Mr Webber
Master Member
Just in case anyone is feeling dizzy, here`s some smelling salts.
A L I E N FIVE Neill Blomkamp's ALIEN movie
- Thread starter ghostryder
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Just in case anyone is feeling dizzy, here`s some smelling salts.
Augh
Active Member
Yeah I couldn't agree more. I guess it's like that thing about breeding horses. You breed a fairly fast and fairly crazy horse with another the same, you'll get a very fast, very crazy horse. Just about anyone will bring something strongly distinctive to the table, so if you can tone down or control the less positive that will accompany them with another hand jointly on the tiller, it'll go a lot better for everyone. It's important to note this also goes horribly wrong when taken to its extreme = direction and writing by committee. Man, this is complicated.
The adage about hungry artists being the best artists absolutely holds up across multiple fields too, I think at least.
Where do you go with it though, without rehashing either of the first two movies? It's either slasher in space, or war movie in space, and finding that sweet spot seems to have eluded Hollywood since, well, Aliens...If anyone is guilty of diminishing the mysteries of the alien, I would say that Cameron is actually the primary offender by reducing the O'Bannon/Scott/Giger self-perpetuating Lovecraftian nightmare into a bug.
By the time Scott got to resurrecting the franchise with his take on the origin (the only mystery left) the series had already been gutted into B movie schlock by Resurrection and the AVP movies.
Now, if you were taking the stand that the whole series should have been left alone since no-one really wanted that remaining mystery solved, I would certainly have some sympathy for that perspective, but constantly being excessively rude about Scott, while cheering on Blomkamp's fanfiction kind of diminishes any claimed desired of preserving the integrity of the property.
Of course you are entitled to your viewpoint, but you have been pretty consistently obnoxious about Scott for quite a long time, I don't think it's a huge surprise that someone has bitten back, though I don't think personal attacks are necessary or achieve anything. I'll stick with 'we get it already'.
Cameron didn't attempt to explain the origins of the creature or the Space Jockey; he just expanded on what was already there. After Aliens, you didn't really know a lot more about them. He didn't put one in full view of daylight or take away any sense of "creep factor" like Scott did in Covenant. He didn't completely mess up the back-story with "LV426-but-not-really" and things like that. (And I will always credit Cameron, together with Weaver, with giving Ripley character and personality.)
I might have built upon the fears Ripley had in Aliens, where she says "if just one of those creatures get in here then all this BS you think is so important will be gone". I actually still think the Omnibus comics had a few interesting ideas in them as well.
I have voiced strong opinions on Scott's handling of it, yes. And I might continue to do so, even if you "get" my baseline opinion. But until the new concept images, it had been a while since I posted anything as well, then I made one little remark of support, because I still support the idea of Alien 5. (Are you going to make a list of everyone here that has done so over the years, with loads more vitriol than I? What about all those spewing absolute hatred at other creators like George Lucas? It would be a long list. ) If someone has viewpoints that shine on Scott's genius, I'm happy to read them. Change my mind instead of making huffy postings.
Is it nostalgia wanting to see a Ripley/Hicks reunion? Sure. But why would that have to be a bad thing?
It doesn't.
I would still love to see a trilogy of films in the Halo 'verse, based on Bungie's Halo games, you know the good ones.
A bug that learns how to operate human technology, changes tactics to suit the situation etc etc
Yeah, bugs are definitely known to do that :rolleyes
It doesn't.
I would still love to see a trilogy of films in the Halo 'verse, based on Bungie's Halo games, you know the good ones.
A bug that learns how to operate human technology, changes tactics to suit the situation etc etc
Yeah, bugs are definitely known to do that :rolleyes
MrSouthpaw
Sr Member
I liked NB's concept art for the project. It looked to be shaping up to a good sequel.
Oh well, maybe he can get that Mass Effect movie going. His style is visually perfect for it.
Oh well, maybe he can get that Mass Effect movie going. His style is visually perfect for it.
It doesn't have to be bad, but it would take a slight of hand in the script department to make it not bad. I don't believe that NB has shown that he has that deftness, one that Brandywine completely failed to find in any writer for Alien 3.
Starship Troopers had a Brain-bug, it's still a bug. A sci-fi bug, but still a bug. Hell, they've been referred to as bugs in numerous spin-offs since, so what's your point?
