Alien: Covenant (2017) (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

I'm still deciding whether to see this flick or not. I haven't had much interest in the series after the second one. The premises of three and four didn't do anything to pique my interest. I did buy "Prometheus" on Blu-ray, but I have yet to watch it. So far, I haven't had enough interest to want to watch it.

This latest one just sounds like a re-hash of number 1.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Your "summer camp slasher" film description could be applied as equally to the first film as to any of the ones that follows. In fact more so, because the victims in the first film have no idea as to what is about to occur to them, whereas in every film after there is a main character that knows exactly what is about to happen. The first film's premise is simply a horrifying killer stalking its victims and disposing them in nasty ways. It is Jason Vorhees in Space.

The only thing that raises it vastly above the average slasher film is the level of fear and tension that is created by the atmospheric and claustrophobic design of the Nostromo, good direction and good acting. In the first film, there were a lot of times where you got the impression that the actors were not really acting sometimes.

Yes, I think you are correct and as you say what brings it above that level of just being Friday the 13th in space is the mysterious atmosphere, wonderful setting and design, and a great group of actors that have an excellent script to work from. Plus Ridley's direction is, as usual, spot on.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

This latest one just sounds like a re-hash of number 1.

With the addition of the stupidity of the characters from Covenant.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

With the addition of the stupidity of the characters from Covenant.

So, I listened to Michael Fassbender talk about this film and one thing I had always maintained when talking about Prometheus was it was fairly full of comedy...and that this seemed intentional...and when Fassbender talks about Covenant he says it is full of comedy (literally black and physical comedy) and he laughs a lot when he watches it.

He specifically references scenes that much of the audience calls "stupid" and says these scenes are actually meant to be comical. Slipping in blood, getting a foot caught in a door, and all the mayhem that ensues is meant to be funny according to Mr. Fassbender.

I did feel that much of the comedy in Prometheus was not meant to be noticed by the audience on the first watch as they would instead be watching it for the horror elements and taking it in as science fiction. On subsequent viewings though I think the film is meant to be recognized as a campy romp with considerable humor. One of my later viewings of Prometheus took place at one of our top science and mathematics universities with a group of students and professors in attendance. I went specifically to see the reaction of scientifically minded people to the film. Many of them laughed hysterically throughout it. In talking to them after the film I found there were mainly two reactions:

Wildly amused - They just thought the entire thing was ridiculously funny.

Somewhat annoyed - They did not like the way the "scientists" were portrayed in the film.

So, my feeling is, based on what Fassbender is saying, we are supposed to laugh and see these films as campy fun...but much of the audience seems to instead just see this as "stupidity."

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The Alien Franchise, Ranked

https://filmschoolrejects.com/alien-franchise-ranked/amp/

I'd switch numbers 3 & 4 on my list.

1) Aliens
2) Alien
3) Alien3
4) Resurrection
5) Covenant
6) Prometheus
7-8) Who cares?

 

[TravisR]

7-8) Who cares?

I'm a completist/sucker for almost every series I like at all (I've bought Halloween: Resurrection and Jaws: The Revenge three times each!) and even I don't own the Alien Vs Predator movies.

 

[Tino]

I'll admit it. I enjoyed the first Alien vs Predator film a lot. I don't really consider it cannon but if I had to include it with the other films I would say I enjoyed it a bit more than Alien 3 and Resurrection.

Sorry.

 

[Tino]

And by the way I don't think the characters were stupid in Covenant at all. A bit dumb maybe....

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I would respectfully make the case that this isn't true either. So much of what we recognize in TOS as being the heart and soul of Trek came from another Gene, Gene Coon. It was Coon who came up the concept of the Prime Directive, and Coon who invented adversaries like the Klingons. It was Coon, not Roddenberry, that introduced humor and the Kirk-Spock-McCoy dynamic (with episodes frequently concluding with the three bantering) to the show. Roddenberry hated that stuff.

A lot of the Trek technology was invented to solve budget problems. They're not necessarily or solely Roddenberry inventions. We have the transporter not because Roddenberry was imagining what cabs would be like in the future; we have it because he didn't have the budget to do ship landing special effects so the writers had to invent a solution.

Even looking at TNG, which Roddenberry ran at the start, he had full control only during the first couple seasons, which happen to be the most reviled one. That show found its footing when Roddenberry's failing health gave an opening to other writers.

