Alien: Earth (FX)

[KcMsterpce]

The look of the alien in this movie reminds me of "Leviathan" (1989).
The creature design was janky AF, and its (the movie's) biggest crime was the lighting of the set. As it traipsed around in normal lighting, all the flaws of its design was aired out to the audience, warts and all. When I watch that movie, I keep thinking "This has potential. It needs a much, MUCH darker set. It should always be lurking in shadow, and for goodness sake just keep everything DARKER. We need short glimpses of this thing, not full-on awkward silliness."
- When I watched it again on the 4k release, I was reminded of how close it came to becoming something more special, if only they stuck to better editing - quicker cuts - AMONGST the darkness as it stalked its prey.

Same is applicable here. Nevermind the stupidity of so much else... it really would have been wonderful if they re-evaluated the ingenuity of ALIEN. That creature was steeped in dark shadows; slow pans to build tension; masterful editing; very brief establishing shots of the alien itself; not revealing a lot to help maintain that sense of dread. Also adding to those bits were different ways of dressing the set and lighting to give more flair and poetry to the horror.
When the alien attacks Lambert and Parker, the tension builds not just from the frightening score - but also, the whole sequence is steeped in strobe lighting, sweat, water, panic yells... and amazing freaking editing. Also, it takes its time to stretch out the horror. Almost to the point of being ridiculous, yet it's still so captivating.
I mean, it's a masterclass in making the most of what you've got.

There are a couple janky shots in ALIEN, I admit. But they are about 10 seconds total amongst an entire movie's worth of astounding synchronicity of all the senses a movie can provide, physically and psychologically: Sight. Sound. Panic. Dread. Mystery. Suspense. Anticipation...

Alien: Earth doesn't understand the why of what is so iconic about ALIEN. It keeps ripping it off, but doesn't comprehend the depth and complexity of what made that movie worth imitating in the first place.

[Mister_Kidd]

Just like the sequel trilogy helped me to reassess the prequel trilogy, Alien Earth has given me new appreciation for Covenant. I wish Ridley had been allowed to finish that trilogy.

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by Mister_Kidd

Just like the sequel trilogy helped me to reassess the prequel trilogy, Alien Earth has given me new appreciation for Covenant. I wish Ridley had been allowed to finish that trilogy.

When something comes along that disappoints me, I almost never re-assess previous material for that franchise/product that I didn't like any more or less than before.
If I thought something was shit when it came out - and most likely watched again years later to get "fresh eyes" on it - having something else come out that I hate doesn't make me think differently on what came before.
Crap is crap. Having crap that is worse than the other crap means that I still don't want to ever revisit any of it anymore, ever again. And I don't "appreciate" something awful just because more awful stuff afterwards has been added to the pile.
All I really think is... "They can do better." But they don't.

[The Sovereign]

Originally Posted by En Ex

Episode 5 wasn't perfect, but Morrow and squidgirl continue to be fascinating. Whatever ends up happening with this show, Babou Ceesay (Morrow) has been non-stop brilliant. I went from wondering what his deal was to being fully invested in his character. Him, Timothy Olyphant (Kirsh), and Samuel Blenkin (Boy Kavalier) have been impressing the hell out of me with their performances, as have the actors playing the Lost Boys.

I'm watching this show because I genuinely like it, despite its flaws, and because of its take on the topic of transhumanism, especially within the Alien IP.

I agree - despite my faults with some of this, I’m having a good time watching it.

Morrow, Kirsh, and Kavalier have all become very interesting, but that does lead to my weakest point for the show which is its shortage of character depth after that. This last episode brought that home in a huge way by providing solid characters - fatally dimwitted, of course - that I would have loved to see more of. How this crew could have ever captured these creatures without being completely wiped out was a consideration I had to erase from my mind. But, I’ve gotten used to that after the last several films - it’s been one idiot crew after another. Maybe it’s a painfully accurate prediction of where we’re headed.

[En Ex]

Originally Posted by The Sovereign

I agree - despite my faults with some of this, I’m having a good time watching it.

Morrow, Kirsh, and Kavalier have all become very interesting, but that does lead to my weakest point for the show which is its shortage of character depth after that. This last episode brought that home in a huge way by providing solid characters - fatally dimwitted, of course - that I would have loved to see more of. How this crew could have ever captured these creatures without being completely wiped out was a consideration I had to erase from my mind. But, I’ve gotten used to that after the last several films - it’s been one idiot crew after another. Maybe it’s a painfully accurate prediction of
where we’re headed.

I recall there being dialogue about how many people died acquiring the specimens. Maybe most of the competent crew bit it doing that. I also figure WY deliberately hired some of the most desperate, less brilliant people for the 65-year haul, with Morrow being the notably intelligent exception. Like Yutani put him on that ship specifically because he was capable enough of getting the job done. Doesn't change the lack of critical thinking on the surviving crew's part, of course.

I do miss seeing slightly better decision making,

[Show spoiler]like in the first movie - characters not wearing masks during surgery (basic PPE) involving a parasite no less - but seeing Morrow in action, the sabotage initiated by Kavalier, and more of what squidgirl can do, like with a human host, was great.

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by En Ex

I recall there being dialogue about how many people died acquiring the specimens. Maybe most of the competent crew bit it doing that. I also figure WY deliberately hired some of the most desperate, less brilliant people for the 65-year haul, with Morrow being the notably intelligent exception. Like Yutani put him on that ship specifically because he was capable enough of getting the job done. Doesn't change the lack of critical thinking on the surviving crew's part, of course.

I do miss seeing slightly better decision making,

[Show spoiler]like in the first movie - characters not wearing masks during surgery (basic PPE) involving a parasite no less - but seeing Morrow in action, the sabotage initiated by Kavalier, and more of what squidgirl can do, like with a human host, was great.

Hiring a bunch of idiots to lead a crew of morons only to sabotage that mission - and allow those idiots to feel they even WANT to do so - only to then make a gamble with all these idiots being incompetent enough to... uhm... STILL get the crap they had to collect back to earth somehow?.... and spend unlimited funds to rely on incompetents that may have decisions which shift the variables of the end result against - or FOR - favor of the ultimate goal is... well...
to think that hiring morons to go on a high-cost, high-value, close-hold, super-sophisticated mission that has a very high risk of catastrophic failure and absolute loss to the well-being and existence of the corporation itself doesn't make much sense to me.

I will admit, however, that I may be out of touch with how current-gen corporate overlords prioritize their objectives and planning.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by AllOuttaBubbleGum

Hawley needed more judicious editing, for sure. The suit definitely had weaknesses, and it didn't pay to showcase them. Otherwise, there were the stronger shots, aided by the Nostro-nomical trappings of Episode 5; the dark corridors, the rotating lights, the steam...such that the weird, extraterrestrial voguing, the biomechanoid spastisity, the gnarly, 'erectile' tail wagging, what have you...sold me on the idea that what he had there was a semi-competent, fresh stab at the original 'performative,' Scott/Giger, ALIEN Super-beasto; I'll take another look at it. I get what you're saying about Cameron's drones, but I suspect the approach was also informed by budget. Every frame of those 'bugs' reeked of quantity over quality, with James holding everything in reserve for his Queen. However accomplished that creation was...still over-exposed...

_

Is the budget being low a bad thing? It forces filmmakers to be more judicious and creative and in Aliens' case worked out pretty darned perfick IMO

[CreasyBear]

Whether it's eight hours or two hours, the story Hawley is telling is shit.