Posting-Frequency: approx.

every month Archive-name: movies/alien-faq/part1 Vers

ion: 2.1 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&& & & & ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 & & & & Information and Frequently Asked
Questions & & & & Version 2.1 & & & & PART 1 of 4 & & & &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& A word about the informa
tion provided in this FAQ (paraphrased from earlier editions): The contents of t
his FAQ are not "carved in stone" so if you have proof to support or deny anythi
ng that is stated, don't hesitate to say so. This FAQ is continually updated fro
m the mail I get and the news I read in the newsgroups listed below. This FAQ wa
s founded about two years ago by Daryll Hobson, who gave me the pleasure of taki
ng care of it from now on. If there are any lacks of information in this FAQ, pl
ease send your contribution to me. Have a nice read... -Eelko de Vos ( Vos@Dutiw
s.TWI.TUDelft.NL <A HREF="http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/eelko.html">I'm here!</
A> ) And now a small word from the originator of this FAQ... With the exceptions
of my own contributions, this FAQ has been assembled by the material supplied t
o me through Email and public-access messages that I've scavenged off the intern
et. Information that is contributed is often paraphrased and combined with exist
ing (other users') info. Needless to say, it's impossible to give everybody thei
r rightful line of credit, so a general "Thank you" goes out to all who've contr
ibuted to this FAQ and made it what it is. (you know who you are) - Darryll Hobs
on This FAQ will be posted about every month to: alt.cult-movies rec.arts.sf.mov
ies rec.arts.movie
s It _might_ also available by anonymous FTP (here's what you do): ftp rtfm.mit.
edu <use "anonymous" for your user name> <use your email address for your passwo
rd> cd /pub/usenet/news.answers/movies/alien-faq mget part* quit You can also ge
t it by going to the Alien homepage through Mosaic or lynx. It's right here: <A
HREF="http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/alien.html"> Alien homepage </A> Then go th
rough the 'All info about the Alien sequels' link. You will see all parts there.
There are a lot of pictures and sounds there, including the script of Alien. Th
e other scripts will be added soon. WARNING: This FAQ contains spoilers. WARNING
: Anyone who complains about the posting of this LARGE document to the Internet
or offers me bizzarre, strange, and complicated alternatives to "posting" will b
e [cordially] ignored. ---------------------------------------------------------
--------------------- CONTENTS PART 1: How do I contribute to this FAQ?.........
...............................0 Movie synopsis.................................
.........................1 What do we know about the Alien species?.............
...................2 Who is [character/director]?...............................
.............3 Which scenes were "cut"?.........................................
.......4 What different versions of each movie are there?.......................
.5 Merchandise.............................................................6 PAR
T 2: Memorable quotes...........................................
.............7 Technical problems...............................................
.......8 Trivia.................................................................
.9 Plot problems and loopholes.............................................10 Fr
equently asked questions..............................................11 PART 3:
Frequently discussed topics.............................................12 Movi
e viewing rituals...................................................13 Where can
I get Gibson's ALIEN^3 script?................................14 PART 4: Some l
ifeform-deductions from the movies................................15 Revision hi
story........................................................16 ----------------
-------------------------------
------------------------------ 0. HOW DO I CONTRIBUTE TO THIS FAQ? To ensure acc
uracy, this FAQ has a few ground rules. The only canonical sources are interview
s with the creators, the theatrical version of _ALIEN_, the director's cut (or t
heatrical version) of _ALIENS_ and the theatrical version of _ALIEN^3_. All othe
r sources (ie: books, comics, toys, games, etc...) are generally considered spec
ulative. This does not mean that any information outside of the listed movies is
not welcome here. Alot of the "speculative" information is used in discussions
or for giving "possible" answers to questions that cannot be answered by events
that occur in the movies. If you
would like to contribute to this FAQ,
TRY and follow this guideline: - include references where necessary. If you're r
eferring to a book, it's often a good idea to include the title of the book and
Author's name as it would appear on the book (ie: " Alan Dean Foster " instead o
f " Foster ") - DON'T be too wordy with your information as I'll be forced to pa
raphrase it (the document is rather large). - DON'T send stuff like "I really li
ked ALIENS" because it's OPINION and it's not FACT and it doesn't belong in this
document. - if you wish to update/add to something already in the FAQ, please d
o so. Some of this information could easily be elaborated upon [especially the c
omments that are enclosed in square brackets]. - it's preferable if you make you
r contribution through Email as this FAQ can get posted to a newsgroup that I do
n't read and your efforts will be wasted. --------------------------------------
----------------------------------------- 1. MOVIE SYNOPSIS * Note: the purpose
of this section is to quote what's on the back of the movie boxes (right or wron
g). _ALIEN_ (Color, 1979, Rated R, Shot in Panavision (2.35:1)) In deep outer sp
ace the crew of a commercial spaceship make an unscheduled landing on a barren a
nd desolate planet for engine repairs. They encounter a pulsating organism which
attaches itself to one of the crew members and reproduces within his body to be
come the deadly ALIEN. As each of the crew members is slain by the creature - on
e by one - the final confrontation between the last surviving crew member and th
e Alien culminates in an explosive conclusion. 116 minutes. [quoted from the 198
4 CBS/FOX Video release] _ALIENS_ (Color, 1986, Rated R, Shot flat (1.87:1)) Sig
ourney Weaver returns as Ripley, the only survivor from mankind's first encounte
r with the Alien. Her account of the Alien and the fate of her crew is received
with skepticism - until transmissions from space colonists who have since settle
d on the Alien's planet abruptly stop. Determined to end the recurring nightmare
s of her terrifying ordeal and to completely exterminate the deadly creature, Ri
pley joins a team of high-tech combat vets sent to investigate the disappearance
of the space colonists! Approx. 138 Minutes. [quoted from the 1992 CBS/FOX Vide
o release] _ALIEN^3_ (Color, 1992, Rated R, Shot in Panavision (2.35:1)) In _ALI
EN^3_, Ripley finds herself an unwelcome guest on Fiorina 161, a lice-infested p
lanet in a distant solar system, when the EEV she's travelling on malfunctions a
nd crashes. Fiorina -- or "Fury" -- 161 is inhabited by a small community of vio
lent criminals who discovered religion and stayed behind when their prison facil
ity was evacuated. As a woman, Ripley is the ultimate outcast; her presence caus
es conflicts that endanger the pracarious balance of power on the planet, threat
ening to turn the reformed members of the monastic commu
nity back into killers. There is, however, an even more dangerous visitor to Fur
y 161 -- a stowaway alien who threatens not only the inhabitants of this planet
but of the entire universe. Faced with extinction, the prisoners band together u
nder Ripley's leadership and, despite a lack of advanced technology and modern w
eapons, battle the creature for the very future of mankind. [quoted from the 199
2 CBS/FOX laserdisc release] ---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------- 2. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE ALIEN SPECIES? This se
ction discusses what we know about the Alien life-form; it is entirely based on
facts that are provided to us in each of the movies. * Note: nothing in any of t
he canonical sources indicates that aliens use the DNA of their hosts to help ad
apt to their environment. * Note: the phrase "acid for blood" is accepted in thi
s section as a convenient way of describing the corrosive liquid that comes out
of the aliens/f
ace-huggers when they are shot/cut/mutilated. Eggs - eggs are initially created
inside a queen alien and enter the world (after being queued in her extended abd
omen) via slimey tube to stand on their own (indicating that there is a definite
"up" side and "down" side to the egg). The egg itself is a leathery object [...
it's full of leathery- objects; like eggs or something... Kane (Alien)], translu
cent and approximately 2.5 feet tall. According to a scene that was cut from _AL
IEN_ these eggs could also be "constructed" by a regular alien "infecting" an or
ganism (which would undergo some sort of metamorphosis) however, this concept wa
s not supported (nor denied) in _ALIENS_ and _ALIEN^3_. It is important to note
that this method was the originally intended method of the designer of the Alien
, H.R. Giger. _ALIEN^3_ eggs - the egg in _ALIEN^3_ was smaller than we had prev
iously seen and it was more bulbous. Face-huggers - hibernating inside one of th
ese eggs is a parasite, commonly refered to as a face-hugger. When a viable host
is brought near a closed egg (either by curiosity, or being cocooned and held i
n place) it triggers the "contents" of the egg to come to life. The egg opens an
d the face-hugger launches out at the organism and attaches itself by wrapping a
long "tail" around its victim's neck and using long spider-like legs
(like a spider, the face-hugger has 8 legs) to firmly grip the organism's head.
The face-hugger controls the amount of oxygen its host receives and puts the vi
ctim in a comatose state while it reaches down the host's throat and lays an egg
. In order to ensure that the job can be completed with little outside interfere
nce, the face-hugger has concentrated acid for "blood" (a possible self defense
mechanism) and can strangle its host with its tail [...it's not coming off witho
ut tearing his face off with it. Dallas (Alien)] After the egg is planted in the
victim's body, the face-hugger leaves the host (who will soon re-gain conciousn
ess and have no recollection of the implantation) and dies. [...he's got an oute
r layer of protein poly-saccarides, has a funny habit of shedding his cells and
replacing them with polarized silicon which gives him a longer resistance to adv
erse environmental conditions. Ash (Alien)] Chest-burster - the alien begins its
life by bursting from the chest of its host. At this stage in its development i
t has a small cranium, tan-colored skin and is susceptable to fire. _ALIENS_ che
stburster - Unlike the one in _ALIEN_ this chestburster had arms. _ALIEN^3_ ches
tburster - This chestburster was different from the ones in _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_
; it was more "mature looking" immediately after its birth. Specifically, unlike
the chestbursters of the previous movies, this one had legs. Alien - As the che
st-burster matures, it sheds its skin (similar to a snake), its cranium becomes
elongated and it has a hard, dark (black/green) outer shell (exo-skeleton). The
mature alien has concentrated acid for "blood" and a higher tolerance to fire. A
s indicated in _ALIENS_ the alien creature does not "show up" on infra-red scann
ers which would indicate that it does not emit heat. One distinguishing feature
of the alien is that it has two mouths, one inside the other. According to H.R.
Giger, the inner mouth is in fact the alien's "tongue" (it is such a vicious cre
ature that even its tongue is dangerous). Another interesting feature of the ali
en is that it does not have (what we would perceive to be) "eyes". _ALIENS_ alie
n - these aliens only had 3 fingers as opposed to the 6 fingered creature in _AL
IEN_. Aliens in this movie had a "ribbed" cranium unlike the smooth cranium of _
ALIEN_. _ALIEN^3_ alien - This alien is different than the previous ones we've s
een; it tends to move around on all fours at times and ensures that the unborn q
ueen alien is kept safe. There are a few speculations as to why this alien is di
fferent; refer to section [13] frequently discussed topics. The Queen Alien - li
ttle is known about her. From _ALIEN^3_ we know that a queen alien can be born i
n the same way as a regular alien. Some things that we do know about the queen:
she has a much larger cranium than the usual alien and is slightly taller (appro
x 2-3 feet). The queen has the ability to create and lay eggs (through the use o
f the extended abdomen) and she has the ability to survive without the extended
abdomen (for an unknown amount of time). For more information, consult the last
document of the FAQ, a document written by a molecular biologist called 'HiveQue
en'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---- 3. WHO IS [CHARACTER/DIRECTOR] ? If you seek further information about the
cast or creators listed below, check out the rec.arts.movies movie database pack
age which is available via anonymous FTP to boulder.colorado.edu in the pub/tv+m
ovies/lists directory. _ALIEN_ Director: Ridley Scott Writer: Dan O'Bannon Compo
ser: Jerry Goldsmith Director of Photography: Derek Vanlint Designer: H.R.Giger
(Hans Rudi Giger. Giger pronounced rhyming with "eager") Cast: Ellen Ripley [Sig
ourney Weaver]: Warrant Officer J. Lambert [Veronica Cartwright]: Navigator. Ash
[Ian Holm]: Science officer, an android. Parker [Yaphet Kotto]: Chief engineer.
G. E. Kane [John Hurt]: Executive officer; the alien bursts from his chest. (In
the novel, his first name is "Thomas") S. E. Brett [Harry Dean Stanton]: Engine
ering technician. A. Dallas [Tom Skerritt]: Captain. Alien [Bolaji Bodejo] Mothe
r [Helen Horton]: voice of the Nostromo computer. _ALIENS_ Director: James Camer
on Writers: James Cameron, David Giler (story), Walter Hill (story) Composer: Ja
mes Horner Director of Photography: Adrian Biddle Cast: Ellen Ripley [Sigourney
Weaver]: Cargo loader, gets assigned (by choice) as an advisor for the mission t
o LV-426. Sergeant A. Apone [Al Matthews]: sergeant, ground commander. Corporal
Dwayne Hicks [Michael Biehn]: only
soldier that survived. Private W. Hudson [Bill Paxton]: "Game over man! Game ov
er!" Private J. Vasquez [Jenette Goldstein]: uses a smart gun. Woman. Private M.
Drake [Mark Rolston]: uses a smart gun. Corporal C. Ferro [Colette Hiller]: dro
pship pilot (wears sunglasses). Private D. Spunkmeyer [Daniel Kash]: dropship co
-pilot and cargo loader. L. Bishop [Lance Henriksen]: Android; science officer.
Carter J. Burke [Paul Reiser]: Company advisor. Private R. Frost [Ricco Ross]: H
ated the corn bread. Private T. Crowe [Tip Tipping] Corporal C. Dietrich [Cynthi
a Scott]: Medic. Lieutenant S. Gorman [William Hope]: Controls the marines from
the APC. Private T. Wierzbowski [Trevor Steedman] Rebecca Jorden [Carrie Henn]:
Newt. _ALIEN^3_ Director: David Fincher Writers: Larry Ferguson, David Giler, Wa
lter Hill, Vincent Ward (story) Composer: Elliot Goldentha
l Director of Photography: Alex Thomson Cast: Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver]:
sole survivor of the Sulaco, shaves her head, carries the next alien queen embry
o in her body. Bishop II [Lance Henriksen]: android and (in a different roll) th
e designer of the android or another android (looking like Bishop). Clemens [Cha
rles Dance]: the doctor. Golic [Paul McGann]: in the infirmary, wearing the stra
itjacket. Dillon [Charles S. Dutton]: the religious leader. Andrews [Brian Glove
r]: superintendant Newt [Danielle Edmond]: the little girl corpse. Aaron [Ralph
Brown] Morse [Danny Webb] Arthur [Dhobi Oparei] Murphy [Chris Fairbank] Jude [Vi
ncenzo Nicoli] Eric [Niall Buggy] Frank [Carl Chase] Kevin [Philip Davis] Rains
[Christopher John Fields] Gregor [Peter Guinness] Boggs [Leon Herbert] William [
Clive Mantle] Junior [Holt McCallany] David [Pete Postlethwaite] Troy [Paul Bren
nan] Company Man [Hi Ching] ----------------------------------------------------
--------------------------- 4. FILMED SCENES THAT DIDN'T APPEAR IN THE THEATRICA
L RELEASES. _ALIEN_ * From Famous Monsters #158, Special 1980 Annual: A gruesome
scene where Kane's bloated corpse floats past the observation blister. This is
quite a strange, because in the movie we see Kane clearly _shooting_ away from t
he Nostromo. * From the _ALIEN_ box set: After being awakened from hypersleep, K
ane wanders out to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, he says "Rise and shine Lam
bert". Scene where the crew gathers on the bridge and listens to the signal comi
ng from the derelict craft. [1 min, 40 sec] Scene where Lambert confronts Ripley
about Ripley's reluctance to let them back on the ship with Kane and the facehu
gger. Lambert tells Ripley, Parker and Brett how the face hugger got on Kane. [1
min, 40 sec] Ripley radios down to Parker and Brett to see how they're progress
ing on the repairs, Parker and Ripley exchange tense words over the radio. [1 mi
n, 17 sec] After the face hugger's acid eats through a few floors, the crew retu
rns to the med lab to check up on Kane's condition. Ripley sees an X-Ray of Kane
's chest and asks Ash, "What is that dark stain on Kane's lung?" The rest of the
crew starts asking if Kane's going to live, Dallas tells everyone to go back to
work. [2 min, 16 sec] After Kane's death, the crew gathers around at the meal t
able to discuss what they're going to do with the escaped alien. Brett anounces
the cattle-prod idea and suggests "catching" the alien in a net. [2 min, 58 sec]
Longer version of Brett's death. This scene had Brett frozen with fear as the a
lien grabs his head, he yells "Parker!" and then blood poors from beneath his ca
p. The alien lifts him up into the landing gear and Ripley and Parker come rushi
ng in. Parker stands where Brett once was and looks up; blood drips on his shirt
and then Brett's cattle prod falls to Parker's feet. [48 sec] 2/3 of a scene wa
s filmed, this involved Parker, Ripley and Lambert trying to flush the alien out
of the air lock. As they are about to succeed, an alarm is triggered and the al
ien rushes out of the airlock (getting its tail caught in the closing door, and
spilling acid that causes a hull breach). Parker falls unconciously to the floor
, Ripley does the same and Lambert and Ash come to their rescue. Ripley vocalize
s her suspicions about Ash by accusing him of setting the alarm off. [total: 1 m
in, 51 sec] After Dallas's disappearance, Ripley (being suspicious of Ash) asks
Lambert if she's ever slept with him. [1 min, 37 sec] The build-up to Lambert's
death is much longer. (Watch the alien's shadow on the wall, it walks in, crouch
es down, then immediately gets up) A scene where we see the alien enter, crouch
down and wait until Lambert notices its presence was cut. When Lambert sees the
alien, it uncoils its tail and walks (like a crab) over to Lambert. After Ripley
discovers the remains of Parker and Lambert, she makes another discovery. Riple
y enters the landing gear area of the Nostromo (where Brett got killed) and disc
overs a cocooned Dallas and Brett mutating into an egg. Dallas pleads, "Kill me"
. Ripley flames Dallas and the Brett-egg and then runs to set the ship on self-d
estruct. [3 min, 22 sec] _ALIENS_ * From the "liner notes" that came with the co
llector's edition of the movie on laserdisc. Ripley is sitting on a park bench w
aiting for Burke (before the inquisition), immediately following her stay in Gat
eway Station' hospital. She presses a button, and the entire park behind her dis
appears, reveiling a grey screen. Burke enters and tells her how to act at the h
earing. Ripley asks about her daughter. Burke keeps talking about the hearing. S
he insists to hear about her daughter. Burke hands her a computer printout (colo
ur) that shows her a nice old lady. Burke tells her her daughter died at the age
of 67. That was two years ago. Ripley whispers that she promised her daughter s
he'd be back before her 11th birthday before going off on the Nostromo. After Ri
pley's outburst during in the inquest ("Because if one of those creatures gets d
own here, you can kiss all of this goodbye"), dialogue has been restored in whic
h Van Leuwen voices the council's final decision. (her flight status is revoked
because she is deemed unfit to serve as a flight officer, she has to have monthl
y psych evaluations, and no criminal charges being filed against her) A scene wh
ere the colonists receive orders from Burke telling them to explore the derelict
space craft. Newt's family drives to the site, during the trip Newt and her bro
ther Timothy are arguing about a game of hide and seek that they play in the col
ony's airduct system. Timothy complains that Newt has the unfair advantage of be
ing able to hide in the small places that the rest of the players can't get to.
