Seriously, what gave them the right to say "No" to the William Gibson script, which was similar to Aliens? Aliens was a huge box office hit, even more so than the first film. Those two jokers had NO clue about good business and pleasing the fans; if they did, they would have green-lit Gibson's script.
I wouldn't doubt that even today, they have no regrets about how Alien 3 turned out.
Yep, you're right. What really makes me laugh is that Hill and Giler said they wanted to go in a different direction from the first two. Okay. So they hire Vincent Ward to do that. And he does that. Then suddenly they do a complete 180 and want him to tone down his medieval vision of Alien 3, make the monks convicts and make the story more conventional with a prison planet. So why even bother to hire Ward to do something different in the first place if they're just going to change their minds later on and make a poor rehash of Alien? It's crazy.
If they had gone with nearly any of the other Alien 3 scripts (Gibson, Twohy or Ward/Fasano), I think it would've made far more interesting film than the one we got. Heck, even Eric Red's awful Alien 3 script would've been more badly entertaining than the final product.
In a perfect world, Alien 3 would have been written by William Gibson, and directed by Renny Harlin.
shareRegarding Ward's script.
There is "going in a new direction" and then there is "going balls out bizarre" which was what Ward's screenplay basically was.
There was no way in hell they could have pulled that off because it's full of holes and lapses in logic.
*How was this planet made?
Yes, I have read and seen Ward's set up.
*How did the planet get there?
*Did a Nostromo like ship pull it?
*From where?
*The place where the wooden planet was constructed?
*Which was?
Ward is so arrogant about it lol its hilarious. As if it were supposed to be some sone sort of scifi classic "what if" lmao.
The whole medievel theme was very UN Alien.
Audiences would have welcomed it with open minds and arms lol. More like "wtf did we just watch?"
It was a good effort but to boil it down impossible to make.
So you are saying you wanted "Aliens 2" basically? More guns, grenades, and explosions. I respect that since Aliens was a classic, why not more?
It would have flopped.
Without Cameron at helm it seriosuly would have ended up being a cheap copy of Aliens with no charm. How would Newt's age difference be dealt with?
The whole reason the trilogy is so damn awesome is because each film had a great director and its own theme.
Alien was horror
Aliens was scifi action
Alien 3 was a dark character study and drama
***********************
Giler does come across as a prick at times I do admit lol, but he didnt ruin the series. 20th Century Fox and Ezra Swerdlow were the ones causing the uproar since Millions were wasted on sets that went unused.
So 20th Century Fox sent in the micromanagers to prevent that from happening again giving Fincher no creative freedom whatsoever.
Considering all the drama it turned out pretty good imo. Giler did a hell of a job with Ripley's dialogue (minus the crud line lol). She was just over it here. Jaded, tired, and angry. Even Weaver stated Giler was the only one besides Cameron who knew how to write the character.
Alien 3 no matter which script was used would of had the same fate.
"something far for savage even than nature. Oliver Thredson was, to all appearances a kindly figure"
The Company built the planetoid for the political dissidents. As for the wood, it could've been engineered with nanotech or other superstrength material to make it strong and secure. As for a thin atmosphere, if the society in the Alien films can come up with artificial gravity and hyperspace travel, I think they could find some way to make a shallow atmosphere, maybe with anti-gravity technology. Or perhaps it could have even been an optical illusion.
Impossible to make? I don't think so. They were going to make it, but Giler, Hill and Fox Studio screwed it up with their ridiculous demands. Maybe Alien 3 might not have been a complete success, but at least its medieval vision would've been more interesting than nameless, faceless prisoners running down endless rusty corridors and getting picked off one by one.
Again it was way too out there. You are telling me Ward's version would of beem a succesful film? Maybe had it came out during the Inception release. It had monks and Rip havimg an abortiom? Lame.
Okay so "company" made it? Again it was still full of holes and the medievel theme wouldn't have suited the Alien universe.
The audience would have been in a state of confusion. With how shoddy the xeno imserts were done imagine how Planetoid Oak would have come across?
No Giler actually stated "how did it get there"?
Who gives 2 *beep* anout the bald nameless prisoners? This WAS RIPLEY"S FATE AMD HER STORY. It was meant to be unforgiving and cold.
Newt and Hicks were great, but they served their purpose in giving Rip a temporary escape. So she *beep* Weyland over and extermimated the xenos. Fell to her death and then joined the Aliens cast in the wonderful land known as Cameron Heaven.
"something far for savage even than nature. Oliver Thredson was, to all appearances a kindly figure"
Instead it would have had uninteresting and nameless monks running down wooden corridors or wheat fields.
