The Alien Franchise Universe

[Huntn]

Alien 1979​

The complete Alien movie timeline

With a Predator chucked in too.

www.digitalspy.com

Alien Movie Timeline Explained: All Alien Movies In Order, Chronologically And By Release Date

In 1979, Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, premiered in theaters and changed sci-fi movies forever. Now, 40 years later, Alien has become a beloved franchise with 6 films and a bit of a confusing timel

www.cinemablend.com

Nope. I have never seen it. I thought it was just an Aliens prequel? I didn't realise that it was explored such ideas too.

This might be considered a spoiler:

The movie Prometheus takes place in The Alien Universe, technically a prequel. At the start of the movie:
4 billion - 2 million BC – An alien race, later dubbed "The Engineers", visit Earth and leave one of their own behind. His body breaks down after he drinks black goo, and his DNA enters the water, recombining to create life

In the 2080s – Dr Elizabeth Shaw and Dr Charlie Holloway discover evidence of "star maps" from Babylonian, Sumerian, Mayan, Egyptian and Mesopotamian eras. Shaw discovers another star map, or "invitation", in a cave on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

….evidence that advance aliens visited the Earth. A billionaire builds a ship and sends a crew to go find them. This movie initially showed great promise for the Alien Franchise, but in the end with the next movie Alien Covenant I was so disappointed as it became just another haunted house, alien slasher movie.

Of note, the first time we saw an Engineer was in the original 1979 movie Alien, but looks can be deceiving.

​

 

[DT]

Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 Assembly Cut [only], full stop.

 

[Huntn]

Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 Assembly Cut [only], full stop.

Aliens 3 made me puke in my popcorn, never saw the Assembly cut,

 

[DT]

Aliens 3 made me puke in my popcorn, never saw the Assembly cut,

It's not good, the Assembly Cut is orders-of-magnitude better, and if you're going to have an over-the-top, call it, poetic ending "ending", it's not bad, but clearly, Aliens is a nice finish to the story - so you can could call Alien, Aliens and done.

There's some terrific shorts out there, a few remind me of some of the comic material. I always felt like a decently funded anthology series, using a few of the Dark Horse stories could've been pretty amazing.

 

[User.168]

.

 

[DT]

Apparently the original concept of Prometheus was __not__ to be part of the ACU, but it got sort of wedged into it by the studio.

 

[User.45]

So basically Promotheus is the story of Jeff Bezos? Sounds more interesting than I thought, but I have given up on watching movies quite a while ago.

It sorta is

It's not good, the Assembly Cut is orders-of-magnitude better, and if you're going to have an over-the-top, call it, poetic ending "ending", it's not bad, but clearly, Aliens is a nice finish to the story - so you can could call Alien, Aliens and done.

There's some terrific shorts out there, a few remind me of some of the comic material. I always felt like a decently funded anthology series, using a few of the Dark Horse stories could've been pretty amazing.

The major issue with Alien 3 is that they replaced animatronics with early 90s CGI that really sucked. The story of Alien 3 was also quite weak.

What I love about the series BTW is that it's a critique of unfettered capitalism. Weyland-Yutani corp is the true antagonist in the entire series.

Fun fact, the first movie's set was designed by HR Giger for David Lynch's Dune, but Lynch hated it and ended up not used.
Another fun fact is that Alien's (Nostromo spaceships) set was reused in the movie Moon.

 

[User.45]

Apparently the original concept of Prometheus was __not__ to be part of the ACU, but it got sort of wedged into it by the studio.

Prometheus would have been a decent stand alone movie. I remember, I made the mistake of watching it the day before my first US Medical License Exam and had flashbacks throughout the 8-hour exam...

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Prometheus looks great on my 3D TV...all that hologram stuff.

 

[DT]

Oh man, so true, that change from practical to CGI back in the day was __so__bad__, and while the dude-in-a-suit holds up from 1979, 20 year newer computer generated F/X do not. I have a nice "coffee table" book of Giger's work, it was so enthralling to me as a younger-ish kid when I first saw it.

Alien 3 is interesting - if for just its history, the director - David Fincher - who I think made a few more decent films ... *snicker*

This is a pretty fun article:

Alien‭ ‬3:‭ ‬Comparing the Assembly Cut to the Theatrical Cut

The 30-minute longer Assembly Cut brings Alien 3 closer to David Fincher’s original vision, making for fascinating contrast.

www.denofgeek.com

Definitely check out the Assembly Cut if you get a chance, it's a much, much better movie, kind of fits into the trilogy, but clearly doesn't occupy the same place in cinematic as Alien or Aliens.

 

[Huntn]

It's not good, the Assembly Cut is orders-of-magnitude better, and if you're going to have an over-the-top, call it, poetic ending "ending", it's not bad, but clearly, Aliens is a nice finish to the story - so you can could call Alien, Aliens and done.