Following this, they arrive at the derelict ship and the mother and father go in
; later the mother returns dragging the father who now has a face hugger clamped
on his face. There's a scene of the colony, before contact with the aliens, in
this scene we see a sign outside the colony reading: "Hadleys Hope - pop. 158" D
uring the sequence in Ripley's apartment (where they try to convince her to go i
nvestigate the lack of contact with the Colony), Burke's dialogue regarding "The
Company's" interest in the colony has been restored. Immediately following the
establishing shot of the Sulaco is a restored introdution to the interior of the
ship, eventually leading to the frost- covered hypersleep chamber (and then the
y wake-up. this is similar to the start of Alien). During the drop from the Sula
co to LV-426, is a restored scene of Hudson playfully boasting about the Marines
and their weaponry. He tells Ripley he'll protect her. He also tells her the Su
laco carries every weapon from knives to 'nukes'. During the Marines' initial se
arch through the colony, a sequence has been inserted in which Hudson investigat
e some motion they have deteced ahead of them. It were some mice walking around
in their cage. The scene in which Ripley, Burke, Gorman, and Bishop enter the co
lony has been restored. (you see lotsa hesitation on Ripley's face before enteri
ng the complex). Hicks leaves behind, asks her if she's ok. She says yes and ent
ers the complex. During Hick's discussion of the equipment salvaged from the APC
wreckage, additional dialogue has been added in which he discribes the four rem
ote sentry guns and how they can be used. When Ripley and the Marines examine th
e colony's blueprints, discussing how they will barricade themselves inside the
complex, there is some additional dialogue referring to the strategic placement
of the sentry guns. The sequence of Hicks arming the sentry, and Hudson and Vasq
uez testing one of the sentry guns been restored. Before the scene where Ripley
carries Newt into the infirmary, a single show of the sentry guns has been inser
ted. During the scene where Ripley puts Newt to bed in the medical center, the d
ialogue about Ripley's daughter and the origin of babies as been restored. Newt
asks Ripley if human babies are born the same way the aliens are. (Newt asks if
Ripley ever had a daughter and she finds out Ripley's daughter's dead). In the s
cene where Ripley, Bishop, Hudson, and Vasquez discuss the aliens' life cycle, t
here is some additional dialogue in which Hudson, Vasquez and Bishop offer their
speculations. (beehive/anthill sort of society) After Ripley's confrontation wi
th Burke, the sequence involving the aliens attempting to make their way past th
e sentry guns in the service tunnel has been restored. Something probably only s
howed at the opening day of Aliens was a scene in which Ripley puts on her Reebo
k sneakers after she just found out that the facehuggers broke free, when she re
sted with Newt in the MedLab. After Vasquez and Ripley seal Bishop in the pipe,
the aliens confront the other two sentry guns that have been set up in the colon
y corridors. At the end of the sequence, when Hicks dispatches Hudson and Vasque
z (to walk perimeter), some of the shots have been rearranged from the theatrica
l edition and Hicks' dialogue slightly altered. Before Ripley leaves the drop-sh
ip to rescue Newt, there is some additional dialogue in thich she turns to Hicks
to say goodbye, and they exchange their first names: RIPLEY : See you Hicks. HI
CKS : Dwayne. It's Dwayne. RIPLEY : *smiles* Ellen... HICKS : Don't be gone long
, Ellen. When Ripley is searching for Newt, she finds Burke who has been cocoone
d and impregnated. Burke begs Ripley to shoot him, instead she hands him a grena
de. < this scene did not appear in the director's cut, but WAS filmed > _ALIEN^3
_ * NOTE: most of these scenes are only rumoured to exist, no solid proof exists
, but I thought I'd keep them in in case someone can substantiate them. Scene wh
ere Ripley's face is covered with bugs [lice] There was a dream sequence near th
e start of the movie where Ripley dreams that an alien is searching the wreckage
and tries to rape her. The original movie didn't include the scene of the alien
bursting from the dog's chest. Card #39 (of the _ALIEN^3_ trading card set) is
a picture of an ox hanging in an Abattoir and the text says, "In one of the orig
inal scenes for Alien^3, oxen are used to pull Ripley's EEV from the water. When
one of the oxen falls to the ground, the prisoners take it to the Abattoi
r for butchering. But while a prisoner is preparing to butcher the ox, the Alie
n bursts from the animals chest." ----------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- 5. DIFFERENT MOVIE VERSIONS. _ALIEN_ Video - st
andard (has been resold in several different box re-prints) - special edition (w
ide screen) Disc - standard - special letterbox version containing a seperate se
ction with the cut scenes, photos and several design drawings, including drawing
s by Moebius, Ron Cobb and H.R. Giger. - "Alien" Super 8 Film (200 feet long) _A
LIENS_ Video - standard - directors cut, containing cut scenes put back into the
movie. Disc - standard - special letterbox, director's cut version containing a
seperate section with design drawings, behind the scenes footage and interviews
with the director. Extended version's running time: 154 minutes. _ALIEN^3_ Vide
o - standard - "the making of" Disc - standard letterboxed edition -------------
----------------------------------------------------------------- 6. MERCHANDISE
This is an ever-expanding portion of the FAQ so it is probably FAR from complet
e. _BOOKS_ * NOTE: "pb" = paperback, "hc" = hardcover. - Alien Souvenir Movie Pr
ogram sold in theatres (pb) - Alien Official Movie Magazine (pb, Warren Publishi
ng) - "The Book Of Alien" by Scanlon/Gross (pb, Simon & Schuster) - "Alien, The
Illustrated Story" by Goodwin/Simonson (pb, Heavy Metal) - "Alien", The Movie No
vel edited by Anobile (pb, Avon) - "Giger's Alien" art by H R Giger (pb, Big O P
ublishing) (hc, Morpheus International) - "Aliens", The Official Movie Book (pb,
Starlog) (pb, Japanese) - "Aliens", The Official Movie Magazine (pb, Starlog) -
"Alien" by Alan Dean Foster (novelisation) (pb, 1st US ed. Warner) (1st US. hc,
SFBC, code J-27) (1st trade hc, UK) - "Aliens" by Alan Dean Foster (novelisatio
n) (pb, 1st US ed. Warner) (1st US hc, SFBC, code Q-44) (1st trade hc, UK, Sever
n House) - "Alien^3" by Alan Dean Foster (novelisation) - "Alien" Movie Script b
y Hill and Giler - "Aliens" Movie Script by James Cameron - "Alien III" Movie Sc
ript by William Gibson - "Alien Poster Magazine" Nos. 1 & 2 - Alien Press Book -
Alien Press Kit - Aliens Press Kit - "Aliens, book 1: Earth Hive" by Steve Perr
y (Bantam, Oct 1992) (ISBN 0-553-56120-0 pb) - "Aliens, book 2: Nightmare Asylum
" by Steve P
erry (Bantam, May 1993) (ISBN 0-553-56158-8 pb) - "Aliens, book 3: The Female W
ar" by Steve Perry and Stephani Perry (Bantam, Aug 1993) (ISBN 0-553-56159-6 pb)
_COMICS_ w writer a artist c cover artist ? indicates more information needed -
COMIC SHOP NEWS: Comics Debut 1 Jun 93 Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Specie
s preview - DARK HORSE COMICS: Aliens 1-6 (1988-9) w:Mark Verheiden ac:Mark A. N
elson 1 (6 printings) 2 (3 printings) 3-6 (2 printings) collected in hardcover,
trade pb (aka Aliens Book One), includes reprint of DHP 24 b&w Aliens Portfolio
1 (Feb 89) a:Mark Nelson Contains seven b&w plates and an eight-page mini-comic
reprinting first Alien story from DHP 24 Aliens Volume 2 1-4 (1989-90) w:Mark Ve
rheiden ac:Denis Beauvais 1-
2 (2 printings) collected in limited hardcover 2500 copies, trade pb (aka Alien
s Book Two and Aliens II) Aliens: Earth War 1-4 (1990) w:Mark Verheiden a:Sam Ke
ith c:John Bolton 1 (2 printings) collected in trade pb with an introduction by
Verheiden explaining how all of the various Alien projects interconnect The Comp
lete Alien (1993?) reprints Aliens Book One, Aliens Book Two, Aliens: Earth War
and stories from DHP limited hardcover 500 copies slipcover, leather binding, si
gned and numbered Aliens vs. Predator 0-4 (1990) w:Randy Stradley ac:Phill Norwo
od a:Karl Story c:Mike Mignola a:Chris Warner a:Robert Campanella c:Dave Dorman
0 (reprints Dark Horse Presents 34-36, b&w) 1-4 (2 printings) collected in limit
ed hardcover 10
00 copies, trade pb, includes color reprint of DHP 34-36 Aliens: Genocide 1-4 (
1991-2) w:Mike Richardson w:John Arcudi a:Damon Willis a:Karl Story c:Arthur Suy
dam collected in trade pb Aliens: Hive 1-4 (1992) w:Jerry Prosser ac:Kelley Jone
s collected in trade pb, c:Dave Dorman Aliens: Newt's Tale 1-2 (1992) w:Mike Ric
hardson a:Jim Somerville a:Brian Garvey c:John Bolton prestige format Alien3 1-3
(1992) w:Steven Grant a:Christopher Taylor a:Rick Magyar c:Arthur Suydam movie
adaptation Aliens: Tribes (1992) w:Steve Bissette ac:Dave Dorman graphic novel W
inner 1992 Bram Stoker Award from Horror Writers of America limited hardcover 10
00 copies, hardcover, trade pb Aliens: Sacrifice (May 93) w:Peter Milligan ac:Pa
ul Johnson prestige format Aliens: Salvation (Nov 93) w:Dave Gibbons a:Mike Mign
ola a:Kevin Nowlan prestige format Aliens: Colonial Marines 1-12 (1993-4) w:Chri
s Warner a:Tony Akins a:Paul Guinan c:Robert Mentor 1 (cardboard cover) 2-3 w:Ke
lley Puckett a:Paul Guinan a:Allen Nunis c:Joe Phillips 4-5 w:Kelley Puckett a:P
aul Guinan a:Bob Smith c:Joe Phillips 6 wa:Paul Guinan a:Tony Akins c:Robert Men
tor 7 8-12 (forthcoming) Aliens: Rogue 1-4 (1993) w:Ian Edgington ac:Will Simpso
n Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species 1-12 (1993-4) w:Chris Claremont
a:Jackson Guice a:John Beatty c:John Bolton a:Eduardo Barretto 1 Jul 93 Special
Ash Can Edition (red foil cover) 1 Jul 93 Special Ash Can Edition (numbered, cop
per foil cover ?) 1 Jul 93 Time of the preacher 1 Jul 93 Time of the preacher (a
udio-enhanced edition ?) 1 Jul 93 Time of the preacher (platinum edition) 2 Sep
93 The hunt 3 Nov 93 Virtually real 4 Jan 94 The great escape 5-12 (forthcoming)
Aliens: Labyrinth 1-4 (1993-4) w:Jim Woodring ac:Kilian Plunkett Aliens: Music
of the Spears 1-4 (1994) w:Chet Williamson a:Tim Hamilton ac:Timothy Bradstreet
c:Guy Burwell 2-4 (forthcoming) Aliens: Dragon (1994) w:Mark Askwith ac:Charles
Vess graphic novel (forthcoming) - DARK HORSE PRESENTS (b&w anthology series): 2
4 1987? Theory of Alien Propagation w:Mark Verheiden a:Mark A. Nelson first Alie
n appearance in Dark Horse comics b&w 34 Nov 89 Aliens w:Randy Stradley a:Phill
Norwood a:Karl Story c:Chris Warner b&w 36 Feb 90 Aliens vs. Predator w:Randy St
radley a:Phill Norwood a:Karl Story c:Chris Warner c:Dave Dorman b&w, line drawn
cover 36 Feb 90 Aliens vs. Predator w:Randy Stradley a:Phill Norwood a:Karl Sto
ry c:Chris Warner c:Dave Dorman b&w, painted cover 42 Jul 90 Aliens part 1: Adve
nt wac:Paul Guinan b&w 43 Aug 90 Aliens part 2: Terminus wac:Paul Guinan b&w 56
Nov 91 The Alien parts 1 & 2 w:John Arcudi a:Tony Akins ac:Paul Guinan b&w Dark
Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special (1992?) Aliens: Reapers w:John Arcudi a
:Simon Bisley Also contains unseen epilogue to Aliens vs. Predator series w:Rand
y Stradley a:Phill Norwood trade paperback, b&w Dark Horse Presents: Aliens 1 (1
992) c:Simon Bisley 1 prestige format 1 prestige format, platinum edition color
reprints of stories from DHP 24, 42, 43, DHP 5th Anniv special, 56 Best of Dark
Horse Presents (1992-3?) Volumes 1-3 may contain Alien stories ? trade pb, repri
nt collection - DARK HORSE COMICS (color anthology series): Aliens: Horror Show
w:Sarah Byam a:David Roach 3 Oct 92 part 1 c:David Roach 4 Nov 92 part 2 5 Dec 9
2 part 3 c:Dave Dorman Aliens: Taste w:Edward Martin III a:Mark Nelson c:Arthur
Adams 11 Jul 93 Aliens: Backsplash w:Jim Woodring a:Kilian Plunkett 12 Aug 93 pa
rt 1 13 Sep 93 part 2 c:Kilian Plunkett Aliens: Cargo w:Dan Jolley a:John Nadean
a:Terry Pallot 15 Nov 93 part 1 c:John Higgins 16 Dec 93 part 2 Aliens: Alien w
:John Arcudi a:Paul Mendoza 17 Jan 94 part 1 of 3 18-19 (forthcoming) - DARK HOR
SE INSIDER (promotional series): Aliens: Countdown (1990-1) w:Mike Richardson a:
Dennis Beauvais Serialized story probably started in issue #14 of Volume 1 (Sep
90) and continued for an unknown number of issues but completed by Jan 92 Aliens
vs Predator 2 (1992-3) w:Randy Stradley a:Chris Warner Serialized story probabl
y started in issue #1 of Volume 2 (Jan 92) and completed in issue #14 (Feb 93) V
ol 2 #12 Dec 92 Alien cover - DARK HORSE INTERNATIONAL (UK monthly magazines): A
liens Volume 1 17 or more issues, content unknown Aliens Volume 2 Serial reprint
s and original stories 1 Jul 92? Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2 2 Aug 92 Hive, Alie
ns vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale 3 Sep 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale
4 Oct 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale 5 Nov 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Pre
dator 2, Newt's Tale 6 Dec 92 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale 7 Jan 93
Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Newt's Tale 8 Feb 93 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, N
ewt's Tale 9 Mar 93 Hive, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Countdown (mini-comic part 1, c
ollected from Dark Horse Insider), Colonial Marines, Sacrifice 10 Apr 93 Aliens
vs. Predator 2, Countdown (mini-comic part 2), Colonial Marines, Sacrifice, Trib
es 11 May 93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines, Sacrifice, Tribes 12 Jun 9
3 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines, Sacrifice, Tribes, Horror Show 13 Jul
93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines, Tribes, Horror Show, Crusade (w:Chr
istian Gorny a:Michael Cook) 14 Aug 93 Aliens vs. Predator 2, Colonial Marines,
Tribes, Horror Show, Crusade 15 Sep 93 Colonial Marines, Tribes, Crusade, Backsp
lash 16 Oct 93 Colonial Marines, Tribes, Crusade, Backsplash 17 Nov 93 Colonial
Marines, Crusade, Cargo, Taste 18 Dec 93 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Cargo 19 Jan
94 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Salvation 20 Feb 94 Colonial Marines, Crusade, Sa
lvation 21 Mar 94 Colinial Marines, Crusade, Salvation, Alien 22 Apr 94 Colonial
Marines, Crusade, Alien, Rogue 23 May 94 Colonial Marines, Alien, Rogue, Matrix
(graphic novella, w:Grant Morrison a:Chris Halls) Alien3 Movie Special 1-3 (inc
ludes only official comic version of Alien3) movie adaptation Total Carnage Alie
ns/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species serialized starting in issue #9 (Nov 9
3) - DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTERS: Aliens: Earth Angel (1993-4) wa:John Byrne Seri
alized in Previews, Vol III #1 - Vol IV #1 To be collected in a future issue of
Previews - ECLIPSE COMICS: Illegal Aliens (Sep 92) w:Clint McElroy ac:Bill Maus
ac:Bob Hanon parody, modern vs. classic movie monsters b&w - HEAVY METAL COMMUNI
CATIONS: Alien, the Illustrated Story (1979) w:Archie Goodwin a:Walter Simonson
ISBN 930-36842-8 trade pb _MAGAZINES & ARTICLES_ - Alien Invasions (Warren Prese
nts No.3) - American Cinematographer: August, 1979 issue - American Film: Vol.4,
No.5. - Cinefantastique: Vol.9, No.1 Vol.16, No.3, No.4/5 (double issue) - Cine
fex: Nos. 1 & 27 - Cinemacabre: No.2 - Cracked Magazine: (parody) Digest No. II
(Monster Party, 1/87) - Famous Monsters of Filmland: Nos. 154,155,156,157,158,15
9 - Fangoria: Nos. 1 & 3 - Fantastic Films: Nos. 9,10,11,12,13,22 - Filmfax: No.
