In An Eggshell: THN’s Quick Guide To Alien

Even though it’s been 15 years since the last ALIEN film – and even longer since a decent one – the franchise remains immensely popular (alright, there have been two ALIEN VS PREDATOR films, but less said about that the better). The films are so popular in fact, that anticipation for PROMETHEUS, the series’ long-awaited prequel, has overshadowed almost everything else in 2012. No mean feat during a year in which Avengers assembled and a certain Dark Knight is set to rise. Excitement for PROMETHEUS may be attributed to director Ridley Scott’s return to the ALIEN universe, 33 years after the original. But Scott insists his prequel will be an entirely new beast, and though it has ‘ALIEN DNA’, it will stand apart from the previous films. Despite this, let’s assume a little revision on the original ‘quadrilogy’ is necessary. For those who need to brush up on their Space Jockeys, Facehuggers, and Newts, here’s a quick refresher course on the franchise so far…

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!

ALIEN (1979)

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm

Synopsis: When a mining ship crew investigates an alien wreckage, a near-invincible space bastard gets aboard their ship. You can work out the rest.

The Alien: Based on conceptual art by Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger, the Alien may be cinema’s most perfectly designed monster. Acid for blood, two sets of jaws, lots of dribbling, nice shiny head – lovely. The ultimate predator.

Ripley: Warrant Officer Lt. aboard the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley immediately sees danger when shipmate Kane returns from the wreckage with a parasitic thing attached to his face. It’s not long before Ripley is the only one left and forced to defend herself…

The Company: The oft-mentioned Weylan Yutani instruct the sinister android Ash to ensure the alien’s survival and bring it back to Earth, even at the expense of the crew’s safety. Swines.

In An Eggshell: Unbearably claustrophobic, disturbingly sexual, and still terrifying, ALIEN remains just as powerful 33 years on. Led by breakout star Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, ALIEN is a master class in tapping into base fears – isolation, violation, and mutilation – three ingredients sure to spoil any mealtime.

The most affecting element – and crowning achievement of Dan O’Bannon and Ronal Shusett’s script – is the creature’s lifecycle. Beginning with the borderline rape of a host, the alien soon emerges from the victim’s body (the original ‘chestburster’ sequence remians shocking even now), killing them instantly. This is exemplified by H.R. Giger’s explicit and boundary-shifting designs. Take a good look at the alien species’ various forms – egg, Facehugger, Xenomorph – they’re a positively filthy Freudian nightmare.

Whilst the fate of the Nostromo crew is clear from the outset (all space-worm food except Ripley and the cat), there’s still plenty left unanswered: what exactly was the planet on which they landed? And what was the elephant-man-thing (commonly known as the ‘Space Jockey’) found with a hole in its chest? And what does this all have to do with the alien? Ridley Scott should finally get around to answering these questions in PROMETHEUS…

ALIENS (1986)

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen

Synopsis: After awakening from a 57-year hypersleep, Ripley leads a team of marines (with a shitload of guns) to fumigate a Xenomorph-infested colony. Pluralizing a word has never been so much fun.

The Alien(s): SFX maestro Stan Winston takes the reigns this time, slightly tweaking the Xenomorph but staying true to the original design. But it’s the Queen who takes centre stage here, four times the size and a real bitch…

Ripley: Already traumatized by the events of ALIEN, Ripley also discovers her daughter has aged and died during her extended snooze. Something of a reluctant hero, Ripley takes on a whole new attitude when she discovers young orphaned girl Newt, and her maternal nature is tested even further.

The Company: Renamed Weyland-Yutani, the company hauls Ripley over the coals for destroying the Nostomo. It also denies any knowledge of the previous film’s events. Cameron positions ‘The Company’ as ALIENS’ alternative villain, personified by yuppie shit Burke.

In An Eggshell: The franchise shifts genres and gets the Jim Cameron treatment – balls-to-the-wall action, groundbreaking effects, and sisters doing it for themselves. Cameron’s genius is developing the aspects of ALIEN that interested him the most. He explores the Xenomorphs’ life cycle further, turns Ripley into a machine gun-wielding badass, and delights in putting the aliens into battle with the marines (even the Facehugger gets an action sequence). He also introduces heroic android – or ‘artificial person’ –Bishop, whose likeness will become a recurring image in the franchise (including the dire crossover spin-offs).

Whilst critics may accuse Cameron’s effort of being style over substance, they should look more closely: the inherent themes of motherhood give ALIENS an emotional core – the loss of Ripley’s daughter, her relationship with Newt – and even more so in the definitive ‘Director’s Cut’ edition. And it’s not just Ripley who’s defined by maternal instincts… The Xenomorphs also know the true meaning of family: they love their dear old mum, the monstrous Alien Queen, who sits on the nest like East End matriarch Peggy Mitchell, turning a blind eye to her kids’ behaviour and bleating on that it’s all abaaat family.

Whilst ALIENS is difficult to compare to the original, both are seminal works within their respective genres, and are brilliant in equal measure.