See how that works?
You're old enough to kill, but not for voting....
The monks would've been more interesting as characters than the prisoners, even if not all of them were named. Plus, the idea of monks being attacked in the wheat field with high angles of the Alien closing in on them sounds so much more interesting to me than the final film where nameless prisoners run through the same corridors and get picked off. Not to mention the scene where the one monk is yanked through the toilet and the part where they burn the wheat fields down.
shareThe monks would've been more interesting as characters than the prisoners, even if not all of them were named.
Plus, the idea of monks being attacked in the wheat field with high angles of the Alien closing in on them sounds so much more interesting to me than the final film where nameless prisoners run through the same corridors and get picked off.
Not to mention the scene where the one monk is yanked through the toilet
and the part where they burn the wheat fields down.
The monks would've been more interesting as characters than the prisoners, even if not all of them were named.
How so?
Plus, the idea of monks being attacked in the wheat field with high angles of the Alien closing in on them sounds so much more interesting to me than the final film where nameless prisoners run through the same corridors and get picked off.
It kinda seems like the scene in Jurassic Park: Lost World where the raptors get the guys in the long grass. Not exactly better really.
Not to mention the scene where the one monk is yanked through the toilet.
Now that just sounds odd and belongs more in a Nightmare on Elm Street movie.
...and the part where they burn the wheat fields down.
Again, not sure why that is better than what we got.
Their rejection of technology and their belief that the alien represents the devil is more intriguing than a bunch of rapists and murderers who just can't get any new tech and run screaming like chickens with their heads cut off.
Disagree. I think it would have been a very enjoyable, suspenseful scene.
It would be more beautiful and artistic than the prisoners running down similar drab tunnels.
The whole monks/prisoners in space idea was something Ward litteraly came up with on the plane to first meeting with Fox. It was a wacky idea that would fit into a stand alone film but not in the Alien series. I would have liked his original vision compared to what we got thou.
Aliens set up a sequel to go in many possible good directions. I Think it could have been on par with the previous entries even.
It could go into action, horror or a mix of both. It could involve one or more of the surviving characters. Ripley was not nessecarily the focal Point. Her arc was done after Aliens anyway. The notion it had to be so very different compared to the previous was the reason it got so messy. They twisted themselves into a lame compromise that repeated what we had seen Before and done better anyway.
Aliens didn't set anything up sequel wise.
The greatest trick the Devil played was convincing people he didn't exist.....
It absolutely did with 4 survivors! We (as most people watching Aliens) would love to see more adventures with Ripley, Hicks, Bishop and possibly Newt. They were well liked characters that could carry over to Another setting. It would continue something and develop the character relations instead of pressing the reset button like 3 and 4 did.
shareDon't agree.
The last thing I wanted was Ripley and her Alien hunting family.
It would have been better if Aliens was the conclusion of her nightmare and Fox had been brave enough to continue without Ellen Ripley. They weren't. But an Alien hunting family would have been too silly for me. Killing them all was sad, but hey, who said life is fair?
The greatest trick the Devil played was convincing people he didn't exist.....
I dont like the Alien hunting family either. But I do Think Ripley and Hicks had a good Chemistry. He was the only character that Ripley really liked and trusted. Like that softness in her Eyes when she is interacting with Hicks. And Bishop was an awesome character by Lance!
shareTrue
This is why (imo) Ripleys story should have ended there.
I just read the Gibson script for the first time. I had a general idea of it before hand, but this thread made me curious enough to go read it, and I have to say...it's terrible. I think people are blinded by the fact that it has Hicks and Bishop in it, that they ignore the bad writing. I'm glad it was never made.
shareEzra Swerdlow - what a fantastic name. And ripe for anagrams! How about:
Lez swearword?
108 193 23 8114 246* 47.73 22 42
Monks on a wooden planetoid in space and all that would seem an amazing idea on paper, but really unfilmable. Ward seemed like a guy who had the right novel ideas but didn't know how to put them into practice.
share Uh was that the script where the planet was a big wooden ball where one monk in a tower peers above the clouds and he can see raw space in a matter of feet as if the sky was a holligram and the monk isn't harmed by being exposed to outerspace? Yea I'm not really feeling that script. When they wanted to go different I don't think they meant magical wooden planet different.
If David and Walter are the reason we avoided another "Aliens" type movie then they should be thanked... Camerons sequel to the original Alien movie almost destroyed the concept of space horror in this series... he turned the alien into a space bug
I suppose its no accident that Ridley named the androids in Prometheus and Covenant after David ans Walter to honour their contribution...