A look at the Alien franchise
On this week's episode we have a discussion on our favourite Alien films.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:30I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm
01:00going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you
01:25I'd probably Alien vs. Predator, Emperor of Metheus and Covenant, and then Alien vs. Predator 2
01:33and then Resurrection and 3 is just kind of like whatever. Which one has the alien dog?
01:393. 3? I'd go on top of that one because Nathalty.
01:43Nathalty, alien dog, it runs really fast.
01:45And then Resurrection is the one where she's in the tube for like half the movie or something.
01:49Oh no, that's a bad film. I mean they give her a big send off in 3 and then she's back, she's got a full head of hair.
01:59Clone, oh don't worry, she's back.
02:01She's part alien.
02:03They had big directors too, didn't they? They had some big names behind them and they just flopped completely.
02:09I don't know what it is because it's such a unique franchise with such a unique tone and atmosphere
02:15and the art from H.R. Giger is, you're not going to get that anywhere else.
02:21And yet they come out with Stinkers.
02:23It has to be harder to fail that movie, especially if like reoccurring cast members.
02:29But I don't know if they recast them, recast them, it's horrible.
02:31I think it's maybe why I like Romulus and Covenant because it's not relying on Ripley.
02:37I think after Aliens, getting away from Ripley is probably the better thing they've done.
02:43I'd say Prometheus and Covenant.
02:45The best reoccurring cast member is Michael Fassbender.
02:47Michael Fassbender? The robot David?
02:49He's just very good at playing someone without emotion, funnily enough.
03:13Keep back, don't scare.
03:15Movement. Talk to me, Hudson.
03:17I got signals, I got readings in front and behind.
03:21There's nothing back here.
03:22Look, I'm telling you, there's something moving and it ain't us.
03:25Get me out of there.
03:44They cut the power.
03:45How could they cut the power, man? They're animals.
03:50There's movement all over the place.
03:52Five meters, man.
03:54Four.
04:05Aliens. This time, it's war.
04:14I think it's always mental how the first one came out.
04:18It was in the 70s?
04:19Yeah.
04:20It came out in the 70s and I got so much right off the bat and I had such a unique take on space.
04:25We were saying it's not this clean, futuristic thing.
04:31It's like what you would imagine SpaceX to be in our own world.
04:35It's industrial, it's dirty.
04:37At the time, what?
04:38It's people working.
04:39At the time, it was Star Trek and Star Wars.
04:43What was the space epic?
04:44It was all this crew and all this glamour shit.
04:48This would be the reality of a future space crew.
04:53It's more gritty.
04:55They're eating really horrible foods.
04:57They're constantly talking about, where are we going home?
05:00They don't seem massively educated either.
05:03They're regular people in space.
05:06The engineer guy in Alien, he is just an engineer.
05:10He's not this big scientific guy.
05:12He goes down to the bottom of the ship and fixes pipes and stuff.
05:15Space trucker aesthetic.
05:18It's not glamorous at all.
05:21It's nasty.
05:22It's just a job.
05:23They're not going on an adventure.
05:26They got so much right off the bat straight away.
05:29The design of the Alien is iconic.
05:31If you've seen the silhouette of it, you'd know what it is.
05:35That's actually what I feel like they didn't get right with Prometheus and Covenant.
05:38They changed too much.
05:39I know you can't just keep doing the same thing,
05:41but when the main focus of your franchise is this Alien,
05:44I feel like you can't really change that too much.
05:47I think it models with the lore too much.
05:50It puts too much in.
05:52I don't think the Alien should really be explained.
05:54I think it should be a mystery.
05:56They go too far in Prometheus and Covenant
05:59to try and explain what the creature is or where it came from.
06:02I think the Engineer plotline is interesting.
06:05Humans trying to meet God, their creator.
06:09But then back in the Alien,
06:11this creation that they've made,
06:13it just models the lore too much.
06:15I think it gets away from what it was originally.
06:17The mystery of it all,
06:18I feel like that's far better for building suspense
06:20than all the Engineers created.
06:22For why?
06:24Read between the lines kind of thing.
06:28The humans finding God,
06:30that's probably the best part of the Prometheus and Covenant movies.
06:33It's a good idea.
06:36It's just executed very poorly in that movie.
06:38You could have done Prometheus without Alien.
06:41It could have been its own separate thing.
06:43They don't even really need to have the zombie thing that they had.
06:46I don't even know what that was.
06:47The black goo.
06:49It gets sprayed on you instead of a facehugger
06:52and it melts into your face or something.
06:54It's just not as good.
06:57But then after going Alien,
07:00Aliens having an 80s action film,
07:03I think it's a really good step up.
07:05It's crazy how that's the same franchise.
07:07If it was a different Alien design,
07:10it would be a completely different movie.
07:12It makes Ripley's arc a lot more satisfying as well.
07:15Because she comes out of it even more like a badass.
