September 3, 2024 • 34 mins
Welcome to Spacing Out With BB and Jason! We’re currently covering the Alien franchise, and this week we’re discussing the 1992 David Fincher film, “Alien 3”. Thanks for joining us!
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Find these episodes and more on our main podcast feed, “Spacing Out with BB and Jason”
https://plinkhq.com/i/1529054920?to=page
Feel free to reach out to us with your thoughts; We may use your comments on an upcoming episode.
Email: spacingoutpod@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpacingOutPod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spacing_out_podcast/
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/Spacing_Out_Pod
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Spacing Out with BB and Jason, this week
covering the nineteen ninety two film Alien three.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to Spacy Now.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
I'm BB and I'm Jason, and we are discussing the
Alien franchise, one movie at a time. At the moment
of this recording, the third film is available to stream
on Hulu, and this podcast is being released on two
different podcast feeds, So if you've found it through these
Spacing Out with Alien podcasts, and I invite you to
check out our main channel, Spacing Out with BB and Jason,
where we have covered things like Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek,
(00:38):
Our Flag Means Death, over one hundred episodes, and many
more things that come. We are only focusing on Alien
three today, so if there's any discussion of subsequent entries
into the franchise, we will save that for a spoiler
section at the end of the podcast, So if you
haven't seen the movies that released after this one, we
will shield you from spoilers. And although our coverage of
Alien Romulus should have already come out, we are actually
(00:59):
recording the prior to having seen Romulus. We won't be
speaking on that film at all, but we are talking about.
Alien three, which premiered on May twenty second, nineteen ninety two,
written by David Geiler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, was
a story by Vincent Ward and directed by David Fincher.
In this movie, Ellen Ripley is the only survivor when
(01:20):
she crashed lands on Fiorina one six ' one ableak
wasteland inhabited by the former inmates of the planet's maximum
security prison. Once again, Ripley must face skepticism and the
alien as it hunts down the prisoners and guards. Without
weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley leads the
men into battle against the terrifying creature.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Vibe check. Did we like the movie overall? How does
it stand the test of time?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
And the movie started, I was pretty into it, and
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It just slowly deteriorated.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Got exhausting, Like the I felt like there was no
like there's just like one tone the whole movie, and
it was like never change and it became like a drag.
Eventually it was.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Too much men town for me.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Yeah, Like, women crash lands on planet only women they've
seen for fifty years, and they treated as such and
it's just like, is this what men are? It's like
very poorly projective. It's a poor projection of what men
would be, even criminals. Right, But eventually they redeemed themselves
(02:28):
kind of, but none of the characters were like engaging.
Even Ripley was kind of like one note, like you said, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
And I need to point out that we watch the
assembly cut of the movie, which I'll explain in a moment,
but it's a longer cut. That's it's not a director's
cut because they would venture didn't participate in it, but
it is considered to be a better version of the movie,
and it's longer and you get more character moments there,
and I still felt.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Like, still not good enough.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
There's just a lot of these old guys that I'm
having trouble keeping track of each of their personalities.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Because yeah, yeah, I can't tell them apart.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
They're all bald white guys except for those two black
men who are like one of them is kind of
pivotal to the plot and the other one's just kind
of there.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
When the movie started, I was kind of interested in, like, okay,
it's we can tell it's changing tonees going back to
more of a thriller type of movie as opposed to
the action movie that Aliens was. And then the music
felt different. It was eerie and it was intriguing. But
then I don't know, like we killed off the main
characters from the last movie and.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
We just like start from scratch.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Yeah, I don't know what.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I would have been fine if they would have killed
the little girl and let her have her gills or
whatever that guy was. That way, there would have been
two v one, but I guess I didn't want to
call him back or he wasn't available. But yeah, I
just didn't know. It's not my cup of tea.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I was hoping to enjoy it a little more than
I did, And I'm trying to think of like were
there moments in there that I was into it? And
I don't know, not really. I feel like even like
the color palette and the geography of the prison, everything
like just all looked the same.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Yeah, there was no differentiation in scenery. Like the romantic
relationship felt really hollow and forced, like, oh, well, you're
injecting me, so I should let you inject me in
other ways. And it was it really threw me off
that the main love interest was Taiwan leanister. So I
(04:32):
could not get on board with that relationship.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, I know, just like if the tone had had
some shifts throughout it, the energy had changed at any
point other than like it it picked.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
It was more engaging in some way, Like the direction
just didn't give anything either. I think, Yeah, it was
just weird. I didn't like it. I could see why
this is the least popular one or has the worst
like reviews.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Yeah, and I guess performances were good, but even like
Sigourney Weaver, this isn't on her highlight reel, like no,
this is.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Crazy, Like she put her name on this and she
shaved her head for this, and like that moment should
have been a big deal. Then they just cut to
her in the bathroom like shaved whatever. Like I don't know.
A lot of women in the nineties started shaving their
heads for films and stuff, and it was kind of
a popular trend to see bald women in the nineties.
(05:28):
It would have been really powerful to see her getting
her haircut by one of those dudes and like giving
some sort of but I don't know, there's kind of
like a humiliation in shaving your head, right, like or
it's like an act of defiance. There's a lot of
like connotations for a woman shaving her head, and I
wish they would have like highlighted it a little bit
(05:50):
more instead of just like cut to her being bald.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, So all right, let's get in the trivia.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Okay, trivia time. What facts could we uncover for Alien three?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
So? Alien three is the directorial debut of David Fincher,
who is now known for films like Fight Club, Social Network,
Gone Girl. He previously worked primarily as a music video director. However,
the movie had several different writers and directors attached to
it before it was handed off to him. The first
concept settled on was a two movie plan which featured
Michael Bains's character Corporal Hicks as a protagonist in the
(06:26):
third film with a focus on a Cold War metaphor
and the use of aliens as biological weapons, and then
Sigourney Weaver returning as a lead in a fourth film
which would be a climactic battle. So this script was
written by William Gibson. Is primarily set in a space
station shopping mall with Ripley in a coma while Hicks
uncovers the Wayland Newtani Corporation are developing an alien army.
So this script has a considerable considerable following on the
(06:49):
Internet and is often referred to as being superior to
the final film. And in twenty eighteen, the second draft
of the script was adapted into a comic series, and
in twenty nineteen for Aliens forty fan of vers and
audiobook of the script was released, featuring some of the
actors like Michael Bain and Lance Hendrickson. In twenty twenty one,
a novel based on the first draft of the script
was published. So they've been really into this idea of
(07:11):
this alternative script that they could have made right, and
fans are definitely wanted this version of it. M M.
So I just wanted to highlight that one because it
does get a lot of attention.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It seems the shopping mall one.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah. So the scripts then passed through several writers. There's
a lot of details about this online about how the
story evolved and was shifted involved. Yeah, and there's a
whole documentary actually about the production of this movie and
what a disaster it was.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So there's a couple directors attached prior to David Fincher,
and he had to begin shooting without a finished script. Yeah.