I don't mean to shit on Roddenberry. He had enough of the idea to start something great and was surrounded by talented people that enhanced his creation. But if Roddenberry had been the only voice in the room, I think Star Trek is a failed pilot and nothing else.

I read the Justman/Solow book "Inside 'Star Trek;" decades ago and thought it was a revelation in terms of its discussion of how the series worked and who did what.

Not sure if it's 100% accurate - IIRC, some of it felt like "settling scores" - but it did show how much people other than Roddenberry contributed to "Trek" lore...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'm a completist/sucker for almost every series I like at all (I've bought Halloween: Resurrection and Jaws: The Revenge three times each!) and even I don't own the Alien Vs Predator movies.

I've seen 'em but I don't own 'em. They're not terrible films but they are forgettable and not very interesting...

 

[TravisR]

I'll admit it. I enjoyed the first Alien vs Predator film a lot. I don't really consider it cannon...

Just due to being set in the modern day, I think of the AVP movies as being primarily Predator movies.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Slipping in blood, getting a foot caught in a door, and all the mayhem that ensues is meant to be funny according to Mr. Fassbender.

I loved the slipping in blood bit. I found it very darkly comical and hooted even more when they went there again and the consequences it lead to. Brought a huge smile to my face. The whole sequence from the initial aliens emergence to when David shows up is top tier AAA alien action/terror. If the rest of the movie could have kept the grade up to that level this would have easily been one of the best alien movies.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I'll admit it. I enjoyed the first Alien vs Predator film a lot. I don't really consider it cannon but if I had to include it with the other films I would say I enjoyed it a bit more than Alien 3 and Resurrection.

Sorry.

Just due to being set in the modern day, I think of the AVP movies as being primarily Predator movies.

Yeah, unless David invents a time machine in the next few movies, I can't see any possible way that AvP could be considered cannon based upon what Covenant has revealed.

 

[Citizen87645]

I rewatched Alien 3 and 4 and I don't think they hold up very well, 4 especially. I would put Prometheus and Covenant above them, but maybe after 20 years I'll feel differently.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I rewatched Alien 3 and 4 and I don't think they hold up very well, 4 especially. I would put Prometheus and Covenant above them, but maybe after 20 years I'll feel differently.

I like "3" and "Resurrection" less than I did 15 years ago, but I still think they have some good elements - especially "3".

I've watched "Prometheus" 3X and still find it to be something of a snoozer.

Jury's still out on "Covenant" - I liked parts of it but the whole added up to something meh, Will reassess on BD...

 

[WillG]

I rewatched Alien 3 and 4 and I don't think they hold up very well, 4 especially. I would put Prometheus and Covenant above them, but maybe after 20 years I'll feel differently.

Alien3 has kind of grown on me more than what I thought of it back then. The assembly cut helps to some degree but I don't think it's totally necessary (for example the whole Golic subplot and trapping the alien is cool to have the option to watch but it ultimately doesn't really do anything to advance the story and I can understand why it was cut from the theatrical release). It helps if you think of it in the right context as a tradgey that also involves a xenomorph).

Resurrection I don't really bother with much at all

 

[Tino]

Alien: Covenant Sequel Will Bring Back The Engineers

Despite a middling box office reception and some poor responses from critics, plans for the next movie in the Alien franchise are under way.

The latest film from director Ridley Scottmight not have been the box office success that Fox executives wanted, but the plan to follow up Alien: Covenant with another prequel/sequel hybrid seems to be on the calendar. And now the director has given some major plot hints for the direction of his followup.

http://popculture.com/movies/2017/06/21/alien-covenant-sequel-will-bring-back-the-engineers/

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

He has said he wants this to turn into a film with big battle/war sequences. So saying there will be 4 different groups turning up makes it sound like the four groups will have some sort of conflict.

This series of films gets more uninteresting all the time.

 

[Tino]

He has said he wants this to turn into a film with big battle/war sequences. So saying there will be 4 different groups turning up makes it sound like the four groups will have some sort of conflict.

This series of films gets more uninteresting all the time.

I think what you meant was "This series of films gets more uninteresting all the time...TO ME.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I think what you meant was "This series of films gets more uninteresting all the time...TO ME.

You are correct, sir. I do speak only for myself, the cat that somehow moved in with me, and the groundhog that lives in my yard and helps himself to the blueberries growing out there.