MovieChat Forums > Aliens (1986) Discussion > Script flaw that always bothered me

Script flaw that always bothered me

posted 4 years ago by ccr1633 (1538)
18 replies | jump to latest

When Burke arrived with Gorman to tell Ripley that they'd lost contact with the terraformers on LV-426, her first response should have been "Oh really? That's an awfully big coincidence. They've been there 20 years without incident and just happened to have communication troubles shortly after I informed the company of the derelict spacecraft? Reallllly???"

That was the first thing I thought Ripley would say, anyway, it being the most obvious question to ask. Right there the film tipped its hand too early and also made Ripley uncharacteristically stupid. Cameron should've tightened up that part of the script. Right there it's obvious that the company was again sacrificing its employees in its pursuit of alien life forms and technology. Yet soon after this Ripley is willing to trust Burke's reassurance that the mission is to "destroy and not bring back." Hey Rip, if the company's intentions were so pure and they thought there was any credibility to your story, then they wouldn't have sent ordinary Joe engineers to investigate in the first place! The justification the film did provide to explain why Ripley had temporarily turned into a drooling moron, that she could only overcome her nightmares and psychological trauma by confronting the aliens up close again, was something I found lame and not credible.

[–] brux (14840) 4 years ago

Good point, but it plays to the few of the movie. Ripley did not have any choice, the government wants subservient workers. We're pretty close to that today.

[–] ccr1633 (1538) 4 years ago

That's true. I just think a smarter script would've made Ripley more skeptical from the beginning, and not just about Bishop. To be fair, her unwillingness to trust Bishop goes hand in hand with her mistrust of the company, but she should've known immediately that Burke or somebody else had sent the colonists to check out the derelict ship. It's really no big deal. Aliens is still one of my favorites of the genre.

[–] brux (14840) 4 years ago

Me too. The question of interstellar communication is always a thing in SciFi movies. They say they had lost contact with the colonists, but it seems like there would be some kind of protocol where a colony would transmit a log or progress report, since they were basically industrial concerns and part of the company. There should have been at least one entry that mentioned that, or that they followed orders to explore the alien ship. But ... one thing, we know how easy it is when you have advanced technology to map a planet down to the finest details today, so think about how that colony, there for years, would have mapped and know about every surface feature of that planet. So, it seems unbelievable that they would not have seen that alien ship or that it would not have shown up on some survey or another. Fun as the movie is it is yet another movie that relies on people being stupid ( or writers ).

[–] ccr1633 (1538) 4 years ago

I agree. Not being a screenwriter, I imagine it's difficult in films like this to plug every possible plot hole or patch up every implausibilty. But I am surprised that Cameron didn't at least try to address the plainly suspicious coincidental timing between Ripley's report of aliens with the mysterious communication problems of colonists who had been working without a hitch for 20+ years.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 4 years ago

I agree.
What you wrote just reminded me of surface mapping in Prometheus...talk about stupid tech and even more stupid use of it.

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 4 years ago

well ,
true

But the plot had to progress (god i hate that rationale)
A couple of thoughts though
Burk had to bribe Ripley to go with a new space licence
The company had no idea becasue burke had organised the whole thing as a 'black op'
Just sending that one family guy.
Ripley may have decided to - not so much get revenge - as to see them wiped out, for the benefit if all.

[–] BourbonKing (5788) 4 years ago

I can that as a minor point but not a major issue. Ripley did reject Burke's initial offer, but it wasn't until her recurrent nightmares and the fact that she was now relegated to a longshoreman/laborer type of job for the rest of her life that she finally decided to take Burke's offer.

[–] Goliard (1451) 4 years ago

Hm.

Just a thought: What makes you think she *wasn't* suspicious of Burke?

Maybe that's part of the reason she went back.

[–] ccr1633 (1538) 4 years ago

Ripley clearly was suspicious of Burke from their first meeting in the hospital. The look on her face made that clear when he made the little joke "I'm with the company, but don't let that fool you. I'm really a good guy." But that was just a generic suspicion about anyone in upper management at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. It wasn't until two-thirds into the film that she finally figured out that Burke had catalyzed the unfortunate introduction of the aliens to the colonists. This should have been obvious to her the instant Burke and Gorman came to her with the news that they'd lost contact with the colony.

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9443) 4 years ago

Are you saying that Burke notified the colonists of the Alien ship? If they would have showed Burke sending that message to the colony, that would have removed the coincidence. He would have sent a message to LV-wtf, and they would have gone out to explore it, and even if Burke had said it was dangerous. Then there is the communications lag ... which would actually have been years - so they have must some kind of sub-space radio. A lot is just glossed over here.

