Neill Blomkamp: Alien3 & Resurrection "Went Off The Rails"

[TimmyTurnersDad]

There's no guarantee that this film will be any good either of course.

Fanboy service is just as dangerous as the originator of the series returning to helm another film.

I.E. Blomkamp could f**k this up as much as Scott f**ked up Prometheus. Well probably not.....but this film could still have egregious issues.

I am seeing some similarities between the language Blomkamp is using and the rhetoric used by the strause bros when they were peddling avpr.  It seems all to easy to get the fan base drooling by just mentioning that you're a fan of the first two films and not so much the last two.  Next he'll say he wants to "go back to the roots" and all the fanboys will hail him as the savior of the franchise before the movie is even out, just like what happened with the strause bros... 

I can understand being concerned. I'm cautiously optimistic myself, considering the disappointment I felt after Prometheus came out.

But there is one thing to Blomkamp's arguable advantage that the Brothers Strause didn't have: credentials. Blomkamp's already released two films and is about to release his third. As I recall, AVP:R was the Bros Strause' directorial debut, though they had been involved with the special effects of other films prior. We know Blomkamp is capable of making a great film, as shown by District 9, but Elysium received a more mixed reception and Chappie's response has yet to be determined.

That's not fair at all. Blomkamp is a proven director and delivers quality material. The Brothers were nothing more than clueless n00bs.

Exactly.

[Doggo33]

How can this be the case if he just claimed he wasn't going to undo 'Alien 3' and 'Alien: Resurrection'. I was erlieved when he said they weren't going to be erased. Don't go back on that now.

On a different note - Please don't use roman numeral, 'V' in the title of the film. Use '5'. Roman numerals are getting annoying now in films, and more particularly, games. It's too cliché.

[TimmyTurnersDad]

How can this be the case if he just claimed he wasn't going to undo 'Alien 3' and 'Alien: Resurrection'. I was erlieved when he said they weren't going to be erased. Don't go back on that now.

On a different note - Please don't use roman numeral, 'V' in the title of the film. Use '5'. Roman numerals are getting annoying now in films, and more particularly, games. It's too cliché.

Because they're not being undone. Those films still exist. It seems that he's just ignoring them within the confines of his own film and basing the plot around what was established by the first two films only.

This really shouldn't be that hard to understand, folks.

[Son Of Kane]

How can this be the case if he just claimed he wasn't going to undo 'Alien 3' and 'Alien: Resurrection'. I was erlieved when he said they weren't going to be erased. Don't go back on that now.

On a different note - Please don't use roman numeral, 'V' in the title of the film. Use '5'. Roman numerals are getting annoying now in films, and more particularly, games. It's too cliché.

Not erase, just ignore- there's a big difference.

That being people can always watch the films:

Alien, Aliens, A3, A:R.

But after Blomkamp's film they'll have another way to watch it:

Alien, Aliens, Neill Blompkamp's Alien.

[NetworkATTH]

I really wouldn't compare Neil to Strause bros. For a number of reasons. For one, Neil is a hard science fiction fan, while Alien is hardly hard science fiction, it has its elements, it popularized the genre. Elysium may not be as swell as District 9, but it was still good. And District 9 was a powerful film, about subjugation. Making a film isn't straight point a to point b finish. It is hard. Ridley Scott is not an idiot, neither is Neil. And honestly, I am not expecting to be absolutly blown away, but I'm cautiously optimistic enough because this is a competent filmmaker, I don't know what you want to achieve by endlessly going over why everyone is so cynical.

[CainsSon]

I find it amusing how so many people here think that Blomkamp is being a selfish, narrow-minded elitist for opting to ignore Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection with his new film. I've said it before and I'll say it again: He's actually coming from a far more common headspace of Alien fans here. It's far, far less common for people to like the third and fourth films than I think some members of this community realize.

Moreover, I don't think that anyone can just write off another person's credibility as a "fan" by basing it on whether or not they just like the first two films in the series. My dad and I totally disagree on Alien 3, but he's a huge fan of the series and has been since the release of the original film. I don't write off his opinion or love for the series just because his favorite entry is Aliens. Hell, the reason he's so adamant about his negative opinions on the latter films is directly because of his love for the first two entries.

The best option here, I think, is to just ignore A3 and A:R and continue the story from Aliens. Contrary to what certain dissenters of "rebooting/retconning" think, that actually does open up a lot more routes for creative stories than it would to just follow A:R. And before anyone asks, I'd be just as fine with ignoring Aliens and only following after Alien, but I'm rather positive that it's going to include Aliens in the canon of this new timeline.

I also don't think Blomkamp is going to 'sell out' and just retread Aliens. He's made it pretty clear that he's just as big a fan of the first film as he is the second, so I'm pretty confident that will play into what he comes up with. Especially since that one concept art seems to be indicating a return to the original "body horror" approach to the xenomorph's life cycle that was shown in the director's cut of Alien, while also including the Queen.

See to me, this is just behaving like a spoiled brat. It's about retconning altogether. It's not about how MOST people like or dislike Alien 3. I used to dislike A3 myself. I also thought ALIENS was the best movie I had ever seen for years and years...

But over time I noticed all of the psycho-sexual horror and Giger stuff was stripped from Aliens. Even the vaginal opening in the Derelict was removed for whatever reason and gradually those little things bothered me. For instance, the final scene's ridiculous 'and they lived happily ever-after' vibe.

