4456 lines
210 KiB
Plaintext
4456 lines
210 KiB
Plaintext
Posting-Frequency: approx. every month
|
|
Archive-name: movies/alien-faq/part1
|
|
Version: 2.1
|
|
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
& &
|
|
& ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Information and Frequently Asked Questions &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Version 2.1 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& PART 1 of 4 &
|
|
& &
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
|
|
A word about the information provided in this FAQ (paraphrased from earlier
|
|
editions):
|
|
|
|
The contents of this FAQ are not "carved in stone" so if you have proof to
|
|
support or deny anything that is stated, don't hesitate to say so.
|
|
|
|
This FAQ is continually updated from the mail I get and the news I read in
|
|
the newsgroups listed below. This FAQ was founded about two years ago by
|
|
Daryll Hobson, who gave me the pleasure of taking care of it from now on.
|
|
If there are any lacks of information in this FAQ, please send your
|
|
contribution to me. Have a nice read...
|
|
-Eelko de Vos
|
|
( Vos@Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/eelko.html">I'm here!</A>
|
|
)
|
|
|
|
And now a small word from the originator of this FAQ...
|
|
|
|
With the exceptions of my own contributions, this FAQ has been assembled
|
|
by the material supplied to me through Email and public-access messages that
|
|
I've scavenged off the internet. Information that is contributed is often
|
|
paraphrased and combined with existing (other users') info. Needless to say,
|
|
it's impossible to give everybody their rightful line of credit, so a general
|
|
"Thank you" goes out to all who've contributed to this FAQ and made it what
|
|
it is. (you know who you are)
|
|
- Darryll Hobson
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This FAQ will be posted about every month to: alt.cult-movies
|
|
rec.arts.sf.movies
|
|
rec.arts.movies
|
|
|
|
It _might_ also available by anonymous FTP (here's what you do):
|
|
ftp rtfm.mit.edu
|
|
<use "anonymous" for your user name>
|
|
<use your email address for your password>
|
|
cd /pub/usenet/news.answers/movies/alien-faq
|
|
mget part*
|
|
quit
|
|
|
|
|
|
You can also get it by going to the Alien homepage through Mosaic or lynx.
|
|
It's right here:
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/alien.html"> Alien homepage </A>
|
|
|
|
Then go through the 'All info about the Alien sequels' link. You will see all
|
|
parts there. There are a lot of pictures and sounds there, including the
|
|
script of Alien. The other scripts will be added soon.
|
|
|
|
WARNING: This FAQ contains spoilers.
|
|
|
|
WARNING: Anyone who complains about the posting of this LARGE document to
|
|
the Internet or offers me bizzarre, strange, and complicated
|
|
alternatives to "posting" will be [cordially] ignored.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
CONTENTS
|
|
|
|
PART 1:
|
|
How do I contribute to this FAQ?........................................0
|
|
Movie synopsis..........................................................1
|
|
What do we know about the Alien species?................................2
|
|
Who is [character/director]?............................................3
|
|
Which scenes were "cut"?................................................4
|
|
What different versions of each movie are there?........................5
|
|
Merchandise.............................................................6
|
|
|
|
PART 2:
|
|
Memorable quotes........................................................7
|
|
Technical problems......................................................8
|
|
Trivia..................................................................9
|
|
Plot problems and loopholes.............................................10
|
|
Frequently asked questions..............................................11
|
|
|
|
PART 3:
|
|
Frequently discussed topics.............................................12
|
|
Movie viewing rituals...................................................13
|
|
Where can I get Gibson's ALIEN^3 script?................................14
|
|
|
|
PART 4:
|
|
Some lifeform-deductions from the movies................................15
|
|
Revision history........................................................16
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
0. HOW DO I CONTRIBUTE TO THIS FAQ?
|
|
|
|
To ensure accuracy, this FAQ has a few ground rules. The only
|
|
canonical sources are interviews with the creators, the theatrical
|
|
version of _ALIEN_, the director's cut (or theatrical version) of
|
|
_ALIENS_ and the theatrical version of _ALIEN^3_. All other sources
|
|
(ie: books, comics, toys, games, etc...) are generally considered
|
|
speculative.
|
|
|
|
This does not mean that any information outside of the listed movies
|
|
is not welcome here. Alot of the "speculative" information is used in
|
|
discussions or for giving "possible" answers to questions that cannot
|
|
be answered by events that occur in the movies.
|
|
|
|
If you would like to contribute to this FAQ, TRY and follow this
|
|
guideline:
|
|
|
|
- include references where necessary. If you're referring to a book,
|
|
it's often a good idea to include the title of the book and Author's
|
|
name as it would appear on the book (ie: " Alan Dean Foster " instead
|
|
of " Foster ")
|
|
|
|
- DON'T be too wordy with your information as I'll be forced to
|
|
paraphrase it (the document is rather large).
|
|
|
|
- DON'T send stuff like "I really liked ALIENS" because it's OPINION and
|
|
it's not FACT and it doesn't belong in this document.
|
|
|
|
- if you wish to update/add to something already in the FAQ, please do
|
|
so. Some of this information could easily be elaborated upon
|
|
[especially the comments that are enclosed in square brackets].
|
|
|
|
- it's preferable if you make your contribution through Email as this
|
|
FAQ can get posted to a newsgroup that I don't read and your efforts
|
|
will be wasted.
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
1. MOVIE SYNOPSIS
|
|
|
|
* Note: the purpose of this section is to quote what's on the back of the
|
|
movie boxes (right or wrong).
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
(Color, 1979, Rated R, Shot in Panavision (2.35:1)) In deep outer
|
|
space the crew of a commercial spaceship make an unscheduled landing
|
|
on a barren and desolate planet for engine repairs. They encounter a
|
|
pulsating organism which attaches itself to one of the crew members
|
|
and reproduces within his body to become the deadly ALIEN. As each of
|
|
the crew members is slain by the creature - one by one - the final
|
|
confrontation between the last surviving crew member and the Alien
|
|
culminates in an explosive conclusion. 116 minutes. [quoted from the
|
|
1984 CBS/FOX Video release]
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
(Color, 1986, Rated R, Shot flat (1.87:1)) Sigourney Weaver returns as
|
|
Ripley, the only survivor from mankind's first encounter with the
|
|
Alien. Her account of the Alien and the fate of her crew is received
|
|
with skepticism - until transmissions from space colonists who have
|
|
since settled on the Alien's planet abruptly stop. Determined to end
|
|
the recurring nightmares of her terrifying ordeal and to completely
|
|
exterminate the deadly creature, Ripley joins a team of high-tech
|
|
combat vets sent to investigate the disappearance of the space
|
|
colonists! Approx. 138 Minutes. [quoted from the 1992 CBS/FOX Video
|
|
release]
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
(Color, 1992, Rated R, Shot in Panavision (2.35:1)) In _ALIEN^3_,
|
|
Ripley finds herself an unwelcome guest on Fiorina 161, a
|
|
lice-infested planet in a distant solar system, when the EEV she's
|
|
travelling on malfunctions and crashes. Fiorina -- or "Fury" -- 161
|
|
is inhabited by a small community of violent criminals who discovered
|
|
religion and stayed behind when their prison facility was evacuated.
|
|
As a woman, Ripley is the ultimate outcast; her presence causes
|
|
conflicts that endanger the pracarious balance of power on the planet,
|
|
threatening to turn the reformed members of the monastic community
|
|
back into killers.
|
|
There is, however, an even more dangerous visitor to Fury 161 -- a
|
|
stowaway alien who threatens not only the inhabitants of this planet
|
|
but of the entire universe. Faced with extinction, the prisoners band
|
|
together under Ripley's leadership and, despite a lack of advanced
|
|
technology and modern weapons, battle the creature for the very future
|
|
of mankind. [quoted from the 1992 CBS/FOX laserdisc release]
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
2. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE ALIEN SPECIES?
|
|
|
|
This section discusses what we know about the Alien life-form; it is
|
|
entirely based on facts that are provided to us in each of the movies.
|
|
|
|
* Note: nothing in any of the canonical sources indicates that aliens
|
|
use the DNA of their hosts to help adapt to their environment.
|
|
|
|
* Note: the phrase "acid for blood" is accepted in this section as a
|
|
convenient way of describing the corrosive liquid that comes
|
|
out of the aliens/face-huggers when they are shot/cut/mutilated.
|
|
|
|
Eggs - eggs are initially created inside a queen alien and enter the
|
|
world (after being queued in her extended abdomen) via slimey tube to
|
|
stand on their own (indicating that there is a definite "up" side and
|
|
"down" side to the egg). The egg itself is a leathery object [...it's
|
|
full of leathery- objects; like eggs or something... Kane (Alien)],
|
|
translucent and approximately 2.5 feet tall. According to a scene
|
|
that was cut from _ALIEN_ these eggs could also be "constructed" by a
|
|
regular alien "infecting" an organism (which would undergo some sort
|
|
of metamorphosis) however, this concept was not supported (nor denied)
|
|
in _ALIENS_ and _ALIEN^3_. It is important to note that this method
|
|
was the originally intended method of the designer of the Alien, H.R.
|
|
Giger.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_ eggs - the egg in _ALIEN^3_ was smaller than we had
|
|
previously seen and it was more bulbous.
|
|
|
|
Face-huggers - hibernating inside one of these eggs is a parasite, commonly
|
|
refered to as a face-hugger. When a viable host is brought near a closed
|
|
egg (either by curiosity, or being cocooned and held in place) it triggers
|
|
the "contents" of the egg to come to life. The egg opens and the
|
|
face-hugger launches out at the organism and attaches itself by wrapping a
|
|
long "tail" around its victim's neck and using long spider-like legs (like
|
|
a spider, the face-hugger has 8 legs) to firmly grip the organism's head.
|
|
The face-hugger controls the amount of oxygen its host receives and puts
|
|
the victim in a comatose state while it reaches down the host's throat and
|
|
lays an egg. In order to ensure that the job can be completed with little
|
|
outside interference, the face-hugger has concentrated acid for "blood" (a
|
|
possible self defense mechanism) and can strangle its host with its tail
|
|
[...it's not coming off without tearing his face off with it. Dallas
|
|
(Alien)] After the egg is planted in the victim's body, the face-hugger
|
|
leaves the host (who will soon re-gain conciousness and have no
|
|
recollection of the implantation) and dies. [...he's got an outer layer of
|
|
protein poly-saccarides, has a funny habit of shedding his cells and
|
|
replacing them with polarized silicon which gives him a longer resistance
|
|
to adverse environmental conditions. Ash (Alien)]
|
|
|
|
Chest-burster - the alien begins its life by bursting from the chest of
|
|
its host. At this stage in its development it has a small cranium,
|
|
tan-colored skin and is susceptable to fire.
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_ chestburster - Unlike the one in _ALIEN_ this chestburster had
|
|
arms.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_ chestburster - This chestburster was different from the ones
|
|
in _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_; it was more "mature looking" immediately
|
|
after its birth. Specifically, unlike the chestbursters of the
|
|
previous movies, this one had legs.
|
|
|
|
Alien - As the chest-burster matures, it sheds its skin (similar to a
|
|
snake), its cranium becomes elongated and it has a hard, dark
|
|
(black/green) outer shell (exo-skeleton). The mature alien has
|
|
concentrated acid for "blood" and a higher tolerance to fire. As
|
|
indicated in _ALIENS_ the alien creature does not "show up" on
|
|
infra-red scanners which would indicate that it does not emit heat.
|
|
One distinguishing feature of the alien is that it has two mouths, one
|
|
inside the other. According to H.R. Giger, the inner mouth is in fact
|
|
the alien's "tongue" (it is such a vicious creature that even its
|
|
tongue is dangerous). Another interesting feature of the alien is
|
|
that it does not have (what we would perceive to be) "eyes".
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_ alien - these aliens only had 3 fingers as opposed to the 6
|
|
fingered creature in _ALIEN_. Aliens in this movie had a "ribbed"
|
|
cranium unlike the smooth cranium of _ALIEN_.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_ alien - This alien is different than the previous ones we've
|
|
seen; it tends to move around on all fours at times and ensures that
|
|
the unborn queen alien is kept safe. There are a few speculations as
|
|
to why this alien is different; refer to section [13] frequently
|
|
discussed topics.
|
|
|
|
The Queen Alien - little is known about her. From _ALIEN^3_ we know
|
|
that a queen alien can be born in the same way as a regular alien.
|
|
Some things that we do know about the queen: she has a much larger
|
|
cranium than the usual alien and is slightly taller (approx 2-3 feet).
|
|
The queen has the ability to create and lay eggs (through the use of
|
|
the extended abdomen) and she has the ability to survive without the
|
|
extended abdomen (for an unknown amount of time).
|
|
|
|
For more information, consult the last document of the FAQ, a document
|
|
written by a molecular biologist called 'HiveQueen'.
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
3. WHO IS [CHARACTER/DIRECTOR] ?
|
|
|
|
If you seek further information about the cast or creators listed
|
|
below, check out the rec.arts.movies movie database package which is
|
|
available via anonymous FTP to boulder.colorado.edu in the
|
|
pub/tv+movies/lists directory.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
|
|
Director: Ridley Scott
|
|
Writer: Dan O'Bannon
|
|
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
|
|
Director of Photography: Derek Vanlint
|
|
Designer: H.R.Giger (Hans Rudi Giger. Giger pronounced rhyming with "eager")
|
|
|
|
Cast:
|
|
Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver]: Warrant Officer
|
|
J. Lambert [Veronica Cartwright]: Navigator.
|
|
Ash [Ian Holm]: Science officer, an android.
|
|
Parker [Yaphet Kotto]: Chief engineer.
|
|
G. E. Kane [John Hurt]: Executive officer; the alien bursts from his chest.
|
|
(In the novel, his first name is "Thomas")
|
|
S. E. Brett [Harry Dean Stanton]: Engineering technician.
|
|
A. Dallas [Tom Skerritt]: Captain.
|
|
Alien [Bolaji Bodejo]
|
|
Mother [Helen Horton]: voice of the Nostromo computer.
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
|
|
Director: James Cameron
|
|
Writers: James Cameron, David Giler (story), Walter Hill (story)
|
|
Composer: James Horner
|
|
Director of Photography: Adrian Biddle
|
|
|
|
Cast:
|
|
Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver]: Cargo loader, gets assigned (by
|
|
choice) as an advisor for the mission to LV-426.
|
|
Sergeant A. Apone [Al Matthews]: sergeant, ground commander.
|
|
Corporal Dwayne Hicks [Michael Biehn]: only soldier that survived.
|
|
Private W. Hudson [Bill Paxton]: "Game over man! Game over!"
|
|
Private J. Vasquez [Jenette Goldstein]: uses a smart gun. Woman.
|
|
Private M. Drake [Mark Rolston]: uses a smart gun.
|
|
Corporal C. Ferro [Colette Hiller]: dropship pilot (wears sunglasses).
|
|
Private D. Spunkmeyer [Daniel Kash]: dropship co-pilot and cargo loader.
|
|
L. Bishop [Lance Henriksen]: Android; science officer.
|
|
Carter J. Burke [Paul Reiser]: Company advisor.
|
|
Private R. Frost [Ricco Ross]: Hated the corn bread.
|
|
Private T. Crowe [Tip Tipping]
|
|
Corporal C. Dietrich [Cynthia Scott]: Medic.
|
|
Lieutenant S. Gorman [William Hope]: Controls the marines from the APC.
|
|
Private T. Wierzbowski [Trevor Steedman]
|
|
Rebecca Jorden [Carrie Henn]: Newt.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
|
|
Director: David Fincher
|
|
Writers: Larry Ferguson, David Giler, Walter Hill, Vincent Ward (story)
|
|
Composer: Elliot Goldenthal
|
|
Director of Photography: Alex Thomson
|
|
|
|
Cast:
|
|
Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver]: sole survivor of the Sulaco, shaves her
|
|
head, carries the next alien queen embryo in her body.
|
|
Bishop II [Lance Henriksen]: android and (in a different roll) the designer
|
|
of the android or another android (looking like Bishop).
|
|
Clemens [Charles Dance]: the doctor.
|
|
Golic [Paul McGann]: in the infirmary, wearing the straitjacket.
|
|
Dillon [Charles S. Dutton]: the religious leader.
|
|
Andrews [Brian Glover]: superintendant
|
|
Newt [Danielle Edmond]: the little girl corpse.
|
|
Aaron [Ralph Brown] Morse [Danny Webb]
|
|
Arthur [Dhobi Oparei] Murphy [Chris Fairbank]
|
|
Jude [Vincenzo Nicoli] Eric [Niall Buggy]
|
|
Frank [Carl Chase] Kevin [Philip Davis]
|
|
Rains [Christopher John Fields] Gregor [Peter Guinness]
|
|
Boggs [Leon Herbert] William [Clive Mantle]
|
|
Junior [Holt McCallany] David [Pete Postlethwaite]
|
|
Troy [Paul Brennan] Company Man [Hi Ching]
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
4. FILMED SCENES THAT DIDN'T APPEAR IN THE THEATRICAL RELEASES.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
|
|
* From Famous Monsters #158, Special 1980 Annual:
|
|
|
|
A gruesome scene where Kane's bloated corpse floats past the observation
|
|
blister. This is quite a strange, because in the movie we see Kane clearly
|
|
_shooting_ away from the Nostromo.
|
|
|
|
* From the _ALIEN_ box set:
|
|
|
|
After being awakened from hypersleep, Kane wanders out to the kitchen
|
|
to prepare breakfast, he says "Rise and shine Lambert".
|
|
|
|
Scene where the crew gathers on the bridge and listens to the signal
|
|
coming from the derelict craft. [1 min, 40 sec]
|
|
|
|
Scene where Lambert confronts Ripley about Ripley's reluctance to let
|
|
them back on the ship with Kane and the facehugger. Lambert tells
|
|
Ripley, Parker and Brett how the face hugger got on Kane. [1 min, 40
|
|
sec]
|
|
|
|
Ripley radios down to Parker and Brett to see how they're progressing
|
|
on the repairs, Parker and Ripley exchange tense words over the radio.
|
|
[1 min, 17 sec]
|
|
|
|
After the face hugger's acid eats through a few floors, the crew
|
|
returns to the med lab to check up on Kane's condition. Ripley sees
|
|
an X-Ray of Kane's chest and asks Ash, "What is that dark stain on
|
|
Kane's lung?" The rest of the crew starts asking if Kane's going to
|
|
live, Dallas tells everyone to go back to work. [2 min, 16 sec]
|
|
|
|
After Kane's death, the crew gathers around at the meal table to
|
|
discuss what they're going to do with the escaped alien. Brett
|
|
anounces the cattle-prod idea and suggests "catching" the alien in a
|
|
net. [2 min, 58 sec]
|
|
|
|
Longer version of Brett's death. This scene had Brett frozen with
|
|
fear as the alien grabs his head, he yells "Parker!" and then blood
|
|
poors from beneath his cap. The alien lifts him up into the landing
|
|
gear and Ripley and Parker come rushing in. Parker stands where Brett
|
|
once was and looks up; blood drips on his shirt and then Brett's
|
|
cattle prod falls to Parker's feet. [48 sec]
|
|
|
|
2/3 of a scene was filmed, this involved Parker, Ripley and Lambert
|
|
trying to flush the alien out of the air lock. As they are about to
|
|
succeed, an alarm is triggered and the alien rushes out of the airlock
|
|
(getting its tail caught in the closing door, and spilling acid that
|
|
causes a hull breach). Parker falls unconciously to the floor, Ripley
|
|
does the same and Lambert and Ash come to their rescue. Ripley
|
|
vocalizes her suspicions about Ash by accusing him of setting the
|
|
alarm off. [total: 1 min, 51 sec]
|
|
|
|
After Dallas's disappearance, Ripley (being suspicious of Ash) asks
|
|
Lambert if she's ever slept with him. [1 min, 37 sec]
|
|
|
|
The build-up to Lambert's death is much longer. (Watch the alien's
|
|
shadow on the wall, it walks in, crouches down, then immediately gets
|
|
up) A scene where we see the alien enter, crouch down and wait until
|
|
Lambert notices its presence was cut. When Lambert sees the alien, it
|
|
uncoils its tail and walks (like a crab) over to Lambert.
|
|
|
|
After Ripley discovers the remains of Parker and Lambert, she makes
|
|
another discovery. Ripley enters the landing gear area of the
|
|
Nostromo (where Brett got killed) and discovers a cocooned Dallas and
|
|
Brett mutating into an egg. Dallas pleads, "Kill me". Ripley flames
|
|
Dallas and the Brett-egg and then runs to set the ship on
|
|
self-destruct. [3 min, 22 sec]
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
|
|
* From the "liner notes" that came with the collector's edition of the
|
|
movie on laserdisc.
|
|
|
|
Ripley is sitting on a park bench waiting for Burke (before the
|
|
inquisition), immediately following her stay in Gateway Station'
|
|
hospital. She presses a button, and the entire park behind her disappears,
|
|
reveiling a grey screen. Burke enters and tells her how to act at the hearing.
|
|
Ripley asks about her daughter. Burke keeps talking about the hearing. She
|
|
insists to hear about her daughter. Burke hands her a computer printout
|
|
(colour) that shows her a nice old lady. Burke tells her her daughter died at
|
|
the age of 67. That was two years ago. Ripley whispers that she promised her
|
|
daughter she'd be back before her 11th birthday before going off on the
|
|
Nostromo.
|
|
|
|
After Ripley's outburst during in the inquest ("Because if one of
|
|
those creatures gets down here, you can kiss all of this goodbye"),
|
|
dialogue has been restored in which Van Leuwen voices the council's
|
|
final decision. (her flight status is revoked because she is deemed
|
|
unfit to serve as a flight officer, she has to have monthly psych
|
|
evaluations, and no criminal charges being filed against her)
|
|
|
|
A scene where the colonists receive orders from Burke telling them to
|
|
explore the derelict space craft. Newt's family drives to the site,
|
|
during the trip Newt and her brother Timothy are arguing about a game of
|
|
hide and seek that they play in the colony's airduct system. Timothy
|
|
complains that Newt has the unfair advantage of being able to hide in the
|
|
small places that the rest of the players can't get to. Following this,
|
|
they arrive at the derelict ship and the mother and father go in; later
|
|
the mother returns dragging the father who now has a face hugger clamped
|
|
on his face.
|
|
|
|
There's a scene of the colony, before contact with the aliens, in this
|
|
scene we see a sign outside the colony reading: "Hadleys Hope - pop.
|
|
158"
|
|
|
|
During the sequence in Ripley's apartment (where they try to convince
|
|
her to go investigate the lack of contact with the Colony), Burke's
|
|
dialogue regarding "The Company's" interest in the colony has been
|
|
restored.
|
|
|
|
Immediately following the establishing shot of the Sulaco is a
|
|
restored introdution to the interior of the ship, eventually leading
|
|
to the frost- covered hypersleep chamber (and then they wake-up. this
|
|
is similar to the start of Alien).
|
|
|
|
During the drop from the Sulaco to LV-426, is a restored scene of
|
|
Hudson playfully boasting about the Marines and their weaponry. He tells
|
|
Ripley he'll protect her. He also tells her the Sulaco carries every
|
|
weapon from knives to 'nukes'.
|
|
|
|
During the Marines' initial search through the colony, a sequence has
|
|
been inserted in which Hudson investigate some motion they have
|
|
deteced ahead of them. It were some mice walking around in their cage.
|
|
|
|
The scene in which Ripley, Burke, Gorman, and Bishop enter the colony
|
|
has been restored. (you see lotsa hesitation on Ripley's face before
|
|
entering the complex). Hicks leaves behind, asks her if she's ok. She
|
|
says yes and enters the complex.
|
|
|
|
During Hick's discussion of the equipment salvaged from the APC
|
|
wreckage, additional dialogue has been added in which he discribes the
|
|
four remote sentry guns and how they can be used.
|
|
|
|
When Ripley and the Marines examine the colony's blueprints,
|
|
discussing how they will barricade themselves inside the complex,
|
|
there is some additional dialogue referring to the strategic placement
|
|
of the sentry guns.
|
|
|
|
The sequence of Hicks arming the sentry, and Hudson and Vasquez
|
|
testing one of the sentry guns been restored.
|
|
|
|
Before the scene where Ripley carries Newt into the infirmary, a
|
|
single show of the sentry guns has been inserted.
|
|
|
|
During the scene where Ripley puts Newt to bed in the medical center,
|
|
the dialogue about Ripley's daughter and the origin of babies as been
|
|
restored. Newt asks Ripley if human babies are born the same way the
|
|
aliens are. (Newt asks if Ripley ever had a daughter and she finds out
|
|
Ripley's daughter's dead).
|
|
|
|
In the scene where Ripley, Bishop, Hudson, and Vasquez discuss the
|
|
aliens' life cycle, there is some additional dialogue in which Hudson,
|
|
Vasquez and Bishop offer their speculations. (beehive/anthill sort of
|
|
society)
|
|
|
|
After Ripley's confrontation with Burke, the sequence involving the
|
|
aliens attempting to make their way past the sentry guns in the
|
|
service tunnel has been restored.
|
|
|
|
Something probably only showed at the opening day of Aliens was a
|
|
scene in which Ripley puts on her Reebok sneakers after she just
|
|
found out that the facehuggers broke free, when she rested with
|
|
Newt in the MedLab.
|
|
|
|
After Vasquez and Ripley seal Bishop in the pipe, the aliens confront
|
|
the other two sentry guns that have been set up in the colony
|
|
corridors. At the end of the sequence, when Hicks dispatches Hudson
|
|
and Vasquez (to walk perimeter), some of the shots have been
|
|
rearranged from the theatrical edition and Hicks' dialogue slightly
|
|
altered.
|
|
|
|
Before Ripley leaves the drop-ship to rescue Newt, there is some
|
|
additional dialogue in thich she turns to Hicks to say goodbye, and
|
|
they exchange their first names:
|
|
RIPLEY : See you Hicks.
|
|
HICKS : Dwayne. It's Dwayne.
|
|
RIPLEY : *smiles* Ellen...
|
|
HICKS : Don't be gone long, Ellen.
|
|
|
|
When Ripley is searching for Newt, she finds Burke who has been
|
|
cocooned and impregnated. Burke begs Ripley to shoot him, instead she
|
|
hands him a grenade. < this scene did not appear in the director's
|
|
cut, but WAS filmed >
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
|
|
* NOTE: most of these scenes are only rumoured to exist, no solid
|
|
proof exists, but I thought I'd keep them in in case someone can
|
|
substantiate them.
|
|
|
|
Scene where Ripley's face is covered with bugs [lice]
|
|
|
|
There was a dream sequence near the start of the movie where Ripley
|
|
dreams that an alien is searching the wreckage and tries to rape her.
|
|
|
|
The original movie didn't include the scene of the alien bursting from
|
|
the dog's chest. Card #39 (of the _ALIEN^3_ trading card set) is a
|
|
picture of an ox hanging in an Abattoir and the text says, "In one of
|
|
the original scenes for Alien^3, oxen are used to pull Ripley's EEV
|
|
from the water. When one of the oxen falls to the ground, the
|
|
prisoners take it to the Abattoir for butchering. But while a
|
|
prisoner is preparing to butcher the ox, the Alien bursts from the
|
|
animals chest."