07:18She's conquered her fears and all.
07:20She's a staple female character,
07:24but then they do away with it.
07:26I feel like 3 kind of ruins the satisfaction of Aliens.
07:29Pull away her accomplishment.
07:32She's in prison now for what?
07:34She lands on a prison planet
07:36and the child she saved from Aliens
07:39and what do you call him?
07:41I can't remember his name.
07:42But the soldier, the marine, he's dead as well.
07:45Even though she's only after fighting the Queen Alien
07:49and getting them off that planet.
07:50And then it's all done away with in 3.
07:52Just with a wee dog.
07:53A wee alien dog.
07:55A funny alien dog.
07:57A funny alien dog running around the spaceship.
07:59I think they give her a good send off.
08:02Sacrificing herself so she can kill the last Xenomorph.
08:06But there's another movie after that.
08:09And then they do it again.
08:11They do it again. They bring her back again.
08:13They're just not satisfied with ruining Ripley, are they?
08:15No.
08:16I read recently that Sigourney Weaver's actually
08:20wanting to come back to the franchise.
08:23Why?
08:24Why can't you just leave it alone?
08:26I feel like it's just 20 years too late.
08:28I feel like you could have done flashback scenes maybe.
08:32Where maybe she's talking to the girl that she saves
08:36and there's a moment there or whatever.
08:38But what is she going to come back and do?
08:41Another clone?
08:43Old Ripley?
08:44Old Ripley.
08:45Maybe she never died.
08:47She survived Lava.
08:49Ripley Omega is still out there somewhere.
08:52That's silly.
08:53But I still think Covenant's good.
08:56Covenant had some decent scenes in it.
08:58But I know people don't like it.
08:59I feel like it's just...
09:01The pace on that movie is just completely off.
09:03Because I feel like...
09:04You think so?
09:05You think we'll go to Night in the Mausoleum once it's kicked off?
09:07Oh, it goes to Night in the Mausoleum and it's...
09:09That breaks.
09:10It's like the first alien outbreak on the ship.
09:14That's really suspenseful because there's three people on the ship
09:16and everyone else is away.
09:19I don't quite remember.
09:20Is it like a Facehuggers type?
09:23In Covenant?
09:24Yeah.
09:26David, the robot, he makes them.
09:29And that ruins the whole lore of it.
09:31I remember that scene on the ship
09:33before everyone comes back to help us.
09:35It's a good scene.
09:36It's a scary scene.
09:37But I feel like after David saves him,
09:41it's just kind of boring.
09:43You're waiting for the alien.
09:44Now, I'm not...
09:47Come on.
09:48It just feels like an expo.
09:50The whole time you know this guy's evil
09:53and you're just waiting for the turn.
09:56It's a lot more animistic in that film as well.
09:59It's not the intelligent creature it's supposed to be.
10:01It's just...
10:02It's literally drooling and rumbling at them.
10:05Not very...
10:06You don't get any satisfaction from it.
10:08I still like it.
10:09I mean, it is silly.
10:10I think two people slip in that film in blood.
10:13But I still enjoy it.
10:14I thought it was the most gruesome of them all
10:17until I seen Romulus,
10:18which blows that out of the park.
10:20I don't want to spoil it, but it does.
10:22All of this is to start our new life.
10:35Where is it?
10:38Let me out!
10:39Let me out!
10:43Molly!
10:49Holy...
10:55I mean, it has thoughts,
10:57but I think the franchise can always be around.
11:01It's something that can always come back here and there.
11:03I wouldn't recommend...
11:05I'm glad you recommended these studios.
11:07Don't do that.
11:08I'd be glad if Disney or someone doesn't buy this opener
11:12and continue to be made by directors like Favarti
11:16because that's what this is about.
11:19It's giving new directors a chance at a big franchise.
11:21It's not put money into it and see where it goes.
11:24They make corporate deadlines.
11:25I mean, look at Star Wars.
11:27Calm, downhill.
11:29I wouldn't mind that Alienfall
11:31maybe five to ten years,
11:33just a wee isolated story.
11:35It doesn't need to be this big grand plot.
11:38Prey, as we said, it's just an isolated story.
11:42Prey, I feel like in the Predator movies,
11:45they have more leeway with the timelines
11:47because you could do any time in human history
11:49where there's a Predator encounter
11:51and you could make it interesting.
11:53I think they're doing another one
11:56that's just going to be an isolated story.
11:58I mean, Predator doesn't have that overarching lore as well,
12:02so it's kind of free reign.
12:04There's not all the society we created.
12:06Unless you look at the APP movies, which is still...
12:08Unless you want to get dirty with it
12:10and read all the comics.
12:12No, not doing that.
12:13Snoozefest.
12:14I'll watch the films instead.
12:18Prey also had the iconic scene, though.
12:21That's the one I think you can give three.
12:23It had the iconic, you know, the alien right here
12:25to replace his.