So there's a documentary titled Wreckage and Rage, which details
the troubled production of Alien three. Sojourney Weaver was offered
four million plus the share of the box office to return,
and her character sacrifice was her idea. She intended to
conclude her role in the franchise, and.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The way she went out was so like anti climactic.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yeah, and like, I don't know, the idea kind of works,
but the effects made it cheesy.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
It made it so bad.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
I wish you would have gotten her throat slit by
one of the murderers. He's like, okay, baby, I'll do
it for you, you know what I mean. It would have
been more like visceral and intimate somehow.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
David Fincher's cut of the movie was three hours long,
but the studio forced it down the two hours, So
that's the theatrical cut, which people generally don't like. The
budget was fifty to sixty million, and it made one
hundred and sixty million at the box office. Critical reception
was mixed, with praise going towards the visuals and Sigourney
Weaver's performance and criticism aimed that the plot, script, and
(08:39):
action sequences. A number of casts and crew from the
franchise expressed their disappointment with the film story. James Cameron
regarded the decision to kill off the characters of Bishop
Newton Hicks as they slap in the face to him
and to the fans of the previous film, and David
Fincher himself has dis own the film, citing extensive studio interference.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Dang, James Cameron, like that us his baby, because he
wrote that script. So I could see how he would be,
like so upset about that. Yeah, I wasn't that upset
that they killed off those characters.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
So when the Alien Quadrilogy box set was released in
two thousand and three, David Fincher was the only director
to not participate in the Director's cut. Instead, an extended
version called the Assembly Cut was created based on his
editing notes. That's what BB and I watched today. The
Assembly Cut contains thirty minutes of extended, alternate and previously
deleted scenes and alternative key plot elements. Then, the two
(09:32):
thousand and three version did not have full sound or
color work done to the additional scenes, but the twenty
ten Blu Ray version went through full post production, including
bringing back the actors to record dialogue, which I remember,
I think the one time before this that I've seen
this movie. I saw that two thousand and three version,
and like there'd be random points in the movie when
it would cut to a scene that clearly looks different,
(09:53):
like they hadn't done the color grading on it, Like
it looks like they cut to like videotape.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And then you can't hear a lot of the the
lines of dialogue because they never re recorded them, so
they just had like subtitles for random scenes, So you
definitely felt like you were watching some like work in progress.
Oh well, but I guess it was popular enough that
they went back and readid it all? Critics said generally
regarded the Assembly Cut to be a superior version of
the film, so differences in the two versions. The theatrical
(10:19):
cut greatly reduces the first act. The Assembly Cut features
exteriors of the prison colony, a sequence where Ripley's unconscious
body is found washed on the beach, and it better
sets up the planet's aggressive looking lice, which is the
explanation for Ripley's hair being shaved off. In the theatrical version,
Ripley's unconscious body is simply found in the salvage escape pot.
The theatrical cut has the alien bursting out of a
(10:41):
dog one of the inmates pet, and the assembly cut
establishes that the prisoners have livestock and the alien bursts
out of an ox. Now, the character of Gallic has
very few scenes in the theatrical cut, and his fate
is never shown or the assembly cut gives him far
more to do, and he is involved in helping the
alien escape after Ripley and Dylan's trap it, and the
alien kills him after this. And then in the assembly
(11:01):
a cut, we watched Ripley fall into the furnace, sacrificing yourself.
But in the theatrial cut they went back and did reshoots,
and they added a chest burster erupting from her torso
as she falls. Then theatrical cut also removed numerous dialogue scenes,
which went a long way to help audiences distinguished between
all the shaven headed inmates.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I still couldn't tell them a start, dude.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I imagine how lowt it would be in the other version.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Oh God, deep space dive. Let's break down some of
our thoughts on the film. You can share your thoughts
with us through email or social media. We may use
your comments on an upcoming episode.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Alien cubed no reason why they stylized it like that
just looks high tech, It.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Looks modern and nineties.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Ooh, this is sci fi.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Well, this movie was not for me. I was surprised
by the amount of blood that it had, had a
lot of blood. Yeah, but it just it was like
random and like ineffective in my in my opinion, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Don't I don't really know what to make of it.
Like reading all the backstory, it's like, yeah, this clearly
was like the studio was forcing a movie out before
you want to get the shit together. Yeah, and I
don't know what we gained from it, like what.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
We lost Ripley if anything. Yeah, which is sad that
this is the last movie that she's going to be
in this This would be I would be so upset
about it. I would I would not have taken any
sort of money or payment until I was happy with
the script. And obviously it's not a director problem, because
(12:46):
this director is good. So it seems like the tools
that were given were not good. And you can tell,
like I don't know. It feels like the art department
wasn't as strong in this one either. I don't I
can I maybe in the nineties it was good, but
like the CGI xenomorph was just like not aesthetic.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Yeah, I mean, let's talk about that, because that's like
when I'm there, like trying to get into the movie
and then like these effects. That is from what I
know because I watched a YouTube video that was talking
about the effects in this movie, and I think they
like they recorded like puppetry of the alien and then
they rotoscoped it out, which means like they basically cut
it out and then placed it instead of the movie
(13:30):
and like you can just tell that effect, like that
this slicer is not part of the scene. It's got
weird shadowing happening that doesn't match. It's just like the
contrast is off and it Yeah, it's like there's such
a clear difference when they are compositing it into the
scene versus when they have you know, a physical prop there.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Yeah, the prop was really good, but the CGI of
it running around was just like awful. It took you
out and you were and it looked like a weird
cat or something. The way it was running. Yeah, and
I wanted it to not be so animal like. I
wanted it to be more prep like like a dinosaur
(14:09):
almost where it walks on two legs instead of four.
I don't know why I would prefer that, but I
think it's been presented, is that in previous movies?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Yeah, so I guess the idea that they're going for
is that it takes on the characteristics of the host
that it hatches out of.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Oh, so it's more bovine.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
So it came out of the either an ox or
a dog depending on which version you watch. But a
four legged creature.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Oh that's stupid. I hate that.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
So yeah, I mean that definitely drags it down. And
maybe it wasn't as obviously bad when it came out,
but it does not hold up.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
No, it does not hold up at all.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
And then the sets like not that they look bad,
it's just there was no diversity.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, they're very one note.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yeah, it's just a weird choice to like place this
whole movie like inside, Like this is a sci fi
space franchise.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Well, like thinking about a prison that's turned into a convent,
you would think that they would.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Paint the walls or something I don't know.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
And I'm thinking of like the Star Wars show and
or and that space prison and how bright and light
it was and how like it was still really like bleak,
like in corporate I don't know, I can I like
it was still giving oil refinery. Yeah, And I'm like,
(15:30):
I don't get it. I don't get it. Is this
a prison? And then they're all religious and like I
don't know they they they say a men and do
like a fist. It was very I don't know what
they were trying to do, and it just didn't feel organic.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Yeah, exactly, like we're going to set this on a
planet with a prison, and like we don't really explore
that idea of like what's this like private companies owning
a prison?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
That would have been really interesting.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, like let's let's dive into that. Let's corporate prisons. Yeah,
because like we're still kind of putting the corporation as
a villain in this movie, like they own a prison,
and that's just okay, not exploring that much more. And
then there's a religious through line in this, but I
don't know that they really flesh it out. I mean
it because it kind of it culminates in ripley sacrificing
(16:22):
yourself with a Jesus pose, But like what we set
that up? Really like it's just like there's no payoff.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
No one talks about Jesus or a savior or anything,
which would have been like really key. I think if
you were going to develop this like belief system, I
think it would have been nice to kind of build
up a savior and then if her sacrifice would have
been more, there would have been more payoff at the end.