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
5. DIFFERENT MOVIE VERSIONS.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
|
|
Video - standard (has been resold in several different box re-prints)
|
|
- special edition (wide screen)
|
|
Disc - standard
|
|
- special letterbox version containing a seperate
|
|
section with the cut scenes, photos and several design drawings,
|
|
including drawings by Moebius, Ron Cobb and H.R. Giger.
|
|
- "Alien" Super 8 Film (200 feet long)
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
Video - standard
|
|
- directors cut, containing cut scenes put back into the movie.
|
|
Disc - standard
|
|
- special letterbox, director's cut version containing a seperate
|
|
section with design drawings, behind the scenes footage and
|
|
interviews with the director. Extended version's running time:
|
|
154 minutes.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
Video - standard
|
|
- "the making of"
|
|
Disc - standard letterboxed edition
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
6. MERCHANDISE
|
|
|
|
This is an ever-expanding portion of the FAQ so it is probably FAR
|
|
from complete.
|
|
|
|
_BOOKS_
|
|
|
|
* NOTE: "pb" = paperback, "hc" = hardcover.
|
|
|
|
- Alien Souvenir Movie Program sold in theatres (pb)
|
|
- Alien Official Movie Magazine (pb, Warren Publishing)
|
|
- "The Book Of Alien" by Scanlon/Gross (pb, Simon & Schuster)
|
|
- "Alien, The Illustrated Story" by Goodwin/Simonson (pb, Heavy Metal)
|
|
- "Alien", The Movie Novel edited by Anobile (pb, Avon)
|
|
- "Giger's Alien" art by H R Giger (pb, Big O Publishing)
|
|
(hc, Morpheus International)
|
|
- "Aliens", The Official Movie Book (pb, Starlog) (pb, Japanese)
|
|
- "Aliens", The Official Movie Magazine (pb, Starlog)
|
|
- "Alien" by Alan Dean Foster (novelisation) (pb, 1st US ed. Warner)
|
|
(1st US. hc, SFBC, code J-27) (1st trade hc, UK)
|
|
- "Aliens" by Alan Dean Foster (novelisation) (pb, 1st US ed. Warner)
|
|
(1st US hc, SFBC, code Q-44) (1st trade hc, UK, Severn House)
|
|
- "Alien^3" by Alan Dean Foster (novelisation)
|
|
- "Alien" Movie Script by Hill and Giler
|
|
- "Aliens" Movie Script by James Cameron
|
|
- "Alien III" Movie Script by William Gibson
|
|
- "Alien Poster Magazine" Nos. 1 & 2
|
|
- Alien Press Book
|
|
- Alien Press Kit
|
|
- Aliens Press Kit
|
|
- "Aliens, book 1: Earth Hive" by Steve Perry (Bantam, Oct 1992)
|
|
(ISBN 0-553-56120-0 pb)
|
|
- "Aliens, book 2: Nightmare Asylum" by Steve Perry (Bantam, May 1993)
|
|
(ISBN 0-553-56158-8 pb)
|
|
- "Aliens, book 3: The Female War" by Steve Perry and Stephani Perry
|
|
(Bantam, Aug 1993) (ISBN 0-553-56159-6 pb)
|
|
|
|
_COMICS_
|
|
|
|
w writer
|
|
a artist
|
|
c cover artist
|
|
? indicates more information needed
|
|
|
|
- COMIC SHOP NEWS:
|
|
Comics Debut
|
|
1 Jun 93 Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Species preview
|
|
|
|
- DARK HORSE COMICS:
|
|
Aliens 1-6 (1988-9)
|
|
w:Mark Verheiden ac:Mark A. Nelson
|
|
1 (6 printings)
|
|
2 (3 printings)
|
|
3-6 (2 printings)
|
|
collected in hardcover, trade pb (aka Aliens Book One), includes
|
|
reprint of DHP 24
|
|
b&w
|
|
|
|
Aliens Portfolio 1 (Feb 89)
|
|
a:Mark Nelson
|
|
Contains seven b&w plates and an eight-page mini-comic
|
|
reprinting first Alien story from DHP 24
|
|
|
|
Aliens Volume 2 1-4 (1989-90)
|
|
w:Mark Verheiden ac:Denis Beauvais
|
|
1-2 (2 printings)
|
|
collected in limited hardcover 2500 copies, trade pb
|
|
(aka Aliens Book Two and Aliens II)
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Earth War 1-4 (1990)
|
|
w:Mark Verheiden a:Sam Keith c:John Bolton
|
|
1 (2 printings)
|
|
collected in trade pb with an introduction by Verheiden explaining
|
|
how all of the various Alien projects interconnect
|
|
|
|
The Complete Alien (1993?)
|
|
reprints Aliens Book One, Aliens Book Two, Aliens: Earth War
|
|
and stories from DHP
|
|
limited hardcover 500 copies
|
|
slipcover, leather binding, signed and numbered
|
|
|
|
Aliens vs. Predator 0-4 (1990)
|
|
w:Randy Stradley ac:Phill Norwood a:Karl Story c:Mike Mignola
|
|
a:Chris Warner a:Robert Campanella c:Dave Dorman
|
|
0 (reprints Dark Horse Presents 34-36, b&w)
|
|
1-4 (2 printings)
|
|
collected in limited hardcover 1000 copies, trade pb, includes
|
|
color reprint of DHP 34-36
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Genocide 1-4 (1991-2)
|
|
w:Mike Richardson w:John Arcudi a:Damon Willis a:Karl Story c:Arthur
|
|
Suydam
|
|
collected in trade pb
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Hive 1-4 (1992)
|
|
w:Jerry Prosser ac:Kelley Jones
|
|
collected in trade pb, c:Dave Dorman
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Newt's Tale 1-2 (1992)
|
|
w:Mike Richardson a:Jim Somerville a:Brian Garvey c:John Bolton
|
|
prestige format
|
|
|
|
Alien3 1-3 (1992)
|
|
w:Steven Grant a:Christopher Taylor a:Rick Magyar c:Arthur Suydam
|
|
movie adaptation
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Tribes (1992)
|
|
w:Steve Bissette ac:Dave Dorman
|
|
graphic novel
|
|
Winner 1992 Bram Stoker Award from Horror Writers of America
|
|
limited hardcover 1000 copies, hardcover, trade pb
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Sacrifice (May 93)
|
|
w:Peter Milligan ac:Paul Johnson
|
|
prestige format
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Salvation (Nov 93)
|
|
w:Dave Gibbons a:Mike Mignola a:Kevin Nowlan
|
|
prestige format
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Colonial Marines 1-12 (1993-4)
|
|
w:Chris Warner a:Tony Akins a:Paul Guinan c:Robert Mentor
|
|
1 (cardboard cover)
|
|
2-3
|
|
w:Kelley Puckett a:Paul Guinan a:Allen Nunis c:Joe Phillips
|
|
4-5
|
|
w:Kelley Puckett a:Paul Guinan a:Bob Smith c:Joe Phillips
|
|
6
|
|
wa:Paul Guinan a:Tony Akins c:Robert Mentor
|
|
7
|
|
8-12 (forthcoming)
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Rogue 1-4 (1993)
|
|
w:Ian Edgington ac:Will Simpson
|
|
|
|
Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species 1-12 (1993-4)
|
|
w:Chris Claremont a:Jackson Guice a:John Beatty c:John Bolton
|
|
a:Eduardo Barretto
|
|
1 Jul 93 Special Ash Can Edition (red foil cover)
|
|
1 Jul 93 Special Ash Can Edition (numbered, copper foil cover ?)
|
|
1 Jul 93 Time of the preacher
|
|
1 Jul 93 Time of the preacher (audio-enhanced edition ?)
|
|
1 Jul 93 Time of the preacher (platinum edition)
|
|
2 Sep 93 The hunt
|
|
3 Nov 93 Virtually real
|
|
4 Jan 94 The great escape
|
|
5-12 (forthcoming)
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Labyrinth 1-4 (1993-4)
|
|
w:Jim Woodring ac:Kilian Plunkett
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Music of the Spears 1-4 (1994)
|
|
w:Chet Williamson a:Tim Hamilton ac:Timothy Bradstreet c:Guy Burwell
|
|
2-4 (forthcoming)
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Dragon (1994)
|
|
w:Mark Askwith ac:Charles Vess
|
|
graphic novel (forthcoming)
|
|
|
|
- DARK HORSE PRESENTS (b&w anthology series):
|
|
24 1987?
|
|
Theory of Alien Propagation
|
|
w:Mark Verheiden a:Mark A. Nelson
|
|
first Alien appearance in Dark Horse comics
|
|
b&w
|
|
|
|
34 Nov 89
|
|
Aliens
|
|
w:Randy Stradley a:Phill Norwood a:Karl Story c:Chris Warner
|
|
b&w
|
|
|
|
36 Feb 90
|
|
Aliens vs. Predator
|
|
w:Randy Stradley a:Phill Norwood a:Karl Story c:Chris Warner c:Dave
|
|
Dorman
|
|
b&w, line drawn cover
|
|
|
|
36 Feb 90
|
|
Aliens vs. Predator
|
|
w:Randy Stradley a:Phill Norwood a:Karl Story c:Chris Warner c:Dave
|
|
Dorman
|
|
b&w, painted cover
|
|
|
|
42 Jul 90
|
|
Aliens part 1: Advent
|
|
wac:Paul Guinan
|
|
b&w
|
|
|
|
43 Aug 90
|
|
Aliens part 2: Terminus
|
|
wac:Paul Guinan
|
|
b&w
|
|
|
|
56 Nov 91
|
|
The Alien parts 1 & 2
|
|
w:John Arcudi a:Tony Akins ac:Paul Guinan
|
|
b&w
|
|
|
|
Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special (1992?)
|
|
Aliens: Reapers
|
|
w:John Arcudi a:Simon Bisley
|
|
Also contains unseen epilogue to Aliens vs. Predator series
|
|
w:Randy Stradley a:Phill Norwood
|
|
trade paperback, b&w
|
|
|
|
Dark Horse Presents: Aliens 1 (1992)
|
|
c:Simon Bisley
|
|
1 prestige format
|
|
1 prestige format, platinum edition
|
|
color reprints of stories from DHP 24, 42, 43, DHP 5th Anniv special,
|
|
56
|
|
|
|
Best of Dark Horse Presents (1992-3?)
|
|
Volumes 1-3 may contain Alien stories ?
|
|
trade pb, reprint collection
|
|
|
|
- DARK HORSE COMICS (color anthology series):
|
|
Aliens: Horror Show
|
|
w:Sarah Byam a:David Roach
|
|
3 Oct 92 part 1 c:David Roach
|
|
4 Nov 92 part 2
|
|
5 Dec 92 part 3 c:Dave Dorman
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Taste
|
|
w:Edward Martin III a:Mark Nelson c:Arthur Adams
|
|
11 Jul 93
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Backsplash
|
|
w:Jim Woodring a:Kilian Plunkett
|
|
12 Aug 93 part 1
|
|
13 Sep 93 part 2 c:Kilian Plunkett
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Cargo
|
|
w:Dan Jolley a:John Nadean a:Terry Pallot
|
|
15 Nov 93 part 1 c:John Higgins
|
|
16 Dec 93 part 2
|
|
|
|
Aliens: Alien
|
|
w:John Arcudi a:Paul Mendoza
|
|
17 Jan 94 part 1 of 3
|
|
18-19 (forthcoming)
|
|
|
|
- DARK HORSE INSIDER (promotional series):
|
|
Aliens: Countdown (1990-1)
|
|
w:Mike Richardson a:Dennis Beauvais
|
|
Serialized story probably started in issue #14 of Volume 1 (Sep 90)
|
|
and continued for an unknown number of issues but completed by Jan 92
|
|
|
|
Aliens vs Predator 2 (1992-3)
|
|
w:Randy Stradley a:Chris Warner
|
|
Serialized story probably started in issue #1 of Volume 2 (Jan 92)
|
|
and completed in issue #14 (Feb 93)
|
|
|
|
Vol 2 #12 Dec 92 Alien cover
|
|
|
|
- DARK HORSE INTERNATIONAL (UK monthly magazines):
|
|
Aliens Volume 1
|
|
17 or more issues, content unknown
|
|
|
|
Aliens Volume 2
|
|
Serial reprints and original stories
|
|
|
|
1 Jul 92? Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2
|
|
2 Aug 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
|
|
3 Sep 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
|
|
4 Oct 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
|
|
5 Nov 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
|
|
6 Dec 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
|
|
7 Jan 93 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
|
|
8 Feb 93 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
|
|
9 Mar 93 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Countdown (mini-comic part
|
|
1, collected from Dark Horse Insider), Colonial Marines, Sacrifice
|
|
10 Apr 93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Countdown (mini-comic part 2),
|
|
Colonial Marines, Sacrifice, Tribes
|
|
11 May 93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines, Sacrifice,
|
|
Tribes
|
|
12 Jun 93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines, Sacrifice,
|
|
Tribes, Horror Show
|
|
13 Jul 93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines, Tribes, Horror
|
|
Show, Crusade (w:Christian Gorny a:Michael Cook)
|
|
14 Aug 93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines, Tribes, Horror
|
|
Show, Crusade
|
|
15 Sep 93 Colonial Marines, Tribes, Crusade, Backsplash
|
|
16 Oct 93 Colonial Marines, Tribes, Crusade, Backsplash
|
|
17 Nov 93 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Cargo, Taste
|
|
18 Dec 93 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Cargo
|
|
19 Jan 94 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Salvation
|
|
20 Feb 94 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Salvation
|
|
21 Mar 94 Colinial Marines, Crusade, Salvation, Alien
|
|
22 Apr 94 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Alien, Rogue
|
|
23 May 94 Colonial Marines, Alien, Rogue,
|
|
Matrix (graphic novella, w:Grant Morrison a:Chris Halls)
|
|
|
|
Alien3 Movie Special
|
|
1-3
|
|
(includes only official comic version of Alien3)
|
|
movie adaptation
|
|
|
|
Total Carnage
|
|
Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species serialized starting in
|
|
issue #9 (Nov 93)
|
|
|
|
- DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTERS:
|
|
Aliens: Earth Angel (1993-4)
|
|
wa:John Byrne
|
|
Serialized in Previews, Vol III #1 - Vol IV #1
|
|
To be collected in a future issue of Previews
|
|
|
|
- ECLIPSE COMICS:
|
|
Illegal Aliens (Sep 92)
|
|
w:Clint McElroy ac:Bill Maus ac:Bob Hanon
|
|
parody, modern vs. classic movie monsters
|
|
b&w
|
|
|
|
- HEAVY METAL COMMUNICATIONS:
|
|
Alien, the Illustrated Story (1979)
|
|
w:Archie Goodwin a:Walter Simonson
|
|
ISBN 930-36842-8 trade pb
|
|
|
|
_MAGAZINES & ARTICLES_
|
|
|
|
- Alien Invasions (Warren Presents No.3)
|
|
- American Cinematographer: August, 1979 issue
|
|
- American Film: Vol.4, No.5.
|
|
- Cinefantastique: Vol.9, No.1 Vol.16, No.3, No.4/5 (double issue)
|
|
- Cinefex: Nos. 1 & 27
|
|
- Cinemacabre: No.2
|
|
- Cracked Magazine: (parody) Digest No. II (Monster Party, 1/87)
|
|
- Famous Monsters of Filmland: Nos. 154,155,156,157,158,159
|
|
- Fangoria: Nos. 1 & 3
|
|
- Fantastic Films: Nos. 9,10,11,12,13,22
|
|
- Filmfax: No. 4
|
|
- Future Life: No. 11
|
|
- Galactic Journal: No. 21
|
|
- Mad Magazine: (parody) Nos. 212, 268
|
|
- Mediascene: Nos. 32 & 35
|
|
- Monsterland: Nos. 11 & 13
|
|
- Premier: May 1992, Vol. 5, No. 9
|
|
- Prevue: No. 65
|
|
- Questar: No. 5
|
|
- Space Monsters: No. 1
|
|
- Space Wars: issues dated 9/79, 3/80
|
|
- Spotlight: Oct - Nov 1986, No 4 (French)
|
|
- Starburst: (British) Nos. 8,14,16,17,19,88,97,98,99,100,102,105
|
|
- Starlog: Nos. 22,23,24,25,26,27,41,99,103,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,
|
|
115,117,121,125,126,150
|
|
- Japanese Edition: Nos. 7 & 9
|
|
- Sci-Fi Yearbook: No. 1
|
|
- Scrapbook: No.6
|
|
- Best of Starlog: Nos. 1 & 7
|
|
- Poster Magazine: Vol.1, Nos. 2 & 7
|
|
- Starlog Yearbook: Nos. 1,2,6,7
|
|
- Starwarp: Vol.2, No.3
|
|
- DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTERS:
|
|
Previews Vol II #11-12 (Oct 92-Nov 92)
|
|
Interviews with Alien writers and artists, previews of Colonial Marines
|
|
-EC PUBLICATIONS:
|
|
Mad #212 Jan 80 Alias (Alien parody)
|
|
Mad #268 Jan 87 (Aliens parody)
|
|
Mad #? ~1992 (Alien3 parody)
|
|
- FICTIONEER BOOKS:
|
|
Comics Interview 68, 84, 87 (interviews with Alien writers and artists)
|
|
Comics Interview Super Special: Aliens vs Predator
|
|
Comics Interview Special Edition: Aliens
|
|
- WARRIOR PUBLICATIONS:
|
|
Hero Illustrated 2 (Aug 93)
|
|
Aliens/Predator cover, bagged with Aliens/Predator ashcan comic
|
|
|
|
_CLOTH PATCHES_ _IRON ONS_
|
|
|
|
- US Colonial Marines (with Eagle) - USCS Nostromo
|
|
- US Colonial Marines (words) - Alien Egg
|
|
- USCS Nostromo (emblem) - Space Jockey
|
|
- USCS Sulaco (emblem)
|
|
- Delta (USCM emblem)
|
|
|
|
_PUZZLES (all from HG Toys)_
|
|
|
|
- "Alien" painted by Montage (large size) - "Alien Egg"
|
|
- "Nostromo in Flight" - "Kane Looking In Egg"
|
|
- "Puzzle in an Egg"(painted Alien Warrior) - "Alien Space Jockey"
|
|
|
|
|
|
_BUTTONS AND PINS_
|
|
|
|
- "Alien" movie promo (probably more than one)
|
|
- "Aliens" movie promo (probably more than one; the one I have is a blue
|
|
3-D button with the word logo)
|
|
- "Alien^3" movie promo (large and rectangular with a picture of an egg,
|
|
the title "Alien^3" and the date "1992" on it)
|
|
- "Alien 2" Japanese painted metal pin (figure of Alien Warrior)
|
|
- Dark Horse Cloisette Series:
|
|
No.1 (Alien Warrior) No.2 (Alien Warrior)
|
|
No.3 (Alien Queen) No.4 (Chestburster)
|
|
No.5 (Facehugger) No.6 (Facehugger)
|
|
scheduled (ie, Nos. 7 & 8, the "Alien Drones")
|
|
|
|
_POSTERS AND PROMO ITEMS_
|
|
|
|
- "Alien" movie poster issue (one sheet) [possibly a 3 sheet]
|
|
- "Aliens" movie poster issue styles "A" and "B"
|
|
- "Ripley and Newt" Aliens promo poster
|
|
- Alien Warrior: comic illustration (by Mark Neilson)
|
|
- "Aliens" video promo poster
|
|
- door sized Alien Warrior
|
|
- Alien Warrior photo poster
|
|
- H. R. Giger set of 6 or 8 concept design lithographs (S/N, edition of 325)
|
|
- "Alien" movie sticker (Italien)
|
|
- "Alien" movie stills (eight coloured stills, labeled "Set A") [more?]
|
|
- "Alien" set of eight lobby cards (larger/smaller sizes)
|
|
- "Alien" promotional matchbook (given away at 7-11, features Alien Egg logo)
|
|
- "Alien" 8" by 16" cardboard promotional (movie theatre) insert
|
|
- "Aliens" cardboard promotional (movie theatre) stand up of Ripley in Alien
|
|
Egg Chamber
|
|
- "Aliens" video store promotional display
|
|
|
|
_CARDS_
|
|
|
|
- "Alien" card set (84 cards with 22 stickers) (Topps)
|
|
- "Alien^3" card set
|
|
|
|
_MODELS_
|
|
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Warrior (Japanese)
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Queen (Japanese)
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Warrior II (based upon H.R. Giger's pre-production concept
|
|
design; limited ed., issued at 8/89 Japanese Model Fest)
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Warrior ("deformed") (Japanese)
|
|
- TSU promo poster
|
|
- Alien Warrior: comic illustration (by Mark Neilson)
|
|
- "Aliens" video promo poster
|
|
- door sized Alien Warrior
|
|
- Alien Warrior photo poster
|
|
- H. R. Giger set of 6 or 8 concept design lithographs (S/N, edition of 325)
|
|
- "Alien" movie sticker (Italien)
|
|
- "Alien" movie stills (eight coloured stills, labeled "Set A") [more?]
|
|
- "Alien" set of eight lobby cards (larger/smaller sizes)
|
|
- "Alien" promotional matchbook (given away at 7-11, features Alien Egg logo)
|
|
- "Alien" 8" by 16" cardboard promotional (movie theatre) insert
|
|
- "Aliens" cardboard promotional (movie theatre) stand up of Ripley in Alien
|
|
Egg Chamber
|
|
- "Aliens" video store promotional display
|
|
|
|
_CARDS_
|
|
|
|
- "Alien" card set (84 cards with 22 stickers) (Topps)
|
|
- "Alien^3" card set
|
|
|
|
_MODELS_
|
|
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Warrior (Japanese)
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Queen (Japanese)
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Warrior II (based upon H.R. Giger's pre-production concept
|
|
design; limited ed., issued at 8/89 Japanese Model Fest)
|
|
- KAIYODO Alien Warrior ("deformed") (Japanese)
|
|
- TSUKUDA Alien Warrior (Japanese)
|
|
- JRC Facehugger (Japanese "Garage Kit")
|
|
- JRC Chestburster (Japanese "Garage Kit")
|
|
- NYC Narcissus (Japanese)
|
|
- NYC Alien Queen Metal Miniature Figure (Japanese)
|
|
- OZ SHOP Alien Warrior, Astronaut, APC, Drop Ship (all "deformed")
|
|
- SCOOP Alien Facehugger Bust (Japanese)
|
|
- Scoop Alien Egg (on base) (Japanese)
|
|
- MPC Alien Warrior (1st edition with jaws, 2nd edition no jaws)
|
|
- HALCYON Aliens Armoured Personnel Carrier
|
|
- HALCYON Aliens Drop Ship (* Note: SHED customising kit available)
|
|
- GONZOID Alines Armoured Personnel Carrier (1/72 scale)
|
|
- LATTIMER PRODUCTIONS Chestburster (lifesize)
|
|
- MFR. UNKNOWN Alien Nostromo Astronaut (on base with egg) (Japanese)
|
|
- AEF MODEL KITS (small scale, highly detailed) Hicks; Drake; Frost; Dietrich;
|
|
Apone; Gorman; Hudson; Wierzbowski; Crowe; Ferro; Spunkmeyer; Vasquez(gun);
|
|
Vasquez(escape); Ripley(combat); Ripley(escape); Completion Kits A,B,C;
|
|
Equipment Kits A,B,C; Alien Warriors A,B,C,D; Alien Queen (attack mode);
|
|
Alien Egg Assortment; Closed Egg Assortment; Facehugger/Chestburster
|
|
Assortment; Alien Egg Chamber [very ltd edition of 150?]; USCM Power Loader
|
|
- Sulaco, ALIEN^3 chestburster, facehugger (full scale), Queen Chestburster,
|
|
Power Loader
|
|
- MFR. UNKNOWN M41A Pulse Rifle kit (full size)
|
|
- HALYCON/HORIZON Nostromo ("Nostromo model #HT-03 US.Doll.185.00")
|
|
|
|
_UNCONFIRMED MODEL KITS_
|
|
|
|
- Unknown Mfr. Alien Chestburster (Japanese Garage Kit)
|
|
- Unknown Mfr. "Aliens" Deformed Queen (Japanese Garage Kit)
|
|
- ICHIBA Nostromo Model Kit (200+ pieces) (Japanese)
|
|
|
|
_AUDIO ITEMS_
|
|
|
|
- "Alien" Film Soundtrack (J. Goldsmith)
|
|
CD: Polygram, FILMCD003
|
|
Festival, D41565
|
|
Cass: Polygram, FILMMC003
|
|
Tracks: Main Title, The Face Hugger, Breakaway, Acid Test, The Landing,
|
|
The Droid, The Recovery, The Alien Planet, The Shaft, End Title
|
|
- "Aliens" Film Soundtrack (J. Horner)
|
|
CD GE Colosseum VCD 47263
|
|
CD JA Soundtrack Listeners Communications SLCS-7009
|
|
CD UK That's Entertainment CDTER 1115
|
|
CD US Varese Sarabande VCD 47263
|
|
CD US Varese Sarabande VSD-47263
|
|
Tracks: Main Title, Going after Newt, Sub-Level, Ripley's Rescue,
|
|
Atmosphere Station, Futile Escape, Dark Discovery,
|
|
Bishop's Countdown, Resolution and Hyperspace
|
|
- "Alien^3" Film Soundtrack (E. Goldenthal)
|
|
CD: BMG, MCAD10629
|
|
Cass: BMG, MCAC10629
|
|
Tracks: Agnus Dei, Bair and Chase, The Beast Within, Lento, Candles in the
|
|
Wind, Wreckage and Rape, The First Attack, Lullaby Elegy, Death
|
|
Dance, Visit to the Wreckage, Explosion and Aftermath, The Dragon,
|
|
The Entrapment, Adagio
|
|
|
|
_MISC ITEMS_
|
|
|
|
- LARAMI "Alien" Glow Putty
|
|
- THINKING CAP COMPANY "Alien" NOSTROMO baseball cap
|
|
- "In space, everybody can wear a cap" cap.
|
|
- BEN COOPER "Alien" Halloween Costume
|
|
- DISTORATIONS "Alien" Full Size Mask (cast from original used in movie,
|
|
limited edition) [anywhere from 25 to 300 in edition?]
|
|
- DON POST "Alien" Facehugger (lifesize in plexiglass case)
|
|
- SF MASK COMPANY "Alien" Head Mask
|
|
- MARCO INDUSTRIES "Alien" Head Mask
|
|
- MARCO INDUSTRIES "Alien" Full Sized Body Suit with Mask & Working Jaws
|
|
- MARCO INDUSTRIES "Aliens" M-41 A Pulse Rifle Set (3 grenades, locater
|
|
wristband, web sling, extra pulse cartidge, etc.)
|
|
- "Aliens" Logo Mug
|
|
- "Aliens" Doorknob sign ("This Room Protected By Aliens" and "Bug Off")
|
|
- "Aliens" Car Window Sign ("Aliens on Board")
|
|
- "Aliens" Door Sign ("Aliens Fan Club Members Only")
|
|
- "Aliens" Note Pads ("Trust Me, I'm The Boss" & "A Note From The Better Half")
|
|
- Full-scale inflatable alien doll.
|
|
- Door-sized poster "Aliens don't have to knock"
|
|
|
|
_T-SHIRTS_
|
|
|
|
- Black Shirt with Drooling Alien (front) Green Alien Egg (back)
|
|
- Black/Grey Shirt with Alien Warrior (front) Warrior's Tail and words
|
|
("In Space No One Can Hear You Scream") (back)
|
|
- Black Shirt with Alien Egg and words ("How Do You Like Your Eggs?") (front)
|
|
- 3-D Alien Chestburster coming through front of shirt
|
|
- Grey Shirt with USCM Emblem (front)
|
|
- Grey Shirt with "Aliens" logo (front)/words ("There Are Some Places In The
|
|
Universe You Don't Go Alone")
|
|
|
|
_TOYS AND GAMES_
|
|
|
|
- KENNER 18" "Alien" Warrior Action Figure
|
|
- KENNER "Alien" Board Game
|
|
- HG TOYS "Alien" Blaster Target Game
|
|
- HG TOYS "Alien" Chase Target Game
|
|
- KENNER "Alien" Movie Viewer and Cartridge
|
|
- "Alien" Computer Game
|
|
- ACTIVISION "Aliens" Computer Game
|
|
- ELECTRIC DREAMS "Aliens" (European version) Computer Game
|
|
- "ALIEN^3" for the Sega Mega Drive, Amiga and possibly others.
