Alien: Covenant (2017)

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

You don't get to rhyme all with all and count it as an actual rhyme. That's not rhyming, it's just repetition.

I'm just a...

[Indiana Jonezzz...]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Having the scene of the far less advanced alien worm put back into the film would do wonders for explaining why Milburn does an Irwin with the later iteration of the creature, but for me it always comes back to Fifield: he's the geologist/mapper guy/whatever and he gets lost inside the ship EVEN THOUGH HE'S THE ONE DOING THE MAPPING. Just...ugh. If the point is that it's really his little 'dogs' that are doing the mapping then why take a well-paid "expert" at all (remember kids: he's not there to be your friend, he's there to make money!) when you can just hire some goon to chuck a couple of balls into the air? Just...ugh. Again.

I wonder if there's a fan cut of the film which deletes Fifield completely?

Well, Fifield was the geologist, so that was the main reason he was there. He just happened to have the "pups' that map the area. But this is all sent back to the Prometheus, so it's the crew there that see the map. Unless the onsite team had some kind of viewing screen, the audience is meant to presume that the team in the Engineer facility can't see the map. And even if Fifield didn't use the pups, someone else would have had to. Maybe it would have been better if it had been David, that might have fixed this Fifield getting lost issue.

So yeah, I'm not saying it's brilliantly executed or anything, but I don't really have a big problem with it. Obviously though, a lot of folk seem to REALLY hate it (like yourself), where as I think a lot of it can be explained away reasonably well. Yeah, it's not ideal, but I guess it's down to each person's own viewpoint to how much this stuff will bother them.

[Lutz]

Originally Posted by Darkstream

Okay, here's another one. Let's mess this dead alien being's head. We don't need to wear any breathing apparatus, or faceshields, or surgical masks -- I'm sure there won't be any airborne contaminants or possible deadly pathogens, because its physiology is not that different from ours, even though it is obviously alien. But don't worry, we'll have on our plastic gloves just as a minor precaution.

This scene starts with them wearing surgical masks, the head in containment, sterilising the head, scanning the head for contagion, the computer readout NO CONTAGION, the dialogue "subject is sterile no contagion present".

They then remove the masks which you can see they're still wearing in the photo you posted.

[Chaotic]

Originally Posted by Lutz

This scene starts with them wearing surgical masks, the head in containment, sterilising the head, scanning the head for contagion, the computer readout NO CONTAGION, the dialogue "subject is sterile no contagion present".

They then remove the masks which you can see they're still wearing in the photo you posted.

I give him credit for trying.

[Cremildo]

I've finally seen it. After five years of intense anticipation!

Alien: Covenant is effective, both as a straight horror-thriller and as a thought-provoking sci-fi. Ridley Scott has been a master of the genre for a long time, and his crew behind the camera remains at the top of their game. From the typically smooth and precise cutting by Pietro Scalia, the ominous and monumental world-building by Chris Seagers, to the somber and textured lensing by Dariusz Wolski, including Jed Kurzel’s moody score that seamlessly mixes Jerry Goldsmith’s memorable cues with the evocative main track from Prometheus, Covenant looks and sounds as good as any of the best big-budget spectacles to come out of Hollywood in recent years.

Screenwriters John Logan and Dante Harper expand the thematic threads ignited by Prometheus - the perceived link between the ability to create life and the status of divinity, the rebellion of children against their parents -, much to the chagrin of the vocal majority who didn’t take those stabs at philosophical substance seriously five years ago, all the while

[Show spoiler]mercilessly obliterating some of the most particular elements of the 2012 release - the Engineers, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw -, echoing the controversial way that Alien³ departed from Aliens,

in turn chagrining those select few whose imagination was stimulated by that original mythology of cosmic horror.

Scott conjures up some startling, unsettling sci-fi imagery. Gory death and otherworldly aberration are made to look so devilishly beautiful.

[Show spoiler]The blood-soaked newborn xenomorph "saluting" its indirect creator is an instantly iconic, bizarrely poignant sight. The genocide of the Engineer civilization at the hands of their creation’s creation, epic in scope and in tragedy, doesn’t lag far behind

. A rollercoaster ride of mounting dread, the pacing becomes relentless after the colonizing expedition reaches the planet, straying away from the exploration-centered, comparatively contemplative narrative drive of Prometheus. Moviegoers who prefer to comfortably turn off their brains instead of acknowledging whatever meaning that might have been smuggled into the piece of entertainment they paid for will have plenty of impressive sights to behold and lots of nails to chew on.