There's some terrific shorts out there, a few remind me of some of the comic material. I always felt like a decently funded anthology series, using a few of the Dark Horse stories could've been pretty amazing.

I agree, Alien, Aliens, done. I was excited about Prometheus because it opened the door to possibly some intriguing lore. but in the next movie Covenant, that was short changed by pouring black goo on it.

So basically Promotheus is the story of Jeff Bezos? Sounds more interesting than I thought, but I have given up on watching movies quite a while ago.

​

Prometheus is interesting imo, very intriguing based on what they discovered, what it portended, and what was intended, but no guarantees it will be your cup of tea. Of note, it’s not the same planet (LV-426) that Ripley’s ship landed on in Alien, but there are Engineers, mutating creatures, and a very alarming event that marks the climax.

 

[User.45]

Prometheus looks great on my 3D TV...all that hologram stuff.

Oh I watched it in 3D now I remember. It tells you a lot that I didn't even recall at first.

 

[Huntn]

It sorta is

The major issue with Alien 3 is that they replaced animatronics with early 90s CGI that really sucked. The story of Alien 3 was also quite weak.

What I love about the series BTW is that it's a critique of unfettered capitalism. Weyland-Yutani corp is the true antagonist in the entire series.

Fun fact, the first movie's set was designed by HR Giger for David Lynch's Dune, but Lynch hated it and ended up not used.
Another fun fact is that Alien's (Nostromo spaceships) set was reused in the movie Moon.

What I hated about Alien 3 is they not only took away the positive ending of Aliens as minimalist as it was, but they saddled us with a (opinion) a completely terrible downer and unredeemable story , and doubled down further into pukeville with Alien Resurrection. And Alien Covenant stunk too (maybe I am picky), so if you look at the entire series, at the very best it’s only 50-50 in the creative choices made with this franchise. Consequently any new chapters, I will regard with the utmost suspicion.

 

[Huntn]

Apparently the original concept of Prometheus was __not__ to be part of the ACU, but it got sort of wedged into it by the studio.

Very interesting. There did not have to be Engineers, nor something 1979 “Alien looking“ in this story linked to Alien.

 

[User.45]

Oh man, so true, that change from practical to CGI back in the day was __so__bad__, and while the dude-in-a-suit holds up from 1979, 20 year newer computer generated F/X do not. I have a nice "coffee table" book of Giger's work, it was so enthralling to me as a younger-ish kid when I first saw it.

Alien 3 is interesting - if for just its history, the director - David Fincher - who I think made a few more decent films ... *snicker*

This is a pretty fun article:

Alien‭ ‬3:‭ ‬Comparing the Assembly Cut to the Theatrical Cut

The 30-minute longer Assembly Cut brings Alien 3 closer to David Fincher’s original vision, making for fascinating contrast.

www.denofgeek.com

Definitely check out the Assembly Cut if you get a chance, it's a much, much better movie, kind of fits into the trilogy, but clearly doesn't occupy the same place in cinematic as Alien or Aliens.

This was a good read, thanks! I'll share it with my best friend from elementary. He told me the plot of the Alien movies while we were in summer camp. We were like 8 and this stuff was largely contraband those days By then he had seen ALL classic horrors from the 80s multiple times, from The Thing to Predator, from Alien, Aliens to Arachnophobia and Pet Sematary.

What I hated about Alien 3 is they not only took away the positive ending of Aliens as minimalist as it was, but they saddled us with a (opinion) a completely terrible downer and unredeemable story , and doubled down further into pukeville with Alien Resurrection. And Alien Covenant stunk too (maybe I am picky), so if you look at the entire series, at the very best it’s only 50-50 in the creative choices made with this franchise. Consequently any new chapters, I will regard with the utmost suspicion.

Agree 100%. I saw Resurrection with above friend in the movie theater.

Alien Covenant was really really underwhelming. All I remember was the fingering part and that tells you a lot.

 

[User.168]

.

 

[Huntn]

This was a good read, thanks! I'll share it with my best friend from elementary. He told me the plot of the Alien movies while we were in summer camp. We were like 8 and this stuff was largely contraband those days By then he had seen ALL classic horrors from the 80s multiple times, from The Thing to Predator, from Alien, Aliens to Arachnophobia and Pet Sematary.



Agree 100%. I saw Resurrection with above friend in the movie theater.

Alien Covenant was really really underwhelming. All I remember was the fingering part and that tells you a lot.

I thought that finding the Engineers home planet would of/could of opened up all sorts of great opportunities for lore story telling, but there was zero interest by the Director Ridley Scott, just pour black goo on it.