It just felt so hollow that she just jumped after
(16:51):
all that, Like she didn't want to kill herself in
the beginning, and it's like, I don't understand you. How
are you like throughout this whole, like since you found
out that you are the carrier of the next like
egg layer, you don't want to die, but you want
to kill it and you want to die by the
hands of somebody else. And then at the end you
(17:14):
change your mind and you're like, all right, well I'll
just jump. I thought, seriously, I thought she was going
to have that guy slit her throat like please kill me,
like please kill me so that because I have one
of them inside of me, and then like it would
have been like, you know, he's already a prisoner, so
he would have been like, I have nothing to lose.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And I've experienced this and this is terrible. Nobody should
go through this, and then it would have like changed
the narrative for that character. But I don't know. It
just it felt really hollow, like I didn't like.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
And sudden she's like, all right, I'm gonna go behind this,
uh what is it? Like a chain link fence, and
I'm gonna ride in this like crane and then I'm
gonna jump into this thing that's not been established it all,
and all of a sudden, there's like molten lava or something.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
I don't know. Did you like any of the side characters.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I mean I was somewhat interested in Taiwan lanister.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
He was fucking boring to me.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
The way he talked to her as a patient, the
same way that he talked to her after they got
out of bed. Yeah, there was no change in tone
or like, there was no like care and affection, there
was nothing.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
No, I didn't see any point to them hooking up.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
No, it was just like he was there first, so
she decides to fuck him or what yeah, or he's
not a prisoner, but he's got a fucking tattoo.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Girl, so what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (18:43):
And she just lost like her other love interests, like
not that long ago perceived, Like if you think about
like the Criageina Sleep, it would have been yesterday that
she was hanging out with this guy and they didn't
hook up, but they had like a little something something
going on. So it just I feel like it would
(19:03):
have been interesting to see her grieving and him holding
her and then them kind of getting together as he
was like helping her grieve the loss of the life
that she would have had with these other two people
that she was escaping the horrible like other planet that
she was on or whatever. But there was none of that,
(19:25):
Like I don't know, like why can't they do romance
in this franchise? Even in the last movie, it was
just like I mean, if you didn't watch the extended cut.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
There was no romance. Yeah, So I don't know. It's weird.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
It's really weird, and it's very hollow, and it just
feels it feels very masculine in the way that it
was like romantically entangled, like very matter of fact, like
I'm in your cot Ugh like I don't know, it
just felt weird and I didn't like it. I think
we have a romance formula already in movies. Romance is
(20:05):
like really easy to establish and to like put into
a film, and I don't think there was any effort
put into this like romantic relationship at all.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Yeah, because she's just like I've been out here a
long time, but I mean have you because you were
like you've been in the cryo sleep for most of it,
like from your experience, you went to sleep at the
end of the last movie and you woke up in
this one.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Yeah, so it's been three days.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
And then when he dies in front of her, no reaction, nothing,
not even a tear, not even a like oh no.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, like this very muted this whole time, like Ripley
even like this whispers a lot, yeah, like I can
barely hear you. How are you having conversations with you?
And yeah, this that combined with again like the muted
colors and the.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
And the the like costumes were all the same. Everybody
was wearing like these dingy outfits. Even initially they were
all wearing those like dusters for the nineties, and I'm like,
oh God, is it going to be this kind of
like Edge Lord kind of movie, and I wish it
would have at least tried for that. But yeah, and
(21:11):
like in the eighties we had military, in the seventies,
we had like company people doing freight jobs. In the nineties,
we have prisoners and they're not really prisoners anymore, right
is that?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I don't get it.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I don't understand, like, are they prisoners or are they free?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
They are prisoners. It's such a weird setup because this
used to be like a huge maximum security prison full
of prisoners, and I guess the company was pulling out
of there, but these twenty five prisoners decided to stay.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You don't choose that as a prisoner.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Requested to stay, I guess, and be custodians of the facility,
which I don't know why the company wants to keep
the facility like running, but.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
They can sell it for parts for a lot more profit.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Yeah, I'm not sure what they do.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
At the end anyway.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
It's confusing, and it makes no sense in terms of
like a capitalist worldview. If it's not producing profit, there's
no point of it continuing to function or service the
entity that it's controlled by, which would be the company.
She should have crashed landed on a like empty planet,
(22:27):
and it might have been more like engaging if it
was just her versus the alien and she had to
figure out everything by herself instead of having all these
men push back against her and almost rape her. And
that rape scene like felt so forced, and I don't
know it was scary, but it was just like that
was probably the scariest thing that happened.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
In the movie.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Obviously we're pretty negative on this movie. I'm trying to
like cause I know, like a lot of people have
kind of softened on this movie and are like they
try to point out, like why it's not that bad.
I've seen a lot of articles and like YouTube videos
where people are I think, trying to like justify it
and find a way to enjoy it. I'm just not there.
But I was like googling, like what do people like
(23:09):
about Alien three? And Google's AI pulls together like cinematography,
the sets of a lot of physicality with textured backgrounds,
damp surfaces, start beams.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Of light, damp surfaces.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
And I agree with that, Like I think that the
set looked good. It was just like a lot of
the same looking set through the whole lot.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Of pipes, a lot of pipes and tunnels and there's
just one note and I don't know.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Camera often lingers close to the floor, pointing up to
emphasize the prisons confines and the difficulty of escape.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I mean, yeah, they didn't have any trouble getting through anything, though,
Like that's not established that, Like it seemed like they
had a free roam of the prison.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, I don't think, like escape wasn't really the issue.
And then when they were trying to run from the alien,
I was never clear. I'm like where they were, what
direction was what?
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Like, yeah, where was doors?