ALIEN3 (1992)

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S, Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Ralph Brown

Synopsis: Crash-landing on a prison planet, Ripley hangs loose with some murderers and rapists as she awaits rescue. As the prisoners are picked off one-by-one, Ripley realizes she wasn’t the only crash survivor, and that it’s all being to get a tad tiresome…

The Alien: Giger returns to reinvent his creation, which this time around gestates in a dog (or Ox in the ‘Assembly Cut’) and has more animalistic features, such as double-jointed hind legs and a penchant for moving on all fours. It’s also a charming shade of brown. This is first film to suggest Xenomorphs adopt characteristics of their host, a very interesting addition to ALIEN lore. We can only imagine what the creature born of the Space Jockey must have been like…

Ripley: Awakens from hypersleep to find herself as the only person who a) believes in the existence of Xenomorphs and b) knows how to kill them. Hmmm… this all sounds very familiar. However, to freshen things up, Ripley does shave her head, do the nasty with an inmate, and play host to an Alien Queen.

The Company: Weyland-Yutani is once again more interested in the alien’s survival than human wellbeing. It sends a party to rescue not Ripley, but the creature inside her.

In An Eggshell: A troubled production from the start, ALIEN3 is muddled at best. Perhaps most significant is that the film doesn’t reflect any particular artistic vision, but the producers’ desire to cash in. It’s hard to blame director Fincher for the film’s failure; the studio interference is well documented, and the script was tinkered with endlessly.

Consequently, ALIEN3 is a narrative mess, and worst of all painfully dull. The extended version is better – reinserting a Paul McGann-led subplot – but still undeniably ropey.

From the offset it’s clear something isn’t right: ALIENS co-survivors Hicks and Newt are conveniently killed off – which Jim Cameron considered a ‘kick in the teeth’ to his installment – and ALIEN3 continues to piss over all the previous films’ good work. The prison setting proves intriguing at first, but the novelty soon wears off, and everything loses focus as the plot stumbles along. Sigourney Weaver was reportedly reluctant to return (until Fox waved a fat wad of cash in her general direction), and insisted Ripley be killed off – hence the embryo implanted in her.

The biggest shame is not what ALIEN3 is, but what it could have been. During the lengthy development stage, several alternative takes on the three-quel were hatched – Vincent Ward’s ‘Wooden Planet’, William Gibson’s ‘Cold War in Space, and David Twohy’s ‘Intestellar Penal Colony’ ­– traces of which can be seen in the final, unsatisfactory version. Whilst these alternative takes remain the stuff of Hollywood legend, ALIEN3 unfortunately represents the beginning of the end for the franchise.

ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997)

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pino

Synopsis: 200 years later, the military clone Ripley and extract the Alien Queen inside her. They keep both Ripley and the egg-laying Queen for tests… can we all see where this is going?

The Alien(s): Back to the traditional design (mostly), these Xenomorphs are remarkably smart and bloody good swimmers. The Queen has also taken on some of Ripley’s DNA, furnishing the alien with a fully functioning womb and lady bits (easy fellas), perfect for giving birth to the ‘Newborn’…

Ripley: Ripley also benefits from the cloning procedure, taking on some alien characteristics, such as super speed, strength, and acid blood. She’s also more violent than ever, and due to her upgraded DNA, has a empathetic relationship with the aliens.

The Company: Weyland-Yutani are old hat by now, and have been replaced by the equally dense United Systems Military. Having apparently learned nothing from their predecessors, USM insists on running tests on the aliens, even going so far as to use unsuspecting humans to host Xenomorphs. Will they never learn?

In An Eggshell: Space pirates! Alien-human hybrids! Sexy androids! Yes, welcome to ALIEN RESURRECTION, the closest the film series has ever come to the comic book spin-offs. Though it trades on the previous three movies, tonally RESURRECTION is an entirely new beast – camp, OTT, and unashamedly crap. Put into its own context and removed from the official ‘canon’, the fourth film is actually passable fun, and a much easier watch that the previous installment. This may have something to do with the fact fanboy wunderkind Joss Whedon wrote the script (though he was unhappy with the finished film). However, despite minor plus points, RESURRECTION is no match for either ALIEN or ALIENS. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Sigourney Weaver is more playful this time around, mostly due to basic and relatively inoffensive changes to her character (the fact she is not the Ripley, but a clone of her is handled nicely). She does, however, share top billing with Winona Ryder, who takes on the obligatory android role. Ron Perlman’s mercenary adds some fun to proceedings, and consequently the series acquires a sense of humour.

The film’s biggest flaw is also its ace card: the Xenomorph-human hybrid – the ‘Newborn’ – is rubbish. It’s all good and well making the creature half human, but the producers have overlooked the fact this makes it only half as scary. It also looks a bit dodgy, like a white, goopy alien with a skeletal face and shit nose. The Newborn identifies Ripley as its mother, only for her to reject and kill it – the look of hurt and betrayal on the creature’s face is strangely touching, and echoes the strong maternal themes of ALIENS.

Piss-poor overall, but ALIEN RESURRECTION is not without its charms.

So what comes next? Or should that be, what came before?

PROMETHEUS stars Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, and Sean Harris. It arrives in UK cinemas 1st June.