Ask Steve Perry

Started by Corporal Hicks, May 06, 2007, 09:22:14 PM

Author
Ask Steve Perry (Read 187,757 times)

Alienseseses

Alienseseses

#270
My question is:

What do you think of recent portrayals of predators in the AVP films?

Demosthenes

Demosthenes

#271
Or better yet the Aliens.

steveperry

steveperry

#272
I've probably said this before, but I liked A2 best of the Aliens movies, and Predator (I) best of those.

I cannot say that I liked either of the AvP movies, and that goes to story. If they'd let Mike Richardson or Chris Warner write the scripts, then you would have had something that would have blown your socks off. Some directors can write, some are better at laying out the movie, some can do both, but it all starts with the script, and if it isn't good, it's hard to make it better.

Jim Cameron's script was wonderful. That's because he knows how to write and also how to direct. All of his movies work on both levels, least they do for me.

Me, I'm looking forward to see how much -- if any -- of my interview they kept in the DVD ...



Kimarhi

Kimarhi

#273
Interested in doing anymore predator/alien novels?

Turnabout bring up any ideas you think are workable?

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#274
Really think A2 was best written? I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as paper as it was in the final product. It was his direction and the actors that made that film what it was. The charm of people like Bill Paxton and Weaver, their characters were no-where near as interesting written down as they were acted.

Uncanny Antman

Uncanny Antman

#275
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Mar 26, 2008, 01:34:50 PM
Really think A2 was best written? I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as paper as it was in the final product.

The same can easily be said for Alien.  Only there it was Scott's talent with production design and cinematography that helped the film rise above the written word.

War Wager

War Wager

#276
Did you like the expanded mythos in AvPR? Eg Breeding method, homeworld etc

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#277
Quote from: Uncanny Antman on Mar 26, 2008, 01:51:56 PM
The same can easily be said for Alien.  Only there it was Scott's talent with production design and cinematography that helped the film rise above the written word.

Never actually read the final draft of Alien. Only the first.

SiL

SiL

#278
Quote from: Uncanny Antman on Mar 26, 2008, 01:51:56 PM
The same can easily be said for Alien.  Only there it was Scott's talent with production design and cinematography that helped the film rise above the written word.
Can't agree there. I remember printing out the script and being steadily more and more creeped out as I read it. And this was after I'd seen the movie.

Alienseseses

Alienseseses

#279
I had seen Alien a long time ago, and lost interest, but then in Israel on a trip I found this store selling books in English. I picked up the original Alien novelization. I was so freaked out by it, so I decided to watch Alien again.


Alien is for me, by far, the best Alien film, because it is so creepy, it gives you all kinds of feelings like claustrophobia in the small places and anti-claustrophobia when you see how big space is and how small the ship is, and it also had an awesome creature design and great cinematography and music.

steveperry

steveperry

#280
I'm a writer, so what I find compelling might not be the same as what non-writers do. There's a line in the Cameron script, describing the ship, as I recall, upon which Ripley is found in suspended animation in the opening scenes. It's a shot description, so you don't  hear it in the film. I don't have the script at hand, but the line as I remember it was, "It was cold and remote -- like the love of God."

That's a writer playing with language.That's terrific metaphor, and nobody who just saw the movies would know it was. Cameron likes science fiction, and it shows in his work. Aliens was a horror movie. A2 was a science fiction picture. Sure, A1 was scary, but I kept looking at the screen and thinking what a bunch of idiots! I was on that ship, I wouldn't be going to pee without everybody going with me. We'd sleep in a pile and if the cat ran by in the night, it would be toast.

A lot of horror movies work because the people aren't as smart as the monster. I seldom have sympathy for somebody who does something so stupid I start rooting for the monster to get them ...

Part of it is taste, part of it is not being caught in the tropes. The scariest monster movies are where everybody does the right thing and the monster still gets them ...

Alienseseses

Alienseseses

#281
Well, I'd have to disagree with that.
Brett thought the alien was as big as Jones.
Dallas was working with everybody to try to force it into an airlock.
Lambert and Parker were working together while Ripley was loading the ship and the self destruct. Parker actually tried to fight it, while Lambert was frozen.

The only stupid action in Alien was Ripley trying to get her cat, but it makes a lot more sense after she goes after Newt in Aliens.

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#282
Sure, the scene action and descriptions were cool. But character wise, I'm talking Cameron's character writing here, was no-where near as good as the actors made it. They felt so...dull on the paper. It was those folk and Cameron's direction of those actors that made that film.

Demosthenes

Demosthenes

#283
I know it must be somewhat annoying, what with the barrage of oncoming questions, but i have one more question........... Where do you get your influence... i ask this because I too am somewhat of an author, i have written one short story about the Halo game. I ask this because I got my ideas from the people and things around me, I was just wondering is writting supposed to be planned and thought out or can you just wing it and make a great story?

War Wager

War Wager

#284
Quote from: Alienseseses on Mar 27, 2008, 02:32:50 AM
Well, I'd have to disagree with that.
Brett thought the alien was as big as Jones.
Dallas was working with everybody to try to force it into an airlock.
Lambert and Parker were working together while Ripley was loading the ship and the self destruct. Parker actually tried to fight it, while Lambert was frozen.

The only stupid action in Alien was Ripley trying to get her cat, but it makes a lot more sense after she goes after Newt in Aliens.

I thought the fact that Ripley goes to ready the self destruct herself was pretty stupid. She should of went went with Parker and Lambert and vice versa.

AvPGalaxy: About | Contact | Cookie Policy | Manage Cookie Settings | Privacy Policy | Legal Info
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Patreon RSS Feed
Contact: General Queries | Submit News