# I just watched "Alien" for the first time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921 "2015-01-26T14:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/41 "2015-01-26T20:39:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > And if there’s one thing that’s been consistently shown in the Alien franchise, it’s the deep, passionate concern of Weyland-Yutani corp for the health and well-being of their employees. Ya got me there!:smack: But it’d be out of style by then, I maintain. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/42 "2015-01-26T20:43:50Z")
Besides, even if smoking does go out of style, all over the world, there’s nothing that says it can’t go back into style in the intervening centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/43 "2015-01-26T21:16:54Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, they spoke American English on the ship. And the rest is a fanwank. Not to mention, even if it wasn’t cancer causing, smoke irritates people, and causes problems to delicate electronics. They spoke German in the version that was shown in Germany and Italian in the verrsion that was shown there. Since you seem to want to be appallingly literal and not let this go, consider this: They are shown smoking on their spaceships in the Alien universe, so they do smoke on spaceships there. The end. ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/44 "2015-01-27T00:41:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, the movie that changed space travel from sleek and antiseptic to grimy and lived-in was **Dark Star**. You could argue that the film wasn’t widely released and had no big effect, but then **Star Wars** came along in 1977 and bulldozed the genre, giving us a lived-in future with beat-up hovervehicles and “piece of junk” spaceships. Alien came out two years later. Yeah, yeah, but in Dark Star weren’t they military with ranks and a mission? Star Wars was, of course, sci fi with missions, good/evil, a space princess and all. Alien was blue collar, this is just a damn job. No mystery of space; no mission, no princess, knights. They were like guys working on a pipeline across Alaska or digging a coal mine. Of course, they smoke. Soothes and passes the time. Getting drunk is probably way rationed. I loved that movie, especially the way, as Chronus mentioned, Sigourney Weaver was the stealth hero. When she took off directly for the rescue instead of by the corridors… well. hell (!!) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/45 "2015-01-27T00:46:23Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > it could be about Sigourney Weaver and how she looked in her space panties? > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Don’t forget all the dripping, and leaking and steam escaping… These two sentences just should \*not \*have appeared consecutively. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/46 "2015-01-27T01:06:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Besides, even if smoking does go out of style, all over the world, there’s nothing that says it can’t go back into style in the intervening centuries. True; **Alien** was set in the 22nd century. For all we now cancer (& the other associated health risks) are easily cured by then and smoking has become popular again. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/47 "2015-01-27T01:22:13Z")
Maybe they were smoking something non-carcinogenic. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/48 "2015-01-27T01:30:38Z")
If we’re going to judge 30 year-old sci-fi depictions of the far future by contemporary social trends, the obvious answer is they’re all smoking marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/49 "2015-01-27T02:26:37Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > It is here in the US. Not as much as hollywood would have you believe. Even nurses all seem to smoke when they go on breaks, and they should know better. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/50 "2015-01-27T03:59:14Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Yeah. The script clearly teases the audience making us think that Tom Skerrit is the main character, and Sigourney Weaver the heartless bureaucrat who won’t let him in because of regulations… and then it hits you making her the main character in the middle of the movie. Really well written. Plus of course the role of the female member of the team is usually to either die, or support - or have to be rescued by - the (male) Hero. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/51 "2015-01-27T05:12:39Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > These two sentences just should \*not \*have appeared consecutively. Hee. My thought exactly. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/52 "2015-01-27T05:25:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > To my mind **Aliens** , James Cameron’s follow-up to the original **Alien** , is the best film of the bunch, and to my mind, the series ought to stop there. I had the opposite take. I thought **Aliens** was a betrayal of the atmospheric horror vibe of the original movie. For my money, Cameron took a great horror movie ( **Alien** ) and turned it into just another stupid, bloated 80s action movie. Really, Stallone should have co-starred. I never understood all the love for **Aliens**. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/53 "2015-01-27T17:18:42Z")
They’re just two different kinds of movies. _Alien_ was a horror movie, _Aliens_ was an action movie. Both were good specimens of their genre. If you like horror movies better than action movies, you’ll like the first one better. If you like action movies better than horror movies, you’ll like the second one better. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/54 "2015-01-27T17:27:43Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Maybe they were smoking something non-carcinogenic. Cancer is not the only worry- also heart disease, emphysema, bronchitis, allergies, rapid aging of skin, eye problems… ---
**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:** [January 27, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/55 "2015-01-27T17:35:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Cancer is not the only worry- also heart disease, emphysema, bronchitis, allergies, rapid aging of skin, eye problems… Maybe they were smoking something non-bronchiectatic, non-allergic, non-senescent, non-cardiopathic, hypodermatopathogenic, and non-opthalmodegenerative? Might make your farts smell like violets, too. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/56 "2015-01-27T17:52:42Z")
Or maybe cigarettes are just as bad for you in the future as they are now, and some segments of society have decided that they just don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/57 "2015-01-27T19:02:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They’re just two different kinds of movies. _Alien_ was a horror movie, _Aliens_ was an action movie. Both were good specimens of their genre. If you like horror movies better than action movies, you’ll like the first one better. If you like action movies better than horror movies, you’ll like the second one better. Well, I usually don’t like horror, and like action, but I love _Alien_ more than _Aliens_. But that’s probably because the first movie isn’t as jokey as the first one. Maybe I just like my action serious and my horror funny. Either way, I agree with your delineation of the two. > [@Chronos](#): > > Or maybe cigarettes are just as bad for you in the future as they are now, and some segments of society have decided that they just don’t care. Or maybe some folks got addicted earlier when they didn’t care, and took risky, difficult jobs as result of the same personality traits. There certainly are better jobs in the W-Y corp, and I suspect the rest of the universe has them too. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/58 "2015-01-27T19:12:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They’re just two different kinds of movies. _Alien_ was a horror movie, _Aliens_ was an action movie. Which was a clever thing to do, really. Following up a classic with more of the same is a good way to bog people down in comparisons and disappoint them. If _Aliens_ had been a horror movie, it would have suffered by comparison to _Alien_, no matter how good it as. Switching genres enabled them to change the mood rather than breaking it, and allowed them to tell different aspects of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/59 "2015-01-27T19:26:51Z")
> [@MsKaren](#): > > Yeah, yeah, but in Dark Star weren’t they military with ranks and a mission? They had ranks and a mission, but their being miitary was secondary to the completely mundane scouting “mission” they were tasked with. The crew’s biggest enemy was boredom until the incident with Bomb #20. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/60 "2015-01-27T19:59:24Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > just another stupid, bloated 80s action movie. Really, Stallone should have co-starred. I never understood all the love for **Aliens**. That’s the thing though; \*\*Aliens \*\*was far from stupid or bloated. It was a pretty remarkable movie in many ways that I’m not going to go into them here; don’t want to spoiler it, but let’s just say it was far from stupid, far from bloated, and was as much or more a thriller than it was an out-and-out action movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921.md?page=4)