Speaker 3 (24:07):
I don't know, you're opening and closing like what?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
And then they were shouting out corridor names and stuff,
and I'm like that's not relevant to me at all.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Yeah. Some say the film as an exceptional ensemble cast,
including character actors.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
I guess, so, like there was one guy recognized from
like other movies, but I couldn't tell you what his
name is, and I could not tell you what character
he played in this movie. Yeah, and then like they
all died in very similar ways, like with the exception
of the guy that fell in the fan.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Yeah, they pretty much all got scooped up like scooped
up or their head punched through with the little mouth.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
It was just like there wasn't any variety or anything
like that telled me like there was different deaths so
I could tell you, Oh, yeah, the one who died
in the green room. You know that guy he was
I recognize him, like I couldn't tell you.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Oh. Some say the idea of crashing in a maximum
security prison is good. I mean maybe it could have been.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
It could have been if the I feel like it
would have been cool if they had more prisoners. Yeah,
like if they if it was like like a legitimate prison,
if they would have taken the time to film in
a real prison.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Even people like that the alien is different since it's
four legged.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I didn't like that.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
People like the darker tone. I mean I wish it
was more balanced. I don't mind it being a darker,
more horror movie type thing. But yeah, some say the
film has good music. I agree with that. I think
the music was good, and I especially noticed it in
the beginning. It is very very eerie. Like the beginning
really intrigued me, like I was like, oh, this is different,
and then like Sigourney Weaver shaves her head and was like, Okay,
(25:51):
we're giving this a look and a feel and a vibe,
and she's like g I.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Jane doing her thing.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
She looked really masculine in this. I will like she's
the most masculine in this and it's kind of a
shame because she's the one woman in this in this
like area.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
So yeah, like I wish they'd found a way to
have another woman or more women like president in the
movie somehow.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Something that guy kept talking about his wife and children.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
And people really like Sigourney Weaver's performance, and she was
really committed to the movie.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
And she was super committed because she was like co producer.
I feel like she had more steak in the game
in this movie.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, And she was the one who wanted her character
to die at the end of the sacrifice and she
insisted on like, we're not going to have all like
the guns and stuff that we had in the last movie.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I missed the guns or weapons of some sort, any
weapon instead of just like molten lead and water.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Some say the film expands on and concludes the conflict
with the company from Aliens in the best possible way.
I don't think it does, Like, does this conclude the
conflict in like a satisfying way between who between Like
I guess the corporation.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
No, No, because the corporation still exists.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yeah, and they're going to be like, well, Dan, we
lost this.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
One, but they still know where the origin the colony
is still there from the original movie.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, and they know where it is.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
They could always send more people down there to try
to pick up some eggs or something. So No, I
don't think it defeats the company at all. We just
lost like one of our star players.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, I don't know. There is a fan base for this movie,
and I'm just like, I'm not part of it. I
don't like to be like completely negative, but I'm grasping
it things to point out as highlights for the movie.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
I mean, I wasn't a fan of the second one either,
but then everybody loved that one. Yep, so.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Anything else. This guy had this like giant Panasonic video camera.
I thought was funny for this being in the future.
It's definitely like a piece of like eighties technology.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
I did like the point of view where they you
saw the guy running but it was upside down because
you were looking at the person running away from the
perspective of the xenomorph and it was like in black
and white and upside down, and I thought that was.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Kind of creative and disorienting.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yeah, there was some good energy and that final sort
of sequence, that action sequence of them chasing thro those hallways
with those shots, and like really they tried to make
it really dynamic in a kind of a non dynamic environment. Yeah,
and so that was good. Again, it's undercut with those
creature effects.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Yeah, it would have been fun if Sigourney could have
just grabbed it by the tail and dragged it out. Yeah,
that would have been so fun if she was just
like able to grab it and be like, you're coming
with me after she figured out that it wouldn't eat her.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
I don't understand how she got impregnated with one of them,
she says she was violated, so obviously don't know because
we see like an egg in the spaceship, but I
guess there was two of them.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Well, we only saw one of those little face suckers
and that was like an extended cut scene.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
So yeah, no one got the ox or the dog.
Then she somehow got it too. I don't know if
it makes sense, or maybe maybe someone who cared more
understands it better.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
It's definitely a plot hole if you ask me.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Well, should we slip on down to the astral queen section?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah, astral queen. Who was the standout character in the movie.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Well, I think I'm gonna stick with my pick again
for Ellen Ridley.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
I'm gonna give it to Leonard Dillon the cleric.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Oh, yeah, he made the most sense.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Would you like about him?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I liked his speeches.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I like that he called her sister, and you never
know if it's like sister, like in a cool like
black guy calling everybody's sister, or if it was like
a churchy kind of like sister. So I liked that
there was like a fun like play on words there.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Or was she actually his sister?
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Maybe?
Speaker 4 (30:14):
I mean, we're all brothers and sisters in Christ.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
But I liked I don't know.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
I liked that he he spoke with the most like conviction,
and he like he wanted her to live, and then
she died anyway.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
And that sucked. Yeah, so I liked him.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
I think he was one of the strongest characters in
the show or in the movie. I also liked that
he was able to lead them. He was like able
to put some order into their days, and.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yeah, I feel like he was more in charge than
the warden. Yeah, those two guys.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
And then he rescued her from being raped too.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah, at some point, Yeah, I liked him. I just
went with Ripley again because this was, I mean, movie
about her and it's her sacrifice, and yeah, I just
didn't have a very compelling reason to pick anyone else.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Fair.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
All Right, that's the Astral Queen Awards. That wraps up
the main part of the episode. We'll do a quick
spoiler section here in a moment, so if you haven't
seen the future installments that came out after this movie,
then you'll want to skip this section until you've seen
those movies. Next up, we'll be talking about the movie
Alien Resurrection.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
From the two thousands.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
It's from I think ninety seven.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Oh wow, two and one decade.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yeah, and we'll just do the theatrical version of that,
because well, there is a director's cut. It's barely any different. Yeah,
So please join us for that, our living stereo stylus
in this group.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Brace for impact spoilers ahead. If you haven't seen the
whole film series, now is the time to say goodbye.
Remember you can contact us at spacing Out Pod gmail
dot com, find us on social media, share your thoughts
and be a part of the discussion. Spoilers in five
(32:09):
four three two one.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I feel like I saw Alien Resurrection, but I can't recall.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Well, you mentioned this being Sigourney Weaver's last appearance because
she died, but Alien Resurrection resurrects her, so she's back
for one more movie.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
She's probably back for more than one more movie.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I don't remember much of the plot. It's got a
cloning storyline to it, that's how she comes back, and
it has one own a writer in it.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Oh so at least two women are in the next movie. Yeah,
maybe the next one takes place in a woman's prison
or in a woman's psych word, since it's got one
OA writer and she's One of her best movies was
Her and a Psych Word Girl Interrupted. Yeah, that'd be
really great, actually if it was like a crossover between
Alien and Girl Interrupted.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Yeah, so that's really all I remember about Alien Resurrection.
We'll have to see. I think it, despite being I
think weirder in terms of like, I think it's drastically
different from like the first Alien movie to Alien Resurrection,
like the gap between that. I think, like it's pretty
big in terms of style and story, but I think
it's better received than this movie.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, okay, there's that.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
And after that we go into the prequels movies. There's Prometheus,
which you say you've seen and you had no idea
it was an alien movie.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Yeah, there's no hint of an alien in it that
I can recall it because the story of Prometheus is
that he's like one of the Greek gods that brings
fire to man, and I thought that's what it was about.
I thought it was this idea of.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Like a higher being like bringing this discovery of like
fire to humans and kind of like this connection between
two worlds.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
But I don't remember much of it.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
It was back when I used to smoke way too
much weed, way too much weed, So lots of things
are buried in the past.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Thanks for spacing out with us, and I forgot to
write down like a little clever line to end on.