4 - Future Life: No. 11 - Galactic Journal: No. 21 - Mad Magazine: (parody) Nos
. 212, 268 - Mediascene: Nos. 32 & 35 - Monsterland: Nos. 11 & 13 - Premier: May
1992, Vol. 5, No. 9 - Prevue: No. 65 - Questar: No. 5 - Space Monsters: No. 1 -
Space Wars: issues dated 9/79, 3/80 - Spotlight: Oct - Nov 1986, No 4 (French)
- Starburst: (British) Nos. 8,14,16,17,19,88,97,98,99,100,102,105 - Starlog: Nos
. 22,23,24,25,26,27,41,99,103,105,106,107,108,109,110,111, 115,117,121,125,126,1
50 - Japanese Edition: Nos. 7 & 9 - Sci-Fi Yearbook: No. 1 - Scrapbook: No.6 - B
est of Starlog: Nos. 1 & 7 - Poster Magazine: Vol.1, Nos. 2 & 7 - Starlog Yearbo
ok: Nos. 1,2,6,7 - Starwarp: Vol.2, No.3 - DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTERS: Previews
Vol II #11-12 (Oct 92-Nov 92) Interviews with Alien writers and artists, preview
s of Colonial Marines -EC PUBLICATIONS: Mad #212 Jan 80 Alias (Alien parody) Mad
#268 Jan 87 (Aliens parody) Mad #? ~1992 (Alien3 parody) - FICTIONEER BOOKS: Co
mics Interview 68, 84, 87 (interviews with Alien writers and artists) Comics Int
erview Super Special: Aliens vs Predator Comics Interview Special Edition: Alien
s - WARRIOR PUBLICATIONS: Hero Illustrated 2 (Aug 93) Aliens/Predator cover, bag
ged with Aliens/Predator ashcan comic _CLOTH PATCHES_ _IRON ONS_ - US Colonial M
arines (with Eagle) - USCS Nostromo - US Colonial Marines (words) - Alien Egg -
USCS Nostromo (emblem) - Space Jockey - USCS Sulaco (emblem) - Delta (USCM emble
m) _PUZZLES (all from HG Toys)_ - "Alien" painted by Montage (large size) - "Ali
en Egg" - "Nostromo in Flight" - "Kane Looking In Egg" - "Puzzle in an Egg"(pain
ted Alien Warrior) - "Alien Space Jockey" _BUTTONS AND PINS_ - "Alien" movie pro
mo (probably more than one) - "Aliens" movie promo (probably more than one; the
one I have is a blue 3-D button with the word logo) - "Alien^3" movie promo (lar
ge and rectangular with a picture of an egg, the title "Alien^3" and the date "1
992" on it) - "Alien 2" Japanese painted metal pin (figure of Alien Warrior) - D
ark Horse Cloisette Series: No.1 (Alien Warrior) No.2 (Alien Warrior) No.3 (Alie
n Queen) No.4 (Chestburster) No.5 (Facehugger) No.6 (Facehugger) scheduled (ie,
Nos. 7 & 8, the "Alien Drones") _POSTERS AND PROMO ITEMS_ - "Alien" movie poster
issue (one sheet) [possibly a 3 sheet] - "Aliens" movie poster issue styles "A"
and "B" - "Ripley and Newt" Aliens promo poster - Alien Warrior: comic illustra
tion (by Mark Neilson) - "Aliens" video promo poster - door sized Alien Warrior
- Alien Warrior photo poster - H. R. Giger set of 6 or 8 concept design lithogra
phs (S/N, edition of 325) - "Alien" movie sticker (Italien) - "Alien" movie stil
ls (eight coloured stills, labeled "Set A") [more?] - "Alien" set of eight lobby
cards (larger/smaller sizes) - "Alien" promotional matchbook (given away at 7-1
1, features Alien Egg logo) - "Alien" 8" by 16" cardboard promotional (movie the
atre) insert - "Aliens" cardboard promotional (movie theatre) stand up of Ripley
in Alien Egg Chamber - "Aliens" video store promotional display _CARDS_ - "Alie
n" card set (84 cards with 22 stickers) (Topps) - "Alien^3" card set _MODELS_ -
KAIYODO Alien Warrior (Japanese) - KAIYODO Alien Queen (Japanese) - KAIYODO Alie
n Warrior II (based upon H.R. Giger's pre-production concept design; limited ed.
, issued at 8/89 Japanese Model Fest) - KAIYODO Alien Warrior ("deformed") (Japa
nese) - TSU promo poster - Alien Warrior: comic illustration (by Mark Neilson) -
"Aliens" video promo poster - door sized Alien Warrior - Alien War
rior photo poster - H. R. Giger set of 6 or 8 concept design lithographs (S/N,
edition of 325) - "Alien" movie sticker (Italien) - "Alien" movie stills (eight
coloured stills, labeled "Set A") [more?] - "Alien" set of eight lobby cards (la
rger/smaller sizes) - "Alien" promotional matchbook (given away at 7-11, feature
s Alien Egg logo) - "Alien" 8" by 16" cardboard promotional (movie theatre) inse
rt - "Aliens" cardboard promotional (movie theatre) stand up of Ripley in Alien
Egg Chamber - "Aliens" video store promotional display _CARDS_ - "Alien" card se
t (84 cards with 22 stickers) (Topps) - "Alien^3" card set _MODELS_ - KAIYODO Al
ien Warrior (Japanese) - KAIYODO Alien Queen (Japanese) - KAIYODO Alien Warrior
II (based upon H.R. Giger's pre-production concept design; limited ed., issued a
t 8/89 Japanese Model Fest) - KAIYODO Alien Warrior ("deformed") (Japanese) - TS
UKUDA Alien Warrior (Japanese) - JRC Facehugger (Japanese "Garage Kit") - JRC Ch
estburster (Japanese "Garage Kit") - NYC Narcissus (Japanese) - NYC Alien Queen
Metal Miniature Figure (Japanese) - OZ SHOP Alien Warrior, Astronaut, APC, Drop
Ship (all "defo
rmed") - SCOOP Alien Facehugger Bust (Japanese) - Scoop Alien Egg (on base) (Ja
panese) - MPC Alien Warrior (1st edition with jaws, 2nd edition no jaws) - HALCY
ON Aliens Armoured Personnel Carrier - HALCYON Aliens Drop Ship (* Note: SHED cu
stomising kit available) - GONZOID Alines Armoured Personnel Carrier (1/72 scale
) - LATTIMER PRODUCTIONS Chestburster (lifesize) - MFR. UNKNOWN Alien Nostromo A
stronaut (on base with egg) (Japanese) - AEF MODEL KITS (small scale, highly det
ailed) Hicks; Drake; Frost; Dietrich; Apone; Gorman; Hudson; Wierzbowski; Crowe;
Ferro; Spunkmeyer; Vasquez(gun); Vasquez(escape); Ripley(combat); Ripley(escape
); Completion Kits A,B,C; Equipment Kits A,B,C; Alien Warriors A,B,C,D; Alien Qu
een (attack mode); Alien Egg Assortment; Closed Egg Assortment; Facehugger/Chest
burster Assortment; Alien Egg Chamber [very ltd edition of 150?]; USCM Power Loa
der - Sulaco, ALIEN^3 chestburster, facehugger (full scale), Queen Chestburster,
Power Loader - MFR. UNKNOWN M41A Pulse Rifle kit (full size) - HALYCON/HORIZON
Nostromo ("Nostromo model #HT-03 US.Doll.185.00") _UNCONFIRMED MODEL KITS_ - Unk
nown Mfr. Alien Chestburster (Japanese Garage Kit) - Unknown Mfr. "Aliens" Defor
med Queen (Japanese Garage Kit) - ICHIBA Nostromo Model Kit (200+ pieces) (Japan
ese) _AUDIO ITEMS_ - "Alien" Film Soundtrack (J. Goldsmith) CD: Polygram, FILMCD
003 Festival, D41565 Cass: Polygram, FILMMC003 Tracks: Main Title, The Face Hugg
er, Breakaway, Acid Test, The Landing, The Droid, The Recovery, The Alien Planet
, The Shaft, End Title - "Aliens" Film Soundtrack (J. Horner) CD GE Colosseum VC
D 47263 CD JA Soundtrack Listeners Communications SLCS-7009 CD UK That's Enterta
inment CDTER 1115 CD US Varese Sarabande VCD 47263 CD US Varese Sarabande VSD-47
263 Tracks: Main Title, Going after Newt, Sub-Level, Ripley's Rescue, Atmosphere
Station, Futile Escape, Dark Discovery, Bishop's Countdown, Resolution and Hype
rspace - "Alien^3" Film Soundtrack (E. Goldenthal) CD: BMG, MCAD10629 Cass: BMG,
MCAC10629 Tracks: Agnus Dei, Bair and Chase, The Beast Within, Lento, Candles i
n the Wind, Wreckage and Rape, The First Attack, Lullaby Elegy, Death Dance, Vis
it to the Wreckage, Explosion and Aftermath, The Dragon, The Entrapment, Adagio
_MISC ITEMS_ - LARAMI "Alien" Glow Putty - THINKING CAP COMPANY "Alien" NOSTROMO
baseball cap - "In space, everybody can wear a cap" cap. - BEN COOPER "Alien" H
alloween Costume - DISTORATIONS "Alien" Full Size Mask (cast from original used
in movie, limited edition) [anywhere from 25 to 300 in
edition?] - DON POST "Alien" Facehugger (lifesize in plexiglass case) - SF MASK
COMPANY "Alien" Head Mask - MARCO INDUSTRIES "Alien" Head Mask - MARCO INDUSTRI
ES "Alien" Full Sized Body Suit with Mask & Working Jaws - MARCO INDUSTRIES "Ali
ens" M-41 A Pulse Rifle Set (3 grenades, locater wristband, web sling, extra pul
se cartidge, etc.) - "Aliens" Logo Mug - "Aliens" Doorknob sign ("This Room Prot
ected By Aliens" and "Bug Off") - "Aliens" Car Window Sign ("Aliens on Board") -
"Aliens" Door Sign ("Aliens Fan Club Members Only") - "Aliens" Note Pads ("Trus
t Me, I'm The Boss" & "A Note From The Better Half") - Full-scale inflatable ali
en doll. - Door-sized poster "Aliens don't have to knock" _T-SHIRTS_ - Black Shi
rt with Drooling Alien (front) Green Alien Egg (back) - Black/Grey Shirt with Al
ien Warrior (front) Warrior's Tail and words ("In Space N
o One Can Hear You Scream") (back) - Black Shirt with Alien Egg and words ("How
Do You Like Your Eggs?") (front) - 3-D Alien Chestburster coming through front
of shirt - Grey Shirt with USCM Emblem (front) - Grey Shirt with "Aliens" logo (
front)/words ("There Are Some Places In The Universe You Don't Go Alone") _TOYS
AND GAMES_ - KENNER 18" "Alien" Warrior Action Figure - KENNER "Alien" Board Gam
e - HG TOYS "Alien" Blaster Target Game - HG TOYS "Alien" Chase Target Game - KE
NNER "Alien" Movie Viewer and Cartridge - "Alien" Computer Game - ACTIVISION "Al
iens" Computer Game - ELECTRIC DREAMS "Aliens" (European version) Computer Game
- "ALIEN^3" for the Sega Mega Drive, Amiga and possibly others. - LEADING EDGE "
Aliens" Role Playing Game - LEADING EDGE "Aliens" Expansion Module - LEADING EDG
E "Alien" board game - HG TOYS "Alien" pistol (shoots ping-pong balls) - action
figures: Ripley (w/flamethrower), Hicks (w/missile?), Apone (w/grenades), Bishop
(w/Gatling gun), Drake (w/"smart gun"?), ATAX (wearing Alien Queen "disguise"),
Alien Queen (w/swinging tail and extending second jaw; includes "chestburster")
, Flying Alien Queen (w/flapping wings), Scorpion Alien (body explodes; includes
facehugger), Bull Alien (head rams; includes facehugger), Gorilla Alien (arms g
rab, squirts "acid"; includes facehugger), Giant Face Hugger, Snake Alien, Manti
s Alien, - miniatures: (25 mm scale, available in blister packs) (20300) Alien W
arriors (6 pc.) (20301) Col. Marines (8 pc.) (20302) Col. Marines 2 (8 pc.) (203
03) Alien Queen Mother (20304) Colonists Last Stand (5 pc.) (20305) Alien Warrio
rs 2 (6 pc.) (24101) Aliens Warriors blister pack 1 (2 Alien warriors) (24102) .
..... ........ ....... .... 2 (same) (24103) ...... ........ ....... .... 3 (sam
e) (24104) ...... ........ ....... .... 4 (same) (24105) ...... ........ .......
.... 5 (same) (24106) ...... ........ ....... .... 6 (same) (24107) ...... ....
.... ....... .... 7 (1 warrior & 1 Warrior attacking a colonist) (24201) Aliens
Ripley blister pack (Ripley, Newt, Hicks, Burke) (24202) ...... Dropship Crew bl
.pk. (Ferro, Spunkmeyer, Frost) (24203) ...... Machinegunners bl.pk. (Vasquez, D
rake, Wierzbowski) (24301) ...... Sentry Gun bl.pk. (4 sentry guns) (24204) ....
.. Game Over bl.pk. (Hudson, Bishop, Crowe) (24302) ...... Facehugger bl.pk. (4
open eggs & 6 facehuggers) (24205) ...... Apone bl.pk. (Apone, Gorman, Dietrich)
(24303) ...... Egg bl.pk. (5 closed eggs) (24401) ...... Powerloader bl.pk. (Po
werloader & Jones the cat) (24305) ...... Colonists bl.pk. (3 col. being attacke
d by facehuggers) (24307) ...... APC Boxed Set (The APC in 25 mm scale) (source:
Advance Comics, #58) (20108) Aliens Dropship Boxed Set ("This is a large, in-sc
ale version of the Dropship, completely compatible with the Leading Edge line og
Aliens Warriors, Colonial Marines, and the APC. This lead- free set is packaged
in TWO figure cased and wrapped in a larger sleeve." (Advance comics, #59, p.32
2) (20109) Aliens Sulaco Miniatures Boxed Set ("This is a large (roughly 6"long)
version of the spacecraft used by the colonial marines. It is not 25mm scale, b
ut hey, it's the Sulaco!" (Advance Comics, #59, p.322) - Vehicles: Power Loader,
EVAC Fighter, Stinger - RPG: Primary Design: Barry Nakazono Writing and Design:
David McKenzie Editing and Production: Irene Kinzek The role playing game contr
adicts the movie in several ways, therefore its contents are purely speculatory,
however it has this to say about the aliens: * Aliens feed on electricity, sort
of like car batteries. * Facehuggers are awakened by MOTION outside their egg.
* There are 3 types of aliens: queen, warrior and sentries. * All types of alien
s can lay eggs, however the queen's are larger and will last longer (centuries a
s opposed to months). * Warriors are the standard aliens that you see in the mov
ies. * Sentries have special sensors that allow them to "feel" vibrations anywhe
re in the hive. * Aliens do have a language of gestures and audible sounds. * Al
iens can see infrared as well as the visible spectrum. -------------------------
------------------------------------------------------ =========================
================================================= Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies,re
c.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.movies,news.answers,rec.answers,alt.answers Path: heli
x.net!unixg.ubc.ca!news.mic.ucla.edu!news.bc.net!vanbc.wimsey.com!scipio.cyberst
ore.ca!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!sun4nl!news.nic.surfnet
.nl!tudelft.nl!news.twi.tudelft.nl!vos From: Vos@Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL Subject:
MOVIES: ALIEN FAQ part 2/4 Message-ID: <CyvFqw.E4I@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl> Follow
up-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Sender: vos@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (E.W.C. de Vos) Orga
nization: Weyland Yutani - "Building Better Worlds" Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 00:23:
20 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Expires: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 23:00:00
GMT Lines: 1086 Xref: helix.net alt.cult-movies:16581 rec.arts.sf.movies:8574 re
c.arts.movies:42907 news.answers:4899 rec.answers:1508 Posting-Frequency: approx
. every month Archive-name: movies/alien-faq/part2 Version: 2.1 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& & & & ALIEN, ALIE
NS and ALIEN^3 & & & & Information and Frequently Asked Questions & & & & Versio
n 2.1 & & & & PART 2 of 4 & & & &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& 7. MEMORABLE QUOTES In some cases, the circumstan
ces around which these quotes occur will be given so the reader can get the "ful
l effect" of the moment. "The entire world revolves around this wretched Alien."
