Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)
And I love Prometheus so what do I know.
Don't worry about that. Khev's a noob.
And I love Prometheus so what do I know.
Don't worry about that. Khev's a noob.
And I love Prometheus so what do I know.
I did dismiss The Deer Hunter but thinking back I'd say that that film had the makings of the types of scenes we would later see in ALIENS and Platoon. I think that's more of a "gateway" movie though, because so much of the actual film is really about before and after war life and not so much the war itself. Obviously ALIENS and Platoon are straight up war movies. But still, the action in The Deer Hunter was indeed pretty gritty and realistic. Not In Harm's Way though, that's not even close to what I'm talking about.
When I say "documentary" I guess I don't mean that literally or even that the film is trying to make you think you're watching a documentary, just the feel of a camera crew really being in the middle of a chaotic, disorienting firefight. I really don't think those kinds of sequences "arrived" until 1986. Kind of like CGI. We got glimpses of what it could do with the morphing sorceress in Willow and the Abyss water tentacle and T1000 but I don't think it really came into its own until Jurassic Park. So ALIENS was the Jurassic Park of war films and The Deer Hunter was The Abyss.
It sounds like you disagree but I don't think those older films you list qualify to the level of ALIENS and Platoon and of those two ALIENS came first so I do give props to Cameron. Even if he was in "Viet Nam mode" after Rambo he still used the momentum from Stallone's film to segue into his own movie with truly chaotic and terrifying war footage.
"Kane's son" was Ash's spin on it. That alone is taking away from it a bit because the thing isn't meant to be male or female. Technically, the Aliens from Aliens are all the colony's "children". From what we see in the first film, it acts like nothing more than an animal, a predator. What "mysterious" qualities for it were left to explore? That it had a penchant for stand up comedy? That all it really wanted to do to Ripley was **** her brains out? What? You even admit to the first being a parasite, well, being a parasite basically sums up the idea that the creature is simply using humans as a host to further it's species. It's about survival. There goes the mystery!
It was an animal, the most sophisticated thing about it was it's appearance, that's it. I don't think adding what was added makes it less interesting or less frightening in the sequel. Fear of the unknown? The Marines look plenty scared to me. Only Ripley, Newt, and Bishop got a chance to experience the Queen first hand, unless we're talking about the audience. I promise you that any sequel involving the eggs, aliens or environment would have "taken away the mystery" of the first Alien, just by making a sequel and showing it again. Even if it was Ridley Scott. Look at friggin' Prometheus. Atleast Aliens left their actual origins up to the viewer, right?
The moment HT release their Dr Shaw figure, I'll dance a jig.
I guess I'd call that more "hand-held" style -- a filmmaking technique rather than a movie style. Steadicams were all the craze by early 1980's and allowing DPs to get "into the action" in ways we hadn't felt before. I'm guessing that's what you mean.
Found this:
https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/james-cameron-responds-to-aliens-critics/
Very nice read and very much on topic for the present discussion!
He sounds like me.
I remember those articles. The ego to actually be outraged enough to respond at length like he does. Also, he's fairly condescending to his audience (i.e. bear in mind the difficulty of communicating a lifecycle... to an audience... which may barely recall there was an alien in Alien". He was an ass when he was young.
He's wrong in his assumption about the derelict pilot (he's not alone apparently) even though he says "clearly...was alone" with such conviction.
Also, I wonder why he didn't address the comment about Horner's score? Sticks his neck out to cover his ass but not his crew?
I wish that was the same 80s Cameron we had now instead of the tree huggin', Pandora creation', 3D lovin' a-hole of the present.
True. He's spent too much time underwater I think. I wonder if his hand shakes like Coffey's?
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