|
|
- LEADING EDGE "Aliens" Role Playing Game
|
|
- LEADING EDGE "Aliens" Expansion Module
|
|
- LEADING EDGE "Alien" board game
|
|
- HG TOYS "Alien" pistol (shoots ping-pong balls)
|
|
- action figures: Ripley (w/flamethrower),
|
|
Hicks (w/missile?),
|
|
Apone (w/grenades),
|
|
Bishop (w/Gatling gun),
|
|
Drake (w/"smart gun"?),
|
|
ATAX (wearing Alien Queen "disguise"),
|
|
Alien Queen (w/swinging tail and extending second jaw;
|
|
includes "chestburster"),
|
|
Flying Alien Queen (w/flapping wings),
|
|
Scorpion Alien (body explodes; includes facehugger),
|
|
Bull Alien (head rams; includes facehugger),
|
|
Gorilla Alien (arms grab, squirts "acid"; includes
|
|
facehugger),
|
|
Giant Face Hugger,
|
|
Snake Alien,
|
|
Mantis Alien,
|
|
- miniatures: (25 mm scale, available in blister packs)
|
|
(20300) Alien Warriors (6 pc.)
|
|
(20301) Col. Marines (8 pc.)
|
|
(20302) Col. Marines 2 (8 pc.)
|
|
(20303) Alien Queen Mother
|
|
(20304) Colonists Last Stand (5 pc.)
|
|
(20305) Alien Warriors 2 (6 pc.)
|
|
(24101) Aliens Warriors blister pack 1 (2 Alien warriors)
|
|
(24102) ...... ........ ....... .... 2 (same)
|
|
(24103) ...... ........ ....... .... 3 (same)
|
|
(24104) ...... ........ ....... .... 4 (same)
|
|
(24105) ...... ........ ....... .... 5 (same)
|
|
(24106) ...... ........ ....... .... 6 (same)
|
|
(24107) ...... ........ ....... .... 7 (1 warrior & 1 Warrior
|
|
attacking a colonist)
|
|
(24201) Aliens Ripley blister pack (Ripley, Newt, Hicks, Burke)
|
|
(24202) ...... Dropship Crew bl.pk. (Ferro, Spunkmeyer, Frost)
|
|
(24203) ...... Machinegunners bl.pk. (Vasquez, Drake, Wierzbowski)
|
|
(24301) ...... Sentry Gun bl.pk. (4 sentry guns)
|
|
(24204) ...... Game Over bl.pk. (Hudson, Bishop, Crowe)
|
|
(24302) ...... Facehugger bl.pk. (4 open eggs & 6 facehuggers)
|
|
(24205) ...... Apone bl.pk. (Apone, Gorman, Dietrich)
|
|
(24303) ...... Egg bl.pk. (5 closed eggs)
|
|
(24401) ...... Powerloader bl.pk. (Powerloader & Jones the cat)
|
|
(24305) ...... Colonists bl.pk. (3 col. being attacked by facehuggers)
|
|
(24307) ...... APC Boxed Set (The APC in 25 mm scale)
|
|
(source: Advance Comics, #58)
|
|
(20108) Aliens Dropship Boxed Set ("This is a large, in-scale
|
|
version of the Dropship, completely compatible with the Leading Edge
|
|
line og Aliens Warriors, Colonial Marines, and the APC. This lead-
|
|
free set is packaged in TWO figure cased and wrapped in a larger
|
|
sleeve." (Advance comics, #59, p.322)
|
|
(20109) Aliens Sulaco Miniatures Boxed Set ("This is a large
|
|
(roughly 6"long) version of the spacecraft used by the colonial
|
|
marines. It is not 25mm scale, but hey, it's the Sulaco!" (Advance
|
|
Comics, #59, p.322)
|
|
- Vehicles:
|
|
Power Loader,
|
|
EVAC Fighter,
|
|
Stinger
|
|
- RPG: Primary Design: Barry Nakazono
|
|
Writing and Design: David McKenzie
|
|
Editing and Production: Irene Kinzek
|
|
|
|
The role playing game contradicts the movie in several ways, therefore
|
|
its contents are purely speculatory, however it has this to say about
|
|
the aliens:
|
|
* Aliens feed on electricity, sort of like car batteries.
|
|
* Facehuggers are awakened by MOTION outside their egg.
|
|
* There are 3 types of aliens: queen, warrior and sentries.
|
|
* All types of aliens can lay eggs, however the queen's are larger and
|
|
will last longer (centuries as opposed to months).
|
|
* Warriors are the standard aliens that you see in the movies.
|
|
* Sentries have special sensors that allow them to "feel" vibrations
|
|
anywhere in the hive.
|
|
* Aliens do have a language of gestures and audible sounds.
|
|
* Aliens can see infrared as well as the visible spectrum.
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
==========================================================================
|
|
|
|
Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies,rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.movies,news.answers,rec.answers,alt.answers
|
|
Path: helix.net!unixg.ubc.ca!news.mic.ucla.edu!news.bc.net!vanbc.wimsey.com!scipio.cyberstore.ca!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!sun4nl!news.nic.surfnet.nl!tudelft.nl!news.twi.tudelft.nl!vos
|
|
From: Vos@Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL
|
|
Subject: MOVIES: ALIEN FAQ part 2/4
|
|
Message-ID: <CyvFqw.E4I@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl>
|
|
Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies
|
|
Sender: vos@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (E.W.C. de Vos)
|
|
Organization: Weyland Yutani - "Building Better Worlds"
|
|
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 00:23:20 GMT
|
|
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
|
|
Expires: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 23:00:00 GMT
|
|
Lines: 1086
|
|
Xref: helix.net alt.cult-movies:16581 rec.arts.sf.movies:8574 rec.arts.movies:42907 news.answers:4899 rec.answers:1508
|
|
|
|
Posting-Frequency: approx. every month
|
|
Archive-name: movies/alien-faq/part2
|
|
Version: 2.1
|
|
|
|
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
& &
|
|
& ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Information and Frequently Asked Questions &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Version 2.1 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& PART 2 of 4 &
|
|
& &
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
|
|
|
|
7. MEMORABLE QUOTES
|
|
|
|
In some cases, the circumstances around which these quotes occur will
|
|
be given so the reader can get the "full effect" of the moment.
|
|
|
|
"The entire world revolves around this wretched Alien." - H.R. Giger
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
|
|
< Kane starts choking, this starts the scene where the Alien bursts
|
|
from his chest>
|
|
"What's the matter man, the food ain't THAT bad?!" - Parker
|
|
|
|
< Ripley asks how long it takes the ship to self destruct >
|
|
"If we ain't outta here in 10 minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly
|
|
through space." - Parker
|
|
|
|
"You still don't know what you're dealing with do you? Perfect
|
|
organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility
|
|
[...] I admire its purity, a survivor; unclouded by conscience,
|
|
remorse or delusions of morality." - Ash
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
|
|
"They ain't payin' us enough for this." - Drake
|
|
"Not enough to wake up to your face." - Dietrich
|
|
|
|
"Hey, Hicks, you look just like I feel" -Drake
|
|
|
|
"Another glorious day in the Corps. A day in the Marine Corps is like
|
|
a day on the farm; every meal a banquet, every paycheque a fortune,
|
|
every formation a parade. I love the Corps!" - Apone
|
|
|
|
"Hey Sarge, you'll get lip cancer smokin' those..." - Hudson
|
|
|
|
Hudson: "Hey, Vasquez... Have you ever been mistaken for a man?"
|
|
Vasquez: "No, have you?"
|
|
|
|
Ripley: "Just stay away from me, Bishop!"
|
|
< Bishop offers some of his meal to her. Ripley hits a plate from
|
|
Bishop hands >
|
|
Frost: "I guess she didn't like the corn bread either..."
|
|
|
|
Gorman: "Drake! Check your camera! There seems to be a malfunction."
|
|
< on which Drake hits the camera to the wall. >
|
|
Gorman: "That's better."
|
|
|
|
< After Gorman says, "Hicks, meet me at the south lock. We're coming
|
|
in." >
|
|
[sarcastically] "He's coming in. I feel safer already." - Hudson
|
|
|
|
"Stop your grinnin' and drop your linnen..." - Hudson
|
|
|
|
< Gorman orders the troops to disarm all their weapons before the first
|
|
alien encounter >
|
|
"What the hell are we supposed to use man, harsh language?" - Frost
|
|
|
|
<After Ripley tells of Burkes plans to take the organism back to Earth
|
|
and him sabotaging certain cryo chambers on the way home>
|
|
"I say we grease this rat fuck son of a bitch" - Hudson
|
|
|
|
< After Ripley rescues the remaining troops with the APC and suggests
|
|
that they nuke the site from orbit, Burke tries to stop this plan >
|
|
"Hey maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just
|
|
got our ASSES kicked pal!" - Hudson
|
|
|
|
< Ripley responds to Burke's reservations about nuking the alien-infested
|
|
site >
|
|
"They can BILL me!" - Ripley
|
|
|
|
< After the first encounter with the aliens, the survivors are in the APC
|
|
discussing their next move. >
|
|
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit; it's the only way
|
|
to be sure." - Ripley
|
|
|
|
< When Ripley explains that Hicks is the "one in charge" (after the
|
|
marines' first confrontation with the aliens >
|
|
"He's just a grunt! No offense..." - Burke
|
|
"None taken." - Hicks
|
|
< After Ripley and Newt are attacked by the facehuggers, and they
|
|
discover it was Burke's doing >
|
|
"Allright, we waste him... no offense." - Hicks
|
|
|
|
"How can they cut the power, they're ANIMALS, man!" - Hudson
|
|
|
|
< The dropship crashes >
|
|
"Well that's great, that's just fuckin' great man, now what the
|
|
fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty shit now
|
|
man!" - Hudson
|
|
"Are you finished?" - Hicks
|
|
"That's it man, game over man, game over! What the fuck are we
|
|
gonna do now? What are we gonna do?" - Hudson
|
|
"Why don't we build a fire, sing a couple of songs! Why don't we
|
|
try that?" - Burke
|
|
|
|
< Ripley tells the story of why Burke tried to impregnate her and
|
|
Newt with alien eggs >
|
|
"I say we grease this rat-fuck son-of-a-bitch right now!" - Hudson
|
|
"You know Burke, I don't know which species is worse; you don't see
|
|
them fucking each other over for a goddam percentage!" - Ripley
|
|
|
|
"Dear Lord Jesus, this can't be happenin' man, this isn't
|
|
happenin..." - Hudson
|
|
|
|
< Ripley tells Hudson that Newt managed to survive for a long time with
|
|
no weapons and no training >
|
|
"Why don't you put HER in charge?!" - Hudson
|
|
|
|
< Hicks says that there won't be any rescue attempt made for another
|
|
17 days >
|
|
"17 days?! Hey man, I don't want to rain on your parade, but we're
|
|
not gonna last 17 hours against those things!" - Hudson
|
|
|
|
< Bishop says "I'm afraid I have some bad news." >
|
|
"Well that's a switch." - Hudson
|
|
|
|
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." - Bishop
|
|
|
|
"Get away from her you bitch!" - Ripley
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
|
|
"I am a raper and murderer of women!" - Dillon
|
|
"Then I must make you nervous..." - Ripley
|
|
|
|
< Ripley's looking for the alien >
|
|
"Don't be afraid, I'm part of the family!" - Ripley
|
|
|
|
< Talking to something she thinks is the alien >
|
|
"You've been in my life so long... I can't remember anything
|
|
else...!" - Ripley
|
|
|
|
"Do we have the capacity to create fire? Most people have had that
|
|
privilege since the stone age..." -Ripley
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
8. TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
|
|
- The "blurb" on the back of the movie box is wrong. "...the crew of
|
|
a commercial spaceship make an unscheduled landing on a barren and
|
|
desolate planet for engine repairs." They did not land on the planet
|
|
to make engine repairs, rather to investigate the distress beacon.
|
|
|
|
- When the facehugger is cut and starts bleeding, Dallas and the rest of
|
|
the crew run down and see a hole in the ceiling. It consists of two
|
|
separate holes, with some 'bridge' inbetween. They go down one level
|
|
more, and then there is a quick shot of everyone entering the deck,
|
|
where we see the ceiling quite intact, just a little affected by the
|
|
acid. Then we see Dallas poke into the hole with Brett's pen. This
|
|
hole is _exactly_ the same one as one deck up, two holes separated
|
|
by a 'bridge'.
|
|
|
|
- In the opening scene the camera pans over interior of the
|
|
Nostromo's bridge and ends with a view on the visor of a helmet.
|
|
Then we see shots alternated between the helmet and the monitor
|
|
(readout on the monitor is reflected in the helmet's visor). In
|
|
the first view on the monitor you can see the screen and some keys
|
|
on the console. In the second view on the monitor, a plastic
|
|
coffee cup has appeared to the right of the monitor.
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
|
|
- After the Sulaco arrives at LV-426, a computer screen displays the
|
|
last names and first initials of each of the crew members. Hudson
|
|
isn't on the list.
|
|
|
|
- Adding up the estimated time that Bishop makes (for getting the drop
|
|
ship down to the planet) gives a total of 180 minutes (3 hours),
|
|
however the fusion reactor is not going to blow up for another 4
|
|
hours. Ripley says "It's going to be close..." but they actually
|
|
have a full hour to clear the base. [not NECESARRILY a technical
|
|
problem, but it could be]
|
|
|
|
- In the LD version of aliens, during those split-seconds the camera
|
|
is NOT on the queen during the fight between Ripey and her, pay
|
|
attention to bishop. In one shot, you can clearly see the hole that
|
|
Lance Henriksen is standing in (to hide the other half of his body) to
|
|
give the effect of being ripped in two.
|
|
|
|
- In the battle scene between Ripley and the mother alien where Ripley
|
|
is in the loader, we see the alien pull the loader into the airlock
|
|
when Ripley tries to drop it. The loader is turned upside down and
|
|
the cone on top with the spinning yellow caution light is broken when
|
|
it slams into the floor. In the next scene, however, we see the
|
|
loader lying on the floor of the airlock with the yellow cone still in
|
|
one piece. Also, the sharp end of the alien tails seems to be
|
|
missing, as if it broke off, but the broken part isn't on the airlock
|
|
floor.
|
|
|
|
- When Bishop gets it from the mother alien, you can see the string
|
|
pulling the stinger through the dummy.
|
|
|
|
- The Pulse rifles are using "standard armor piercing explosive tip,
|
|
caseless" [Gorman, Aliens] and yet when one is fired, you see shells
|
|
flying out of it if you look carefully.
|
|
|
|
- During the marines' initial confrontation with the aliens (while
|
|
Ripley and Gorman are monitoring the situation from the APC), there is
|
|
a scene where Ripley tells Gorman to pull his men out. The first time
|
|
you see Ripley in this 20 second clip she is wearing a audio headset.
|
|
The frame flicks to Gorman who looks unhappy, and flicks back to an
|
|
irate Ripley with NO HEADSET. The scene flicks back to Gorman who
|
|
loses his temper, and then back to Ripley who talks into the Headset
|
|
which has reappeared. (Gorman subsequently knocks the headset off.)
|
|
|
|
- In the scene in the dropship where Ripley is preparing to rescue
|
|
Newt; she's arming herself, there is an editing error. Camera angle 1
|
|
(close up of the weapons rack) Ripley grabs a flame thrower and then
|
|
from angle 2 (close up of the table) she puts down a pulse rifle.
|
|
Next she grabs a pulse rifle but puts down a flame unit. This is in
|
|
the theatrical version, but is corrected in the boxed set.
|
|
|
|
- When Frost falls down the stairwell on fire. If you look closely at
|
|
the last couple of frames before the camera angle changes you can see
|
|
a boot come out from the bottom left corner. It shows up quite nicely
|
|
in front of the fire. It looks to be more of a silhouette. It is
|
|
definitely not a character's boot, nor is it Frost's boot that may
|
|
have popped off. This is in both the theatrical and boxed set
|
|
version.
|
|
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
|
|
- Many instances where you can see the "outline" created by the blue
|
|
screening technique.
|
|
|
|
- The "furnace" that Ripley falls into at the end is WAY off scale, it
|
|
was just too big!
|
|
|
|
- The Cryo capsules seen in the escape pod in _ALIEN^3_ are the same
|
|
design as those seen in _ALIEN_ which is a DIFFERENT design than the
|
|
capsules seen in the Sulaco in _ALIENS_.
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
9. TRIVIA
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
|
|
<Trivia about the making of Alien>
|
|
|
|
- H.R. Giger, the man who created the alien, was also hired to make up
|
|
some scenery for Dune. This was not used, though.
|
|
|
|
- The facehugger was originally far more bigger than it turned out
|
|
eventually. The first drafts of the facehugger showed it about
|
|
one-and-a-half yards big, with a tail which made it up to (or over)
|
|
three yards. It embrased the complety head of the victim, instead of
|
|
just attaching to the front.
|
|
|
|
- The first alien Ridley Scott thought of having marching around in the
|
|
picture, was a big man with a bunch of children strapped to him,
|
|
wrapped up in rubber. This idea was thought over, but it gave too
|
|
many problems. The second idea was a robot 'alien'. This idea was
|
|
rejected because of safety reasons: there was no way of really being
|
|
sure that no one would get hurt when the robot would've been armed
|
|
(during a fight). Then the idea of a insect like alien was brought
|
|
up. The alien we all know was derived from this idea.
|
|
|
|
- The first draws of the alien showed us an alien with eyes!
|
|
|
|
- Bolaji Badejo, the man who was in the alien suit, was just picked up
|
|
from a bar by Ridley Scott. He was as big as Scott wanted the alien
|
|
to be: two metres (6ft, 7in).
|
|
|
|
- There were two alien suits: one for the effect of a HUGE alien, 6ft
|
|
7in, and one for the stuntman, Eddy Powell, 5ft 10in.
|
|
|
|
- Only due to problems with materials, the alien was _not_ transparent.
|
|
Otherwise we would've been watching a transparent alien in the
|
|
trilogy...
|
|
|
|
- Unsubstantiated rumour:
|
|
"None of the actors saw the alien before the shootings. This created a
|
|
genuine reaction on film."
|
|
For more information, see below: "FALSE RUMOUR!"
|
|
|
|
<Other trivia>
|
|
|
|
- H.R. Giger made an alien walking-stick handle. He took this to the
|
|
Oscar Award ceremony.
|
|
|
|
- According to the _ALIEN_ box set, _ALIEN_ grossed $ 40,300,000.00
|
|
|
|
- The first half of the movie was based on original ideas and a script
|
|
entitled "Memories" by Dan O'Bannon, the second half originated from
|
|
the idea of gremlins on a B-17 bomber, transposed to a spaceship.
|
|
[source: _ALIEN_ box set]
|
|
|
|
- Notice the similarity between the cocooned gremlins in the movie
|
|
"Gremlins" and the alien's eggs/cocoon structure. This similarity may
|
|
have been due to the original 'gremlins on a B-17' concept for the
|
|
latter half of _ALIEN_. This aspect of _GREMLINS_ could've been
|
|
inspired by _ALIEN_.
|
|
|
|
- It has been suggested that _ALIEN_ is a rip-off from from an A.E.
|
|
van Vogt short story entitled "Discord in Scarlet". Van Voght seems
|
|
to have won a court suite about what appeared to be a rip-off of part
|
|
of this famous novella. "Discord in Scarlet" is about a castaway
|
|
alien who plants eggs in the bodies of humans.
|
|
"Discord in Scarlet" was pasted into a composite novel called
|
|
"Voyage of the space beagle".
|
|
|
|
- "Nostromo" (a novel by Joseph Conrad) pilots a ship hauling ore out
|
|
of a turbulent South American country.
|
|
|
|
- The name of the shuttle "Narcissus" was taken from the Conrad novel
|
|
"The Nigger of the Narcissus". The plot revolves around a sailor who
|
|
brings death on board with him.
|
|
|
|
- The alien's habit of laying eggs in the stomach (which then burst
|
|
out) is similar to the life-cycle of the tsetse fly.
|
|
|
|
- The images that the computers display during the Nostromo's
|
|
separation from the Mother ship (as well as some images (ie: the
|
|
"Purge" message) used near the end where Ripley is setting up the
|
|
escape pod to blast off) are re-used in _Blade Runner_ (also directed
|
|
by Ridley Scott)
|
|
|
|
- FALSE RUMOUR!!!
|
|
"Only John Hurt and the camera crew knew exactly what was going to
|
|
happen during the chest-bursting scene. The actors' only clue as to
|
|
what was going to happen was from what they read in the script, so
|
|
reactions are genuine."
|
|
This rumour is completely unsubstantial! In "Giger's Alien" it says that
|
|
this scene was shot three times. So everybody knew perfectly well what they
|
|
were getting in to. They had to change their blood stained shirts every time
|
|
after a shooting.
|
|
|
|
- In the scene from ALIEN where Dallas, Kane and Lambert are leaving
|
|
the ship, the actual actors walking past the Nostromo's landing struts
|
|
are 3 children (two of which were Ridley Scott's children) dressed in
|
|
scaled down spacesuits. This has the effect of making the ship look
|
|
even bigger.
|
|
|
|
- Watch the scene where Kane gets attacked by the facehugger
|
|
frame-by-frame. You'll see (through Kane's eyes) the facehugger jump
|
|
out of the egg, attach itself to his helmet, break through the glass
|
|
shielding and stick a tube down his throat.
|
|
|
|
- An over-turned ice cube tray is on the side of Ash's motion tracking
|
|
device was an ice-cube tray.
|
|
|
|
- A sex scene between Dallas and Ripley (!) was in the script, however
|
|
was not filmed. [source: _ALIEN_ box set]
|
|
|
|
- The front (face) part of the alien costume's head is made from a
|
|
real human skull. [source: _ALIEN_ box set]
|
|
|
|
- Although it has nothing to do with _ALIEN_, Sigourney Weaver's real
|
|
name is Susan Alexandra. [source: Who is Who in America, 47th Edition]
|
|
|
|
- A good deal of the music that Jerry Goldsmith wrote for Alien never
|
|
made it into the movie. Several tracks on the CD soundtrack don't
|
|
appear in the film, and most of them that are in the movie apparently
|
|
weren't used in the scenes they were written for, judging from track
|
|
titles. The movie uses some classical music, plus music from an
|
|
earlier Jerry Goldsmith score entitled "Freud." [refer to section 6,
|
|
MERCHANDISE for more soundtrack information]
|
|
|
|
- In Mel Brooks' Sci-Fi spoof "Space Balls" there is a scene near the end
|
|
where John Hurt (Kane) and a group of other actors made up to
|
|
resemble the crew in _ALIEN_ are enjoying a drink at a space diner.
|
|
Hurt suddenly starts choking and a chestburster erupts from his chest.
|
|
The creature then dawns a top hat and dances across the bar while
|
|
singing "Hello my baby". John Hurt (Kane) says "Oh no, not again".
|
|
|
|
< the next two points are quoted from the Blade Runner FAQ with
|
|
permission >
|
|
|
|
- Notice that both _Alien_ and BladeRunner have "artificial persons",
|
|
and there is ambiguity as to who is/was a real human. _Alien_ and BR
|
|
are perfectly compatible, the only problem being that Ash should have
|
|
been a replicant, as opposed to a robot.
|
|
|
|
- When Deckard enters his apartment at the end, the background hum is
|
|
the same distinctive hum as in parts of _ALIEN_.
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
|
|
- Look closely at the readouts about the Nostromo crew in back
|
|
of Ripley during the Inquest. There is, if you look closely,
|
|
some interesting (and accurate) detail about the characters.
|
|
|
|
- James Cameron was offered, after Terminator, two film projects -
|
|
one was a futuristic version of Spartacus, the other was what
|
|
was then called Alien II. He chose the latter.
|
|
|
|
- When, in the Sulaco, the Marines are being thawed out - look
|
|
at the screen - nearly without exception, the names listed
|
|
have as the character's first initial, the actor's first initial.
|
|
|
|
- Tip Tipping, who played Private "expendable" Wiersbowski, was actually
|
|
a stuntman and stunt coordinator. He died about two years back in
|
|
a tragic parachuting accident...
|
|
|
|
- Also there's a wonderful visual pun - when the Mother Alien
|
|
"stings" Bishop, "Queen takes Bishop!!"
|
|
|
|
- "El Riesgo Siempre Vive." is written on Vasquez's chest plate armor.
|
|
In Spanish, this literally means "the risk lives forever", and
|
|
figuratively means (it's a saying) that taking risks is necessary to
|
|
survive.
|
|
|
|
- Hudson's line, "Stop your grinnin' and drop your linnen" is a quote
|
|
from an AC/DC song entitled "Shake a Leg". [album: Back In Black]
|
|
|
|
- British Aerospace was [secretly] contracted to design the weaponry
|
|
and spacecraft for Aliens. The dropship is a composite of the cockpit
|
|
from the Apache helicopter, and engine cowling from old British planes
|
|
- also the Sulaco is based on the pulse rifle.
|
|
|
|
- "...It was [Jeanette] Goldstein's (Vasquez) outside that needed an
|
|
overhaul, largely because blue eyes and Huck Finn-style freckles
|
|
didn't quite fit the job description. 'The makeup took an HOUR,' she
|
|
sighs. 'The makeup woman said I had the most ornery freckles she had
|
|
ever seen.'...They also gave her dark contact lenses, and rather
|
|
unceremoniously, whacked off most of her waist-length hair." [from
|
|
STARLOG #115, Feb.1987]
|
|
|
|
- "The introduction to the marines, [...], as they awoke from hyper
|
|
space and gnawed on breakfast, was filmed at the production's end.
|
|
That way, the cast had several months to get acquainted." [from
|
|
STARLOG #115, Feb.1987]
|
|
|
|
- "Loco" is written on the back of Vasquez's shirt. [from STARLOG
|
|
#115, Feb.1987]
|
|
|
|
- Goldstein : "'It's never mentioned in the film, but in the
|
|
characters' background, she and Drake are recruited from juvenile
|
|
prison, where they're under life sentences.
|
|
'Therefore, they were different from the others, who were on a time
|
|
limit. Hudson was supposed to get out of the marines in four weeks,
|
|
which is what made him flip.'
|
|
That also explains the back of Hudson's vest, tailored by actor Bill
|
|
Paxton to read, 'Contents under pressure. Do not puncture.'" [from
|
|
STARLOG #115, Feb.1987]
|
|
|
|
- Ferro has "(Fly the Friendly Skies)" written on her helmet.
|
|
|
|
- On the side of the first drop ship is an insignia of an eagle with
|
|
big sneakers on, sort of completing a jump. Just above this is the
|
|
text "Bug Stompers" and just below is "We endanger species".
|
|
|
|
- The second drop ship is called "Smart Ass" and just below is "We aim
|
|
by P.F.M." (ie: Pure Fucking Magic)
|
|
|
|
- "Adios" is painted on Vasquez's smart gun.
|
|
|
|
- The smart guns used by Drake and Vasquez are mounted on them via set
|
|
of hydraulic arms. These arms take most of the load of the guns and
|
|
keep them stable. Virtually the same technology is used by camera men
|
|
on outside broadcasts, where they are used to keep the cameras steady.
|
|
The hydraulics absorb most of the energy created by a camera man
|
|
running down the road leaving a very steady picture.
|
|
|
|
- An ammunition clip for the M41-A pulse rifle holds 95 rounds.
|
|
|
|
- The mechanism used to make the facehuggers thrash about in the
|
|
stasis tubes in the science lab came from one of the "flying piranhas"
|
|
in one of James Cameron's earlier movies: Piranha II - The Spawning.
|
|
It took 9 people to make the face hugger work, one person for each leg
|
|
and someone for the tail.
|
|
|
|
- Hicks was originally played by actor James Remar, but Michael Biehn
|
|
replaced him a few days after principal photography began, due to
|
|
"artistic differences" between Remar and Cameron.
|
|
|
|
- Partly as a joke and partly to leave the ending open for subsequent
|
|
sequels, James Cameron added the sound of an egg opening/face hugger
|
|
scuttling about at the end of the film credits. (different sounds
|
|
were appended to different versions of the movie)
|
|
|
|
- "She thought they said 'illegal aliens' and signed up..." - Hudson
|
|
This quote (directed towards Vasquez) was an "inside joke" to the
|
|
actors of the movie. (quoted without permission from an interview
|
|
with Jeanette Goldstein [Vasquez] that appeared in STARLOG magazine)
|
|
|
|
''...she answered an ad for a film role in the local trades. It
|
|
read simply, "Genuine American actors, British Equity, for
|
|
feature film, ALIENS, 20th Century Fox," she relates, over lunch
|
|
near the old homestead in Beverly Hills.
|
|
"I had seen ALIEN, but I had NO idea this was a sequel.
|
|
It had been so long ago, it didn't even occur to me.
|
|
"I thought it was about actual aliens, you know,
|
|
immigrants to a country. I was wondering why they wanted
|
|
Americans. I figured the movie was about lots of different
|
|
immigrants to England."
|
|
Since she didn't have an agent at the time, she answered
|
|
the ad on her own, with rather surprising results. "I actually
|
|
came in wearing high heels and lots of makeup, and I had
|
|
waist-length hair," she says.
|
|
Other auditioners, who had advance notice from THEIR
|
|
agents, were decked out in military fatigues --- Goldstein's
|
|
first inkling she would be reading for the role of a marine...''
|
|
|
|
- One track of music from Goldsmith's CD for _ALIEN_ appears near the
|
|
end of _ALIENS_, during one of the big scenes of the Queen stomping
|
|
around the colony. Even though this music was used in _ALIENS_,
|
|
Goldsmith's name was not mentioned in the closing credits.
|
|
|
|
-Ripley's shoes are Reebok sneakers. You can see this when she's driving
|
|
one of the cargo loaders.
|
|
|
|
-In Aliens, Bishop says he has Hyperdine Systems 120-A/2. Terminators are
|
|
Cyberdine, maybe James Cameron threw in a little connection between the two.
|
|
|
|
- Adrian Biddle, the cinematographer for Aliens, has had a longtime
|
|
collaboration with Ridley Scott. Apparently, Biddle was not
|
|
the original cinematographer. In Alien3, Jordan Cronenweth was
|
|
slated to the the cinematographer, but poor health forced him to
|
|
turn the task over to Alex Thomson.
|
|
|
|
- To get an idea of the wonderful attention to detail that was paid
|
|
in the Alien films, freeze when Hicks is programming the Sentry guns.
|
|
The screen depicts exactly what such a futuristic weapon would have
|
|
-interrogation modes, choices of "soft, hard, semi-hard" targets, and
|
|
IFF options - which means "Identification, Friend or Foe."
