What if Ripley had kept Kane out in the airlock for 24 hours?

[Elendil_s_Heir]

To give us things to discuss in Cafe Society, of course!

@GreedySmurf

…There was I’m sure, a discussion that Ash was a late replacement in the crew, so presumably [W-Y] knew about the signal before they even dispatched the Nostromo on its original mission.

That’s right. Dallas tells Ripley that he’d shipped out with a different science officer five times before the Company replaced that person with Ash just before the Nostromo left Thedus.

[bordelond]

@GreedySmurf

Within the confines of the original movie, it’s clear that Weyland Yutani knew there was a life form of some type on LV-426. The order Ripley found in Mother’s database sent to Ash was:

Priority one
Insure return of organism for analysis.
All other considerations secondary.
Crew expendable."

There was I’m sure, a discussion that Ash was a late replacement in the crew, so presumably WT knew about the signal before they even dispatched the Nostromo on its original mission.

Ah, thank you. I remembered Mother having that order … but I didn’t recall the bit about Ash being a late replacement on the crew.

[beowulff]

@Channing_Idaho_Banks

It’s surprising that no tests were done to Kane that would have exposed the organism gestating inside him.

There were…
Watch the movie again, and notice what Ash is looking at on his monitor when Ripley walks in, before he quickly flips it off.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@GreedySmurf

Within the confines of the original movie, it’s clear that Weyland Yutani knew there was a life form of some type on LV-426. The order Ripley found in Mother’s database sent to Ash was:
.

I think somebody at WY suspected there was a lifeform on LV-426 and slipped in a order to retrieve it if found, crew expendable. But what if that lifeform didn’t even exist, huh? Did you ever think about that? He didn’t know! So now, if he went in and made a major security issue out of it, everybody steps in. Administration steps in, and there are no exclusive rights for anybody; nobody wins. So he made a decision and it was… wrong. It was a bad call, Ripley. It was a bad call.

[Patch]

@beowulff

There were…
Watch the movie again, and notice what Ash is looking at on his monitor when Ripley walks in, before he quickly flips it off.

Yeah, as Ash was the person responsible for medical treatment of Kane, it was my assumption that he was doing everything to suppress knowledge of how dire Kane’s condition truly was.

[GreedySmurf]

@Bryan_Ekers

I think somebody at WY suspected there was a lifeform on LV-426 and slipped in a order to retrieve it if found, crew expendable. But what if that lifeform didn’t even exist, huh? Did you ever think about that? He didn’t know! So now, if he went in and made a major security issue out of it, everybody steps in. Administration steps in, and there are no exclusive rights for anybody; nobody wins. So he made a decision and it was… wrong. It was a bad call, Ripley. It was a bad call.

Beautifully done sir!

[Hypno-Toad]

W-Y was certainly playing the long game considering the length of time between Alien and Aliens. Whoever gave the original order in Alien was probably long dead by the time Burke rolled the dice and bet the lives of the colonists of Hadleys Hope.

[muldoonthief]

@Lumpy

IIRC from the novelization/ comic book adaptation, they commented on how the medical scanner wasn’t returning clear images- apparently the facehugger or embryo had the ability to generate jamming signals? (One thing later installments of the franchise didn’t dwell on is that in the original the xenomorph was “biomechanical”: as much nanotech based as purely organic).

Yes that was in the novel - but Ash blew it off as being a problem with the medical sensors, not something inside Kane.

Also in the novel, it was explicitly stated by Ash’s head that another ship had recorded the message, and the Company had fully deciphered it and determined it was a warning, not a distress signal. Unfortunately the warning had enough detail about the xenomorphs that the Company decided to retrieve it. They had to make it look like an accident though, since importing dangerous lifeforms to Earth would get them in a shitload of trouble. That’s why they put Ash on the Nostromo with secret orders instead of just sending a research/science/military ship.

[bordelond]

@muldoonthief

They had to make it look like an accident though, since importing dangerous lifeforms to Earth would get them in a shitload of trouble. That’s why they put Ash on the Nostromo with secret orders instead of just sending a research/science/military ship.

Did the novel explain how the Nostromo was supposed to return those lifeforms to Earth after the crew perished? Interstellar ‘fly by wire’, presumably?

Heck, was Ash intended to make it through the journey home in one piece? Not sure what would stop a xenomorph from attacking him. Of course, from WY’s perspective Ash was likely considered expendable, too.

