Alien: Specimen - 40th Anniversary Short

[Xenomrph]

One small touch I was expecting (but didn't happen) was

Spoiler

I was hoping that after the wounded facehugger gets stabbed by the shovel for the first time, that there'd be acid damage on the shovel

[close]

.

[The Old One]

Love the location, evocative of Outland and Aliens/Alien³ all at once; whilst being it's own thing.

[Naginata]

This one was great!

Loved the atmosphere, the suspense, the effects... everything. Plus, I've always wanted to see a non-humanoid synth; I think variations on the robots are a great untapped vein for Alien-verse mythology, and this short demonstrates that as well. 

[P1NK8C1DBOOTS]

Pretty decent!! Enjoyed the tension, the acting was great....nice little twist at the end..... hoping they all remain at this level 👍

[HuDaFuK]

That was really good, considerably better than the first one. Lead actress was a lot more convincing. Twist ending with the dog was neat too, and explained the niggle I had that a pooch was winning a fight with a Facehugger.

Only real gripe was the slightly ropey CGI, but that's to be expected on a project like this and it's honestly a minor quibble.

One small touch I was expecting (but didn't happen) was

Spoiler

I was hoping that after the wounded facehugger gets stabbed by the shovel for the first time, that there'd be acid damage on the shovel

[close]

.

Ditto.

This was good, but a robot dog like that makes no sense. If you have the tech to build something that smells as good as a dog, then just make it hand-held. Or attached to a drone that flies around sniffing things.
Or if you're insistent on it looking like dog, then give it the ability to speak, instead of trying to communicate through barks?

There could be any number of reasons you'd want a dog. Pest control, or as someone already mentioned, companionship for the staff. Seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

[The Old One]

Budget, although; "The acid oxidises after the creatures death completely neutralizing it."

[HuDaFuK]

Budget, although; "The acid oxidises after the creatures death completely neutralizing it."

It's not terribly expensive to cut the tip off a shovel and put some chemicals on it to make it steam. Especially if you already have the shovel.

And the Facehugger was still alive at the time, it was moving.

[Still Collating...]

For all the reasons that have already been mentioned, this one was fantastic! It was so good it made me want to watch it again immediately. Bravo to everyone involved. Great usage of the time. Felt a lot longer, the lead was really good, very compelling, the twist was genius and explained the problem between the dog and facehugger.

Emotional, compelling, tense, satisfying yet still leaving me wanting more. Simple, but original. Original without going crazy with the lore. I'm so thrilled we got something like this. Smartly made.

[Nightmare Asylum]

Don't think I posted any thoughts on this one, but I seriously enjoyed this. Really well shot, very tense throughout, and some pretty interesting sound design. There's a lot more to this one than Containment. The world that the characters inhabit here feels more real and functional. I also like that its twist kind of subverts what you would expect from a fan film (the WY rep was just as in the dark as everyone else and not trying to take the specimen, the android served a dedicated purpose in the greenhouse that wasn't just "Secure Alien for my WY overlords," etc).

Sure, the CGI on the Facehugger was dodgy and I would have liked to have seen a bit of the acid blood's effect on the shovel. But whatever.

I am very pleased with this one.

[Ronoc]

That was really good, considerably better than the first one. Lead actress was a lot more convincing. Twist ending with the dog was neat too, and explained the niggle I had that a pooch was winning a fight with a Facehugger.

Only real gripe was the slightly ropey CGI, but that's to be expected on a project like this and it's honestly a minor quibble.

One small touch I was expecting (but didn't happen) was

Spoiler

I was hoping that after the wounded facehugger gets stabbed by the shovel for the first time, that there'd be acid damage on the shovel

[close]

.

Ditto.

This was good, but a robot dog like that makes no sense. If you have the tech to build something that smells as good as a dog, then just make it hand-held. Or attached to a drone that flies around sniffing things.
Or if you're insistent on it looking like dog, then give it the ability to speak, instead of trying to communicate through barks?

There could be any number of reasons you'd want a dog. Pest control, or as someone already mentioned, companionship for the staff. Seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

Yeah, but it wasn't a dog.
Why would you build something that sophisticated, yet not improve on a dog? Like I said, give it ability to speak, a pair of hands growing out of it's chest, wings?
Synths must be expensive, otherwise they'd be everywhere. Or else who needs a power loader, when you can make giant intelligent super-strong four-armed gorillas to take orders and move crap around in warehouses?
A dog? We already have those...

[Xiggz456]

Fantastic short! Whereas "Containment" felt like a trailer for a film we'll never see, "Specimen" was a complete and satisfying experience. Well done.

[The Old One]

"You people made me this way, because you're more comfortable interacting with your own kind."

I imagine the (identical sentiment) idea's applicable to human and animal companionship.
Replicants, if you will.   

[Nightmare Asylum]

If I had to guess, "Maggie" and any other AI-K9s were likely constructed with recreation in mind, as pets. Not for actual labor.

This particular greenhouse facility is probably not exactly sitting high on WY's list of valuable projects to dump resources into, so why install a fully operational MU/TH/UR system or a Bishop droid that probably cost top dollar to monitor for potential contagions, infestations, etc. when you can ship over a few of these dog units that are cheap and disposable? Doubles as a companion for the presumably bare-minimum staff working at the facility, and WY gets to check off some boxes on their list.

[Xenomrph]

Budget, although; "The acid oxidises after the creatures death completely neutralizing it."

It's not terribly expensive to cut the tip off a shovel and put some chemicals on it to make it steam. Especially if you already have the shovel.

And the Facehugger was still alive at the time, it was moving.

That, and the acid doesn't neutralize the very picosecond the facehugger dies.

[Naginata]

Also, you can't just slap wings on a dog and expect it to fly; it may be a robot, but it still has to obey the laws of physics.