- H.R. Giger _ALIEN_ < Kane starts choking, this starts the scene where the Ali
en bursts from his chest> "What's the matter man, the food ain't THAT bad?!" - P
arker < Ripley asks how long it takes the ship to self destruct > "If we ain't o
utta here in 10 minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space." - Parker
"You still don't know what you're dealing with do you? Perfect organism. Its st
ructural perfection is matched only by its hostility [...] I admire its purity,
a survivor; unclouded by conscience, remorse or delusions of morality." - Ash _A
LIENS_ "They ain't payin' us enough for this." - Drake "Not enough to wake up to
your face." - Dietrich "Hey, Hicks, you look just like I feel" -Drake "Another
glorious day in the Corps. A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm;
every meal a banquet, every paycheque a fortune, every formation a parade. I lov
e the Corps!" - Apone "Hey Sarge, you'll get lip cancer smokin' those..." - Huds
on Hudson: "Hey, Vasquez... Have you ever been mistaken for a man?" Vasquez: "No
, have you?" Ripley: "Just stay away from me, Bishop!" < Bishop offers some of h
is meal to her. Ripley hits a plate from Bishop hands > Frost: "I guess she didn
't like the corn bread either..." Gorman: "Drake! Check your camera! There seems
to be a malfunction." < on which Drake hits the camera to the wall. > Gorman: "
That's better." < After Gorman says, "Hicks, meet me at the south lock. We're co
ming in." > [sarcastically] "He's coming in. I feel safer already." - Hudson "St
op your grinnin' and drop your linnen..." - Hudson < Gorman orders the troops to
disarm all their weapons before the first alien encounter > "What the hell are
we supposed to use man, harsh language?" - Frost <After Ripley tells of Burkes p
lans to take the organism back to Earth and him sabotaging certain cryo chambers
on the way home> "I say we grease this rat fuck son of a bitch" - Hudson < Afte
r Ripley rescues the remaining troops with the APC and suggests that they nuke t
he site from orbit, Burke tries to stop this plan > "Hey maybe you haven't been
keeping up on current events, but we just got our ASSES kicked pal!" - Hudson <
Ripley responds to Burke's reservations about nuking the alien-infested site > "
They can BILL me!" - Ripley < After the first encounter with the aliens, the sur
vivors are in the APC discussing their next move. > "I say we take off and nuke
the entire site from orbit; it's the only way to be sure." - Ripley < When Riple
y explains that Hicks is the "one in charge" (after the marines' first confronta
tion with the aliens > "He's just a grunt! No offense..." - Burke "None taken."
- Hicks < After Ripley and Newt are attacked by the facehuggers, and they discov
er it was Burke's doing > "Allright, we waste him... no offense." - Hicks "How c
an they cut the power, they're ANIMALS, man!" - Hudson < The dropship crashes >
"Well that's great, that's just fuckin' great man, now what the fuck are we supp
osed to do? We're in some real pretty shit now man!" - Hudson "Are you finished?
" - Hicks "That's it man, game over man, game over! What the fuck are we gonna d
o now? What are we gonna do?" - Hudson "Why don't we build a fire, sing a couple
of songs! Why don't we try that?" - Burke < Ripley tells the story of why Burke
tried to impregnate her and Newt with alien eggs > "I say we grease this rat-fu
ck son-of-a-bitch right now!" - Hudson "You know Burke, I don't know which speci
es is worse; you don't see them fucking each other over for a goddam percentage!
" - Ripley "Dear Lord Jesus, this can't be happenin' man, this isn't happenin...
" - Hudson < Ripley tells Hudson that Newt managed to survive for a long time wi
th no weapons and no training > "Why don't you put HER in charge?!" - Hudson < H
icks says that there won't be any rescue attempt made for another 17 days > "17
days?! Hey man, I don't want to rain on your parade, but we're not gonna last 17
hours against those things!" - Hudson < Bishop says "I'm afraid I have some bad
news." > "Well that's a switch." - Hudson "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stup
id." - Bishop "Get away from her you bitch!" - Ripley _ALIEN^3_ "I am a raper an
d murderer of women!" - Dillon "Then I must make you nervous..." - Ripley < Ripl
ey's looking for the alien > "Don't be afraid, I'm part of the family!" - Ripley
< Talking to something she thinks is the alien > "You've been in my life so lon
g... I can't remember anything else...!" - Ripley "Do we have the capacity to cr
eate fire? Most people have had that privilege since the stone age..." -Ripley -
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8
. TECHNICAL PROBLEMS _ALIEN_ - The "blurb" on the back of the movie box is wrong
. "...the crew of a commercial spaceship make an unscheduled landing on a barren
and desolate planet for engine repairs." They did not land on the planet to mak
e engine repairs, rather to investigate the distress beacon. - When the facehugg
er is cut and starts bleeding, Dallas and the rest of the crew run down and see
a hole in the ceiling. It consists of two separate holes, with some 'bridge' inb
etween. They go down one level more, and then there is a quick shot of everyone
entering the deck, where we see the ceiling quite intact, just a little affected
by the acid. Then we see Dallas poke into the hole with Brett's pen. This hole
is _exactly_ the same one as one deck up, two holes separated by a 'bridge'. - I
n the opening scene the camera pans over interior of the Nostromo's bridge and e
nds with a view on the visor of a helmet. Then we see shots alternated between t
he helmet and the monitor (readout on the monitor is reflected in the helmet's v
isor). In the first view on the monitor you can see the screen and some keys on
the console. In the second view on the monitor, a plastic coffee cup has appeare
d to the right of the monitor. _ALIENS_ - After the Sulaco arrives at LV-426, a
computer screen displays the last names and first initials of each of the crew m
embers. Hudson isn't on the list. - Adding up the estimated time that Bishop mak
es (for getting the drop ship down to the planet) gives a total of 180 minutes (
3 hours), however the fusion reactor is not going to blow up for another 4 hours
. Ripley says "It's going to be close..." but they actually have a full hour to
clear the base. [not NECESARRILY a technical problem, but it could be] - In the
LD version of aliens, during those split-seconds the camera is NOT on the queen
during the fight between Ripey and her, pay attention to bishop. In one shot, yo
u can clearly see the hole that Lance Henriksen is standing in (to hide the othe
r half of his body) to give the effect of being ripped in two. - In the battle s
cene between Ripley and the mother alien where Ripley is in the loader, we see t
he alien pull the loader into the airlock when Ripley tries to drop it. The load
er is turned upside down and the cone on top with the spinning yellow caution li
ght is broken when it slams into the floor. In the next scene, however, we see t
he loader lying on the floor of the airlock with the yellow cone still in one pi
ece. Also, the sharp end of the alien tails seems to be missing, as if it broke
off, but the broken part isn't on the airlock floor. - When Bishop gets it from
the mother alien, you can see the string pulling the stinger through the dummy.
- The Pulse rifles are using "standard armor piercing explosive tip, caseless" [
Gorman, Aliens] and yet when one is fired, you see shells flying out of it if yo
u look carefully. - During the marines' initial confrontation with the aliens (w
hile Ripley and Gorman are monitoring the situation from the APC), there is a sc
ene where Ripley tells Gorman to pull his men out. The first time you see Ripley
in this 20 second clip she is wearing a audio headset.
The frame flicks to Gorman who looks unhappy, and flicks back to an irate Ripl
ey with NO HEADSET. The scene flicks back to Gorman who loses his temper, and th
en back to Ripley who talks into the Headset which has reappeared. (Gorman subse
quently knocks the headset off.) - In the scene in the dropship where Ripley is
preparing to rescue Newt; she's arming herself, there is an editing error. Camer
a angle 1 (close up of the weapons rack) Ripley grabs a flame thrower and then f
rom angle 2 (close up of the table) she puts down a pulse rifle. Next she grabs
a pulse rifle but puts down a flame unit. This is in the theatrical version, but
is corrected in the boxed set. - When Frost falls down the stairwell on fire. I
f you look closely at the last couple of frames before the camera angle changes
you can see a boot come out from the bottom left corner. It shows up quite nicel
y in front of the fire. It looks to be more of a silhouette. It is definitely no
t a character's boot, nor is
it Frost's boot that may have popped off. This is in both the theatrical and bo
xed set version. _ALIEN^3_ - Many instances where you can see the "outline" crea
ted by the blue screening technique. - The "furnace" that Ripley falls into at t
he end is WAY off scale, it was just too big! - The Cryo capsules seen in the es
cape pod in _ALIEN^3_ are the same design as those seen in _ALIEN_ which is a DI
FFERENT design than the capsules seen in the Sulaco in _ALIENS_. ---------------
---------------------------------------------------------------- 9. TRIVIA _ALIE
N_ <Trivia about the making of Alien> - H.R. Giger, the man who created the alie
n, was also hired to make up some scenery for Dune. This was not used, though. -
The facehugger was originally far more bigger than it turned out eventually. Th
e first drafts of the facehugger showed it about one-and-a-half yards big, with
a tail which made it up to (or over) three yards. It embrased the complety head
of the victim, instead of just attaching to the front. - The first alien Ridley
Scott thought of having marching around in the picture, was a big man with a bun
ch of children strapped to him, wrapped up in rubber. This idea was thought over
, but it gave too many problems. The second idea was a robot 'alien'. This idea
was rejected because of safety reasons: there was no way of really being sure th
at no one would get hurt when the robot would've been armed (during a fight). Th
en the idea of a insect like alien was brought up. The alien we all know was der
ived from this idea. - The first draws of the alien showed us an alien with eyes
! - Bolaji Badejo, the man who was in the alien suit, was just picked up from a
bar by Ridley Scott. He was as big as Scott wanted the alien to be: two metres (
6ft, 7in). - There were two alien suits: one for the effect of a HUGE alien, 6ft
7in, and one for the stuntman, Eddy Powell, 5ft 10in. - Only due to problems wi
th materials, the alien was _not_ transparent. Otherwise we would've been watchi
ng a transparent alien in the trilogy... - Unsubstantiated rumour: "None of the
actors saw the alien before the shootings. This created a genuine reaction on fi
lm." For more information, see below: "FALSE RUMOUR!" <Other trivia> - H.R. Gige
r made an alien walking-stick handle. He took this to the Oscar Award ceremony.
- According to the _ALIEN_ box set, _ALIEN_ grossed $ 40,300,000.00 - The first
half of the movie was based on original ideas and a script entitled "Memories" b
y Dan O'Bannon, the second half originated from the idea of gremlins on a B-17 b
omber, transposed to a spaceship. [source: _ALIEN_ box set] - Notice the similar
ity between the cocooned gremlins in the movie "Gremlins" and the alien's eggs/c
ocoon structure. This similarity may have been due to the original 'gremlins on
a B-17' concept for the latter half of _ALIEN_. This aspect of _GREMLINS_ could'
ve been inspired by _ALIEN_. - It has been suggested that _ALIEN_ is a rip-off f
rom from an A.E. van Vogt short story entitled "Discord in Scarlet". Van Voght s
eems to have won a court suite about what appeared to be a rip-off of part of th
is famous novella. "Discord in Scarlet" is about a castaway alien who plants egg
s in the bodies of humans. "Discord in Scarlet" was pasted into a composite nove
l called "Voyage of the space beagle". - "Nostromo" (a novel by Joseph Conrad) p
ilots a ship hauling ore out of a turbulent South American country. - The name o
f the shuttle "Narcissus" was taken from the Conrad novel "The Nigger of the Nar
cissus". The plot revolves around a sailor who brings death on board with him. -
The alien's habit of laying eggs in the stomach (which then burst out) is simil
ar to the life-cycle of the tsetse fly. - The images that the computers display
during the Nostromo's separation from the Mother ship (as well as some images (i
e: the "Purge" message) used near the end where Ripley is setting up the escape
pod to blast off) are re-used in _Blade Runner_ (also directed by Ridley Scott)
- FALSE RUMOUR!!! "Only John Hurt and the camera crew knew exactly what was goin
g to happen during the chest-bursting scene. The actors' only clue as to what wa
s going to happen was from what they read in the script, so reactions are genuin
e." This rumour is completely unsubstantial! In "Giger's Alien" it says that thi
s scene was shot three times. So everybody knew perfectly well what they were ge
tting in to. They had to change their blood stained shirts every time after a sh
ooting. - In the scene from ALIEN where Dallas, Kane and Lambert are leaving the
ship, the actual actors walking past the Nostromo's landing struts are 3 childr
en (two of which were Ridley Scott's children) dressed in scaled down spacesuits
. This has the effect of making the ship look even bigger. - Watch the scene whe
re Kane gets attacked by the facehugger frame-by-frame. You'll see (through Kane
's eyes) the facehugger jump out of the egg, attach itself to his helmet, break
through the glass shielding and stick a tube down his throat. - An over-turned i
ce cube tray is on the side of Ash's motion tracking device was an ice-cube tray
. - A sex scene between Dallas and Ripley (!) was in the script, however was not
filmed. [source: _ALIEN_ box set] - The front (face) part of the alien costume'
s head is made from a real human skull. [source: _ALIEN_ box set] - Although it
has nothing to do with _ALIEN_, Sigourney Weaver's real name is Susan Alexandra.
[source: Who is Who in America, 47th Edition] - A good deal of the music that J
erry Goldsmith wrote for Alien never made it into the movie. Several tracks on t
he CD soundtrack don't appear in the film, and most of them that are in the movi
e apparently weren't used in the scenes they were written for, judging from trac
k titles. The movie uses some classical music, plus music from an earlier Jerry
Goldsmith score entitled "Freud." [refer to section 6, MERCHANDISE for more soun
dtrack information] - In Mel Brooks' Sci-Fi spoof "Space Balls" there is a scene
near the end where John Hurt (Kane) and a group of other actors made up to rese
mble the crew in _ALIEN_ are enjoying a drink at a space diner. Hurt suddenly st
arts choking and a chestburster erupts from his chest. The creature then dawns a
top hat and dances across the bar while singing "Hello my baby". John Hurt (Kan
e)
says "Oh no, not again". < the next two points are quoted from the Blade Runne
r FAQ with permission > - Notice that both _Alien_ and BladeRunner have "artific
ial persons", and there is ambiguity as to who is/was a real human. _Alien_ and
BR are perfectly compatible, the only problem being that Ash should have been a
replicant, as opposed to a robot. - When Deckard enters his apartment at the end
, the background hum is the same distinctive hum as in parts of _ALIEN_. _ALIENS
_ - Look closely at the readouts about the Nostromo crew in back of Ripley durin
g the Inquest. There is, if you look closely, some interesting (and accurate) de
tail about the characters. - James Cameron was offered, after Terminator, two fi
lm projects - one was a futuristic version of Spartacus, the other was what was
then called Alien II. He chose the latter. - When, in the Sulaco, the Marines ar
e being thawed out - look at the screen - nearly without exception, the names li
sted have as the character's first initial, the actor's first initial. - Tip Tip
ping, who played Private "expendable" Wiersbowski, was actually a stuntman and s
tunt coordinator. He died about two years back in a tragic parachuting accident.
.. - Also there's a wonderful visual pun - when the Mother Alien "stings" B
ishop, "Queen takes Bishop!!" - "El Riesgo Siempre Vive." is written on Vasque
z's chest plate armor. In Spanish, this literally means "the risk lives forever"
, and figuratively means (it's a saying) that taking risks is necessary to survi
ve. - Hudson's line, "Stop your grinnin' and drop your linnen" is a quote from a
n AC/DC song entitled "Shake a Leg". [album: Back In Black] - British Aerospace
was [secretly] contracted to design the weaponry and spacecraft for Aliens. The
dropship is a composite of the cockpit from the Apache helicopter, and engine co
wling from old British planes - also the Sulaco is based on the pulse rifle. - "
...It was [Jeanette] Goldstein's (Vasquez) outside that needed an overhaul, larg
ely because blue eyes and Huck Finn-style freckles didn't quite fit the job desc
ription. 'The makeup took an HOUR,' she sighs. 'The makeup woman said I had the
most ornery freckles she had ever seen.'...They also gave her dark contact lense
s, and rather unceremoniously, whacked off most of her waist-length hair." [from
STARLOG #115, Feb.1987] - "The introduction to the marines, [...], as they awok
e from hyper space and gnawed on breakfast, was filmed at the production's end.
