# A Few questions About The "Aliens" Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553 "2012-06-08T21:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/41 "2012-06-10T19:51:17Z")
What I always thought was a touch of genius in cinematography was that Ridley Scott did not inform most of the cast of exactly what to expect in the Alien chestbuster scene. When the effect went off, it clearly shocked and surprised the cast members. I recall seeing a behind the scenes type video of the production at the moment when this stunt was pulled off, and one cast member (Veronica Cartwright IIRC) actually was so jolted that she tipped her chair backwards and fell to the floor. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/42 "2012-06-10T20:03:38Z")
> [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > I always took that the same way soldiers would joke about Vietnan girls. Given all the other Vietnam references, that made sense to me. I didn’t interpret the Arcturians as aliens, just humans who live on Arcturus. Sex with an alien never crossed my mind. This is the only thing that makes sense, would aliens have poontang? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/43 "2012-06-10T20:56:09Z")
Horny human males could find some anatomical feature that could be a tolerable stand-in for poontang. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/44 "2012-06-10T21:21:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Horny human males could find some anatomical feature that could be a tolerable stand-in for poontang. Like this? > **[IMPULSE CONTROL](https://cheezburger.com/6296428544)** > > IMPULSE CONTROL - Demotivational Posters to Demotivate You - Work Harder, Not Smarter. To put the cart before the horse, and to never do what is best for you. Caution: may not be worksafe. Features alien anatomy. Cut and paste if you wish to view. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/45 "2012-06-12T12:08:15Z")
> [@gunnergoz](#): > > What I always thought was a touch of genius in cinematography was that Ridley Scott did not inform most of the cast of exactly what to expect in the Alien chestbuster scene. When the effect went off, it clearly shocked and surprised the cast members. I recall seeing a behind the scenes type video of the production at the moment when this stunt was pulled off, and one cast member (Veronica Cartwright IIRC) actually was so jolted that she tipped her chair backwards and fell to the floor. Nice Story but I bet this was only in the rehearsals. What you see on screen is scripted, acted, set-up and fully expected otherwise they’d just be knowingly wasting money on unusable takes. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/46 "2012-06-12T12:50:01Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > -Finally, these people can travelo between stars! Life shoulkd be great, at this level of technology! > Instead, people seem to live like they were in some crummy New mexico town, ca, 1890!:smack: Bear in mind that when we were finally able to travel between the _continents_, voyages between the Old World and the New were made in small, run-down ships carrying rats and disease, often crewed by indentured servants, sometimes even carrying slaves crammed into filthy holds. Life should have been great, but reality was what we got. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > Because Hollywood hasn’t had an original idea since 1955, and the writers of this dreck would rather just recycle all the old, tired cliches than get off thier asses and come up with something decent. Well, the “industrial” look for spaceships was pretty new back then (_Star Wars’_ _Millennium Falcon_ pioneered the look, but _Aliens_ presented a grittier version). You would have seen clean, shiny ships if they’d been recycling old cliches. > [@ralph124c](#): > > Thanks-I was thinking of those SciFi films of the optimistic 1950’s-where the space travelers had nice sharp uniforms, the spaceships were bright and inviting… Case in point. . ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/47 "2012-06-15T07:26:15Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > Nice Story but I bet this was only in the rehearsals. What you see on screen is scripted, acted, set-up and fully expected otherwise they’d just be knowingly wasting money on unusable takes. Wiki’s got cited references that the cast knew what the chestburster looked like, knew it was going to pop out, but didn’t know about the blood squirting out and that’s what set things off. Tom Skerritt was there, so when he says “What you saw on camera was the real response” I’m going to tend to believe him unless you have some proof other than it might’ve wasted money if things hadn’t worked out and they couldn’t have used the take. Sometimes filmmakers actually take chances like that. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/48 "2012-06-15T07:49:57Z")
> [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > “Excuse me, sir… a Xeno-WHAT?” > > I don’t agree that the jargon was as well-known as you’re suggesting. I always got the impression “another bug-hunt” meant “another hunt for nothing.” He says it with some serious contempt. Couple that with the quote Ethilrist provided, and I think it’s obvious they have never seen an alien before. Most of the Marines except for Hicks and maybe Vasquez are portrayed as pretty stupid though. And Hicks knows exactly what Gorman is talking about as soon as he says it. There’s also this exchange that makes me think the bughunts typically involve space wolves attacking the camp or something. This Aliens are the first thinking extraterrestrials we’ve found: > [@](#): > > Ripley: They cut the power. > Hudson: What do you mean, “_They_ cut the power”? How could they cut the power, man? They’re animals! Also, this scene, which someone upthread used to make alien life sound like make-believe, but could also be read that alien life is common: > [@](#): > > Vasquez: Who’s Snow White? > Ferro: She’s supposed to be some kinda consultant. Apparently she saw an alien once. > Hudson: Whoopee-fuckin’-do. Hey, I’m impressed. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/49 "2012-06-15T14:32:36Z")
It’s possible that there may be a bunch of colonies (mining camps, spaceship fuel depots, whatever), and they have a habit of calling for help everytime “something goes bump in the night”, leading to a lot of false alarms. One grunt (during a mess hall scene) says that it’s [probably] a colony that needs to be “rescued from it’s virginity”. On the other hand, when they get to the mde lab on the colony, they don’t seem particularly floored when they see facehuggers in the glass jars. So, most of the time it’s a false alarm, sometimes it’s human on human problems that need to be straightened out [for example: space pirates, revolutionaries, evil scientists trying to set up a volcano lair], sometimes it’s really aliens. [I assume that they hadn’t run across active sentient aliens yet.] ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/50 "2012-06-15T19:44:49Z")
