Rewatched Alien recently and thought of something. When Dallas goes into the airduct, the plan is to drive the alien into the airlock with the flamethrower. So when the Alien turns and heads toward him, why is it such a shock? Wasn't he planning on having a direct confrontation with it?
He didn't know what direction it was coming from when it came after him...but he didn't know the exact location when he started his journey?
Was it a bad plan that he didn't think through...and the gravity of the situation was setting in with him? Was Lambert's panicking making him panic?
Probably a number of reasons. It was a tense, claustrophobic situation. The motion tracker was on the fritz, so he wasn't sure where the alien was. Lambert panicking probably wasn't helping and he wasn't really getting any helpful advice from anyone else.
His first encounter with a terrifying alien maybe?
When he goes in there's only one way in or out. When he's already in and the tracker isn't working properly, he has no way of knowing which direction it'll be coming from to drive it properly.
Plus everything else - claustrophobia, Lambert panicking, encountering a giant killer alien organism, etc
Same reason I panic when see a spider on my wall but then the f**ker disappears! :'(
I think the problem is that there are several levels, but I think Lambert's monitor doesn't show them. Meanwhile, there's no direction indicator, so she can only tell Dallas that the creature is heading towards him. She can't tell if it's coming from one end of the shaft or the other, and if it's on the same level or on another.
Quote from: ralfy on Feb 19, 2023, 03:53:57 AMI think the problem is that there are several levels, but I think Lambert's monitor doesn't show them. Meanwhile, there's no direction indicator, so she can only tell Dallas that the creature is heading towards him. She can't tell if it's coming from one end of the shaft or the other, and if it's on the same level or on another.
Both trackers were built in a rush by Ash. He may've also not wanted them to be too accurate in their readings ...
Quote from: Elmazalman on Feb 19, 2023, 05:34:58 AMQuote from: ralfy on Feb 19, 2023, 03:53:57 AMI think the problem is that there are several levels, but I think Lambert's monitor doesn't show them. Meanwhile, there's no direction indicator, so she can only tell Dallas that the creature is heading towards him. She can't tell if it's coming from one end of the shaft or the other, and if it's on the same level or on another.
Both trackers were built in a rush by Ash. He may've also not wanted them to be too accurate in their readings ...
Well to me its clear he sabotaged them, once Dallas is near where the xeno was: they lost the signal of where it was but not Dallas, it still showing him, had it broken down it wouldnt have shown anyone.
Plus the dot for the alien just appears at a different place on its screen and coming towards Dallas, when we can see the xeno sitting still waiting when Dallas is climbing down that ladder.
We don't see the motion tracker again after seeing it moving towards Dallas. It moves to him and stops.
But the trackers don't work well, period. "Micro changes in air density my ass," said Ripley.
Only issue I have of that is: Dallas get to the position they saw the xeno on the motion tracker, as she says: "it should be there, you sure you dont see it?" Its just then they lose its signal.
When the signal comes back online, its at a different location, moving towards the same position again.
So: the alien was there dallas was, ran off at the exact time the signal gets lost, turns around and starts heading back to the exact same spot it was at earlier when the signal reappears. Sounds kinda too convenient.
As they say the easiest solution is likely the correct one: it was there lambert saw on the tracker, Lambert just misstok which level it was at, one level below where dallas came from. Then the signal gets lost, and then reappears at a different location, heading towards dallas, making them panic and dallas decide to not go back where he came but go down one level, right into the arms of the xeno who was sitting there the whole time. Im convinced it was Asch who made the signal to disappear, load at a different location and have it move towards dallas to trigger a mistake.
But thats how I see it, hard to tell, you can be just as easily right.
Nothing wrong with the air densisty, its the same system the motion trackers use in aliens from my understanding. :P
Well there is something wrong with the air density. It changes as soon as Ripley opens the hatch door and the tracker doesnt register it. Hence why she says what she does.
An Alien? I would panic even if it was a dog! oh well not any kind dog of course 👉👈
Spoiler
(https://s9.gifyu.com/images/yaziprint-0020cm.gif)
And it certainly wouldn't help someone yelling at me "Get out of thereeee! MoooOve! JoOonesy! MooooveeeEEE!!! as I struggle to move in a claustrophobic environment. :o
Quote from: judge death on Feb 19, 2023, 05:53:15 AMQuote from: Elmazalman on Feb 19, 2023, 05:34:58 AMQuote from: ralfy on Feb 19, 2023, 03:53:57 AMI think the problem is that there are several levels, but I think Lambert's monitor doesn't show them. Meanwhile, there's no direction indicator, so she can only tell Dallas that the creature is heading towards him. She can't tell if it's coming from one end of the shaft or the other, and if it's on the same level or on another.