That way, the cast had several months to get acquainted." [from STARLOG #115, Fe
b.1987] - "Loco" is written on the back of Vasquez's shirt. [from STARLOG #115,
Feb.1987] - Goldstein : "'It's never mentioned in the film, but in the character
s' background, she and Drake are recruited from juvenile prison, where they're u
nder life sentences. 'Therefore, they were different from the others, who were o
n a time limit. Hudson was supposed to get out of the marines in four weeks, whi
ch is what made him flip.' That also explains the back of Hudson's vest, tailore
d by actor Bill Paxton to read, 'Contents under pressure. Do not puncture.'" [fr
om STARLOG #115, Feb.1987] - Ferro has "(Fly the Friendly Skies)" written on her
helmet. - On the side of the first drop ship is an insignia of an eagle with bi
g sneakers on, sort of completing a jump. Just above this is the text "Bug Stomp
ers" and just below is "We endanger species". - The second drop ship is called "
Smart Ass" and just below is "We aim by P.F.M." (ie: Pure Fucking Magic) - "Adio
s" is painted on Vasquez's smart gun. - The smart guns used by Drake and Vasquez
are mounted on them via set of hydraulic arms. These arms take most of the load
of the guns and keep them stable. Virtually the same technology is used by came
ra men on outside broadcasts, where they are used to keep the cameras steady. Th
e hydraulics absorb most of the energy created by a camera man running down the
road leaving a very steady picture. - An ammunition clip for the M41-A pulse rif
le holds 95 rounds. - The mechanism used to make the facehuggers thrash about in
the stasis tubes in the science lab came from one of the "flying piranhas" in o
ne of James Cameron's earlier movies: Piranha II - The Spawning. It took 9 peopl
e to make the face hugger work, one person for each leg and someone for the tail
. - Hicks was originally played by actor James Remar, but Michael Biehn replaced
him a few days after principal photography began, due to "artistic differences"
between Remar and Cameron. - Partly as a joke and partly to leave the ending op
en for subsequent sequels, James Cameron added the sound of an egg opening/face
hugger scuttling about at the end of the film credits. (different sounds were ap
pended to different versions of the movie) - "She thought they said 'illegal ali
ens' and signed up..." - Hudson This quote (directed towards Vasquez) was an "in
side joke" to the actors of the movie. (quoted without permission from an interv
iew
with Jeanette Goldstein [Vasquez] that appeared in STARLOG magazine) ''...she
answered an ad for a film role in the local trades. It read simply, "Genuine Ame
rican actors, British Equity, for feature film, ALIENS, 20th Century Fox," she r
elates, over lunch near the old homestead in Beverly Hills. "I had seen ALIEN, b
ut I had NO idea this was a sequel. It had been so long ago, it didn't even occu
r to me. "I thought it was about actual aliens, you know, immigrants to a countr
y. I was wondering why they wanted Americans. I figured the movie was about lots
of different immigrants to England." Since she didn't ha
ve an agent at the time, she answered the ad on her own, with rather surprisin
g results. "I actually came in wearing high heels and lots of makeup, and I had
waist-length hair," she says. Other auditioners, who had advance notice from THE
IR agents
, were decked out in military fatigues --- Goldstein's first inkling she would
be reading for the role of a marine...'' - One track of music from Goldsmith's
CD for _ALIEN_ appears near the end of _ALIENS_, during one of the big scenes of
the Queen stomping around the colony. Even though this music was used in _ALIEN
S_, Goldsmith's name was not mentioned in the closing credits. -Ripley's shoes a
re Reebok sneakers. You can see this when she's driving one of the cargo loaders
. -In Aliens, Bishop says he has Hyperdine Systems 120-A/2. Terminators are Cybe
rdine, maybe James Cameron threw in a little connection between the two. - Adria
n Biddle, the cinematographer for Aliens, has had a longtime collaboration with
Ridley Scott. Apparently, Biddle was not the original cinematographer. In Alien3
, Jordan Cronenweth was slated to the the cinematographer, but poor health force
d him to turn the task over to Alex Thomson. - To get an idea of the wonderful a
ttention to detail that was paid in the Alien films, freeze when Hicks is progra
mming the Sentry guns. The screen depicts exactly what such a futuristic weapon
would have -interrogation modes, choices of "soft, hard, semi-hard" targets, and
IFF options - which means "Identification, Friend or Foe." _ALIEN^3_ There were
at least 12 "scripts" for _ALIEN^3_ (derived from the May 1992 issue of PREMIER
E) : 1. William Gibson wrote his based on a brief treatment given to him by Walt
er Hill, David Giler and Gordon Carroll. It was set in a Soviet space station ("
It was sort of like a Cold War in space, with genetic manipulation of the alien
replacing nuclear war," says Gibson). The 1987 writers strike interrupted the pr
ocess, so Gibson went back to work on a novel. "Only one detail survived. 'In my
draft, this woman has a bar code on the back of her hand,' he says. 'In the sho
oting script, one of the guys has a shaved head and a bar code on the back of hi
s head. I'll always privately think that was my piece of ALIEN^3.'" 2. Eric Red
was hired for a "five-week" job to convince Fox to dole out more development mon
ey. He collaborated with Renny Harlin. According to Red, "HE came up with the ge
ne-splicing idea. 'In the third film, you needed a new alien. I suggested doing
genetic experiments on the alien.' Red says that Hill and Giler were disorganize
d and irresponsible. 'They had no story or treatment or any real plan for the pi
cture,' he says. Hill and Giler say the problem was Red's script; when Harlin re
ad it, he quit the project." 3 - 4. David Twohy had a draft set in a penal colon
y in space without Ripley in it (since Hill and Giler planned to bring her back
in the fourth film). But Joe Roth (head of Fox) insisted that he wouldn't make t
he film without Weaver. Twohy had just started to write Ripley into the script,
when "one of the most transparent bits of studio treachery I've ever heard of" t
ook place. At the same time Twohy was working, Fox hired Vincent Ward to collabo
rate with John Fasano to develop the script involving a community of monks (reme
mber the seven dwarfs?). When a Los Angeles Times reporter called Twohy about "c
ompeting drafts of Alien^3", Twohy dumped the script and went off to do his own
film. Fox insisted that Ward's script was for Alien 4. Twohy: The old adage is t
rue: Hollywood pays its writers well but treats them like shit to make up for it
. 5 - 9. Greg Pruss was hired next to rewrite Fasano's script (he had to leave t
o cowrite ANOTHER 48 HRS). Pruss did "five arduous drafts". Everyone moved to Lo
ndon where the crew was already beginning to design and build sets even as the s
cript was being written. But the studio began having trouble with Ward, "who was
less interested in Ripley or the alien than in his monks. 'The movie's called A
LIEN because it's about the alien,' says Pruss. 'I couldn't get that across to V
incent.'" 10. Pruss quit and Ward was fired. Once David Fincher signed on as dir
ector, Fox hired Larry Ferguson(Beverly Hills Cop II) to do a "four-week emergen
cy rewrite." Ferguson continued more or less with Ward's ideas and hence, the ho
rrible idea with the seven dwarfs and Ripley as Wendy. Weaver and Fincher hated
the script and the movie "almost fell apart". 11. Hill and Giler were paid to do
another emergency rewrite. They moved the story back to Twohy's prison and the
religious element evolved into what exists in the final draft. The studio and We
aver liked the script but Fincher had a few reservations. 12. After much bureauc
ratic bickering over the budget and schedule plus the firing of key participants
, Rex Pickett was hired to collaborate with Fincher for yet another rewrite. Thi
s occurred when Hill and Gi
ler were going on vacation. "It all blew up when Pickett wrote a memo salvagin
g Hill and Giler's script." - Prior to its release, _PREDATOR II_ came out in th
e theaters (which had an almost identical story to the original idea for _ALIEN^
3_) near the end of _PREDATOR II_ we see a trophy case of different skulls, one
of which is the skull of an alien. - Boss Film campaigned hard to win the effect
s job for Alien3, which is surprising - usually when you beg for a contract, you
do a damn good job. They did all of the miniatures, space scenes, and even crea
ted a way of superimposing a computer-generated alien into the film. This is mos
t visible when after killing Clemens the creature scurries after Ripley, straigh
tens itself out, and then (in close-up next to her face) we see the subtle chang
e in the texture of the creature, that tips us off to the transition from CGI to
latex model. - The commandoes that search the Fury-161 complex are armed with p
ulse rifles, yet they sound different when fired. - In Alan Dean Foster's noveli
zation of Alien3, the "rescue" ship that Bishop II arrived in was called the Pat
na, From the novel Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. ----------------------------------
-------------------------------------------- 10. PLOT PROBLEMS AND LOOPHOLES Thi
s section contains plot problems that are SO BIG that there is no plausible expl
anation for it. If a good theory comes along, the point will be moved to section
[11] frequently asked questions (at my discretion of course). _ALIENS_ - What i
nfantry platoon in its right mind would enter an enclosed space carrying flameth
rowers? - Several times we see aliens spewing acid that does not seem to damage
the "sets" (or at least doesn't damage the "sets" as severely as the few drops t
hat eat through 3 layers of the Nostromo in _ALIEN_) This is MOST evident in the
air-duct chase scene. _ALIEN^3_ - How did the eggs get on the Sulaco? (refer to
section [12]) - Why is the escape capsule so poorly designed? It gets ejected a
nd then FALLS to the nearest planet. Hicks is killed when a SAFETY beam impales
him. - How could Ripley hold on to the chestburster AFTER it tore through her ch
est? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---- 11. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS This section has been extended to allow for
theoretical answers, the responses that aren't based on solid facts (yet provide
a plausible answer) start with "[possibly]". If you believe you have a better e
xplanation, don't hesitate to say so. Any questions that seem to have more than
one plausible answer will appear in section [12] frequently discussed topics. _A
LIEN_ Q: Is there a fan club I can join? A: Depending on when you read this FAQ,
these clubs may have dissolved: The British Aliens Fan Club The Dropship PO Box
11 19 Compton Crescent Liskeard, Cornwall Northolt, Middx PL14 6YL UB5 5LS Engl
and England Q: What is the "Narcissus" ? A: The Narcissus is the name of the shu
ttle Ripley uses to escape from the Nostromo. Q: Who is the "Space Jockey"? A: T
his is the name given (by the technical staff) to the remains of the creature fo
und on the derelict space craft. Q: What is written on Brett's cap? A: USCSS NOS
TROMO 180286 Q: Why is there a "self-destruct button" on the Nostromo? A: This q
uestion refers to the control panel (labeled "Emergency Destruct System") that R
ipley uses to cause the destruction of the Nostromo. [possibly] the "emergency d
estruct system" exists to protect company secrets in case the Nostromo is hijack
ed by a competator. (this would be a similar principle to espionage: when an ene
my spy gets caught, he takes poison to kill himself so he cannot be tortured int
o giving away secrets). Or, a 20 million ton ship flying through space at very h
igh speed tends to become a great danger when it gets
off course by some malfunctions. If it's on collision course to some space sta
tion or colony, and there is no possibility of redirecting or stopping it, it wo
uld be very reasonable to put it on self-destruct and get away with the small sh
uttle. Q: The crew is awakened early out of their hypersleep to explore the plan
et from which the beacon is being transmitted, HOW early are they awakened? A: 1
0 months as indicated by Lambert (after the shuttle returns to the Nostromo) Q:
Did the entire crew go down to the surface of LV-426? A: Yes. The Nostromo is a
towing device for the 20,000,000 tons of ore. The entire crew went down to the p
lanet's surface in the Nostromo (which detached itself from the cargo it was tow
ing). Q: After the Nostromo blew up, and Ripley discovers that the alien is on b
oard the escape capsule, why does the alien take SO long to attack her? A: [poss
ibly] the alien was coming to the end of its life cycle, when Ripley happened to
disturb it. It was slow to attack because it was dying. This theory is supporte
d by an older version of the _ALIEN_ script where Ash reveals that the alien had
made a nest and ensured the continutation of its species (cocooned Dallas and t
ransformed Brett into an egg) at which time the alien itself would approach the
end of its lifecycle; curl up and die. Q: Does the alien have eyes? How does it
see? A: No. The alien was designed (by H.R. Giger) to "see" entirely by instinct
. The chase scene in _ALIEN^3_ would appear to contradict this as it shows the c
hase through (what would appear to be) the alien's eyes. However, it is likely t
hat this cinematic technique was used to show the chase, not through the aliens
eyes, but through its "perception". (it
is also likely that this alien, being so different from the ones we've alread
y seen, has some kind of eyes) Q: How could I get a longer version of _ALIEN_ ?
A: Easy. You'll need a laserdisc player with frame advance, a 4-head VCR with fr
ame advance (frame advance allows for nice editing), the _ALIEN_ box set (on las
er disc of course) and a 160 min tape (130 min would work too). Now, all you nee
d is to know where the "extra" scenes (on the 3rd disk) can be re-added into the
movie: - Kane prepares breakfast - don't bother, there's a fade between the hyp
ersleep chamber and the breakfast scene... this is where you'd place the scene,
but the fade makes it impossible to do a good job. - Crew listens to alien trans
mission - right after Parker agrees to going down to the planet's surface, and r
ight before the shot of the ship approaching the planet. - Lambert confronts Rip
ley - some of the scene already exists, just cut THAT part out, and replace it w
ith the longer scene. - After the acid - add this scene right after Dallas tells
Brett to get back to work, and right before the scene where Parker and Brett ar
e repairing the ship. - Ripley radios Parker - Add this right after the "post-ac
id" scene. Place it right before the scene where Parker and Brett are repairing
the ship. - Discussion of what to do (after Kane's death) - originally, this sce
ne was right before Kane's funeral, but it makes alot more sense to put it in im
mediately AFTER Kane's funeral. - Brett's death - difficult to place, you have t
o replace some of the film, all you miss out on is a few cuts back to Jones. (if
you're rea
lly skilled, you can re-integrate them). Put it right before the scene where P
arker is drinking coffee. [WARNING: the suspense building heart-beat sound in th
e background is not present in the extended death scene] - Alien in the airlock
- don't bother with these two scenes, they don't fit in the movie very well. - R
ipley talks to Lambert - add it as Ash walks out o
f the room (after Dallas's death). But before Ripley looks at Lambert (you'll
have to cut that bit out.) - Lambert's death - too bad, there's no sound, don't
add it in. - Cocoon scene - originally, it was after Ripley started running for
the shuttle (no wonder it created a pacing problem). If you add it in after she
discovers Parker and Lambert's bodies, but before she starts running, then it do
esn't affect the pacing. That's it. The movie is now about 2 hrs and 8 minutes l
ong. Q: I recall seeing extra scenes in the movie when I saw it in the theaters,
am I imagining things? A: Probably. However, during
December 1978 a rough cut of _ALIEN_ was screened in London, England (it was 2
hours & 45 minutes long) and it included ALL of the completed "cut" scenes (as
described earlier in the FAQ). Q: When the crew first sets out to search the shi
p for the alien: * Ash has made a "detection" units (motion tracker) * Ripley as
ks "how do they work?" * Ash VERY hesitantly replies "micro changes in air densi
ty" * when searching, Ripley detects something on the OTHER side of an airtight
door (after all, they ARE in a spaceship) which turns out to be Jones. * Ripley
makes the comment "micro changes in air density my ass" This point never gets ra
ised again in the film, what is its significance? A: [possibly] Ash's hesitation
in explaining the operation of the motion detector was because the "real" mecha
nism would be difficult to explain and he was assuming that she wouldn't underst
and him anyway... so he pauses before he finds the words to form an "adequate" b
ut not very detailed description. The tone of Ash's voice in response to Ripley'
s question was somewhat condescending. Ripley's later comment, "micro changes in
air density, my ass" was a foreshadow to show that Ash was hiding something and
that she was onto him (cf: she realizes that he didn't give the full explanatio
n of the motion tracker's operating mechanism) Q: How come Ripley managed to sur
vive in the shuttle without the coolant that Lambert and Parker were collecting?
