# Alien prequel: Ridley Scott and Giger **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756 "2010-12-19T22:33:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/21 "2010-12-20T23:12:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Remember that Ripley was in stasis for 57 years between the first and second movie. Even if the _Nostromo_ was the first to encounter any aliens, a lot could have happened in the next nearly-six-decades to make the Colonial Marines somewhat blase about “just another bug hunt.” > > ISTR (vaguely) from the Alan Dean Foster novelization of _Alien_, that no alien lifeforms other than very small, simple organisms had been encountered by humanity before Ripley’s crew had its Close Encounter of A Particularly Unpleasant Kind. Which is why I wrote this: > [@](#): > > But, in AlienS, it seems like humanity has encountered other aliens (maybe during the timespan between the two movies, or maybe it was already the case during the first movie). Even though it doesnt seem to be a very world changing experience to have encountered aliens. Except of course if the only alien species encountered were non sentient (animal like I mean, nothing in the range of the level of intelligence displayed by the Aliens). ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/22 "2010-12-20T23:46:03Z")
> [@Unpronounceable](#): > > Huh? > > It’s what they burst _from_ that determines the way they look, not which version laid the egg. > > Thus the human-bursters are all the standard xenomorphs, the dog-burster was different, the predator-burster had the different mouth-bits, and we have no idea whatsoever of what the space-jockey version looked like. This is what I never understood. Why should the host have anything to do whatsoever with the physical make-up of the alien? Isn’t the host just that, a host? And if the DNA of the host plays a part in the alien’s development, why is pedalism the primary (sole?) outward manifestation? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/23 "2010-12-21T00:04:41Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > This is what I never understood. Why should the host have anything to do whatsoever with the physical make-up of the alien? Isn’t the host just that, a host? And if the DNA of the host plays a part in the alien’s development, why is pedalism the primary (sole?) outward manifestation? A lizard did it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/24 "2010-12-21T00:24:02Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > A lizard did it. Please don’t make me choke on my tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/25 "2010-12-21T01:01:01Z")
It’s perfectly possible to fanwank your way out of why the crew of the Nostromo didn’t know about Aliens. The parent company (Weylan-Yutan) knew all about them and was working out ways to make profits out of them - it’s one of the main plot points of Aliens[sup]3[/sup]. They’re also not very nice people. If the crew of a spaceship came back with a xenomorph, it might be SOP to shove the crew through the airlock when they get back to Earth. It’s the best way to preserve commercial secrets. Up until the first film, maybe their was only one such cargo every few years and The Company could get away with it. Some time after we get to see Ms Weaver’s tiny undies, a Government Ship finds Alien life, or a TV reporter is aboard a Weylan-Yutan ship and the news leaks out. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/26 "2010-12-21T04:43:31Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > …The parent company (Weylan-Yutan)… Just two letters off: [Alien (franchise) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weyland-Yutani) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/27 "2010-12-21T04:56:12Z")
Actually, we’re both half right. [Check out the pic in post 7](http://www.therpf.com/f9/beer-props-labels-48123/) (from the first movie) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/28 "2010-12-21T06:20:01Z")
I’m of two minds on this. I always thought the “Space Jockey” was the coolest thing about Alien, by far, because of how mysterious it was and how many unanswered questions it creates. But I feel like showing the backstory of the Space Jockey is equivalent to showing Boba Fett as a little kid. It takes away the mystery of it. I guaran-fucking-tee that whatever backstory and exposition of the Space Jockey and the race that it belongs to that they could come up with could _never_ equal the original scene of the fossilized Space Jockey in the command chair in terms of coolness. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/29 "2010-12-21T06:38:08Z")
Alien Prequel, 2011 version: Alien shown bursting from space jockey’s chest Alien Prequel, 2019 special edition: Space jockey bursts from alien’s chest, alien bursts from space jockey’s chest in self-defense. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/30 "2010-12-21T07:15:41Z")
From the spoilers I’ve read so far this movie does not have me encouraged. [spoiler]First, there is the idea that the aliens are somehow a mistake or a corruption instead of what they have obviously always been- a bioweapon. Second, two male humans are going to be toyed with by the Space Jockeys who do not understand human sexuality. So we get to see the men forced to have sex with each other. I do not bear any kind of prejudice or ill will towards those who are gay in real life. I do bear ill will and prejudice to the writers who think this makes a good sub plot for a movie about nightmare creatures who kill everything they encounter.[/spoiler] I want a good movie about an all out war between humans and Xenomorphs. This will not be that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/31 "2010-12-21T10:07:39Z")
Not sure if this adds anything, but IIRC there was a comic book series in the 1990s possibly by Dark Horse that featured the Space Jockeys in some form or another. There was also a series of spin off novels, but I’m not sure now whether they mentioned them or not. In the comic the Jockeys had some kind of sinister motive, but I can’t remember if the storyline was resolved or if the comic was cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/32 "2010-12-21T11:16:37Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I’m of two minds on this. I always thought the “Space Jockey” was the coolest thing about Alien, by far, because of how mysterious it was and how many unanswered questions it creates. But I feel like showing the backstory of the Space Jockey is equivalent to showing Boba Fett as a little kid. It takes away the mystery of it. > > I guaran-fucking-tee that whatever backstory and exposition of the Space Jockey and the race that it belongs to that they could come up with could _never_ equal the original scene of the fossilized Space Jockey in the command chair in terms of coolness. Completely agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/33 "2010-12-21T14:49:23Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > From the spoilers I’ve read so far this movie does not have me encouraged.[…]So we get to see the men forced to have sex with each other. I do not bear any kind of prejudice or ill will towards those who are gay in real life. I do bear ill will and prejudice to the writers who think this makes a good sub plot for a movie about nightmare creatures who kill everything they encounter. I don’t see any reason for raised hackles there.There’s a high probability that the movie won’t much resemble the leaked script by the time it’s in the can, but even if this makes the cut, the movie is only going to be partly about nightmare creatures who kill everything they encounter. The rest of it is going to be about the space jockeys, who seem to be driven to nurture and cultivate life, encouraging whatever odds and sods they can find to thrive in the most sterile, out-of-the-way places possible. Inept, bumbling naturalists. ---