So that's it.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Goodbye.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Thank you for spacing out with Bob and Jason. You
can help us out by subscribing and leaving a positive
rating or review. Next time we will cover the nineteen
ninety seven film Alien Resurrection. We hope you will join
us
Welcome to Spacing Out with BB and Jason, this week
covering the nineteen ninety two film Alien three.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to Spacy Now.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
I'm BB and I'm Jason, and we are discussing the
Alien franchise, one movie at a time. At the moment
of this recording, the third film is available to stream
on Hulu, and this podcast is being released on two
different podcast feeds, So if you've found it through these
Spacing Out with Alien podcasts, and I invite you to
check out our main channel, Spacing Out with BB and Jason,
where we have covered things like Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek,
(00:38):
Our Flag Means Death, over one hundred episodes, and many
more things that come. We are only focusing on Alien
three today, so if there's any discussion of subsequent entries
into the franchise, we will save that for a spoiler
section at the end of the podcast, So if you
haven't seen the movies that released after this one, we
will shield you from spoilers. And although our coverage of
Alien Romulus should have already come out, we are actually
(00:59):
recording the prior to having seen Romulus. We won't be
speaking on that film at all, but we are talking about.
Alien three, which premiered on May twenty second, nineteen ninety two,
written by David Geiler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, was
a story by Vincent Ward and directed by David Fincher.
In this movie, Ellen Ripley is the only survivor when
(01:20):
she crashed lands on Fiorina one six ' one ableak
wasteland inhabited by the former inmates of the planet's maximum
security prison. Once again, Ripley must face skepticism and the
alien as it hunts down the prisoners and guards. Without
weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley leads the
men into battle against the terrifying creature.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Vibe check. Did we like the movie overall? How does
it stand the test of time?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
And the movie started, I was pretty into it, and
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It just slowly deteriorated.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Got exhausting, Like the I felt like there was no
like there's just like one tone the whole movie, and
it was like never change and it became like a drag.
Eventually it was.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Too much men town for me.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Yeah, Like, women crash lands on planet only women they've
seen for fifty years, and they treated as such and
it's just like, is this what men are? It's like
very poorly projective. It's a poor projection of what men
would be, even criminals. Right, But eventually they redeemed themselves
(02:28):
kind of, but none of the characters were like engaging.
Even Ripley was kind of like one note, like you said, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
And I need to point out that we watch the
assembly cut of the movie, which I'll explain in a moment,
but it's a longer cut. That's it's not a director's
cut because they would venture didn't participate in it, but
it is considered to be a better version of the movie,
and it's longer and you get more character moments there,
and I still felt.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Like, still not good enough.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
There's just a lot of these old guys that I'm
having trouble keeping track of each of their personalities.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Because yeah, yeah, I can't tell them apart.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
They're all bald white guys except for those two black
men who are like one of them is kind of
pivotal to the plot and the other one's just kind
of there.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
When the movie started, I was kind of interested in, like, okay,
it's we can tell it's changing tonees going back to
more of a thriller type of movie as opposed to
the action movie that Aliens was. And then the music
felt different. It was eerie and it was intriguing. But
then I don't know, like we killed off the main
characters from the last movie and.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
We just like start from scratch.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Yeah, I don't know what.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I would have been fine if they would have killed
the little girl and let her have her gills or
whatever that guy was. That way, there would have been
two v one, but I guess I didn't want to
call him back or he wasn't available. But yeah, I
just didn't know. It's not my cup of tea.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I was hoping to enjoy it a little more than
I did, And I'm trying to think of like were
there moments in there that I was into it? And
I don't know, not really. I feel like even like
the color palette and the geography of the prison, everything
like just all looked the same.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Yeah, there was no differentiation in scenery. Like the romantic
relationship felt really hollow and forced, like, oh, well, you're
injecting me, so I should let you inject me in
other ways. And it was it really threw me off
that the main love interest was Taiwan leanister. So I
(04:32):
could not get on board with that relationship.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, I know, just like if the tone had had
some shifts throughout it, the energy had changed at any
point other than like it it picked.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
It was more engaging in some way, Like the direction
just didn't give anything either. I think, Yeah, it was
just weird. I didn't like it. I could see why
this is the least popular one or has the worst
like reviews.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Yeah, and I guess performances were good, but even like
Sigourney Weaver, this isn't on her highlight reel, like no,
this is.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Crazy, Like she put her name on this and she
shaved her head for this, and like that moment should
have been a big deal. Then they just cut to
her in the bathroom like shaved whatever. Like I don't know.
A lot of women in the nineties started shaving their
heads for films and stuff, and it was kind of
a popular trend to see bald women in the nineties.
(05:28):
It would have been really powerful to see her getting
her haircut by one of those dudes and like giving
some sort of but I don't know, there's kind of
like a humiliation in shaving your head, right, like or
it's like an act of defiance. There's a lot of
like connotations for a woman shaving her head, and I
wish they would have like highlighted it a little bit
(05:50):
more instead of just like cut to her being bald.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, So all right, let's get in the trivia.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Okay, trivia time. What facts could we uncover for Alien three?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
So? Alien three is the directorial debut of David Fincher,
who is now known for films like Fight Club, Social Network,
Gone Girl. He previously worked primarily as a music video director. However,
the movie had several different writers and directors attached to
it before it was handed off to him. The first
concept settled on was a two movie plan which featured
Michael Bains's character Corporal Hicks as a protagonist in the
(06:26):
third film with a focus on a Cold War metaphor
and the use of aliens as biological weapons, and then
Sigourney Weaver returning as a lead in a fourth film
which would be a climactic battle. So this script was
written by William Gibson. Is primarily set in a space
station shopping mall with Ripley in a coma while Hicks
uncovers the Wayland Newtani Corporation are developing an alien army.
So this script has a considerable considerable following on the
(06:49):
Internet and is often referred to as being superior to
the final film. And in twenty eighteen, the second draft
of the script was adapted into a comic series, and
in twenty nineteen for Aliens forty fan of vers and
audiobook of the script was released, featuring some of the
actors like Michael Bain and Lance Hendrickson. In twenty twenty one,
a novel based on the first draft of the script
was published. So they've been really into this idea of
(07:11):
this alternative script that they could have made right, and
fans are definitely wanted this version of it. M M.
So I just wanted to highlight that one because it
does get a lot of attention.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It seems the shopping mall one.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah. So the scripts then passed through several writers. There's
a lot of details about this online about how the
story evolved and was shifted involved. Yeah, and there's a
whole documentary actually about the production of this movie and
what a disaster it was.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So there's a couple directors attached prior to David Fincher,
and he had to begin shooting without a finished script. Yeah.
