A detail about Alien... Has anyone else noticed this?

[Grey]

Yeah, I don't go with the steam theory either. Why would there be steam on a spacecraft? And she vents off like 2 or 3 other things before she gets one that affects him. I'm guessing chemical of some kind.

She wasen't testing different chemicals, she was going down a list of vents and trying to find one located where it was hiding. Only one actually hits it.

Anyway, it's not steam. I took some screencaps from the movie and the gas that eventually hits it is apparently "Nitrosyl Chloride", which among other things is a skin irritant. The gas is yellow in reality and I have no idea why it would be on a spaceship, but I digress.

 

[Bryancd]

http://youtu.be/ZmZdqsCW8vM

 

[Jeyl]

You accept that its steam being vented into a spacecraft. I accept that it might be steam or air filtration system and/or coolant. Let's leave it at that.

I'd leave it at that, but than I'd have to accept that the method of freezing the aliens into obedience is more legit than ALIENS' method of using fire to stray them off. Meaning that ALIEN RESURRECTION is more of a legitimate sequel to ALIEN than ALIENS is. Do you really want to defend your position that badly?

Again, how would any one know for certain in the first film when it was never really confirmed in the film? What if there had been no followups, or video games, and it was just the first film by itself... How would you know for certain that flamethrowers would have done anything against it when we never get a clear view of it doing so?

I think we should look at this from the perspective of the actual characters who have to deal with this crap. One tiny cut on the Facehugger's fingers spilled enough acid to eat through two decks. Facing a creature that spawned from it that is much larger, do you really want to argue the point that the alien probably doesn't have acid and that they should just kill it through normal means?

 

[CB2001]

Now, I believe my initial assessment about what was being vent into the shuttle was, in fact, chemicals, thanks to the people of Typeset In The Future, so now I can say I believe its chemicals that were used. Below is copied from the Alien page they have on their website, exactly as it's written on the page:

Back to the action. Ripley is safely on board the shuttle, with no sign of the alien. But wait – just when we think all is rosy, it turns out that the damned thing has also stowed away on the shuttle. Gah!

Thankfully, this shuttle comes equipped with a system that pipes highly toxic and flammable SPECIAL GASES into the main cockpit at the press of a button:

It's not immediately clear why this is a particularly useful or safe feature to have in a shuttle. Nonetheless, it certainly comes in handy when there's an alien hiding in the wall.

Ripley starts by venting some Iodine Pentafluoride and Methyl Chloride. This doesn't seem to have much effect. It's a whole different matter when she tries the Nitrosyl Chloride, however:

According to Wikipedia, Nitrosyl Chloride is “very toxic and irritating to the lungs, eyes, and skin”. I don't know whether the alien actually has any of these organs, but he definitely doesn't like Nitrosyl Chloride one bit, and starts squealing like a frog in a roomful of cats:

(I'm going to ignore the fact that Nitrosyl Chloride gas is actually yellow. It's working, and that's all that matters.)

I'd leave it at that, but than I'd have to accept that the method of freezing the aliens into obedience is more legit than ALIENS' method of using fire to stray them off. Meaning that ALIEN RESURRECTION is more of a legitimate sequel to ALIEN than ALIENS is. Do you really want to defend your position that badly?

I'm not saying anything about Alien Resurrection. I didn't even bring up Alien Resurrection. Please don't try to put words in my mouth. But since you brought it up, the scientists were trying to keep the aliens alive, not kill them (like the Nostromo Crew or the Marines in the first two films, who were trying to either drive the alien to an Airlock or kill them by flaming them to death like the Marines). Would make since you wouldn't use fire to kill a creature you've put a lot of effort to create, wouldn't it? It's like Jurassic Park and the Raptors. When it comes to their Raptors' cage, do you want to use shotguns whenever they attempt to climb out, which will kill them or would you use electricity to shock them, and keep them alive?

I think we should look at this from the perspective of the actual characters who have to deal with this crap. One tiny cut on the Facehugger's fingers spilled enough acid to eat through two decks. Facing a creature that spawned from it that is much larger, do you really want to argue the point that the alien probably doesn't have acid and that they should just kill it through normal means?

I didn't argue that the alien didn't have acid for blood. That was another user, GlazyUK.

 

[Bryancd]

I can't find my paperback. The ALIEN Movie Novel photo book describes it as "Slowly, Ripley pushes buttons to release hot gases she hopes will jolt the alien from its lair and into position to be blown from the ship."

 

[CB2001]

I can't find my paperback. The ALIEN Movie Novel photo book describes it as "Slowly, Ripley pushes buttons to release hot gases she hopes will jolt the alien from its lair and into position to be blown from the ship."

I guess Nitrosyl Chloride counts as a hot gas. :lol

 

[Bryancd]

Now I'm just irritated I can't find my book....

 

[CB2001]

Now I'm just irritated I can't find my book....

