MovieChat Forums > Life (2017) Discussion > Aren't people sick of this story yet

Aren't people sick of this story yet

posted 8 years ago by georgijeg1
37 replies | jump to latest

I just saw the trailer for this movie and i can't believe Hollywood is doing this again.

Why is it that everytime they find traces of alien life bad things start happening? This cliche is so overused it's a bit sickening, why can't alien life bring us something good for a change?

Anyway here is a short recap of this entire movie for people who will be too busy to see it in 2017:
-A romantic connection gets formed between a guy and a girl
-Traces of alien life found, everybody is super excited
-Uh-oh, not everything is as it seems, this alien stuff is dangerous!
-As it turns out the whole planet is at risk, and our brave crew are the only ones who can help
-Some irrelevant crew members die
-Girl gets in trouble, guy has to save her as well as the earth
-Things get even more tense as not everything is going to plan. Is earth doomed?
-Nah, our protagonist finds a clever solution at the last moment
-Alien threat gets destroyed, the main couple lands safely, we get to see a super romantic kiss and they live happily ever after

[–] ubermp 8 years ago

"Aren't people sick of this story yet?"

No, not if it's told right. Also, you do realize that there is very little original storytelling these days right? Almost everything out there is inspired by something already existing. Super hero movies are prime examples. The original Star Wars movie wasn't even an original story when you break it down, yet Ep7 was a soft reboot of Ep4 and still succeeded because they did it right(mostly).

[–] naum-rusomarov-944-460795 8 years ago

I've yet to see a decent film about alien life that wasn't trying to kill everyone.

[–] larosat 8 years ago

Really?????
ET
Close Encounters
2001
2010

[–] Soundchaser2013 8 years ago

add John Carpenter's Starman to that list

[–] gtmail77 8 years ago

Excellent observation. A great movie and romance, for the most part.

[–] centauri2014 8 years ago

"Take it easy...Up yours!"

LOL I loved that movie. So yeah I agree that if it's done right it can be done again.

Ladies and gentlemen...Mr.Conway Twitty

[–] naum-rusomarov-944-460795 8 years ago

I was wrong, thanks for pointing that out?

You're right, though.

[–] ingve1974 8 years ago

K-pax.

[–] Druff (1796) 3 years ago

He did say "decent."

[–] Hybrid66 (1516) a year ago

The Man who fell to Earth?

[–] sun2567 8 years ago

Mr. Bean (1990–1995)

[–] stephenrjaffe 8 years ago

ARRIVAL - currently in release - has benevolent aliens.

[–] teck76 8 years ago

Arrival (2016)
Mission to Mars (2000) — well, I consider it decent
Contact (1997)
The Abyss (1989)

[–] mega_duex 8 years ago

How does it go again.

There are only 10 original stories, everything else is some mishmash, retelling, or combination of those ten.

[–] shrugs 8 years ago

Um... to be fair, most of the movies this thing is assumed to be ripping off (the Thing, Alien, Prometheus, Extant, etc) don't follow your narrative very closely. So...

[–] Retrono 8 years ago

Why is it that everytime they find traces of alien life bad things start happening? This cliche is so overused it's a bit sickening, why can't alien life bring us something good for a change?

Because it would be a boring movie if nothing bad starts happening.

[–] redska 8 years ago

I think it comes down to the direction and script (plus the actors) to make it unique. Alien has a basic premise yet it's the writing, the atmosphere, the fear of the unknown that makes it good. This movie could be good or could be bad based on a simple premise. So no i'm not sick of it. I'm sick of bad sci fi films and who knows, this may or may not be good. We'll just have to wait and see. You're assuming a lot based on just the trailer...

[–] georgijeg1 8 years ago

I recently rewatched the original Alien. And i must say that in contrast with most of the action/horror movies i saw as a kid this one did not disappoint me when i rewatched it as an adult.

The movie is very well made with interesting characters and relations between them, and the whole thing is very well put together. So it's definitely one that stands out from the crowd.

[–] michinine 8 years ago

"Back in the day" the audience expected different pacing and storyline.
Watch one weekend full of Hitchcock movies, and you will be dazzled how insanely quick most thrillers are cut this days.

Its very hard to write a round, engaging scifi story without direct conflict. If you look at recent top entries, like "Moon", "Sunshine", "Ex-Machina", these where career making movies for the writers.

Especially "Ex-Machina" had then a wave of bad made knockoffs to fill up the release pipelines.

"Aliens" and even more "2001" where made by Auteurs who probably got every time of the world to do it right, and had quite novelty to it. Today, a writer/director is standing in a dense forest of stories before him. I can't fault them to go well trotted path to fill up their slates.

As long people are even paying money to see the fifth Avengers movie that has practically the same story line every time, at least its a different kind of setting.

[–] Sandoz 8 years ago

I don't think the aliens in that upcoming movie ARRIVAL are supposed to be malevolent. There's some kind of dangerous event shown in the trailer, but I'm not sure what it's caused by.

This is your brain on drugs with salt and pepper and a little bit of Tabasco.

[–] theguitarman18 8 years ago

It's a horror movie. Most horror movies follow the same plot, people are in an enclosed space, bad stuff is starting to happen, people die one by one. The fun is in the way the movie tries to scare you, and the twists and turns that the story takes. There aren't that many space horrors, so I'm happy we are getting a new one. Will it be original? No. But hopefully it will be a fun ride, which is exactly what these movies are designed to do.

[–] gotmyorangecrush 8 years ago

That's not true at all. One of my all time favorite space realted.alien films is Contact with Jodie Foster. The only threats shown in that film deal with our own military and its desire to control everything. And there are plenty more including Interstellar, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 2001, etc.

Sure, there id no denying that the negative approach is used far more often, but for good reason. Space itself if dark and dangerous. Its the perfect backdrop to "bad" alien films and people enjoy "bad alien films". Just ook at the success of Predator or Alien. If you are sick of them then don't watch it. Its that simple. Problem solved!!

Myself, I thiink this film looks fantastic so I will definitely be going to see it, especially with this cast. Too each thier own....

Still Shooting With Film!

[–] Soundchaser2013 8 years ago

Coneheads