Zoe talks Aliens
I was asked about the Alien movies the other day. When I admitted that I owned the Quad-rilogy on disc, and Alien vs. Predator, I got one of those looks. You know, one of THOSE LOOKS. I stand behind each of these movies for what they are, and place no importance on them in any way more than for what they are, big, expensive RSK movies (Running, Shooting, Killing).
"Alien" (1979 - the first of the set) is a solid, screamingly scary movie that caused my big old tough dad to scream out loud and spill his coffee when we saw it at the drive-in (it was a trade off, we saw "Brubaker" for him, and "Alien" for me.) It is a classic that needs no explanation, and really introduced a genre that is still going strong.
My favorite of the series is "Aliens" (1986) which is one of the first real “Thrill Ride” movies ever made. I love the pseudo love story between Ripley and Hicks, and the mother thing with Newt, very human in all the inhumanity. Plus who doesn’t love Bill Paxton whining like a little girl?
"Alien 3" (1992) is a wonderfully shot dystopian fable that cuts the line of redemption very fine and very jaggedly. Director David Fincher cut his teeth on MTV and went on to direct the very stylish "Se7en" and "Fight Club" (which I also love). His cinematic style bolsters a grungy morally ambivalent script. I particularly loved Charles Dance in this movie.
The forth Alien movie (cleverly titled "Alien: Resurrection") was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of "Delicatessen" and "Amelie" (and written by Joss Whedon, the creator of "Buffy," "Angel," and "Firefly.") So it has a very specific look that you will either love or hate. My favorite part is that even though Sigourney Weaver is getting kinda long in the tooth to be playing these kinds of roles, she still rocks as this character in all reincarnations. There is the unfortunate Winona Ryder character, but I often don’t remember her when I think of this movie.
The other movie that I add to this “Alien Event” is "Alien vs. Predator." (Just so you know Predator is a solid RSK flick, the 2nd one is not so good and will be ignored by me in this paragraph.) Alien vs. Predator has the cold confining feel of John Carpenter’s "The Thing", except without all that pesky plot and character development stuff thrown in. One of my friends called Humans vs. Architecture with lots of running in caves. Its' brevity (like its' title where they can’t be bothered to type out the whole thing and resort to AVP.) leaves no time to linger. At 101 minutes, it is like a flare that is going to go out any minute in a slow hiss and leave us in the dark
Viewed as a body of work, these movies are sketchy, uneven, and surreal. Viewed for what they are, Time Wasters and Popcorn Movies, they each succeed in their own distinct way with their own distinct voice. And remember sometimes a movie is just a movie.