So then they’d have the Nostromo landed on Earth, with no crew and with at least one xenomorph on board. Hmmm … wonder what the WY plan was for that? Who was going to have to ever so slowly open the door there?

[Jonathan_Chance]

@Lumpy

Another huge factor to take into consideration is can the Xenomorph deliberately secrete acid to bore it way through obstacles? I seem to recall that in the novelization and/or a deleted scene the crew discovers that the newly emerged alien broke into their food locker and ate all their provisions.

I would posit it could. From the state of Kane’s faceplate when it was cut off, the facehugger melted - presumably with the acid - it’s way through a few inches of presumably tough plastic to get to his face.

[muldoonthief]

@bordelond

Did the novel explain how the Nostromo was supposed to return those lifeforms to Earth after the crew perished? Interstellar ‘fly by wire’, presumably?

Heck, was Ash intended to make it through the journey home in one piece? Not sure what would stop a xenomorph from attacking him. Of course, from WY’s perspective Ash was likely considered expendable, too.

So then they’d have the Nostromo landed on Earth, with no crew and with at least one xenomorph on board. Hmmm … wonder what the WY plan was for that? Who was going to have to ever so slowly open the door there?

Ash’s speech is a lot longer in the book. He said because he wasn’t organic, the xenomorph wouldn’t see him as food, so as long as he didn’t threaten it, it would leave him alone. And the Company thought that even if the entire crew was killed, Ash would be able to contain the xenomorph to smuggle it past customs. They had no idea how dangerous it really was.

[DrDeth]

nm

[FordPrefect]

@What_Exit

This is it exactly. I love both but for different reasons. Alien is one of the best horror movies ever and Aliens is one of the best action movies ever.

Aliens is what you do when you have experienced horror; you send in the fucking Space Marines, not six more teenagers like other sequels would have done.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@muldoonthief

Yes that was in the novel - but Ash blew it off as being a problem with the medical sensors, not something inside Kane.

Also in the novel, it was explicitly stated by Ash’s head that another ship had recorded the message, and the Company had fully deciphered it and determined it was a warning, not a distress signal. Unfortunately the warning had enough detail about the xenomorphs that the Company decided to retrieve it. They had to make it look like an accident though, since importing dangerous lifeforms to Earth would get them in a shitload of trouble. That’s why they put Ash on the Nostromo with secret orders instead of just sending a research/science/military ship.

I figure these secret orders got deleted when the Nostromo went missing, because whether or not an interesting lifeform had been found, it would be hard to explain the loss of a tug worth (I speculate) $284 million in pre-adjusted dollars, not counting payload. Hence the review committee of 56 years later is clueless about the visit to LV-426. Carter Burke, though, motivated by the same greed as his corporate ancestor, arranges another secret (or at least not entirely truthful) mission to retrieve the lifeform. The corporation as a whole might not be corrupt, but it seems to have a longstanding culture that encourages and presumably rewards “percentage” seekers.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@Bryan_Ekers

I figure these secret orders got deleted when the Nostromo went missing, because whether or not an interesting lifeform had been found, it would be hard to explain the loss of a tug worth (I speculate) $284 million in pre-adjusted dollars, not counting payload. Hence the review committee of 56 years later is clueless about the visit to LV-426. Carter Burke, though, motivated by the same greed as his corporate ancestor, arranges another secret (or at least not entirely truthful) mission to retrieve the lifeform. The corporation as a whole might not be corrupt, but it seems to have a longstanding culture that encourages and presumably rewards “percentage” seekers.

That’s about how I figured it. I think no one in Ripley’s review hearing believed her, but Burke was at least willing to take a chance (or, more accurately and tragically, a lot of other people’s chances) that she was telling the truth.

[Odesio]

@AncientHumanoid

OP: did rewatching it all these years later make you reconsider the slower pace of the original? When I first saw the original, not knowing how it was going to end, I didn’t notice how slow (to me) the action progressed. It seemed necessary for the horror and suspense aspect of the film.

Movies produced back in the 70s and early 80s typically had a much slower pace than today’s movies. The Changeling starring George C. Scott was released in 1980 and the last time I watched it (5-6 years ago) I remarked just how slowly paced the whole damned thing was. Though I’ll give them credit because every scene in that movie mattered.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Bumped.

Just had to share this T-shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/2526302-free-alien-hugs

[Bryan_Ekers]

Made me laugh.