ALIEN Franchise

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  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    That was quite a large drop in its second weekend, will be interesting to see just how much more it manages to make (or lose) and if that'll warrant another sequel.
  • edited May 2017 Posts: 6,432
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    That was quite a large drop in its second weekend, will be interesting to see just how much more it manages to make (or lose) and if that'll warrant another sequel.

    Hopefully overseas box office will be better, anyone got Blomkamp's number joking aside a Riply and Hicks return would be huge.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    That was quite a large drop in its second weekend, will be interesting to see just how much more it manages to make (or lose) and if that'll warrant another sequel.

    Hopefully overseas box office will be better, anyone got Blomkamp's number joking aside a Riply and Hicks return would be huge.

    I'm sure it'd be more well received than 'Alien: Covenant,' that's for sure.
  • Posts: 6,432
    Still not had chance to see Covenant though people have told me it's middle of the road, and that Prometheus is better I suspect I know what the issues will be.
  • Posts: 4,599
    I am typical of those who could be responsible. Was looking forward to it, held back, read the reviews (including this forum) and decided to leave it. Just lost enthusiasm.
  • Posts: 6,432
    patb wrote: »
    I am typical of those who could be responsible. Was looking forward to it, held back, read the reviews (including this forum) and decided to leave it. Just lost enthusiasm.

    I have been busy with work though been asked a few times to go and see Covenant, I am getting into the habit of waiting for Blurays recently I have a huge 4K TV so the cinema experience is less of a big deal. I'll always go to the cinema to watch Bond of course.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Still not had chance to see Covenant though people have told me it's middle of the road, and that Prometheus is better I suspect I know what the issues will be.
    I can agree with this, although middle of the road is perhaps being too generous.
  • Posts: 5,767
    Alien: Covenant North American box office is hugely disappointing, this surely could threaten the proposed future films.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/05/30/box-office-alien-covenant-suffers-record-71-memorial-day-weekend-drop/#2dc60fdd6a32

    That's disappointing. Although I would imagine that at least one more is a certainty.
    If it means Ridley Scott will stop putting out trash, that wouldn´t be disappointing.

  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Alien: Covenant North American box office is hugely disappointing, this surely could threaten the proposed future films.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/05/30/box-office-alien-covenant-suffers-record-71-memorial-day-weekend-drop/#2dc60fdd6a32

    That's disappointing. Although I would imagine that at least one more is a certainty.
    If it means Ridley Scott will stop putting out trash, that wouldn´t be disappointing.

    I would say that the technical side of Covenant makes it far better than trash - and the ideas behind it, even if some are misguided, also raises it above most efforts in the genre. I don't take anything in Prometheus or Covenant as literal, especially concerning things like the life-cycle and the timeline.

    I don't think it's as bad as many are making out. Ridley can still put a good, thrilling sequence together.

    That's not to say it's not flawed, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Fassbender alone made the ticket price worth it.
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    I thought it was a fun time I don't know why people dislike Covenant so much.
  • Posts: 6,432
    bondjames wrote: »
    Still not had chance to see Covenant though people have told me it's middle of the road, and that Prometheus is better I suspect I know what the issues will be.
    I can agree with this, although middle of the road is perhaps being too generous.

    Is it really that bad? I am guessing Ridley Scott does not have a clear vision of what he wants to achieve.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    No, it is excellent.
  • Posts: 6,432
    Will try and catch Alien: Covenant on Friday after work if it's still playing locally, I am actually more intrigued by the film now.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited May 2017 Posts: 23,883
    bondjames wrote: »
    Still not had chance to see Covenant though people have told me it's middle of the road, and that Prometheus is better I suspect I know what the issues will be.
    I can agree with this, although middle of the road is perhaps being too generous.

    Is it really that bad? I am guessing Ridley Scott does not have a clear vision of what he wants to achieve.
    It's most offensive crime in my view is that it's entirely predictable. If you thought characters were stupid in Prometheus, the knuckleheads in this one are twice as bad. Moreover none of them are even remotely memorable or interesting. It's not as visually impressive as Prometheus either and the score is rubbish in comparison. I was reminded of SP when watching it, and I thought that film was actually better.

    The only enjoyment for me came from Michael Fassbender and his character. He 'just' saved the film. The best scene is actually the opening one imho.
  • Posts: 6,432
    bondjames wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    Still not had chance to see Covenant though people have told me it's middle of the road, and that Prometheus is better I suspect I know what the issues will be.
    I can agree with this, although middle of the road is perhaps being too generous.

    Is it really that bad? I am guessing Ridley Scott does not have a clear vision of what he wants to achieve.
    It's most offensive crime in my view is that it's entirely predictable. If you thought characters were stupid in Prometheus, the knuckleheads in this one are twice as bad. Moreover none of them are even remotely memorable or interesting. It's not as visually impressive as Prometheus either and the score is rubbish in comparison. I was reminded of SP when watching it, and I thought that film was actually better.

