*BEWARE SPOILERS* Alien: Romulus

[MeatHookGekko]

What’s the point of this film?

Clearly no point for you. And that's OK. But there might be a point for other people.

Romulus was a moderate financial success, especially with IMAX, and it's placement in the timeline, within the current lore, opens up some fertile ground for new stories. We might even get some Colonial Marines showing back up, and if that's so, while that might end up being a hit or a miss, it could trigger the release of some 1/6th Colonial Marines again for our hobby, where some collectors would like to see a new opportunity beyond what Hot Toys made over 20 years ago.

Brother, you do you. That's OK with me. Love it or hate it or anything inbetween, that's all for you and your fandom. Or not. I'm not judging future Alien stuff on what it's not from the past, I'm leaving room to be pleasantly surprised. Like Billy Beane told David Justice in Moneyball. He's not paying for the player someone used to be, he's paying for the player that you are today. At minimum, the true bonus that people have here as collectors, is even if everything flops, we might get cool toys out of it.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Just curious.

IMHO, where Ridley Scott would have likely taken the Alien franchise, had he had more time and was able to get the financing/distribution to make more films with full creative control, is more readily shown in the short lived TV series, Raised By Wolves. Which actually does cover more ground in some core Book of Enoch concepts.

Could you fit the Alien lore within the common themes that Scott clearly wanted to shift towards? Maybe. But it's a big pull away from what made the Alien franchise so successful in the first place. So, as a high level creative, Scott can make and tell whatever story he wants, but the "tone" shifts pretty dramatically in Prometheus and some parts of Covenant. In effect, Ridley Scott is pulling a Kangaroo Jack on the audience, Alien fans and the studios. The Alien lore was only a thin proxy to tell the stories he really wanted to tell.

I mean Ridley Scott could have just told what he thought plainly, likely in a book format. But then he would have been treated like L Ron Hubbard and any discussion he wanted to have would be compared to Battlefield Earth. You can only bait and switch an audience only so many times with the same franchise.

If I am going to be fair, and give a little grace to the situation, the likely case is Ridley Scott is simply too far ahead of his time. The current mainstream audience really can't and won't handle these kind of origin themes very well. Society will likely be more ready to accept some of the main discussion points that Scott wants to cover in about twenty years, but he'll be dead by then. And our society might not last that long.

I agree there are some incredibly interesting themes in Prometheus. IMHO there is enough material to make four different films. The problem is there isn't a cohesive single film to start. Ridley Scott did what George Lucas did and Zack Snyder did, took a long simmer concept, spanning decades, then started filming an outline. Not a real script, just a rough outline from bits and pieces of self imposed lore created over the years.

More to point, if the conversation shifted as to why Raised By Wolves didn't work or became increasingly non marketable, it would better explain why the Alien franchise was taken out of Ridley Scott's hands.

 

[abake]

Thanks for taking the time.

I never did get to see the second season of Raised by Wolves, but I loved the first one and was very disappointed when I heard it had been cancelled.

 

[Khev]

Whoa, just saw the new Hot Toys Romulus Xeno on Sideshow's Spooktacular vid. That thing looks spectacular and may be my first HT/SSC purchase in years!

 

[Mr. Awesome]

The Xeno looks good. Really holding out for a Runner/Dog Alien someday tho. Much prefer them on four legs as opposed to the upright versions.

 

[Rotfish]

I so hope they jump back into making Aliens from the early films. We'll need official photos and specs to confirm, but it looks like they've finally figured out the formula with this one.

 

[chrisstbh]

Whoa, just saw the new Hot Toys Romulus Xeno on Sideshow's Spooktacular vid. That thing looks spectacular and may be my first HT/SSC purchase in years!

Looks great.

 

[ironwez20]

Whoa, just saw the new Hot Toys Romulus Xeno on Sideshow's Spooktacular vid. That thing looks spectacular and may be my first HT/SSC purchase in years!

This means we will be getting a preorder soon!

 

[a-dev]

I knew all the spoilers and had watched youtube clips while it was in the cinema but just finished my first full viewing tonight.

I didn't hate it. Fourth place in my rankings as a piece of entertainment.

Alien
Aliens (can make number one depending on my mood)
Alien3 (Assembly cut is better than theatrical although either way I'd probably still keep it ahead of Romulus)
Alien Romulus
Prometheus
Alien Covenant
Alien Resurrection

Now, how many of these films are part of my personal canon is another matter. The further down my rankings the less likely it is to be included. Although I was entertained watching Romulus I'm not sure yet if it makes the cut - needless then to say that nothing below it does.

 

[Nick D]

At minimum, the true bonus that people have here as collectors, is even if everything flops, we might get cool toys out of it.

This is my current dilemma actually.

I’d really like a Xenomorph and Predator in the collection but the best figures are from films I’m not really a fan of, though I do like the design a lot so I may cave on both. (Romulus Xenomorph & AVP:R Wolf Predator 2.0.)

Preferably, I’d like screen accurate creatures
from the first films of their respective franchises.

I don’t want to get swept into the HT Venom debacle, where people have bought versions they didn’t like as placeholders.

It’s hard for me to negate the film in favor of the figure, unless the design is just too good, which the Wolf Predator to me is fantastic.

 

[Wor-Gar]

may be my first HT/SSC purchase in years!

Hold on to your money -- Offspring coming soon.

 

[Nick D]

Hold on to your money -- Offspring coming soon.

This is my thought process as well,
if they’ll design a new Xenomorph for this, surely they’ll offer more eventually with how much they’re actively putting out now.

 

[Khev]

Hold on to your money -- Offspring coming soon.

Not the most toyetic design unfortunately, but the Xenos in this film absolutely rocked IMO (and yes I even liked the extra stretchy mouths.)

 

[Wor-Gar]

Not the most toyetic design unfortunately,

You need the Offspring. You deserve the Offspring. Slendermorph... is... your destiny.

Imagine a little Rain.... and a 17 inch tall Slendermorph!

 

[Nick D]

You need the Offspring. You deserve the Offspring. Slendermorph... is... your destiny.

Oh you’re referring to that human abomination.
I thought we were on the same page about them revisiting earlier films.

No way they let an updated Ellen Ripley and Big Chap pass them by, though we’re likely to not see those until after this version is out.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Surely they wouldn't bother with that Offspring thing... right?.. RIGHT??

 

[Nick D]

Surely they wouldn't bother with that Offspring thing... right?.. RIGHT??

God I hope not,
thing looked like Zuckerberg’s side profile.

 

[Khev]

Surely they wouldn't bother with that Offspring thing... right?.. RIGHT??

Nah, but I would be tempted by a pulse rifle wielding Rain and even a Rook torso (that I'm sure would look much better as a figure than the CG hybrid we got on screen.)

 

[Mr. Awesome]

God I hope not,
thing looked like Zuckerberg’s side profile.

Facts lol

Idk wtf they were thinking with that. It made the 'Newborn' from Resurrection look adorable in comparison.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Surely they wouldn't bother with that Offspring thing... right?.. RIGHT??

I can't lie to you about your chances...