MovieChat Forums > Alien (1979) Discussion > Just thought of something last night!

Just thought of something last night!

posted 10 months ago by jpssteveshanahan (452)
38 replies | jump to latest

If "Weyland/Yutani" already had the means of developing life like cybernetic organisms, like our good friend Dr Ash. Why do they still have organic staff members on their payroll? Think about it! If their objective was to safely retrieve "the specimen". Wouldn't it make more sense to have a corporate sponsored team of androids fulfill this operation? That way! You avoid the moral dilemmas and infighting that occurred between the group. Since the robots were obviously programmed to follow "Weyland/Yutani's" agenda without question. Without delusions of morality 😁

You also wouldn't have to worry about the Alien going apeshit and killing everyone on board since they obviously don't go after inorganic material. Unless WY somehow knew beforehand that the Alien needed a living host to propagate. My brother counter argues that an entire team of androids would be expensive, even for "Weyland/Yutani". This makes sense with the "expendable assets" angle the movie was going for.

[–] pjl69 (2508) 10 months ago

There was no masterplan to get the alien, they just happened to be there accidentally and received the signal from the alien space ship. There was a clause in their contracts in case they ran into an alien life form, so they had to investigate.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

I thought this was all an elaborate plan by WY to retrieve "the specimen". Which is why they replaced the medical staff at the last minute. Which implies they had prior knowledge of it. Which implies this was a suicide mission.

[–] Melton (2624) 10 months ago

This is the first I’ve heard of this ‘elaborate plan’, I think it was all happenstance. As for Ash, I guess the company likes having a covert ‘company man’ onboard to report and, in extreme circumstances, take action.

Let’s also not forget that Alien was originally a trashy B-movie called ‘Starbeast’ until more and more talent came onboard - new writers, Ridley in his prime, and of course Geiger who brought the incredible design of the creature. It slowly morphed from a B-picture into a work of art.

Given that, I don’t think an enormous level of thought was put into Weyland-Yutani’s motives beyond ‘evil giant corporation’.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Read my previous comment. If WY wasn't aware of the fact "beforehand". Why did they suddenly decide to replace the previous medical staff? If you consider "Alien Isolation" cannon. There's even an audio log in the game, where Dallas finds this last minute change suspicious. So they may have had some prior knowledge. To what extent it's probably the question.

And you hit the nail on the head. Alien is basically a "B" movie done "A". I even posted on YouTube last night that "Alien" wouldn't be "Alien" if not for HR Giger's original vision.

PS: You had me with the "evil corporation" angle 😁

[–] pjl69 (2508) 10 months ago

If it ain't in the movie, it doesn't exist. I don't remember anything suggesting that Ash was a replacement. I may have to rewatch the movie, its been a long time since I last time saw it. The theatrical cut, which is considered Ridley's preferred cut.

[–] pjl69 (2508) 10 months ago

I just checked the movie and there indeed was couple of lines of Ash being a replacement. I had totally forgotten about that. It doesn't necessarily mean that WY knew about the alien, all that happened could have been a standard procedure in alien encounter situation...

[–] blindfolded (1562) 10 months ago

When broken Ash's milky head is being interrogated, it most definitely sounded like to me he knew all along what it was and what they were dealing with.

I always took it to mean the company knew about that species and was working covertly with Ash which is why he makes a whole bunch of reckless decisions.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Thank you!

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

By the way! Are you implying that Ridley Scott is over the hill!? 🤨

[–] Melton (2624) 10 months ago

No, that wasn’t the point I was making, although Ridley is 85 and still working which is incredibly old. He’s still making good stuff but he’s always been hugely up and down and I think it’s fair to say his best years are behind him.

In fact, his best years were close to the start of his career with Alien and Blade Runner. He has never topped them despite some good films along the way like Gladiator and, for my money, The Counsellor.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

I'll give you that one. He apparently peaked too early in his career. I give him credit for still kicking ass at 85. And keep in mind that he started later in life. This gives me hope as I am also pushing 40.

