Watched it last night.....it hasn't aged well - Aliens (1986) Discussion

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Pffft...Rambo, the year BEFORE set the tone for cheese 🧀.

Not Aliens.

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[–] wearsalan (5554) 6 years ago

James Cameron wrote the script for that too.

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Says who?

Is James Cameron’s pen name Kevin Jarre?

Anyhow, it was released before “Aliens” which makes it the genesis of 🧀 action.

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[–] wearsalan (5554) 6 years ago

Kevin Jarre wrote the basic story for Rambo (First Blood part 2 ). Cameron was brought in to do the screenplay and polish the plot. This was after he'd submitted his screenplay for Aliens2 (Aliens). So in essence Cameron originated the action genre as we know it.

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

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[–] Renovatio (2990) 6 years ago

I agree... It hasn't aged well at all... It's a disney movie...

In fact, it's failings have become well known and established as all of the generic action movies dominated movie... the movies that followed it and that relied on exactly what was wrong about Aliens, exactly the way it departs from Alien and exactly why it is more of a GI-Joe action/disney/fake-emotion/feel-good-we-are-fake-ad-hoc-family that James Cameron commercialised as a template (e.g. Terminator 2, Avatar, etc...) for every generic action movie to use...

The horror was striped from the movie... the alien creature was reduced to a spacebug, ripley made into a mother figure so audiences can find her 'relatable' and she was provided with a GI Joe husband to complete the Disney picture for a happy ending... The only missed her winning the lottery 😂 ...

Thankfully Alien 3 restored horror and desperation to the series with it's deep nihilism and it's ambivilance about civilisation... After a few mishap sequels the series was put right on track with the ambitious, iconic and iconoclast Prometheus.... A critical and commercial success that was met with fanboy revulsion culminating the parting message from Ridley Scott in the form of Covenant... Exactly the JJ Abrams style remix that the fans asked for begining with a dustruction of a civilisation, mirroring the trashing of Alien by the generic Aliens and it's black goo spawn of fanboism and by the numbers filmmaking... Poetic and a fitting end to the Alien series, with questions left never to be answered, an uncertain, cold and bleak future for the crew and David's experiments... In it's own way, the ending of Alien restored, at least in mood...

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

Aliens was a complete different movie then Alien. But that isnt a disadvantage. The Alien franchise had all kind of different movie styles included.

Therefor stating "Aliens is stupid, cause its simply an action movie" is completely clueless. That isnt any sort of discovery, cause anyone back then knew that and thats the reason why people loved it. You cant too horror movies within a franchise for all eternity. Look at Friday the 13th or Halloween how laughable they became with part 3 and later. The Alien franchise avoided that and therefor is still well known.

And Ali3n was more of an dark art movie, then a horror movie. Another new style wthin the franchise. A style most cant handle well and thats why it wasnt that succesful.

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[–] TheReccher (343) 5 years ago

"The horror was striped from the movie..."

Well gee, it's almost like it's not a horror movie or something.

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[–] AZ (62) 6 years ago

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[–] wearsalan (5554) 6 years ago

Which is how I still feel about Alien and Alien3

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[–] Galactus03 (4324) 6 years ago

Totally agree with you. Actually the first three films have aged badly. I actually think Prometheus and Covenant are a bit better.

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

Covenant and Prometheus are absolutely nothing compared with Alien! Thats like comparing a painting of a 3 year old child with the Mona Lisa, n00b!

And I even like Prometheur. It had a nice build up. But still had all the amateuer flaws most recent movies got. But for a recnet movie it was a god movie.

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[–] Galactus03 (4324) 6 years ago

I rewatched alien the other night. It's good but to be honest if I had to pick that or Prometheus to rewatch I would chose Prometheus. I'm not sure why it gets such a bad Rap.

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

Prometheus was a mess compared with the first Alien movie. The first Alien movie built up characters! Thats something you miss in Prometheus completely. I still like Prometheus and own it on Blu Ray, but its so obviously a Abrams black box clone (menas therefor a horrible movie, cause this black box structure only works at tv series, but is toxic for movies) that it puts the movie down many levels.

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[–] Eleazar (251) 5 years ago

I strongly disagree - Set-Design and Special effects (for the most parts) hold up exceptional well.

The Nostromo Interieur looks still cool.

The Ripley vs Alien-Queen fight-sequence is still amazing.

ec

Alien 3 however introduced bad CGI --- won't defend that film.

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[–] ThreeTenToYuma (922) 6 years ago

It is certainly nowhere near as good as the first Alien film.

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[–] wearsalan (5554) 6 years ago

For years I felt it was better. But when they released Alien again in theatres to promote the Quadrilogy set in 2003, I found a new appreciation for it. I prefer the first movie now

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

For me the original seemed cheesy only a few years after it came out, but Aliens did then and still does work well.

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[–] wearsalan (5554) 6 years ago

For me, the original was brilliant. when the sequel arrived 7 years later, it was bigger and better. I loved it and thought (as did many) that it was one of those rare gems that out did the original. I felt the same about Rambo:First Part 2. But again, as the years have gone by I feel that both films haven't aged well compared to the originals.
I'm not saying they are bad or anything, just that (in my opinion) they aren't as good as I originally felt.

