Scott: We are going to make another Alien movie

[No Name]

What is the point of wearing spacesuits, when it's breathable atmosphere and no pathogens detected?

You can't detect things that are completely unknown. Taking an air sample might not reveal everything.

You shouldn't take your helmet off in the alien environment. Breathable does not equal safe. It was bad writing.

Yeah let's just get what, 10 people to wear big expensive unwieldy suits in a movie that's already on a budget. Also, let's remake Aliens to make everybody wear a hazmat suit in case of an airborne pathogen (very realistic given the sudden silence of the colony). Or even better, why not just send a ship full of androids? Worst writing ever! Travel back in time to 1986 to hand the reins of the franchise over to a director who knows how to handle the it!

I agree with this. Why is it a problem for the crew to enter the atmosphere without suits in Covenant but perfectly fine in Aliens?

[Kane's other son]

Also, no one got infected in Prometheus because they were not wearing a spacesuit.

[The Old One]

What is the point of wearing spacesuits, when it's breathable atmosphere and no pathogens detected?

You can't detect things that are completely unknown. Taking an air sample might not reveal everything.

You shouldn't take your helmet off in the alien environment. Breathable does not equal safe. It was bad writing.

Yeah let's just get what, 10 people to wear big expensive unwieldy suits in a movie that's already on a budget. Also, let's remake Aliens to make everybody wear a hazmat suit in case of an airborne pathogen (very realistic given the sudden silence of the colony). Or even better, why not just send a ship full of androids? Worst writing ever! Travel back in time to 1986 to hand the reins of the franchise over to a director who knows how to handle the it!

I agree with this. Why is it a problem for the crew to enter the atmosphere without suits in Covenant but perfectly fine in Aliens?

"They've been there for over 20 years."
"Atmosphere processors that make the air breathable takes decades."

That's why.

[ChrisPachi]

Why is it a problem for the crew to enter the atmosphere without suits in Covenant but perfectly fine in Aliens?

Because in Aliens there had been people living in said atmosphere for 20 years, people who maintained contact with Earth and who included medical doctors and scientists.

Also, no one got infected in Prometheus because they were not wearing a spacesuit.

Lucky them. Perhaps the Covenant crew decided that that's all the proof that they needed.

R.I.P. They were a smart lot.

[The Cruentus]

What is the point of wearing spacesuits, when it's breathable atmosphere and no pathogens detected?

You can't detect things that are completely unknown. Taking an air sample might not reveal everything.

You shouldn't take your helmet off in the alien environment. Breathable does not equal safe. It was bad writing.

And then people would moan about 'y not the helmets made out of strnger space glass?'

Take the Ear scene. Guy goes to take a rest. Bumps the pod. The cloud of particles float around his suit. He sits there. Now have the pathogen land on the suit. Very close up FX shot, we can see the weaving of the suit, the organism burns a microscopic hole in it and burrows it's way in.

I agree with this, you can still find ways to infect someone without them doing something stupid. When a smart and careful person bites it, the threat is more greater.

'y not strnger space suit'

You have to admit that its better to hear that question than "why aren't they wearing space/hazmat suits" Also such suits are only designed to give oxygen to its wearer, I don't think they would be designed for serious impact (I think) or any other unknown hazards. In Prometheus, Fifield's helmet gets melted in and allowed the black goo to infect him.

That would have actually made a great scene.  We'd have the crew surrounded by breathable air, but they're hanging on to the last moment where they can use their own air.  Then they have to have the inevitable discussion and they take off their helmets..

It would or could create some extra tension as well. I enjoyed the movie but there is so many things that could have been done better, namely how the crew behaves. It is too slasher tropey as it is in my opinion.

What is the point of wearing spacesuits, when it's breathable atmosphere and no pathogens detected?

You can't detect things that are completely unknown. Taking an air sample might not reveal everything.

You shouldn't take your helmet off in the alien environment. Breathable does not equal safe. It was bad writing.

Yeah let's just get what, 10 people to wear big expensive unwieldy suits in a movie that's already on a budget. Also, let's remake Aliens to make everybody wear a hazmat suit in case of an airborne pathogen (very realistic given the sudden silence of the colony). Or even better, why not just send a ship full of androids? Worst writing ever! Travel back in time to 1986 to hand the reins of the franchise over to a director who knows how to handle the it!

I agree with this. Why is it a problem for the crew to enter the atmosphere without suits in Covenant but perfectly fine in Aliens?

