1/6 1/6 Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien - Collectible Figure

[DiFabio]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

So.. what about Platypuses, reptiles & birds - are they bugs too?

Yes.

 

[a-dev]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I'm sorry, I missed the D&D reference.

What was the link?

Jim Carrey's character boasts of his 'rapist wit' at some point in D&D and a few pages back we were talking about the original intention behind the alien - that apparently it was to rape Lambert, not just kill her.

 

[nekromantik]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I would hate it if they rebooted Alien. However Sigorny is interested in doing 5th film to finish it off. She says in recent interview. With Prometheus 2 on the cards next I doubt it will happen any time in next 5 years.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

See, I took "rapist wit" too literally even though I was aware that Lloyd says that in the film. I wasn't sure if you meant what I thought you meant, otherwise I would have posted the two of them in their orange and blue tuxedos.

 

[abake]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I'm game for a Prometheus 2, but after seeing The Counselor, I really doubt Ridley has a good movie in him anymore.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

The Alien in Alien was a bug. Let's not forget all those damn eggs in the nest when the Nostromo crew arrived,

What? It was a bug? That's what you got out of it?

Cameron simply added a queen and made it plural instead of singular. These changes weren't really there to mess with the dynamics of the mythos, but really, adding a mother vs. mother theme at the end between Ripley and the queen.

What? He didn't just add a Queen. He changed the evolution, and simplified things by making something that was supposed to be alien into something terrestrial and as common as a roach. I enjoy his comic book as much as the next guy, but his vision is not visionary. It's Cowboys and Indians. It's 50's Sci-Fi on Rambo steroids. Such was the 80's.

Besides, it's not like Ridley Scott did his own universe any justice with Prometheus. I'd rather have animalistic, hive minded aliens than the mysterious origin of the eggs, engineer, spacecraft of LV-426 being big, godly, albino super babies that were simply making black goo, doomsday creatures to kill off mankind (or whatever).

What!? All those guys piss on their own work eventually. Look at Lucas.





Unfortunately, Cameron's modern retelling of "Them!" stuck with the masses to the point that we have been inudated with "bugs from space" ever since... from Starship Troopers to Men in Black.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

The Alien in Alien was a humanoid bug with a lil' mouth in his mouth that came from a facehugger having it's way with a crew member that came upon it from an egg. The guy goes around causing a ruckus by killing/raping/eating it's prey and occasionally (as the deleted scenes shows), makes some love goo to put people in to incubate them. It dies when a flamethrowin' lady goes around and cleans up it's mess, but wait, it's not dead! Surprise! It's really on board with her until she sends it off floating into deep space.

The Aliens in Aliens were humanoid bugs with lil' mouths inside their mouths that came from a facehugger having it's way with a colony of people that came upon eggs. The guys go around causing a ruckus by killing/raping/eating their prey and occasionally make love goo to put people in to incubate them. They die when a flamethrowin' lady goes around and cleans up their mess, but wait, there's a Queen, a big momma just like Ripley. Surprise! She killed it! Not! It's really on board with her until she sends it off floating into deep space.

Eggs, facehuggers, lil' mouths within mouths. Whatever. Same humanoid bug (or sexually organic, giger weird ****). Difference is, in film one, there's one and in film two, there's a lot. If I'm a monster/animal/whatever, I'm going to act differently when I'm on my own in a small, claustrophobic ship than I would if I'm hanging out with all my bros in an open environment taking on the military. People can act "buggy" and hive minded too.

Seems to me like people have this weird idolization or primadonna thing with the first Alien or Terminator. They're put on a pedestal and it's like somehow, there can't be more of them, and if there are, they're not as bad ass or as cool as the first. I don't get it, it's silly when we're dealing with creatures that can be remade, either through birth, or in the case of the Terminator, assembly. We never saw the Alien do anything extraordinary except grow from a phallic looking alien that burst out of a man's chest, which turned into an adult sized space monster that went around killing people (assuming it has the intention of surviving and procreating like any living being). Yes, it was special because it was the first, but there were also hundreds/thousands of other eggs there, all with facehuggers. The sequel deals with the "what if" of that and we have a little colony of people that helped give birth to more monsters. It's not about the "mysterious" Alien, but about Ripley going back and facing those demons again (just like T2 isn't about the Terminator or how "bad ass" he is going in and killing a lot of cops, it's about Sarah Connor overcoming her nightmare and making peace with her prejudices).