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
|
|
There were at least 12 "scripts" for _ALIEN^3_ (derived from the May
|
|
1992 issue of PREMIERE) :
|
|
|
|
1. William Gibson wrote his based on a brief treatment given to him by
|
|
Walter Hill, David Giler and Gordon Carroll. It was set in a Soviet
|
|
space station ("It was sort of like a Cold War in space, with genetic
|
|
manipulation of the alien replacing nuclear war," says Gibson). The
|
|
1987 writers strike interrupted the process, so Gibson went back to
|
|
work on a novel. "Only one detail survived. 'In my draft, this woman
|
|
has a bar code on the back of her hand,' he says. 'In the shooting
|
|
script, one of the guys has a shaved head and a bar code on the back
|
|
of his head. I'll always privately think that was my piece of
|
|
ALIEN^3.'"
|
|
|
|
2. Eric Red was hired for a "five-week" job to convince Fox to dole
|
|
out more development money. He collaborated with Renny Harlin.
|
|
According to Red, "HE came up with the gene-splicing idea. 'In the
|
|
third film, you needed a new alien. I suggested doing genetic
|
|
experiments on the alien.' Red says that Hill and Giler were
|
|
disorganized and irresponsible. 'They had no story or treatment or
|
|
any real plan for the picture,' he says. Hill and Giler say the
|
|
problem was Red's script; when Harlin read it, he quit the project."
|
|
|
|
3 - 4. David Twohy had a draft set in a penal colony in space without
|
|
Ripley in it (since Hill and Giler planned to bring her back in the
|
|
fourth film). But Joe Roth (head of Fox) insisted that he wouldn't
|
|
make the film without Weaver. Twohy had just started to write Ripley
|
|
into the script, when "one of the most transparent bits of studio
|
|
treachery I've ever heard of" took place. At the same time Twohy was
|
|
working, Fox hired Vincent Ward to collaborate with John Fasano to
|
|
develop the script involving a community of monks (remember the seven
|
|
dwarfs?). When a Los Angeles Times reporter called Twohy about
|
|
"competing drafts of Alien^3", Twohy dumped the script and went off to
|
|
do his own film. Fox insisted that Ward's script was for Alien 4.
|
|
|
|
Twohy: The old adage is true: Hollywood pays its writers well
|
|
but treats them like shit to make up for it.
|
|
|
|
5 - 9. Greg Pruss was hired next to rewrite Fasano's script (he had to
|
|
leave to cowrite ANOTHER 48 HRS). Pruss did "five arduous drafts".
|
|
Everyone moved to London where the crew was already beginning to
|
|
design and build sets even as the script was being written. But the
|
|
studio began having trouble with Ward, "who was less interested in
|
|
Ripley or the alien than in his monks. 'The movie's called ALIEN
|
|
because it's about the alien,' says Pruss. 'I couldn't get that
|
|
across to Vincent.'"
|
|
|
|
10. Pruss quit and Ward was fired. Once David Fincher signed on as
|
|
director, Fox hired Larry Ferguson(Beverly Hills Cop II) to do a
|
|
"four-week emergency rewrite." Ferguson continued more or less with
|
|
Ward's ideas and hence, the horrible idea with the seven dwarfs and
|
|
Ripley as Wendy. Weaver and Fincher hated the script and the movie
|
|
"almost fell apart".
|
|
|
|
11. Hill and Giler were paid to do another emergency rewrite. They
|
|
moved the story back to Twohy's prison and the religious element
|
|
evolved into what exists in the final draft. The studio and Weaver
|
|
liked the script but Fincher had a few reservations.
|
|
|
|
12. After much bureaucratic bickering over the budget and schedule
|
|
plus the firing of key participants, Rex Pickett was hired to
|
|
collaborate with Fincher for yet another rewrite. This occurred when
|
|
Hill and Giler were going on vacation. "It all blew up when Pickett
|
|
wrote a memo salvaging Hill and Giler's script."
|
|
|
|
- Prior to its release, _PREDATOR II_ came out in the theaters (which
|
|
had an almost identical story to the original idea for _ALIEN^3_) near
|
|
the end of _PREDATOR II_ we see a trophy case of different skulls, one
|
|
of which is the skull of an alien.
|
|
|
|
- Boss Film campaigned hard to win the effects job for Alien3,
|
|
which is surprising - usually when you beg for a contract, you do a
|
|
damn good job. They did all of the miniatures, space scenes, and
|
|
even created a way of superimposing a computer-generated alien
|
|
into the film. This is most visible when after killing Clemens the
|
|
creature scurries after Ripley, straightens itself out, and then (in
|
|
close-up next to her face) we see the subtle change in the
|
|
texture of the creature, that tips us off to the transition from
|
|
CGI to latex model.
|
|
|
|
|
|
- The commandoes that search the Fury-161 complex are armed with
|
|
pulse rifles, yet they sound different when fired.
|
|
|
|
- In Alan Dean Foster's novelization of Alien3, the "rescue" ship that
|
|
Bishop II arrived in was called the Patna, From the novel Lord Jim
|
|
by Joseph Conrad.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
10. PLOT PROBLEMS AND LOOPHOLES
|
|
|
|
This section contains plot problems that are SO BIG that there is no
|
|
plausible explanation for it. If a good theory comes along, the point
|
|
will be moved to section [11] frequently asked questions (at my
|
|
discretion of course).
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
|
|
- What infantry platoon in its right mind would enter an enclosed
|
|
space carrying flamethrowers?
|
|
|
|
- Several times we see aliens spewing acid that does not seem to
|
|
damage the "sets" (or at least doesn't damage the "sets" as severely
|
|
as the few drops that eat through 3 layers of the Nostromo in _ALIEN_)
|
|
This is MOST evident in the air-duct chase scene.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
|
|
- How did the eggs get on the Sulaco? (refer to section [12])
|
|
|
|
- Why is the escape capsule so poorly designed? It gets ejected and
|
|
then FALLS to the nearest planet. Hicks is killed when a SAFETY beam
|
|
impales him.
|
|
|
|
- How could Ripley hold on to the chestburster AFTER it tore through
|
|
her chest?
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
11. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
|
|
|
|
This section has been extended to allow for theoretical answers, the
|
|
responses that aren't based on solid facts (yet provide a plausible
|
|
answer) start with "[possibly]". If you believe you have a better
|
|
explanation, don't hesitate to say so. Any questions that seem to
|
|
have more than one plausible answer will appear in section [12]
|
|
frequently discussed topics.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN_
|
|
|
|
Q: Is there a fan club I can join?
|
|
A: Depending on when you read this FAQ, these clubs may have dissolved:
|
|
The British Aliens Fan Club The Dropship
|
|
PO Box 11 19 Compton Crescent
|
|
Liskeard, Cornwall Northolt, Middx
|
|
PL14 6YL UB5 5LS
|
|
England England
|
|
|
|
Q: What is the "Narcissus" ?
|
|
A: The Narcissus is the name of the shuttle Ripley uses to escape from
|
|
the Nostromo.
|
|
|
|
Q: Who is the "Space Jockey"?
|
|
A: This is the name given (by the technical staff) to the remains of
|
|
the creature found on the derelict space craft.
|
|
|
|
Q: What is written on Brett's cap?
|
|
A: USCSS NOSTROMO 180286
|
|
|
|
Q: Why is there a "self-destruct button" on the Nostromo?
|
|
A: This question refers to the control panel (labeled "Emergency
|
|
Destruct System") that Ripley uses to cause the destruction of the
|
|
Nostromo. [possibly] the "emergency destruct system" exists to
|
|
protect company secrets in case the Nostromo is hijacked by a
|
|
competator. (this would be a similar principle to espionage: when an
|
|
enemy spy gets caught, he takes poison to kill himself so he cannot be
|
|
tortured into giving away secrets). Or, a 20 million ton ship flying
|
|
through space at very high speed tends to become a great danger when
|
|
it gets off course by some malfunctions. If it's on collision course
|
|
to some space station or colony, and there is no possibility of
|
|
redirecting or stopping it, it would be very reasonable to put it on
|
|
self-destruct and get away with the small shuttle.
|
|
|
|
Q: The crew is awakened early out of their hypersleep to explore the
|
|
planet from which the beacon is being transmitted, HOW early are they
|
|
awakened?
|
|
A: 10 months as indicated by Lambert (after the shuttle returns to the
|
|
Nostromo)
|
|
|
|
Q: Did the entire crew go down to the surface of LV-426?
|
|
A: Yes. The Nostromo is a towing device for the 20,000,000 tons of
|
|
ore. The entire crew went down to the planet's surface in the
|
|
Nostromo (which detached itself from the cargo it was towing).
|
|
|
|
Q: After the Nostromo blew up, and Ripley discovers that the alien is
|
|
on board the escape capsule, why does the alien take SO long to attack
|
|
her?
|
|
A: [possibly] the alien was coming to the end of its life cycle, when
|
|
Ripley happened to disturb it. It was slow to attack because it was
|
|
dying. This theory is supported by an older version of the _ALIEN_
|
|
script where Ash reveals that the alien had made a nest and ensured
|
|
the continutation of its species (cocooned Dallas and transformed
|
|
Brett into an egg) at which time the alien itself would approach the
|
|
end of its lifecycle; curl up and die.
|
|
|
|
Q: Does the alien have eyes? How does it see?
|
|
A: No. The alien was designed (by H.R. Giger) to "see" entirely by
|
|
instinct. The chase scene in _ALIEN^3_ would appear to contradict
|
|
this as it shows the chase through (what would appear to be) the
|
|
alien's eyes. However, it is likely that this cinematic technique was
|
|
used to show the chase, not through the aliens eyes, but through its
|
|
"perception". (it is also likely that this alien, being so different
|
|
from the ones we've already seen, has some kind of eyes)
|
|
|
|
Q: How could I get a longer version of _ALIEN_ ?
|
|
A: Easy. You'll need a laserdisc player with frame advance, a 4-head
|
|
VCR with frame advance (frame advance allows for nice editing), the
|
|
_ALIEN_ box set (on laser disc of course) and a 160 min tape (130 min
|
|
would work too). Now, all you need is to know where the "extra"
|
|
scenes (on the 3rd disk) can be re-added into the movie:
|
|
- Kane prepares breakfast - don't bother, there's a fade between the
|
|
hypersleep chamber and the breakfast scene... this is where you'd
|
|
place the scene, but the fade makes it impossible to do a good job.
|
|
- Crew listens to alien transmission - right after Parker agrees to going
|
|
down to the planet's surface, and right before the shot of the ship
|
|
approaching the planet.
|
|
- Lambert confronts Ripley - some of the scene already exists, just cut
|
|
THAT part out, and replace it with the longer scene.
|
|
- After the acid - add this scene right after Dallas tells Brett to get
|
|
back to work, and right before the scene where Parker and Brett are
|
|
repairing the ship.
|
|
- Ripley radios Parker - Add this right after the "post-acid" scene.
|
|
Place it right before the scene where Parker and Brett are repairing
|
|
the ship.
|
|
- Discussion of what to do (after Kane's death) - originally, this scene
|
|
was right before Kane's funeral, but it makes alot more sense to put
|
|
it in immediately AFTER Kane's funeral.
|
|
- Brett's death - difficult to place, you have to replace some of the
|
|
film, all you miss out on is a few cuts back to Jones. (if you're
|
|
really skilled, you can re-integrate them). Put it right before the
|
|
scene where Parker is drinking coffee. [WARNING: the suspense
|
|
building heart-beat sound in the background is not present in the
|
|
extended death scene]
|
|
- Alien in the airlock - don't bother with these two scenes, they don't
|
|
fit in the movie very well.
|
|
- Ripley talks to Lambert - add it as Ash walks out of the room (after
|
|
Dallas's death). But before Ripley looks at Lambert (you'll have to
|
|
cut that bit out.)
|
|
- Lambert's death - too bad, there's no sound, don't add it in.
|
|
- Cocoon scene - originally, it was after Ripley started running for the
|
|
shuttle (no wonder it created a pacing problem). If you add it in
|
|
after she discovers Parker and Lambert's bodies, but before she starts
|
|
running, then it doesn't affect the pacing.
|
|
That's it. The movie is now about 2 hrs and 8 minutes long.
|
|
|
|
Q: I recall seeing extra scenes in the movie when I saw it in the
|
|
theaters, am I imagining things?
|
|
A: Probably. However, during December 1978 a rough cut of _ALIEN_ was
|
|
screened in London, England (it was 2 hours & 45 minutes long) and
|
|
it included ALL of the completed "cut" scenes (as described earlier
|
|
in the FAQ).
|
|
|
|
Q: When the crew first sets out to search the ship for the alien:
|
|
* Ash has made a "detection" units (motion tracker)
|
|
* Ripley asks "how do they work?"
|
|
* Ash VERY hesitantly replies "micro changes in air density"
|
|
* when searching, Ripley detects something on the OTHER side of an
|
|
airtight door (after all, they ARE in a spaceship) which turns out
|
|
to be Jones.
|
|
* Ripley makes the comment "micro changes in air density my ass"
|
|
This point never gets raised again in the film, what is its significance?
|
|
A: [possibly] Ash's hesitation in explaining the operation of the motion
|
|
detector was because the "real" mechanism would be difficult to
|
|
explain and he was assuming that she wouldn't understand him anyway...
|
|
so he pauses before he finds the words to form an "adequate" but not
|
|
very detailed description. The tone of Ash's voice in response to
|
|
Ripley's question was somewhat condescending.
|
|
Ripley's later comment, "micro changes in air density, my ass" was
|
|
a foreshadow to show that Ash was hiding something and that she was
|
|
onto him (cf: she realizes that he didn't give the full explanation of
|
|
the motion tracker's operating mechanism)
|
|
|
|
Q: How come Ripley managed to survive in the shuttle without the coolant
|
|
that Lambert and Parker were collecting?
|
|
A: [possibly] since there was only one hypersleep chamber in the shuttle,
|
|
Lambert, Parker and Ripley would have to stay concious while waiting to
|
|
be rescued. Since Ripley was the only survivor, she went into
|
|
hypersleep and didn't need the coolant due to her hybernation.
|
|
|
|
_ALIENS_
|
|
|
|
Q: What does "Sulaco" mean?
|
|
A: "Sulaco" was the town in which most of Joseph Conrad's book entitled
|
|
"Nostromo" took place.
|
|
|
|
Q: Is LV-426 also called "Acheron" ?
|
|
A: There doesn't seem to be any evidence of this in the movie, the
|
|
name was given to the planet in older drafts of the script, the Alan
|
|
Dean Foster novelization, the movie-comic as well as the RPG.
|
|
|
|
Q: What IS the name of the company?
|
|
A: The Weyland-Yutani Corporation. It can be seen, mirror-reversed,
|
|
on a blast shield after the discussion of the atmosphere processor
|
|
blowing up. It appears as "Weylan-Yutani" on all beer cans in _ALIEN_
|
|
but is too small. In _ALIEN^3_ it is written on a computer screen in
|
|
an extreme close-up near the end. In the director's cut of _ALIENS_,
|
|
during the additional footage of the colony (prior to the alien
|
|
infestation) we see a logo of the company which reads:
|
|
Weyland-Yutani
|
|
\ /\ /
|
|
\ / \ /
|
|
\/ \/
|
|
Building Better Worlds
|
|
|
|
Q: What is the name of the colony?
|
|
A: Hadley's Hope (as revealed in the director's cut of _ALIENS_)
|
|
|
|
Q: Why don't the colonists on LV-426 pick up the derelict SOS?
|
|
A: In a cut scene from ALIENS, the derelict ship has been damaged by
|
|
volcanic activity and, as a result, the beacon was rendered
|
|
inoperable. [James Cameron, STARLOG #125, DEC 1987]
|
|
|
|
Q: How did the colony get infected?
|
|
A: In my [James Cameron] version of the Alien life cycle, the infestation
|
|
of the colony would proceed like this :
|
|
1. Russ Jorden attacked, they radio for rescue.
|
|
2. Rescue party investigates ship...several members facehuggered...
|
|
brought back to base for treatment.
|
|
3. Several "chestbursters" free themselves from hosts, escape into
|
|
ducting, begin to grow.
|
|
4. Extrapolating from entomology (ants, termites, etc.), an
|
|
immature female, one of the first to emerge from hosts, grows to
|
|
become a new queen, while males become drones or warriors.
|
|
Subsequent female larvae remain dormant or are killed by males...
|
|
or biochemically sense that a queen exists and change into males
|
|
to limit waste. The Queen locates a nesting spot (the warmth
|
|
of the atmosphere station heat exchanger level being perfect for
|
|
egg incubation) and becomes sedentary. She is then tended by
|
|
the males as her abdomen swells into a distended egg sac. The
|
|
drones and warriors also secrete a resinous building material to
|
|
line the structure, creating niches in which they may lie dormant
|
|
when food supplies and/or hosts for further reproduction become
|
|
depleted (i.e. when all the colonists are used up). They are
|
|
discovered in this condition by the troopers, but quickly emerge
|
|
when new hosts present themselves.
|
|
[STARLOG #125, DEC 1987]
|
|
|
|
Q: Is Ferro's first name "Mira" ?
|
|
A: No, according to the on-board computer on the Sulaco, Ferro's first
|
|
name starts with a "C". The confusion with her name is caused by
|
|
Vasquez when she says (to Ferro): [...hey mira, who's Snow White?]
|
|
However, in Spanish (Vasquez is Mexican), "mira" means "look", so
|
|
Vasquez is actually saying, "hey look, who's Snow White?".
|
|
|
|
Q: How many colonists are there?
|
|
A: There were 158 colonists on LV-426 [...you were responsible for the
|
|
deaths of 157 colonists... Ripley (Aliens)] plus Newt. This number
|
|
is also visible on a sign that was on-screen during the scene where
|
|
Newt's parents are going out to the derelict craft (director's cut
|
|
only).
|
|
|
|
Q: How many aliens where on LV-426 when the marines arrived?
|
|
A: [possibly] around 156. (Newt was still alive and at least one of
|
|
the other colonists hadn't been chest-busted yet) There has been some
|
|
suggestions that the colonists had livestock that the aliens could've
|
|
infected as well (raising the number of aliens to an indeterminant
|
|
amount) however there is no evidence of livestock anywhere in the
|
|
movie; furthermore, the planet does not seem to be a habitat in which
|
|
live stock could survive (there was no vegetation on the planet).
|
|
|
|
Q: Why did Ripley risk life and limb to save Newt, but didn't give a
|
|
second thought to Dietrich and Apone?
|
|
A: In the theatrical version of the movie, it can be said that Ripley
|
|
knew exactly where Newt was because of the locater band she was
|
|
wearing, thus making rescue of Newt plausible.
|
|
A better reason exists, however it was cut from the theatrical
|
|
release; the scene where Ripley discovers that her daughter has died
|
|
(refer to section [4] on cut scenes) reveals to us that her daughter
|
|
was relatively the same age as Newt the last time Ripley was with her.
|
|
We can see the parallels between Newt and the daughter that Ripley
|
|
had lost.
|
|
|
|
Q: How can Ripley hang on during violent vacuum decompression while the
|
|
much stronger alien queen can't?!
|
|
A: [possibly] Ripley had her arm wrapped around a step in the ladder where
|
|
as the queen only had a finger-hold on Ripley's boot, when Ripley's boot
|
|
slipped off her foot, the queen had nothing else to hold onto. (this
|
|
assumes that the vacuum isn't SO violent that it would rip her arm
|
|
off)
|
|
|
|
Q: Why does Ripley attempt to climb out of the pit after the queen has
|
|
been "vacuumed" out of the Sulaco? Why doesn't she just close the
|
|
doors?
|
|
A: [possibly] Ripley thought that the lower door in the pit would be
|
|
damaged with the acidic blood of the queen alien, so she had to close
|
|
the top doors in order to seal up the breech. (this explanation is
|
|
from the novelization)
|
|
|
|
Q: Why doesn't anyone stay on board the Sulaco?
|
|
A: [possibly] the Sulaco is so automated that it would be unnecessary.
|
|
If another dropship was required, the station on LV-426 was equipped
|
|
to remote-pilot it down. (however, they had no idea that the
|
|
equipment had been ruined by the aliens)
|
|
|
|
Q: How has Newt survived all this time? The aliens seem to have no
|
|
problem getting around in the air ducts?
|
|
A: She can crawl through the air ducts that the aliens can't fit into.
|
|
This, combined with her knowing the air ducts so well, could keep her
|
|
out of the aliens' grasp (perhaps the aliens knew about her, but just
|
|
couldn't catch her). In the director's cut, Newt boasts to her
|
|
brother that the reason she wins their version of "hide-and-seek" is
|
|
because she can get into all those tiny crooks and crannies where no
|
|
one can reach her.
|
|
|
|
Q: How does the queen know how to use an elevator, and how does she
|
|
know what floor to get off at?
|
|
A: The elevator returns automatically to the level of the platform
|
|
Ripley got off at. When she leaves the elevator (to find Newt) you
|
|
see it returning up. She comes back (with Newt) and calls both
|
|
elevators. Ripley takes the first one that arrives and it starts
|
|
going up. The queen gets in the second elevator and it automatically
|
|
goes up.
|
|
|
|
Q: Are those power-loaders real?
|
|
A: Based on the Collectors Version of Aliens on Laserdisc, which comes
|
|
with a disk that shows some of the secrets of the making of the movie,
|
|
the loader is part real, part fake. The actual loader is real, but
|
|
has an external power supply. Since the loader is extremely heavy, it
|
|
is supported by cables which are masked out for the final print.
|
|
A power loader was on display at the Boston Museum of Science as
|
|
part of a special effects exhibit. This power loader was worked by a
|
|
person inside, behind and below the actor, that is with their legs down
|
|
in the power-loader's legs and their torso in the power-loader's back.
|
|
Different constructs of the power loader were used depending on the
|
|
action it had to perform in front of the camera.
|
|
|
|
_ALIEN^3_
|
|
|
|
Q: Why did it take so long for the chestburster to come out of Ripley?
|
|
It only took a few hours for it to come out of Kane in _ALIEN_. Even
|
|
though Ripley was carrying a queen, the chestburster itself was STILL
|
|
the same size as the one that came out of Kane.
|
|
A: [possibly] Taking into account the parallels between the aliens and
|
|
an insect colony, two Alien hives will be in competition if they are
|
|
close to each other. Therefore the incubation period of queens is
|
|
higher to enable the unsuspecting host to move further from the
|
|
original hive.
|
|
|
|
Q: Why is that bloody autopsy necessary? As we see later in the movie,
|
|
that nice diagnostic scanner in the EEV's cryo-tube is still working
|
|
quite fine (and Ripley knows about it). The autopsy is obviously very
|
|
unpleasant for her, so it is hard to see why she didn't figure out the
|
|
easier way?
|
|
A: [Possibly] The diagnostic machine works on the EM radiation emitted by
|
|
the human body and since Newt was dead and did not emit any radiation,
|
|
the scanner wouldn't have worked.
|
|
|
|
Q: What is the "dreaded" seven-dwarf concept for the _ALIEN^3_ script?
|
|
A: One of the earlier stages of the _ALIEN^3_ script received alot of
|
|
heat:
|
|
|
|
''...Back in New York, [Walter] Hill saw "The Navigator : An Odyssey
|
|
Across Time", a stunning but esoteric art film by an obscure New
|
|
Zealand director named Vincent Ward. But Ward said he didn't like
|
|
[David] Twohy's script. No problem, said Fox. "So I hopped on an
|
|
airplane," says Ward," and during the flight, I had an idea that was
|
|
totally different: Sigourney would land in a community of monks in
|
|
outer space and not be accepted by them." The monks would live on a
|
|
wooden planet that looked like something out of Hieronymus Bosch, with
|
|
furnaces and windmills -- and no weapons...
|
|
|
|
FINCHER : In the draft Larry [Ferguson, Beverly Hills Cop II] was
|
|
writing, she [Ripley] was going to be this woman who had fallen from
|
|
the stars. In the end, she dies, and there are seven of the monks
|
|
left --- seven dwarfs.
|
|
|
|
Q : You're kidding?
|
|
|
|
FINCHER : Seriously. I swear to God. She was like...what's her name
|
|
in Peter Pan? She was like Wendy. And she would make up these
|
|
stories. And in the end, there were these seven dwarfs left, and
|
|
there was this fucking tube they put her in, and they were waiting for
|
|
Prince Charming to come wake her up. So that was one of the endings
|
|
we had for this movie. You can imagine what Joe Roth said when he
|
|
heard this. "What?! What are they doing over there?! What the fuck
|
|
is going on?!" '' [PREMIERE magazine, May '92]
|
|
|
|
Q: How did the face-huggers get on the Sulaco?
|
|
A: The truly factual answer is that the audience wasn't supposed to
|
|
question it. Use your imagination. (several theories exist, some of
|
|
which are stated in section [12] frequently discussed topics)
|
|
|
|
Q: Did the little face-hugger critter actually do so much damage to
|
|
the Sulaco that the ship decided to EJECT the hypersleep capsules?
|
|
A: Shown at the start of the movie was a face hugger jumping on a
|
|
cryo-tube, cracking the glass and dripping some acid on the floor.