**Author:** ![kombatminipig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5ac83/32.png) [@kombatminipig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kombatminipig)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/34 "2010-12-21T16:46:29Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > From the spoilers I’ve read so far this movie does not have me encouraged. > > [spoiler]First, there is the idea that the aliens are somehow a mistake or a corruption instead of what they have obviously always been- a bioweapon. > > Second, two male humans are going to be toyed with by the Space Jockeys who do not understand human sexuality. So we get to see the men forced to have sex with each other. I do not bear any kind of prejudice or ill will towards those who are gay in real life. I do bear ill will and prejudice to the writers who think this makes a good sub plot for a movie about nightmare creatures who kill everything they encounter.[/spoiler] > > I want a good movie about an all out war between humans and Xenomorphs. This will not be that movie. Yes and no. The original Alien movie in particular, and HR Giger in general, have overt sexual themes. It can well be argued at Alien was about horror of rape, of being forcefully impregnated and then having the resulting child, an abomination in itself, tear itself out of your chest. I’m not sure I agree with the spoilers you posted either, but I’d prefer to see another Alien to another Aliens. The AvP stuff was just dreck, give me som visceral horror instead. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/35 "2010-12-21T17:09:33Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Actually, we’re both half right. [Check out the pic in post 7](http://www.therpf.com/f9/beer-props-labels-48123/) (from the first movie) Huh. Looks like they added a “d” to the end of the first word in the second movie, and it’s stuck ever since. ---
**Author:** ![GreenHell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@GreenHell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenHell)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/36 "2010-12-21T17:28:08Z")
I remember in some comentary about the original film, an interviewee riffing about some of the rape-horror themes and the androgynous nature of the creature. Something to the effect of: you don’t know whether this thing is going to eat you or fuck you. In a sense, it ends up doing both. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/37 "2010-12-21T18:56:12Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > This is what I never understood. Why should the host have anything to do whatsoever with the physical make-up of the alien? Isn’t the host just that, a host? And if the DNA of the host plays a part in the alien’s development, why is pedalism the primary (sole?) outward manifestation? Of course, you should remember that these are the same guys who thought cloning Ripley would also clone the queen embryo inside her (and ended up giving her clone some of the alien traits (i.e. acidic blood) as well) so their bio-knowledge may be a bit weaker than we might prefer. I seem to recall (from a documentary, comics?) that the chest-burster phase was supposed to have taken DNA from the host critter - essentially the egg/facehugger was pseudo-haploid, while the full alien was semi-crossbred with the host creature to be better adapted to the enviroment it found itself in. Sort of a self-programming, all-environment capable bioweapon. Not that any of the movies explained any of that. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/38 "2010-12-22T02:15:07Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Yeah, that would be great. Funny the Space Jokey reminds me a lot of European SF comic books of the seventies, like Moebius. > > **Son of a Rich** mentionned how in the first it _seems_ like both Space Jockey and the Facehuggers are the first alien species encountered, but this is far from clear, it stays very ambiguous (on the other hand, if it is, Mother’s persistence in trying to get a sample, whatever the cost, is perfectly rational). But, in AlienS, it seems like humanity has encountered other aliens (maybe during the timespan between the two movies, or maybe it was already the case during the first movie). I think I remember the Colonial Marines not being particularily startled when getting infos on the Aliens by Ripley. Which would be surprising if they werent already familiar with alien species (at least non sentient ones). > On the other hand, Ripley and the crew in the first were more shocked by the behavior of the alien that by the fact they’ve encountered the very first alien species. So, yeah, the first is ambiguous, the second far less. Still, the status is not clear, which is great for a prequel. In the second film, there’s also this exchange: Frost: Hey, I sure wouldn’t mind getting some more of that Arcturian poontang! Remember that time? Spunkmeyer: Yeah, Frost, but the one that you had was a male! Frost: It doesn’t matter when it’s Arcturian, baby! “Arcturians” could be some radical genetically altered off-shoot of humanity, but it sounds like they’re talking about a close encounter of the freaky kind. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/39 "2011-01-15T22:07:37Z")
Alas, it’s [dead.](http://www.shadowlocked.com/201101151287/news/alien-prequel-its-dead-as-disco.html) Although the actual movie it turns into could be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756/40 "2011-01-16T01:12:15Z")
Nothing is ever really dead in Hollywood. A prequel could still happen. Here’s some interesting stuff on the _Nostromo_ crew’s backstories: [http://www.shadowlocked.com/20101105900/opinion-features/space-misfits-nostromo-crew-back-stories-revealed-on-alien-anthology-blu-ray.html](http://www.shadowlocked.com/20101105900/opinion-features/space-misfits-nostromo-crew-back-stories-revealed-on-alien-anthology-blu-ray.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-prequel-ridley-scott-and-giger/564756.md?page=3)