Take your time. And remember to just breathe. This is a discussion, not an argument. It's not like its a life or death situation. Unless there happens to be a xenomorph trying to kill you and you need information on how to kill it since flamethrowers aren't commonly available. J/k :lol

 

[Bryancd]

Take your time. And remember to just breathe. This is a discussion, not an argument. It's not like its a life or death situation. Unless there happens to be a xenomorph trying to kill you and you need information on how to kill it since flamethrowers aren't commonly available. J/k :lol

Speak for yourself, we are armed to the teeth! No, I'm bummed i can't find the book as I love that book and don't want it to go missing. I have the Heavy Metal comic adaptation, Movie Book, ALIEN Vault, a ton of great reference material and I want to keep th book with all of that. Alan Dean Foster actually lives not too far away from me here in AZ. I am pretty certain the ALIEN isn't hiding in the book like he was in the movie.

 

[CB2001]

Speak for yourself, we are armed to the teeth! No, I'm bummed i can't find the book as I love that book and don't want it to go missing. I have the Heavy Metal comic adaptation, Movie Book, ALIEN Vault, a ton of great reference material and I want to keep th book with all of that. Alan Dean Foster actually lives not too far away from me here in AZ. I am pretty certain the ALIEN isn't hiding in the book like he was in the movie.

That's actually sounds like a cool collection. And the fact ADF lives nearby is just as equally awesome in my opinion. I agree, I wouldn't want to lose a good like that (I can't imagine leaving any of my movie-related books, be it adaptations {which I happen to have a few ADF novel adaptations, such as Dark Star, Alien, Aliens, and a couple of others}, some behind the scenes books {most recent was a copy of the Making of The Lost World, which I got on the cheap, and even the Close Encounters of the Third King Diary} and I have quite a lot of comic books {I've got a mix of everything from stuff I've grown up with, stuff I've picked up because they were interesting, quite a few comics from companies that no longer exist and quite a few franchise stuff. I have the tendency to pick up comic book adaptations of movies if I can. Got a lot of the Marvel movie comics such as The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Star Wars, RoboCop, RoboCop 2 and a few others. I actually tried to pick up a comic adaptation of of Alien that came out in the 1990s at MegaCon, but someone else got it before I could, but I do have Alien 3 adaptation and a few others from the Dark Horse Comics line}).

 

[Jeyl]

I guess Nitrosyl Chloride counts as a hot gas. :lol

Are you still arguing over the merits of using the flame thrower as an effective means to use against the alien? If you stand by the film's portrayal of skin irritating gas being able to drive the Alien from it's cozy spot, why do you think something like fire would do anything less?

 

[CB2001]

Are you still arguing over the merits of using the flame thrower as an effective means to use against the alien? If you stand by the film's portrayal of skin irritating gas being able to drive the Alien from it's cozy spot, why do you think something like fire would do anything less?

What you just quoted, that was a joke for Bryancd. That's what the :lol was for.

 

[Jeyl]

What you just quoted, that was a joke for Bryancd.

If you don't wish to answer, that's ok.... I won't hold your feet to the fire?

 

[CB2001]

If you don't wish to answer, that's ok.... I won't hold your feet to the fire?

And I won't hold your feet to the fire either... Or to Nitrosyl Chloride. :lol

 

[JediG60racer]

Every move of the ALIEN in the original film were purposeful, methodical, bizarre, and that's what made it more scary.

case in point...

http://youtu.be/eR5jYeIMBKk

And I'm SO glad they deleted that RIDICULOUS bit. It just looks stupid. Like a kid playing crab soccer in an alien costume, waiting for the ball to come to him.

 

[SofaKing01]

She wasen't testing different chemicals, she was going down a list of vents and trying to find one located where it was hiding. Only one actually hits it.

Anyway, it's not steam. I took some screencaps from the movie and the gas that eventually hits it is apparently "Nitrosyl Chloride", which among other things is a skin irritant. The gas is yellow in reality and I have no idea why it would be on a spaceship, but I digress.

View attachment 425243View attachment 425244View attachment 425245

WOW - I never noticed the model plastic spru around the edges of the button panels - HOW AWESOME is that?!

 

[CB2001]

WOW - I never noticed the model plastic spru around the edges of the button panels - HOW AWESOME is that?!

Same here. It was when I was looking at the picture more closely did I notice them. I guess its one of those "blink and you'll miss it" details.

 

[vintageslant]

And I'm SO glad they deleted that RIDICULOUS bit. It just looks stupid. Like a kid playing crab soccer in an alien costume, waiting for the ball to come to him.

Thanks for that, I had never seen clip before. Now I want to bathe my eyes in Nitrosyl Chloride!

 

[Bryancd]

Thanks for that, I had never seen clip before. Now I want to bathe my eyes in Nitrosyl Chloride!

Yes, it didn't work but speaks to how outside the box they were thinking.

 

[CB2001]

Yes, it didn't work but speaks to how outside the box they were thinking.

I agree. It shows that they were trying to make the way this thing move way unlike a human, and they did succeed a bit in some movements, while others were way off. But they definitely succeeded in making the alien feel like a creature, and not a human in a suit