So there's a documentary titled Wreckage and Rage, which details
the troubled production of Alien three. Sojourney Weaver was offered
four million plus the share of the box office to return,
and her character sacrifice was her idea. She intended to
conclude her role in the franchise, and.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The way she went out was so like anti climactic.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yeah, and like, I don't know, the idea kind of works,
but the effects made it cheesy.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
It made it so bad.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
I wish you would have gotten her throat slit by
one of the murderers. He's like, okay, baby, I'll do
it for you, you know what I mean. It would have
been more like visceral and intimate somehow.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
David Fincher's cut of the movie was three hours long,
but the studio forced it down the two hours, So
that's the theatrical cut, which people generally don't like. The
budget was fifty to sixty million, and it made one
hundred and sixty million at the box office. Critical reception
was mixed, with praise going towards the visuals and Sigourney
Weaver's performance and criticism aimed that the plot, script, and
(08:39):
action sequences. A number of casts and crew from the
franchise expressed their disappointment with the film story. James Cameron
regarded the decision to kill off the characters of Bishop
Newton Hicks as they slap in the face to him
and to the fans of the previous film, and David
Fincher himself has dis own the film, citing extensive studio interference.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Dang, James Cameron, like that us his baby, because he
wrote that script. So I could see how he would be,
like so upset about that. Yeah, I wasn't that upset
that they killed off those characters.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
So when the Alien Quadrilogy box set was released in
two thousand and three, David Fincher was the only director
to not participate in the Director's cut. Instead, an extended
version called the Assembly Cut was created based on his
editing notes. That's what BB and I watched today. The
Assembly Cut contains thirty minutes of extended, alternate and previously
deleted scenes and alternative key plot elements. Then, the two
(09:32):
thousand and three version did not have full sound or
color work done to the additional scenes, but the twenty
ten Blu Ray version went through full post production, including
bringing back the actors to record dialogue, which I remember,
I think the one time before this that I've seen
this movie. I saw that two thousand and three version,
and like there'd be random points in the movie when
it would cut to a scene that clearly looks different,
(09:53):
like they hadn't done the color grading on it, Like
it looks like they cut to like videotape.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And then you can't hear a lot of the the
lines of dialogue because they never re recorded them, so
they just had like subtitles for random scenes, So you
definitely felt like you were watching some like work in progress.
Oh well, but I guess it was popular enough that
they went back and readid it all? Critics said generally
regarded the Assembly Cut to be a superior version of
the film, so differences in the two versions. The theatrical
(10:19):
cut greatly reduces the first act. The Assembly Cut features
exteriors of the prison colony, a sequence where Ripley's unconscious
body is found washed on the beach, and it better
sets up the planet's aggressive looking lice, which is the
explanation for Ripley's hair being shaved off. In the theatrical version,
Ripley's unconscious body is simply found in the salvage escape pot.
The theatrical cut has the alien bursting out of a
(10:41):
dog one of the inmates pet, and the assembly cut
establishes that the prisoners have livestock and the alien bursts
out of an ox. Now, the character of Gallic has
very few scenes in the theatrical cut, and his fate
is never shown or the assembly cut gives him far
more to do, and he is involved in helping the
alien escape after Ripley and Dylan's trap it, and the
alien kills him after this. And then in the assembly
(11:01):
a cut, we watched Ripley fall into the furnace, sacrificing yourself.
But in the theatrial cut they went back and did reshoots,
and they added a chest burster erupting from her torso
as she falls. Then theatrical cut also removed numerous dialogue scenes,
which went a long way to help audiences distinguished between
all the shaven headed inmates.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I still couldn't tell them a start, dude.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I imagine how lowt it would be in the other version.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Oh God, deep space dive. Let's break down some of
our thoughts on the film. You can share your thoughts
with us through email or social media. We may use
your comments on an upcoming episode.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Alien cubed no reason why they stylized it like that
just looks high tech, It.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Looks modern and nineties.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Ooh, this is sci fi.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Well, this movie was not for me. I was surprised
by the amount of blood that it had, had a
lot of blood. Yeah, but it just it was like
random and like ineffective in my in my opinion, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Don't I don't really know what to make of it.
Like reading all the backstory, it's like, yeah, this clearly
was like the studio was forcing a movie out before
you want to get the shit together. Yeah, and I
don't know what we gained from it, like what.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
We lost Ripley if anything. Yeah, which is sad that
this is the last movie that she's going to be
in this This would be I would be so upset
about it. I would I would not have taken any
sort of money or payment until I was happy with
the script. And obviously it's not a director problem, because
(12:46):
this director is good. So it seems like the tools
that were given were not good. And you can tell,
like I don't know. It feels like the art department
wasn't as strong in this one either. I don't I
can I maybe in the nineties it was good, but
like the CGI xenomorph was just like not aesthetic.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Yeah, I mean, let's talk about that, because that's like
when I'm there, like trying to get into the movie
and then like these effects. That is from what I
know because I watched a YouTube video that was talking
about the effects in this movie, and I think they
like they recorded like puppetry of the alien and then
they rotoscoped it out, which means like they basically cut
it out and then placed it instead of the movie
(13:30):
and like you can just tell that effect, like that
this slicer is not part of the scene. It's got
weird shadowing happening that doesn't match. It's just like the
contrast is off and it Yeah, it's like there's such
a clear difference when they are compositing it into the
scene versus when they have you know, a physical prop there.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Yeah, the prop was really good, but the CGI of
it running around was just like awful. It took you
out and you were and it looked like a weird
cat or something. The way it was running. Yeah, and
I wanted it to not be so animal like. I
wanted it to be more prep like like a dinosaur
(14:09):
almost where it walks on two legs instead of four.
I don't know why I would prefer that, but I
think it's been presented, is that in previous movies?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Yeah, so I guess the idea that they're going for
is that it takes on the characteristics of the host
that it hatches out of.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Oh, so it's more bovine.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
So it came out of the either an ox or
a dog depending on which version you watch. But a
four legged creature.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Oh that's stupid. I hate that.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
So yeah, I mean that definitely drags it down. And
maybe it wasn't as obviously bad when it came out,
but it does not hold up.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
No, it does not hold up at all.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
And then the sets like not that they look bad,
it's just there was no diversity.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, they're very one note.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yeah, it's just a weird choice to like place this
whole movie like inside, Like this is a sci fi
space franchise.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Well, like thinking about a prison that's turned into a convent,
you would think that they would.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Paint the walls or something I don't know.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
And I'm thinking of like the Star Wars show and
or and that space prison and how bright and light
it was and how like it was still really like bleak,
like in corporate I don't know, I can I like
it was still giving oil refinery. Yeah, And I'm like,
(15:30):
I don't get it. I don't get it. Is this
a prison? And then they're all religious and like I
don't know they they they say a men and do
like a fist. It was very I don't know what
they were trying to do, and it just didn't feel organic.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Yeah, exactly, like we're going to set this on a
planet with a prison, and like we don't really explore
that idea of like what's this like private companies owning
a prison?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
That would have been really interesting.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, like let's let's dive into that. Let's corporate prisons. Yeah,
because like we're still kind of putting the corporation as
a villain in this movie, like they own a prison,
and that's just okay, not exploring that much more. And
then there's a religious through line in this, but I
don't know that they really flesh it out. I mean
it because it kind of it culminates in ripley sacrificing
(16:22):
yourself with a Jesus pose, But like what we set
that up? Really like it's just like there's no payoff.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
No one talks about Jesus or a savior or anything,
which would have been like really key. I think if
you were going to develop this like belief system, I
think it would have been nice to kind of build
up a savior and then if her sacrifice would have
been more, there would have been more payoff at the end.