The good thing about filmmaking is that it can literally be a lifelong profession. As long as you don't develop a debilitating mental illness, like Alzheimer's.

[–] DancingintheDark (1327) 10 months ago

The last minute placement of Ash is telling to me as well. I don’t think WY knew specifically what was down there but they had a good feeling it was probably alien and Ash was their ace in the hole to retrieve it.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Finally! Someone else that gets it.

[–] DancingintheDark (1327) 10 months ago

I think it’s fairly explicit, and subtle details like that are ONLY added to hammer in the nail, but funny enough are oftentimes missed by viewers.
When I was a kid, I saw Jurassic Park in the theater four or five times with a friend, who was as equally interested and excited about dinosaurs as I was. I remember getting into a huge argument with him, because he refused to acknowledge that Alan and Ellie were in a relationship, he said at no point in the film was it made explicitly clear (although it was), I told him that it was made clear in the details, the stuff that’s sprinkled in outside of the action sequences and requires focus on character analysis, body language, and behavior and so forth.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Really!? He didn't know they were an item? That reminds me of Homer Simpson's refusal of acknowledgement about the fact that Bruce Wayne is Batman 😄

No offense. But your friend reminds me of Dr Malcom when he asked Dr Grant if she was "available". Even though it should have been obvious that she wasn't.

Fun fact! JP left such a lasting impression as a kid. That I wanted to become an archeologist for sometime.

[–] Techto (1159) 10 months ago

There was some retconning in the subsequent movies that confused the matter but your reading is, I believe, correct.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Thank you. I only take the first one into consideration. Alien II is good, but too OTT for my taste. I prefer the former's methodical build up. Alien III follows the same formula in principle.

[–] Ace_Spade (9440) 10 months ago

It's way more sinister if you think about why they'd want the organic crew onboard.

Ash is a medical officer, so he's obviously there to observe the growth of the aliens so W-Y has as much information as possible for their bio-weapon schemes. How would he observe life cycles? It's not just that W-Y placed him with the team to get the xenomorph, it's not just that they think the crew are expendable, I think it's likely that the nightmare that happens to the crew is exactly what they wanted to happen. The crew are lab rats.

[–] pjl69 (2508) 10 months ago

What would happen, if the crew was all robots like OP suggested? They probably wouldn't get the alien onboard because the eggs would just open when they tried to move them, and there wouldn't be a host for facehugger. We don't know how long a facehugger lives without a host if they captured one and tried to take it with them (there was a hint in Aliens that facehuggers live quite a long time outside an egg, but I wouldn't take seriously any BS Cameron invented for his sequel).

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

I thought the eggs only hatched when they sensed organic life nearby. Hence, they would remain dormant when the Working Joe's...sorry. Weyland Yutani property decided to move them. Hence, they could be transported without issue.

"I wouldn't take seriously any BS Cameron invented for his sequel".

This! 😄

[–] Ace_Spade (9440) 10 months ago

As I said to pjl69, I'm guessing that whether the eggs would remain dormant for robots or hatch and die, either way, W-Y wouldn't send all bots. In the latter scenario, it would spoil their plans. In the former, they couldn't observe the xenomorph. I still stand by my opinion that they not only didn't care what happened, but actively hoped for "data" at the expense of the crew.

[–] Ace_Spade (9440) 10 months ago

Well, even if we want to agree with Cameron's developments of Alien's universe, we still need to consider the original Alien on its own to figure out what Ridley Scott was doing. Sequels often contradict the originals, which makes the plot hole or inconsistency the fault of the second movie, not the first.

In this case, yeah, it's possible that the eggs would hatch, sensing "life" and then die. Of course, it's also possible that they'd remain dormant until they sensed actual life, but who knows how honed their pre-natal senses are?

Either way, I'll guess that Weyland-Yutani either weren't going to risk it, or (as I said above) actually wanted to record what would happen to the crew of the Nostromo because they were deliberately trying to gain that knowledge at the expense of the crew.

