Ridley Says No to Extended Cut

[Xenomrph]

Not my fault if he chose a dumb way to make his point.

Not really; I got his point, I suspect others did too. Your post didn't contribute a whole lot other than point out a pedantic "mistake" and ignore his point entirely.

Good thing you were around to correct his mistake, eh?

I've been watching a fan edit with most of the material back in and it still a the same boring but pretty film as before. A extended cut will not help this movie. It's the same as the AvP extended cut, nothing can make up for a bad script.

I have also been watching a fan edit with the deleted and extended scenes re-inserted and I respectfully disagree.

Some of the smaller scenes, like "We are no longer alone", "Our first alien", "skin", and the like bring a greater sense of continuity to the film, making latter actions taken now make sense in terms of the broader narrative, instead of being things that just happen.

Janek Fills Vickers In and The Engineer Speaks both bring a sense of depth to the film that was missing before, and the latter just about changes the entire point of the film.

Extended scenes like the King Has His Reign scene between Vickers and Weyland bring character to those that had little.

The alternate Fifield Attacks brings a sense of consistency across the title's creature design that I didn't realize the film was lacking until I saw it.

And that's just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

I definitely think an extended cut is the better cut of the film.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said, although I disagree on the bit with the Engineer speaking. As much as I dislike the direction they took with the Engineers, I think it works a whole lot better if he's silent.

[echobbase79]

I've been watching a fan edit with most of the material back in and it still a the same boring but pretty film as before. A extended cut will not help this movie. It's the same as the AvP extended cut, nothing can make up for a bad script.

I have also been watching a fan edit with the deleted and extended scenes re-inserted and I respectfully disagree.

Some of the smaller scenes, like "We are no longer alone", "Our first alien", "skin", and the like bring a greater sense of continuity to the film, making latter actions taken now make sense in terms of the broader narrative, instead of being things that just happen.

Janek Fills Vickers In and The Engineer Speaks both bring a sense of depth to the film that was missing before, and the latter just about changes the entire point of the film.

Extended scenes like the King Has His Reign scene between Vickers and Weyland bring character to those that had little.

The alternate Fifield Attacks brings a sense of consistency across the title's creature design that I didn't realize the film was lacking until I saw it.

And that's just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

I definitely think an extended cut is the better cut of the film.

Okay I'll give you those two, but the other scenes didn't add much IMO.

[ChrisPachi]

I can understand why the skin scene got cut. You don't go about claiming that your film is not an X movie and then go and put in one of the original X movies most recognisable tropes.

[Gash]

I can understand why the skin scene got cut. You don't go about claiming that your film is not an X movie and then go and put in one of the original X movies most recognisable tropes.

Although it was always an X movie, and as soon as the Jockey chair appeared in the trailer the bluff was called.

To be brutally honest I thought they cut the skin scene cos it looked like Milburn was examining Lisa Riley's thong.

[ChrisPachi]

Although it was always an X movie, and as soon as the Jockey chair appeared in the trailer the bluff was called.

True enough, but it is one thing to link them by lore than to pretty much duplicate a scene from the original. It's a little too X-ish, if you get my meaning.

[bobcunk]

I've been watching a fan edit with most of the material back in and it still a the same boring but pretty film as before. A extended cut will not help this movie. It's the same as the AvP extended cut, nothing can make up for a bad script.

I have also been watching a fan edit with the deleted and extended scenes re-inserted and I respectfully disagree.

Some of the smaller scenes, like "We are no longer alone", "Our first alien", "skin", and the like bring a greater sense of continuity to the film, making latter actions taken now make sense in terms of the broader narrative, instead of being things that just happen.

Janek Fills Vickers In and The Engineer Speaks both bring a sense of depth to the film that was missing before, and the latter just about changes the entire point of the film.

Extended scenes like the King Has His Reign scene between Vickers and Weyland bring character to those that had little.

The alternate Fifield Attacks brings a sense of consistency across the title's creature design that I didn't realize the film was lacking until I saw it.

And that's just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

I definitely think an extended cut is the better cut of the film.

Okay I'll give you those two, but the other scenes didn't add much IMO.

Its not just about the script its more how its filmed. lots of great movies have the same boring scrips and plots but the acting , filming and mood of the movie is wat makes it good.

[echobbase79]

Out of curiosity name me one movie where a movie with a bad script that has actually turned out good. Yes, I can say some movies have been okay. Films Like the Phantom Menace, the Transformers films, the latest Indiana Jones film have terrible scripts but they're actually a lot of fun to watch. I guess Prometheus can go under that category to some people but I was just bored with it.

