Well, therein lies the danger inherent in just about any prequel or sequel which dares to expand upon the original.
I'm a big believer in the power of mystery and the magic of the unanswered. On the other hand, when the mysteries are revealed in an intellectually interesting, emotionally satisfying, dramatically compelling way, the results can be very worthwhile indeed.
But I can't really think of any film enigmas or mysteries that rank with the enigma of the derelict, the jockey and the alien. It's almost the soul of the film, whereas the other examples you gave don't represent trashings of central enigmas, but rather irritating add-ons to the original movies.
Just a moment... just a moment... Aha! There
is another film enigma to rank with Alien. And one close to your heart! To me, it's exactly as if Kubrick were to make another 2001 movie in which he shows you the 'aliens' who observed Bowman. He shows you them eating their dinner, going to the bathroom on the other side of Bowman's hotel room, subtitles all their weird vocalisations, and gives you a full run-down of an interesting and dramatically compelling, emotionally satisfying, political intrigue within their society regarding their motivation for turning Bowman into the Starchild. Surely it can be seen that no drama regarding the 2001 'aliens',
no matter how perfect, could ever be fit even to lick the boots of the original enigma in terms of cultural importance; the enigma is simply too valuable to us in itself. Maybe Clarke already did this in his novels - one reason I'll never pick those things up. A 2nd example would be the Close Encounters Special Edition, in which Spielberg went down the road Scott's taking here. He revealed everything inside the mothership, then 30 years later rightfully bitterly regretted it.
For me, as with the 2001 example, NO explanation of the Alien enigma, no matter how intellectually interesting, or emotionally satisfying, or dramatically compelling, can be worth the loss of said enigma. It can't be overstated that 'Alien's main cultural value to us is its astonishing presentation of that which is the UNKNOWN. What was the bloody point of all that effort if you're going to just tear it all down 30 years later, if you're going to declare 'Cease your wonder! The derelict was THIS, and the eggs were THIS, and the alien was THIS!' Oh, cheers, Rid, cheers for closing down a whole district of my imagination. For 30 years it was such a liberating place through which to wander. I did so like it there. But it's gone now. Thanks, man.