12:27But apart from that...
12:29It works for a good screenshot nearly,
12:31but I mean, the rest of the movie...
12:33The rest of the movie's not up there.
12:36Weird prisoner plans.
12:38Isn't she like the only woman there, too?
12:41Why?
12:43Just cool.
12:45Because we need Ripley in the movie, stupid.
12:48Are you stupid?
12:50Although, I do like Aliens.
12:52I wouldn't say it's a scary film.
12:54Aliens?
12:55I don't think it's supposed to be.
12:57I mean, I could watch Aliens more than I can watch Alien.
13:00I think, you know, with both actions,
13:02there's an iconic actor.
13:04That's what he meant to say.
13:06The first one I could probably watch once a year.
13:08Aliens, I could watch.
13:10You could stick out, you could put that in the background.
13:12But you get more out of it, I think,
13:14because you can just have it on
13:16or you can be villain-faceted on it.
13:18Aliens, definitely the full Mortor, you know, favourite.
13:21Ooh, la-dee-da.
13:23But for common folk.
13:25Common folk?
13:27The regular viewer.
13:29The go-to.
13:31But I think if I was to rank them,
13:33I would probably go
13:35Aliens,
13:37Alien,
13:39Romulus,
13:41Covenant, Prometheus,
13:43Three Young Resurrections.
13:45Would you put AVP in there?
13:47I kind of see them as a different thing.
13:49But if I was to put them in there,
13:51I'd put them
13:53just after
13:55Covenant.
13:57After Covenant?
13:59Like, put them together?
14:01I don't know, I feel like the first ones
14:03are actually a fairly good movie.
14:05I would rank it above Prometheus and Covenant.
14:07Just because it's
14:09a well-put-together movie.
14:11Apart from the last five months,
14:13where it's, ooh, Predalien.
14:15And then the second movie's just a bit of a dud.
14:17I still like the second one.
14:19Nah, I feel like it's not as good.
14:21Although I've seen it when I was away
14:23and when I should have seen it.
14:25It scared me.
14:27That and Novel Dave.
14:29You shouldn't be watching this.
14:31That's probably what I actually like a wee bit.
14:33But it's
14:35a franchise where you
14:37never end on, you know, spoils.
14:39It's got potential to just go on and on
14:41and continue to pump out bangers.
14:43But I mean, they've got it wrong
14:45and these luck Dave
14:47turn it around a bit.
14:49Just hope they keep a form up
14:51and not over-franchise it.
14:53This shouldn't be a brand.
14:55You know, I said Star Trek and Star Wars.
14:57It shouldn't be that.
14:59It should be its own separate thing.
15:01Do you not think it would do well, though,
15:03if it had a wee mini-series?
15:05A wee 10-episode mini-series.
15:07You know, a crew goes on a ship
15:09or an alien gets on the ship
15:11and you just watch it.
15:13I think it would be good if they just did that
15:15but it was just nine episodes
15:17of just the crew doing their regular stuff.
15:19Then the last episode, bang, alien.
15:21A very long special, bang, everyone's dead.
15:23It's not even called alien.
15:25It's called shipwrecking.
15:27I would be.
15:29I would be peak alien content
15:31because that's what alien embodies.
15:33It's unexpected, unknown.
15:35You have no idea what's coming.
15:37That would be pretty good.
15:39The most boring show ever
15:41for nine episodes.
15:43You've got the 70s, alien set design,
15:45everything, all the dialogues the same.
15:47Some people really like that.
15:49I'd say I'd really like it.
15:51Has it ever done anything animated?
15:53I honestly thought it would
15:55at some point.
15:57It might lend well the animation as well.
15:59It could do more leeway
16:01with the gore,
16:03the action scenes and stuff.
16:05I feel like it would lend more to aliens.
16:07It could add scale.
16:09You don't have 10 aliens on screen,
16:11you could have thousands
16:13way in an animated movie.
16:15AVP can do some of that I think.
16:17Some of the predator lores
16:19that they send.
16:21Some of the flashbacks, it's mountains of aliens.
16:23But then again,
16:25it takes you away from the whole
16:27there's supposed to be intelligent creatures.
16:29I feel like that gets explained the way they look confident.
16:31There's different species of aliens.
16:33Again, I don't really care for that.
16:35Either they're all the same thing
16:37or I'm not buying a ticket to your movie.
16:39I'm sorry.
16:41Stop overcomplicating the alien.
16:43I feel like
16:45they already did it right with aliens.
16:47There's more of them.
16:49You can put that down.
16:51They're more confident.
16:53They've already overtaken the thing.
16:55They don't need to be sneaky.
16:57They just throw themselves at you.
17:03Go watch Alien.
17:05Go watch every movie.
17:07Ever.
17:09With the word alien in it.
17:13Go.
17:39Are you sure you want to do this?
17:43Yes.