[Xenomrph]

To be fair the script for 'Alien' isn't exactly remarkable. In fact I'd say it's the weakest part of the movie. If it wasn't carried by the excellent acting, direction, creature design, etc, I don't think the movie would have been nearly the phenomenon it ended up becoming.

[SiL]

The script for Alien is the only script I've read that's actually creeped me out. Even O'Bannon's early drafts gave me a great sense of atmosphere while reading it.

[Valaquen]

I thought Alien's script, both versions [O'Bannon/Giler & Hill] were great reads. O'Bannon's for what could've been and a nice, comic book sort of thing, and Giler and Hill's for this clipped, harder version of what O'Bannon wrote. The script was bare, but not bad. To me

[Shmiggins]

Not my fault if he chose a dumb way to make his point.

Not really; I got his point, I suspect others did too. Your post didn't contribute a whole lot other than point out a pedantic "mistake" and ignore his point entirely.

Good thing you were around to correct his mistake, eh?

I've been watching a fan edit with most of the material back in and it still a the same boring but pretty film as before. A extended cut will not help this movie. It's the same as the AvP extended cut, nothing can make up for a bad script.

I have also been watching a fan edit with the deleted and extended scenes re-inserted and I respectfully disagree.

Some of the smaller scenes, like "We are no longer alone", "Our first alien", "skin", and the like bring a greater sense of continuity to the film, making latter actions taken now make sense in terms of the broader narrative, instead of being things that just happen.

Janek Fills Vickers In and The Engineer Speaks both bring a sense of depth to the film that was missing before, and the latter just about changes the entire point of the film.

Extended scenes like the King Has His Reign scene between Vickers and Weyland bring character to those that had little.

The alternate Fifield Attacks brings a sense of consistency across the title's creature design that I didn't realize the film was lacking until I saw it.

And that's just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

I definitely think an extended cut is the better cut of the film.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said, although I disagree on the bit with the Engineer speaking. As much as I dislike the direction they took with the Engineers, I think it works a whole lot better if he's silent.

Out of all the deleted scenes, I think the engineer speaking was one of the good ones!  well.. maybe not the engineer speaking, but weyland talking about gods.  About how he was like god because he created David. About how gods deserve to live forever.  I felt like this was the "tears in rain" moment, and I think it's a shame they cut it out. It actually gave me chills when i watched it.

[Deuterium]

To me, what makes the original Alien film rise above the shooting script (which wasn't bad, mind you), was the naturalistic acting and dialogue that Ridley Scott captured.  You used to see this in great '70s movies.  The actors are talking back and forth like real people do, in the real world.  Many times, people talk over one another, or get cut off.  It makes you pay attention because the dialogue is so dynamic.  It seems effortless and extemporaneous, and never does it appear that we are watching actors read from a script.

Another film that did this wonderfully was "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".  Earlier films like "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon" are similar examples.

I don't know why directors have moved away from this realistic "verite" style.

Anyways...this is one of my favorite aspects about the acting and directing of "Alien".

[Gash]

Can't argue with that. It's one of the things that adds extra gravitas to cinema of the 1970s.

[Virgil]

To me, what makes the original Alien film rise above the shooting script (which wasn't bad, mind you), was the naturalistic acting and dialogue that Ridley Scott captured.  You used to see this in great '70s movies.  The actors are talking back and forth like real people do, in the real world.  Many times, people talk over one another, or get cut off.  It makes you pay attention because the dialogue is so dynamic.  It seems effortless and extemporaneous, and never does it appear that we are watching actors read from a script.

Another film that did this wonderfully was "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".  Earlier films like "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon" are similar examples.

I don't know why directors have moved away from this realistic "verite" style.

Anyways...this is one of my favorite aspects about the acting and directing of "Alien".

Couldn't agree more, Deuterium, I've been thinking this for quite a while now. Another film, IMO, that really manages to capture that dynamic would be Jaws. Some of Lars von Trier's movies too.

[RagingDragon]

Of all people, Ridley Scott had all of my votes when it came to pulling incredible performances from actors, and actually improving the acting in his film through close involvement with the actors and a balls-to-the-wall, passionate vision for what he wanted.

Seems like with Prometheus, all of that passion was applied to the visuals, and the actual acting and characters were somewhat of an afterthought outside of representing these huge, obvious, and often revisited 'grand themes.'

I remember watching the extras for Black Hawk Down, and some of the actors talk about random things that Ridley would do to make the performances more geniune, like having random explosions going off around them that they had no clue about.  Apparently that was back in the day when he really paid attention to what the performances looked like on screen.

I don't know whether to blame some modern trend or oversight on Scott's part.  In the end, though, I think the general audience noticed.