Furthermore, Covenant cements David as the second major leading role of the franchise after Lieutenant Ellen Ripley. Fassbender's Wagner-loving, Shelley-reciting android is a "furious god", vainglorious, treacherous, exceedingly human - truly a child of Peter Weyland. He is bound to become cinema's first and foremost synthetic psychopath. His interaction with creativity-impaired "brother" Walter is the kind of unexpected departure in content one wouldn’t expect from what is essentially a monster movie. Yet, he is not without his reasons, which means he is not beyond understanding. David and his, say, pathos are the key to unlocking the whole point of this new iteration of the Alien saga, by which I mean Prometheus, Covenant and the upcoming prequels. Either one finds it all very fascinating or not. Those who don’t will always have Alien, Aliens, and Alien³ at their disposal.

A couple of things deserve to be questioned, however: was it necessary for the xeno to be CGI in every scene it appears in? Scott was spot-on on his much-derided assessment that led to Prometheus being its own thing instead of a typical prequel – this is where loyal fans of the quadrilogy might strongly object: the double-mouthed, drooling, phallic-headed beasts simply aren't frightening anymore. The impact they once had has long been diluted by multiple sequels, crossovers, videogames, novelizations. Turning them into athletic digital puppets won't improve the odds of frightening audiences. Why not give more screen time to the neomorph, a savage flesh-eating creature that, for whatever reason, is more convincing despite being computerized as well? Secondly, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that

[Show spoiler]the martial-arts tournament between the two droids

belongs to a lesser series. Thirdly, and finally, a little ingenuity could have prevented

[Show spoiler]the demise of the last xeno

from feeling derivative of Alien and Aliens, though by now such cliché could be interpreted as a self-homage.

I'd rate it 4 out of 5.

[Darkstream]

Originally Posted by Lutz

This scene starts with them wearing surgical masks, the head in containment, sterilising the head, scanning the head for contagion, the computer readout NO CONTAGION, the dialogue "subject is sterile no contagion present".

They then remove the masks which you can see they're still wearing in the photo you posted.

I don't recall that, but even so, you should always put a barrier between yourself and the subject, contagion or not, especially if it's something you know nothing about. Particulates, germs, other airbourne elements, not just from the subject to you, but from yourself to the subject, can cause contamination. I know I wouldn't want to be cutting the fossilized flesh of an alien being knowing that I could be breathing in alien skin cells. Who knows what could happen. There's also the chance of blood spraying in your face. Or you could even infect what it is you're studying.

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

You don't get to rhyme all with all and count it as an actual rhyme. That's not rhyming, it's just repetition.

Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.

-The poet John "Ozzy" Osbourne

[Lutz]

Did anyone else notice the new born alien soluting David is composed so it looks like he has a giant erection?

[Cremildo]

What the hell?

Why was HimmelBlau banned?

[Creed]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

What the hell?

Why was HimmelBlau banned?

The hell is right. What did he do?

[Zivouhr]

I'm going to rewatch Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Prometheus weeknights before Alien Covenant.

Originally Posted by spawningblue

For what it's worth, I'm a member of one of the bigger horror forums on Facebook, and everyone that has saw it on there has seemed to love it. For horror films I always find horror fans opinions much more important than joe critic. I want to see it, but will probably have to wait until the Blu hits.

Agreed. Fans of horror films or sci fi are worth considering before some critics who only expect academy award winning films. Thankfully there are some professional critics who judge a film based on the film's intended audience and how well it fulfills its promise to that audience. It's getting generally good reviews.

[Merlinpants]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

I've finally seen it. After five years of intense anticipation!


I'd rate it 4 out of 5.

Shocker, from someone who used to have David as his avatar and blade runner Leto as his new one. Not sure if I can take this as an honest appraisal after 5 years of built up anticipation lol

Still, each to his own I guess.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Merlinpants

Shocker, from someone who used to have David as his avatar and blade runner Leto as his new one. Not sure if I can take this as an honest appraisal after 5 years of built up anticipation lol

Still, each to his own I guess.

He enjoyed the film, what a crime!

[Optimus]

Originally Posted by Foggy

He enjoyed the film, what a crime!

You're responding to a guy who made up his mind about the movie before even seeing it, what do you expect?

This whole thread is a shitshow tbh

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Optimus

You're responding to a guy who made up his mind about the movie before even seeing it, what do you expect?

This whole thread is a shitshow tbh

It's bizarre, a film doesn't get unanimous positive reviews and at the flip of a switch, people have immediately jumped to calling the film a shambles like it's a premeditated certainty.

