Sigourney Weaver Talks Prometheus & Alien movies

Started by Darkoo, Dec 15, 2011, 08:00:12 PM

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Sigourney Weaver Talks Prometheus & Alien movies (Read 19,854 times)

BonesawT101

just stating folks that Ridley never said that the last 8 minutes of Prometheus would tie into
A L I E N  at all, What was actually reported is the following quote -

'In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog, Scott says the last eight minutes of Prometheus will evolve into "a pretty good DNA of the Alien one." '

whatever that means.

SM

Quote from: robbritton on Dec 16, 2011, 11:12:25 AM
To clarify, it was an earlier draft I had in 1996 that I refer to (which was sold to me by a high street comic shop, amazingly!) - there was a lot I was excited to see, and not a jot of it appeared onscreen! Well done, filmmakers!  ::)

Assuming it was a legitmate script - again Fox kept making them cut stuff to reign in the budget.

ThisBethesdaSea

Sigourney was a producer of the film, so it was also her responsibility to be mindful of the larger overarching integrity of the mythos. She only cared about Ripley and her payday. She doesn't know what a good story is, or, she just didn't care?

I also have (somewhere) Whedons earlier draft of AR and yes, most of it didn't make it to screen thankfully. It was all a big nutty steaming load, with a transparent alien with wings.

SM

QuoteSigourney was a producer of the film, so it was also her responsibility to be mindful of the larger overarching integrity of the mythos. She only cared about Ripley and her payday. She doesn't know what a good story is, or, she just didn't care?

It wasn't simply down to her, plus she nailed Ripley.  Not seeing an issue.

Xenomorphine

There have been interviews where Whedon has mentioned writing a script for a fifth film. Not sure it would necessarily be good, though.

It would've probably been around the time of the first 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' series. As someone who became a fan of that show, I'd say the first had a few glimmers of intrigue, but that the writing, itself, didn't get truly amazing until the second and third (after which, sadly, it never quite recaptured those heights; possibly because that was around the time he split his focus between that and the 'Angel' spin-off show, then 'Firefly'). The second, especially. It's easy to dismiss the guy as not having much talent when you only go by stuff like 'Alien Resurrection', but there were some moments of genuine brilliance in the second and third series of BTVS, where the balance between emotional drama, action and moral consequences was just perfect.

I've still yet to see most episodes of 'Firefly', but the film, 'Serenity', was paced and written well for a science-fiction film.

So, in reflection of all that, I'd suspect his fifth film's script would've still probably felt a lot like AR. Would still have had that unfortunately superficial comic book feel. It just strikes me as that being his period for that sort of style. If he'd done it around 1998/1999, there is a chance it would've been better. He was writing in a much more realistic tone around then, even when dealing with extraordinary subjects.

Sadly, he's never been able to write for the military without portraying it as ridiculous (this extends to even the canon 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' comics he wrote). If he included any such aspect to the fifth film's script, I don't think it would've gone over well. He deals a lot better when the military is left in the background.

Strangely, he said in an interview that, a little while back, a fan pointed out to him how the Betty crew and the one represented in 'Firefly' were so alike and that he never realised until then. I always thought it was obvious, but just goes to show that he can sometimes let his old work bleed into new and not realise it.

ThisBethesdaSea

A steaming pile. Whedon is poorly suited for serious sci-fi

Xenomorphine

Quote from: ThisBethesdaSea on Dec 17, 2011, 03:10:41 AM
A steaming pile. Whedon is poorly suited for serious sci-fi

Like I said, I quite liked 'Serenity'. It had comedic elements, but could easily be justified as serious as most others are.

His speciality is primarily character-driven stuff. The 'Alien' films aren't really focused around that quality. They're driven by events.

ChrisPachi

ChrisPachi

#37
Quote from: ThisBethesdaSea on Dec 17, 2011, 03:10:41 AMA steaming pile. Whedon is poorly suited for serious sci-fi

Whedon seems more interested in regurgitating old movie tropes than creating anything new, even though his characters are mostly well realized. Everything he does has a tongue planted well into it's cheek; the man takes the piss, and it works, just not in the Alien universe.

Quote from: Xenomorphine on Dec 17, 2011, 05:35:10 AMLike I said, I quite liked 'Serenity'. It had comedic elements, but could easily be justified as serious as most others are.

A masterwork of pulp science fiction: Bold, hilarious and engaging.

-Chris


ThisBethesdaSea

In terms of comedic science fiction, yes, he's your man. Serious, straightforward realistic characters in a film like Prometheus? My nephew would be a more adept writer.

ChrisPachi

Quote from: ThisBethesdaSea on Dec 17, 2011, 01:19:27 PMIn terms of comedic science fiction, yes, he's your man. Serious, straightforward realistic characters in a film like Prometheus? My nephew would be a more adept writer.

Because 'serious' and 'straightforward' characters are easy to write.

There was no affecting character interplay in Alien, just an ongoing 'I hate you' snipe-fest. The characters cared very little for each other, and that worked.

Do you think that humor belongs in these films? Alien had only one humorous moment... and it was quickly forgotten. Aliens had several. Alien 3 had none, at least none that worked.

-Chris

ThisBethesdaSea

Chris, we must have seen a different film. What you describe is tension...not 'I hate you' slash sniping at one another. I think the actors beautifully played that delicate balance between, I'm scared shitless, I need to survive, and a genuine care for their fellow crew mates.

My earlier comment wasnt alluding to serious characters being easier to write but that, seemingly anyone could have done a better job then he.

ChrisPachi

ChrisPachi

#41
Quote from: ThisBethesdaSea on Dec 17, 2011, 02:07:19 PMChris, we must have seen a different film. What you describe is tension...not 'I hate you' slash sniping at one another. I think the actors beautifully played that delicate balance between, I'm scared shitless, I need to survive, and a genuine care for their fellow crew mates.

Maybe what I describe is cabin fever. You definitely got the sense that they had been together for a long time.

-Chris

harlock

I loved Firefly.
I play Traveller, the rpg game thats very much like Firefly but vanilla enough for any setting (including ALIEN, which I've played pastiche games of). Firefly is very Traveller-esque, a band of characters on a spaceship trying to keep it afloat by any means they can.
Serenity I found to be too dark theme-wise, but also including lighting-wise compared to Firefly, of course the Serenity's lighting could have broke between Firefly and Serenity!  :D

I used to like Lexx myself, but after the excellent Firefly (recommended viewing, seriously) there is no comparison!  :)

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