It just felt so hollow that she just jumped after
(16:51):
all that, Like she didn't want to kill herself in
the beginning, and it's like, I don't understand you. How
are you like throughout this whole, like since you found
out that you are the carrier of the next like
egg layer, you don't want to die, but you want
to kill it and you want to die by the
hands of somebody else. And then at the end you
(17:14):
change your mind and you're like, all right, well I'll
just jump. I thought, seriously, I thought she was going
to have that guy slit her throat like please kill me,
like please kill me so that because I have one
of them inside of me, and then like it would
have been like, you know, he's already a prisoner, so
he would have been like, I have nothing to lose.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And I've experienced this and this is terrible. Nobody should
go through this, and then it would have like changed
the narrative for that character. But I don't know. It
just it felt really hollow, like I didn't like.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
And sudden she's like, all right, I'm gonna go behind this,
uh what is it? Like a chain link fence, and
I'm gonna ride in this like crane and then I'm
gonna jump into this thing that's not been established it all,
and all of a sudden, there's like molten lava or something.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
I don't know. Did you like any of the side characters.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I mean I was somewhat interested in Taiwan lanister.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
He was fucking boring to me.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
The way he talked to her as a patient, the
same way that he talked to her after they got
out of bed. Yeah, there was no change in tone
or like, there was no like care and affection, there
was nothing.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
No, I didn't see any point to them hooking up.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
No, it was just like he was there first, so
she decides to fuck him or what yeah, or he's
not a prisoner, but he's got a fucking tattoo.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Girl, so what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (18:43):
And she just lost like her other love interests, like
not that long ago perceived, Like if you think about
like the Criageina Sleep, it would have been yesterday that
she was hanging out with this guy and they didn't
hook up, but they had like a little something something
going on. So it just I feel like it would
(19:03):
have been interesting to see her grieving and him holding
her and then them kind of getting together as he
was like helping her grieve the loss of the life
that she would have had with these other two people
that she was escaping the horrible like other planet that
she was on or whatever. But there was none of that,
(19:25):
Like I don't know, like why can't they do romance
in this franchise? Even in the last movie, it was
just like I mean, if you didn't watch the extended cut.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
There was no romance. Yeah, So I don't know. It's weird.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
It's really weird, and it's very hollow, and it just
feels it feels very masculine in the way that it
was like romantically entangled, like very matter of fact, like
I'm in your cot Ugh like I don't know, it
just felt weird and I didn't like it. I think
we have a romance formula already in movies. Romance is
(20:05):
like really easy to establish and to like put into
a film, and I don't think there was any effort
put into this like romantic relationship at all.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Yeah, because she's just like I've been out here a
long time, but I mean have you because you were
like you've been in the cryo sleep for most of it,
like from your experience, you went to sleep at the
end of the last movie and you woke up in
this one.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Yeah, so it's been three days.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
And then when he dies in front of her, no reaction, nothing,
not even a tear, not even a like oh no.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, like this very muted this whole time, like Ripley
even like this whispers a lot, yeah, like I can
barely hear you. How are you having conversations with you?
And yeah, this that combined with again like the muted
colors and the.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
And the the like costumes were all the same. Everybody
was wearing like these dingy outfits. Even initially they were
all wearing those like dusters for the nineties, and I'm like,
oh God, is it going to be this kind of
like Edge Lord kind of movie, and I wish it
would have at least tried for that. But yeah, and
(21:11):
like in the eighties we had military, in the seventies,
we had like company people doing freight jobs. In the nineties,
we have prisoners and they're not really prisoners anymore, right
is that?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I don't get it.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I don't understand, like, are they prisoners or are they free?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
They are prisoners. It's such a weird setup because this
used to be like a huge maximum security prison full
of prisoners, and I guess the company was pulling out
of there, but these twenty five prisoners decided to stay.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You don't choose that as a prisoner.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Requested to stay, I guess, and be custodians of the facility,
which I don't know why the company wants to keep
the facility like running, but.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
They can sell it for parts for a lot more profit.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Yeah, I'm not sure what they do.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
At the end anyway.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
It's confusing, and it makes no sense in terms of
like a capitalist worldview. If it's not producing profit, there's
no point of it continuing to function or service the
entity that it's controlled by, which would be the company.
She should have crashed landed on a like empty planet,
(22:27):
and it might have been more like engaging if it
was just her versus the alien and she had to
figure out everything by herself instead of having all these
men push back against her and almost rape her. And
that rape scene like felt so forced, and I don't
know it was scary, but it was just like that
was probably the scariest thing that happened.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
In the movie.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Obviously we're pretty negative on this movie. I'm trying to
like cause I know, like a lot of people have
kind of softened on this movie and are like they
try to point out, like why it's not that bad.
I've seen a lot of articles and like YouTube videos
where people are I think, trying to like justify it
and find a way to enjoy it. I'm just not there.
But I was like googling, like what do people like
(23:09):
about Alien three? And Google's AI pulls together like cinematography,
the sets of a lot of physicality with textured backgrounds,
damp surfaces, start beams.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Of light, damp surfaces.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
And I agree with that, Like I think that the
set looked good. It was just like a lot of
the same looking set through the whole lot.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Of pipes, a lot of pipes and tunnels and there's
just one note and I don't know.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Camera often lingers close to the floor, pointing up to
emphasize the prisons confines and the difficulty of escape.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I mean, yeah, they didn't have any trouble getting through anything, though,
Like that's not established that, Like it seemed like they
had a free roam of the prison.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, I don't think, like escape wasn't really the issue.
And then when they were trying to run from the alien,
I was never clear. I'm like where they were, what
direction was what?
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Like, yeah, where was doors?
Speaker 3 (24:07):
I don't know, you're opening and closing like what?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
And then they were shouting out corridor names and stuff,
and I'm like that's not relevant to me at all.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Yeah. Some say the film as an exceptional ensemble cast,
including character actors.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
I guess, so, like there was one guy recognized from
like other movies, but I couldn't tell you what his
name is, and I could not tell you what character
he played in this movie. Yeah, and then like they
all died in very similar ways, like with the exception
of the guy that fell in the fan.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Yeah, they pretty much all got scooped up like scooped
up or their head punched through with the little mouth.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
It was just like there wasn't any variety or anything
like that telled me like there was different deaths so
I could tell you, Oh, yeah, the one who died
in the green room. You know that guy he was
I recognize him, like I couldn't tell you.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Oh. Some say the idea of crashing in a maximum
security prison is good. I mean maybe it could have been.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
It could have been if the I feel like it
would have been cool if they had more prisoners. Yeah,
like if they if it was like like a legitimate prison,
if they would have taken the time to film in
a real prison.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Even people like that the alien is different since it's
four legged.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I didn't like that.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
People like the darker tone. I mean I wish it
was more balanced. I don't mind it being a darker,
more horror movie type thing. But yeah, some say the
film has good music. I agree with that. I think
the music was good, and I especially noticed it in
the beginning. It is very very eerie. Like the beginning
really intrigued me, like I was like, oh, this is different,
and then like Sigourney Weaver shaves her head and was like, Okay,
(25:51):
we're giving this a look and a feel and a vibe,
and she's like g I.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Jane doing her thing.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
She looked really masculine in this. I will like she's
the most masculine in this and it's kind of a
shame because she's the one woman in this in this
like area.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
So yeah, like I wish they'd found a way to
have another woman or more women like president in the
movie somehow.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Something that guy kept talking about his wife and children.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
And people really like Sigourney Weaver's performance, and she was
really committed to the movie.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
And she was super committed because she was like co producer.
