Alien: Romulus

[chrisstbh]

The Xenomorph looks different in every movie it appears in.

Same same but different.

 

[ScoutingForToys]

Same same but different.

Yep. Overall shape and certain design elements remain but there's certainly a lot of difference in the details.

 

[ScoutingForToys]

And almost all of them have been overly fleshy. Only the first 2 films really got the biomechanical look, and only the original truly captured HR Gigers style

Yeah the "warrior" from Aliens was mostly the same. Obvious biggest difference being the lack of dome. But I think there was some small changes to other details. Still very biomech.
Alien 3 changed a lot more given the different host. Painted in browns and sepias to match the sets. Apparently it was going to be black before they saw the sets and realised it'd stand out against it.
Still fairly biomechanical though. But it loses the pipes from the back which diminishes the biomechanical look. I also think the brown tones reduces the biomech look too.
Alien Resurrection was when it all went wrong. They were fleshy for story reasons but still, they lost too much of the biomechanical look. Also the director wanted the Xenomorph to look like a cockroach, so the browns and sepia shades returned. They also changed the shape of the head to resemble the shape of a cockroach (flatter at the back rather than bulbous).
The tail was flattened out so it looked like a paddle for the swimming scene.
Those big fleshy hands. Eurgh.
Digitigrade legs rather than human style legs to give it a more "beastlike look" etc.
Apparently AvP had a small budget and they couldn't afford to make a whole from scratch so they used the moulds from Alien:R and just painted them black at the directors request. They did make new bigger hands though.
AvP:R used the same body as Avp (which is the A:R body) but just gave them new heads (no dome. Similar details to the Warrior from Aliens but not identical. Head different shape. Jaw definitely different).
Somewhere along the way they gave the Xenomorph more and more beastly teeth. In Alien, Aliens and even Alien 3 it had more human like front teeth. Was probably around A:R and the AvP films the monster teeth became more monstrous.
Then Covenant had a completely different lineage.
Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff had worked on Aliens under Stan Winston, then Alien 3, Alien:R, AvP and AvP:R as ADI.
Scott brought in a completely new team I believe and the CG monstrosity that we saw in Covenant was born.

 

[chrisstbh]

Yep. Overall shape and certain design elements remain but there's certainly a lot of difference in the details.

Not a superfan so not something I pay attention to. They all look the same to me as I never care to compare them.

Big head? Check
Small mouth in big mouth? Check
Skeletal looking body? Check
Big tail? Check

 

[ScoutingForToys]

Not a superfan so not something I pay attention to. They all look the same to me as I never care to compare them.

Big head? Check
Small mouth in big mouth? Check
Skeletal looking body? Check
Big tail? Check

Yeah I guess it's the equivalent of knowing the difference in ESB and ROTJ Boba or Stormtroopers or Darth Vader, for Star Wars fans.

 

[jaztermareal]

The OG was the most direct translation of HR Gigers art and so ended up looking the best, especially with the barely visible skull under the dome and those glistening silver teeth. Truly iconic.

 

[ScoutingForToys]

The OG was the most direct translation of HR Gigers art and so ended up looking the best, especially with the barely visible skull under the dome and those glistening silver teeth. Truly iconic.

Absolutely. Each follow up film only diluted it.

 

[Rotfish]

There's something very odd going on with the head/cowl...
And I know what is bothering me about the face: it reminds me off Hot Toys' awful "Godzilla" sculpt!

It's Big Chap-esque, but not a 1:1 recreation.