I was trolling through the Quicktime movie trailers yesterday and played one of the little featurettes they have about the cast and characters. It looks at least half-way decent to me.
Lance Henricksen is Dr. Charles Bishop Weyland, the model for the Bishop series sythetic seen in Aliens and Alien 3, as well as, evidently, one of the founders of the uberCorporation, Weyland-Yutani.
Personally, I find that tie-in to be pretty interesting.
I'm guessing the movie takes place in our future, but well before the Alien series. I'm also thinking it takes place on Earth. This brings up the problem of how noone knows about the Xenomorphs before the Alien series... or maybe some people in the Company do, and they kept it a secret.
I'll definitely be going to see it. What're everyone else's thoughts on it?
Registered: Oct 1999
| IP: Logged
Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
From what I know of the plot, it's indeed set in the present day on Earth. A scientific expedition to Antarctica (lead by billionaire businessman Weyland) discovers an Aztec (!) temple buried under the ice, digs inside, finds out it apparently doubles as a gladiatorial arena for aliens and predators, and swiftly becomes the next item on said gladiators' menu. Pretty far out, actually.
Me, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed it won't unravel the mystery behind the xenomorphs too much. Other than that, I'm not sure what to think...
Registered: Nov 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
It does happen on Earth - specifically, the near future in the Antarctic. Archeologists find a huge pyramid buried under the ice, which turns out to be a breeding ground for the Predator hunt; people are infected by the Aliens, and the resultant spawn are used as a "rite of passage" hunt in a contained space by adolescent Predators per the AVP comics.
I'm guessing that Weyland does survive the inevitable bloodbath when the scientific and military team is trapped inside the pyramid, and thus the company will know what they're after when they send the Nostromo to LV426 and afterwards.
For what it's worth, I'm looking forward to this lightweight popcorn actioner by the director of such similar films as "Resident Evil","Event Horizon" and "Mortal Kombat". Not expecting the depth of the Aliens movies. Just bullets, gore, and two of movie history's cooler alien species representing.
posted
It's the "Freedie Vs. Jason" of sci fi. Fox is just squeezing the last ounce of intrest in two of it's ailing properties.
Sad really: if they'd only based the movie on the excellent Dark Horse comic version (set in the Alien corperate controlled future and on a remote colony planet) it could have been great.
As it stands, I think I'll skip it.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
posted
When I first heard it was going to be about the aliens being uncovered in Antarctica the first thought I had was that they were ripping off "The Thing".
My second thought was that the Predators were specifically stated as coming to places with HEAT and combat. Antarctica is a bit chilly last time I checked.
But then they showed it was inside some ancient Aztec-like Alien / Predator worshipping temple in a warm section of Antarctica and all my doubts were put to rest... because that's extremely plausible.
Why they didn't just go with the premise in the comics and novels is beyond me.
-------------------- "You must talk to him; tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat, and..." -- Data "I will feed him" -- Worf (Phantasms)
Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged
posted
Maybe the pyramid was in use a long time ago, when Antacrtica was still part of a larger, warmer, continent. Around the time the Beta Gate was in use... wait... wrong series.
posted
They could just call it the "Savage Land" (that was a secret tropical area in Antarctica) and get the lucrative X-Men crossover in there for the Hat Trick.
The bad guy in the Savage Land was called Sauron, if you just forget that he was some half-assed Pterodactyl looking dude you could tie it in with The Lord of the Rings for the four-way crossover.
Eh, I hold out hope for a return to greatness for both Alien and Predator but from what little I've seen and heard about this movie it doesn't really boost my confidence. But I'll still give it a chance.
