Highly unconvinced.

The movie relies, IMO, heavily on its soundtrack to make it work so make sure to go to a theater with at least a decent audio support.

Directed by an uruguayan and starring the chick from “The Last of us” tv series.

The story picks up after Alien (the original).

0-0

I'll likely see it when it's on disc. I'd probably see it in the theater, if I lived nearer to one.

I've seen three of the director's other movies, and liked them all: Evil Dead, Don't Breathe, and Girl in the Spider's Web.

I liked Prometheus and Covenant well enough too, for what that's worth. I am certainly not an Alien purist.

I have tickets to see it on Saturday afternoon.

Alien and Aliens are two of my favorite films, and this takes place between those two movies.

Takes place after Alien? That's disappointing. It would have been nice to see more progression in how the xenomorph came to be what we see in Alien, as well as how the Engineer came to land/crash on LV426.

With almost all the other movies being “meh” at best and “shit” at worst, I don’t have much hope. The first two were still the best.

The plot summary is up on Wikipedia and I'm waiting for a disc release. From the look of things, it probably isn't the worst Alien film, although looking at the trailers, if you told me they made this movie for $80 million, I'd believe it. It looks like almost every dollar they had went on the screen.

I have seen them all in the theater when they came out. I still remember Alien in 1979 on base theater, the chest popper scene was something back in the pre gore days of movies. The electricity of that movie was hard to imagine and man was I shocked when the sequel topped it.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
The first two were still the best.

Agree wholeheartedly.

I was really looking forward to Prometheus and Covenant based upon an interview with Ridley Scott I had read about. His intent and direction, IMHO, were mind blowing. He said the studio's were not in support of the idea, which was why he left the franchise. When he returned I had high hopes, but the studio heads were obviously still not in support so his vision did not come to full fruition. Looking back, his vision would have totally made sense and fit with the movies, but he just wasn't allowed to "Do it" all the way. It was hinted at, but not done. If anyone doesn't know about the interview, I can tell it, just didn't want to make the post too long.

This sounds like faint praise, but it’s the third best entry in the series. I was all the way on board u til the last few minutes and then it reminded me of the abomination that was Alien Resurrection.

I liked the use of practical effects and it felt more like Alien than any of the last several films.

I didn’t like the end fight and one particular piece of CGI fan service.

It exceeded my admittedly low expectations. Worth a theatre watch for the dedicated fans of the franchise (I saw the first one on the theatre). Worth the time on streaming for any fans of sci fi.

8 of 10.

6.5/10

It's ok. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going to the theater to see it, but it's worth catching on streaming, especially if you're a fan of the Alien series.

I agree that it's in the running for the third best Alien film, but that's a pretty low bar to hurdle. And overall, it's certainly more in line with Alien 3/Alien Resurrection than Alien/Aliens.

Some of the acting and action is decent. Some of the visual effects are good (though one in particular is noticeably bad). The creature effects are great, since they made the good decision to rely on practical effects and animatronics for the aliens rather than CGI. And they did an excellent job with the set design, solidly invoking the franchise's classic retro-futuristic feel for the world around them.

But too much of the film felt like they took the prior Alien films, shoved them in a blender, and poured out this screenplay. Including wholly lifting a number of iconic lines, scenes, and concepts directly from prior films, just for the 'memberberries factor.

It's a weird amalgamation of sequel and homage/almost-reboot, and in the end, it doesn't quite work as well as they probably intended.


I'd rank the Alien films as:

1) Alien
2) Aliens Special Edition
[Big gap here]
3) Either Romulus or the Alien 3 Director's Cut (it's been a while since I've watched the latter, so it'd hard to get a fair comparison/ranking in my mind)
4) The other from above
5) Prometheus
6) Resurrection
7) Covenant
[Another huge gap here]
8) Aliens vs. Predator
9) AvP: Requiem

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

Being GenX from '71 I actually saw Aliens first. I did not know it was a sequel until much later. You see, I stayed home sick from school. rode my bike down to the video store and rented the VHS tape. I then returned it on the way to school the next day.

Anyway, I think it was the early 90's before I actually sat down and watched Alien. It blew my mind.