Both trackers were built in a rush by Ash. He may've also not wanted them to be too accurate in their readings ...
Well to me its clear he sabotaged them, once Dallas is near where the xeno was: they lost the signal of where it was but not Dallas, it still showing him, had it broken down it wouldnt have shown anyone.
Plus the dot for the alien just appears at a different place on its screen and coming towards Dallas, when we can see the xeno sitting still waiting when Dallas is climbing down that ladder.
Aye! :
"Bring back life form, priority one. All other priorities rescinded".
Holy F that thing looks like straight out of Ghostbusters
Is this the scene?
If so, it's in the 57-second mark onward. The monitor shows two dots, representing the creature and Dallas. So when Lambert tells Dallas to move away he doesn't know where to go because depending on where he's facing it can be one end of the shaft or the other. OTOH, it's probably a fixed map (e.g., the top part refers to the left side of the shaft when you're facing the other end). Meanwhile, the monitor also does not appear to indicate what level the creature (or Dallas?) is in so he doesn't know if he should shift to another level.
Quote from: ralfy on Feb 20, 2023, 06:41:38 AMIs this the scene?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRXyWtv-huc
If so, it's in the 57-second mark onward. The monitor shows two dots, representing the creature and Dallas. So when Lambert tells Dallas to move away he doesn't know where to go because depending on where he's facing it can be one end of the shaft or the other. OTOH, it's probably a fixed map (e.g., the top part refers to the left side of the shaft when you're facing the other end). Meanwhile, the monitor also does not appear to indicate what level the creature (or Dallas?) is in so he doesn't know if he should shift to another level.
tongue in cheek:
dallas doesnt actually die if the directors cut is anything to go by.....
but probably since that isnt cannon it is actually true enough
Quote from: Chestburstedlol on Jan 22, 2023, 11:37:08 PMRewatched Alien recently and thought of something. When Dallas goes into the airduct, the plan is to drive the alien into the airlock with the flamethrower. So when the Alien turns and heads toward him, why is it such a shock? Wasn't he planning on having a direct confrontation with it?
He didn't know what direction it was coming from when it came after him...but he didn't know the exact location when he started his journey?
Was it a bad plan that he didn't think through...and the gravity of the situation was setting in with him? Was Lambert's panicking making him panic?
Probably something to do with the giant killer monster he was trapped in the vent system with.
I'm not sure, but the place Dallas explores may have been stacked horizontal shafts connected with vertical ones. In which case, if Dallas had entered a shaft at one end, then one side would be his back (where he entered) and the other end that he's facing his front. If the same can be made in Lambert's monitor (e.g., the left side of the screen's the part of the shaft where Dallas entered), then she would have told Dallas that the creature is either behind or in front of him. If it's behind, then it's not on the same level, as Dallas would have encountered it right away, unless the vertical shaft in which he finds himself in the scene is a second or subsequent one (which means the creature would still be in another shaft or entered his using one of the vertical ones now behind him).
In either case, Dallas could only face the side where the creature is coming from and wait for it to reach him.
Of course, the situation gets worse if there are also parallel and perpendicular horizontal shafts.
Or Ash didn't do anything but craft a functional motion tracker, knowing full well the alien was going to do what it does. If he was being deceitful here, was maybe it was to hasten an encounter by giving them a motion tracker to lead them directly to it.
ripley:"ash he's
been protecting it
all along "
I panicked more in the Alien: Isolation ducts
I think the problem's not the tracker but the monitor: no direction and level indicator.
The tracker doesn't work well and the screen provides no real information.
It was also made in like half an hour.
For me, it's the failure of the tracker to accurately monitor the alien's position and movement, coupled with the fact that it slowly dawns on Dallas that he is in fact the one being hunted. His panic rises as he realises that the situation is completely out of his control
The monitor doesn't give the direction of what it's tracking and even the level. Depending on what direction Dallas is facing, the creature could be coming towards him from his left or from his right, or his back or front. It could also be in the same shaft or the one above or below.
They would have realized that before he decided to enter the shaft:
"So, if I enter the shaft, you'll tell me if it's heading towards me, right? Wait a minute... will you be able to tell me if it's in front of or behind me?"
"OK, when you enter the shaft, the direction you're heading is your front."
"Got it. And what if it's in the shaft above me?"
"Uhh...I don't think this is gonna work."
:o
Quote from: ralfy on Feb 26, 2023, 04:56:28 AMThe monitor doesn't give the direction of what it's tracking and even the level. Depending on what direction Dallas is facing, the creature could be coming towards him from his left or from his right, or his back or front. It could also be in the same shaft or the one above or below.
