Alien Covenant Fan Reviews

[Scorpio]

That mountain does look the same.

Is Ridley hinting this is Earth or is this another planet?

[FenGiddel]

Thanks for that, 'Eagle Eye' Eighth!   

[SM]

I remember someone at Scified made the connection back when the trailer came out.  I originally thought it might be a mountain in NZ.

[Corporal Hicks]

I think I asked if it was the same when we did our podcast on the trailer. Enoch thought it was Icelandic scenery, you thought it was NZ around where they filmed.

[Alien³]

[Scorpio]

Do you spend the whole commentary bashing the film?

[Alien³]

Bashing it repeatedly with love.

[bb-15]

Below is a link to the Renegade Cut video essay about "AC". That will be the basis of my brief review.

* The motivation to believe in God, to have a covenant (or agreement) with God, to be God's messenger (Orem), to be Lord/a god to oneself (David), are  fascinating ideas imo.
Who is god in this scenario? Is it a celestial being or is it a belief in such a being? Therefore god is a human creation of is god beyond human comprehension?
Is god the Engineers who create life on other worlds?
Then is David the god killer who then will become god? 
- I enjoy thinking about these things and "AC" to me does a good job blending these ideas into the story.

* A criticism of "AC" is that the crew makes mistakes where people die and therefore this is a flaw in the film. That is not applied to other science fiction movies where similar risks are taken but characters don't die.
- A certain kind of risk can only be criticized if the story problem is recognized (when it happened) in every major science fiction film.
- Since "War of the Worlds", the concept of alien pathogens is known, yet it's usually ignored in almost every alien contact SF movie.
In "ET" the alien got sick. How come the humans don't get sick? Wasn't that an unacceptable risk?
Why weren't precautions (helmets) for alien pathogens taken in "Aliens"? Wasn't that also an unacceptable risk?

- The Covenant crew not wearing helmets is a common trope in a science fiction movie. This happening on the Paradise planet is not a flaw in a science fiction film.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QPuUerPZ_xc

[SM]

Much as usually find 'whataboutery' lazy - why would they need precautions in Aliens?

No one got sick from any pathogen in Alien; Ripley had no infections after being exposed to the Alien.

[Biomechanoid]

Why weren't precautions (helmets) for alien pathogens taken in "Aliens"? Wasn't that also an unacceptable risk?

- The Covenant crew not wearing helmets is a common trope in a science fiction movie. This happening on the Paradise planet is not a flaw in a science fiction film.

I assume you know the "out of story" explanation for that is a studio is not going to cough up a large paycheck to an actor with audience drawing power and cover up their face the majority of the film's run time.

Regarding "in story", it lacks common sense to even ask why they should take precautions in the film Aliens just because a certain character didn't get sick afterwards. You're right, BB-15, of course they should have taken precautions. I can't even imagine any exploratory team not implementing safeguard protocols.

Imagine this scenario: A friend of mine returns from Bangladesh, who assisted with an unknown virus ripping through their community. My friend wore no protection for who knows why, but he never got sick. Now it's my turn to go. Would I not bother with protection based on someone returning unaffected? No, I don't think so. You make an excellent point that little to no safeguard protocols is a SF trope that goes against common sense.

[Scorpio]

Why weren't precautions (helmets) for alien pathogens taken in "Aliens"? Wasn't that also an unacceptable risk?

Of course it is.

But people only nitpick movies they don't like.  Doesn't matter how absurd/hypocritical.

[Biomechanoid]

But people only nitpick movies they don't like.  Doesn't matter how absurd/hypocritical.

That goes without saying, you can apply that to more than just movies.

Anyway, I personally have no issue with that SF trope. Tell me your story, don't explain every single thing to me, as Cameron once pointed out. The same for the low rumble of engines from a massive mother ship in space. Yes, I get it, there's no sound in space. I don't care, I enjoy the audio enhancement. Pure realism is sometimes a one trick pony. No sound in space most famously represented in the classic 2001 ASO worked well, but it's not commonly employed in SF film making other than a few exceptions like Gravity.

[worriors]

I hate to say it but i really really did'nt like this film. It just did not even feel like a ridley scott film at all. I would have to put it last now out of all the films in the franchise, yes even AVP films are better. Just my opinion.

[skhellter]

Much as usually find 'whataboutery' lazy - why would they need precautions in Aliens?

You could nitpick that Ripley had told them about the facehugger...
and.... an exposed face would be a risk (even if the spacesuit didnt much help Kane)...

But Gorman was an asshole so i bet he deemed that guns were all the protection they needed.

[Scorpio]

I hate to say it but i really really did'nt like this film. It just did not even feel like a ridley scott film at all.

That's the trademark of the Alien films that people don't understand, they always defy audience expectations. 

Even Aliens, the most popular, does this, by making it an action movie instead of another haunted house in space movie.

The reason people hate Covenant, is that they were expecting something else than what they got.  They forgot what makes the Alien films so unique in the landscape of cinema.