Movies: Alien: Romulus

[TCTC]

There may very well be a story explanation for it, but it's hard to separate that from my cynical belief that it's a lame attempt to appeal to a younger demographic.

I think it's pretty telling that they seem to lack confidence in their own product that they have to put demographic over storytelling.
You just can't help but get the feeling that this is going to be another mediocre at best attempt to keep the franchise alive.

 

[johnjm22]

I think it's pretty telling that they seem to lack confidence in their own product that they have to put demographic over storytelling.
You just can't help but get the feeling that this is going to be another mediocre at best attempt to keep the franchise alive.

It might be decent, but from what we can tell, it's the same premise as the original. Our characters are trapped on a ship trying to save themselves from an Alien. Whether they're colonists or space truckers probably doesn't matter much.

So the movie has already handicapped itself. The chances of pulling off the premise better than the original are extremely low.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Don’t you guys think you’re reading too much into it based off 80 seconds of trailer and an iMDB page?

 

[Jovavic]

Don’t you guys think you’re reading too much into it based off 80 seconds of trailer and an iMDB page?

Are you new here?

 

[Bowski]

It seems like this franchise is now entering Hellraiser territory...only a decade later.
Run-of-the-mill mindless horror script, let's add Pinhead/Xenomorphs to it!

Sad, I was curious if Ridley Scott had a planned ending for the prequel trilogy, as horribly downhill as it went with Covenant.
I guess we might never know...

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

The cast is too young IMO. Maybe there's an in-story reason for that?

Despite all the modern production technology we have, they just can't seem to match the organic feel of the original set.

Fede Alvarez said he took the inspiration from some deleted scenes in Aliens, showing Hadley's Hope before it fell to the xenomorphs. And he thought the idea of how - not necessarily kids, but younger people - might deal with that sort of situation. That's the inspiration, at least; we'll have to see how he fleshes out the story around it.

I really enjoyed his Evil Dead remake/requel, and I like what I've seen of the trailers so far. I'm cautiously optimistic.

I just watched Prometheus and Covenant for the first time recently. Prometheus, IMO, would have been better if it wasn't tied into the overall "Alien Universe" as a whole, I think - and Covenant felt like 3/4 of a Prometheus sequel with a fairly bad Alien movie tacked on to the end of it. Both had some good moments (good acting, gorgeous cinematography, etc.), but I like that Romulus seems to be going back to its roots...a small crew encountering these things alone in deep space while being ill equipped to deal with it.

 

[beowulf]

 

[Osprey]

We must have two threads for this movie because we were discussing the first trailer last month. Ah, here it is:

Movies: - Alien: Romulus

forums.hfboards.com

It turns out that that was a dupe and this is the original thread. Maybe they should be merged?

 

[beowulf]

We must have two threads for this movie because we were discussing the first trailer last month. Ah, here it is:

Movies: - Alien: Romulus

forums.hfboards.com

It turns out that that was a dupe and this is the original thread. Maybe they should be merged?

I did a search and this is the on that showed up on top so I just used it.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Apparently it’s set between the events of Alien and Aliens.

 

[Roo Returns]

Apparently it’s set between the events of Alien and Aliens.

The whole timeline was kind of thrown into a blender by this point.

 

[Byron Bitz]

The whole timeline was kind of thrown into a blender by this point.

Yeah especially if you include all the literature

 

[Roo Returns]

Yeah especially if you include all the literature

Basically like the Terminator movies, after the second it's like "whatever" to all the content.

I did like Alien 3 and Prometheus although the former was definitely not the right direction to take the story. Too grim and dark. Once it got out that Newt and Hicks were killed off, the film was DOA.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Basically like the Terminator movies, after the second it's like "whatever" to all the content.

I did like Alien 3 and Prometheus although the former was definitely not the right direction to take the story. Too grim and dark. Once it got out that Newt and Hicks were killed off, the film was DOA.

Alien 3 had a ton of studio interference that ruined the movie, but there’s a few good scenes where you get a glimpse of Fincher’s brilliance.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Aliens was a masterpiece. After that they should have just let Ripley and Newt return to Earth and live happily ever after and just continue making Alien films with different characters but in the same universe.

