seeing more Long form, multi film franchise reviews like this?
I'll never understand the hate for 3 and Resurrection
Ripley is such an amazing character. For the first hour of Alien, Kane is the only crew member not to have a negative interaction with her. Parker and brett think she's an admin jobsworth, lambert slaps her, Dallas shuts her down for questioning his choices two or three times, and Ash (on first viewing pre decapitation) also paints her as a nosey jobsworth. None of these interactions are part of a character arc where she learns to loosen up in the end etc. This is just part of her personality, which remains consistent for the first 3 movies. I saw Aliens first, but I fell in love with the Ripley character watching Alien for the first time slapping Parker down at the dining table. All the actors manage to elevate a movie with no need of elevating at all. Everyone involved was on their A game.
They don't write amazing characters anymore, just characters that are amazing. I can't relate or invest in that.
Really appreciate the amount of work which has gone into this
Just saw Alien in the theaters. Seen it many times in the past but never seated in a theatre. It’s definitely a legendary movie and it’s hard to define why it’s really scary (but it is). The shape of the alien is in many cases excellent; a weird human reminiscent form blended with some form of bug and reptile is so creepy to watch, the brain is trying to make sense of it. The scenery, visuals and audio are just splendid. The full on terror of the nature of the xenomorphs and their behavior, relentless, emotionless and unforgiving in their natural survival methods is what makes it scary.
If any complaints it’s the chest burster which unfortunately really shows its FX age against the horrific scene. I wish you wouldn’t see it sprint across the table in full on view, if it would have just slithered off the edge on the short side it would have been better (easy to say 45 years later, I know). Also it’s a bit messy around the air duct scenes where it’s illogical and confusing both in pacing and visuals.
Dude... Brad Dourif was Billy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. He won a Golden Globe, a British Oscar, and was nominated for a US Oscar.
I have a list of gripes with this series, but my most immediate concern is... what happened to the xenomorph that burst from the space jockey?
Given that they don’t have a time frame for the space jockey, I always assumed it just ran off and died somewhere, maybe due to lack of food+ old age? We don’t really know a xenomorphs life span Tbf
@@itsjustcavan I'm going to go with your explanation, the actual lore is too inconsistent for me.
The eggs in the hold were ancient, but I'm not sure if the blue light was supposed to be a stasis field or not.
The xenomorphs don't seem to need sustenance, air, or water, so there's that.
Big Chap seemed to not be affected by the heat from the propulsion engine from the escape shuttle, but in Aliens flame throwers work on them.
I like how each movie had a certain specific group to each deal with the Aliens:
-Miners/Transport
-Marines
-Prisoners
-Mercenaries
Great video but one point about the egg on the Sulaco. It would have had to be two eggs. One to hunt the prisoners and one to impregnant Ripley! So that an even worse plothole.