Poll: Alien or Aliens?

[Casual Shinji]

Aliens turned the Alien into a space bug whose only purpose was cannon fodder. None of the eerie mystique of the original creature, the Derelict, or the Space Jockey was left.

Not saying Aliens was a bad movie (except for the extended edition, that one sucked), but it really isn't for me.

Fair enough your opinion and all, but I think you've missed the point of Aliens by a long shot. This is the same reason Alien games have missed the mark - because they're treating the alien as a cannon fodder space bug. Aliens doesn't do this at all - it's a Vietnam war movie in space (and other things, like motherhood, as well). In Aliens you've got your "bad-ass" marines, full of machismo and confidence in their technological edge and overwhelming firepower.. and they get completely taken apart by a largely unseen, technologically-inferior foe that the marines were totally unprepared for.

Granted, Aliens does focus less on the mystique of the creature, the derelict spaceship, the Space Jockey, etc. (although it does instead bring in plenty of a different kind of lore, expanding the humans' side of the universe with so many iconic ideas.) as you say - but I disagree that the creature was there simply as cannon fodder. If anything the marines were the cannon fodder.

As I said, it wasn't a bad movie, it just went into a direction and turned the Alien into something I didn't quite care for.

It was also loaded with little annoyances; I hated Newt. Burke being the standard corperate asshole even in the face of certain doom. Ripley suddenly having some long lost daughter syndrome. Given that one was only added in the later version, but everyone basically counts it as cannon now. And I fucking hate it.

Both the Alien and Aliens director's cut/extended edition just butcher both movies.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Both the Alien and Aliens director's cut/extended edition just butcher both movies.

I disagree about Aliens: Director's Cut for one reason: the Sentry Guns.

The two scenes with the Xenomorphs attempting to bypass the guns, watching the ammo counters just dwindle down to nothing was a brilliant lesson in film making.


As for me, it has to be Aliens. All due respect to Alien; it was a terrifying monster then and its a terrifying monster now. The movie burns slowly, almost torture-like in its tension.

Yet...Aliens is just awesome. The Pulse Rifle and Smart Gun are now sci-fi icons in their own right, up there with Ripley and the Xenomorph. The visual design never seems dated, the score is wonderful and practical props and effects mean the movie always looks good. Plus it gets major, major props for taking an hour to build up the setting before revealing the titular creatures. Then, the thrilling climax; the unstoppable force meets the immovable object. Ellen Ripley is pissed off, and takes on the mother of her nightmares in hand to hand combat.


As another, odd aside, I always smile when I watch the subtle love story between Hicks and Ripley: it is my go-to example of a well integrated love story in an action movie.

 

[Nazulu]

Aliens turned the Alien into a space bug whose only purpose was cannon fodder. None of the eerie mystique of the original creature, the Derelict, or the Space Jockey was left.

Not saying Aliens was a bad movie (except for the extended edition, that one sucked), but it really isn't for me.

Exactly my problem with Aliens. Alien made it out to be some super being that seemed immortal and the people disappeared without a trace, instead of being jumped on like raptors from Jurassic Park.

Also, I like many scenes in Aliens, but each time something happened in Alien it just felt like such a big deal, and that wasn't because it was slow (even though I find the ending a little too slow). I reckon the first built up better atmosphere and I prefer the characters as well.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I find Aliens to be the more watchable movie.

OTOH, the plot requires the marines to be really, really stupid. My mum is convinced that the company sent the stupidest people they could find on purpose, so they wouldn't realise they were smuggling aliens back, but I don't buy that.

Having said that, they were supposed to be Vietnam era US soldiers[footnote]Why do Colonial Marines have US flags on their uniforms?[/footnote]. Mind you, IIRC, the US army dropped the ball in Vietnam, but the Marines knew what they were doing.

 

[WindKnight]

I love both, but for me its Aliens. It expands on the universe established, and actually logically progresses the story from Alien instead of rehashing it, a very compelling personal tale for ripley (especially in the extended cut) and... and.. and..

Pulse Rifles
Smartguns
That dropship
That APC
Sentry Guns
Alien Queen
Motion Trackers

its got a number of hits on the OH MY GOD THAT S*** IS SO F***ING AWESOME I WANT ONE meter.

And did I mention Ripley, Newt and Vasquez already? And whilst the other didn't get to do anything awesome (though ferro's reaction to see a xenomorph in the cockpit was great), it was inspiring and awesome to see fighting women in practical combat gear and roles.

 

[Zhukov]

Aliens I guess.

The first film never impressed me that much. Hell, my favourite thing about it is that she remembers to rescue the cat.

 

[YuberNeclord]

I lean more towards Alien, myself. A big part of the reason is just that it looks so good. From beginning to end, every shot is incredibly well presented and the effects hold up almost flawlessly to this day. Between the excellent aesthetic, the deliberate pacing and the believable performances and dialogue, it's a tense and atmosphetic film that's really easy to get sucked into.

I recently used the scene of Brett chasing after Jonsey and getting killed by the alien for an editing class I taught. I was showing them how you can use a slower pacing of cutting to draw out the tension of the scene(and then subsequently discussed whether or not this scene overdid the slow pacing to the point of becoming boring). Anyway it was while I was projecting that scene that I remember thinking to myself "God damn the production design looks awesome in this film." The sets and lighting of that film(as well as the composition of the frames) is utterly amazing.

Conversely though I have to say that the Ash scene with his head on the table hasn't aged terribly well. I also remember that there is an extreme closeup of the alien's mouth where you can clearly see a big spring as part of the mouth mechanism.

The sequel, while a great movie, didn't quite draw me in the same way. The characters are more over the top, the effects are more obvious (particularly when cgi gets involved,) and the overall look just didn't grab me like the first's did.