They would have realized that before he decided to enter the shaft:
"So, if I enter the shaft, you'll tell me if it's heading towards me, right? Wait a minute... will you be able to tell me if it's in front of or behind me?"
"OK, when you enter the shaft, the direction you're heading is your front."
"Got it. And what if it's in the shaft above me?"
"Uhh...I don't think this is gonna work."
:o
A hopeless plan doomed to failure from an ineffectual Captain, aided by an increasingly terrified (minus one) crew of truckers. The odds were stacked in the creature's favour. :laugh:
Ash's suggestion about using fire as a possible deterrent (that helped convinced the Captain) was possibly BS - much later, the shuttle's engines would (seemingly) have little effect on cooking its resilient hide. :laugh:
Quote from: Elmazalman on Feb 26, 2023, 06:39:16 AMAsh's suggestion about using fire as a possible deterrent (that helped convinced the Captain) was possibly BS - much later, the shuttle's engines would (seemingly) have little effect on cooking its resilient hide. :laugh:
Isolation told me otherwise
Quote from: PsyKore on Feb 18, 2023, 10:09:30 AMSame reason I panic when see a spider on my wall but then the f**ker disappears! :'(
f**king spiders
To answer your question Why does Dallas panic in the airshaft? answer first Who wouldn't panic? :)
Quote from: Ingwar on Feb 26, 2023, 01:33:45 PMTo answer your question Why does Dallas panic in the airshaft? answer first Who wouldn't panic? :)
Ash?
Of course he wouldn't as he was an android.
I know.
Every human being in Dallas' situation would panic. You cannot, no matter what, train for things like that. Subconscious will always find its way to the surface and take control over you. It's primal fear.
Quote from: Elmazalman on Feb 26, 2023, 06:39:16 AMQuote from: ralfy on Feb 26, 2023, 04:56:28 AMThe monitor doesn't give the direction of what it's tracking and even the level. Depending on what direction Dallas is facing, the creature could be coming towards him from his left or from his right, or his back or front. It could also be in the same shaft or the one above or below.
They would have realized that before he decided to enter the shaft:
"So, if I enter the shaft, you'll tell me if it's heading towards me, right? Wait a minute... will you be able to tell me if it's in front of or behind me?"
"OK, when you enter the shaft, the direction you're heading is your front."
"Got it. And what if it's in the shaft above me?"
"Uhh...I don't think this is gonna work."
:o
A hopeless plan doomed to failure from an ineffectual Captain, aided by an increasingly terrified (minus one) crew of truckers. The odds were stacked in the creature's favour. :laugh:
Ash's suggestion about using fire as a possible deterrent (that helped convinced the Captain) was possibly BS - much later, the shuttle's engines would (seemingly) have little effect on cooking its resilient hide. :laugh:
Even with an effective Captain and a brave crew, they still would have failed, simply because the monitor has no direction indicators. That's why even Lambert, who I think is the navigator of the ship, could only give useless instructions, i.e., move away from the creature. But move where?
The second point's off-topic; maybe you can raise that in another thread.
Quote from: ralfy on Feb 27, 2023, 01:36:09 AMEven with an effective Captain and a brave crew, they still would have failed, simply because the monitor has no direction indicators. That's why even Lambert, who I think is the navigator of the ship, could only give useless instructions, i.e., move away from the creature. But move where?
Well, it did take some bravery to re-enter the air shafts to search for Dallas - only to find and retrieve the abandoned incinerator unit.
Yes, Lambert was the ship's navigator - and the best choice to read the tracking unit's (confusing) signals.
Perhaps Ash may've been an even better choice - had he not been secretly working against the crew? He did build them, and knows their quirks better than the others - he may've even been able to make more sense of the readings than the navigator?
Ripley actually recommended going back to the ducts and continuing with the plan. Would it have worked better this time?
Quote from: Wweyland on Feb 27, 2023, 10:09:54 AMRipley actually recommended going back to the ducts and continuing with the plan. Would it have worked better this time?
Why would the outcome be any different a second time? Now they're even worse off, with another crew member gone.
Quote from: Elmazalman on Feb 27, 2023, 02:54:40 AMWell, it did take some bravery to re-enter the air shafts to search for Dallas - only to find and retrieve the abandoned incinerator unit.
Yes, Lambert was the ship's navigator - and the best choice to read the tracking unit's (confusing) signals.
Perhaps Ash may've been an even better choice - had he not been secretly working against the crew? He did build them, and knows their quirks better than the others - he may've even been able to make more sense of the readings than the navigator?
None of those will matter if the indicator doesn't contain details on direction and level.
The same thing will happen if they try it a second time.