Because LV-426 was a surveyed world with atmosphere processors set up, and they had a colony out there for a few decades. The moon was known, Planet 4 was completely unknown, they had no idea what could be on that rock.

Also airborne pathogens would not kill everyone at the same time unless they were all infected at the same time and even then a person's metabolism and immune system will come into play on how long it will take, meaning someone could possible give a warning about what would be happening. Well as far as I know anyway, I am no virologist. 

[Scorpio]

To avert or at least attempt to avert exactly what happened to Ledward, as a precaution.

It's like what Walter said about the stellar flares, it's a random event, you can't plan for it.  They set this up early in the movie. 

To take that level of precautions for things that are completely unknown borders on ridiculous.  You cannot plan for everything.  Like I said, it was a calculated risk type situation, a type of situation that happens all the time.

[OpenMaw]

You shouldn't take your helmet off in the alien environment. Breathable does not equal safe. It was bad writing.

Yeah let's just get what, 10 people to wear big expensive unwieldy suits in a movie that's already on a budget. Also, let's remake Aliens to make everybody wear a hazmat suit in case of an airborne pathogen (very realistic given the sudden silence of the colony). Or even better, why not just send a ship full of androids? Worst writing ever! Travel back in time to 1986 to hand the reins of the franchise over to a director who knows how to handle the it!
[/quote]

Write a better script. Budget the film better. Don't spend a quadrillion dollars on scenic photography that ends up acounting for .3 percent of the run time, but costs geometric amounts of money.

Because LV-426 was a surveyed world with atmosphere processors set up, and they had a colony out there for a few decades. The moon was known, Planet 4 was completely unknown, they had no idea what could be on that rock.

Also airborne pathogens would not kill everyone at the same time unless they were all infected at the same time and even then a person's metabolism and immune system will come into play on how long it will take, meaning someone could possible give a warning about what would be happening. Well as far as I know anyway, I am no virologist. 

Bingo, sir. Bingo.

It's like what Walter said about the stellar flares, it's a random event, you can't plan for it.  They set this up early in the movie. 

To take that level of precautions for things that are completely unknown borders on ridiculous.  You cannot plan for everything.  Like I said, it was a calculated risk type situation, a type of situation that happens all the time.

No, that's just not the same kind of thing. Massive stellar events are nothing like biological quarantine and standard safety measures. f**king Hell people, we practice this kind of stuff in the grocery business to keep people from getting horrifically ill from cross contamination. Masks, gloves, hair nets. This is our own planet trying to kill us.

Of course you'd wear biohazard gear. Especially something to cover your face and mouth. Just because a local sampling of the air reads clear doesn't mean you won't have exactly what happened, happened.

[TC]

...Why is it a problem for the crew to enter the atmosphere without suits in Covenant but perfectly fine in Aliens?

Because Covenant made airbourne micro-pathogens a plot issue (later on someone gets infected by a spore), where Aliens did not.

We audiences are a forgiving lot. If you don't mention that there is no gravity in outer space, we will happily play along with the fact that your spaceship allows people to walk around as if there is. If you don't mention the fact that there is no sound in a vacuum, we will allow your spaceship to make engine noise. If you don't mention the fact that alien micro-pathogens are a biosecurity risk, we will willingly suspend our disbelief and pretend that they don't exist.

This is the "Gentleman's Agreement" we made with the Aliens storyteller, and also the storytellers of Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, The 5th Element, Forbidden Planet, Battlestar Galactica, Dune, Predators, Pitch Black, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar etc etc etc. We're nice that way.

But if you try to exploit the Gentleman's Agreement by first invoking it (we see the crew not following biosecurity precautions, thus implying that micro-pathogens don't exist), and yet later on you ignore the Agreement (because the plot features a micro-pathogen), then we feel like we're being played.

We tend to get snotty about things like that.

TC

[426Buddy]

Stopped reading at "We audiences are a forgiving lot".

j/k

Audiences are not forgiving at all though, especially when it comes to a franchise film.

As for not having suits, that stuff doesn't bother me in films like this. Its hardly important unless you understandably dont like the film already, then it becomes an easy criticism.

Also the point about aliens is quite valid. You would almost assuredly take precautions against possible disease in such a situation. But it didnt bother me in Aliens or AC or the many other creature films that dont take proper qaurentine precautions.

[No Name]

"They've been there for over 20 years."
"Atmosphere processors that make the air breathable takes decades."

