They turned Alien into a generic horror movie for teens
Insert younger cast, make it filled with jump scares, and turn it into a slasher instead of atmospheric sci-fi horror.
shareThey turned Alien into a generic action movie for casuals back in 1986. I like Aliens don't get me wrong but it's not high art, it's a fun blockbuster. It took a sci-fi horror and made it into a marines vs aliens action movie.
If this movie does lean heavier on the horror aspects then that's a good thing.
The original Alien had jumpscares too by the way, I recall one scene where the xenomorph reaches out with it's arms whilst a screech is played then it cuts away, the chestbuster scene could be argued to be a jumpscare, it even has the hated fakeout jumpscare where a cat jumps out of a locker. They just weren't executed as impactfully as modern jumpscares are.
How are you going to call Aliens a "generic" action movie? Come on now.
We're talking about one of the greatest action movies ever made, and one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made as well.
Generic would mean its run of the mill, that nothing particularly makes it stand out or special. Is that what you're honestly claiming?
It's a well executed blockbuster. Not high art. Marines go pew-pew at scary alien monsters.
A movie can be generic and still great if it's well made.
The original Alien is pretty generic too. An Alien gets onboard a ship and kills the crew off one-by-one, I've seen it likened to slasher movies and it's not that inaccurate. A rather simple premise dressed up with some cool sci-fi elements. It's also been accused of borrowing heavily from several older sci-fi movies, I do know that Planet of the Vampires share a few similarities (distress signal from an Alien planet, a giant alien skeleton found at the source). Still it's a great movie that excels due to the fantastic sets, interesting alien design, some good acting, a creepy atmosphere and superb OST.
I use generic as a term to describe movies that aren't entirely unique or compelling narratively. Alien and Aliens fit the bill, save for the xenomorph as an alien concept, strip that away and at their core they're very simple and generic movies.
I understand what you're trying to say about Aliens but now you're trying to reduce the original, which is just odd at this point.
Probably not the way I would have doubled-down in this instance.
"Marines go pew-pew at scary alien monsters"
You can make nearly any film sound prosaic when you use this type of phrasing. You're purposely attempting to strip away all aspects beyond the most ridiculously simplistic summary of the plot.
Not exactly a fair way to gauge any movie, nonetheless two sci-fi masterpieces. I guess we just entirely disagree on what constitutes "generic" in this instance.
You're correct, I'm dumbing it down too much.
Yeah we've different opinions on generic. I use the term very broadly as needless to say after over 100 years of cinema, most of what you see has been down umpteen times with the movies that did break new ground getting copied over the years and themselves becoming common and cliché. Many genre movies are firmly rooted to their respective tropes.
I put a lot of emphasis on screenplays, stuff like Woody Allen's movies I find to be very interesting case studies on human relationships and emotions, they make me think and question things. Indie dramas as a whole interest me a lot because they often tackle a concept that is realistic and they strike emotional chords. Movies like Aliens are more entertainment driven and don't make me question anything, rather I just enjoy the action for 2hours. I find it, and several other genre movies, to be quite simplistic in a way. I don't consider Aliens to be any grander than the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which many people online love to drag through the mud).
The original wasn't a generic movie at all, please, the same the original Halloween wasn't generic. The thing is 40 years later they look generic.
shareHalloween was very generic, even for it's time. The story and screenplay is codswallop.
Boy kills sister, years later he escapes, stalks and kills a bunch of ditsy teenage babysitters. He has no motive. There is no mystery, no revelations, no character study. The protagonists are caricatures. Two ditsy teens and their nerdy virgin friend. Dr. Loomis is the only interesting character, yet he spends most the movie waffling on about how evil the man is, then he stands by a bush for half the movie.
Take away the OST and well executed tension and you're left with nothing but a man in a mask, a bunch of idiots and some tame kill scenes. The music really does a lot of heavy lifting with Carpenter managing to deliver some scares along the way making it a worthwhile venture. Seriously, without the OST and if the tension wasn't as well executed the movie would completely collapse.
Psycho and Peeping Tom both back in 1960 are much more interesting on a narrative level. Then the plethora of giallo movies in the early 70s have the mystery element and the killers actually have motives (albeit at times contrived and ridiculous). Stuff like Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) has a more interesting story. Even in 1978 Halloween was a blank slate of a slasher movie.
A movie isn't just the script, the originality and quality of Halloween is for his atmosphere and the mise en scene, as with Alien. And the characters aren't idiots.
shareHalloween wasn't original. A mad man (often masked) killing people was done several times already, often with more imagination.
Linda is TOTALLY an idiot. Annie isn't interesting. Laurie is the most generic 'good girl' there is, she isn't as pretty as her friends, she's a bit nerdy because she's interested in school and isn't chasing boys or partying. Writing 101. As generic as it gets, a 10 year old could write those three characters.
When does Laurie showcase her intelligence or do anything particularly interesting or brave? Most of the finale is Michael coming for her, her slipping through his grasp, rinse and repeat, this time she hurts him... but he's not dead yet, rinse and repeat, only for Dr. Loomis to pop up and save the day.
What character development is there? What changes about the characters as the movie progresses? What do we know about the characters back stories, barely anything.
People say Halloween is so cliché in this day and age because it was so influential... the reason it's so readily and easily copied is because it's a blank slate. Truly original and interesting work will have compelling components that are baked into the entire concept and are harder to copy for your own movie as it's all part of a narrative structure and needs supporting and build up, i.e, you can't just readily yoink parts of it for your own movie at a whim.
Alien is original insofar as the xenomorph is an interesting and great concept. Replace it with a generic and bland alien monster and the movie is no different than the bunch of forgotten 1950s sci-fi horror schlock that influenced it.