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[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7488) 6 years ago

I like Aliens along with the first one. I am the opposite when it comes to the Rambo movies. I do enjoy them but they pale in comparrison to the book that made the franchise possible. I didn't like them making Teasle unsympathetic in the movie. He was a lot nicer and more reasonable than the movie version. He actually lets Rambo get some food after walking into town a 2nd time. Unlike the movie Rambo didn't even ask him if he could get a bite to eat. Where as in the movie Teasle selfishly tells Rambo to go walk 30 miles away to get a bite to eat

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I never though the original was brilliant, but that's me. Aliens, on the other hand, I did think was great, and for me it stands the test of time, which the original didn't and doesn't.

Not a fan of Rambo, any versions, but appreciate that you like at least Rambo 2.

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

Cheesy? A horror movie? Have you ever seen this movie at all? It was one of the best horror scifi movies ever made. All this amazing build up of this world. So that you really can believe it and build up connections to the characters. Thats how yu make movies when you know what a movie is. Most recent script authors and directors dont know that anymore, cause they are missing the according training.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Did you intend to respond to me? If so, yes, IMO Alien was cheesy. If you have a different opinion, that's fine by me.

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

Still ... one of the most classic horror movies out there cheesy .... I see :) .

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 5 years ago

Horror? Yes. Sci-Fi? Not by a country mile. It’s monster in an enclosed space trope set in “outer space, where no one can hear you scream” cashfest retread. And that’s for Quint. Don’t reply. I’m done with you.

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[–] Quint (935) 5 years ago

Its an alien encounter as almost every other SciFi movie too. Its also a little horror cause the alien form and actions are frightening. But the SciFi aspect is the major one. Alien I was a complete different movie. There space was just a random setting setting for a hide and seek horror movie.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

name a scifi movie R_kane?

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

Aged well or not is a stupid term. Either its a good movie or not. And the style of 80s action movies (and Aliens had only one thing to blame ..... it wasnt a Alien movie at all, cause it was simply a action movie with Aliens in it :) ) was amazing, cause they dared back then things which are essential for good action movies. Thats why most recent action movies are simply boring.

Therefor Aliens is still one of the better action movies.

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[–] wearsalan (5554) 6 years ago

Never said it wasn't.

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

Some films do age well, others don't. Either way, it's usually if not always a subjective call.

I'm not personally a fan of action films. They have to have more to them than that to gain my interest, but I realise that isn't the case with everyone.

I agree with you that Aliens still remains an excellent movie.

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

A movie is good or not. There is nothing like "aging well". That would mean that the Mona Lisa looks horrible while a dumb selfie on a recnet smartphone looks like the answer to all questions of the universe :) . So if you like movies or not .... thats fine. But hiding it behind false terms like "not aging well" .... thats strange :) .

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[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

"There is nothing like "aging well". That would mean that the Mona Lisa looks horrible while a dumb selfie on a recnet smartphone looks like the answer to all questions of the universe :)"

Of course there is, and that's, er, a terrible analogy :). You seem to think the phrase means that anything new is better than anything old. That isn't what it means.

Some films -- or any art, for that matter -- were very well received and appreciated in their time. But for whatever reason or combination of reasons (standards of acting, special effects, writing, whatever), over time their flaws are magnified and become more obvious.

The reverse is true too. In its time Casablanca, for instance, had a very lukewarm reception. Cleopatra was downright panned. And yet today, both are considered classics, because they weathered the test of time and have become more appreciated than they were originally.

You may not agree with me, and the OP, that Alien hasn't aged well. That's a matter of opinion.

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[–] Quint (935) 6 years ago

A opinion is "I dont like that movie". Thats fine and im not even such a huge fan of Alien. I only just got it on BluRay, cause it was part of the anthology :) . I was disappointed back then, cause Aliens had no connection at all with Alien. Alien was a masterpice of a horror classic! And Aliens was ..... a damned good action movie. But thats it. Its like making a Bond movie where he has to save the smurfs! Still .... a fantastic action movie. But "aging well" is a dumb term. A movie is just good or bad. There is no aging at all. Otherwise each and every old picture would decrease its quality with the years coming. And thats simply laughable.

Special effects are also what they are. There were movies with horrible special effects in the 50s or even at the 80s. But this special effects always were laughable. So no, there is no "aging" at movies. And the standard of acting never changes. Either a actor plays well or not. Thats the problem with recent movies. That most actors cant act anymore. Today you mainly let actors being themselves. But that isnt acting. Its just being. Anyone out there could do that :) .

So .... there is no aging. Its just that you dont like a movie. Which is completely fine.

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[–] wearsalan (5554) 5 years ago

So .... there is no aging. Its just that you dont like a movie. Which is completely fine.

Actually I do like the movie. In fact at the time I felt it was one of those rare cases where the sequel is better than the original.
Maybe ageing is the wrong term. Maybe the ageing is me. Either way, for me the movie does not stand up as well as it did. Alien and Alien 3 do....for me.
Nothing to do with special effects either.

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[–] TheReccher (343) 5 years ago

You assume quality exists in a vacuum. It doesn't. "Aged well" is perfectly apt when a director doesn't have the foresight to know elements of his film become antiquated.

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[–] Quint (935) 5 years ago

There is nothing antiquated about old movies. They are either good or bad. All old movies are antique. But that doenst matter, cause they are either good or bad. And if you are not willing to understand the mood of the according era you will lose most movies on this planet. So everyone which states "the movies hasnt aged well" is the real problem, cause he doenst understand how movie works and isnt able to get into the mood of a given era.

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[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

Not any more cheezy than any other action movie. Hollywood puts out garbage for the most part, at least when you consider it in the light of reality and real rational people. But just once I'd like to see some science fiction that does not rely on people being absolute idiots.

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