[–] Goliard (1451) 4 years ago

Burke definitely notified the colonists. This is said explicitly in the movie. He admitted it, when Ripley confronted him. That's why he tried to get her and Newt facehugged.

As far as communicating at vast distances, that's a handwave that's ubiquitous/common to sci-fi of every stripe.

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9443) 4 years ago

> Burke definitely notified the colonists.

When? You are talking before the Marine mission, right? I completely do not remember that. He wanted to kill Ripley, and I guess Newt, because Ripley was going to expose him for things he did on the mission ... not before the mission ... at least that is what I thought.

[–] Goliard (1451) 4 years ago

Nah. Way, WAY before the mission. The reason the events of the movie happened is because Burke set them in motion.
There's dialogue in the movie that states it specifically:

Ripley: "But they will know about it, Burke. From me. Just like they'll know how you were responsible for the deaths of one hundred and fifty-seven colonists here!"

Burke: "Now, wait a second . . ."

Ripley: "You sent them to that ship. I just checked the colony log... directive dates six-twelve-seventy-nine. Signed 'Burke, Carter J.' You sent them out there and you didn't even warn them, Burke. Why didn't you warn them?"

So, no: nothing "glossed over." They actually shot scenes of the colonists getting the message, and Newt's family is actually the ones who went out to the ship to investigate. Newt's dad gets facehugged, and everything proceeds from there. (Yet another reason to buy the special edition DVD!)

Hope that clears it up for you.

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9443) 4 years ago

Yes thanks I remember that now. I am not sure that was in the original theatrical release, but I redo remember Newt's family being in the extended scenes version.

The first scenes on the planet shows a vehicle rolling into Hadley's Hope and the ops room of the colony talking about a bigwig who sends an order to check out a certain grid reference and not to ask why. The manager gets a question from the worker as to whether his claim will be honored. But that is in the extended version of the movie.

It seems kind of stupid that Burke would not tell them what to look for and to be prepared. That is the weakness of the script ... why would he do that? Just get the info from Ripley and ... well, with today's technology it would make sense that, first, they would already know there was something there from the satellite surveillance of the plant, and that they would have checked it out.

The next thing is that they should the people on the planet as being ordinary schlubs ... the manager is kind of a fat slobby looking guy ... these folks would be the cream of the crop. Look at how much money they would be investing in these colonies.

Anyway, you are right in the extended version of the movie they make it plain that the colonists were asked to check it out ... but also ... that could have been anyone, and they did not take it very seriously because they thought the colonists would have seen it already.

So, to do their due dilligence they would have just sent a message expecting the colony to find nothing there, and then followup by bringing charges against Ripley. In her deposition the guy presiding said no charges would be brought against her ... at that time.

So, it could be spun that way, and Burke might or might not be responsible for that. That is in like 17 minutes from the opening credits into the movie.

The next scene is Newt's family in the crawler going out to check on the site.

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 4 years ago

Anyway, you are right in the extended version of the movie they make it plain that the colonists were asked to check it out ... but also ... that could have been anyone, and they did not take it very seriously because they thought the colonists would have seen it already.

no no no no
They hadnt seen it already,
Burke asked that guy (newts dad) specifically, in order to keep it on the down low.
he didnt want anyone knowing about the alien. He probly made a deal with dad to split profits when he fed-ex'd him the alien egg, or took it home on his next shoreleave or whatever.

[–] Martoto (5190) 4 years ago

Yeah there's also dozens of families up there who are unable to make contact. Let's only send up ten marines to deal with whatever might have wiped them out. And one company man to somehow circumvent them and turn it into a salvage mission somehow.

A better idea would be that Burke was sent up there as a punishment because he sent terraformers out to the derelict without authorisation from the company. The execs knowing that if he doesn't fix the mess for them then he'll never be back on Earth to tell anyone about it. So he's caught between resentment at not being able to grab a specimen for himself before the company did and knowing that the company has ulterior motives.

[–] moviechatterer (16326) 4 years ago

That raises another point: Burkes "goddam percentage" and "exclusive rights"
What was he gonna do when he got back ? start his own bioweapon co?
sell it to Weyland yutani? or some other company

If I was weyland I'd just say ,"attaboy , well done , pat on the back, but look , you work for us , you were on our time, using our spaceships.
Thanks for the alien , but we already own it so we wont be paying you billions "

[–] Martoto (5190) 4 years ago

Well, if Cameron was taking Regan's enterprising utopia of the 1980s that Aliens was made in to its logical conclusion, all those small businessmen operating on LV-426, and even humble execs like Burke, would surely have enjoyed most of the riches of their initiative without the big parent company claiming it all for themselves. Ahem.