All this shit would've been avoided. It was just one incompetent decision and leadership after another and lead to the demise of the Nostromo. They don't even play anything safe when dealing with an unknown threat/alien planet/alien life/etc. Only after viewing Weyland-Yuani's antics do I realize why this even occurred in the first place, profit and technological gain above all else.
shareWeyland Yutani diverted them there, because they wanted to get whatever is on the planet. They were hoping for big bucks and Ash to handle everything. The crew was always calculated in as casualties. They just didn't know what they get, otherwise they had send likely something else. The colony in Alien 2 was basically a huge mouse science experiment.
shareYes, in horror movies there is this irritating trend of the characters doing something stupid, just to move the plot forward, get the alien on the ship, etc. But Alien is not that kind of movie.
See, they are not scientists, and the science officer has a hidden agenda. That's the setup, and everything follows from there. They don't want to investigate the signal, but the company forces them to, threatening them with withholding their full salary.
Kane volunteers first to go out and explore the planetoid, meaning he is an adventurous spirit, not afraid of taking risks. So when he sees the egg open, and he sticks his face in it, his curiosity is backed up by his characterization. Also, what is equally as important is that the audience is curious as well. The derelict exploration scene is brilliantly crafted with Giger's biomechanical design, and the excellent Space Jockey set piece. After that, the audience wants them to push and go even deeper into this mystery, we, the viewers want to see more and more and more... and Kane gives us just that - he also wants to see more -and at a point it is of course too much, and too horrible - but justified.
My point is: the "stupid" decisions are built up, and backed up threefold: characterization, world building and by crafting the atmosphere around them. You might still think their decisions are stupid at some points, but - again - Alien takes the effort to make these decisions understandable, in character and - dare I say - logical.
Also, your criticism is too vague. If you could list all the "incompetent leadership decisions", that would give me a chance to react, but as it stands, I really don't know what you mean here.
You mention "precautions" regarding handling the alien. Well, just remember, they are not scientists. Ash is in charge of all things science, so for example when he is wearing a plastic mask as protection, when they are handling the facehugger, that's exactly what Dallas is going with. Logical, isn't it?
sati_84- I agree with most of what you wrote. They were not scientists and they were forced into a situation that none of them except Ash were prepared for. And their actions are in character.
I read a description of this movie many years ago. It was on the old laser disc technology. We had a copy of Alien on one of those big discs. It described the crew as "truck drivers in space". They were hauling a refinery and basically spent most of their time in hyper sleep. They weren't scientists or explorers seeking out "new worlds and new civilizations" like on Star Trek.
Yet I still agree with the OP's premise that they didn't follow protocol. Dallas and Lambert were frantic about getting Kane back on the ship even though they surely knew the protocol of quarantine. As Ripley reminds them "24 hours for decontamination".
By not following protocol Dallas put his whole crew at risk. And when Ash ignored protocol, Ripley immediately distrusted him and was suspicious.
Dallas told her heatedly that "I just run the ship". Ash was in charge of the science division. I'm sure Dallas was trying his best to do a good job. But he really dropped the ball by not taking a more active role in protecting his ship.
I was just talking to someone about scary movies and characters doing some foolish things to move the plot forward. She agreed, but she said that you can't think about logic when you are watching these films. True enough!
However, my reply was that if I were Dallas and I broke protocol and had Kane in sickbay, I would have quarantined him THERE! Send his food in when he woke up, but don't allow him contact with the rest of the crew. After all, the face hugger deposited SOMETHING down his throat! I would have delayed going back to hyper sleep for a few days in order to observe Kane and see what if anything, developed.
The crew would have stood a much better chance of defending themselves against the newborn Alien rather than the full grown one if they were able to capture it in the confines of Sickbay.
You have a good point there - quarantine Kane in the infirmary. Let's explore this possibility and why it did not happen?