Now I like Alien and Alien 3 as much as Aliens. So if you want to know why, as a fan of Alien 3, I'm so upset, try and imagine 1. If this announcement claimed to be a retcon of Aliens or a remake of Alien... That's the way this seems to me.

But more so, this is about retconning ANYTHING and virtually every single example I've been given thus far is NOT as cheap as this would be because the ALIEN franchise is known for it's realism. It's not Sci-Fi fantasy like X-MEN or TERMINATOR. It's grittier, and with the exception of A:R - which I wouldn't slight the idea of retconning, as much, is a franchise that built a reputation based on serious content.

To me, this is like retconning THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Its not the same thing as retconning BATMAN FOREVER. If the problem is that DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY had a BATMAN & ROBIN tacked onto it,... 

[NetworkATTH]

I am honestly baffled why anyone cares when Alien 3 still exists. Nobody is confiscating and burning every copy of Alien 3 available.

[SpreadEagleBeagle]

I'm cool with the alternate timelines/continuity idea.

What annoys the hell out of me is people like Blomkamp and the BS Bros talking out of their asses, pretending that they have a legitimate artistic reasons to the route of their movie projects, when in reality they're just hopelessly stuck on ALIENS - they just want Hicks & Newt back, tons of cool weapons and the megalomaniac drive to be the one(s) passing the Alien torch forward by making a "worthy" (lol!) sequel to the magnum opus film of all films masterpiece ALIEN, directed by no other than God himself (aka James Cameron).

Blomkamp, just admit it! It's the wet dream of yours. Bringing back Hicks kicking xeno ass Cameron style. Everything else is just a pretend-to-sound-adult excuse to live out your fanboy dreams.

[Son Of Kane]

"Just admit it!"

Yeah, you aren't insane.

[Tough little S.O.B.]

I am honestly baffled why anyone cares when Alien 3 still exists. Nobody is confiscating and burning every copy of Alien 3 available.

I would like to see what people would say if Neill was saying to ignore ALIENS as well...

I'm cool with the alternate timelines/continuity idea.

What annoys the hell out of me is people like Blomkamp and the BS Bros talking out of their asses, pretending that they have a legitimate artistic reasons to the route of their movie projects, when in reality they're just hopelessly stuck on ALIENS - they just want Hicks & Newt back, tons of cool weapons and the megalomaniac drive to be the one(s) passing the Alien torch forward by making a "worthy" (lol!) sequel to the magnum opus film of all films masterpiece ALIEN, directed by no other than God himself (aka James Cameron).

Blomkamp, just admit it! It's the wet dream of yours. Bringing back Hicks kicking xeno ass Cameron style. Everything else is just a pretend-to-sound-adult excuse to live out your fanboy dreams.

I think you are too invested on that shit man...easy.

[SpreadEagleBeagle]

I am honestly baffled why anyone cares when Alien 3 still exists. Nobody is confiscating and burning every copy of Alien 3 available.

I would like to see what people would say if Neill was saying to ignore ALIENS as well...

I'm cool with the alternate timelines/continuity idea.

What annoys the hell out  ;)of me is people like Blomkamp and the BS Bros talking out of their asses, pretending that they have a legitimate artistic reasons to the route of their movie projects, when in reality they're just hopelessly stuck on ALIENS - they just want Hicks & Newt back, tons of cool weapons and the megalomaniac drive to be the one(s) passing the Alien torch forward by making a "worthy" (lol!) sequel to the magnum opus film of all films masterpiece ALIEN, directed by no other than God himself (aka James Cameron).

Blomkamp, just admit it! It's the wet dream of yours. Bringing back Hicks kicking xeno ass Cameron style. Everything else is just a pretend-to-sound-adult excuse to live out your fanboy dreams.

I think you are too invested on that shit man...easy.

No, just the way I sound on the forums.

[Tough little S.O.B.]

I am honestly baffled why anyone cares when Alien 3 still exists. Nobody is confiscating and burning every copy of Alien 3 available.

I would like to see what people would say if Neill was saying to ignore ALIENS as well...

I'm cool with the alternate timelines/continuity idea.

What annoys the hell out  ;)of me is people like Blomkamp and the BS Bros talking out of their asses, pretending that they have a legitimate artistic reasons to the route of their movie projects, when in reality they're just hopelessly stuck on ALIENS - they just want Hicks & Newt back, tons of cool weapons and the megalomaniac drive to be the one(s) passing the Alien torch forward by making a "worthy" (lol!) sequel to the magnum opus film of all films masterpiece ALIEN, directed by no other than God himself (aka James Cameron).

Blomkamp, just admit it! It's the wet dream of yours. Bringing back Hicks kicking xeno ass Cameron style. Everything else is just a pretend-to-sound-adult excuse to live out your fanboy dreams.

I think you are too invested on that shit man...easy.

No, just the way I sound on the forums.

At the end is just a movie and its most likely going to suck so...

[Son Of Kane]

I am honestly baffled why anyone cares when Alien 3 still exists. Nobody is confiscating and burning every copy of Alien 3 available.

I would like to see what people would say if Neill was saying to ignore ALIENS as well...

Alien3 is largely unpopular, at least with this retcon I can understand why- Retconning Aliens simply wouldn't make sense.

[Local Trouble]

The idea of retconning Alien 3 has been popular since 1992.  The Idiocracy in Space that was AR made me appreciate A3 more, but I never really liked it.

[Born Of Cold Light]

If we're going to do retcons, let's go all the way and get rid of all movies past Alien and make a film version of the Alien Trilogy game.  It will have all these missions and sub-stories only for the planet to just blow up at the end.