# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/161 "2015-01-29T21:01:43Z")
OP here. It’s getting into spoiler territory for me so I stopped following. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/162 "2015-01-29T21:07:28Z")
What a strange thread. I watched all four movies in a row last year (and even Prometheus, elements of which I liked, and elements of which I hated). I would argue that Aliens was a survival horror movie with action elements. I mean, nearly all of the Marines died! That is not a stereotypical action movie by any means. Even our hero is out cold by the end, to be saved by a civilian. Just compare it to Predator, which is very similar, which I would call more of an example of the action movie genre. I am another fan of Aliens 3 except for the deaths of Hicks and Newt. I wish there was some way we could have left them out of it, let them survive. I liked the dismal, dark feeling of the prison, though, and I liked Ripley’s attitude, which seems natural to me after the last two movies. And I think there are moments in that movie that really stand out. Aliens 4 - parts of it were OK. Alien is a terrifying movie, but parts of it really do drag, and that just shows that pure horror is not my favorite genre. Run all the way to one end of the ship to activate the self destruct sequence. Run all the way back to the shuttle, find the Alien there. Run all the way back to deactivate the self destruct sequence, which fails. Run all the way back to the shuttle. Showing every step of the way! Bor-ing. But probably terrifying if you were sitting in the theatre watching it anxiously. **Miller** don’t you dare disagree with anything I said, or I will bring up the time we had a fight, in 1984, and how you just totally disagree with anything everyone says, and I REFUSE to have a discussion! _stamps foot_ ---
**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 29, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/163 "2015-01-29T21:08:18Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > OP here. It’s getting into spoiler territory for me so I stopped following. [A new thread got started.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747766) Pretty much the whole thing is a spoiler I’ll switch over there for any further _ **ALIENS** _ discussion ---
**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 29, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/164 "2015-01-29T22:44:46Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Look within. It would be nice to have a _discussion_ about a movie without it devolving into niggling debates over minor points. (_See, e.g._: Is Alien an “80s action movie” or just an “action movie?”) While I enjoy discussions about old movies, the quibbling is tiresome and makes discussion less enjoyable. I’m not sure what you’re trying to debate. You’ve dismissed _Aliens_ as a typical 80’s action movie but you haven’t articulated why it’s an **80’s** action movie (and thus worthy of derision) and not just a really good action movie (sans “80’s”). Pretty much all action movies have big explosions and thundering soundtracks. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/165 "2015-01-29T22:49:31Z")
Now I know why you are called **Miller**. You are impelled to grind everything to fine powder. ---
**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 29, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/166 "2015-01-29T22:52:30Z")
Whereas I remain confused as to why you go by **Spoke** , given your apparent deep-seated aversion to talking about things. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/167 "2015-01-30T00:06:37Z")
Me? I love to talk. Just not with you so much. Matter of conversational style. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/168 "2015-01-30T00:22:30Z")
Okay, let’s take it to the Pit. **Spoke** , you’ve done nothing in this topic for the last two days but just talk about how much you don’t like Alien and argue with others without wanting to actually debate it. It’s really starting to turn into threadshitting at this point. You’ve made it clear how you feel about the movie by now. Debating why you feel that way is fine, but you refuse to do that and seem mostly to just be continuing to say how you feel about it over and over and taking pot shots at others who disagree with you. It’s time to stop now. Or take it to the Pit. Either one, just take it out of this topic. This goes for everyone else too, please drop it or take it elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/169 "2015-01-30T04:40:48Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > They had to give their magazines to Frost (“Thanks a lot, Sarge”) who later gets hit by a flamethrower and his satchel full of everyone’s ammo explodes. I guess he didn’t (•\_•) ( •\_•)\>⌐■-■ (⌐■\_■) [stay frosty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5H_PCfvGA4). YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHH!! ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/170 "2015-01-30T12:50:02Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/171 "2015-01-30T13:40:15Z")
I rewrote this in light of Idle Thought’s mod note. I assume it’s ok to discuss Action vs Horror, as long as it stays out of the personal snark realm. > [@Anaamika](#): > > I would argue that Aliens was a survival horror movie with action elements. I mean, nearly all of the Marines died! That is not a stereotypical action movie by any means. Even our hero is out cold by the end, to be saved by a civilian. Just compare it to Predator, which is very similar, which I would call more of an example of the action movie genre. This, exactly. I’m home from work today (got a cold) and am watching Aliens right now. It’s certainly got a different tone than Alien. Alien is “a haunted house in space” movie while Aliens is more suspense than horror, IMO, but whatever it is, it’s _not_ an “Action” movie. The first 30 minutes quickly recap the last film and most of it deals with Ripley’s PTSD. The next 30 minutes deal with getting to know the marines, establishing that Ripley knows how to move one of those Iron Man forklifts and a crapload of suspense type stuff