    The only enjoyment for me came from Michael Fassbender and his character. He 'just' saved the film. The best scene is actually the opening one imho.

    Prometheous is a entertaining if flawed film the half baked script does pose some interesting ideas that I hoped would be expanded upon in future films, I am starting to think there was never a long term vision for the prequels. The fact Scott initially claimed Prometheus had nothing to do with Alien is confusing from the start...

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbs7ANvcZmqEQzjkCQia6U630AEIcdyug8lbCgCKDp5vahQG4LyA

    Really Ridley...

    The marketing for Prometheous should have been all out this is a Alien prequel and sold it as a origin film, the writing should have focused more on a clear evolution of the Xenomorph then the series would not have been in the state it finds itself in.
  • edited May 2017 Posts: 6,844
    Haven't seen Covenant yet—and honestly the more I hear the less I want to—but I think the problem with both these franchises (Alien and Bond) is this idea of making it up as you go along. There's no clear vision, just tenuous ideas that maybe could pan out into this or pan out into that. So then the screenwriters come in and are told make it fun, make it exciting, insert big idea here, insert big idea there. And then something else strikes the director and he wants this other idea worked in, regardless of whether it lines up with the last film or boxes the franchise into a corner moving forward. Everything is worked out on the fly with little thought given to where it's all ultimately heading.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    edited June 2017 Posts: 2,721
    SPOILERS!!!

    Alien: Covenant has one almighty strength - Michael Fassbender. He's so good that it's little surprise that the best dramatic scene of the entire film is Fassbender acting opposite himself. The character of David is an intriguing and gripping character - and it's amazing that after Ripley the series has managed to find such a watchable character to hang continued episodes on. All the better because he is more an antagonist - which creates problems for any protagonist he appears opposite - be it Noomi Rapace or Katherine Waterson. Because they are merely Ripley replacements while David enters the realm of many great science fiction characters like Hal in 2001 or Roy Batty in Blade Runner by being synthetic creations that are more interesting and relatable than the human characters in the story.

    The problem is that the narrative surrounding David is rehashed and predictable and Ridley Scott creates few scares. His characters act idiotically and because Alien came out in 1979 - I find it is a problem to be 38 years ahead of your characters as another sap curiously leans over an alien egg as it opens. But also the cinematic language that Scott communicates in with Covenant is regressive and horror-film 101. A person goes off by themselves and stands by a water pool bathing, slowly turning around when they hear a noise. Later a person follows a character they don't trust into a shadowy underground and is killed. It even has characters die due to their adherence to vices - one character because he needs to smoke, another couple have sex in a shower and die! It's bordering on parody. Not to mention a last minute twist that is so obvious it defies belief.

    And in all of this I find the Alien as a threat is lost.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I was a bit surprised the 3d was dropped for this film as Prometheus was one of very few films that had exquisite 3d effects.
  • Posts: 2,107
    There's no 3d? Huh, only thought it was the showing I went to, that wasn't 3d.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Where I live there are no 3d screenings at all, so I guess so?
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    Covenant didn't get the 3D treatment as far as I know.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    Who wants 3D? That belongs in a theme park. Give me a well-made film on a 2D canvas.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Who wants 3D? That belongs in a theme park. Give me a well-made film on a 2D canvas.

    3D already seems nowhere near as "popular" as it was touted to be five years back, and I'm glad. I avoid it like the plague.
  • Posts: 6,432
    Not a fan of 3D I'll take IMAX everytime if it were possible.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    The special effects in Covenant weren't up to par imho. Perhaps that's why they ditched the 3D.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    Not a fan of 3D I'll take IMAX everytime if it were possible.

    I've still yet to see a single film in IMAX, unfortunately. Will never stop kicking myself for missing 'Gravity' in IMAX.
  • Posts: 6,432
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    Not a fan of 3D I'll take IMAX everytime if it were possible.

    I've still yet to see a single film in IMAX, unfortunately. Will never stop kicking myself for missing 'Gravity' in IMAX.

    I love the format Interstellar was amazing in IMAX I never saw Gravity in that format either it's great on BD. It pains me Blurays don't embrace IMAX as much as they should, I have a handful of films on BD with fantastic IMAX sequences that look great on a 4K TV.

    Tron Legacy
    Dark Knight Rises
    Dark Knight
    Transformers 4 Special Edition
    Transformers 2 Special Edition
    Interstellar



  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    I'm not a fan of the 'Transformers' series but I'm sure those movies look absolutely ridiculous in IMAX. That'd probably be the only way to put my ass in a seat for one of those movies.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    TDK/TDKR/Interstellar were all absolutely magnificent in IMAX. Can't wait for Dunkirk!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    bondjames wrote: »
    TDK/TDKR/Interstellar were all absolutely magnificent in IMAX. Can't wait for Dunkirk!

    I'm not as excited for that as I was the first time I saw that initial teaser trailer, but I'm sure it'll look incredible in IMAX, too.
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