[Steedeel]

Saw it last night and rather than feel happy or disappointed, I just felt indifferent. I let it sink in with me last night and the overwhelming thought was, well it wasn't a absolute stinker like T:.Gynesis. In fact, for the first 45-50 minutes I was actually enjoying it but by the time the traditional Alien showed up, I was a little numb. It was clear to me that Ridley couldn't make his mind up where he wanted to take it so just reverted to type. People who liked Prometheus may feel shortchanged by the about turns in this film, especially the Engineers. (Not saying any more about that). For me, you either commit to a vision or you don't bother. I think this film pays the price for that in its muddled approach.
As for the actors, Fassbender was the star. Waterson was fine but I was just missing Sigourney Weaver for most of the film lol. That's probably my own personal issue though has new audiences who are not as attached to the franchise may enjoy her performance more. MCBride was solid in a serious role but the rest were just disposable in my opinion.
The Aliens were great I thought. The new variation (Xenomorphs) appealed to my geek side with their movement and well realised design. In fact the scenes when we first touchdown on the new planet were my favourite scenes of the movie. I loved the idea of the spores as it gives things a slightly fresh angle.
I didn't have a issue with the CGI, for the most part I thought it was fine.

So to summarise, I enjoyed half of the film, the second half wasn't as exciting and surely after all these years, Ridley could have given us something more imagitive than a fallback.
The film isn't as bad a some have claimed but it's not going to overly excite long time Alien/Aliens fans either, at least in my opinion. If only we could have had a blow-our-minds last hour, this would have been a home run. Based on my enjoyment of the first half, my rating is below.

Alien *****
Aliens *****
Alien 3 ***
Alien Covenamt ***
Prometheus ***
Alien Resurection **

I have done my best to avoid spoilers in the review.

[coulson96]

Saw this last night. Overall I enjoyed this. It was good, I liked the buildup of tension and the cast were very likeable even if not all of them were afforded hours of character development. Fassbender was positively magnetic and stole parts of the film, the kills were intense and sickeningly gory so good stuff there. I liked the twists in the film, I really liked the ending scene. It was very beautifully framed and created in terms of production design and cinematography but this is Ridley Scott so that's no surprise. I wasn't entirely keen on the final third act action piece, felt a bit rushed to me and a bit of a redo of 1979 but with less intensity. Overall an effective prequel/sequel but I would have liked either a longer, more intense finale or a shorter movie without that action piece as up to that point the movie was excellent. Also loved the very nostalgic score mixed with Prometheus esque cues I felt that was something that really made it feel like a bridge between those worlds among other things. Probably give it a 7.5/10 so i guess that's rounded up to 4/5 (for the eventual poll). Interested to see where this goes next.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Just watched it, thought it was a bit meh, predictable, and a very obvious ending

I guess if you liked Prometheus you will like this. Best bit was the fingering joke which made the audience titter

Now I've slept on it, my feelings stand, it's just not a good film, but it's not bad one either.

[Show spoiler]The origin of the Aliens was more interesting when you thought of the hostile environment that they evolved in, now that's been destroyed with this film.

Overall I think Prometheus is slightly better, but now have no interest in any more of these prequels.

Alien: Convenant 1/2

[davidjjanderson1981]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Now I've slept on it, my feelings stand, it's just not a good film, but it's not bad one either.

[Show spoiler]The origin of the Aliens was more interesting when you thought of the hostile environment that they evolved in, now that's been destroyed with this film.

Overall I think Prometheus is slightly better, but now have no interest in any more of these prequels.

Alien: Convenant 1/2

I seen this myself last night and i would agree with all you've said, i actually prefer Prometheus. Alien Covenant was just a bit silly almost trying too hard all the way through. Ridley needs to step away from this and let someone else step in. Hes doing to Alien what Lucas did to Star Wars.

[Bobbyjoe766]

David raising his arms followed by the chestburster doing the same was a fun Close Encounters moment which made me chuckle.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Indiana Jonezzz...

Well, Fifield was the geologist, so that was the main reason he was there. He just happened to have the "pups' that map the area. But this is all sent back to the Prometheus, so it's the crew there that see the map. Unless the onsite team had some kind of viewing screen, the audience is meant to presume that the team in the Engineer facility can't see the map. And even if Fifield didn't use the pups, someone else would have had to. Maybe it would have been better if it had been David, that might have fixed this Fifield getting lost issue.

So yeah, I'm not saying it's brilliantly executed or anything, but I don't really have a big problem with it. Obviously though, a lot of folk seem to REALLY hate it (like yourself), where as I think a lot of it can be explained away reasonably well. Yeah, it's not ideal, but I guess it's down to each person's own viewpoint to how much this stuff will bother them.

Sure, I get how the movie sets it up but come on, it's still the writing itself that's insanely myopic because it needs to engineer (heh) a character being in danger, e.g. why don't the pups send it to Fifield the Geologist™ (complete with Weed Stash accessory!) to view on his own HUD as well as the flippin' ship? Soooooo stupid.