CGI in Aliens?


As for me, I'm still more of an Aliens fan than an alien one, even though they are both excellent films. It's probably because I used to watch Aliens over and over when I was a kid and loved it, but I couldn't stand watching Alien because I found it so boring. It wasn't till I was about fourteen that I finally sat down and watched the movie properly and finally realised how awesome it is.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I love them both but it all depends on the mood. One is quieter movie full of suspense, the second is huge action fest. Both dealt with the aliens well, especially Aliens, facing soldiers with gun and the Aliens still come off dangerous and a major threat. Pity in sequels 3 and 4 the aliens seem less of a threat.

Although, i hope they do a new trilogy based on the books. One was about a soldier rescuing a girl from aliens while the aliens attacked earth through a cult that worship them. 2nd was about the army training aliens to fight for them. 3rd had Ripley in it and were looking for the Queen of Queens inwhich to send to earth to enable them to kill all the aliens. Love them books.

Plus there was one comic story about newt and how she survived the attack on LV 426. Awesome. There is alot of creativity in the alien lore, just that none of it ever gets into movies because they would rather not risk it.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

As most have said, both great movies, both pulled off perfectly what they were attempting to do. Personally, I favor Alien over any of its sequels.

For one thing, although Aliens is indeed an awesome action movie, I know a lot of awesome action movies. There are very few sci-fi horror movies, or even horror movies in general, that are as effective as the first Alien. In the sci-fi horrow genre, the only good ones I know are Alien and The Thing. Which makes me love those movies all the more because of their rarity.

Also, I think Alien was just a somewhat better-made movie. The concept at the time was new and freshly executed, the atmosphere and practical effects were peerless, and Ridley Scott was really on top of his game. James Cameron really only made one great movie, and it was from the leftovers of Scott's work.

So I say Alien is both a better film to look back on, and a better film than Aliens when each are compared to their respective contemporary moments in movie history.

 

[kickassfrog]

I fell asleep watching Alien. Twice. Never could get into it, even when I eventually successfully watched the entire thing.

But I did enjoy Aliens.

 

[Xarathox]

Alien for me. At least I think so. It's been years since I've seen either, but from memory I can recall the first more than the sequel.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

I actually found Alien very forgettable in the most part, I only really remember the bits with John Hurt getting facehugged, the acid melting through the ship when they try to cut it off and the chestburster bit. I remember the characters (except Ripley and whatever Hut's character was called) better from their pictures on the display screen at the WY enquiry in Aliens than I do from Alien. Not that it was a bad film, I just don't give a crap about horror/slasher films.

Aliens, on the other hand, I know from start to finish off by heart, despite not having seen it for at least ten years.

 

[Tiger King]

probably alien for me but both are very good films.

alien asked the question 'what in our darkest imaginations could be out there?"
the mysteries surrounding the crashed alien ship, what's inside etc, all of it opens up the imagination and draws a lovecraft type feeling of "maybe it's best to remain ignorant to what's out there".
the alien itself, both a work of art and repulsive, thanks to the creator Geiger.

aliens for me asked another question, something along the lines of 'ok so this beast can run rings round some unarmed civilians but what about some soldiers with modern weapons?"
aliens lost a lot of the mystery from alien that I enjoyed.

alien v predator was just a bad money making franchise.

 

[Talaris]

Would have to be Alien for me. Granted, watching it again it doesn't have the same effect it did the first time, but it was one of the few films that genuinely scared me. Not to mention the set designs are in a class of their own.

Also, I'm in the minority of those who actually believe Alien3 was a very good film (at least when viewing the assembly cut version), only slightly below Aliens in my eyes.

 

[hermes]

Alien.

I think Aliens is a son of the 80s; which is not a bad thing, but they need a proper context and don't tend to age that well. I don't think someone that sees it for the first time and doesn't have that context would enjoy it nearly as much.

Alien, on the other hand, is pretty much timeless; and just as effective now as it was in the 70s. Sure, some of the effects don't look great now, but the pacing, the claustrophobia and the tension is still there.

 

[Soulrender95]

Aliens extended cut due to the sheer chance I saw it before I saw Alien, and it did a great job of making the alien easily dispatched but still credible as a threat as well as adding some of the more iconic (or at least better remembered) scenes.
it kinda dulled the impact of the original knowing who survived and who didn't but it was still a tense and suspenseful film despite that which is bloody amazing.

Overall though it really works better when viewing the whole trilogy Alien, Aliens EC, Alien 3 AC, each one adds something to the mix that increases our knowledge of the alien but also adds a whole new level of terror and threat to it, something the later films really didn't manage to do well.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Alien is the better movie I think. Aliens is fun but I find the Xenomorph thing more effective in a horror movie than an action movie. And it does get points for coming out first, as all original movies do in my book.

 

[Adrian Neyland]

I prefer the tense psychological horror of Alien way over the gun toting, adrenaline overloaded action of Aliens.
Definitely the first film for me.

 

[bananafishtoday]

Alien. I saw both movies as a kid, in order.

Aliens was a great action movie. Really fun and smart and quotable and interesting.

Alien destroyed my feeble mind. Holy shitfuck. That chestburster scene. Terrifying and sickening--I had to stop the movie for a while to recompose myself because I thought I was going to both puke and cry. SO YEAH. Pretty impactful! (I did insist on finishing it that night though, even though it scared the shit out of me the whole way through.)

Also hey, it isn't just video games that turn their best survival horror into action shooters! /snark

Edit: Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen either movie since then either. Totally gonna watch Alien right now, thanks OP.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

Funny, i was going to listen to the Alien soundtrack yesterday but then i stopped procrastinating

Spoiler: Not sure if there is any original music in this, but it sure is a nice mix for the fantastic games