Quote from: JA Boomer on Dec 18, 2007, 03:19:02 AM
2) The alien in Alien 3 is quite different from the other. Why? I dunno, maybe DNA assimilation...maybe my idea. Why is the DNA assimilation any more likely than mine with a queen and gaurdian alien being from the same facehugger???
Why is it more likely: because it's been stated numerous times by those involved in the films that's what's going on. Ridely Scott even states it with relation to ALIEN.
There's another reason to consider DNA assimilation. If you choose to ignore it then you throw the entire premise behind ALIEN RESURRECTION out the window. The reason Wren and his team were able to get the Queen is because of the DNA intermingling that went on between Ripley and the embryo as it developed inside of her.
Quote from: maledoro on Dec 18, 2007, 03:02:46 AM
Your basing that on the fact that she didn't mention that fact to her companions when they were being chased around??? Oh jeeze! you know what Hicks, the head looks a little different than it did 57 years ago. hahaha.
Yes, Mal is basing his statement on the fact that Ripley never addressed the ridged head issue on-screen. We can't assume it was ever addressed just because we didn't see it. Besdies, it's quite likely that Ripley never even noticed it. If you were struggling to stay alive and one step ahead of 7 foot critters that wanted to use you as baby fodder would you notice the minutia of their physiology?
And on a separate note: Cameron has stated that the heads were different on the aliens at Hadley's Hope because of their age. The beastie in ALIEN was less than 24 hours old when Ripley finally blew it out of the air lock. Many of the aliens the marines met on LV-426 had been alive over a month. This notion is carried through ALIEN3, AR, and even AVP. All of those aliens were relatively young.
Quote from: JA Boomer on Dec 18, 2007, 02:24:51 AM
Theories are great. Because I don't believe that DNA assimilation is the optimal way for the alien species to specialize to their environment
Interesting. Because, using host DNA to acquire gross anatomical traits is quite an ideal way to adapt to a host and its environment. Usually this type of thing can take millions of years to occur (evolution). The alien is able to bypass that and within the first generation, and be well suited to it's current host's environment - there by making it a more efficient predator. This also fits with Ash's comments about it being the perfect organism.
Quote from: JA Boomer on Dec 18, 2007, 02:24:51 AMI see the alien hive as having alot in common with insect nests, that is why I think that a Hive would contain both worker and warrior drones.
This is a loose analogy. Yes, Cameron used termites, ants, and various other social insects as a model for the alien social structure, but there appears to be only two varieties of alien within a hive: Queen and adult. There seems to be no division of labor aside from the fact that the Queen produces the eggs. The aliens aren't insects, and to be honest this type of social behavior is found elsewhere in the animal kingdom as well.
EDIT: I see Mal responded while I was writing this, so some of my thoughts were addressed in his posts.