|
|
The acid manages to eat its way into the electrical system and cause a
|
|
fire. The Sulaco then ejected the hypersleep capsules (probably
|
|
because it couldn't put out the fire).
|
|
|
|
Q: I remember seeing a trailer for _ALIEN^3_ that was really different
|
|
than the movie?
|
|
A: This is true. Quite awhile before _ALIEN^3_ was finally released,
|
|
there was a "coming soon" trailer shown in several theaters. This
|
|
trailer indicated that some aliens made it to Earth and there was
|
|
going to be a massive encounter. Later on, the writers ditched the
|
|
movie idea upon release of Predator II (due to the similarity in plot)
|
|
and decided to find a new story for _ALIEN^3_.
|
|
|
|
Q: There's a prison planet: is anyone really going to spend money on
|
|
hideously expensive space travel in order to send these guys to some
|
|
far-off solar system?
|
|
A: [possibly] Historically, extremely dangerous and/or
|
|
subversive-to-the- government criminals have been shipped off (at
|
|
great expense) to a new location quite often. England regularly
|
|
shipped off prisoners to one of the American colonies [Georgia? South
|
|
Carolina?] which was a designated prison colony, as well as Australia
|
|
-- a prison *continent*. The progression of the Western legal system
|
|
has been to appeal numerous times (at great expense) to avoid death
|
|
penalties. The Company in the Alien series is a reasonable outgrowth
|
|
from the rest of Western business, why not the legal system, too?
|
|
They avoid the massive cost of incarceration and court and lawyer fees
|
|
from appeals by not having a death penalty, but shipping the prisoners
|
|
off to a "prison".
|
|
|
|
Q: Where can I get Gibson's _ALIEN^3_ script?
|
|
A1: Get it by downloading it from the Alien WWW homepage, link to
|
|
'All textual information about...' -> 'Gibson's script'.
|
|
There is a long and a short version. The short version is included in
|
|
this FAQ.
|
|
The Alien Homepage is at: Http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/alien.html
|
|
A2: This may not be valid depending on the age of the FAQ:
|
|
- You can buy one from the Pix Poster Cellar in Cambridge, Mass.
|
|
- Their phone number is (617) 864-7499
|
|
- They take orders over the phone and they do accept plastic
|
|
- The price is 15.00 U.S. for an unbound copy
|
|
|
|
Q: What is "ALIEN WAR" ?
|
|
A: Alien War is a walk through ride, found in the Trocodera in London. It
|
|
is set on the alien theme. The plot is that a party of 12 is being given a
|
|
tour through a medlab research establishment where they are breeding and
|
|
studying aliens. A marine has been assigned to guide you through. Once in
|
|
the waiting chamber, the sirens go off and your guide comes in and explains
|
|
that due to an accident the aliens have escaped. Next he explains that he
|
|
is going to lead the party to safety. So off everybody sets thru these dark
|
|
corridors, all being told to huddle against walls etc. Along the way
|
|
various things can happen (here are a few):
|
|
- At one point we were all ordered against this door only for the door to
|
|
start banging. Later we were all ordered down this pitch black corridor
|
|
only to come upon some eggs and an alien.
|
|
- Another point is when gun shots were heard, behind us was another marine
|
|
that was being chased by an alien. We had to cross a bridge over some
|
|
eggs, having been told that the slightest movement would set them off.
|
|
- We got into an APC which seemed like it was moving moving, it then
|
|
stopped and an alien burst in thru the far door.
|
|
- We all went into a lift. The lift supposedly moved up a level (doesnt
|
|
actually), the marine got someone to open the door while he pointed a
|
|
gun out. When the door was opened, an alien bursted in, grabbed a
|
|
member of the party and then left.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
==========================================================================
|
|
|
|
Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies,rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.movies,news.answers,rec.answers,alt.answers
|
|
Path: helix.net!unixg.ubc.ca!news.mic.ucla.edu!news.bc.net!vanbc.wimsey.com!scipio.cyberstore.ca!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!EU.net!sun4nl!news.nic.surfnet.nl!tudelft.nl!news.twi.tudelft.nl!vos
|
|
From: Vos@Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL
|
|
Subject: MOVIES: ALIEN FAQ part 3/4
|
|
Message-ID: <CyvFt6.E7p@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl>
|
|
Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies
|
|
Sender: vos@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (E.W.C. de Vos)
|
|
Organization: Weyland Yutani - "Building Better Worlds"
|
|
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 00:24:42 GMT
|
|
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
|
|
Expires: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 23:00:00 GMT
|
|
Lines: 1259
|
|
Xref: helix.net alt.cult-movies:16582 rec.arts.sf.movies:8575 rec.arts.movies:42908 news.answers:4900 rec.answers:1509
|
|
|
|
Posting-Frequency: approx. every month
|
|
Archive-name: movies/alien-faq/part3
|
|
Version: 2.1
|
|
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
& &
|
|
& ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Information and Frequently Asked Questions &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Version 2.1 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& PART 3 of 4 &
|
|
& &
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
|
|
|
|
12. FREQUENTLY DISCUSSED TOPICS
|
|
|
|
This section is intended for frequently asked questions that have many
|
|
diverse theories and explanations. I've included some of the more
|
|
plausible theories given for some of the topics. Wherever possible, I
|
|
tried to group the "for" and "against" cases.
|
|
|
|
* After the Nostromo blew up, and Ripley discovers that the alien is
|
|
* on board the escape capsule, why does the alien take SO long to attack
|
|
* her?
|
|
|
|
- The alien was coming to the end of its life cycle, when Ripley happened
|
|
to disturb it. It was slow to attack because it was dying. This theory is
|
|
supported by an older version of the _ALIEN_ script where Ash reveals that
|
|
the alien had made a nest and ensured the continutation of its species
|
|
(cocooned Dallas and transformed Brett into an egg) at which time the alien
|
|
itself would approach the end of its lifecycle; curl up and die.
|
|
- The DH comics speculate, that the Aliens are more prone to attack, when
|
|
(somehow) threatened. Since Ripley pretty much is defenseless, can't escape
|
|
and isn't attacking, why should the Alien hurry?
|
|
|
|
* In _ALIEN_, how does the company know about the aliens anyway, and how
|
|
* much do they know, and why don't they send a well trained scientific
|
|
* "collection" team ?
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
They knew about the derelict ship from the beacon signal that was picked
|
|
up by another space craft, maybe off course and with some technical
|
|
problems so that they could not investigate it themselves, or maybe it was
|
|
picked up by some automatic exploration vessel. Back on earth they had
|
|
enough computer power to unscramble the beacon. (remember that "Mother"
|
|
couldn't unscramble it completely). Some department of Weyland Yutani
|
|
decided to bring the next ship that came around that area close to LV-426.
|
|
It would then have to check out what was going on on the surface (this was
|
|
in the contract they signed). After the Nostromo was destroyed and didn't
|
|
return, the people who made the Nostromo alter its route got scared -in
|
|
the end they were responsible for the destruction of the Nostromo- and
|
|
deleted all files concerning the Nostromo's new route and LV-426. Ash was
|
|
planted on board for that reason: to find out what was on LV-426 and bring
|
|
it to them. They knew about a hostile creature from the beacon, but they
|
|
didn't expect something like _this_. [this theory is supported by the
|
|
novelisation]
|
|
- The same reasoning as above, except for the fact that Weyland Yutani knew
|
|
all about the aliens from the beacon. Some people claim that Ash knows
|
|
everything about the alien lifeform. This seems unlikely because of the way
|
|
Ash tries to get rid of the facehugger on Kane.
|
|
- They did not know everything about the aliens and just wanted to see what
|
|
happens ("crew expendable"), and Ash was supposed to store all information
|
|
in the computer (Ash gives us a few details about the aliens, but he does
|
|
not necessarily know everything from the start, he might have gathered
|
|
some things from what he has already seen on the Nostromo). Later, when
|
|
the Nostromo had returned to earth with it's autopilot, they could first
|
|
remote-access the computer and then, with all the information, decide
|
|
how to get out the alien eggs (or whatever was found to be there). In
|
|
that case they would have only lost 6 employees and perhaps an expensive
|
|
android.
|
|
- The ship diverting to investigate the beacon (and assuming that the "crew
|
|
is expendable") is part of a standard procedure. All data collected
|
|
would be returned to the company when the ship returns to Earth. Since
|
|
the Nostromo did not return to Earth, the company did not know about
|
|
the aliens. (this theory assumes that no communication occurred between
|
|
the Nostromo and The Company AND that Ash was not necessarily "planted" on
|
|
the Nostromo for sinister reasons) [contradicting the novelisation]
|
|
|
|
* Near the beginning of _ALIENS_ when Ripley is at the inquiry, one of the
|
|
* company executives at the table estimates the value of the Nostromo at
|
|
* "42 million in adjusted dollars". Surely a ship as large as the Nostromo
|
|
* is worth more than 42 million ?
|
|
|
|
- In "adjusted dollars" suggests many things. One, that *A* dollar has been
|
|
adjusted from a previous dollar. And assuming that this is not very far into
|
|
the future, this previous dollar was most probably the U.S. dollar. It
|
|
suggests that the value of the dollar was readjusted in much the same way as
|
|
the currencies in some developing countries like Mexico have been adjusted
|
|
to take into account rampant inflation.
|
|
- "adjusted dollars" could refer to the original value of the ship translated
|
|
to what it would be worth at the present day. Perhaps the Nostromo is a
|
|
common ship that has seen mass-production and it's just not worth all that
|
|
much. This is not unrealistic as we know that ore is mined in tremendous
|
|
quantities (20,000,000,000 tonnes were being hauled by the Nostromo in
|
|
_ALIEN_) so the resources are readily available and we can assume that, with
|
|
increased space travel, a higher volume of space ships are being made.
|
|
(which, in turn, would lower the cost of assembly).
|
|
|
|
* In the 57 years between _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_, why don't they try again
|
|
* to get some alien eggs?
|
|
|
|
- The bio-weapons division possibly started the whole thing without
|
|
permission, and then, after the catastrophic failure (loss of an expensive
|
|
space ship), they destroyed all information about it, and therefore the
|
|
general managment never knew about it (This appears to be exactly the way
|
|
Burke acts in _ALIENS_).
|
|
- "The company" seems to be quite large, with several divisions. Maybe the
|
|
whole alien plan was just an idea of the bio-weapons division, and after
|
|
the loss of the Nostromo the managment decided to give up because the risk
|
|
was much higher than the possible profit. Then, during the following
|
|
decades, they just forgot about it. Obviously Burke doesn't know about the
|
|
aliens before he got Ripley's report.
|
|
- It is possible that the company did not know about the aliens or anything
|
|
that occurred on the Nostromo UNTIL Ripley showed up (there is no evidence
|
|
that the Nostromo was communicating with the company in _ALIEN_)
|
|
|
|
* Are we really to believe that, having lost contact with an entire colony,
|
|
* the Colonial Marines send a warship out with only ONE SQUADRON of soldiers?
|
|
|
|
- Possibly, Burke had a fair idea of what has happened on LV-426 so by
|
|
sending a small number of soldiers, he was gambling that some would survive
|
|
and bring (accidentally or not) an Alien back to Earth.
|
|
- The company may have assumed that the colony's transmitter broke down or
|
|
the colony itself had suffered a horrible epidemic or just died out. So
|
|
the possibility of actually needing more troops was considered to be small.
|
|
- Several times in the movie it was implied that this group of marines had
|
|
been on these sort of "bug hunts" before (ie: the sign on the side of the
|
|
first dropship: "Bug Stomper" and Hudson asking, "Is this gonna be another
|
|
one of those bug hunts?" [Aliens]) They had been able to handle "bug
|
|
hunts" with one squad before, so why send more this time?
|
|
- The squad had enough fire power to deal with the situation, if they had
|
|
been fully armed and ANYWHERE other than underneath the primary heat
|
|
exchange for their first confrontation (in that confined space) then they
|
|
would've had no problem with defeating the aliens.
|
|
|
|
* Theories regarding the derelict space craft and its fossilized pilot (from
|
|
* the movie _ALIEN_).
|
|
|
|
- Perhaps the species that was transporting the eggs mirror the human errors
|
|
of judgement (made mostly by the Company) that were to follow. Perhaps
|
|
this species, like the Company, thought they could lower their guard,
|
|
treating the aliens like a commodity. Maybe their now dead/mute state
|
|
indicates where the human race might be heading as a result of the company's
|
|
"financial" venture.
|
|
- The species piloting the derelict craft were aware of the dangers of the
|
|
aliens, this is why they submersed the entire colony of eggs under the blue
|
|
"film". When the film is broken, it would trigger an alarm (sort of like
|
|
a laser-operated security system) and they'd know that there was motion in
|
|
the "cargo".
|
|
- Suggested by an old draft of the _ALIEN_ script: the derelict craft landed
|
|
on LV-426 to make repairs, a silo of eggs (on the planet) was discovered
|
|
by the space jockey species and they got infested. The hull full of eggs
|
|
is in fact the crew of the derelict after being transformed into the eggs
|
|
(as shown in the Brett-egg scene edited out of the _ALIEN_ theatrical
|
|
release)
|
|
- The derelict ship transported something else than the eggs. For instance, it
|
|
carried food, like meat, or animals. Somehow the pilot got impregnated with
|
|
an alien chestburster and just before it hatched, the pilot set down on
|
|
LV-426 (he didn't crash land because of the valuable cargo) and recorded
|
|
the distress signal. It put it on the air, and died when the chestburster
|
|
broke free. This chestburster got down, and grew into an alien. This alien
|
|
made an egg from the storage down below, a queen-egg. It hatched, and a
|
|
queen alien arose. This queen alien started to produce eggs from the stored
|
|
food/animals. The blue mist was conserving the food/animals, but was now
|
|
used to conserve the eggs. The full-grown aliens died, but the eggs
|
|
survived over the centuries.
|
|
|
|
* Was the derelict ship destroyed at the end of Aliens?
|
|
|
|
- Yes. The blast at the end of Aliens was big enough to destroy everything in
|
|
the neighbourhood. The ship was close enough to get blown to pieces.
|
|
- Probably not. The blast was -according to Bishop- 'the size of Nebraska',
|
|
but he was only referring to the size of 'the cloud of vapour' at that time.
|
|
An explosion that size hasn't been accounted for yet. It's not very likely
|
|
that something could create an explosion that would vapourise Nebraska.
|
|
There probably was only a real crater the
|
|
size of that was completely vapourised
|
|
The
|
|
destructive effect of the blast stopped at something about five miles or so.
|
|
Beyond that, there was 'only' the gust of wind. So the derelict ship is
|
|
still intact.
|
|
|
|
* Alien intelligence. Although they have a large cranium, can they really
|
|
* "think"?
|
|
|
|
YES:
|
|
- In _ALIENS_, when Ripley is in the "hive", several aliens filter in to attack
|
|
her; Ripley threatens to flame the eggs and the queen waves them off. This
|
|
would indicate that the aliens can communicate and ARE intelligent.
|
|
- The alien in _ALIEN^3_ acted to protect Ripley (since she was carrying the
|
|
queen embryo) when the doctor was going to give her an injection and when
|
|
Dillon grabbed her (near the end). This would indicate that the alien can
|
|
reason through situations.
|
|
- The aliens in _ALIENS_ cut the power to the complex. (unless this was just
|
|
an "accident")
|
|
- A quote from James Cameron [STARLOG #125, DEC 1987]
|
|
" One admittedly confusing aspect of this creature's behavior
|
|
(which was unclear as well in ALIEN) is the fact that sometimes the
|
|
warrior will capture prey for a host, and other times, simply kill it.
|
|
For example, Ferro the dropship pilot is killed outright while Newt, and
|
|
previously most of the colony members, were only captured and cocooned
|
|
within the walls to aid in the Aliens' reproduction cycle. If we assume
|
|
the Aliens have intelligence, at least in the central guiding authority
|
|
of the Queen, then it is possible that these decisions may have a
|
|
tactical basis. For example, Ferro was a greater threat, piloting the
|
|
heavily armed dropship than she was a desirable host for reproduction.
|
|
Newt, and most of the colonists, were unarmed and relatively helpless,
|
|
therefore easily captured for hosting. "
|
|
NO:
|
|
- On several occasions, the aliens kill potential hosts when they could just
|
|
as easily capture them. (from _ALIEN_: Parker, Lambert. from _ALIENS_:
|
|
Ferro, possibly others. from _ALIEN^3_: the doctor, several prisoners)
|
|
this would indicate that the alien is not intelligent. (unless the alien
|
|
kills those people for food)
|
|
- The scene in the _ALIENS_ director's cut where the aliens "throw" themselves
|
|
at the sentry guns would indicate that they are not intelligent (ie:
|
|
sacrificing countless numbers just to get their hands on 7 potential hosts.)
|
|
|
|
* What does the alien use for energy, does it eat? if so what?
|
|
|
|
- The alien could work like a battery, using electricity for it's energy
|
|
(suggested by the acid blood). This idea is suggested by the RPG.
|
|
- The alien increases its mass greatly between its chestburster and full-grown
|
|
stages of development. In order to do this it MUST eat something solid
|
|
(perhaps: flesh, minerals, metals)
|
|
- H.R. Giger introduces the concept of a bio-mechanical species (notice how
|
|
the Space Jockey of _ALIEN_ was attached to/part of the machinery it was
|
|
sitting at?) If the aliens are part of Giger's bio-mechanical world then
|
|
it's entirely possible that they could eat metal alloys to increase their
|
|
mass.
|
|
- In an old draft of the _ALIEN_ script, when Ripley finds Dallas cocooned
|
|
and the Brett-egg, she says to Dallas, "I'm going to get you out of here"
|
|
and Dallas replies, "No, it's too late for me, the alien has eaten to much
|
|
of me already... see what it did to Brett?"
|
|
- An Alien, like a fly, could "eat" by dissolving it's food with an acid
|
|
like substance, then eating the "soup" left behind. In this way, the alien
|
|
could eat pretty much any material (even metal).
|
|
|
|
* What are those long, dark "spines" sticking out of the back of the alien?
|
|
|
|
- These spines could be functionally similar to the plates on the back
|
|
of a Stegasaurus; they make it difficult to land a damaging blow on the
|
|
alien from a sneak-attack from behind.
|
|
- The spines could also be some form of reservoir for acid (similar to the
|
|
humps on a camel).
|
|
- Perhaps they are heat sinks.
|
|
- They could be gills for breathing, like a fish, the alien probably doesn't
|
|
breath the same air we do, so these "gills" would filter out the components
|
|
that it needs from the environment around it.
|
|
|
|
* Do the aliens use their host's DNA to help them adapt to their host's
|
|
* environment?
|
|
|
|
YES:
|
|
- An old draft of the _ALIEN_ script had Ash giving an extensive description
|
|
of the alien creature. Ash said that the alien that came from Kane was,
|
|
in a sense, Kane's child. (this scene suggests that the aliens use the
|
|
host's DNA)
|
|
- The alien in _ALIEN^3_ was different than other aliens, perhaps this is
|
|
because it came from a different host (the dog).
|
|
|
|
NO:
|
|
- A creature that is so different from conventional organic life could not
|
|
possibly make sense out of a strand of DNA.
|
|
- In the original filmed version of _ALIEN^3_ the alien came from a cow, not
|
|
a dog (the entire movie was filmed before they decided to change the "host"
|
|
to a dog) Since the alien didn't act like a cow (ie: this alien was more
|
|
aggressive, however, a cow would be considered less aggressive than a
|
|
human) nor did the film makers originally base the alien's actions on those
|
|
of a dog, this works against the DNA theory. The "cow" scene is also
|
|
supported by the novel by Alan Dean Foster [page 58].
|
|
|
|
* Is there a notion of "soldier" and "worker" aliens?
|
|
|
|
YES:
|
|
- The alien in _ALIEN^3_ seemed to act/look different than the aliens in
|
|
the previous movies. This alien could be a "worker" with the task of
|
|
protecting the queen until she has a chance to mature.
|
|
- The alien species has alot of similarities with insects, so, like a hive
|
|
of ants or termites, the aliens would have soldiers and workers.
|
|
|
|
NO:
|
|
- The aliens that were in the "hive" at the end of _ALIENS_ would likely
|
|
be classified as "workers" however they stood upright and looked no
|
|
different than the rest of the aliens (which would be considered
|
|
"soldiers").
|
|
|
|
* Where do the aliens come from, were they genetically engineered?
|
|
|
|
- They could have been genetically engineered due to their (seemingly
|
|
unnatural) ability to adapt to new environments.
|
|
- They could be bio-weapons on the basis of the fact that their parasitic
|
|
nature is too violent and unsupportive of the host. An organism which
|
|
destroys its habitat (in this case it's host, whatever kind of organism it
|
|
is) would very quickly makes itself extinct.
|
|
- The aliens could be a parasite of the galaxy. They serve as much purpose
|
|
as a mosquito does on earth.
|
|
- If we maintain H.R. Giger's original idea of the alien eggs coming from an
|
|
infection (a possibility that is explored in the Brett-egg scene cut from
|
|
_ALIEN_), then the thousands of eggs on the derelict space craft in _ALIEN_
|
|
could have come from some form of plague.
|
|
- It has been suggested (by Dark Horse comics) that the Predators created the
|
|
aliens for hunting purposes.
|
|
- It also has been suggested that the Predators plant the aliens on planets,
|
|
so that if they come back after some time, the aliens have built some hives
|
|
and they can hunt them all down. The Predators might have found the aliens
|
|
on one of their hunts on some far off planet.
|
|
- For some detailed suggestions/information concerning the alien lifeform,
|
|
read the last part of the FAQ.
|
|
|
|
* Why are the aliens in _ALIENS_ different from the alien in _ALIEN_?
|
|
|
|
- Maybe alien's behavior is goverened by pheromones, in the same way that
|
|
a termite colony is governed, by passing chemicals from the queen through
|
|
the colony. This would explain why a large group of aliens with a queen
|
|
behave differently (cocooning people instead of killing them) to a single
|
|
isolated alien.
|
|
- The alien in _ALIEN_ was a different "type" of alien. (ie: a soldier
|
|
instead of a worker)
|
|
- The aliens in _ALIENS_ were more "evolved" (after all, they did have some
|
|
physical differences - see Section 2 - What is an Alien?) and hence, the
|
|
way they acted was different.
|
|
- The facehugger in Alien came from an egg that was not created from humanoid
|
|
material. Therefore the genetic code that was in the facehugger, and in the
|
|
embyo and therefore was in the Alien was different from the genetic code in
|
|
the eggs from Aliens. These eggs were made from people (humans). Therefore
|
|
geneticly the alien was different, and therefore it had a different
|
|
appearance. It is also suggested that while the embryo grows in the hosts,
|
|
the embryo 'consults' the hosts internals for the environment that it came
|
|
from, so it can adapt to that environment before it hatches.
|
|
|
|
* Why is the alien in _ALIEN^3_ different than the other aliens we've seen?
|
|
|
|
- The alien species is similar to the hymenoptera (the class that ants, bees
|
|
and termites belong to). There is a queen who is tended by an army of
|
|
female helpers. There are occasoinal males in these insect societies,
|
|
only they are short lived and are only necessary to fertilize a new queen.
|
|
The alien in _ALIEN^3_ would be a male alien. It is definately different
|
|
looking -- perhaps a bit smaller (males in hymenoptera species are
|
|
smaller.) This makes sense in the context of _ALIEN^3_ in that Ripley is
|
|
carrying a queen -- something HAS to fertilize it before it can reproduce.
|
|
- It's possible that the aliens copy some of their host's DNA in order to
|
|
help them adapt to the new environement that they'll be born to (this
|
|
concept was in an old draft of the script for _ALIEN_). The alien would
|
|
be different because it came from a dog. Same reasoning as with the previous
|
|
question.
|
|
- We have seen relatively few aliens. If you imagine what a whole planet
|
|
full of them would be like, there might be a variety of different kinds:
|
|
warriors, workers, messengers, etc...
|
|
|
|
* How did the eggs get on the Sulaco?
|
|
|
|
- When Bishop was preparing to crawl down the service tunnel to pilot the
|
|
dropship down, he told Ripley that it would take (in total) approx 3 hours.
|
|
Earlier in the movie, it was established that the place was going to blow
|
|
up in approx 4 hours. This left Bishop an extra hour during which he
|
|
could have: fetched 2 eggs and hidden them. While Ripley was rescuing
|
|
Newt, Bishop could've then returned to pick up the eggs and put them in the
|
|
drop ship. He'd then fly back to pick up Ripley and give some bogus story
|
|
to cover up why he was late.
|
|
- The queen laid eggs in the landing gear prior to getting out and tearing
|
|
Bishop in half.
|
|
- Yet another theory is that the queen laid eggs on the Sulaco while Ripley
|
|
was going to get the cargo lifter. However, it doesn't seem that the
|
|
queen's physiology would accomodate this AND it would be unlikely that she'd
|
|
be able to lay the eggs in a well concealed place (such that Ripley wouldn't
|
|
find them) during the split seconds that the camera is not on the queen.
|
|
This egg can't get in the EEV, anyway, unless it has some way of getting up
|
|
and walking from one end to the ship to another. The EEV was in a complete
|
|
other part of the Sulaco.
|
|
- In Gibson's _ALIEN^3_ script, it is suggested that the queen "stings" Bishop
|
|
with her tail, thus poisoning him. While Bishop lies in his hypersleep
|
|
capsule, the poison genetically combines with his body and forms two eggs.
|
|
(notice when Ripley tries to repair Bishop, there is only his one arm and
|
|
head remaining). It is possible that Bishop observed the development of
|
|
two eggs (from his body) then, when complete, opened the hypersleep chamber
|
|
and (with his remaining arm) moved the egg out (so it could infect Ripley).
|
|
- Alien3 was a dream Ripley had.
|
|
|
|
* In ALIEN^3: Was the human Bishop (that appeared at the end of the movie)
|
|
* really human or was he also an android?
|
|
|
|
YES:
|
|
- Some people have witnessed skin hanging down (some say it's his ear). This
|
|
would indicate that he's an android. To further the issue, Bishop II takes
|
|
a nasty hit in the side of the head, yet remains concious, it is unlikely
|
|
that a human being would be able to shake off such an injury. The red blood
|
|
was just a way to ensure Ripley he was a human. His blood was just coloured.
|
|
It was the only way to ensure for Ripley he was a human.
|
|
- The credits indicate that the character is named "Bishop II" as if to say it
|
|
is just another copy of the same line of androids.
|
|
|
|
NO:
|
|
- "85" hit him in the side of the head and he started bleeding red blood
|
|
(around his left ear). Since the androids depicted in the trilogy have
|
|
white blood, this Bishop is probably human. (it is too speculative to
|
|
theorize that the company has made a red-blooded android since _ALIENS_)
|
|
- Alan Dean Foster's novelisation of the movie suggests that he definitely
|
|
is human and he bleeds badly when hit).
|
|
|
|
* I hated ALIEN^3.
|
|
|
|
YES:
|
|
- The "course" of the movie was "unrealistically" altered to fit with the
|
|
script. ie: in the first 5 minutes of the movie, we kill off two major
|
|
characters, place alien eggs on the Sulaco and against-all-odds Ripley
|
|
is the sole survivor of the crash.
|
|
- Although an important part of the series, Newt died for no discernable
|
|
reason.
|
|
- Too many similarities between _ALIEN^3_ and _ALIEN_:
|
|
* one alien stalks a group of weaponless people.
|
|
* trapping the alien did not work, so let's try something else.
|
|
* repair of a busted-up android.
|
|
- Depressing. Ripley's life crumbles to an inevitable fate. No happy
|
|
(or surprise) ending.
|
|
- Characters are flat, undeveloped and boring. Nobody really CARES when
|
|
the alien kills one.
|
|
- No attempt is made to explain MOST questionable events (How did the eggs
|
|
get on the Sulaco? Why is the alien different?)
|
|
- Ripley is an eye-sore with her shaven head and bloodshot eye.
|
|
- _ALIEN^3_ focussed on Ripley's misfortune-plagued life instead of the
|
|
alien creature (as _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_ had).
|
|
- Most North American movie critics did not like _ALIEN^3_.
|
|
- The emotions in Alien3 were not taken out to what they could have. Nobody
|
|
seemed to care about someone else. Therefore it was hard to care for the
|
|
characters in the movie. An example you can test for yourself is: try to
|
|
remember the characters from Alien. Then from Aliens. And last -and least?-
|
|
those from Alien^3. Most people hardly can name two or three of Alien^3.
|
|
|
|
NO:
|
|
- Just because a movie doesn't have a happy ending doesn't mean it's a bad
|
|
movie.
|
|
- _ALIEN^3_ takes a different direction from the prior alien movies. It is
|
|
good that they didn't make an "_ALIENS_ with bigger guns" as most had
|
|
expected.
|
|
- Artistic images were well defined. The Newt autopsy scene showed almost
|
|
NO graphic images, yet the audience was revolted by the vividness. The
|
|
graphic horror was not blatantly displayed on the screen, but projected
|
|
into the imagination of the audience.
|
|
- Since we don't know everything about the alien species, it's not difficult
|
|
to accept that "by undisclosed means" the alien eggs got on the Sulaco and
|
|
the alien creature was physically different.
|
|
- The interleaving of the credits and the movie scenes was visually
|
|
provocative.
|
|
- Most scenes were shot from very provocing distant angles, making them very
|
|
beautiful in the eye of the artist.
|
|
- Many European critics did like _ALIEN^3_.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
13. MOVIE WATCHING RITUALS
|
|
|
|
Basically, if you know of any rituals that you or your friends perform when
|
|
any one of the ALIEN movies is shown (ie: screaming things at the movie,
|
|
acting out different parts, etc...) then they belong in this section.
|
|
|
|
- When repeatedly watching this film with friends, we've only really evolved
|
|
one tradition when watching the film. When Burke has abandoned them, and
|
|
opens the door, just to see the alien there, hissing at him, it has become
|
|
somewhat traditional to shout "Let's eat Burke" repeatedly. Oh yeah, and
|
|
when Newt falls into the water, it's fairly obvious that you have to shout
|
|
"Behind you" fairly loudly.
|
|
|
|
- ALIEN: deep, impressed silence.
|
|
ALIEN^3: loud, carthatic weeping.
|
|
|
|
- ALIENS: imitating Hudson's "game over MAN, game over!" as he says it in
|
|
the movie. (and even when we're not watching the movie)
|
|
|
|
- leaping at the screen to get a four-inch-away view of the various types of
|
|
military hardware to get more details about function and what props are
|
|
made from (ie: the Flame units are slightly modified M-16 rifles)
|
|
|
|
- In Aliens, during Ripley's first nightmare at Gateway Station. When she
|
|
pulls back her shirt and sees the alien trying to poke through and then
|
|
wakes up in horror, one of us HAS to say, "Damn Tacos!"
|
|
|
|
- Counting the number of times "Hudson" is said over the course of _ALIENS_.
|
|
|
|
[more?]