A: [possibly] since there was only one hypersleep chamber in the shuttle, Lambe
rt, Parker and Ripley would have to stay concious while waiting to be rescued. S
ince Ripley was the only survivor, she went into hypersleep and didn't need the
coolant due to her hybernation. _ALIENS_ Q: What does "Sulaco" mean? A: "Sulaco"
was the town in which most of Joseph Conrad's book entitled "Nostromo" took pla
ce. Q: Is LV-426 also called "Acheron" ? A: There doesn't seem to be any evidenc
e of this in the movie, the name was given to the planet in older drafts of the
script, the Alan Dean Foster novelization, the movie-comic as well as the RPG. Q
: What IS the name of the company? A: The Weyland-Yutani Corporation. It can be
seen, mirror-reversed, on a blast shield after the discussion of the atmosphere
processor blowing up. It appears as "Weylan-Yutani" on all beer cans in _ALIEN_
but is too small. In _ALIEN^3_ it is written on a computer screen in an extreme
close-up near the end. In the director's cut of _ALIENS_, during the additional
footage of the colony (prior to the alien infestation) we see a logo of the comp
any which reads: Weyland-Yutani \ /\ / \ / \ / \/ \/ Building Better Worlds Q: W
hat is the name of the colony? A: Hadley's Hope (as revealed in the director's c
ut of _ALIENS_) Q: Why don't the colonists on LV-426 pick up the derelict SOS? A
: In a cut scene from ALIENS, the derelict ship has been damaged by volcanic act
ivity and, as a result, the beacon was rendered inoperable. [James Cameron, STAR
LOG #125, DEC 1987] Q: How did the colony get infected? A: In my [James Cameron]
version of the Alien life cycle, the infestation of the colony would proceed li
ke this : 1. Russ Jorden attacked, they radio for rescue. 2. Rescue party invest
igates ship...several members facehuggered... brought back to base for treatment
. 3. Several "chestbursters" free themselves from hosts, escape into ducting, be
gin to grow. 4. Extrapolating from entomology (ants, termites, etc.), an immatur
e female, one of the first to emerge from hosts, grows to become a new queen, wh
ile males become drones or warriors. Subsequent female larvae remain dormant or
are killed by males... or biochemically sense that a queen exists and change int
o males to limit waste. The Queen locates a nesting spot (the warmth of the atmo
sphere station heat exchanger level being perfect for egg incubation) and become
s sedentary. She is then tended by the males as her abdomen swells into a disten
ded egg sac. The drones and warriors also secrete a resinous building material t
o line the structure, creating niches in which they may lie dormant when food su
pplies and/or hosts for further reproduction become depleted (i.e. when all the
colonists are used up). They are discovered in this condition by the troopers, b
ut quickly emerge when new hosts present themselves. [STARLOG #125, DEC 1987] Q:
Is Ferro's first name "Mira" ? A: No, according to the on-board computer on the
Sulaco, Ferro's first name starts with a "C". The confusion with her name is ca
used by Vasquez when she says (to Ferro): [...hey mira, who's Snow White?] Howev
er, in Spanish (Vasquez is Mexican), "mira" means "look", so Vasquez is actually
saying, "hey look, who's Snow White?". Q: How many colonists are there? A: Ther
e were 158 colonists on LV-426 [...you were responsible for the deaths of 157 co
lonists... Ripley (Aliens)] plus Newt. This number is also visible on a sign tha
t was on-screen during the scene where Newt's parents are going out to the derel
ict craft (director's cut only). Q: How many aliens where on LV-426 when the mar
ines arrived? A: [possibly] around 156. (Newt was still alive and at least one o
f the other colonists hadn't been chest-busted yet) There has been some suggesti
ons that the colonists had livestock that the aliens could've infected as well (
raising the number of aliens to an indeterminant amount) however there is no evi
dence of livestock anywhere in the movie; furthermore, the planet does not seem
to be a habitat in which live stock could survive (there was no vegetation on th
e planet). Q: Why did Ripley risk life and limb to save Newt, but didn't give a
second thought to Dietrich and Apone? A: In the theatrical version of the movie,
it can be said that Ripley knew exactly where Newt was because of the locater b
and she was wearing, thus making rescue of Newt plausible. A better reason exist
s, however it was cut from the theatrical release; the scene where Ripley discov
ers that her daughter has died (refer to section [4] on cut scenes) reveals to u
s that her daughter was relatively the same age as Newt the last time Ripley was
with her. We can see the parallels between Newt and the daughter that Ripley ha
d lost. Q: How can Ripley hang on during violent vacuum decompression while the
much stronger alien queen can't?! A: [possibly] Ripley had her arm wrapped aroun
d a step in the ladder where as the queen only had a finger-hold on Ripley's boo
t, when Ripley's boot slipped off her foot, the queen had nothing else to hold o
nto. (this assumes that the vacuum isn't SO violent that it would rip her arm of
f) Q: Why does Ripley attempt to climb out of the pit after the queen has been "
vacuumed" out of the Sulaco? Why doesn't she just close the doors? A: [possibly]
Ripley thought that the lower door in the pit would be damaged with the acidic
blood of the queen alien, so she had to close the top doors in order to seal up
the breech. (this explanation is from the novelization) Q: Why doesn't anyone st
ay on board the Sulaco? A: [possibly] the Sulaco is so automated that it would b
e unnecessary. If another dropship was required, the station on LV-426 was equip
ped to remote-pilot it down. (however, they had no idea that the equipment had b
een ruined by the aliens) Q: How has Newt survived all this time? The aliens see
m to have no problem getting around in the air ducts? A: She can crawl through t
he air ducts that the aliens can't fit into. This, combined with her knowing the
air ducts so well, could keep her out of the aliens' grasp (perhaps the aliens
knew about her, but just couldn't catch her). In the director's cut, Newt boasts
to her brother that the reason she wins their version of "hide-and-seek" is bec
ause she can get into all those tiny crooks and crannies where no one can reach
her. Q: How doe
s the queen know how to use an elevator, and how does she know what floor to g
et off at? A: The elevator returns automatically to the level of the platform Ri
pley got off at. When she leaves the elevator (to find Newt) you see it returnin
g up. She comes back (with Newt) and calls both elevators. Ripley takes the firs
t one that arrives and it starts going up. The queen gets in the second elevator
and it automatically goes up. Q: Are those power-loaders real? A: Based on the
Collectors Version of Aliens on Laserdisc, which comes with a disk that shows so
me of the secrets of the making of the movie, the loader is part real, part fake
. The actual loader is real, but has an external power supply. Since the loader
is extremely heavy, it is supported by cables which are masked out for the final
print. A power loader was on display at the Boston Museum of Science as part of
a special effects exhibit. This power loader was worked by a person inside, beh
ind and below the actor, that is wi
th their legs down in the power-loader's legs and their torso in the power-loa
der's back. Different constructs of the power loader were used depending on the
action it had to perform in front of the camera. _ALIEN^3_ Q: Why did it take so
long for the chestburster to come out of Ripley? It only took a few hours for i
t to come out of Kane in _ALIEN_. Even though Ripley was carrying a queen, the c
hestburster itself was STILL the same size as the one that came out of Kane. A:
[possibly] Taking into account the parallels between the aliens and an insect co
lony, two Alien hives will be in competition if they are close to each other. Th
erefore the incubation period of queens is higher to enable the unsuspecting hos
t to move further from the original hive. Q: Why is that bloody autopsy necessar
y? As we see later in the movie, that nice diagnostic scanner in the EEV's cryo-
tube is still working quite fine (and Ripley knows about it). The autopsy is obv
iously very unpleasant for her, so it is hard to see why she didn't figure out t
he easier way? A: [Possibly] The diagnostic machine works on the EM radiation em
itted by the human body and since Newt was dead and
did not emit any radiation, the scanner wouldn't have worked. Q: What is the "
dreaded" seven-dwarf concept for the _ALIEN^3_ script? A: One of the earlier sta
ges of the _ALIEN^3_ script received alot of heat: ''...Back in New York, [Walte
r] Hill saw "The Navigator : An Odyssey Across Time", a stunning but esoteric ar
t film by an obscure New Zealand director named Vincent Ward. But Ward said he d
idn't like [David] Twohy's script. No problem, said Fox. "So I hopped on an airp
lane," says Ward," and during the flight, I had an idea that was totally differe
nt: Sigourney would land in a community of monks in outer space and not be accep
ted by them." The monks would live on a wooden planet that looked like something
out of Hieronymus Bosch, with furnaces and windmills -- and no weapons... FINCH
ER : In the draft Larry [Ferguson, Beverly Hills Cop II] was writing, she [Riple
y] was going to be this woman who had fallen from the stars. In the end, she die
s, and there are seven of the monks left --- seven dwarfs. Q : You're kidding? F
INCHER : Seriously. I swear to God. She was like...what's her name in Peter Pan?
She was like Wendy. And she would make up these stories. And in the end, there
were these seven dwarfs left, and there was this fucking tube they put her in, a
nd they were waiting for Prince Charming to come wake her up. So that was one of
the endings we had for this movie. You can imagine what Joe Roth said when he h
eard this. "What?! What are they doing over there?! What the fuck is going on?!"
'' [PREMIERE magazine, May '92] Q: How did the face-huggers get on the Sulaco?
A: The truly factual answer is that the audience wasn't supposed to question it.
Use your imagination. (several theories exist, some of which are stated in sect
ion [12] frequently discussed topics) Q: Did the little face-hugger critter actu
ally do so much damage to the Sulaco that the ship decided to EJECT the hypersle
ep capsules? A: Shown at the start of the movie was a face hugger jumping on a c
ryo-tube, cracking the glass and dripping some acid on the floor. The acid manag
es to eat its way into the electrical system and cause a fire. The Sulaco then e
jected the hypersleep capsules (probably because it couldn't put out the fire).
Q: I remember seeing a trailer for _ALIEN^3_ that was really different than the
movie? A: This is true. Quite awhile before _ALIEN^3_ was finally released, ther
e was a "coming soon" trailer shown in several theaters. This trailer indicated
that some aliens made it to Earth and there was going to be a massive encounter.
Later on, the writers ditched the movie idea upon release of Predator II (due t
o the s
imilarity in plot) and decided to find a new story for _ALIEN^3_. Q: There's a
prison planet: is anyone really going to spend money on hideously expensive spa
ce travel in order to send these guys to some far-off solar system? A: [possibly
] Historically, extremely dangerous and/or subversive-to-the- government crimina
ls have been shipped off (at great expense) to a new location quite often. Engla
nd regularly shipped off prisoners to one of the American colonies [Georgia? Sou
th Carolina
?] which was a designated prison colony, as well as Australia -- a prison *con
tinent*. The progression of the Western legal system has been to appeal numerous
times (at great expense) to avoid death penalties. The Company in the Alien ser
ies is a reasonable outgrowth from the rest of Western business, why not the leg
al system, too? They avoid the massive cost of incarceration and court and lawye
r fees from appeals by not having a death penalty, but shipping the prisoners of
f to a "prison". Q: Where can I get Gibson's _ALIEN^3_ script? A1: Get it by dow
nloading it from the Alien WWW homepage, link to 'All textual information about.
..' -> 'Gibson's script'. There is a long and a short version. The short version
is included in this FAQ. The Alien Homepage is at: Http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~v
os/alien.html A2: This may not be valid depending on the age of the FAQ: - You c
an buy one from the Pix Poster Cellar in Cambridge, Mass. - Their phone number i
s (617) 864-7499 - They take orders over the phone and they do accept plastic -
The price is 15.00 U.S. for an unbound copy Q: What is "ALIEN WAR" ? A: Alien Wa
r is a walk through ride, found i
n the Trocodera in London. It is set on the alien theme. The plot is that a pa
rty of 12 is being given a tour through a medlab research establishment where th
ey are breeding and studying aliens. A marine has been assigned to guide you thr
ough. Once in the waiting chamber, the sirens go off and your guide comes in and
explains that due to an accident the aliens have escaped. Next he explains that
he is going to lead the party to safety. So off everybody sets thru these dark
corridors, all being told to huddle against walls etc. Along the way various thi
ngs can happen (here are a few): - At one point we were all ordered against this
door only for the door to start banging. Later we were all ordered down this pi
tch black corridor only to come upon some eggs and an alien. - Another point is
when gun shots were heard, behind us was another marine that was being chased by
an alien. We had to cross a bridge over some eggs, having been told that the sl
ightest movement would set them off. - We got into an APC which seemed like it w
as moving moving, it then stopped and an alien burst in thru the far door. - We
all went into a lift. The lift supposedly moved up a level (doesnt actually), th
e marine got someone to open the door while he pointed a gun out. When the door
was opened, an alien bursted in, grabbed a member of the party and then left. --
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ===
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From: Vos@Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL Subject: MOVIES: ALIEN FAQ part 3/4 Message-ID:
<CyvFt6.E7p@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Sender: vos@
dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (E.W.C. de Vos) Organization: Weyland Yutani - "Building B
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rec.answers:1509 Posting-Frequency: approx. every month Archive-name: movies/ali
en-faq/part3 Version: 2.1 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& & & & ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 & & & & Information and
Frequently Asked Questions & & & & Version 2.1 & & & & PART 3 of 4 & & & &&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& 12. FRE
QUENTLY DISCUSSED TOPICS This section is intended for frequently asked questions
that have many diverse theories and explanations. I've included some of the mor
e plausible theories given for some of the topics. Wherever possible, I tried to
group the "for" and "against" cases. * After the Nostromo blew up, and Ripley d
iscovers that the alien is * on board the escape capsule, why does the alien tak
e SO long to attack * her? - The alien was coming to the end of its life cycle,
when Ripley happened to disturb it. It was slow to attack because it was dying.
This theory is supported by an older version of the _ALIEN_ script where Ash rev
eals that the alien had made a nest and ensured the continutation of its species
(cocooned Dallas and transformed Brett into an egg) at which time the alien its
elf would approach the end of
its lifecycle; curl up and die. - The DH comics speculate, that the Aliens are
more prone to attack, when (somehow) threatened. Since Ripley pretty much is de
fenseless, can't escape and isn't attacking, why should the Alien hurry? * In _A
LIEN_, how does the company know about the aliens anyway, and how * much do they
know, and why don't they send a well trained scientific * "collection" team ? -
They knew about the derelict ship from the beacon signal that was picked up by
another space craft, maybe off course and with some technical problems so that t
hey could not investigate it themselves, or maybe it was picked up by some autom
atic exploration vessel. Back on earth they had enough computer power to unscram
ble the beacon. (remember that "Mother" couldn't unscramble it completely). Some
department of Weyland Yutani decided to bring the next ship that came around th
at area close to LV-426. It would then have to check out what was going on on th
e surface (this was in the contract they signed). After the Nostromo was destroy
ed and didn't return, the people who made the Nostromo alter its route got scare
d -in the end they were responsible for the destruction of the Nostromo- and del
eted all files concerning the Nostromo's new route and LV-426. Ash was planted o
n board for that reason: to find out what was on LV-426 and bring it to them. Th
ey knew about a hostile creature from the beacon, but they didn't expect somethi
ng like _this_. [this theory is supported by the novelisation] - The same reason
ing as above, except for the fact that Weyland Yutani knew all about the aliens
from the beacon. Some people claim that Ash knows everything about the alien lif
eform. This seems unlikely because of the way Ash tries to get rid of the facehu
gger on Kane. - They did not know everything about the aliens and just wanted to
see what happens ("crew expendable"), and Ash was supposed to store all informa
tion in the computer (Ash gives us a few details about the aliens, but he does n
ot necessarily know everything from the start, he might have gathered some thing
s from what he has already seen on the Nostromo). Later, when the Nostromo had r
eturned to earth with it's autopilot, they could first remote-access the compute
r and then, with all the information, decide how to get out the alien eggs (or w
hatever was found to be there). In that case they would have only lost 6 employe
es and perhaps an expensive android. - The ship diverting to investigate the bea
con (and assuming that the "crew is expendable") is part of a standard procedure
. All data collected would be returned to the company when the ship returns to E
arth. Since the Nostromo did not return to Earth, the company did not know about
the aliens. (this theory assumes that no communication occurred between the Nos
tromo and The Company AND that Ash was not necessarily "planted" on the Nostromo
for sinister reasons) [contradicting the novelisation] * Near the beginning of
_ALIENS_ when Ripley is at the inquiry, one of the * company executives at the t
able estimates the value of the Nostromo at * "42 million in adjusted dollars".
Surely a ship as large as the Nostromo * is worth more than 42 million ? - In "a
djusted dollars" suggests many things. One, that *A* dollar has been adjusted fr
om a previous dollar. And assuming
that this is not very far into the future, this previous dollar was most prob
ably the U.S. dollar. It suggests that the value of the dollar was readjusted in
much the same way as the currencies in some developing countries like Mexico ha
ve been adjusted to take into account rampant inflation. - "adjusted dollars" co
uld refer to the original value of the ship translated to what it would be worth
at the present day. Perhaps the Nostromo is a common ship that has seen mass-pr
oduction and it's just not worth all that much. This is not unrealistic as we kn
ow that ore is mined in tremendous quantities (20,000,000,000 tonnes were being
hauled by the Nostromo in _ALIEN_) so the resources are readily available and we
can assume that, with increased space travel, a higher volume of space ships ar
e being made. (which, in turn, would lower the cost of assembly). * In the 57 ye
ars between _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_, why don't they try again * to get some alien e
ggs? - The bio-weapons division possibly started the whole thing without permiss
ion, and then, after the catastrophic failure (loss of an expensive space ship),
they destroyed all information about it, and therefore the general managment ne
ver knew about it (This appears to be exactly the way Burke acts in _ALIENS_). -
"The company" seems to be quite large, with several divisions. Maybe the whole
alien plan was just an idea of the bio-weapons division, and after the loss of t
he Nostromo the managment decided to give up because the risk was much higher th
an the possible profit. Then, during the following decades, they just forgot abo
ut it. Obviously Burke doesn't know about the aliens before he got Ripley's repo
rt. - It is possible that the company did not know about the aliens or anything
that occurred on the Nostromo UNTIL Ripley showed up (there is no evidence that
the Nostromo was communicating with the company in _ALIEN_) * Are we really to b
elieve that, having lost contact with an entire colony, * the Colonial Marines s
end a warship out with only ONE SQUADRON of soldiers? - Possibly, Burke had a fa
ir idea of what has happened on LV-426 so by sending a small number of soldiers,
he was gambling that some would survive and bring (accidentally or not) an Alie
n back to Earth. - The company may have assumed that the colony's transmitter br
oke down or the colony itself had suffered a horrible epidemic or just died out.
So the possibility of actually needing more troops was considered to be small.
