# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/101 "2015-01-28T17:30:47Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > My wife didn’t see it at all until about 5 years ago, and while she doesn’t “love it whole-heartedly”, she likes it a lot. Likewise. I’d seen it back in the 80s but my wife never did. I showed it to her a few years ago and she really enjoyed it. She wasn’t going to _love_ it because it’s not her preferred genre but then the fact that she thought it was a really good movie afterward says volumes. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/102 "2015-01-28T17:36:48Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > … > The fourth one I think of as a “fun silly story that kinda takes place in the _Alien_ Universe”… Is this the _Alien Vs Predator_ one, or something else? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > … I hate the two “Alien Vs. Predator” films with the heat of a thousand suns. There are _two_ of these? Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/103 "2015-01-28T17:46:20Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > _ **Aliens** _ is not the typical formula for 80s Action Romps, as has been pointed out earlier. Yeah, there’s probably a better term that could be used. “Typical 80s action romps” are some manly dude with an “infinite clip” M-16 in each hand mowing down fields of bad guys as he saves America. Aliens is pretty much the opposite – it’s more action-survival, I guess? But it’s not about the invincible hero, it’s about the frailty of the protagonists against a seemingly invincible enemy. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/104 "2015-01-28T17:50:51Z")
Dirty Dozen? Force 10? The are behind enemy lines, so to speak. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/105 "2015-01-28T17:53:40Z")
Burke might be trying a Kelly’s Heroes scenario… . ---
**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 28, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/106 "2015-01-28T18:07:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 1.) How does the freakin’ chest burster grow so big so fast (the novel tries to explain that it got into some food supply and ate really fast, which I take as proof that this detail bothered Aklan Dean Foster, not that the filmmakers gave it any thought) It going through the food stores is mentioned in the movie by Dallas, IIRC. As far as how it grows really fast: I don’t know, the frigging thing has acid for blood. We don’t know how it works, in general. Nevermind learning how to raise the thing. > [@](#): > > 2.) Why does nobody question Ash’s breaking quarantine (except Ripley)? Why aren’t they extras-careful with Kane even after they remove the face-hugger? The other characters are more worried about Kane dying in quarantine. Dallas is the CO, Ripley is the exception for wanting to follow regulations against the rules of her commander and the wishes of the rest of her crew. I don’t see this as a fault to be explained away. > [@](#): > > 3.) “micro-changes in air density”? Really? The damned thing must be going off constantly. Yeah, that one doesn’t really work, but no other Magical Alien Locator (MAL) I can think of would use any more realistic tech. IIRC they use what appears to be the same device (it has a similar display, at least) in _Aliens_, but wisely don’t try to explain how it works. > [@](#): > > 4.) When Dallas is in the shafts looking for the Creaturte, and they find it going towards him, no one thinks to tell him _from what direction_ Hmm, panicky people who aren’t trained to handle what they’re handling handle the situation poorly? I’ve certainly babbled incoherently when someone else was in imminent danger. I don’t really see this as a problem. > [@](#): > > 5.) After Dallas’ demise, they don’t use the Magical Alien Locator anymore. Why not? I think Ripley uses it while she’s searching for the cat. And as I said before, I don’t think they have any better explanation on how the MAL works in _Aliens_. > [@](#): > > 6.) People separate and go off on their own while a malicious Beast is loose among them with alarming frequency. Well, they do at least try to explain that in the movie. It’s not the best strategy, but they had things to do and characters to kill off. > [@](#): > > 7.) How the hell did Ash get into the control room for “Mother” without Ripley noticing? If you mean in the scene where Ripley tells him that she has her own access to “Mother” now, it’s implied that he already has access. If you mean after that, where he surprises Ripley – if I can believe that Bishop can be amazingly good with a knife, I can believe Ash can be amazingly stealthy. > [@](#): > > 8.) Why does he subsequently try to shove a magazine down her throat? As was mentioned before, he probably only knows the rudiments of killing. > [@](#): > > 9.) I have to admit, the reveal of Ash as a semi-organic robot bothered the HELL out of me. We’d been given no inkling that such things even existed before this, and the headless Ash , in context, looks like some manifestation or creation of the Alien xenomorph. I don’t see this as a problem. 🙂 So, while I agree _Aliens_ does avoid some of the pitfalls of the original movie, it often does them by hand-waving away the problems in the original movie. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/107 "2015-01-28T18:10:18Z")
I liked the Ash reveal. Added a layer to the horror of the situation for Ripley. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/108 "2015-01-28T18:32:38Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Aliens: Wasn’t it meant as a Vietnam metaphor? > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Wasn’t everything at the time?🙂 All things considered, I prefer the Vietnam metaphors to the 9/11 metaphors. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/109 "2015-01-28T18:48:28Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > … > an aside: So many people seem to fixate on either the Newt character or Hudson (both of whom I enjoyed), but what makes the movie for me is the relationship between The Company (represented by Carter Burke) and The Hero (Ripley, Bishop, Hicks). Without that, the movie wouldn’t have much of a story other than just being another bug hunt. Again, ymmv I’ve always though Paul Reiser turned in one of the finest villain performances in movie history, and one of the most chillingly believable. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/110 "2015-01-28T18:54:09Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > I have to disagree with you on this point–I don’t think she had a choice about opening fire. Recall that she did so in response to an egg opening and a facehugger starting to emerge. Good point. Doesn’t Ripley make a I-can’t-believe-you’re-sending-a-face-hugger face at the queen when the egg starts to open? > [@Spoke](#): > > As I hinted at earlier, I have a sense that people who first saw Aliens as teens or younger are much more fond of it than people who saw it as full-grown adults. But maybe I am wrong. Are there any folks out there who first saw Aliens as an adult and who love it whole-heartedly? You’d have a better argument if the movie didn’t get rave reviews when it was first released. Time magazine put it on its cover. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/111 "2015-01-28T18:57:34Z")