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
14. GIBSON'S ALIEN^3 SCRIPT
|
|
|
|
What follows is a synopsis of Gibson's _ALIEN^3_ script, due to the immense
|
|
effort required to port the text from paper to computer, a special thanks goes
|
|
out to Steve Copold, the user who tackled the tedious and heinous task.
|
|
|
|
* NOTE: refer to Frequently Asked Questions for information on getting the
|
|
entire script.
|
|
Or get it by downloading it from the Alien WWW homepages. It's under
|
|
the link 'All textual information' -> 'Gibson's script'. There is a short
|
|
version, and a long version. The short version is here included due to
|
|
a large demand for it.
|
|
The Alien homepage is: Http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/alien.html
|
|
|
|
Steve writes:
|
|
|
|
I've had my hands on a copy of William Gibson's original script for "Alien III"
|
|
for quite awhile now and it seems like a good time to contribute a synopsis
|
|
which may explain a few things (such as how the eggs were supposed to have
|
|
gotten onto the Sulaco), and may just add more confusion to others. I've been
|
|
very careful in preparing the synopsis to include as much detail as is
|
|
possible, including direct quotes, and still remain within the bounds of the
|
|
fair-use doctrine and copyright laws. (Everything encased in parentheses,
|
|
except for dialog notes, is my writing...Everything else is Gibson's.)
|
|
|
|
Enjoy!
|
|
|
|
-Steve Copold
|
|
|
|
FADE IN:
|
|
|
|
DEEP SPACE - THE FUTURE
|
|
|
|
The silent field of stars -- eclipsed by the dark bulk of of an approaching
|
|
ship.
|
|
|
|
CLOSER.
|
|
|
|
ANGLE ON THE HULL
|
|
|
|
A towering cliff of metal, Sulaco.
|
|
|
|
(The script then cuts to an inside tracking shot of the hyper-sleep vault and
|
|
the line of open and empty capsules. We finally track across 4 closed capsules
|
|
- Newt, Ripley, Hicks, and finally Bishop. Bishop's capsule, however, is
|
|
covered with a "hothouse" mist and condensation.)
|
|
|
|
CLOSER
|
|
|
|
A tear of fluid streaks the condensation.
|
|
|
|
An alarm sounds.
|
|
|
|
A monitor begins to scroll data.
|
|
|
|
(We then hear the computer announcing that Sulaco has experienced a
|
|
navagational error and entered the territory of the U.P.P. [Union of
|
|
Progressive Peoples - A clear analogy for the late U.S.S.R. - A subplot which
|
|
probably contributed to the demise of this script.] We cut to an exterior shot
|
|
of the Sulaco and witness the approach of a UPP interceptor ship carrying
|
|
commandos. They dock with the Sulaco and board her. They enter the ship though
|
|
an airlock near the cargo bay. As they enter, they find Bishop's twisted and
|
|
tangled lower torso. They see the blast damage on the drop ship and exchange
|
|
knowing looks...It is apparent these are combat veterans. As the commandos
|
|
enter the hyper-sleep vault, the computer announces a security breach. They
|
|
move down the line of capsules and stop at Bishop's.)
|
|
|
|
INTERIOR HYPER-SLEEP VAULT - LEADER"S POV (point of view)
|
|
|
|
The chilly aisle of capsules.
|
|
|
|
Commandos move down the line, guns poised. They peer in at Newt, Ripley, and
|
|
Hicks, but the lid of Bishop's capsule is pearl white. (text deleted) The lid
|
|
rises. A dense pale mist flows out, spilling over the edges of the capsule,
|
|
revealing the ovoid of a gray alien egg. Rooted in the center of Bishop's
|
|
synthetic entrails, the egg instantly ejaculates a face-hugger, which strikes
|
|
the leader's faceplate in a spray of acid. (lots of text deleted)
|
|
|
|
(At this point, one of the other commandos, a young Vietnamese woman, attempts
|
|
to shoot the facehugger without killing the leader. Things go wrong and his
|
|
head is literally destroyed. They throw him out the airlock and leave with
|
|
Bishop's remains.)
|
|
|
|
DISSOLVE TO:
|
|
|
|
IN DEEP SPACE - VARIOUS ANGLES
|
|
|
|
A station the size of a small moon, and growing; unfinished sections of hull
|
|
are open to vacuum. A vast, irregular structure, the result of of the shifting
|
|
goals of succesive administrations.
|
|
|
|
(This is our introduction to Anchorpoint which serves as the setting for about
|
|
75% of Alien III. I see it as a cross between the Deathstar and Deep Space 9.
|
|
It is huge and well-used like the Deathstar, but it is by run civil
|
|
administrators and company reps, with only a military attache and a few troops.
|
|
Like DSN, it has shopping malls, schools, and the type of stuff associated with
|
|
a colony rather than a military base.
|
|
|
|
At this time we are introduced to Tully, a civilian lab technician, and the
|
|
station's ops officer, Jackson. Tully is written as sort of a malcontented
|
|
doctoral student. He's very smart, very good at his job, and has some degree of
|
|
contempt for authority. Jackson is a really neat character. She is a "tough
|
|
broad," much like Ripley, but carries none of the baggage that Ripley is
|
|
saddled with. They have a lengthy conversation at this point which sort of
|
|
brings the audience up to speed. I've included just a small portion.)
|
|
|
|
JACKSON
|
|
The Sulaco. Departed gateway four years ago with a compliment of fifteen. A
|
|
dozen marines, an android, a company representative, and the former warrant
|
|
officer of a merchant vessel...
|
|
|
|
TULLY
|
|
So?
|
|
|
|
JACKSON
|
|
So, the bio-readout gives us the warant officer, one -- count him -- marine,
|
|
and a nine-year-old girl. Makes you wonder what happened out there, doesn't it?
|
|
|
|
TULLY
|
|
So ask'em. Wake'em up and ask'em. Them not me.
|
|
|
|
JACKSON
|
|
But That's the GOOD news, Tully. Three hours before Sulaco turned up, we docked
|
|
a priority shuttle out of Gateway. Two passengers. Milisci, Tully. Weapons
|
|
Division.
|
|
|
|
TULLY
|
|
That the bad news?
|
|
|
|
JACKSON
|
|
They want the ship pulled in with full biohazard precautions, by
|
|
oh-eight-hundred hours. BioLab techs are priority for the deck squad. that's
|
|
you Tully.
|
|
|
|
The phone screen goes blank.
|
|
|
|
TULLY
|
|
(heartfelt) Shit!
|
|
|
|
(We are then introduced to Spence, who is I think Tully's girlfriend. That
|
|
part's not real clear as events overtake the issue very quickly from here on
|
|
out. The next five pages of script are dedicated to a WONDERFUL sequence of
|
|
scenes where Tully and other lab techs, accompanied by marines from Anchorpoint
|
|
are seen in an enormous docking bay where they board Sulaco. I'll put in the
|
|
last page of it here.)
|
|
|
|
SECOND MARINE
|
|
Yessir. Lights on in there.
|
|
|
|
The officer presses a button.
|
|
|
|
The door slides open. Bright white. The aisle. Empty. The row of capsules.
|
|
Tully's marine is first through the door, gun ready, slow, careful. Tully steps
|
|
in after him, raises his instrument, takes a sample.
|
|
|
|
INT. HYPER-SLEEP VAULT
|
|
|
|
The other two marines move past Tully. Soft scuff of their boots on the deck.
|
|
Tully doesn't know quite what to do. Lowers his sampler, hesitates, The first
|
|
marine reaches Newt's capsule. He lowers his rifle. (something startled, almost
|
|
gentle in his voice)
|
|
They're here...
|
|
|
|
Eight inches of razor-sharp serrated tail plunges out through the back of his
|
|
suit as he's lifted off his feet by something we can't see. Ugly RIPPING noise
|
|
as the alien withdraws its stinger (Gibson clearly refers to the tail as a
|
|
stinger at several points in the script) -- blood tidily contained by the
|
|
translucent membrane of the biohazard envelope.
|
|
|
|
The stinger of a second alien whips around the neck of one of the other two
|
|
marines; the alien is clinging to the ceiling. He screams. Tully's marine sags
|
|
against the foot of Ripley's capsule, his arm across the controls -- the green
|
|
indicator lights go out -- as the first alien lunges up into view.
|
|
|
|
CLOSE
|
|
|
|
On the jaws.
|
|
|
|
ANGLE ON RIPLEY
|
|
|
|
Her eyes snap open
|
|
|
|
RIPLEY'S POV
|
|
|
|
As the beast mounts her coffin, terminal nightmare.
|
|
|
|
ANGLE
|
|
|
|
RIPLEY
|
|
No-ooooooooooooooooooooo!
|
|
Her hands claw frantically at the smooth curve of the plastic canopy.
|
|
|
|
The remaining marine, crazy with adrenialine and terror, unleashes his flame
|
|
thrower. The first alien and Ripley's capsule vanish in a napalm fireball. the
|
|
marine spins, screaming incoherently, and liquid fire hoses the second alien,
|
|
which drops its victim and falls burning into the deck.
|
|
|
|
The vault is an inferno. Ripley's capsule is sagging, melting.
|
|
|
|
DISSOLVE TO:
|
|
|
|
(We see Ripley's damaged capsule being rolled into a very elaborate medlab and
|
|
doctors go to work on her. Then we cut to Hicks sitting on the edge of a
|
|
hospital bed in a dressing gown lighting a cigarette. Spence comes in and has a
|
|
brief conversation with him. He asks about Newt and Ripley and Bishop. She
|
|
tells him that Newt and Ripley are fine, and that she doesn't know who Bishop
|
|
is. Newt comes running in chased by an orderly. He grabs for Newt and Hicks
|
|
almost assaults him, but is stopped when Spence calls off the orderly. They
|
|
demand to see Ripley. Spence takes them to her room. She is in a deep coma)
|
|
|
|
NEWT
|
|
Is Ripley DREAMING?
|
|
|
|
SPENCE
|
|
I don't know honey.
|
|
|
|
NEWT
|
|
It's better not to.
|
|
|
|
CUT TO:
|
|
|
|
EXT. RODINA, THE U.P.P. STATION - VARIOUS ANGLES
|
|
|
|
Smaller than Anchorpoint
|
|
|
|
INT. RODINA - CYBERNETICS LAB
|
|
|
|
CLOSE on Bishop. He stares straight ahead, the corner of his mouth twitching
|
|
mechanically.
|
|
|
|
(The UPP scientists are downloading all of Bishop's data and are learning all
|
|
about the aliens. The young Vietnamese commando is present and confirms the
|
|
image of the facehugger -- They all stare in horror at the image of the adult
|
|
alien. The young woman shakes her head and says she has not seen this. The two
|
|
adults on the Sulaco are never explained and neither is the fact that the
|
|
capsules were left alone. There is a possibility that there may have been live
|
|
animals, or animals such as dogs on the Sulaco in hypersleep. This may account
|
|
for the adults as well as the dog thread in the screen version. Lab animals are
|
|
turned into aliens later in the Gibson script. The egg in Bishop's entrails is
|
|
explained in great detail.)
|
|
|
|
INT SULACO - CARGO LOCK
|
|
|
|
TECH WITH PROBE
|
|
You getting this on tape Miller?
|
|
|
|
SECOND TECH
|
|
You bet your ass. Orders.
|
|
|
|
TECH WITH PROBE
|
|
That's good because I'd swear I just saw a piece of this shit move...
|
|
|
|
On the monitor, the tip of the probe trembles, brushes one of the globules. The
|
|
second tech takes it, inserts it in a plastic tube, seals the tube in a small
|
|
metal cannister, and writes #17 on the side in red grease pencil.
|
|
|
|
SECOND TECH
|
|
Since when do androids get diseases?
|
|
|
|
TECH WITH PROBE
|
|
I dunno. Sure looks like something got to this poor bastard...
|
|
|
|
(This is a key scene in the script as it introduces the alien "spores" and
|
|
"DNA" samples which are capable of spreading the species like a disease. Even
|
|
androids can act as a host at least to the extent of producing a viable egg
|
|
with a facehugger inside. The effects on a living host are entirely different
|
|
as we'll see shortly.
|
|
|
|
At this point in the story, we are introduced to Col. Rosetti, local commandant
|
|
of the colonial marine detachment at Anchorpoint. We also meet Kevin Fox and
|
|
Susan Welles. They are the Weyland-Yutani scum-yuppies from the weapons
|
|
division sent by the company. They are real knock-offs of Burke, only not so
|
|
endearing...Yeeech! We also meet Shuman, the diplomat. He is involved now as
|
|
the UPP is making a stink about the Sulaco entering their space. The four of
|
|
them debrief Hicks in a "security bubble" and learn what he knows. They do not
|
|
tell him about the aliens found on the Sulaco. In the bubble we also meet
|
|
Trent, the head bio-geneticist at Anchorpoint. He quizzes Hicks about the
|
|
alien's life-cycle. They realize that Hicks doesn't know anything about the
|
|
genetic material they have discovered in the hyper-sleep vault. They also fail
|
|
to tell him they are experimenting with it and trying to clone it. They do tell
|
|
Hicks about the UPP grabbing Bishop.
|
|
|
|
At this point there is a complex and important scene in the Tissue Culture Lab
|
|
with Tully and Spence. It involves lots of high tech goodies and what would
|
|
have been some terrific CGI sequences as they examine the alien samples. It all
|
|
culminates with them looking #17 under extreme magnification we see the sample
|
|
brought into focus...)
|
|
|
|
EXTREME CLOSEUP - MONITOR
|
|
|
|
As the screen fills with an image that might be a bizzare landscape, its lines
|
|
and textures recalling the interior of the derelict ship in "ALIEN."
|
|
|
|
(This sequence is followed by a long set of scenes with Newt and Hicks as Newt
|
|
prepares to return to earth aboard the Sulaco which has been sterilized. Ripley
|
|
is still in a coma and Newt makes her a map of her Grandparent's home in Oregon
|
|
so she can find her when she wakes up...Lot's of cuteness and string-pulling as
|
|
Newt departs Anchorpoint.
|
|
|
|
We jump back to Rodina Station and meet a bunch of new characters. Braun,
|
|
Rodina's Chief of R&D, Colonel-Doctor Suslov, the Head of the station, and
|
|
several military and diplomatic officers. The scene is basically a discussion
|
|
of where are we? - where are they? re: the development of the aliens as a
|
|
weapon, and what to do about Bishop? They decide the best course of action is
|
|
not to overplay their hand, but to sterilize Bishop and send him back with no
|
|
traces of the alien spores or any memory of his time at Rodina. They rebuild
|
|
him (with inferior UPP technology - this later becomes a plot element and a
|
|
running joke in the script) and return him to Anchorpoint.
|
|
|
|
CUT TO:
|
|
|
|
INT. ANCHORPOINT - TISSUE CULTURE LAB
|
|
|
|
Trent, head of biolab, Rosetti, and Fox wait, seated, as Tully wheels a
|
|
holographic Display Module into position. The lights dim. A faint, ghostly cube
|
|
shimmers in front of the three men.
|
|
|
|
TRENT
|
|
Initially this was merely routine, you understand. We attempted to determine
|
|
its compatibility with terrestial DNA.
|
|
|
|
FOX
|
|
What kind of DNA Doctor?
|
|
|
|
TRENT
|
|
Human, of course.
|
|
|
|
Something shivers and shakes and takes form in the cube of light: a double
|
|
helix threaded with green and red beads of light.
|
|
|
|
TRENT (continuing)
|
|
Watch closey, please.
|
|
|
|
The alien genetic material looks like a cubist's vision of an art deco
|
|
staircase, its asymmetrical segments glowing day-glow green and purple.
|
|
|
|
ROSETTI
|
|
That's a biological structure? More like part of a machine...
|
|
|
|
The alien form makes contact with the human DNA. The transformation is
|
|
shockingly swift, but its stages can still be followed: the thing seems to pull
|
|
itself into and THROUGH the coils, and for an instant the two are meshed,
|
|
locked, and then the final stage. A new shape glows, a HYBRID; the green and
|
|
red beads have been altered beyond recognition.
|
|
|
|
FOX
|
|
Like a high-speed viral takeover...! What's the real-time duration on this,
|
|
Trent?
|
|
|
|
TULLY
|
|
(from the shadows beyond the glowing cube) That was it. What you see is what
|
|
you get. That's how fast it is...
|
|
|
|
(Several scenes follow that I'll just encapsulate for you. They are all
|
|
important, but only in that they introduce characters or minor plot elements.
|
|
|
|
#1 Hicks meets Walker the foreman of the Anchorpoint machine-shop...He is a
|
|
tough customer.
|
|
|
|
#2 Jackson, Shuman, UPP Diplomatic Officer discuss Bishop's return.
|
|
|
|
#3 Bishops arrives at Anchorpoint.
|
|
|
|
#4 Hicks meets Tully in a bar on the Mall and Tully reveals that Fox and Welles
|
|
have ordered the lab to experiment with the alien DNA.
|
|
|
|
#5 Rosetti, Fox, Trent, and Welles in the security bubble discussing the
|
|
progress of the experiments. Rosetti raises minor objections, but wimps out
|
|
when Fox threatens his career.
|
|
|
|
#6 Bishop being checked out by a medlab tech and jokes about his shitty UPP
|
|
polycarbonate knee joints. This is followed by a long scene with Hicks and
|
|
Spence where she fully spills the beans about the "research.")
|
|
|
|
INT. CONSTRUCTION ZONE CHAMBER
|
|
(lots of text deleted)
|
|
|
|
SPENCE
|
|
Maybe I don't either. It's just...We've got to tell somebody...Now there's a
|
|
rumor somebody came in on a UPP ship today, somebody off Sulaco...
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
Bishop...
|
|
|
|
SPENCE
|
|
I don't know.
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
Maybe Progressive Peoples'll get their own alien too. Maybe they'll grow
|
|
some...
|
|
|
|
SPENCE
|
|
(horrified) Shit! You'd better hope not...
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
Why's that?
|
|
|
|
SPENCE
|
|
Their lab gear's five years behind ours. they'd never be able to control it
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
Think you can, huh?
|
|
|
|
SPENCE
|
|
I don't know...
|
|
|
|
(More scenes follow:
|
|
|
|
#1 Tully complains to Jackson that there are problems with one of the stasis
|
|
systems in the lab.
|
|
|
|
#2 Rodina - BioLab: Braun and Suslov are discussing the alien as a weapon in
|
|
front of a large stasis tube. Scene ends with a closeup on the tube showing a
|
|
"chestburster suspended like a fetal dolphin."
|
|
|
|
#3 Long scene where Bishop tells Hicks about Ripley and the queen on the
|
|
Sulaco. He also warns Hicks to watch him carefully as the UPP may have
|
|
reprogrammed him and he would not know it.
|
|
|
|
#4 Long scene in the culture lab with Tully and Welles. Ends with the stasis
|
|
system failing and the contents spraying all over Welles and Tully. They are
|
|
immediately taken to a "de-con" unit. Welles is seriously pissed off!
|
|
|
|
#5 Bishop and Hicks sneak into the tissue culture lab and destroy all of the
|
|
alien cultures. Ends with both of them in white plastic restraints as they are
|
|
placed in separate cells. The next scene is the beginning of the proverbial
|
|
shit hitting the fan.)
|
|
|
|
INT. THE BUBBLE
|
|
|
|
Meeting of the full Anchorpoint Directorate, including Welles and Fox and a
|
|
number of new faces. Welles is white lipped with fury.
|
|
|
|
(lots of dialog omitted)
|
|
|
|
FOX
|
|
You have no more material to work with, Trent. In any case, it's become obvious
|
|
that you aren't the man for the job. We took the precaution of obtaining our
|
|
own samples. they're on their way to Gateway. (Wow! Does this open a lot of
|
|
possibilities...Like "Earth Hive" for instance.)
|
|
|
|
WELLES
|
|
(with cold satisfaction)...and everything, every move each of you have made,
|
|
since our arrival, is going to be gone over with a fine toothed c-c-c-c-c--
|
|
|
|
As Welles begins to stammer, her eyes betray a terrible consternation. She
|
|
rises from her chair, lurches forward, catching herself on her hands. The
|
|
c-c-c-c- phases into a chattering palsy as a thick strand of blood-streaked
|
|
drool descends toward the table. Fox, seated to her left, has instinctively
|
|
shoved his own chair back, ready to run. Everyone else is frozen with shock.
|
|
|
|
As the chittering tooth-burr becomes a shrill SHRIEK of inhuman rage, the
|
|
transformation takes place. Segmented biomechanoid tendons squirm beneath the
|
|
skin of her arms. Her hands claw at one another, tearing redundant flesh from
|
|
alien talons. then the shriek dies. She straightens up. And, rips her face
|
|
apart in a single movement, the glistening claws coming away with skin, eyes,
|
|
muscle, teeth, and splinters of bone...The sound of ripping cloth. the new
|
|
beast sheds its human skin in a single sinuous, bloody ripple, molting on fast
|
|
forward...An instant of utter silence as the featureless mask moves. From side
|
|
to side. Scanning.
|
|
|
|
Trent vomits explosively. the marine guard snatches his pistol from its holster
|
|
and fires wildly across the table. Blind screaming chaos.
|
|
|
|
OVERHEAD SHOT
|
|
|
|
As the Directorate plunges, like a single panicked organism, to the far side of
|
|
the bubble. The thing is on Fox before he can get up from his chair.
|
|
|
|
CLOSE
|
|
|
|
On his scream as the sucking, fanged tounge plunges through the orbit of his
|
|
eye.
|
|
|
|
ANGLE
|
|
|
|
A marine with a flamethrower bursts through the door, torching Fox and the new
|
|
beast, setting fire to the bubble's acoustic foam baffles.
|
|
|
|
(Clearly, this script was destined to get an "R" rating...From this point on
|
|
the script becomes an Aliens-like war movie. Many brief cutting scenes follow:
|
|
|
|
#1 Spence finds Tully's contaminated lab badge.
|
|
|
|
#2 Rosetti gets Hicks and Bishop out of their cells and enlists their help.
|
|
|
|
#3 Hicks (in full combat armor) and Walker driving into the construction zone
|
|
in a jeep searching for Tully.
|
|
|
|
#4 Jackson, Spence, and Bishop tracking them on monitors from operations.
|
|
|
|
#5 Hicks and Walker find and kill the alien that was Tully.
|
|
|
|
#6 Closeup of Spence as Tully's locator dot blinks out.
|
|
|
|
#7 INT. RODINA Mass confusion as we see the commandos fighting their way
|
|
through what has obviously become a war-zone. Then we see the result of
|
|
Suslov's genetic tinkering: It's a new type of alien - "bigger, meaner, faster,
|
|
able to reproduce more rapidly." The commandos swarm through a hatch and seal
|
|
the thick steel door. We hear slamming and pounding as the steel begins to
|
|
buckle.
|
|
|
|
All of this is followed by a really long scene with Hicks, Jackson, Bishop,
|
|
Shuman, and Rosetti in operations. We find out the closest ship is the
|
|
transport Kansas City which is 20 hours away. the following exchange takes
|
|
place in the midle of it:)
|
|
|
|
ROSETTI
|
|
We abandon the station.
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
Destroy the station, man! We got nukes?
|
|
|
|
ROSETTI
|
|
Outlawed under the strategic arms reduction treaty.
|
|
|
|
JACKSON
|
|
We can fiddle the overrides on the fusion package. Baby nova.
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
We're dealing with a new form Colonel. We know nothing of this new mode of
|
|
reproduction. Others may have already become hosts.
|
|
|
|
ROSETTI
|
|
What are you suggesting?
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
Inorder to be ENTIRELY certain, Colonel, it would be necessary to override the
|
|
fusion package now.
|
|
|
|
Jackson looks up at Bishop; he's suggesting mass suicide.
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
I thought you were programmed to protect human life?
