Prequel to 'Alien' confirmed

[Batman]

Okay, I'm going from memory and frankly hated that movie, but didn't Alien 3 establish that the xenomorphs were an Earth-developed bioweapon that got dumped on LV-426 mostly just because? Or was it just an extension of Earth wanting to TURN the xenomorphs into a bioweapon once they found them?

[Stark]

Okay, I'm going from memory and frankly hated that movie, but didn't Alien 3 establish that the xenomorphs were an Earth-developed bioweapon that got dumped on LV-426 mostly just because? Or was it just an extension of Earth wanting to TURN the xenomorphs into a bioweapon once they found them?

I have no idea where you get this; they wanted to recover the alien for science/money, it's not human-developed.

Alien 3 wasn't that bad. People watched AvP1 and they have no right to complain.

[Batman]

Alien 3 WAS that bad. AvP at least had the excuse of being entertaining.

[Stark]

I'm not seeing how Alien3 damaged the brand as much as juvenile nonsense like AvP.

Oh sorry, I see you mean 'I liked AvP so it is better', my mistake lol. Frankly, since you don't even remember WHAT IT WAS ABOUT I have no interest in your ill-informed opinion.

[Rye]

Alien 3 was not a bad movie, especially not the extended cut from the Alien Quadrilogy box set. It was miserable and dark, but that was a logical evolution of the previous films, being tense and dark and action-packed and dark respectively. I think what people are saying when they say it was a "bad film" is that it wasn't a slave to Hollywood convention (a source of much of the infamous artist-studio conflict), unlike Aliens, which was (though it was also a better film down to Cameron's talents) and Alien Resurrection (which wasn't).

After that it became glossy and emotionless hollywood and thus retarded enough for the teen consumers that bought the Kenner alien and predator toys. I was one such teen, I know precisely how it worked and even have a load of them still. The AVP films continued down this road and are producing things according to a formula rather than themes. Consumers can understand it easily and the set pieces are nice, so it works for the studios.

I didn't much like the design of the "runner" alien, but I can understand how they wanted to make their xeno different; each film does. I am not wild about an Alien prequel, it's not really needed. Explaining the aliens fucks up their whole purpose; they're meant to be unknown, to be alien.

[Stark]

Yeah, Alien 3 wasn't a great movie by any stretch, but it still 'felt' like an Alien movie (albiet one with a silly, grim plot). Alien 4 and AvP are like fanfiction.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Even A:R I somewhat want to defend. Or at least I wouldn't want anyone to judge the director by that film, because like Fincher before him, he's quite capable when he doesn't have years of expectations and a studio breathing down his neck to fuck him up.

[Themightytom]

Yeah, Alien 3 wasn't a great movie by any stretch, but it still 'felt' like an Alien movie (albiet one with a silly, grim plot). Alien 4 and AvP are like fanfiction.

That's because they set up the rediculous Ancient Civlization backstory and set it in a self altering stone labyrinth.

[Galvatron]

Jesus God Fuck NO! I'd sooner take another disposable sequel to the inevitable fuck-up that would come of trying to explore the mystery of the alien origins or the space jockey.

And why is "xenomorph" the preferred fanon name for the alien now?

[Themightytom]

Jesus God Fuck NO! I'd sooner take another disposable sequel to the inevitable fuck-up that would come of trying to explore the mystery of the alien origins or the space jockey.

And why is "xenomorph" the preferred fanon name for the alien now?

Because calling it "The alien" is stupid?

[Terralthra]

Jesus God Fuck NO! I'd sooner take another disposable sequel to the inevitable fuck-up that would come of trying to explore the mystery of the alien origins or the space jockey.

And why is "xenomorph" the preferred fanon name for the alien now?

Because calling it "The alien" is stupid?

And calling it "alien shape" in Latin is soooo much better?

[Havok]

Because xenomorph has an X in it and it lets nerds feel smarter than normal people that just call it the alien.

[Junghalli]

Jesus God Fuck NO! I'd sooner take another disposable sequel to the inevitable fuck-up that would come of trying to explore the mystery of the alien origins or the space jockey.

Agreed. I'd much rather keep the mystery. Especially since the explanation they'll give us is likely to be something stupid.

And calling it "alien shape" in Latin is soooo much better?

I just use the term once in a while when I need something less generic than "the alien", simply because if I use it people will know what I'm talking about. Yeah, the idea that it's supposed to be a proper name for the thing is stupid as fuck; they were totally so well known by the time of Aliens it makes perfect sense random Marines would know about them, oh wait.

[Galvatron]

How about Internecivus raptus, which is what they're called on the Quadrilogy DVDs?

[Junghalli]

How about Internecivus raptus, which is what they're called on the Quadrilogy DVDs?

I used that when I wrote an essay about them once on SB. Unfortunately xenomorph seems to have more name recognition though.

[Galvatron]

Fuck Gorman! Fuck him up his stupid ass!

[Themightytom]

Fuck Gorman! Fuck him up his stupid ass!

I am developing a name that combines the most advanced evolved terms for awesomeness.

This is just a draft nbut I'm thining

XenoviperchucknorrishasselhofiPodfpatchesOhoulighantwilightZ

[RazorOutlaw]

And calling it "alien shape" in Latin is soooo much better?