as the marines move through the colony. I’m over an hour in and there’s been exactly one small (semi-accidental) burst of gunfire (when they spot Newt) and the action doesn’t start until almost precisely 50% of the way through the movie. Let’s compare that to Die Hard (to me, the Platonic Ideal of Action movies) where the killing and the shooting and the mayhem start ~15 minutes in and never quits. Or Commando, where the mayhem starts ~10 minutes in, and never quits. Or ConAir where the killing starts 3 minutes in. Or 48 Hours where the action begins about 3 minutes in. Or Beverly Hills Cop where the action (car chase, broken glass, pedestrians fleeing for their lives) opens the movie. So far, Aliens has spent nearly half it’s total running time as a character study with some suspense (of the “Let’s explore the spooky old mansion” variety") thrown in. In addition, action movies are quip-filled. The first vaguely quiplike thing anyone says in Aliens is Riply’s “…You can bill me” which occurs more than halfway through the movie. To me, Aliens is much more of a survival/War movie like Anaamika said, than a horror movie, but whatever it is, it’s _not_ an “action” film–it just moves far too slowly for that. ---
**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 30, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/172 "2015-01-30T14:16:18Z")
> [@](#): > > In addition, action movies are quip-filled. _Aliens_ is probably the third-most-quoted movie in history, at least among nerd types (after Monty Python and Princess Bride). If that’s not quippy, then I’m not sure what is. ---
**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 30, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/173 "2015-01-30T14:19:51Z")
Some are quips, sure. Some are simply good lines that deserve quoting. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/174 "2015-01-30T14:28:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > _Aliens_ is probably the third-most-quoted movie in history, at least among nerd types (after Monty Python and Princess Bride). If that’s not quippy, then I’m not sure what is. I agree it’s totally quotable, but to me (and I wasn’t clear at all in my previous post) a quip, to me, is when you say something clever during the action or right before/after. “Yippie-ki-yai-ay, motherfucker”. "I’m your worst fuckin’ nightmare, man. I’m a nigger with a badge which means I got permission to kick your fuckin’ ass whenever I feel like it! ", “I like you. I keel you last.”/“hahaha. I lied”. Totally my bad for not being clear on the definition I was using. Especially since it’s not really a standard definition. ---
**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 30, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/175 "2015-01-30T14:33:15Z")
Ah, I get you, then. Though it does have “Get away from her, you bitch”, which makes up in vehemence what it lacks in cleverness. Still, that’s not until, what, five minutes from the end of the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/176 "2015-01-30T14:38:16Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I agree it’s totally quotable, but to me (and I wasn’t clear at all in my previous post) a quip, to me, is when you say something clever during the action or right before/after. “Yippie-ki-yai-ay, motherfucker”. "I’m your worst fuckin’ nightmare, man. I’m a nigger with a badge which means I got permission to kick your fuckin’ ass whenever I feel like it! ", “I like you. I keel you last.”/“hahaha. I lied”. > > Totally my bad for not being clear on the definition I was using. Especially since it’s not really a standard definition. Don’t worry, I understood you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/177 "2015-01-30T16:00:04Z")
Hudson has a lot of one liners. Do one liners = quip? “Stop your grinnin’ and drop your linen!” “Why don’t you put _her_ [Newt] in charge!” “Yeah man… but it’s a _dry_ heat.” “How do I get out of this chicken-shit outfit?” "Maybe you haven’t been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal! " Ripley: “Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?” “They can _bill_ me.” ---
**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 30, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/178 "2015-01-30T17:27:52Z")
None of those are said in the context of violent action, though, which is the distinction I think **Fenris** is trying to make. It’s not James Bond punning while gunning down dozens of SMERSH agents. When the characters in _Aliens_ are in a fight, they’re generally terrified. Even in Hudson’s final bravado before he gets killed, he’s not making jokes, he’s shouting stuff like, “You want some of that?!” ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/179 "2015-01-30T17:27:57Z")
I asked the friend who uses the term as well, and he summed it up better “You say a quip to (or about) an enemy in the heat of the fight”. So most quips are one liners, but not all one-liners are quips. As an example: "Chu keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. " is a killer one-liner. “I want my father back, you sonovabitch!” is a quip. So is “Who _are_ you? I must know!” “Get used to disappointment” Or from Ghostbusters. “You’re right. No human being could stack books like this” quotable line “We came, we saw, we kicked it’s ass” is a quip (more or less-about an enemy right after the heat of battle) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921/180 "2015-01-30T18:36:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > None of those are said in the context of violent action, though, which is the distinction I think **Fenris** is trying to make. It’s not James Bond punning while gunning down dozens of SMERSH agents. When the characters in _Aliens_ are in a fight, they’re generally terrified. Even in Hudson’s final bravado before he gets killed, he’s not making jokes, he’s shouting stuff like, “You want some of that?!” Exactly. 🙂 A (really stupid, terrible) quip would be Hudson saying something like \ “Let’s go spray for bugs” \<- this is why I’m not a scriptwriter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-alien-for-the-first-time/710921.md?page=10)