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
(with android blandness) I'm taking the long view.
|
|
|
|
(I believe this would have become one of the classic lines of the film. The
|
|
scene ends with an incoming message, actually a warning, from Rodina. A
|
|
technician explains what they have done and that all experiments must be
|
|
terminated as they cannot be contained...No shit! There is a lot of funny
|
|
reparte about "the Soviet space brothers" in this scene. Jackson almost takes
|
|
on the air of a Hudson, except she's pretty gutsy. At the very end Jackson
|
|
gathers everyone near the monitors as they notice that something huge is
|
|
blocking the cameras in the air-scrubber chamber. Many scenes follow:
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1 Spence sitting in the eco-module...Birds begin to sing...The calm before the
|
|
storm.
|
|
|
|
#2 EXT. RODINA - No movement. INT. - We see the Vietnamese commando sitting on
|
|
the floor cradling her gun, the acid burned corpse of her partner is beside
|
|
her.
|
|
|
|
#3 A series of very rapidly cut scenes where Hicks puts Ripley in a lifeboat
|
|
and launches her into space. Bishop questions him about this as she might be
|
|
infected. Hicks replies, "I owe her one."
|
|
|
|
#4 Great combat sequence as Hicks leads a group of "green" marines to the
|
|
scrubber room where they find a huge mutant queen alien. The place look like
|
|
the queens chamber on LV-426, only more grotesque. Lots of the new aliens come
|
|
crawling out the walls. The marines destroy the new queen and kill lots of the
|
|
drones, but as the Queen pulls loose from the framework that is supporting her,
|
|
an enormous cloud of spores is released and then sucked into the air
|
|
circulation system. Hicks has Bishop close the vents.
|
|
|
|
#5 INT. RODINA HUB - The commando works her way through the core of the
|
|
station. She discover the almost the entire crew of the station, maybe a
|
|
hundred people all cocooned in a multi-story column...A bas-relief of human
|
|
bodies and glittering resin. A closeup of Braun and Suslov is shown.
|
|
|
|
#6 INT. OPS - Jackson, Rosetti, and Bishop are watching the approach of the UPP
|
|
cruiser Nikolai Stoiko at Rodina (How they are doing this is not explained
|
|
other than as some form of survelience system. It's clear that it's not direct
|
|
video, but some form of remore imaging.).
|
|
|
|
#7 INT. RODINA - The commando gets into an interceptor and escapes from the
|
|
station. We see her blast away.
|
|
|
|
#8 EXT. RODINA - We see the Stoiko launch a missle and a nuclear blast destroy
|
|
the station.
|
|
|
|
#9 INT. OPS - Jackson says, "I don't believe it! They send for help, and their
|
|
own people nuked'em! Hicks replies, "Maybe they asked for it."
|
|
|
|
The following scenes are a real combat-fest.
|
|
|
|
#1 Walker on the Mall blasting aliens and taking pulls from a jug of liquor. In
|
|
the end he becomes an alien.
|
|
|
|
#2 INT. ECO-MODULE - Spence enters and gasps at what she sees. The primates
|
|
have been cocooned in the trees.
|
|
|
|
#3 Hicks on the Mall...scenes of carnage everywhere.
|
|
|
|
#4 INT. OPS - Jackson, Hicks, Rosetti, Spence, and Bishop. Hicks wants to blow
|
|
the fusion package immediately. Jackson says it doesn't matter as Hicks has
|
|
destroyed the scrubber and with all the fires, they'll only have air for a few
|
|
more hours anyway. One of the marines falls down in agony, only he doesn't
|
|
become an alien. His chest bursts open and about half a dozen new model
|
|
chestbursters pop out and run in all different directions. Hicks evacuates
|
|
everyone.
|
|
|
|
#5 INT. CORRIDOR - Bishop heads off to rig the fusion package. Hicks gathers
|
|
all the survivors to take them to the lifeboats. A few new characters are
|
|
introduced at this point...All minor.
|
|
|
|
#6 Bishop in the Mall encounters yet another queen and her drones in the
|
|
process of cocooning victims. Bishop runs for the elevator with the queen after
|
|
him.
|
|
|
|
#7 Lots of cross-cutting between the group heading for the lifeboats fighting
|
|
their way through the aliens and Bishops staving off the queen in the elevator.
|
|
Bishop escapes by ripping up the floor of the elevator showing his android
|
|
strength. The lifeboat party emerges from a wall of smoke to find the passage
|
|
blocked by a wall of resin, human bones, marine helmets, rifles, etc. What
|
|
follows is just too complex to distill and too long to copy and still be fair
|
|
to Mr. Gibson. Let me just say that it's an incredible sequence of the lifeboat
|
|
party taking alternate routes to the bay as the aliens keep blocking their
|
|
path. Lots of explosions, shootouts, mucho violence...Really keen stuff!
|
|
|
|
#8 Bishop arrives at the fusion package and proceeds to rig it to blow.
|
|
|
|
#9 We rejoin the lifeboat party at the crew quarters where we see even more
|
|
carnage including what's left of a children's preschool. Memebers of the party
|
|
freak out at this point. Spence and Hicks calm everyone down and they move on.
|
|
|
|
#10 Bishop exiting the fusion complex...One of his polycarbon knees gives out.
|
|
He is now dragging one leg behind him.
|
|
|
|
#11 Spence is separated in a service shaft and trapped by an alien. She has a
|
|
huge flare pistol and kills it. She rejoins Hicks and the others.
|
|
|
|
#12 Bishop climbing the elevator shaft and checking his watch: 21:40. They
|
|
agreed he would set the fusion unit to blow at 22:00.
|
|
|
|
#13 Hicks and Jackson have it out with Rosetti who is not handling things very
|
|
well. Basically, they kick his ass. One of the party, Tatsumi is bitten, but
|
|
survives. They dress his wound and move on.
|
|
|
|
#14 Quick scene of Bishop back on the Mall putting a patch on leg and then
|
|
moving to rejoin the others. The queen is no longer there.
|
|
|
|
#15 Hicks and company arrive at the lifeboat bay. Closeup of Tatsumi's leg
|
|
wound leaving a trail of yellow drops. Rosetti opens the door and the bay is
|
|
filled with fresh new aliens. Hicks provides cover fire and they get the door
|
|
closed again. They all pile into an office. It's Trent's, and they find him
|
|
where he's already killed himself. Spence finds that the back wall of the
|
|
office is actually an airlock. Sounds of the aliens throwing themselves against
|
|
the door to the office. Hicks checks his watch it's 21:46.
|
|
|
|
#16 As they prepare to enter the lock, A chestburster crawls out of Tatsumi's
|
|
wound and more erupt from his chest. The survivors enter the airlock. They all
|
|
suit up and the color of their suits is important. Rosetti gets in a yellow
|
|
suit. Shortly after they exit the lock Rosetti goes through the change inside
|
|
his suit. He kills a lab tech and then Hicks kill him. Only Jackson, Hicks, and
|
|
Spence are left alive. Hicks looks at his watch 21:59...22:00...Nothing! They
|
|
move across the outside surface of Anchorpoint toward the external portion of
|
|
the lifeboats.
|
|
|
|
#17 Outside shot of the lock shows the aliens following them...They are
|
|
unaffected by the cold and the vacuum.
|
|
|
|
#18 Outside the lifeboat, Spence and jackson work on opening the hatch with a
|
|
bypass. Hicks continue to kill aliens.
|
|
|
|
#19 Hicks sees a yellow spacesuit moving across the hull...Rosetti? No, it's
|
|
Bishop. he has emerged from another lock. Bishop "greases" all the aliens that
|
|
are left on the outside. He tells Hicks that he gave them an extra half hour of
|
|
time.
|
|
|
|
#20 As they are getting in the lifeboat, the second queen emerges and leads a
|
|
charge of new aliens toward them. They run out of ammo as the aliens close in
|
|
on them.
|
|
|
|
#21 Cut to the UPP interceptor: shot of a port opening revealing a "viscious
|
|
looking gattling style pulse cannon" (I could almost hear the audience cheering
|
|
in my head as I read this scene). The interceptor wipes out the aliens.
|
|
|
|
#22 The commando lands the interceptor near them and takes them on board.
|
|
Jackson is killed by the aliens in this scene. The aliens are coming up behind
|
|
the ship. She fires the engines and fries them!
|
|
|
|
#23 The interceptor streaks away as the reactor overloads and blows.
|
|
|
|
The last scene is in the interceptor and it's too long for fair-use, although,
|
|
I'd love to put up the whole thing. Instead I'll just give you the gist of it
|
|
and one very important extract.
|
|
|
|
INT. INTERCEPTOR
|
|
|
|
(dialog omitted, but Bishop determines that none of them are infected or they
|
|
would have already begun to change. The commando has had a lethal dose of
|
|
radiation and will only live a few more hours.)
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
You're a species again, Hicks. United against a common enemy...
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
Yeah?
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
The source, Hicks. You'll have to trace them back, find the point of origin.
|
|
The first source and destroy it.
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
I don't know, Bishop. Maybe we oughtta just stay out of their way...
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
You can't, Hicks. This goes far beyond mere interspecies competition. These
|
|
creatures are to biological life what antimatter is to matter.
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
How do you mean?
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
There isn't room for the both of you, Hicks, not in this universe.
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
That's crazy, Bishop...
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
No. You're already at war, Hicks. War to extermination. The alien knows no
|
|
other mode.
|
|
|
|
HICKS
|
|
Hell, man, we been at war all my life. Near enough, anyway. With her (he looks
|
|
down at the Vietnamese commando). With all her brothers and sisters. That's
|
|
what got us into this shit in the first place!
|
|
|
|
BISHOP
|
|
But now you've seen the enemy, Hicks. So has she. She's not it. Neither are
|
|
you. This is a Darwinian universe, Hicks. Will the alien be the ultimate
|
|
survivor?
|
|
|
|
Hicks doesn't answer. He just looks at Bishop. Bishop goes back to repairing
|
|
his circuitry.
|
|
|
|
CLOSE ON:
|
|
|
|
Spence's sleeping face and the face of the dying commando.
|
|
|
|
DISSOLVE TO:
|
|
|
|
EXT. SPACE
|
|
|
|
Approach of a large ship.
|
|
|
|
The PING of homing radar.
|
|
|
|
ANGLE ON THE HULL
|
|
|
|
As it slides past, enormous letters: KANSAS CITY
|
|
|
|
EXT. SPACE - ANGLE UP
|
|
|
|
>From below Kansas City as a wide bay opens up.
|
|
|
|
The interceptor comes into frame and is drawn up into the brightly lit hold.
|
|
|
|
The bay closes.
|
|
|
|
EXT. SPACE
|
|
|
|
Kansas City. Receding. Gone.
|
|
|
|
The stars.
|
|
|
|
FADE OUT
|
|
|
|
THE END
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
==========================================================================
|
|
|
|
Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies,rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.movies,news.answers,rec.answers,alt.answers
|
|
Path: helix.net!unixg.ubc.ca!news.bc.net!vanbc.wimsey.com!scipio.cyberstore.ca!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!sunic!trane.uninett.no!eunet.no!nuug!EU.net!sun4nl!news.nic.surfnet.nl!tudelft.nl!news.twi.tudelft.nl!vos
|
|
From: Vos@Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL
|
|
Subject: MOVIES: ALIEN FAQ part 4/4
|
|
Message-ID: <CyvG3D.EEs@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl>
|
|
Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies
|
|
Sender: vos@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (E.W.C. de Vos)
|
|
Organization: Weyland Yutani - "Building Better Worlds"
|
|
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 00:30:49 GMT
|
|
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
|
|
Expires: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 23:00:00 GMT
|
|
Lines: 823
|
|
Xref: helix.net alt.cult-movies:16583 rec.arts.sf.movies:8576 rec.arts.movies:42909 news.answers:4901 rec.answers:1510
|
|
|
|
Posting-Frequency: approx. every month
|
|
Archive-name: movies/alien-faq/part4
|
|
Version: 2.1
|
|
|
|
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
& &
|
|
& ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Information and Frequently Asked Questions &
|
|
& &
|
|
& Version 2.1 &
|
|
& &
|
|
& PART 4 of 4 &
|
|
& &
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16. SOME HEAVY DEDUCTIONS
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following is a highly speculative theory regarding the evolutionary
|
|
history of the alien creatures and their natural hosts, as well as the nature
|
|
and conditions of the alien homeworld. These speculations are based on
|
|
the following assumptions; that the alien evolved on a planet and was not
|
|
created de novo by another species in its current form, that the alien and its
|
|
homeworld have been shaped by physical and evolutionary forces which
|
|
are similar to those in effect on our own world, that the alien is not the
|
|
dominant life form on its homeworld, existing instead as part of a complex
|
|
ecosystem, and that the homeworld is as diverse with life forms and
|
|
potential habitats as is our own. The information used as a basis for this
|
|
speculation comes solely from the Alien, Aliens and Alien^3 films.
|
|
|
|
Important common features of aliens taken from the 3 films:
|
|
|
|
Host dependent reproduction
|
|
Dual stage metamorphic life cycle
|
|
Metallo-silicate exoskeleton
|
|
Endoskeleton in juvenile form
|
|
Growth-stage mediated shedding of skin
|
|
Low pH blood
|
|
Increased speed & strength (relative to human standards)
|
|
Large curving crania of varying morphology
|
|
Internal mouthed tongue
|
|
Carnivorous external teeth
|
|
Air sac bellows in the juvenile form
|
|
Articulated limbs and tail in all life stages
|
|
Varying number of limbs and digits in different life stages
|
|
Predatory or greater intelligence
|
|
Copious production of "slime'
|
|
|
|
Presumed common features observed in some subset of the films:
|
|
|
|
Presumed sociality and communication
|
|
(i.e., the hive was not a fluke)
|
|
Internal pressure greater than 14 psi
|
|
Body temperature equals ambient temperature
|
|
Can "breathe" underwater
|
|
Nest built in hot area
|
|
|
|
Some or all of these features may be due to the adaptation/modification of
|
|
the organism to its current lifestyle as a space faring parasitic species. In
|
|
the case of modification, it would be most parsimonious to assume that the
|
|
aliens were intended for use as biological weapons. This theory assumes
|
|
that the creatures found in space are adapted or modified to living in this
|
|
habitat, and focuses on estimating their possible ancestral forms and the
|
|
state of the ancestral homeworld. It assumes that any modifications and
|
|
adaptations have been made using pre-existing characteristics, so that the
|
|
ancestral creatures posses similar characteristics. The creatures found in
|
|
space are referred to as "modern" in the following discussion.
|
|
|
|
To avoid confusion between discussions of various theorized species and
|
|
their respective life cycles, the life stages have been given specific
|
|
designations as follows:
|
|
|
|
Life cycle phases: Life stage designation
|
|
[1] Egg is lain EGG
|
|
*maturation phase* [this period might occur in utero]
|
|
[2] Egg matures
|
|
*dormant phase* [length of this phase is indefinite]
|
|
Host signals are detected = motion + sounds
|
|
[3] Egg hatches and mobile crawler follows signals to hostLARVA
|
|
[4] Host's breathing orifice is secured by "face hugging" crawler
|
|
*implantation phase* ~24 hours
|
|
Embryo is implanted in host breathing system. EMBRYO
|
|
Crawler falls off, dead.
|
|
*gestation phase* ~1-10 days
|
|
[5] Chestbuster emerges from host NYMPH
|
|
[6] Chestbuster stage undergoes a series of instar-like INSTAR
|
|
transformations until the imago is achieved. IMAGO
|
|
[7] Queen-imago lays egg QUEEN
|
|
|
|
The life stages encompassing the egg, larva and embryo are referred to as
|
|
JUVENILE, and those encompassing the nymph, instars and imagoes are
|
|
referred to as ADULT.
|
|
|
|
Discussion of observed characteristics:
|
|
|
|
The alien life cycle is divided into two distinct stages which are
|
|
reminiscent of the alternating sporophyte and gametophyte generational
|
|
stages of plants and fungi. Plants produce distinct types of reproductive
|
|
cells (spores or gametes) which give rise to genetically distinct types of
|
|
organisms. Spores grow into gametophytes, which produce gametes, while
|
|
gametes fuse to form sporophytes which produce spores. In the alien
|
|
species, the sporophyte stage could be represented by the juvenile stages.
|
|
These would create the "spore" or embryo. The gametophyte stage could
|
|
be represented by the adult stages. These would lay eggs after gamete
|
|
fusion. Such a strategy in might be indicative of an chaotic and dangerous
|
|
natural environment (see discussion of hypothetical ancestors). We have
|
|
zero knowledge of the genetics of these creatures, so further speculation
|
|
on the existence or nature of alien reproductive cells is futile.
|
|
|
|
The alien morphology seems to be a melange of arthropod and
|
|
vertebrate characteristics. The segmented exoskeletal carapace and
|
|
variable numbers of limbs are reminiscent of terrestrial arthropods (as well
|
|
as armored fishes and reptiles to a lesser extent), while the adult body plan
|
|
seems more vertebrate in nature; the presence of a jaw, spine terminating
|
|
in a tail and limbs ending in grasping hands and feet as opposed to the
|
|
mouthparts, legs and body plan of an arthropod suggest a vertebrate
|
|
morphology. The larval legs are articulated via an endoskeleton, which
|
|
appears to be covered in a sheath of muscle and a pliable external layer of
|
|
protein and silicon. This seems to indicate that the oldest ancestors of
|
|
these creatures posessed endoskeletons, and that exoskeletons evolved
|
|
later. As is the case with vertebrate evolution in the Silurian and Devonian
|
|
periods, the endoskeleton may have evolved first as a means to protect the
|
|
CNS, and the exoskeleton could have evolved secondarily; in response to
|
|
environmental challenges.
|
|
|
|
The eggs are complex organisms in and of themselves. They are
|
|
responsible for maintaining life support for the larva for an indefinite
|
|
amount of time, and must recognize a potential host and distinguish it
|
|
from valid members of the nest. The eggs contain rudimentary moving
|
|
parts. Once the egg has determined that a host is proximal, it releases the
|
|
larva. In the modern species, the egg is flammable, translucent and
|
|
unarmored. Their gracile nature in comparison to the adults may be in
|
|
response to the security afforded by the nest strategy. Because of these
|
|
unusual qualities in an egg, it might be that the egg and larva constitute a
|
|
single organism up until the point where the larva is released. The size of
|
|
an egg in comparison to the size of the contained larva indicates
|
|
substantial internal morphology, consistent with requirements for life
|
|
support and sensory systems.
|
|
|
|
Despite the obvious immediate differences, the organism's basic body plan
|
|
may be conserved between the juvenile and adult forms. The larval form
|
|
has 8 legs, and while imago forms only appear to have 4 limbs, queens
|
|
appear to have 8. All forms have a single articulated tail, implying the
|
|
presence of a spine and CNS. As the juveniles posses an endoskeleton it
|
|
could be assumed that the adults do as well. The adult head morphology is
|
|
quite distinctive. In the post-nymph forms, the mouth contains a secondary
|
|
set of jaws on the end of the tongue, and the head is long and curved. In
|
|
the modern species, it is probable that the larval form is derived to the
|
|
point where a majority of the sensory portions of the larval body remain in
|
|
the egg when the larva is released. Anatomy corresponding to the adult
|
|
head may be contained within the egg. Accordingly, if the juvenile "air-
|
|
sacs" are used for respiration, any adult breathing apparatus would be
|
|
located posterior to the hindmost pair of adult legs. Four "vanes" are
|
|
visible on the backs of most adults, and six are visible along the backs of
|
|
queens. These may function in breathing. Additionally, the head
|
|
configuration of the adult may be adaptive in that it would prevent
|
|
accidental implantation of an embryo into an adult by a larva, or prevent
|
|
intentional implantation by a larva of another species. The legs of the larva
|
|
will not easily grasp the adult head, and the ventral "embryopositor" tube
|
|
will be subject to attack by the mouthed tongue. This may suggest that
|
|
there are competing species of these creatures on the homeworld.
|
|
|
|
While in the egg, the larva sloshes about in a fluid, suggesting aquatic
|
|
origins for this species. The emerging larva retains a thin coating of the
|
|
internal fluid, and this layer appears to be caustic, although the caustic
|
|
properties are not as dramatic as those displayed by the organism's blood.
|
|
The combination of the egg fluid and blood pH indicates drastically
|
|
different aquatic environment on the homeworld than on earth. It is
|
|
possible that the pH of the egg fluid is closer to the true pH of the oceans
|
|
on the homeworld and that the caustic properties of the organism's blood
|
|
are due to a combination of modification and adaptation to the parasitic
|
|
lifestyle, or the egg maturation process may deplete the egg fluid of its
|
|
caustic properties.
|
|
|
|
Interior carapace pressure might indicate a higher average planetary
|
|
pressure than 14 psi. This could be a defense mechanism, or it could
|
|
simply be circulatory pressure. The internal physiology of the organism
|
|
has yet to be revealed, but pulsing "artery-like" structures have been
|
|
observed in emergent nymphs. Possibly the homeworld is larger or the
|
|
atmosphere is heavier than on earth. The larval air sacs/bellows might be a
|
|
historical adaptation to living beyond the aqueous environment, but it is
|
|
possible that these are a parasitic adaptation, and are not required by the
|
|
organism. The degree to which they function is probably dictated by the
|
|
atmospheric requirements of the host, but we have no knowledge of the
|
|
organism's atmospheric requirements. If such sacs are required, the larva
|
|
will not survive in vacuum. The adults appear to function as well
|
|
underwater as out of it, implying that the do not use air sacs. It is possible
|
|
that inert gasses irritate the adults. Possibly, they breathe using modified
|
|
gill structures located in the dorsal vanes.
|
|
|
|
Body temperature is ambient, perhaps indicating a generally warm
|
|
planetary surface temperature, or geothermal habitat requirement. It
|
|
remains to be seen how long the imago can survive in a vacuum or sub-
|
|
freezing temperatures. The low pH of the blood would seem to indicate a
|
|
drastically reduced freezing point. Queens survive extended periods of
|
|
transit through both of these environments, and it is possible that other
|
|
instar and imago forms may as well. The various adult forms demonstrate
|
|
aversion to open flames, but unlike the eggs and nymphs, are not
|
|
flammable. This suggests temperature boundaries within the upper limits
|
|
of terrestrial environments.
|
|
|
|
The lack of obvious eyes in any observed stages indicates that the aliens
|
|
either live entirely in enclosed or subterranean areas, or that there is no
|
|
visible light incident on the surface of the homeworld. If the organisms
|
|
lived entirely underground, their size and potential for well populated
|
|
nests implies a well developed and robust subterranean ecosystem. If they
|
|
lived the entirety of their lives in their nests, they would be dependent
|
|
upon the movement of prey and hosts into the nest for survival. It is
|
|
possible that they lure these into the nest, but the aliens seem quite capable
|
|
and adept at retrieving them as well. If they dwelled on an illuminated
|
|
surface for any amount of time, eyes would be a distinct advantage.
|
|
|
|
The aliens display significant ability to cling to and move on vertical and
|
|
inverted surfaces, supporting the idea that a significant portion of time is
|
|
spent underground or in enclosed spaces. Nests fit this description, and it
|
|
may be that castes which venture outside of the nest posses eyes. In this
|
|
case, these castes have not yet been observed. The nests might be
|
|
constructed above or below ground or water, but seem to be designed so
|
|
that the resinous construction material covers all surfaces near their cores.
|
|
Partially submerged nests would require air chambers for hosts and larvae.
|
|
|
|
Copious amounts of a viscous substance are constantly being secreted
|
|
from the mouthparts and neighboring regions. This substance appears to
|
|
be used in constructing nests, hardening to form a resin. Thick strands may
|
|
also be produced, although the mechanism for this is unclear. Prior to
|
|
hardening, the resin does not display caustic properties, and may act to
|
|
neutralize acids. This would be useful, both in offering protection from an
|
|
acidic environment, and in protecting the nest from being accidentally
|
|
dissolved.
|
|
|
|
Homeworld speculation:
|
|
(assuming that the aliens are not entirely subterranean)
|
|
|
|
The homeworld has a higher atmospheric pressure and possibly a greater
|
|
gravity than terrestrial standards. It has oceans which are of a very low pH
|
|
and most likely an atmosphere of similar low pH. The EM spectrum
|
|
incident upon the homeworld is significantly different from terrestrial
|
|
standards, lacking "visible" wavelengths. This might indicate that the
|
|
planet's orbit is very large, that it is extremely overcast or that it orbits a
|
|
weak sun. In this case, the ecosystem might be based on geochemical and
|
|
geothermal systems. Geothermal activity might also provide a relatively
|
|
high ambient temperature. The acidic nature of the aquatic and
|
|
atmospheric environments might also be due to extensive production of
|
|
hydrogen sulfide and other "high energy" compounds via geochemical
|
|
activity. A high level of volcanic and tectonic activity might be maintained
|
|
by tidal forces stemming from planetary and stellar bodies in the system.
|
|
An ecosystem not based on photosynthesis would require radically
|
|
different energy production schemes. Such an ecosystem might be
|
|
founded on thermo- and acidophillic microorganisms. Larger autotrophs
|
|
might incorporate endosymbiotic versions of these microorganisms.
|
|
Vegetative "plants" would be found around areas of geothermal and
|
|
geochemical activity, both on the surface and on the floor of the oceans.
|
|
Other organisms might exploit the difference in pH and temperature at the
|
|
boundary between aquatic and terrestrial environments. If volcanic activity
|
|
were responsible for the overcast nature of the atmosphere, incident light
|
|
might be used by photosynthetic organisms high in the atmosphere.
|
|
Thermophillic photosynthesizing organisms might also be found near lava
|
|
flows. Areas free of volcanic activity would be dead zones, possibly
|
|
inhabited by hibernating organisms awaiting an increase in ocean level or
|
|
the occasional lost creature.
|
|
Extensive tectonic and volcanic activity might result in habitats
|
|
subject to frequent change. A geothermal habitat might be replaced by a
|
|
geochemical or volcanic habitat, or might be flooded. If this were the case,
|
|
organisms would have to be either extremely adaptive or mobile in order
|
|
to survive.
|
|
|
|
Hypothetical ancestors:
|
|
|
|
The presence of an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton implies that
|
|
conditions changed during the evolution of the organism, requiring
|
|
armored protection of the entire body. Drastically increased predation is
|
|
one such possible change, while a dramatic lowering of the pH of the
|
|
environment is a second. These options are not mutually exclusive; hostile
|
|
changes in the environment may cause increases in levels of predation.
|
|
A low pH ocean could literally dissolve its inhabitants, forcing
|
|
them to lower their pH to meet that of the environment, present a barrier
|
|
against the caustic properties of their surroundings, leave the oceans or try
|
|
these strategies in various combinations. Thick layers of continuously
|
|
renewed armor would be constantly ablated by the acid, but could protect
|
|
underlying tissues, and secretion of neutralizing substances could serve as
|
|
similar a shield. A lowering of the blood pH might offer some protection,
|
|
but might also begin to damage one's own tissues, and would probably be
|
|
energetically expensive. Raising the pH of one's tissues would not be a
|
|
successful strategy in an aquatic environment.
|
|
The aliens posses all of these characteristics to various degrees,
|
|
suggesting that the aquatic environment is either extremely caustic, or
|
|
became progressively more caustic in discrete degrees. The modern
|
|
species appears only to produce secretions in and around the mouth
|
|
region; possibly the protective substance has to be applied to exposed
|
|
regions of the anatomy, or whole body coverage is not necessary beyond
|
|
an aquatic environment. In the former case, hardening of the resin might
|
|
serve to bolster the exoskeleton, or the exoskeleton might be formed of the
|
|
same substance, secreted from the surface of the body. The endo- and
|
|
exoskeletons would be made from different substances in this case. In
|
|
either case, the secretions around the mouth are used for building the nest.
|
|
Ancestral types might have been covered in an additional layer of
|
|
secretions.
|
|
The larvae are known to have an external layer composed of some
|
|
combination of protein-polysaccharides and polarized silicon. Larvae do
|
|
not seem to produce secretions, and the external layer is not as hard in
|
|
appearance as the adult carapace. In non-nymph adults, this carapace has a
|
|
metallic appearance, and is probably composed of additional materials.
|
|
The teeth of nymphs often have a metallic appearance. If the hardening of
|
|
resinous secretions were the source of the exoskeleton, these secretions
|
|
might contain different substances depending on their intended use.
|
|
Secretions destined to become armor, structural material or strands and
|
|
cables might have very different compositions.
|
|
Living in a variety of challenging and dangerous environments
|
|
might favor the observed division of reproductive strategies. The organism
|
|
might be able to adapt rapidly to changing environments by using varying
|
|
morphologies and reproductive strategies as a means of "shifting gears".
|
|
An organism that was unconcerned with finding a mate could focus on
|
|
finding a carrier or host capable of moving its offspring to a potentially
|
|
more hospitable area. Organisms in a hospitable area could focus on
|
|
reproducing themselves as efficiently as possible. Primitive juveniles
|
|
could create embryos to be carried away by mobile hosts, while successful
|
|
adults could create multiple eggs which were suited to their environment.