- Several times in the movie it was implied that this group of marines had been
on these sort of "bug hunts" before (ie: the sign on the side of the first drops
hip: "Bug Stomper" and Hudson asking, "Is this gonna be another one of those bug
hunts?" [Aliens]) They had been able to handle "bug hunts" with one squad befor
e, so why send more this time? - The squad had enough fire power to deal with th
e situation, if they had been fully armed and ANYWHERE other than underneath the
primary heat exchange for their first confrontation (in that confined space) th
en they would've had no problem with defeating the aliens. * Theories regarding
the derelict space craft and its fossilized pilot (from * the movie _ALIEN_). -
Perhaps the species that was transporting the eggs mirror the human errors of ju
dgement (made mostly by the Company) that were to follow. Perhaps this species,
like the Company, thought they could lower their guard, treating the aliens like
a commodity. Maybe their now dead/mute state indicates where the human race mig
ht be heading as a result of the company's "financial" venture. - The species pi
loting the derelict craft were aware of the dangers of the aliens, this is why t
hey submersed the entire colony of eggs under the blue "film". When the film is
broken, it would trigger an alarm (sort of like a laser-operated security system
) and they'd know that there was motion in the "cargo". - Suggested by an old dr
aft of the _ALIEN_ script: the derelict craft landed on LV-426 to make repairs,
a silo of eggs (on the planet) was discovered by the space jockey species and th
ey got infested. The hull full of eggs is in fact the crew of the derelict after
being transformed into the eggs (as shown in the Brett
-egg scene edited out of the _ALIEN_ theatrical release) - The derelict ship t
ransported something else than the eggs. For instance, it carried food, like mea
t, or animals. Somehow the pilot got impregnated with an alien chestburster and
just before it hatched, the pilot set down on LV-426 (he didn't crash land becau
se of the valuable cargo) and recorded the distress signal. It put it on the air
, and died when the chestburster broke free. This chestburster got down, and gre
w into an alien. This alien made an egg from the storage down below, a queen-egg
. It hatched, and a queen alien arose. This queen alien started to produce eggs
from the stored food/animals. The blue mist was conserving the food/animals, but
was now used to conserve the eggs. The full-grown aliens died, but the eggs sur
vived over the centuries. * Was the derelict ship destroyed at the end of Aliens
? - Yes. The blast at the end of Aliens was big enough to destroy everything in
the neighbourhood. The ship was close enough to get blown to pieces. - Probably
not. The blast was -according to Bishop- 'the size of Nebraska', but he was only
referring to the size of 'the cloud of vapour' at that time. An explosion that
size hasn't been accounted for yet. It's not very likely that something could cr
eate an explosion that would vapourise Nebraska. There probably was only a real
crater the size of that was completely vapourised The destructive effect of the
blast stopped at something about five miles or so. Beyond that, there was 'only'
the gust of wind. So the derelict ship is still intact. * Alien intelligence. A
lthough they have a large cranium, can they really * "think"? YES: - In _ALIENS_
, when Ripley is in the "hive", several aliens filter in to attack her; Ripley t
hreatens to flame the eggs and the queen waves them off. This would indicate tha
t the aliens can communicate and ARE intelligent. - The alien in _ALIEN^3_ acted
to protect Ripley (since she was carrying the queen embryo) when the doctor was
going to give her an injection and when Dillon grabbed her (near the end). This
would indicate that the alien can reason through situations. - The aliens in _A
LIENS_ cut the power to the complex. (unless this was just an "accident") - A qu
ote from James Cameron [STARLOG #125, DEC 1987] " One admittedly confusing aspec
t of this creature's behavior (which was unclear as well in ALIEN) is the fact t
hat sometimes the warrior will capture prey for a host, and other times, simply
kill it. For example, Ferro the dropship pilot is killed outright while Newt, an
d previously most of the colony members, were only captured and cocooned within
the walls to aid in the Aliens' reproduction cycle. If we assume the Aliens have
intelligence, at least in the central guiding authority of the Queen, then it i
s possible that these decisions may have a tactical basis. For example, Ferro wa
s a greater threat, piloting the heavily armed dropship than she was a desirable
host for reproduction. Newt, and most of the colonists, were unarmed and relati
vely helpless, therefore easily captured for hosting. " NO: - On several occasio
ns, the aliens kill potential hosts when they could just as easily capture them.
(from _ALIEN_: Parker, Lambert. from _ALIENS_: Ferro, possibly others. from _AL
IEN^3_: the doctor, several prisoners) this would indicate that the alien is not
intelligent. (unless the alien kills those people for food) - The scene in the
_ALIENS_ director's cut where the aliens "throw" themselves at the sentry guns w
ould indicate that they are not intelligent (ie: sacrificing countless numbers j
ust to get their hands on 7 potential hosts.) * What does the alien use for ener
gy, does it eat? if so what? - The alien could work like a battery, using electr
icity for it's energy (suggested by the acid blood). This idea is suggested by t
he RPG. - The alien increases its mass greatly between its chestburster and full
-grown stages of development. In order to do this it MUST eat something solid (p
erhaps: flesh, minerals, metals) - H.R. Giger introduces the concept of a bio-me
chanical species (notice how the Space Jockey of _ALIEN_ was attached to/part of
the machinery it was sitting at?) If the aliens are part of Giger's bio-mechani
cal world then it's entirely possible that they could eat metal alloys to increa
se their mass. - In an old draft of the _ALIEN_ script, when Ripley finds Dallas
cocooned and the Brett-egg, she says to Dallas, "I'm going to get you out of he
re" and Dallas replies, "No, it's too late for me, the alien has eaten to much o
f me already... see what it did to Brett?" - An Alien, like a fly, could "eat" b
y dissolving it's food with an acid like substance, then eating the "soup" left
behind. In this way, the alien could eat pretty much any material (even metal).
* What are those long, dark "spines" sticking out of the back of the alien? - Th
ese spines could be functionally similar to the plates on the back of a Stegasau
rus; they make it difficult to land a damaging blow on the alien from a sneak-at
tack from behind. - The spines could also be some form of reservoir for acid (si
milar to the humps on a camel). - Perhaps they are heat sinks. - They could be g
ills for breathing, like a fish, the alien probably doesn't breath the same air
we do, so these "gills" would filter out the components that it needs from the e
nvironment around it. * Do the aliens u
se their host's DNA to help them adapt to their host's * environment? YES: - A
n old draft of the _ALIEN_ script had Ash giving an extensive description of the
alien creature. Ash said that the alien that came from Kane was, in a sense, Ka
ne's child. (this scene suggests that the aliens use the host's DNA) - The alien
in _ALIEN^3_ was different than other aliens, perhaps this is because it came f
rom a different host (the dog). NO: - A creature that is so different from conve
ntional organic life could not possibly make sense out of a strand of DNA. - In
the original filmed version of _ALIEN^3_ the alien came from a cow, not a dog (t
he entire movie was filmed before they decided to change the "host" to a dog) Si
nce the alien didn't act like a cow (ie: this alien was more aggressive, however
, a cow would be considered less aggressive than a human) nor did the film maker
s originally base the alien's actions on those of a dog, this works against the
DNA theory. The "cow" scene is also supported by the novel by Alan Dean Foster [
page 58]. * Is there a notion of "soldier" and "worker" aliens? YES: - The alien
in _ALIEN^3_ seemed to act/look different than the aliens in the previous movie
s. This alien could be a "worker" with the task of protecting the queen until sh
e has a chance to mature. - The alien species has alot of similarities with inse
cts, so, like a hive of ants or termites, the aliens would have soldiers and wor
kers. NO: - The aliens that were in the "hive" at the end of _ALIENS_ would like
ly be classified as "workers" however they stood upright and looked no different
than the rest of the aliens (which would be considered "soldiers"). * Where do
the aliens come from, were they genetically engineered? - They could have been g
enetically engineered due to their (seemingly unnatural) ability to adapt to new
environments. - They could be bio-weapons on the basis of the fact that their p
arasitic nature is too violent and unsupportive of the host. An organism which d
estroys its habitat (in this case it's host, whatever kind of organism it is) wo
uld very quickly makes itself extinct. - The aliens could be a parasite of the g
alaxy. They serve as much purpose as a mosquito does on earth. - If we maintain
H.R. Giger's original idea of the alien eggs coming from an infection (a possibi
lity that is explored in the Brett-egg scene cut from _ALIEN_), then the thousan
ds of eggs on the derelict space craft in _ALIEN_ could have come from some form
of plague. - It has been suggested (by Dark Horse comics) that the Predators cr
eated the aliens for hunting purposes. - It also has been suggested that the Pre
dators plant the aliens on planets, so that if they come back after some time, t
he aliens have built some hives and they can hunt them all down. The Predators m
ight have found the aliens on one of their hunts on some far off planet. - For s
ome detailed suggestions/information concerning the alien lifeform, read the las
t part of the FAQ. * Why are the aliens in _ALIENS_ different from the alien in
_ALIEN_? - Maybe alien's behavior is goverened by pheromones, in the same way th
at a termite colony is governed, by passing chemicals from the queen through the
colony. This would explain why a large group of aliens with a queen behave diff
erently (cocooning people instead of killing them) to a single isolated alien. -
The alien in _ALIEN_ was a different "type" of alien. (ie: a soldier instead of
a worker) - The aliens in _ALIENS_ were more "evolved" (after all, they did hav
e some physical differences - see Section 2 - What is an Alien?) and hence, the
way they acted was different. - The facehugger in Alien came from an egg that wa
s not created from humanoid material. Therefore the genetic code that was in the
facehugger, and in the embyo and therefore was in the Alien was different from
the genetic code in the eggs from Aliens. These eggs were made from people (huma
ns). Therefore geneticly the alien was different, and therefore it had a differe
nt appearance. It is also suggested that while the embryo grows in the hosts, th
e embryo 'consults' the hosts internals for the environment that it came from, s
o it can adapt to that environment before it hatches. * Why is the alien in _ALI
EN^3_ different than the other aliens we've seen? - The alien species is similar
to the hymenoptera (the class that ants, bees and termites belong to). There is
a queen who is tended by an army of female helpers. There are occasoinal males
in these insect societies, only they are short lived and are only necessary to f
ertilize a new queen. The alien in _ALIEN^3_ would be a male alien. It is defina
tely different looking -- perhaps a bit smaller (males in hymenoptera species ar
e smaller.) This makes sense in the context of _ALIEN^3_ in that Ripley is carry
ing a queen -- something HAS to fertilize it before it can reproduce. - It's pos
sible that the aliens copy some of their host's DNA in order to help them adapt
to the new environement that they'll be born to (this concept was in an old draf
t of the script for _ALIEN_). The alien would be different because it came from
a dog. Same reasoning as with the previous question. - We have seen relatively f
ew aliens. If you imagine what a whole planet full of them would be like, there
might be a variety of different kinds: warriors, workers, messengers, etc... * H
ow did the eggs get on the Sulaco? - When Bishop was preparing to crawl down the
service tunnel to pilot the dropship down, he told Ripley that it would take (i
n total) approx 3 hours. Earlier in the movie, it was established that the place
was going to blow up in approx 4 hours. Thi
s left Bishop an extra hour during which he could have: fetched 2 eggs and hid
den them. While Ripley was rescuing Newt, Bishop could've then returned to pick
up the eggs and put them in the drop ship. He'd then fly back to pick up Ripley
and give some bogus story to cover up why he was late. - The queen laid eggs in
the landing gear prior to getting out and tearing Bishop in half. - Yet another
theory is that the queen laid eggs on the Sulaco while Ripley was going to get t
he cargo lifter. However, it doesn't seem that the queen's phy
siology would accomodate this AND it would be unlikely that she'd be able to l
ay the eggs in a well concealed place (such that Ripley wouldn't find them) duri
ng the split seconds that the camera is not on the queen. This egg can't get in
the EEV, anyway, unless it has some way of getting up and walking from one end t
o the ship to another. The EEV was in a complete other part of the Sulaco. - In
Gibson's _ALIEN^3_ script, it is suggested that the queen "stings" Bishop with h
er tail, thus poisoning him. While Bishop lies in his hypersleep capsule, the po
ison genetically combines with his body and forms two eggs. (notice when Ripley
tries to repair Bishop, there is only his one arm and head remaining). It is pos
sible that Bishop observed the development of two eggs (from his body) then, whe
n complete, opened the hypersleep chamber and (with his remaining arm) moved the
egg out (so it could infect Ripley). - Alien3 was a dream Ripley had. * In ALIE
N^3: Was the human Bishop (that appeared at the end of the movie) * really human
or was he also an android? YES: - Some people have witnessed skin hanging down
(some say it's his ear). This would indicate that he's an android. To further th
e issue, Bishop II takes a nasty hit in the side of the head, yet remains concio
us, it is unlikely that a human being would be able to shake off such an injury.
The red blood was just a way to ensure Ripley he was a human. His blood was jus
t coloured. It was the only way to ensure for Ripley he was a human. - The credi
ts indicate that the character is named "Bishop II" as if to say it is just anot
her copy of the same line of androids. NO: - "85" hit him in the side of the hea
d and he started bleeding red blood (around his left ear). Since the androids de
picted in the trilogy have white blood, this Bishop is probably human. (it is to
o speculative to theorize that the company has made a red-blooded android since
_ALIENS_) - Alan Dean Foster's novelisation of the movie suggests that he defini
tely is human and he bleeds badly when hit). * I hated ALIEN^3. YES: - The "cour
se" of the movie was "unrealistically" altered to fit with the script. ie: in th
e first 5 minutes of the movie, we kill off two major characters, place alien eg
gs on the Sulaco and against-all-odds Ripley is the sole survivor of the crash.
- Although an important part of the series, Newt died for no discernable reason.
- Too many similarities between _ALIEN^3_ and _ALIEN_: * one alien stalks a gro
up of weaponless people. * trapping the alien did not work, so let's try somethi
ng else. * repair of a busted-up android. - Depressing. Ripley's life crumbles t
o an inevitable fate. No happy (or surprise) ending. - Characters are flat, unde
veloped and boring. Nobody really CARES when the alien kills one. - No attempt i
s made to explain MOST questionable events (How did the eggs get on the Sulaco?
Why is the alien different?) - Ripley is an eye-sore with her shaven head and bl
oodshot eye. - _ALIEN^3_ focussed on Ripley's misfortune-plagued life instead of
the alien creature (as _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_ had). - Most North American movie c
ritics did not like _ALIEN^3_. - The emotions in Alien3 were not taken out to wh
at they could have. Nobody seemed to care about someone else. Therefore it was h
ard to care for the characters in the movie. An example you can test for yoursel
f is: try to remember the characters from Alien. Then from Aliens. And last -and
least?- those from Alien^3. Most people hardly can name two or three of Alien^3
. NO: - Just because a movie doesn't have a happy ending doesn't mean it's a bad
movie. - _ALIEN^3_ takes a different direction from the prior alien movies. It
is good that they didn't make an "_ALIENS_ with bigger guns" as most had expecte
d. - Artistic images were well defined. The Newt autopsy scene showed almost NO
graphic images, yet the audience was revolted by the vividness. The graphic horr
or was not blatantly displayed on the screen, but projected into the imagination
of the audience. - Since we don't know everything about the alien species, it's
not difficult to accept that "by undisclosed means" the alien eggs got on the S
ulaco and the alien creature was physically different. - The interleaving of the
credits and the movie scenes was visually provocative. - Most scenes were shot
from very provocing distant angles, making them very beautiful in the eye of the
artist. - Many European critics did like _ALIEN^3_. ---------------------------
--------------------------------------------------- 13. MOVIE WATCHING RITUALS B
asically, if you know of any rituals that you or your friends perform when any o
ne of the ALIEN movies is shown (ie: screaming things at the movie, acting out d
ifferent parts, etc...) then they belong in this section. - When repeatedly watc
hing this film with friends, we've only really evolved one tradition when watchi
ng the film. When Burke has abandoned them, and opens the door, just to see the
alien there, hissing at him, it has become somewhat traditional to shout "Let's
eat Burke" repeatedly. Oh yeah, and when Newt falls into the water, it's fairly
obvious that you have to shout "Behind you" fairly loudly. - ALIEN: deep, impres
sed silence. ALIEN^3: loud, carthatic weeping. - ALIENS: imitating Hudson's "gam
e over MAN, game over!" as he says it in the movie. (and even when we're not wat
ching the movie) - leaping at the screen to get a four-inch-away view of the var
ious types of military hardware to get more details about function and what prop
s are made from (ie: the Flame units are slightly modified M-16 rifles) - In Ali
ens, during Ripley's first nightmare at Gateway Station. When she pulls back her
shirt and sees the alien trying to poke through and then wakes up in horror, on
e of us HAS to say, "Damn Tacos!" - Counting the number of times "Hudson" is sai
d over the course of _ALIENS_. [more?] -----------------------------------------
------------------------------------- 14. GIBSON'S ALIEN^3 SCRIPT What follows i
s a synopsis of Gibson's _ALIEN^3_ script, due to the immense effort required to
port the text from paper to computer, a special thanks goes out to Steve Copold
, the user who tackled the tedious and heinous task. * NOTE: refer to Frequently
Asked Questions for information on getting the entire script. Or get it by down
loading it from the Alien WWW homepages. It's under the link 'All textual inform
ation' -> 'Gibson's script'. There is a short version, and a long version. The s
hort version is here included due to a large demand for it. The Alien homepage i
s: Http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/alien.html Steve writes: I've had my hands on
a copy of William Gibson's original script for "Alien III" for quite awhile now
and it seems like a good time to contribute a synopsis which may explain a few
things (such as how the eggs were supposed to have gotten onto the Sulaco), a
nd may just add more confusion to others. I've been very careful in preparing th
e synopsis to include as much detail as is possible, including direct quotes, an
d still remain within the bounds of the fair-use doctrine and copyright laws. (E
verything encased in parentheses, except for dialog notes, is my writing...Every
thing else is Gibson's.) Enjoy! -Steve Copold FADE IN: DEEP SPACE - THE FUTURE T
he silent field of stars -- eclipsed by the dark bulk of of an approaching ship.