I feel like she had more steak in the game
in this movie.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, And she was the one who wanted her character
to die at the end of the sacrifice and she
insisted on like, we're not going to have all like
the guns and stuff that we had in the last movie.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I missed the guns or weapons of some sort, any
weapon instead of just like molten lead and water.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Some say the film expands on and concludes the conflict
with the company from Aliens in the best possible way.
I don't think it does, Like, does this conclude the
conflict in like a satisfying way between who between Like
I guess the corporation.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
No, No, because the corporation still exists.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yeah, and they're going to be like, well, Dan, we
lost this.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
One, but they still know where the origin the colony
is still there from the original movie.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, and they know where it is.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
They could always send more people down there to try
to pick up some eggs or something. So No, I
don't think it defeats the company at all. We just
lost like one of our star players.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, I don't know. There is a fan base for this movie,
and I'm just like, I'm not part of it. I
don't like to be like completely negative, but I'm grasping
it things to point out as highlights for the movie.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
I mean, I wasn't a fan of the second one either,
but then everybody loved that one. Yep, so.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Anything else. This guy had this like giant Panasonic video camera.
I thought was funny for this being in the future.
It's definitely like a piece of like eighties technology.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
I did like the point of view where they you
saw the guy running but it was upside down because
you were looking at the person running away from the
perspective of the xenomorph and it was like in black
and white and upside down, and I thought that was.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Kind of creative and disorienting.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yeah, there was some good energy and that final sort
of sequence, that action sequence of them chasing thro those hallways
with those shots, and like really they tried to make
it really dynamic in a kind of a non dynamic environment. Yeah,
and so that was good. Again, it's undercut with those
creature effects.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Yeah, it would have been fun if Sigourney could have
just grabbed it by the tail and dragged it out. Yeah,
that would have been so fun if she was just
like able to grab it and be like, you're coming
with me after she figured out that it wouldn't eat her.
Speaker 3 (28:53):
I don't understand how she got impregnated with one of them,
she says she was violated, so obviously don't know because
we see like an egg in the spaceship, but I
guess there was two of them.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Well, we only saw one of those little face suckers
and that was like an extended cut scene.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
So yeah, no one got the ox or the dog.
Then she somehow got it too. I don't know if
it makes sense, or maybe maybe someone who cared more
understands it better.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
It's definitely a plot hole if you ask me.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Well, should we slip on down to the astral queen section?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah, astral queen. Who was the standout character in the movie.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Well, I think I'm gonna stick with my pick again
for Ellen Ridley.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
I'm gonna give it to Leonard Dillon the cleric.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Oh, yeah, he made the most sense.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Would you like about him?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I liked his speeches.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I like that he called her sister, and you never
know if it's like sister, like in a cool like
black guy calling everybody's sister, or if it was like
a churchy kind of like sister. So I liked that
there was like a fun like play on words there.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Or was she actually his sister?
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Maybe?
Speaker 4 (30:14):
I mean, we're all brothers and sisters in Christ.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
But I liked I don't know.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
I liked that he he spoke with the most like conviction,
and he like he wanted her to live, and then
she died anyway.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
And that sucked. Yeah, so I liked him.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
I think he was one of the strongest characters in
the show or in the movie. I also liked that
he was able to lead them. He was like able
to put some order into their days, and.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yeah, I feel like he was more in charge than
the warden. Yeah, those two guys.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
And then he rescued her from being raped too.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah, at some point, Yeah, I liked him. I just
went with Ripley again because this was, I mean, movie
about her and it's her sacrifice, and yeah, I just
didn't have a very compelling reason to pick anyone else.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Fair.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
All Right, that's the Astral Queen Awards. That wraps up
the main part of the episode. We'll do a quick
spoiler section here in a moment, so if you haven't
seen the future installments that came out after this movie,
then you'll want to skip this section until you've seen
those movies. Next up, we'll be talking about the movie
Alien Resurrection.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
From the two thousands.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
It's from I think ninety seven.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Oh wow, two and one decade.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yeah, and we'll just do the theatrical version of that,
because well, there is a director's cut. It's barely any different. Yeah,
So please join us for that, our living stereo stylus
in this group.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Brace for impact spoilers ahead. If you haven't seen the
whole film series, now is the time to say goodbye.
Remember you can contact us at spacing Out Pod gmail
dot com, find us on social media, share your thoughts
and be a part of the discussion. Spoilers in five
(32:09):
four three two one.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
I feel like I saw Alien Resurrection, but I can't recall.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Well, you mentioned this being Sigourney Weaver's last appearance because
she died, but Alien Resurrection resurrects her, so she's back
for one more movie.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
She's probably back for more than one more movie.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I don't remember much of the plot. It's got a
cloning storyline to it, that's how she comes back, and
it has one own a writer in it.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Oh so at least two women are in the next movie. Yeah,
maybe the next one takes place in a woman's prison
or in a woman's psych word, since it's got one
OA writer and she's One of her best movies was
Her and a Psych Word Girl Interrupted. Yeah, that'd be
really great, actually if it was like a crossover between
Alien and Girl Interrupted.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Yeah, so that's really all I remember about Alien Resurrection.
We'll have to see. I think it, despite being I
think weirder in terms of like, I think it's drastically
different from like the first Alien movie to Alien Resurrection,
like the gap between that. I think, like it's pretty
big in terms of style and story, but I think
it's better received than this movie.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, okay, there's that.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
And after that we go into the prequels movies. There's Prometheus,
which you say you've seen and you had no idea
it was an alien movie.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Yeah, there's no hint of an alien in it that
I can recall it because the story of Prometheus is
that he's like one of the Greek gods that brings
fire to man, and I thought that's what it was about.
I thought it was this idea of.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Like a higher being like bringing this discovery of like
fire to humans and kind of like this connection between
two worlds.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
But I don't remember much of it.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
It was back when I used to smoke way too
much weed, way too much weed, So lots of things
are buried in the past.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Thanks for spacing out with us, and I forgot to
write down like a little clever line to end on.
So that's it.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Goodbye.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Thank you for spacing out with Bob and Jason. You
can help us out by subscribing and leaving a positive
rating or review. Next time we will cover the nineteen
ninety seven film Alien Resurrection. We hope you will join
us
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