For an extra dollop of cynicism, I bet they were more fried that the cargo got torched than Ripley's friends and teammates. That must've been a lot of dough down the drain.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

[deleted]

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Good observation.

[–] Ace_Spade (9440) 10 months ago

Thank you. One of the best parts of Alien is the sense of betrayal and hopelessness once they are abandoned by "mother". It just adds to the layered study of fear and nihilism that the film soaks into every frame.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Don't mention it. But now that you mention it! That part near the end Where Ripley was crying out to the ship's supercomputer. "Mother!" Only for it to fall on deaf ears. Reminded me of that sense of abandonment you mentioned.

[–] Ace_Spade (9440) 10 months ago

The abandonment contributes to the terror and relatabiity of the character. They feel so vulnerable and alone.

It's basically Bambi in space.

[–] [deleted] 10 months ago

Weyland-Yutani Director here. Do you have any idea how much it costs to build one of these things? Plus those crew signed up to their own contract. Space mining does NOT pay for itself.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

The most sensible thing I heard all day 😄

Please elaborate on what you meant by "the crew signing up their own contract".

[–] [deleted] 10 months ago

Turns out they needed some cash. Like yourself. Poor, lost, trying it all yourself.

Well, it is clear that risk-taking is not for you, That's ok: it's not for most people.

Strange to hear but money talks. You'd know: if you ever had it.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

I appreciate the pep talk. But no amount of money will ever persuade me to go on a suicide mission to some god forsaken planet. With the high probability of becoming an unwilling host to some parasitic life form that'll eventually burst out of my chest. Causing me to die in the most brutal and painful way imaginable.

It's most certainly NOT worth the risk of earning some extra cash.

Just saying! 😁

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Are you really the director of Weyland/Yutani!?

If so! Can you get me a job? 😁

[–] FilmQuestions (68) 10 months ago

Perhaps the androids were only suitable for analysis type jobs like Ash had. In any case, I don't think Weyland Yutani knew exactly what they were retrieving. But they believed it would be quite useful for the company.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

This ☝️

[–] cbsteven (214) 10 months ago

WY wanted it to look like a routine trip, so went with a human crew and 'replacement'. No need to explain a extra trip to a remote planet. Were androids capable of operating without a few humans in the crew too? And for the purpose of the film, would a Facehugger go for a synthetic, or ultimately be able to use them as a host? All they could do is bring some eggs back, or get incapacitated by attack. That wouldn't be much of a film.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

Well, if you consider Alien Isolation cannon. The Working Joe's were able to more or less "upkeep" Sevastapool station by themselves. And they were supposed to be "inferior models" compared to what WY was manufacturing.

[–] jpssteveshanahan (452) 10 months ago

"All they could do is bring some eggs back, or get incapacitated by attack. That wouldn't be much of a film".

😁

[–] sati_84 (460) 10 months ago

WY had a plan to retrieve the Alien, but it was not an official plan. It was hatched up by a handful of board members, it was not officially sanctioned.

The evidence is that they did not send a professional crew (or a crew entirely consisting of androids as you suggest), because that would have incurred costs. And if they don't find anything, they need to explain that expense (and no return) in the quarterly finance report. To avoid that, they used the Nostromo and its crew and the only thing they did was planting Ash on board (which is virtually no cost, or some cost they could find a way to scrub off / spend under the radar)

So the fact they did not send professionals, proves that this is a hastily assembled, covert plan. They created the circumstances for the crew to be in the range of the signal, and used the clause in the contract to force them to investigate. This way, if it turned out to be nothing (or an organism they could not use for anything) they would be covered - they can say it was an accidental discovery, and costed nothing.

In the novelization BTW, Ash's head says a lot more, and he basically reveals that W-Y deciphered the signal, which contained some information about the alien's hostility. That makes it even more sinister - as the company knew that the alien is very dangerous, and still they did not send professionals or androids...