Also, Edgar is great . . . until he turns into a giant cockroach. It's not because he's a cockroach though, we knew that through the story, it's because he's a giant ****ing cockroach.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I'll puke when I see a press release saying something like

24TH SEPTEMBER, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - 20TH CENTURY FOX AND BRANDYWINE PRODUCTIONS PLAN NEW VISION OF ITS LANDMARK ALIEN FRANCHISE WITH VISIONARY FILMMAKER LEIGH WHANNELL AT THE HELM

I'm so sick of interviews where terms like 'gritty', 'grounded', 'reimagining' and 'closer to the original vision' are tossed about. I hate Hollywood these days.

This is funny on so many different levels.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I simply do not agree with your very broad definition of 'bug'.

I do not personally like the bug thing, nor the hive mentality, nor the 'buggy' direction the alien went into based on Cameron's simplified explanation. I don't blame him, but it got overused almost immediately. I think the comics did worse. But again, I go back to the original because the alien had a very simple life cycle and its goal was simply to eat and exist. The rest was conjecture and endless possibilities.

Predator -- a far less stylish creation -- also fell flat when one of those AvP movies showed its homeworld full of pyramids and Predator-police on the look-out for escaped Queens.


I do like Edgar though. Before his bug got loose.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I love Alien and it's a sci-fi/horror classic, but it's essentially Rosemary's Baby meets The Thing. In Outer Space. It's not untouchable.

That being said, I'm not interested in a remake or a reboot, just another installment.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I simply do not agree with your very broad definition of 'bug'.

I do not personally like the bug thing, nor the hive mentality, nor the 'buggy' direction the alien went into based on Cameron's simplified explanation. I don't blame him, but it got overused almost immediately. I think the comics did worse. But again, I go back to the original because the alien had a very simple life cycle and its goal was simply to eat and exist. The rest was conjecture and endless possibilities.

Predator -- a far less stylish creation -- also fell flat when one of those AvP movies showed its homeworld full of pyramids and Predator-police on the look-out for escaped Queens.


I do like Edgar though. Before his bug got loose.

Yeah, but the problem with that though is, what was the original Alien's purpose? What was it's intent? It ate/killed/abducted on a whim. Some of the Nostromo crew were killed outright, others were captured and set up on a wall. If there was a sequel, other than Aliens, what would that entail? Yet another ship approaching a signal and derelict spacecraft, another egg and another Alien on board? Prometheus instead? No sequel at all?

I don't think Cameron was being unfaithful, he clearly did his research. A lot of what the Aliens in Aliens do, the Alien does too. Yeah, maybe "bugs" is too broad of a term and simplyfing them a bit, but that's why we have the term Alien/Aliens. The Marines themselves thought they were simply on another "bug hunt" and that turned out to be their downfall. I'd argue that all the Aliens in Aliens are just as smart as the Alien in Alien. Only a few cosmetic changes occurred between the two films. I think this sums it up perfectly,

https://www.alienscollection.com/jamescameron.html

And yeah, agreed on Edgar. I remember being so disappointed when that was his reveal. He was so great in the Edgar suit until it turns out to be this giant, monster thing. How did he even fit in the skin? Why doesn't he talk any more? only problem I have with that movie.

 

[a-dev]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

Seems to me like people have this weird idolization or primadonna thing with the first Alien or Terminator. They're put on a pedestal and it's like somehow, there can't be more of them, and if there are, they're not as bad ass or as cool as the first. I don't get it, it's silly when we're dealing with creatures that can be remade, either through birth, or in the case of the Terminator, assembly. We never saw the Alien do anything extraordinary except grow from a phallic looking alien that burst out of a man's chest, which turned into an adult sized space monster that went around killing people (assuming it has the intention of surviving and procreating like any living being). Yes, it was special because it was the first, but there were also hundreds/thousands of other eggs there, all with facehuggers. The sequel deals with the "what if" of that and we have a little colony of people that helped give birth to more monsters. It's not about the "mysterious" Alien, but about Ripley going back and facing those demons again (just like T2 isn't about the Terminator or how "bad ass" he is going in and killing a lot of cops, it's about Sarah Connor overcoming her nightmare and making peace with her prejudices).

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

Tarantino needs to do Inglourious Basterds 2. Aldo and some new Basterds defend the new nation of Israel from Zombie Hitler!

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

Judging by how scared s---less Hudson became and how unprepared they were for their attacks and tactics, the Marines had never encountered xenomorphs before. I'm sure they had encountered - and killed - other alien species by then, but they were probably a lot less...formidable.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

Yeah, Hudson and Co. never experienced anything like them before

 

[Wor-Gar]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

I love Alien ...but it's essentially Rosemary's Baby meets The Thing.