Alien is a very emotional movie. Meaning the characters are human, and characterized extremely well. So they are aware of the protocols, but for emotiona reasons they make decisions outside of them. Case in point: Dallas might be able to recite the quarantine protocol when they are evaluating him in a comfy Earth boardroom, but in a situation on a different planet (planetoid) where one of his crewmembers are incapacitated, his emotions take over, and he wants to help Kane, get that thing off his face and torch it. Ripley as an outside observer does not get under the emotional influence of the events in the Derelict (she is not even fully aware of them at that point), so she respons calm and collected.
Later on, Dallas is carried by the (emotional) momentum of not only his willingness to help Kane, but his prior decision to demand breaking quarantine protocol. He has to justify why he did it, so him and Ash need to be successful in removing the hugger, or at least keeping Kane alive. So that is his main objective, and he presents this in such an energetic way - together with Ash - that the crew doesn't question his decision further. Except for Ripley of course, but she is focusing on what Dallas and Ash actually did and not what they could have done but didn't do. Parker's "Why don't you just freeze him?" comment also serves as an emotional counterpoint to what Dallas is going through. Clearly, he heard Parker's suggestion, but at that point he is too invested in the situation and will not settle for half measures. He broke protocol, so he must show that he can find a way to resolve Kane's horrifying condition, so he can later say: "See guys? That's why I did it."
I think the sequence of events we get in the movie suffificently explain why freezing or quarantine was not seriously discussed - but feel free to argue otherwise :-)
I agree about Alien being a very emotional movie. And it would be hard not to react emotionally in such a situation. I'd feel the panic that Lambert feels right from the start when they encounter the derelict ( "Let's get the hell out of here").
Maybe I'm being too hard on Dallas, but I do think a good leader has to put his emotions aside for the good of his crew and ship. He doesn't have the luxury of panicking.
Did you ever see Apollo 13 or read Jim Lovell's book? They were clearly in a near death situation. But he never panicked. He didn't allow his emotions to take over.
Those fighter pilots are a different breed anyway! I've listened to some of their combat stories and I don't know how they were able to think clearly.
I think Dallas was more civilian than military. When faced with a dangerous situation, he fell apart. The rest of the crew, except for Lambert, were more clearheaded.
Absolutely agreed on all counts - I'm not defending Dallas' decision(s) - I'm explaining it, in a descriptive way, not judging it one way or the other.
The intention of the filmmakers is clear here, and of course if you want to go there, you can criticize Dallas' decision: from a purely textbook leadership point of view, it was wrong. But this is happening to humans, and what happened to Kane is so horrifying, that I personally can understand his decision there.
Ultimately it is not about if he was right or wrong though. It is about the filmmakers presenting a scenario which has many layers, and understandable for the viewer. And in this they did an excellent job - as I'm sure we agree :-)
Excellent movie, I agree. I've watched it many times. If Dallas had been more rational and less emotional, we wouldn't have this film!
Dallas made some bad moves. He was not exactly the "alpha male Captain Kirk" type. lol But perhaps that played into the Company's decision to send his ship to investigate. The Company knew his service record and had his psychological profile. He was probably chosen because he was not a really strong leader type who would question the folly of going in blind to investigate. Weylan-Yutani probably felt he would be the type of leader to turn over control to the Science Officer.
As he says to Ripley, "I just run the ship! Anything to do with the science division, Ash is in charge."
At the beginning he does seem worried about his crew. But he was worrying about the financial aspect. If they didn't check out the transmission it was "forfeiture of shares" and no money as Ash tells Parker.
He didn't even wait for the alien transmission to be fully translated. It was Ripley who noticed and told Ash, "It looks like a warning."
So I'm guessing the Company knew Dallas would follow orders and jump in to investigate because he would worry about his crew losing their bonuses. They picked the right guy to do their dirty work.
One of your points I also wanted to react to:
After all, the face hugger deposited SOMETHING down his throat! I would have delayed going back to hyper sleep for a few days in order to observe Kane and see what if anything, developed.