|
|
Thus selection operates one way on the juveniles, selecting for those able
|
|
to find suitable hosts (including mobility when the environment is
|
|
shifting), and another way on the adults, selecting for those best suited to
|
|
their environment. This implies that primitive juvenile stages were capable
|
|
of predicting environmental shifts and altering their host selection
|
|
accordingly. That the modern species has an "atrophied" juvenile stage
|
|
implies that a stable environment was located, or that a novel strategy for
|
|
relocating was developed. The stable environment may have been space,
|
|
or perhaps there are yet unobserved castes capable of carrying eggs long
|
|
distances.
|
|
|
|
The ancestral organism's life cycle might have been similar to that
|
|
of a caterpillar/butterfly. The organism searches for a host off of which an
|
|
embryo may feed after being lain by a larva, much like a caterpillar on a
|
|
leaf. Possibly older pre-parasitic forms of this organism were like
|
|
caterpillars; the implanted "embryos" may have been mobile, representing
|
|
an intermediate life-stage (PRO-EMBRYO). It is possible that the nymph
|
|
stage may have occupied this position, having been "laid" by the larva in a
|
|
more advanced form. It certainly seems to be the case that the juvenile and
|
|
nymph stages of the modern species are developmentally simplified. The
|
|
modern larva is not capable of ingesting nutrients, being solely devoted to
|
|
implanting one embryo, and some modern nymphs emerge sans limbs or
|
|
with "limbs buds".
|
|
|
|
This primitive life cycle might have proceeded as follows:
|
|
|
|
[1] Egg is lain - matures - hatches
|
|
[2] Larva proceeds in search of food and an appropriately mobile host.
|
|
[3] Larva finds a host, lays pro-embryo on the host and returns to stage 2.
|
|
[4] Pro-embryo "grazes" on host organism or organisms
|
|
[5] Pro-embryo develops into first instar, becoming independent of host.
|
|
[6] Instars develop into imago forms.
|
|
[7] Imago searches for food and mates, lays eggs.
|
|
|
|
This life cycle is only "mildly" parasitic; the pro-embryo does not
|
|
necessarily harm the host during its grazing/feeding activity, but remains
|
|
in jeopardy of discovery and extermination in this vulnerable state. If the
|
|
pro-embryo were implanted internally to the host and absorbed nutrients
|
|
directly from the host, it could be less vulnerable. The first parasitic
|
|
ancestors may have placed their pro-embryos internal to the host, where
|
|
nutrients could be obtained partially digested food in the host's "stomach"
|
|
or digestive system. If the host digestive system bore similarity to
|
|
vertebrate systems, there may have been compartments of extreme pH,
|
|
which may have contributed to the acidophilic nature of the modern
|
|
species. More advanced parasites might have done away with their pro-
|
|
embryo forms, simply implanting embryos within their hosts and which
|
|
would grow to nymph form by stealing nutrients directly from the host.
|
|
These parasites would not have been social organisms.
|
|
|
|
hypothetical ancestors and habitats:
|
|
unarmored aquatic vertebrate in a mildly acidic ocean
|
|
slime-resin coated aquatic vertebrate in an acidic ocean
|
|
resin-armored and slime coated aquatic creature in a
|
|
very acidic ocean
|
|
armored terrestrial creature coping with a variety of hostile surface
|
|
environments
|
|
above described creature with a grazing pro-embryo form
|
|
above described creature with a parasitic embryo form
|
|
|
|
The development of sociality:
|
|
|
|
In descending order, the "weak" points in the life cycle of the pre-social
|
|
organisms appear to be the dormant phase, the gestation phase and the
|
|
travel time of the larva from egg to host. These risks could be minimized
|
|
by securing the eggs "underground" (away from host/egg predation), and
|
|
by immobilizing hosts near to the eggs. The eggs might remain susceptible
|
|
to predation by small egg eating creatures or larger creatures capable of
|
|
entering an active nest, requiring cooperative measures on the part of
|
|
adults in protecting them. Sociality might develop naturally from such a
|
|
system. Initially, a division of labor between hunter-foragers to locate and
|
|
retrieve fresh hosts and warrior-scavenger-nurses to protect the eggs and
|
|
gestating hosts from predators might suffice. The subsequent evolution of
|
|
the queen dominated caste system may have been a way to diminish
|
|
competition for hosts between partially related organisms, by establishing
|
|
genetically homogenous nests. The large numbers of eggs produced by
|
|
modern queens seem to indicate a strategy involving overproduction of
|
|
eggs. The persistence of this strategy in the modern species might be due
|
|
to co-evolution of egg predators, or to environmental conditions where the
|
|
risk of destruction of significant portions of the nest was high.
|
|
|
|
Host Mediated Adaptation:
|
|
|
|
A further means to adapt to an environment is by adopting
|
|
strategies developed earlier by another species. The embryo is in a prime
|
|
position to learn about the metabolic and environmental conditions of its
|
|
host. Knowledge of local environmental conditions such as the pH,
|
|
atmospheric content and energy generation schemes would be important
|
|
for post emergence survival. Varying energy generation schemes may
|
|
result in differing metabolisms. Knowledge of the metabolic level and
|
|
requirements of the host gives an advantage to be used in hunting such
|
|
hosts. The development of the nymph might mimic other physical
|
|
attributes of the host as well. For example, if the host spent much time
|
|
hanging upside down, the nymph could develop that way as well, making
|
|
it a competent predator in an "upside down" environment.
|
|
Adult organisms are presumably adapted to their environment via
|
|
some combination of this host mediated process in concert with post-
|
|
emergence selection. In the primitive species, larval offspring of these
|
|
adapted adults will have to evaluate the state of the environment to
|
|
determine if they should seek a mobile host to find a more hospitable
|
|
environment, or if the should seek one to which they are adapted.
|
|
If a larva chooses a mobile host, its embryo may posses different
|
|
metabolic requirements or a generally different metabolism, which may
|
|
result in the death of the embryo after prolonged exposure. The nymph
|
|
must remain capable of aborting its development at the minimum possible
|
|
stage and emerging from the host, developing a new adaptive strategy
|
|
from the information gathered from the host, and surviving to reproduce
|
|
and lay eggs adapted to the new environment. This minimum stage is
|
|
limbless, displaying only the buds of limbs, and uses the segmented tail
|
|
for propulsion.
|
|
If the larva chooses a host to which it is adapted, there will be
|
|
much less danger to the embryo from the host's metabolism, and the
|
|
nymph will be able to develop to its full form prior to emergence. This full
|
|
form possesses two sets of limbs in addition to the tail. It is possible that a
|
|
host chosen by a larva that detects no impending environmental shift
|
|
might be immobile or vegetative in nature.
|
|
Once a relatively stable environment has been located (in which
|
|
several rounds of reproduction were possible), a varying progression of
|
|
forms might be observed, as pressures of selection and host mediated
|
|
adaptation refine the organism's strategy for survival in the environment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sensation:
|
|
Since the creatures do not posses any eyes by terrestrial standards,
|
|
they must have some other means of sensing their environment. If the
|
|
body plan is conserved between juvenile and adult stages, it is reasonable
|
|
to assume that the same types of sensors are used in each case. The eggs
|
|
appear to be able to detect motion and proximity, and to be able to
|
|
distinguish between hosts and nestmates. The sensation of heat may not be
|
|
important to this process, as the natural host may have had similar body
|
|
temperature. The larvae are capable locating and determining the distance
|
|
to the host implantation orifice, and of leaping through space to that
|
|
orifice. The adults are capable of distinguishing between nestmates and
|
|
potential hosts, and are capable of detecting movement. They are probably
|
|
also possessed of pattern recognition systems, and spatial arrangement
|
|
recognition systems. Adults have been observed to fixate on objects using
|
|
their heads, suggesting that their primary sensory organs are located in the
|
|
anterior portions of their heads.
|
|
All adult stages are capable of producing a variety of sounds, and it
|
|
is probably the case that they can hear and communicate via sound.
|
|
Communication with "stripped down" eggs is probably better facilitated
|
|
via chemical means than sound. It is likely that recognition of nestmates is
|
|
achieved via a combination of chemical and sonic communication. Eggs
|
|
might communicate with each other via chemical signals. The detection of
|
|
motion and proximity may be facilitated via sonic systems. In terrestrial
|
|
nocturnal, subterranean and aquatic environments, these have proven quite
|
|
successful, and accordingly, the shape of the head is reminiscent of
|
|
cetacean crania. However, the large curving structure of the head might
|
|
serve as some other sort of sensor as well. It could be used to detect EM
|
|
wavelengths other than visible light, although it is not obvious how useful
|
|
such a structure would be in detecting longer or shorter wavelengths.
|
|
Interestingly, the creatures might have a sensory system similar to the
|
|
"motion tracking" technology developed by humans.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Communication:
|
|
Variation in the surface morphology of the head seems to indicate
|
|
a sensory function. Lone adults have uniform smooth reflective heads,
|
|
while adults functioning in a nest have distinct anterior and posterior head
|
|
sections; the posterior region being covered in a ribbed pattern with a
|
|
sagittal crest, and the anterior region being characteristically smooth with
|
|
a pair of pits on either side of the head. This morphology in social
|
|
organisms may be used in sonic and chemical communication. That this
|
|
ribbed pattern is visible in the neck regions of the lone adult may indicate
|
|
that the smooth reflective surface of the heads serves as a canopy covering
|
|
more complex structures.
|
|
This smooth canopy is reminiscent of the smooth surfaces of the
|
|
queen's headpiece sheath. This sheath is comprised of at least three
|
|
independent pieces, the largest of which possesses several overlapping
|
|
flanges. Various sized holes are visible between these flanges, and the
|
|
entire sheath may serve as a production organ for chemical signals. In the
|
|
transformation from imago to queen-imago (see the discussion of ancestral
|
|
types below), the adult canopy may develop into the sheath. Once this
|
|
transformation has been accomplished, the new queen would issue
|
|
chemical signals destroying the canopies of any nearby adults.
|
|
If the ribbed structures beneath the canopy corresponded to modest
|
|
versions of the signal procution organs beneath the queen's sheath and
|
|
were be used for communication between nestmates, the canopy might
|
|
serve to isolate a lone adult from foreign signals. Canopied adults would in
|
|
effect be "deaf" to most nest signals. If all nestmates are progeny of the
|
|
same queen, then the canopy destroying signal produced by a particular
|
|
queen might be genetically specified. A canopied adult which found itself
|
|
near a foreign nest or a foreign queen would not be susceptible to that
|
|
queen's signals, and would develop into a queen. An adult which found
|
|
itself near a related nest or queen would lose its canopy and join the nest.
|
|
A dead queen would be replaced by a young canopied adult. It could be
|
|
assumed that an uncanopied adult would be utterly subservient to the
|
|
commands of a queen, in which case it might be possible for one queen to
|
|
kill another and steal the uncanopied members of the nest. The canopy
|
|
must allow limited communication, as a valid queen must be able to order
|
|
its destruction. Possibly, canopied adults would be capable of identifying
|
|
hosts harboring embryos as well, and could act to protect related embryos
|
|
and possibly destroy unrelated ones.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The modern and ancestral natural hosts:
|
|
|
|
The modern species" reproductive cycle is problematic because it
|
|
displays a dependence upon the death of a host for the reproduction of a
|
|
each organism. A host which survived nymph emergence might favor the
|
|
development of this lifestyle. Such a host would have to withstand the
|
|
damage incurred in emergence, and be able to survive further rounds of
|
|
implantation, gestation and emergence. Alternatively, ancestral forms of
|
|
the organism might have used a less injurious host-emergence strategy. If
|
|
instead of creating new exits, the nymphs emerged via the orifice through
|
|
which they were implanted, the chance of the host surviving would
|
|
increase dramatically. Possibly, ancestral organisms used such a strategy.
|
|
Also, a host with thick exterior armor would make creation of new exits
|
|
difficult. In any case, a large organism would be better suited to surviving
|
|
the embryo development process. The parasite might be little more than a
|
|
pest for a host of sufficient size, and might even serve some symbiotic
|
|
function by feeding on exoskeletal parasites of the host after emergence.
|
|
|
|
The implantation period indicates a requirement for about 24 hours of
|
|
close contact. This is facilitated by the articulated limbs and the tail. In
|
|
modern creatures, the larval "embryopositor" appears to be composed of
|
|
soft tissue, indicating that implantation is probably directly onto the
|
|
desired internal substrate as opposed to being gained by destruction of
|
|
external tissue. In addition to other possible functions, the mouthed tongue
|
|
of the imago might function to permit sampling of the tissue contained
|
|
within a hard carapace. These data suggest that the natural host possessed
|
|
a hard shell.
|
|
|
|
During the implantation phase, the host is provided with atmosphere via
|
|
specialized bellows structures on the larva, implying that the host would
|
|
be in danger of asphyxiation during the implantation process. Thus the
|
|
natural host probably has only one breathing orifice, and is at least
|
|
partially terrestrial. The parameters of the area surrounding the natural
|
|
host's breathing orifice may be estimated via observing the length of tail
|
|
available and the available span of the articulated limbs (2-3 feet for the
|
|
limbs and 4-5 feet of tail). This orifice is most likely at the end of a stalk
|
|
of indeterminate length, which might be up to a foot in diameter. The
|
|
terminus of this stalk is most likely a spheroid 1-2 feet in diameter.
|
|
The amount of oxygen provided to the host is limited by the size of
|
|
the larval bellows apparatus, and this would limit the size of a potential
|
|
host and that host's activity during implantation. Possibly the bellows size
|
|
has evolved to parallel changes in host size. The constrictive nature of the
|
|
tail would seem to suggest that the host's breathing is accomplished by
|
|
changing the volume of the stalk. Bi-directional air flow in the host might
|
|
be accomplished via the use of peristaltic waves. Since the host is likely
|
|
armored, the tail would probably not be capable of constricting the host
|
|
unless this strategy were used to inhale and exhale.
|
|
|
|
Assuming that the host would resent an attack on its sole breathing orifice
|
|
and the subsequent implantation event, temporary incapacitation of the
|
|
host would be desirable on the part of the organism. An extremely large
|
|
host might be able to detach the larva at negligible expense to its own
|
|
structure. Possibly the constrictive nature of the tail is used to immobilize
|
|
the host initially. However, an incapacitated host would be easy prey to
|
|
various other predatory creatures. It is possible that the implantation
|
|
period would not be *extremely* uncomfortable for the host, and that the
|
|
host would be capable of enduring the implantation period without
|
|
sufficient cause to successfully dislodge the parasite. In this case, the
|
|
implantation process might only diminish the host's "natural breathing
|
|
capacity', requiring the supplemental air supply provided by the larva. In
|
|
such a scenario, it might be possible for multiple larvae to simultaneously
|
|
implant embryos in hosts.
|
|
|
|
Emergence of the nymph seems to be triggered by moderate levels of host
|
|
activity. This might be a valid strategy if the host was preyed upon.
|
|
Moderate levels of activity would indicate that there were no predators
|
|
around and that the locale was safe for nymph emergence. Sufficiently
|
|
high level of activity might indicate flight from a predator, and a period of
|
|
inactivity might be indicative of a host's attempt to hide from a predator.
|
|
|
|
The general conclusions regarding the natural host are as follows; it is a
|
|
large terrestrial or semi-aquatic organism which breathes through an
|
|
orifice at the end of a stalk. This could be the host's head, or it could be a
|
|
specialized structure. The host is most likely armored and is possibly prey
|
|
to other predators.
|
|
|
|
Most of the above speculation regards the natural host of the pre-social
|
|
organism. The natural host of the social organism is most likely a smaller
|
|
version of the described host. Smaller hosts would occur in more abundant
|
|
numbers, and their populations might tolerate the parasitic lifestyle of
|
|
increasing numbers of aliens. In addition, it is more efficient to capture,
|
|
immobilize and maintain smaller hosts than large. It is possible that the
|
|
modern organism's penchant for creating a new emergence orifice is a
|
|
modification subsequent to the dispersal into space; on the homeworld, the
|
|
social organisms might remain capable of multiple rounds of implantation,
|
|
gestation and emergence on a single host. Some species might retain the
|
|
ability to switch from a social mode to a more primitive non-social mode.
|
|
|
|
Proposed ancestral types: Presumably, organisms which use these
|
|
strategies still live on the homeworld.
|
|
|
|
Early ancestor: a non-social creature with a multi-stage life cycle. Most
|
|
stages of this life cycle are omnivorous. This is a very primitive version of
|
|
the organism.
|
|
Natural host: The natural host might be any large mobile creature, or it
|
|
might be some sort of immobile vegetative organism.
|
|
Life cycle: Eggs are laid in large clutches, perhaps buried in the ground or
|
|
perhaps attached to vegetative organisms via resin. This resin might also
|
|
serve to protect the eggs from predation. After a long maturation phase,
|
|
these eggs hatch and larvae emerge. These are free living organisms in
|
|
their own right, devoted to finding food and potential hosts. Possessed of
|
|
advanced sensory capabilities, these creatures are capable of producing
|
|
many pro-embryos. The eggs of this species would be little more than
|
|
containers, possessing no sensory apparatus and probably opening upon
|
|
the signal of the larva. These larvae locate and lay pro-embryos on
|
|
putative hosts. These pro-embryos digest whatever available food there is
|
|
to be found on their substrate; the food might be other surface parasites or
|
|
vegetative matter or secreted substances. These pro-embryos would be
|
|
capable of moving between hosts, and some in some "vegetative" species
|
|
might serve in a "cross-pollinating" capacity. In more advanced forms, the
|
|
pro-embryos might live in the host digestive system, feeding off of
|
|
partially digested nutrients. Once a sufficient level of nutrition has been
|
|
achieved, the embryo metamorphoses into a nymph and becomes a free
|
|
living organism. Progression through of a series of predatory instars yields
|
|
the imago, which serves the sole purpose of laying more eggs.
|
|
Comments: There are a variety of lifecycle and lifestyle strategies which
|
|
may be derived from this organism. There are probably a variety of
|
|
different species descended from this general form. The imago is the fully
|
|
adult form of the organism, having spent all of its instars searching for
|
|
food. As with the pro-embryo, this food might be both vegetative or
|
|
"animal" in nature.
|
|
|
|
Medial ancestor: a non-social predatory creature with a dual stage life
|
|
cycle. This type of creature is perhaps on the verge of developing into the
|
|
modern organism.
|
|
Natural host: The natural host is a large creature that breathes atmosphere
|
|
through a single orifice on the end of an armored stalk. Airflow through
|
|
this stalk is maintained by expanding and contracting the walls of the
|
|
stalk, possibly via peristaltic waves.
|
|
Life cycle: Thick-hided and perhaps armored eggs are buried in the ground
|
|
and are mortared in place with resin. The eggs mature and enter the
|
|
dormant phase. The motion and sound of a passing potential host signals
|
|
the egg to hatch and disgorge the larva which pursues, catches and
|
|
"boards" the host. In this organism, the larva's sole purpose is to locate and
|
|
implant an embryo into a host as quickly as is possible. Its sensory
|
|
apparatus are devoted to this task alone, and because it does not take
|
|
nutrition, it can only afford to implant a few embryos; in most cases it can
|
|
only manage one. The egg retains a modest ability for detection and
|
|
controls the release of the larva. The larva then locates the breathing
|
|
orifice, affixes itself to it via means of the legs and tail and supplements
|
|
the air flow to the host during the implantation phase. The embryo is
|
|
implanted in the internal substance of the breathing canal. Once
|
|
implantation is complete, the larva dies. The host proceeds, until the
|
|
nymph emerges from its "breathing trunk" via the natural orifice. The host
|
|
most likely survives this ordeal, although it might experience labored
|
|
breathing for a few days. The nymph goes through a series of instars ,
|
|
which hunt for food, until an imago is realized, which hunts for food,
|
|
mates and prospective host ranges. The mouthed tongue might be integral
|
|
to all three pursuits, as well as protecting the adults form implantation by
|
|
larvae of other species. Putative hosts might be weakened by use of the
|
|
mouthed tongue, making them more susceptible to being boarded by the
|
|
larva. A series of eggs might be lain over a large area, awaiting a
|
|
weakened host to stumble through. Possibly, the adults are capable of
|
|
cucooning themselves and or severely weakened hosts with resin in order
|
|
to protect against predation.
|
|
Comments: The eggs and larvae of this species appear intermediate in that
|
|
they share the responsibilities of host detection and selection. This
|
|
suggests that the larva and egg are a single continuous organism in this
|
|
species and that sensory organs are shared or duplicated between the two
|
|
parts.
|
|
|
|
Immediate ancestor: a predatory social creature, possibly smaller than the
|
|
medial ancestral type. This is the organism which immediately predated
|
|
the modern organism.
|
|
Natural host: a smaller version of the ancestor's host, or a similar smaller
|
|
creature.
|
|
Life cycle: A fertile queen lays thick hided eggs in a protected creche.
|
|
These are guarded and tended by various castes of adult relatives. The nest
|
|
is created and maintained by the adults and is constructed from secreted
|
|
resin. The adults procure hosts from outside the nest and immobilize them
|
|
near mature eggs. The eggs open and the larva immediately attach to the
|
|
host. Larval energy usage is almost totally devoted to adhering to the host
|
|
and implanting a single embryo. The large eggs contain most of the
|
|
important sensory and decision making apparatus, leaving the larvae as
|
|
"stripped down" as is possible. Implantation and gestation occur as in the
|
|
medial ancestor, but the nymph tears its way out of the host body. Unless
|
|
it is sufficiently large, the host likely expires in the emergence. The nymph
|
|
develops into an imago via a series of instars, which might perform
|
|
particular duties required by the nest according to their age or caste.
|
|
Comments: Queens display at least six limbs, and an additional pair of
|
|
hind limbs are required to support the ovarian organ systems. Queens have
|
|
a greater number of limbs, digits and dorsal vanes than are observed in
|
|
various adult forms, and thus may represent a most advanced instar form.
|
|
If this is the case, the various observed forms may represent different
|
|
instar stages of adult development, and each of these might correspond to
|
|
a different caste. A nymph which found it self isolated from a nest, or in a
|
|
nest sans a functional queen, might develop rapidly through a series of
|
|
instars (which would only be of use in a functional nest) and into a queen-
|
|
imago which could then begin the egg laying process and re-establish
|
|
control of a leaderless nest. A queen in a functioning nest would suppress
|
|
this development in all other individuals, halting their development at the
|
|
penultimate imago stage. This could be accomplished via a special queen-
|
|
produced chemical signal which causes the destruction of adult canopies.
|
|
A lone imago metamorphosing into a queen-imago might require a period
|
|
of hibernation as it develops the morphological characteristics of a queen:
|
|
the auxiliary ventral arms, large headpiece sheath and externalized ovarian
|
|
systems with associated legs. In this case, the adult canopy might be the
|
|
source of the developmental signals which trigger the transformation, and
|
|
would develop into the sheath.
|
|
The queen-imago is a form devoted to producing large numbers of
|
|
eggs in a short amount of time. Presumably, this form is a novel
|
|
development which is specific to the social species. It might be that imago
|
|
form retains the ability to lay eggs at a much lower rate and at much
|
|
greater expense to itself. This would require an override of the natural
|
|
inclination for canopied imago forms to develop into queen-imagoes, and
|
|
would probably only occur under periods of extreme stress when the
|
|
nutritional requirements of metamorphosis into a queen could not be met.
|
|
|
|
Problems:
|
|
|
|
The most difficult problem regards the provenance of the "acidic blood'. It
|
|
is likely that the caustic properties of the blood are not due to simple pH,
|
|
but that other chemical and enzymatic factors are in effect. Regardless, the
|
|
origin of such a system remains difficult to estimate. The egg fluid would
|
|
seem to indicate a moderately acidic aquatic environment. An acidification
|
|
of the blood might have arisen as a defense mechanism, or in response to
|
|
changes in the environment, or as an adaptation to a life cycle stage in an
|
|
acidic digestive environment. The organism's "blood" might be its
|
|
digestive system, which would suggest an extremely different internal
|
|
structure than terrestrial standards. The caustic properties of the blood
|
|
appear to be more effective on synthetic and organic materials than on
|
|
metals, supporting the idea that other chemical and enzymatic factors are
|
|
at work, which in turn supports the digestive theory.
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer:
|
|
The characteristics discussed above are not the sole characteristics
|
|
available for discussion, nor are the conclusions drawn the only
|
|
conclusions possible. This is simply one possible picture based on the set
|
|
of assumptions and the data.
|
|
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
15. REVISION HISTORY
|
|
|
|
(Daryll Hobson initiated this FAQ)
|
|
|
|
v1.0 - March 22, 1993 - Initial draft. Most information supplied by me alone.
|
|
|
|
v1.1 - March 31, 1993 - Added countless bits of information supplied by
|
|
interested users of the net.
|
|
|
|
v1.2 - April 14, 1993 - Revision control. Chestburster scene added, more info
|
|
on the dog/cow scene of _ALIEN^3_, more _ALIENS_ cut scenes, added to
|
|
the alien physiology discussion. Small changes to the merchandise
|
|
list. Added more "memorable quotes" and more "trivia". Added
|
|
"rituals" section and switched around the order of the sections to
|
|
make the FAQ more readable.
|
|
|
|
v1.3 - May 5, 1993 - Small changes to the "Who is?" section. Removed the
|
|
Chestburster scene. Organized the discussion section. Added some
|
|
more frequently asked questions. More complete descriptions of the
|
|
cut scenes from _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_ were added as well. More trivia.
|
|
|
|
v1.4 - June 23, 1993 - Added Gibson's ALIEN^3 script synopsis, James Cameron's
|
|
answers to a few questions about ALIENS and vastly improved the
|
|
merchandise and FAQ sections.
|
|
|
|
v1.5 - Sept 14, 1993 - Added more frequently asked questions. Added running
|
|
times to some of the _ALIEN_ cut scenes. More rituals. Added
|
|
extensive info about _ALIEN^3_ script rewrites.
|
|
|
|
v1.6 - Sept 21, 1993 - In an effort to reduce (eliminate?) the all-too-common
|
|
flaming of _ALIEN^3_, I added a section to Frequently Discussed
|
|
Topics that addresses both sides of the argument. Broke the FAQ up
|
|
into 3 parts so I could (once again) post it to the Internet.
|
|
|
|
v1.7 - Dec 25, 1993 - FINALLY got an FTP site for the FAQ. Added to the
|
|
technical errors, frequently asked questions, trivia. Increased
|
|
emphasis on NOT asking me "Where can I get Gibson's ALIEN 3 script?"
|
|
|
|
v1.8 - Mar 8, 1994 - More information on soundtracks. Added to frequently
|
|
asked questions, trivia and memorable quotes. Memorable quotes
|
|
ordered according to when they occur in the movies. Didn't get
|
|
around to adding ALL that new merchandise yet. What a nightmare!
|
|
|
|
v1.9 - April 10,1994 - Changed information on how to get Gibson's ALIEN 3
|
|
script. Added to frequently asked questions, merchandise and
|
|
memorable quotes.
|
|
|
|
v2.0 - June 14, 1994 - Added more memorable quotes, questions and
|
|
merchandise. Prepared the document to be HANDED OFF (ie: no longer
|
|
maintained by me).
|
|
|
|
(Eelko de Vos took over the maintenace of the FAQ)
|
|
|
|
v2.1 - August 12, 1994 - Added some more info on various subjects. Also added
|
|
part four to the faq: Steve's document about what he derived from the
|
|
alien movies. It are the insights of a molecular biologist. I
|
|
rearranged some bits, but most this document is mostly in its original
|
|
state.
|
|
I made the Alien WWW pages grow considerably. They are at:
|
|
http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/alien.html
|
|
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
& &
|
|
& The END &
|
|
& &
|
|
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
|
|
|
|
|
|
|