What's the Rosemary's Baby part? The baby? Maybe if Ripley was convinced an alien was aboard the ship and everyone was saying 'no you're crazy' while secretly feeding it, then maybe. But as it stands, not a good comparison. The Thing was enough... although more accurate to say 'The Thing' was 'Alien is the ice' since the former came out 3 years later.

And don't say it was earlier because its a remake of the 50's movie, because I know that, but then so was Alien in truth (It Terror beyond Space).

what was the original Alien's purpose? What was it's intent? It ate/killed/abducted on a whim.

I like that. Because there is no justification. It doesn't need one. It simply exists to survive. No reason, no intent, no greater cause, no spiritual enlightenment, no goal, no end-game, no master plan. And not on a whim. It has no whim. It just eats, and kills, and reproduces. Like us. Without the mental nonsense.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

What's the Rosemary's Baby part? The baby? Maybe if Ripley was convinced an alien was aboard the ship and everyone was saying 'no you're crazy' while secretly feeding it, then maybe. But as it stands, not a good comparison. The Thing was enough... although more accurate to say 'The Thing' was 'Alien is the ice' since the former came out 3 years later.

And don't say it was earlier because its a remake of the 50's movie, because I know that, but then so was Alien in truth (It Terror beyond Space).

You're being too literal regarding Rosemary's Baby. It's just the general notion that something so nefarious could be gestating inside of a human.

As for the James Arness The Thing, you're essentially confirming my original point, in that Alien can be considered derivative.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

It simply exists to survive. No reason, no intent, no greater cause, no spiritual enlightenment, no goal, no end-game, no master plan. And not on a whim. It has no whim. It just eats, and kills, and reproduces. Like us. Without the mental nonsense.

I think Ash said something similar.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

The Aliens did the same thing in Aliens though. The one in the dropship just straight up kills Ferro while others abduct the remaining Marines. They just eat, kill, and reproduce, like animals. They have the same "survival instinct" the first one had.

I don't see how adding a Queen changes that. In the beginning of Aliens when Newt's family first come across the derelict ship and her father suffers the same fate Kane does, that very first Alien was probably just like the first Alien from the first film. As they take over the colony though, it makes sense that they become a pack, and through breeding, a Queen forms. The Alien in the first film is asexual is it not? It was born out of a human host coming into contact with a human that was impregnated by a facehugger, right?

It's not like the Alien in the first film was this super intelligent being. It was basically a horror monster that would pop up at the most inopportune times and kill off the crew haphazardly. All it did was stalk, hide in vents and kill, just like it's sequel brothers. It was never anything more than that. It never talked, it never displayed anything "special" except being more aggressive than the others. Who says that if the whole crew got impregnated (Ripley, Parker, etc. everyone except Ash basically), the Alien wouldn't act more animalistic and be hive minded? There were other eggs after all and the deleted scene does show that it's interested in continuing it's species (albeit the "egg" concept being a bit different. All traits that the Aliens have in Aliens.

Are the Aliens easier to kill in the sequel? Yup. But in Alien we NEVER saw it go up against sentry guns, pulse rifles or smart guns from friggin' Marines. The Alien basically went up against truck drivers. Just because the Aliens in Aliens get killed off or get suicidal doesn't mean they're dumb or inferior. If I remember correctly, they took out the whole crew with relative ease, first go, ****ed up every plan Ripley and Co. had, and were capable of shutting down the power. The Queen itself was capable of getting up the elevator and getting on board to wreck havoc one last time. I'm really not seeing "Old Chap" being inferior/superior or that much different, other than, "I saw it's kind for the first time and it was all by it's lonesome, picking off the Nostromo crew from the shadows". They're as sinister and mysterious as you want to make them, but make no mistake, other than a few cosmetic changes and the introduction of a Queen, they're the same beasts/creatures. Same deal with the Terminator. We can cry and fuss all we want that he's some kid's "very own Terminator", but it's still the same killing machine that we saw in the first film, except reprogrammed as a force for good.

Considering these two things have things like eggs, facehuggers, human hosts and computer microprocessing chips that can be rewritten, I don't quite understand the bias that's thrown their way when a sequel that changes the game arises.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: Hot Toys: Ellen Ripley - Alien (Updated with new prototype HS)

Is the xenomorph any smarter/dumber than the bugs from Starship Troopers or the Bio-raptors (Jebus, that sounds stupid) from Pitch Black? They're pretty much interchangeable in that they use their environment and numbers to their advantage.