That's why.

Invalid argument. A key issue is the safety precautions each group should have taken with regards to what the air might contain following the break in communication. Also, the 20 years time frame means nothing. They're still living in a colony which requires constant operation of the atmospheric processes. Its not like 426 housed a number of fully fledged, large-scale, livable cities in an environment similar to Earth. And even then...

Because in Aliens there had been people living in said atmosphere for 20 years, people who maintained contact with Earth and who included medical doctors and scientists.

Again, time frame is irrelevant. Also, 20 years everything is going well and then all of a sudden silence? Does that not sound like a situation requiring extra precaution?

Because LV-426 was a surveyed world with atmosphere processors set up, and they had a colony out there for a few decades. The moon was known, Planet 4 was completely unknown, they had no idea what could be on that rock.

Also airborne pathogens would not kill everyone at the same time unless they were all infected at the same time and even then a person's metabolism and immune system will come into play on how long it will take, meaning someone could possible give a warning about what would be happening. Well as far as I know anyway, I am no virologist.

This just makes the Marines look like idiots. They should have, at the very least, began conducting the operation with biohazard gear until at least they discovered Newt.

No, that's just not the same kind of thing. Massive stellar events are nothing like biological quarantine and standard safety measures. f**king Hell people, we practice this kind of stuff in the grocery business to keep people from getting horrifically ill from cross contamination. Masks, gloves, hair nets. This is our own planet trying to kill us.

Of course you'd wear biohazard gear. Especially something to cover your face and mouth. Just because a local sampling of the air reads clear doesn't mean you won't have exactly what happened, happened.

Yes, so why would it not make sense for the Marines to wear such gear then?

Because Covenant made airbourne micro-pathogens a plot issue (later on someone gets infected by a spore), where Aliens did not.

We audiences are a forgiving lot. If you don't mention that there is no gravity in outer space, we will happily play along with the fact that your spaceship allows people to walk around as if there is. If you don't mention the fact that there is no sound in a vacuum, we will allow your spaceship to make engine noise. If you don't mention the fact that alien micro-pathogens are a biosecurity risk, we will willingly suspend our disbelief and pretend that they don't exist.

This is the "Gentleman's Agreement" we made with the Aliens storyteller, and also the storytellers of Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, The 5th Element, Forbidden Planet, Battlestar Galactica, Dune, Predators, Pitch Black etc etc etc. We're nice that way.

But if you try to exploit the Gentleman's Agreement by taking advantage of its benefits (i.e. first we see spacecrew not following biosecurity precautions, thus implying that micro-organisms don't exist), and yet later on you ignore the Agreement (because the plot features a micro-organism), then we feel like we're being played.

We tend to get snotty about things like that.

This is the best counter-argument presented and one I hadn't thought of. I suppose Ledward could have been attacked by an organism similar to a Facehugger, instead of getting infected if the Gentleman's Agreement was to be respected with regards to no suits.

[OpenMaw]

Yes, so why would it not make sense for the Marines to wear such gear then?

Because LV-426 had already been surveyed, colonized, and had it's atmosphere processed. There would be little to no risk of a pathogen of that kind existing on a dead rock that has been terraformed by and with often used methods, and the Alien if it was involved was also a known quantity.

[426Buddy]

The alien wasnt really a known quantity . They have no idea if they carry their own diseases and bacteria. And if its a dead rock with no worry of any contamination then the very presense of an alien means they don't know what they are dealing with or whats really on that rock.

There is no way that the situation in aliens wouldnt have qualified for precautionary measures.

Not that it matters as Aliens is a classic regardless.

[SM]

If there was a biohazard risk (a la Planet 4 pathogen) then Ripley would've known about/ been affected by it.

[Perfect-Organism]

There were people living on LV-426 for decades.  They knew there was nothing there, and in some ways they were right.  The derelict was not from there.  The aliens were not from there.  Decades of tests told them there was nothing in the air or in the ground that would make you sick.  So if they made the air breathable over time, it's reasonable to go helmets off.

I'm trying to remember how Russ and Anne were walking around.  Did they have helmets?

[SM]

They had protective glasses.

That's not the point though.  They may have been living for decades without incident, but the exposure to the Alien was only very recent, so it's fair to ask the question as to why the marines didn't wear protective gear.  And the answer is, Ripley was exposed to the same thing and neither she nor her crew were affected by any pathogen.