I saw Aliens at 27-ish and liked it plenty. I’m twice that now and like it even more since Cameron released his director’s cut with the extra footage that fleshes out and explains certain things better. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/112 "2015-01-28T19:02:03Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > I liked the Ash reveal. Added a layer to the horror of the situation for Ripley. I liked it too because it is a big ole reminder that the movie is set in the future. Their techology is pretty unimpressive. Nothing about how they act or appear screams “futuristic”. An evil humanoid makes up for this. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/113 "2015-01-28T19:03:54Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Good point. Doesn’t Ripley make a I-can’t-believe-you’re-sending-a-face-hugger face at the queen when the egg starts to open? Yep. It looks as though Ripley is going to back out from the nursery with Newt in a shaky ‘truce’ but then the egg pod opens, Ripley makes a “you’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding me” face and it goes from there. ---
**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 28, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/114 "2015-01-28T19:05:21Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I’ve always though Paul Reiser turned in one of the finest villain performances in movie history, and one of the most chillingly believable. I saw Paul Reiser talking about going to the premier with his mom. When his character gets eaten by an alien, his own mom did a fist pump and went, “Yes!” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/115 "2015-01-28T19:11:51Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > It going through the food stores is mentioned in the movie by Dallas, IIRC. As far as how it grows really fast: I don’t know, the frigging thing has acid for blood. We don’t know how it works, in general. Nevermind learning how to raise the thing. > > The other characters are more worried about Kane dying in quarantine. Dallas is the CO, Ripley is the exception for wanting to follow regulations against the rules of her commander and the wishes of the rest of her crew. I don’t see this as a fault to be explained away. > > Yeah, that one doesn’t really work, but no other Magical Alien Locator (MAL) I can think of would use any more realistic tech. IIRC they use what appears to be the same device (it has a similar display, at least) in _Aliens_, but wisely don’t try to explain how it works. > > Hmm, panicky people who aren’t trained to handle what they’re handling handle the situation poorly? I’ve certainly babbled incoherently when someone else was in imminent danger. I don’t really see this as a problem. > > I think Ripley uses it while she’s searching for the cat. And as I said before, I don’t think they have any better explanation on how the MAL works in _Aliens_. > > Well, they do at least try to explain that in the movie. It’s not the best strategy, but they had things to do and characters to kill off. > > If you mean in the scene where Ripley tells him that she has her own access to “Mother” now, it’s implied that he already has access. If you mean after that, where he surprises Ripley – if I can believe that Bishop can be amazingly good with a knife, I can believe Ash can be amazingly stealthy. > > As was mentioned before, he probably only knows the rudiments of killing. > > I don’t see this as a problem. 🙂 > So, while I agree _Aliens_ does avoid some of the pitfalls of the original movie, it often does them by hand-waving away the problems in the original movie. “Hand waving them away?” You must’ve seen a different movie than me. I found Aliens well-thought-out. Alien is the one that seemed confused and inconsistent, and didn’t even bother hand-waving away its problems. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/116 "2015-01-28T19:26:55Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I’ve always though Paul Reiser turned in one of the finest villain performances in movie history, and one of the most chillingly believable. Agreed. I liked his sit-com _Mad About You_ but it took me a while to see Reiser and not immediately hate him. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/117 "2015-01-28T20:06:04Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Aliens: Wasn’t it meant as a Vietnam metaphor? > [@Spoke](#): > > We should have just nuked it from orbit? I know a few Vietnam veterans who think we should have done just that. > [@Deeg](#): > > Agreed. I liked his sit-com _Mad About You_ but it took me a while to see Reiser and not immediately hate him. I frequently had more sympathy for his _Aliens_ character than for his _Mad About You_ character. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/118 "2015-01-28T20:16:33Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > You’d have a better argument if the movie didn’t get rave reviews when it was first released. Time magazine put it on its cover. Hey, it was the 80s. Big loud militaristic action movies were all the rage. Hell, even Rambo got two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert. (Aliens only managed a split.) ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/119 "2015-01-28T20:22:41Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > As was mentioned before, he probably only knows the rudiments of killing. Yeah, Cameron wasn’t around yet with robots that have “detailed files on human anatomy”. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/120 "2015-01-28T20:22:51Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Good point. Doesn’t Ripley make a I-can’t-believe-you’re-sending-a-face-hugger face at the queen when the egg starts to open? Yes. I think I’ve described it as a “You really went there?” look in previous discussions. I doubt the queen did anything to trigger the hatching–the egg was probably responding to the presence of potential hosts–but she certainly wasn’t going to stop it, even if she could. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921.md?page=7)