Huh. I’d always thought that FTL was against the rules of the Alien-verse, but apparently not. Wikipedia gives the Sulaco’s speed as .74 light years per day. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/51 "2012-06-15T20:23:43Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > Nice Story but I bet this was only in the rehearsals. What you see on screen is scripted, acted, set-up and fully expected otherwise they’d just be knowingly wasting money on unusable takes. As a cinematographer of 32 years, I can tell you that this kind of thing does happen for effect with some regularity. Great actors can fake it. But nothing replaces a genuine reaction. Interview with the cast members of M_A_S\*H where they recount the infamous ending scene where Radar comes into the O.R. to announce that Henry Blake’s plane had crashed in the Sea of Japan and all aboard had died. The script lacked that scene. It was handed out immediately before being shot on the last day of that episode’s work. The cast was stunned and upset and it showed in the footage. You’re not wasting money on unusable takes. You’re getting a genuine visceral reaction. A universe of difference there. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/52 "2012-06-15T20:34:12Z")
Regarding the cast reaction to/knowledge of the chestburster scene, here’s a [clip from the Making of Alien documentary](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltELthbtrEw) featuring interviews with the cast about it. John Hurt says that while the cast obviously knew that this thing was going to come up out of his chest, what they did _not_ know was that it would be “capped,” i.e. that it would be rigged with explosive charges that would make a loud noise and fling debris and blood and whatnot all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/53 "2012-06-15T20:52:07Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > … I kind of liked the whole space travel is boring and the ship is dirty and most of the crew are just regular cow workers and the company is out to screw everybody over vibe. All it was missing were some late TPS reports. “You know … you could help out with the **alien** problem we’ve been having lately. If you could just go get yourself a flashlight and a can of pesticide, and take care of that for us, that would be **great**. M’kay?” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/54 "2012-06-15T21:26:06Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > -WHY do they keep going back to the planet that has these awful monsters? They only go back to that planet once. The first time they encounter the planet, they aren’t intending to, and are investigating something weird. The second time, they go back because they’ve colonized it and there’s been a loss of the signal. Also, the corporation want’s a sample of the aliens for their weapons program. The third movie takes place on a different planet where Ripley’s ship crashes on the way back from the first planet. Because an alien got on board. Alien Resurrection occurs on a space station somewhere. I haven’t seen any of the Alien vs Predator movies, but they seem to take place on other planets as well. > [@ralph124c](#): > > One thing puzzles me-all the ships (like the Deathstar in Star Wars) have huge garbage holds-full of water. Water is pretty precious in space-why would these ships have such primitive sewage systems? I assume they sewage treatment plants are downstream from there, and then the water recycling plants are downstream from that. Water is an effective means of pumping shit around. A lot easier to flush than other mechanisms for extracting poo from one location to another. > [@Ruffian](#): > > I’ve been watching the marathon here and there too. I’ve previously never seen anything after _Aliens_ as I was instantly turned off when I learned they [spoiler deleted] Yeah, same reaction in the theater. > [@](#): > > So, catching a bit of _Alien: Resurrection_ (not having seen the third one), my question is: Um… **WHAT the FUCK**?! Yeah, same reaction. > [@billfish678](#): > > Thats true. But I also got the impression that most other bug hunts were either outright busts or a big deal made about nothing worth writing home about. Right, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t ever find bugs, just bug hunts involved going into nests/caves/jungles/etc and hunting for varmits. Have some occassional fun with moving target practice, but have to put up with a lot of slogging around in unconfortable environments. > [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > “Excuse me, sir… a Xeno-WHAT?” > > I don’t agree that the jargon was as well-known as you’re suggesting. I always got the impression “another bug-hunt” meant “another hunt for nothing.” He says it with some serious contempt. Contempt can be for the usual “gotta go march around and haul crap through a jungle and sweat my ass off because some colonist got his knickers in a twist over an oversized cochroach. They don’t actually kill anybody, but they make a mess, and nobody likes cockroaches.” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/55 "2012-06-15T22:22:40Z")
Bandersnatchi on Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/56 "2012-06-16T00:32:07Z")
Both Aliens vs Predator films take place on Earth, which is why they should be set on fire and never mentioned again. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/57 "2012-06-16T02:06:07Z")
“Look into my eye.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/58 "2012-06-16T02:16:48Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > Both Aliens vs Predator films take place on Earth, which is why they should be set on fire and never mentioned again. Amen, Brother. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/59 "2012-06-16T03:41:58Z")
Just watched Aliens 3. Have to agree,…it sucks. I will need to watch Resurrection to see which sucks more. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553/60 "2012-06-16T14:21:16Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Just watched Aliens 3. Have to agree,…it sucks. I will need to watch Resurrection to see **which sucks more**. AVP Could’ve been great. Could’ve been a contender. Imagine if they gave it a treatment like Aliens or even JC’s The Thing. But, no. They had to 80s video game it. The Marines had probably dealt with some predators (not Predators) on other planets. But, dealing with the threat was no more than stepping on a bug, so to speak. Toxic molds, giant slugs, space spiders, sewer rats the size of dogs, tribbles, etc… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-questions-about-the-aliens-movies/624553.md?page=4)