Alien

Obviously not the most appropriate place to ask this, but maybe someone here can explain this for me anyway.

Alien (1979). Great film, yeah.

But is this ever explained anywhere else in the Alien universe? It's a huge humanoid sitting in what is presumably an alien breeding machine. I've always thought that it looks like a giant turret though.

no pic?

the pilot? isn't it like a pilot from an all different race which was parasited by the Alien aliens?

I always thought it was the remains of whatever was driving the ship they humans found the eggs on?

ps. image worked by copying source

phling beat me

If that image doesn't work then, yes, it's this:

Maybe it's obvious or easily explained if you watch a DVD extra, but I never really thought about it until now.

Why is every alien fucking anorexic?

"In an application of the special effects technique of forced perspective, Scott dressed his own children in scaled-down Nostromo spacesuits and filmed them walking around the Space Jockey's dais to make the whole set appear twice as large as it actually was."

LOL

cuz chubby would be familiar to most people..?

I love it. Even though it's never explained it adds so much depth to history of the Xenomorphs

  Quote

The derelict ship contains several thousand alien eggs. Scott suggests in his Alien DVD commentary that the Jockey's ship was a "bomber": alien eggs could be dropped on an enemy planet, and the aliens would proceed to kill the population as they spawned. According to Cameron, the Space Jockey's craft picked up alien eggs and the pilot became infected by the dangerous cargo; the ship landed on LV-426 and the Space Jockey transmitted the signal as a warning.

That's really cool, although bombing enemies with the Alien doesn't fit with the other ideas that the Jockey's are generally noble.

I should evidently read some of the novels or comics because I'd actually be interested in this species.

yeh but all the explanations etc., Scott and the others involved had to come up with them for interviews etc after the film was done, right?

imo it's a plot device, a pretty good one, and it's great that we actually don't know anything about it, just like the Nostromo crew didn't when they saw it.

Explaining alien = destroying alien (see derivative films/games)

Completely agree that too much explanation has been detrimental to the series, but it proves that there has, is and continues to be huge interest in the story-lines and creatures.

Has there ever been an animated series?

  On 3/29/2010 at 12:12 AM, Gary C said:

 

I should evidently read some of the novels or comics because I'd actually be interested in this species.

why do you think you should do this, do you expect them in any way to maintain some sort of overall narrative consistency?

dan obannon (the writer) seems to be the only one who would have anything concrete or valid to say about the subject, what is his take?

No doubt ridley will explain the backstory of the space jockey in the upcoming alien prequel. I think it's best that we dont know what it is or where it came from and try and imagine it for ourselves.

It's supposed to be in 3D too. Man fuck this 3D bollox. I still believe its a gimmick and have no interest in it whatsoever.

i don't see how ridley scott can clear any of it up since he did not write the story

  On 3/29/2010 at 12:45 AM, Donkey Rhubarb said:

No doubt ridley will explain the backstory of the space jockey in the upcoming alien prequel. I think it's best that we dont know what it is or where it came from and try and imagine it for ourselves.

 

It's supposed to be in 3D too. Man fuck this 3D bollox. I still believe its a gimmick and have no interest in it whatsoever.

  Quote

Sir Ridley Scott was in town the other night, mainly to look on with pride as his daughter, Jordan, debuted her film, Cracks, at the London Film Festival – but we grabbed him for a quick natter about the Alien prequel that he’s aiming to direct soon-ish.

 

Since the prequel was announced, it’s been assumed that it would tell the story of how those nasty, slavering xenomorphs came to land on LV-426 in the first place. But after listening to Sir Ridley, suddenly we’re not so sure…

 

“It’s a brand new box of tricks,” said Sir Ridley. “We know what the road map is, and the screenplay is now being put on paper. The prequel will be a while ago. It’s very difficult to put a year on Alien, but [for example] if Alien was towards the end of this century, then the prequel story will take place thirty years prior.”