 

[Osprey]

I'm more interested in the upcoming TV series, Alien: Earth, than this movie. It wrapped filming this month and is due on Hulu in early 2025. I remember reading that the showrunner is a huge fan of the first two movies and is trying to mirror their tones.

 

[Roo Returns]

Alien 3 had a ton of studio interference that ruined the movie, but there’s a few good scenes where you get a glimpse of Fincher’s brilliance.

Indeed: It was originally supposed to be set on an ice planet and they started trying to make it as soon as 1988. Production hell.

Fincher was not happy and refuses to talk about it much.

 

[Roo Returns]

Aliens was a masterpiece. After that they should have just let Ripley and Newt return to Earth and live happily ever after and just continue making Alien films with different characters but in the same universe.

I was very young when the movie came out, so I saw it in the late-80s on VHS and cable hundreds of times, and they also had the Konami arcade game which kept the movie's and series name out there.

The one thing I remember everyone talking about whether adults at family gatherings with my parents or in school/day camp with other kids was it should have been Ripley/Newt/Hicks/Bishop get back to earth and the xenomorphs somehow made it back as well.

That's what everyone wanted. That's what should have been delivered. The anticipation for that was through the roof.

Anything else would have failed and it did.

 

[Osprey]

The one thing I remember everyone talking about whether adults at family gatherings with my parents or in school/day camp with other kids was it should have been Ripley/Newt/Hicks/Bishop get back to earth and the xenomorphs somehow made it back as well.

That's what everyone wanted. That's what should have been delivered. The anticipation for that was through the roof.

I remember that, as well, and it was all because of the misleading teaser trailer that promised a story set "on Earth":

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Alien 3 is pretty much the procedural textbook for how studios interfering can ruin a movie.

They took one of the biggest IPs in cinema at that point, released a trailer before there was even a script - before any actors or directors had even signed on - and then hired-and-fired-and-hired-and-fired-and-hired-and-fired directors and writers like it was going out of style. And the script kept being re-written on the poor director (a rookie David Fincher) during production. Very little of his actual vision or voice made it into the finished product, to the point where he basically disavowed association with the movie and isn't very keen to talk about it. And that's to say nothing of the massively unpopular decision to kill off Hicks, Newt, and render Bishop down to essentially a cameo. Could have been a bold choice if they'd followed it up with a good movie - but they didn't.

Anyway.

The final trailer for Alien: Romulus looks deadly, but also commits the same cardinal sin all trailers fall victim to these days in that it shows way too much. I think out of 6 principal characters, we watch 3 of them die in the trailer? Kind of robs some of the suspense factor.

 

[Osprey]

First reactions are out... most highly positive, some critical.

‘Alien: Romulus’: First Reactions After the Premiere

The eighth installment in the long-running franchise is set between the events of Ridley Scott's 1979 'Alien' and James Cameron's 1986 sequel, 'Aliens.'

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[The Macho King]

Alien 3 had a ton of studio interference that ruined the movie, but there’s a few good scenes where you get a glimpse of Fincher’s brilliance.

IDK this is definitely one of those things that gets applied in hindsight, largely due to Fincher's resulting filmography (which I love for the record).

I kind of land on that movie being a bit of a mess no matter how it shakes out. The script just doesn't have it. I still think it's okay - gentleman's six or so - but this isn't one of those movies where I feel like it's a masterpiece if Fincher has full control.

 

[I am not exposed]

I liked Alien 3 when I saw it 20 years ago for the one and only time. Although the Monty Python plan when they just run away down the corridors from the Alien is pretty funny and ridiculous.

I also liked Alien Resurrection, although it might have been the first Alien movie I actually saw. It's certainly not the best Alien film, but I find it the most rewatchable one of them.

 

[Osprey]

I recall someone saying that the trailers seemed to give too much away. FWIW, Jeremy Jahns says in his review that a lot happens that wasn't in the trailers, so maybe they weren't as spoilery as they seemed.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

First reactions are out... most highly positive, some critical.

‘Alien: Romulus’: First Reactions After the Premiere

The eighth installment in the long-running franchise is set between the events of Ridley Scott's 1979 'Alien' and James Cameron's 1986 sequel, 'Aliens.'

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Have to wait for the audience score, that's all that matters.