Mini-review of "Aliens"

[urbpan]

"Alien" becomes "Aliens" in this franchise-creating Hollywood-isation. Under James Cameron, we're treated to BIGGER LOUDER MORE, with explosions and guns among the new elements. Also new to the story is the whiff of a romantic subplot, the peril of a precocious child, and the confidence of the audience that Ripley will survive. Motherhood, a grotesque reviled curse in the first movie, is redeemed through Ripley's unwavering protection of her adopted Newt (and Ripley's bedtime speech assuring her adopted daughter that pregnancy and forced parasitic larva implantation are very different). It starts as a war movie, complete with WWII era soldier stereotypes, and a soundtrack of marching snaredrums. It becomes yet another version of "Who Goes There," with a band of stragglers holed up against the monsters outside. And then the finale is a one-on-one pro-wrestling match, an unlikely battle that transforms Sigourney Weaver from scream queen to Swartzeneggarean action hero. The extended version draws out suspense-building scenes--sometimes effectively, sometimes merely adding time to the final count.

Comments

...And all poor Sigourney really wanted to do was comedy

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

That's a fairly astute mini review. I've got a few things to add. It's a great role for Lance Hendrikson. It was the first time I remember someone combining SF Horror with the military tactics, starting a whole genre and becoming the ultimate gamer movie. Paul Reiser is a delightfully creepy little toad in the movie. The whole "who cares about the proles if there's money to be made for the corporation" was great. Remember, this was made during the eighties when this was a particularly poignant message. Be warned: They just go downhill from here.

I still use the phrase "Game over, dude."

[agelena.livejournal.com]

pregnancy and forced parasitic larva implantation are very different

Really? Seems exactly the same to me.

natural inspiration

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Urbpan and I got into a discussion over the reproductive process for the alien over on my Blog a few weeks ago when he saw the first Alien. Turns out he was pretty close to the mark. I just stumbled across this on IMDB

The alien's habit of laying eggs in the stomach (which then burst out) was inspired by spider wasps, which are said to lay their eggs "in the abdomen of spiders." This image gave Dan O'Bannon nightmares, which he used to create the story. But spider wasps (pompilidae) lay eggs on their prey, not inside them, after which the wasp maggots simply snack on the sting-paralyzed spiders. O'Bannon may instead have been thinking of either ichneumon wasps or braconid wasps. The ichneumon drills a single egg into a wood-boring beetle larva, whereas braconids inject eggs inside certain caterpillars. Both result in fatal hatch-outs more alike to O'Bannon's alien.