-------------------- "You must talk to him; tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat, and..." -- Data "I will feed him" -- Worf (Phantasms)
Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged
posted
I just hope this doesn't scupper a chance for a good 5th Alien movie. From what I gather, Ridley Scott, James Cameron and of course Weaver are all interested in coming back to finish off the series. Of course being interested and having an approved script and budget are two very different things. The best that we can hope for is that AvP will bring the xenomorphs back into the public consciousness. With a track record like 'Resident Evil' (which I thought was hysterical) and Mortal Kombat (which was just terrible) I'm not expecting too much out of this film. On the other hand as far as video game to movie conversions go, those two certainly aren't the worst ever made.
As for the whole Aztec temple thing, I imagine it's an attempt to tie it into some of those old pre-historic alien visitation theories that were all the rage back in the 70's. Not that it's a bad thing, Stargate seams to have used them with great effectiveness. Not to start a debate about the existence of Atlantis, but I think the Aztecs went on record as saying they didn't built all those huge monuments, that they were already there when they arrived. Indeed I think the last time Antarctica, or at least part of it was in a temperate zone was around 12,000 years ago when the poles supposedly shifted. So at least in movie logic that tracks with the Predators having built them since (as far as we can tell) humans were still hunting and gathering around that time.
posted
^^^ Are they talking about continuing from the point of "Alien: Resurrection" or just going back to "Aliens" and pretending the last two films didn't exist?
David Fincher said he hates "Alien: 3" so much he wouldn't even do a commentary track on the DVD so he probably wouldn't care if they just erased the movie from continuity, and frankly neither would I. And "Alien: Resurrection" makes three look like "Citizen Kane" by comparison.
-------------------- "You must talk to him; tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat, and..." -- Data "I will feed him" -- Worf (Phantasms)
Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged
posted
Ignore. Meant to hit edit instead of quote.
-------------------- "You must talk to him; tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat, and..." -- Data "I will feed him" -- Worf (Phantasms)
Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged
posted
No I think they intend to keep on going with the Ripley-8 and Call story...not that I know if Ryder has been approached or not, either way they don't seam too inclined to erase 3&4 from continuity.
To be honest that's not really a viable option since there's no smooth way to transition from the end of Aliens into a new film since, for a start the cast would be difficult to get back. Carrie Henn is in her early 20's now and apparantly has no interest in acting (good for her!) and I think there was a bit of an upset between Fox and Biehn over the use of his image on Alien 3, so I doubt he'd be interested in returning from the grave, unless it was a VERY good script.
From what I've read of what little Weaver and Scott have said in various interviews, they're interesting into going into the origins of the Aliens and the 'Space Jockey' which should be interesting to see, if it comes about.
posted
Perhaps. Although I was referring more to how unlikely it is that a plausible script could be written that carries straight off Aliens than his career choices. To be far though, I don't think I've ever seen him in a bad movie...then again I don't recall ever seeing him in a movie that wasn't directed by James Cameron. I think the fault here is in the casting directors, not his acting abilities.
posted
When I read this originally, I thought "my god that sounds so stupid" as well, but...
I was at WonderCon in San Fransico yesterday, and Lance Henrickson was there to promote AvP. He was very gentlemanly and very excited about the new film. He even offered to make a money bet with a concerned fan that this wouldn't turn out to be a Freddy Vs. Jason type movie. There were a number of clips and a new trailer that made it look like it's definitely worth giving a chance.
Henrickson also went into an eloquent description of his mindset while working on this film, showing that at least his character has some depth. Weyland is actually dying at the time of the movie (it sounded like cancer) and knows he's close to the end. Henrickson focused on this in trying to find a connection between the character of Weyland and that of Bishop. He said that part of Bishop's view of the world, being a "synthetic person," was a sense of wonderment at the life he saw all around him. He likened this to the similar sense of awareness of the wonders of life that a terminally ill man like Weyland would feel. Quite nice.
It was also mentioned (after another fan raised the question) that an explanation was devised and will be included as to the Predators' affinity for heat and how it relates to the setting of the story.
-MMoM
[ May 02, 2004, 04:03 PM: Message edited by: The Mighty Monkey of Mim ]
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
