# The aliens in the Alien franchise

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aliens-in-the-alien-franchise/966678>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [June 23, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aliens-in-the-alien-franchise/966678 "2022-06-23T14:31:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 56

<div class="post-metadata">

**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 19, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aliens-in-the-alien-franchise/966678/56 "2022-12-19T18:21:34Z")

</div>

> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> …In _Aliens_, they put together a team of Marines specifically to fight the creatures. They were well-armed and trained for that mission…

They sent Marines to check up on the colonists, not “specifically to fight the creatures.” They _were_ well-armed (until they couldn’t use all those arms, deep in the terraforming plant), but not especially well-trained _at all_ for the mission they eventually realized they were on.

> [@DPRK](#):
>
> Sci-fi fans are supposed to recognize the reference: Arcturians are shape-shifting aliens which appear in Dan O’Bannon’s “The Long Tomorrow” (1975), illustrated by Moebius, a classic cyberpunk comic which was an influence on movies like _Blade Runner_ and evidently James Cameron as well.

And here it is (_definitely_ NSFW): [The Long Tomorrow, by Moebius | All That I Love](https://marciokenobi.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/the-long-tomorrow-by-moebius/)

This earlier thread will also be of interest, I’m sure: [Aliens - so what were the Colonial Marines actually prepared for (tactically)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-so-what-were-the-colonial-marines-actually-prepared-for-tactically/711260)

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aliens-in-the-alien-franchise/966678)._