 

Interesting. And damned intriguing, to boot. Presumably, rather than make a film about how those massive elephantine aliens (remember the giant pilot with his chest blown outwards in Sir Ridley’s original?) were decimated by the acid-blooded bastards, Sir Ridley and his writer, Jon Spaihts, have decided to reboot the story in an attempt to give it a human focus.

 

How this will fit in with existing series continuity remains, like much about the new Fox movie, to be seen, but with Sir Ridley on board, we’re sure that the Alien series is on course for a return to genuine quality. Frankly, though, we’re still a little surprised that the man who is arguably Britain’s greatest living director would return to the scene of his greatest triumph. So why do it?

 

“I never thought I’d look forward to a sequel,” said Sir Ridley. “But a prequel is kind of interesting. I’m looking forward to doing that.”

Interesting.

It has massive potential to fail, but maybe that's because we've been increasingly let down more and more with everything since Alien 3. Perhaps we've been broken so many times that we find it incapable to be excited again and maybe Ridley cares enough about us to give us what we deserve?

Or he wants to get his hand on some of that lucrative money money, yum. Money.

From what I've seen in the trailers of his attempt at Robin Hood I'm not convinced that he's making great films anymore though.

i must be out of it, but why do people hope Ridley scott can return to making a good film again? he lost it after blade runner and alien, what made Alien so goddam amazing in my opinion wasn't Scott's directing, but it was Dan Obannon's screenplay and Hr Gigers designs.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4083772/24549638-Alien-Harvest.pdf

Allegedly a very homo-erotic "leaked" script.

  On 3/29/2010 at 12:45 AM, Donkey Rhubarb said:

It's supposed to be in 3D too. Man fuck this 3D bollox. I still believe its a gimmick and have no interest in it whatsoever.

that's what the mono purists said about stereo

  On 3/29/2010 at 1:14 AM, Awepittance said:

i must be out of it, but why do people hope Ridley scott can return to making a good film again? he lost it after blade runner and alien, what made Alien so goddam amazing in my opinion wasn't Scott's directing, but it was Dan Obannon's screenplay and Hr Gigers designs.

and moebius's designs! he did the human side of things, he also worked on tron & the abyss.

edit: but i think scotts directing helped too, creating that still cold atmosphere that you get in bladerunner too, good contrast to the dedsigns etc need to go back to work now, that was not a proper answer.

  On 3/29/2010 at 12:17 AM, phling said:

yeh but all the explanations etc., Scott and the others involved had to come up with them for interviews etc after the film was done, right?

 

imo it's a plot device, a pretty good one, and it's great that we actually don't know anything about it, just like the Nostromo crew didn't when they saw it.

 

Explaining alien = destroying alien (see derivative films/games)

Nail on head.

  On 3/29/2010 at 1:26 AM, Fred McGriff said:

  On 3/29/2010 at 12:45 AM, Donkey Rhubarb said:

It's supposed to be in 3D too. Man fuck this 3D bollox. I still believe its a gimmick and have no interest in it whatsoever.

 

that's what the mono purists said about stereo

Stereo doesn't give me headaches.

Just pressed play on the 2003 Director's Cut.

This film is still amazing and so completely different from everything else in the franchise.

That's what made the first films so great; that they were all different. The themes that run throughout the storyline are the most engaging aspect for me.

Maybe Ridley Scott can successfully reboot the franchise. In recent decades it's suffered from a paint-by-numbers approach, a simple decision made by execs that 'there's money to be made from that franchise this summer and this thing is cool nowadays so put that in' (see aliens swimming in neon blue, and the dreadlocked guy in Resurrection).

Maybe the return of a powerful figure can help force through the ideas and themes that a new film would need. A heavyweight could be just what's needed to cut the crap.

Ive just got this feeling that its gonna be basically a remake of the first film but in 3D. Whuppee fucking doo.

I agree with Awepittance about giger's designs. If he could involve him in some way to create new breeds of aliens maybe that we havent seen before?

Id rather fuck ridley off and have james cameron give us another aliens film. That aint gonna happen unfortunately.