It's not just a nerd thing to make yourself feel smart. The "aliens" were referred to as "xenomorphs" in ALIENS (during Ripley's debriefing) which is why I bother to use the term at all. Well, and I get tired of using "aliens".

There's not much I could add to the discussion besides the obvious (why get rid of the mystery?) and despite the fact that there's no canon policy I can't help but think that the AvP movies have planted the germ of an "explanation" for the series that will be one most fans will latch on to. As one poster pointed out AvP gave Weyland-Yuanti a reason for seeking the creatures in ALIEN. Nevermind that, during the course of the movie, there was ample time for Ash to send information back to the company that the crew of the Nostromo had found anything at all and negating the need for a modern Weyland-Yuanti to investigate the creatures.

The comics were outright retarded in their treatment of the xenomorphs' origins. I made the terrible mistakes of reading to the end of Darkhorse's ALIENS Omnibus. That and, figuring that the artists likely had access to conceptual work for the first ALIEN movie, I had to wonder why they went ahead and took the action of ALIENS, its subtle nods to the original that went beyond mere camerawork and musical cues, and raped the original concepts from ALIEN. They had a chance to create something new but they just wanted to rehash the general stupidity of the suits from the second movie. The comics even included a weird as shit cult.

[Galvatron]

It's not just a nerd thing to make yourself feel smart. The "aliens" were referred to as "xenomorphs" in ALIENS (during Ripley's debriefing) which is why I bother to use the term at all. Well, and I get tired of using "aliens".

Not at the inquest. They only referred to it as a hostile organism. Gorman coined the term later on the Sulaco's hangar deck and Frost spoke up as if he'd never even heard it before.

In other words, anyone who uses that term grates on my nerves because they sound like that pompous dickhead lieutenant. So yeah, it's basically like Havok said.

[Terralthra]

And calling it "alien shape" in Latin is soooo much better?

It's not just a nerd thing to make yourself feel smart. The "aliens" were referred to as "xenomorphs" in ALIENS (during Ripley's debriefing) which is why I bother to use the term at all. Well, and I get tired of using "aliens".

You're an idiot. They had absolutely no intelligence on the specific aliens involved besides Ripley's eyewitness account, which they didn't believe.

Lt. Gorman uses the word xenomorphs as a generic technical term for "a nonhumanoid alien," from which the Colonial Marines induce that it's going to be hunting through tunnels for bugs. Calling it a "xenomorph" instead of an "alien" is using a Latin word to feel smart, and nothing else. It's just as generic.

[Oskuro]

Calling it a "xenomorph" instead of an "alien" is using a Latin word to feel smart, and nothing else. It's just as generic.

What's the issue with the word, really? So it sounds pretentions cause is latin? So what? It's a fucking name for a fucking fictitional being that happens to be less ambiguous than calling it an "alien". Get over it.

[Rye]

Jesus God Fuck NO! I'd sooner take another disposable sequel to the inevitable fuck-up that would come of trying to explore the mystery of the alien origins or the space jockey.

And why is "xenomorph" the preferred fanon name for the alien now?

Calling them "aliens" when Predators, the aliens from signs and ET are also aliens is a recipe for disaster.

[Rochey]

Personaly, I just use "Xenomorph" to make it clear what I'm reffering to. There's no sense of "I'm awesome because I can use a Latin word" in it, just a desire to assist in recognition.

And to get back on topic, I'm seriously not looking forward to any film fleshing out the origins of the Xenomorphs. I can just tell they're going to fuck it up spectacularly. To me, the aliens work best as a mystery. In the films there's a sense of "what the fuck are we dealing with?" from the characters which can also be felt by the viewers, particularly in the first two movies where the aliens were a complete mystery. Removing that sense of the unknown will seriously detract from that feeling, in my opinion.

[Oskuro]

They are going to fuck it up no matter what route they take (although we might be surprised). My point of view is that, assuming I'll be watching a fuckup, I'd rather have it be visually interesting (Like, The Cell, a rather crappy movie but with awesome set pieces), and forcing the movie to visit a Giger-esque planet/civilization might provide some awesome visuals. That is, unless the LV-whatever the number was becomes a brainbug and they decide the homeplanet must look like Klendathu at night, with confusing AvP2-style visuals.

[TheLostVikings]

And to get back on topic, I'm seriously not looking forward to any film fleshing out the origins of the Xenomorphs. I can just tell they're going to fuck it up spectacularly. To me, the aliens work best as a mystery. In the films there's a sense of "what the fuck are we dealing with?" from the characters which can also be felt by the viewers, particularly in the first two movies where the aliens were a complete mystery. Removing that sense of the unknown will seriously detract from that feeling, in my opinion.

Which is why I am so pissed that they wasted their time writing an "original" script for the AVP movie when the first avp book was actually fairly good. Sure it had your average japan wank and other clichés galore, but I still enjoyed it. A fringe colony a long way from anywhere accidentally getting overrun by aliens, no one having any clue about wtf is happening, and lots of claustrophobic action when they try to barricade themselves from the aliens.

And no bringing the aliens to present day earth, or ancient bullshit pyramids with supertech moving walls that somehow remain operational after thousands of years buried in ice. The book even made the human/predator team up seem somewhat logical within the framework of the story, which the movie most certainly didn't in any way shape or form.

And don't get me started on the predalien...