Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Episode 59: Game Over, Man! It's Aliens on Planet 8



In 1979, we learned that in space, no one can hear you scream. But there was plenty of screaming in movie theaters, as audiences jumped and shrieked, scared senseless by the phenomenon that was Alien. It was a film like no one had seen before, a horror story in space, with a truly terrifying alien creature. Pitched as "Jaws in space," it was just as suspenseful, but had a sense of claustrophobia and body horror that Jaws lacked. 


Your Planet 8 crew are big fans of the original Alien and its follow up, Aliens. These two films are so perfect, and complement each other so brilliantly, yet are so completely different in tone. We'll take a look at the ground-breaking 1979 film, its amazing visuals, impressive cast, and of course, the alien itself, the xenomorph, a true icon of creature design. The distinctive H.R. Giger designs made the film stand out from anything that had ever come before - and made your skin crawl!


It also made a star out of Sigourney Weaver. Alien was her first big film, and she gave a memorable performance as Ripley. It was unusual at that time for a woman to not only be the protagonist, but to be so self-sufficient and capable. Weaver wound up being the star of the franchise for years to come. 


The 1986 sequel, Aliens, went in a completely different direction thematically, and was more of an action film than a horror film. This worked surprisingly well. The space marines that Ripley teams up with were as interesting a group as the Nostromo crew from the original film. Actors we now know so well like Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, all provide classic performances. The film also gave us tons of aliens, including a giant alien queen. And just like the first film, everything was achieved with practical special effects, no CGI! Ah, those were the days.

Of course, we have to talk a bit about the soundtracks - the films had two well-known composers, Jerry Goldsmith on Alien and James Horner on Aliens. Both interesting soundtracks, but very different, and some of Horner's cues have been used on a number of trailers. And Aliens sure sounds a lot like parts of  his Wrath of Khan soundtrack!


These two films are still fantastic to watch and are true classics of science fiction film. If you haven't seen them in a while (or ever!), check them out. You will not be disappointed.


For our Sensor Sweep this episode, Karen appropriately shares an amazing coffee table book from Titan Books called The Making of Alien by J.W. Rinzler. This 300+ page tome does a deep dive into the origins of Alien, and is illustrated with production designs and behind  the scenes photos. If you are a fan, you will love this book!

That's it for us, folks. Send us your thoughts, your feedback, your insults, we'll take it all! You can leave comments here, or fire them off at our two other locations: 

Thanks for listening!

2 comments:

  1. Enjoyable conversation, as usual.
    First, I have to say that whoever noted that Aliens can be enjoyed on its own, without seeing Alien (Larry?), I can confirm that that's absolutely true. I actually saw Aliens before I ever saw the first one, in its first theatrical run in 1986. (I knew enough about Alien through general cultural osmosis and talking to people who had seen it, though.)
    Otherwise, you guys echo my thoughts on so many of these properties: yes, Alien and its sequel should have been the only two movies ever made, just like Terminator and Terminator II. (I have similar thoughts on a few other franchises.)
    Alien and Aliens both work so well because the tone of each is so different: as you noted, the first one is straight up suspense/horror and the second horror/action. The third and fourth ones tried to capture some of that magic, the former seemed to be an attempt to be more like the first, while the latter seemed to be an attempt to one-up Aliens (with added body horror) and both failed miserably.
    -Edo Bosnar

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  2. At least we have the first 2 to enjoy. Supposedly they are thinking about a new film. Maybe even with Ridley Scott. But, maybe the spaceship has sailed and the magic just can't be recaptured or recreated....

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