This would be correct only in case they are aware of what the facehugger is doing to Kane. But they didn't know that there was something going down his throat, and that deposited something into him. They had no idea what it is doing to him and why. The only thing they knew that it kept Kane alive for some reason, and that's it. Ash was in charge of science, and he seemed to have no clue, so the rest of the crew did not speculate - and there was no way for them to figure out what is happening exactly.
In the novelization, a scene is included where they are looking at a scan of Kane's upper body, and Dallas sees a curiously looking "spot" on the left, around Kane's lungs. He asks Ash what it is, and Ash says it is most likely a smudge on the lens. They are trying to zoom in on the spot, but it gets very noisy at a certain zoom level, so they have no way to see it more clearly. Dallas later confronts Ash about it (after the chestburster), and Ash says it was not a smudge on the lens, but maybe the alien is capable of emitting strong electromagnetic fields to prevent scanning and imaging. Which is of course a nonsense coverstory for his obvious concealment of knowing what has happened to Kane, but Dallas has no way to scientifically counter the argument. This is not in the movie, because Ripley already confronts Ash about breaking the protocol, so it would have been redundant. However it is a nice addition in the book.
I read the novelization too. And it does bring out some details that aren't in the movie, like why the CAT was inside the food locker. Apparently the Alien was getting into the lockers and the nosy cat jumped into one. (my cats always jump into open cupboards)
As far as the face hugger depositing something down Kane's throat, I guess I'm using the knowledge I have as a viewer which the crew was not aware of at that point.
However, I think I would have assumed something bad was happening to Kane. The face hugger put a tube down his throat. Combined with the so called "smudge" on his lung, I would've thought something was inside Kane.
Also the way Ash phrased his remark to Dallas, in hindsight you can tell he knows more than he is saying.
Dallas suggests removing the creature and Ash replies, "We don't know what ( he pauses) it is."
Ash almost reveals something to Dallas, but he catches himself in time and says "it" as if he has no clue about "it".
I suppose I just have a suspicious nature! I'd wonder why a hostile creature would attack a person's face rather than another body part and still keep the person alive.
Neat points you bring up there:
Dallas suggests removing the creature and Ash replies, "We don't know what ( he pauses) it is."
Great catch, as I think he meant to say "we don't know what it is doing to him" - but he wanted to avoid Dallas getting a clue about "something" being "done" to Kane!
I suppose I just have a suspicious nature! I'd wonder why a hostile creature would attack a person's face rather than another body part and still keep the person alive.
I'm sure as a viewer of this scene (on a screen) Dallas would also be suspicious. But suspicion requires distance. He was up close and stayed close to Kane and his situation. Parker, viewing their attempts to remove the hugger throug a glass, is able to suggest something (freeze him), but Dallas is too close, too involved. He is not able to think about this, seeing the big picture. Also, you need to be in the right state of mind, and relatively calm emotions. But the horror is too strong, especially after they remove the helmet, and see the hugger in all its glory, "sitting" on Kane's face. It's so horrible a sight, it stops rational thought in its tracks for Dallas.
Also, Ash is masterfully creating a situation around this, where he is in control of what information is revealed, and what are the exact things the crew is allowed to think about. He clearly avoids talking about anything the alien is "doing" to Kane, he steers the discussion towards the purely descriptive, and the methods of removal - and nothing else. Weird for a science officer, who should be really curious about alien lifeforms, but hey - Ash doesn't have emotions, but figures out on the go, how to manipulate the humans and their emotions in order to reach his goal of protecting the alien.
Many-many rational and emotional layers - again, the filmmakers depicted this brilliantly, can't praise this movie enough...
Imagine this movie poster: "In space, no one can see you follow protocol... it's too boring to watch."
shareWell, Ash was basically the sole reason why everything spiraled out of control. Ripley was following protocol, and had he not defied her and let them back in the airlock, the situation could have been contained. Then of course he maliciously chose to not freeze Kane, and the rest is history.
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