I'm not knocking your precious Cameron, he made one of the best sequels ever, and took the original in a completely different direction (unlike NB), but we were talking about de-mystifcation of the concepts introduced by Scott not the quality of the end product. If you're going to throw in the eye-roll emojis, at least try and keep up with the discussion :rolleyes :rolleyes
joberg
Legendary Member
The major problem with the Alien-verse is that someone, somehow has a better idea/concept than anybody else and doesn't know that the cow has been milked so much over the years that it, not only, cannot produce milk anymore, but that it's dead!:devil What else can you do with it? Some above have stumble on a few already-seen-concepts:
1: The Alien is aboard the ship and is hunting down the crew...er, wait: done, done and done!
2: The Alien is been hunted by a bunch of grunts that will be eliminated one by one until a strong woman saves the day...done!
3: The Alien is...I give up
How many times/ways you wanna see the crew dying or the Alien dying? And no new sets/costumes/spaceships/ worlds will make a diff in the end.
1: The Alien is aboard the ship and is hunting down the crew...er, wait: done, done and done!
2: The Alien is been hunted by a bunch of grunts that will be eliminated one by one until a strong woman saves the day...done!
3: The Alien is...I give up
How many times/ways you wanna see the crew dying or the Alien dying? And no new sets/costumes/spaceships/ worlds will make a diff in the end.
airair
Sr Member
You have to realise Ridley Scott is not the film maker he was years ago.
He is now a director who gets the scipt, films it quickly, completes it and job done.
He's not obsessed with details such as story and plot, thats the job of the writers and producers. He also doesn't care what people think or will think in 1 years, 5 years or 10 years time.
He loves making films and being on set.
Look at his most recent project. He removed Kevin Spacey and got Plummer to redo everything within 20 days, thats what you call workmanlike and efficient.
And he is a pensioner, so give him some slack.
As for Blomkamp, they are nice concepts, and it would be fun to see a direct sequel for Aliens.
He is now a director who gets the scipt, films it quickly, completes it and job done.
He's not obsessed with details such as story and plot, thats the job of the writers and producers. He also doesn't care what people think or will think in 1 years, 5 years or 10 years time.
He loves making films and being on set.
Look at his most recent project. He removed Kevin Spacey and got Plummer to redo everything within 20 days, thats what you call workmanlike and efficient.
And he is a pensioner, so give him some slack.
As for Blomkamp, they are nice concepts, and it would be fun to see a direct sequel for Aliens.
Mr Webber
Master Member
Pensioner? The man could personally fund the entire welfare system if he chose to do so.
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I agree. There are plenty of sources inside Fox who still believe the Alien 3 storyline was a misstep and mishandled by the studio regime at the time. Constantly dismissing any version of an alternate take on the concept as "fan-fictiony" is short sided - especially since every Alien film begins with its protagonists in a state of sleep. Newt and Hicks have been canonically declared alive in everything from comics to games - and from everything I know of Blomkamp's version, it actually brings a refreshing spin on the series.
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Mr Webber
Master Member
Just to be clear, this has not been a Scott vs Blomkamp thing for me for a long time, its been a me vs incredibly rude people thing.
We need more substance from NB than just a few strategic twitter posts with some pretty drawings.
As I`ve always said Willie, if its not in the film its not in the canon, what about the millions of people who dont know about the comics or the games?
We need more substance from NB than just a few strategic twitter posts with some pretty drawings.
As I`ve always said Willie, if its not in the film its not in the canon, what about the millions of people who dont know about the comics or the games?
To be fair, a *lot* more does exist. I've been fortunate enough to see everything from the ADI maquettes to story documents - all of which were exciting to me as a fan. I *hope* Neill chooses to reveal more, but there's plenty of reasons not to reveal everything at the moment.
But who does that rule apply to? There's real no hard and fast rule about what is and isn't "canon" - especially with this franchise. You can start with Charles Bishop Weyland vs. Peter Weyland as one of this series' multitude of canonical inconsistencies. The "rules" for canon - at least for this franchise - change with every new marketing team and production regime. One year we're told Aliens: Colonial Marines is "official studio sanctioned canon" for the sake of marketing a game, then a new regime comes in says, "Actually, here's the *new* canon." The only constant is change.
It wasn't meant to come off as a humblebrag if that's the way you're taking it. It's a film concept that's in development - are we really at the point in fandom where everything needs to be revealed up front "to the rest of the world" in order to pass judgement?
Mr Webber
Master Member
It wasnt meant like that at all.....As far as I know there is nothing at all about the storyline in the general public. Know one is passing judgement as there is nothing to base a judgement on. Just a few drawings yes?
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