I don't think I've seen the originals in probably 20 years.
Need to queue them up to watch again

Director Fede Álvarez has some chops. His world building is decent, and he does a good job of showing the story and not telling the story. Then, the conflict kicks in, and it all becomes an Alien retread. Like many sequels, it doesn't tell a story that needed to be told. That lightweight pretty-boy/girl cast doesn't help. This is supposed to be the same industrial world that had a previous ship crew consisting of Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, and Veronica Cartwright? I guess there's not too many current actors with that kind of gravitas and grit. I suppose there is a fake Ian Holm in this, but he's there more as a gimmicky prop than for a performance.

Drinker weighed in.

https://youtu.be/aalELTFWczA?si=cBhEwIlehyHUMiqs

quote:

Originally posted by LastCubScout:
...and it all becomes an Alien retread. Like many sequels, it doesn't tell a story that needed to be told. That lightweight pretty-boy/girl cast doesn't help. This is supposed to be the same industrial world that had a previous ship crew consisting of Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, and Veronica Cartwright? I guess there's not too many current actors with that kind of gravitas and grit. I suppose there is a fake Ian Holm in this, but he's there more as a gimmicky prop than for a performance.

I haven't seen the film, I loved the first two films, the rest at various degrees of mediocrity.

One comment I read in the Critical Drinker video linked above- "I saw an IMDB review that described Romulus best: "An Alien Greatest Hits album sung by a cover band."

I'm headed to the theater to see it tonight. I haven't been to a theater in a long time. But my wife is hosting " bookwine club" tonight with the ladies. I usually relegate myself to the basement or bedroom during this ritual (except for bothering them to grab a snack).

I'm sitting here thinking how boring it will be so I ordered me a ticket to go sit alone in the theater. Wife is having none of Alien, so I will report back.

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:
This sounds like faint praise, but it’s the third best entry in the series. I was all the way on board u til the last few minutes and then it reminded me of the abomination that was Alien Resurrection.

I liked the use of practical effects and it felt more like Alien than any of the last several films.

I didn’t like the end fight and one particular piece of CGI fan service.

It exceeded my admittedly low expectations. Worth a theatre watch for the dedicated fans of the franchise (I saw the first one on the theatre). Worth the time on streaming for any fans of sci fi.

8 of 10.

Just got back and I agree with this 100%. I really enjoyed it. A basic Alien horror movie. A few ties to past movies but not trying to expand the universe in profound ways.

I also don’t like the end fight and wish Giger was alive to help with the visuals on that.

The protagonist reminded me a bit too much of Rey from Star Wars. But overall a fun flick and I think the visuals and sound warrant a good theatre with reclining seats.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Takes place after Alien? That's disappointing. It would have been nice to see more progression in how the xenomorph came to be what we see in Alien, as well as how the Engineer came to land/crash on LV426.

The series started going weird for me with the movie about how the aliens came to be or with the engineer as you put it.

Based on the rest of the posts, I'll go buy the streaming version just for old times sake.

The first Alien movie, I had to go to the theater 3 times just to finish it. I keep falling asleep the first two times because I was drunk. I would pass out just as the first guy was peering over the pod.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Takes place after Alien? That's disappointing. It would have been nice to see more progression in how the xenomorph came to be what we see in Alien, as well as how the Engineer came to land/crash on LV426.

The series started going weird for me with the movie about how the aliens came to be or with the engineer as you put it.

Based on the rest of the posts, I'll go buy the streaming version just for old times sake.

The first Alien movie, I had to go to the theater 3 times just to finish it. I keep falling asleep the first two times because I was drunk. I would pass out just as the first guy was peering over the pod.

One of my biggest complaints for the franchise was when they tried to blame it all on humans. I was fine with “we went into deep space and found some nasty shit.” I was fine with “ evil corporation trying to get nasty shit to use for profit”.

With Prometheus I was annoyed with “nasty space shit wouldn’t even exist if humans didn’t suck.”

This message has been edited. Last edited by: frayedends,

I saw it in IMAX and in 4dx. If you can, see it in 4dx, it was a great experience. Loved the movie, I think my current aliens franchise movie ranking is

Alien
Alien 2
Romulus
Alien resurrection ( weird pick I think I just saw it at the right time
AVP
Alien 3

I'm higher on Prometheus and covenant than I used to be but they are aliens adjacent at best. I guess covenant then Prometheus though I like Prometheus if you didn't tell me it was an aliensovie

Alien 3. Sorry. Great actors can't make that script work for me.