Comments on: Alien Quadrilogy Analysis

By: Arnulfo Gillardi

Arnulfo Gillardi — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:19:00 +0000

Who is Guermo del Torre? There´s this great film director whose name is Guillermo del Toro, maybe they´re related?

By: Moogee

Moogee — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:20:00 +0000

There’s no excuses for Alien 3 being the weak movie that it was. No matter who you blame, ..the studio, the screenplay, or the director, all I care about is what the film came out like. It sucked because they used that digital crap for the alien instead of a man in a suit. I think Fincher was not a wise choice for this movie anyhow. Where was Guermo del Torre when you need him? They ruined this series starting with this movie. I still do watch it because I get some things out of it, but not a work of art or even close.

By: Groovy

Groovy — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:48:00 +0000

Does somebody know, how the “aliens” intro was made? It looks kinda manually made. (Alien Intro is still my favourite, though)

By: Art of the Title

Art of the Title — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:34:00 +0000

I wasn’t aware of this. The PAL Quadrilogy DVD has the same audio mix as the NTSC version, complete with computer warning voice, so perhaps it was a mistake?

By: Art of the Title

Art of the Title — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:34:00 +0000

I wasn’t aware of this. The PAL Quadrilogy DVD has the same audio mix as the NTSC version, complete with computer warning voice, so perhaps it was a mistake?

By: henrieschnee

henrieschnee — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:53:00 +0000

For whatever reasons, there are two versions of the Alien 3 intro, the american depicted above and the european version, which lacks the computer generated voice over. Most people assume this to be a mastering bug of the original Quadrilogy-DVDs, but… I don’t know, I kind of prefer the european version. The lack of any narration or explanation gives it this eery 2001: A Space Odyssee-gone-horribly-wrong atmosphere.

By: Matthew McKinnon

Matthew McKinnon — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:10:28 +0000

The piece used upfront in Aliens is, in fact, an ‘original’ James Horner composition.

It may well be a Kubrick homage, but more likely a steal: Horner was notorious for ‘referencing’ his own and other composers’ work back then. He also uses this theme in Patriot Games, by the way. And I’m sure I’ve heard it in one of his earlier scores. BTW, there was so much from his earlier Star Trek scores rehashed in Aliens that it took me out of the film [no mean feat!] when I first watched it.

Given that he had six weeks to compose his score for Aliens [in the pre-digital age], and the film wasn’t even finished yet, I can cut him some slack. But still…

By: Iammine78

Iammine78 — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 05:00:03 +0000

Alien 3 is not a shit movie. Yeah, I typed it. I’ll type it again if you want me to. It was doomed from expectations from the start. One day, David Fincher will wake up and realize how much better of a movie it is than say…Benjamin Button.

From the standpoint of ‘story’, consider the length of time that had passed since ‘Aliens’. Would you have been happier if they had recast 10 year old Newt and dropped a ton of ‘make him look younger’ make-up on Michael Biehn? In more ways than not, they were left with no choice but to drop and start back at zero. ‘Alien’ was a horror movie set in space, we can all agree on that at this point. James Cameron came along and decided to make it a completely different movie. The only thing similar to a horror movie sequel was his decision to triple the characters to create a higher body count. Beyond that, he just wanted to make an action movie. Actual purists (who should get a life) should have been livid that he bastardized the original in such a manner.

‘Alien 3′ had no choice, really, but to go back to square one in the hopes of recreating a confined, horror movie type feel. While it wasn’t nearly as successful as the first one, it did have its moments. Most people bitch about the type of sequel it was without offering up any ideas as to what type of sequel it should have been.

By: MoonPatrol

MoonPatrol — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:23:16 +0000

This is one of the best intros. It hints at something growing and that you better get your wits together quick or you will be in big trouble!

Yes it is a gradual development as the words form, and alien in look too, like a bunch of symmetrical lines. Nothing but forms. The dissolves are also seen later in the wake-up scene around the white beds. Kind of tasty filmmaking! When the words come to full form and substance now the music jumps up and the time is now because the monster is coming! The brown planet (seen in 70mm at the theater) sets up that dark environment where our dreams and thoughts like to dwell. I like this movie because the experience it gives is storytelling in 4 dimensions. The genre is besides the point, the experience is just romantic in a survival sense, and a mystery that begs for the right choice of the characters.

I hope they get that Alien 5 going and make it an experience! AVP and AVP Requiem are lesser creations!

By: le0pard13

le0pard13 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:53:10 +0000

The musical sequence you're referring to here (and from 2001 A Space Odyssey) is Khachaturian's Adagio from his Gayne Ballet Suite. One of the most memorable and haunting pieces I heard in my youth of watching movies. BTW, a great analysis of the titles used for this series. Thanks for posting it.