CLOSER. ANGLE ON THE HULL A towering cliff of metal, Sulaco. (The script then c
uts to an inside tracking shot of the hyper-sleep vault and the line of open and
empty capsules. We finally track across 4 closed capsules - Newt, Ripley, Hicks
, and finally Bishop. Bishop's capsule, however, is covered with a "hothouse" mi
st and condensation.) CLOSER A tear of fluid streaks the condensation. An alarm
sounds. A monitor begins to scroll data. (We then hear the computer announcing t
hat Sulaco has experienced a navagational error and entered the territory of the
U.P.P. [Union of Progressive Peoples - A clear analogy for the late U.S.S.R. -
A subplot which probably contributed to the demise of this script.] We cut to an
exterior shot of the Sulaco and witness the approach of a UPP interceptor ship
carrying commandos. They dock with the Sulaco and board her. They enter the ship
though an airlock near the cargo bay. As they enter, they find Bishop's twisted
and tangled lower torso. They see the blast damage on the drop ship and exchang
e knowing looks...It is apparent these are combat veterans. As the commandos ent
er the hyper-sleep vault, the computer announces a security breach. They move do
wn the line of capsules and stop at Bishop's.) INTERIOR HYPER-SLEEP VAULT - LEAD
ER"S POV (point of view) The chilly aisle of capsules. Commandos move down the l
ine, guns poised. They peer in at Newt, Ripley, and Hicks, but the lid of Bishop
's capsule is pearl white. (text deleted) The lid rises. A dense pale mist flows
out, spilling over the edges of the capsule, revealing the ovoid of a gray alie
n egg. Rooted in the center of Bishop's synthetic entrails, the egg instantly ej
aculates a face-hugger, which strikes the leader's faceplate in a spray of acid.
(lots of text deleted) (At this point, one of the other commandos, a young Viet
namese woman, attempts to shoot the facehugger without killing the leader. Thing
s go wrong and his head is literally destroyed. They throw him out the airlock a
nd leave with Bishop's remains.)
DISSOLVE TO: IN DEEP SPACE - VARIOUS ANGLES A station the size of a small moo
n, and growing; unfinished sections of hull are open to vacuum. A vast, irregula
r structure, the result of of the shifting goals of succesive administrations. (
This is our introduction to Anchorpoint which serves as the setting for about 75
% of Alien III. I see it as a cross between the Deathstar and Deep Space 9. It i
s huge and well-used like the Deathstar, but it is by run civil administrators a
nd company reps, with only a military attache and a few troops. Like DSN, it has
shopping malls, schools, and the type of stuff associated with a colony rather
than a military base. At this time we are introduced to Tully, a civilian lab te
chnician, and the station's ops officer, Jackson. Tully is written as sort of a
malcontented doctoral student. He's very smart, very good at his job, and has so
me degree of contempt for authority. Jackson is a really neat character. She is
a "tough broad," much like Ripley, but carries none of the baggage that Ripley i
s saddled with. They have a lengthy conversation at this point which sort of bri
ngs the audience up to speed. I've included just a small portion.) JACKSON The S
ulaco. Departed gateway four years ago with a compliment of fifteen. A dozen mar
ines, an android, a company representative, and the former warrant officer of a
merchant vessel... TULLY So? JACKSON So, the bio-readout gives us the warant off
icer, one -- count him -- marine, and a nine-year-old girl. Makes you wonder wha
t happened out there, doesn't it? TULLY So ask'em. Wake'em up and ask'em. Them n
ot me. JACKSON But That's the GOOD news, Tully. Three hours before Sulaco turned
up, we docked a priority shuttle out of Gateway. Two passengers. Milisci, Tully
. Weapons Division. TULLY That the bad news? JACKSON They want the ship pulled i
n with full biohazard precautions, by oh-eight-hundred hours. BioLab techs are p
riority for the deck squad. that's you Tully. The phone screen goes blank. TULLY
(heartfelt) Shit! (We are then introduced to Spence, who is I think Tully's gir
lfriend. That part's not real clear as events overtake the issue very quickly fr
om here on out. The next five pages of script are dedicated to a WONDERFUL seque
nce of scenes where Tully and other lab techs, accompanied by marines from Ancho
rpoint are seen in an enormous docking bay where they board Sulaco. I'll put in
the last page of it here.) SECOND MARINE Yessir. Lights on in there. The officer
presses a button. The door slides open. Bright white. The aisle. Empty. The row
of capsules. Tully's marine is first through the door, gun ready, slow, careful
. Tully steps in after him, raises his instrument, takes a sample. INT. HYPER-SL
EEP VAULT The other two marines move past Tully. Soft scuff of their boots on th
e deck. Tully doesn't know quite what to do. Lowers his sampler, hesitates, The
first marine reaches Newt's capsule. He lowers his rifle. (something startled, a
lmost gentle in his voice) They're here... Eight inches of razor-sharp serrated
tail plunges out through the back of his suit as he's lifted off his feet by som
ething we can't see. Ugly RIPPING noise as the alien withdraws its stinger (Gibs
on clearly refers to the tail as a stinger at several points in the script) -- b
lood tidily contained by the translucent membrane of the biohazard envelope. The
stinger of a second alien whips around the neck of one of the other two marines
; the alien is clinging to the ceiling. He screams. Tully's marine sags against
the foot of Ripley's capsule, his arm across the controls -- the green indicator
lights go out -- as the first alien lunges up into view. CLOSE On the jaws. ANG
LE ON RIPLEY Her eyes snap open RIPLEY'S POV As the beast mounts her coffin, ter
minal nightmare. ANGLE RIPLEY No-ooooooooooooooooooooo! Her hands claw frantical
ly at the smooth curve of the plastic canopy. The remaining marine, crazy with a
drenialine and terror, unleashes his flame thrower. The first alien and Ripley's
capsule vanish in a napalm fireball. the marine spins, screaming incoherently,
and liquid fire hoses the second alien, which drops its victim and falls burning
into the deck. The vault is an inferno. Ripley's capsule is sagging, melting. D
ISSOLVE TO: (We see Ripley's damaged capsule being rolled into a very elaborate
medlab and doctors go to work on her. Then we cut to Hicks sitting on the edge o
f a hospital bed in a dressing gown lighting a cigarette. Spence comes in and ha
s a brief conversation with him. He asks about Newt and Ripley and Bishop. She t
ells him that Newt and Ripley are fine, and that she doesn't know who Bishop is.
Newt comes running in chased by an orderly. He grabs for Newt and Hicks almost
assaults him, but is stopped when Spence calls off the orderly. They demand to s
ee Ripley. Spence takes them to her room. She is in a deep coma) NEWT Is Ripley
DREAMING? SPENCE I don't know honey. NEWT It's better not to. CUT TO: EXT. RODIN
A, THE U.P.P. STATION - VARIOUS ANGLES Smaller than Anchorpoint INT. RODINA - CY
BERNETICS LAB CLOSE on Bishop. He stares straight ahead, the corner of his mouth
twitching mechanically. (The UPP scientists are downloading all of Bishop's dat
a and are learning all about the aliens. The young Vietnamese commando is presen
t and confirms the image of the facehugger -- They all stare in horror at the im
age of the adult alien. The young woman shakes her head and says she has not see
n this. The two adults on the Sulaco are never explained and neither is the fact
that the capsules were left alone. There is a possibility that there may have b
een live animals, or animals such as dogs on the Sulaco in hypersleep. This may
account for the adults as well as the dog thread in the screen version. Lab anim
als are turned into aliens later in the Gibson script. The egg in Bishop's entra
ils is explained in great detail.) INT SULACO - CARGO LOCK TECH WITH PROBE You g
etting this on tape Miller? SECOND TECH You bet your ass. Orders. TECH WITH PROB
E That's good because I'd swear I just saw a piece of this shit move... On the m
onitor, the tip of the probe trembles, brushes one of the globules. The second t
ech takes it, inserts it in a plastic tube, seals the tube in a small metal cann
ister, and writes #17 on the side in red grease pencil. SECOND TECH Since when d
o androids get diseases? TECH WITH PROBE I dunno. Sure looks like something got
to this poor bastard... (This is a key scene in the script as it introduces the
alien "spores" and "DNA" samples which are capable of spreading the species like
a disease. Even androids can act as a host at least to the extent of producing
a viable egg with a facehugger inside. The effects on a living host are entirely
different as we'll see shortly. At this point in the story, we are introduced t
o Col. Rosetti, local commandant of the colonial marine detachment at Anchorpoin
t. We also meet Kevin Fox and Susan Welles. They are the Weyland-Yutani scum-yup
pies from the weapons division sent by the company. They are real knock-offs of
Burke, only not so endearing...Yeeech! We also meet Shuman, the diplomat. He is
involved now as the UPP is making a stink about the Sulaco entering their space.
The four of them debrief Hicks in a "security bubble" and learn what he knows.
They do not tell him about the aliens found on the Sulaco. In the bubble we also
meet Trent, the head bio-geneticist at Anchorpoint. He quizzes Hicks about the
alien's life-cycle. They realize that Hicks doesn't know anything about the gene
tic material they have discovered in the hyper-sleep vault. They also fail to te
ll him they are experimenting with it and trying to clone it. They do tell Hicks
about the UPP grabbing Bishop. At this point there is a complex and important s
cene in the Tissue Culture Lab with Tully and Spence. It involves lots of high t
ech goodies and what would have been some terrific CGI sequences as they examine
the alien samples. It all culminates with them looking #17 under extreme magnif
ication we see the sample brought into focus...) EXTREME CLOSEUP - MONITOR As th
e screen fills with an image that might be a bizzare landscape, its lines and te
xtures recalling the interior of the derelict ship in "ALIEN." (This sequence is
followed by a long set of scenes with Newt and Hicks as Newt prepares to return
to earth aboard the Sulaco which has been sterilized. Ripley is still in a coma
and Newt makes her a map of her Grandparent's home in Oregon so she can find he
r when she wakes up...Lot's of cuteness and string-pulling as Newt departs Ancho
rpoint. We jump back to Rodina Station and meet a bunch of new characters. Braun
, Rodina's Chief of R&D, Colonel-Doctor Suslov, the Head of the station, and sev
eral military and diplomatic officers. The scene is basically a discussion of wh
ere are we? - where are they? re: the development of the aliens as a weapon, and
what to do about Bishop? They decide the best course of action is not to overpl
ay their hand, but to sterilize Bishop and send him back with no traces of the a
lien spores or any memory of his time at Rodina. They rebuild him (with inferior
UPP technology - this later becomes a plot element and a running joke in the sc
ript) and return him to Anchorpoint. CUT TO: INT. ANCHORPOINT - TISSUE CULTURE L
AB Trent, head of biolab, Rosetti, and Fox wait, seated, as Tully wheels a holog
raphic Display Module into position. The lights dim. A faint, ghostly cube shimm
ers in front of the three men. TRENT Initially this was merely
routine, you understand. We attempted to determine its compatibility with ter
restial DNA. FOX What kind of DNA Doctor? TRENT Human, of course. Something shiv
ers and shakes and takes form in the cube of light: a double helix threaded with
green and red beads of light. TRENT (continuing) Watch closey, please. The alie
n genetic material looks like a cubist's vision of an art deco staircase, its as
ymmetrical segments glowing day-glow green and purple. ROSETTI That's a biologic
al structure? More like part of a machine... The alien form makes contact with t
he human DNA. The transformation is shockingly swift, but its stages can still b
e followed: the thing seems to pull itself into and THROUGH the coils, and for a
n instant the two are meshed, locked, and then the final stage. A new shape glow
s, a HYBRID; the green and red beads have been altered beyond recognition. FOX L
ike a high-speed viral takeover...! What's the real-time duration on this, Trent
? TULLY (from the shadows beyond the glowing cube) That was it. What you see is
what you get. That's how fast it is... (Several scenes follow that I'll just enc
apsulate for you. They are all important, but only in that they introduce charac
ters or minor plot elements. #1 Hicks meets Walker the foreman of the Anchorpoin
t machine-shop...He is a tough customer. #2 Jackson, Shuman, UPP Diplomatic Offi
cer discuss Bishop's return. #3 Bishops arrives at Anchorpoint. #4 Hicks meets T
ully in a bar on the Mall and Tully reveals that Fox and Welles have ordered the
lab to experiment with the alien DNA. #5 Rosetti, Fox, Trent, and Welles in the
security bubble discussing the progress of the experiments. Rosetti raises mino
r objections, but wimps out when Fox threatens his career. #6 Bishop being check
ed out by a medlab tech and jokes about his shitty UPP polycarbonate knee joints
. This is followed by a long scene with Hicks and Spence where she fully spills
the beans about the "research.") INT. CONSTRUCTION ZONE CHAMBER (lots of text de
leted) SPENCE Maybe I don't either. It's just...We've got to tell somebody...Now
there's a rumor somebody came in on a UPP ship today, somebody off Sulaco... HI
CKS Bishop... SPENCE I don't know. HICKS Maybe Progressive Peoples'll get their
own alien too. Maybe they'll grow some... SPENCE (horrified) Shit! You'd better
hope not... HICKS Why's that? SPENCE Their lab gear's five years behind ours. th
ey'd never be able to control it HICKS Think you can, huh? SPENCE I don't know..
. (More scenes follow: #1 Tully complains to Jackson that there are problems wit
h one of the stasis systems in the lab. #2 Rodina - BioLab: Braun and Suslov are
discussing the alien as a weapon in front of a large stasis tube. Scene ends wi
th a closeup on the tube showing a "chestburster suspended like a fetal dolphin.
" #3 Long scene where Bishop tells Hicks about Ripley and the queen on the Sulac
o. He also warns Hicks to watch him carefully as the UPP may have reprogrammed h
im and he would not know it. #4 Long scene in the culture lab with Tully and Wel
les. Ends with the stasis system failing and the contents spraying all over Well
es and Tully. They are immediately taken to a "de-con" unit. Welles is seriously
pissed off! #5 Bishop and Hicks sneak into the tissue culture lab and destroy a
ll of the alien cultures. Ends with both of them in white plastic restraints as
they are placed in separate cells. The next scene is the beginning of the prover
bial shit hitting the fan.) INT. THE BUBBLE Meeting of the full Anchorpoint Dire
ctorate, including Welles and Fox and a number of new faces. Welles is white lip
ped with fury. (lots of dialog omitted) FOX You have no more material to work wi
th, Trent. In any case, it's become obvious that you aren't the man for the job.
We took the precaution of obtaining our own samples. they're on their way to Ga
teway. (Wow! Does this open a lot of possibilities...Like "Earth Hive" for insta
nce.) WELLES (with cold satisfaction)...and everything, every move each of you h
ave made, since our arrival, is going to be gone over with a fine toothed c-c-c-
c-c-- As Welles begins to stammer, her eyes betray a terrible consternation. She
rises from her chair, lurches forward, catching herself on her hands. The c-c-c
-c- phases into a chattering palsy as a thick strand of blood-streaked drool des
cends toward the table. Fox, seated to her left, has instinctively shoved his ow
n chair back, ready to run.
Everyone else is frozen with shock. As the chittering tooth-burr becomes a shr
ill SHRIEK of inhuman rage, the transformation takes place. Segmented biomechano
id tendons squirm beneath the skin of her arms. Her hands claw at one another, t
earing redundant flesh from alien talons. then the shriek dies. She straightens
up. And, rips her face apart in a single movement, the glistening claws coming a
way with skin, eyes, muscle, teeth, and splinters of bone...The sound of ripping
cloth. the new beast sheds its human skin in a single sinuous, bloody ripple, m
olting on fast forward...An instant of utter silence as the featureless mask mov
es. From side to side. Scanning. Trent vomits explosively. the marine guard snat
ches his pistol from its holster and fires wildly across the table. Blind scream
ing chaos. OVERHEAD SHOT As the Directorate plunges, like a single panicked orga
nism, to the far side of the bubble. The thing is on Fox before he can get up fr
om his chair. CLOSE On his scream as the sucking, fanged tounge plunges through
the orbit of his eye. ANGLE A marine with a flamethrower bursts through the door
, torching Fox and the new beast, setting fire to the bubble's acoustic foam baf
fles. (Clearly, this script was destined to get an "R" rating...From this point
on the script becomes an Aliens-like war movie. Many brief cut
ting scenes follow: #1 Spence finds Tully's contaminated lab badge. #2 Rosetti
gets Hicks and Bishop out of their cells and enlists their help. #3 Hicks (in f
ull combat armor) and Walker driving into the construction zone in a jeep search
ing for Tully. #4 Jackson, Spence, and Bishop tracking them on monitors from ope
rations. #5 Hicks and Walker find and kill the alien that was Tully. #6 Closeup
of Spence as Tully's locator dot blinks out. #7 INT. RODINA Mass confusion as we
see the commandos fighting their way through what has obviously become a war-zo
ne. Then we see the result of Suslov's genetic tinkering: It's a new type of ali
en - "bigger, meaner, faster, able to reproduce more rapidly." The commandos swa
rm through a hatch and seal the thick steel door. We hear slamming and pounding
as the steel begins to buckle. All of this is followed by a really long scene wi
th Hicks, Jackson, Bishop, Shuman, and Rosetti in operations. We find out the cl
osest ship is the transport Kansas City which is 20 hours away. the following ex
change takes place in the midle of it:) ROSETTI We abandon the station. HICKS De
stroy the station, man! We got nukes? ROSETTI Outlawed under the strategic arms
reduction treaty. JACKSON We can fiddle the overrides on the fusion package. Bab
y nova. BISHOP We're dealing with a new form Colonel. We know nothing of this ne
w mode of reproduction. Others may have already become hosts. ROSETTI What are y
ou suggesting? BISHOP Inorder to be ENTIRELY certain, Colonel, it would be neces
sary to override the fusion package now. Jackson looks up at Bishop; he's sugges
ting mass suicide. HICKS I thought you were programmed to protect human life? BI
SHOP (with android blandness) I'm taking the long view. (I believe this would ha
ve become one of the classic lines of the film. The scene ends with an incoming
message, actually a warning, from Rodina. A technician explains what they have d
one and that all experiments must be terminated as they cannot be contained...No
shit! There is a lot of funny reparte about "the Soviet space brothers" in this
scene. Jackson almost takes on the air of a Hudson, except she's pretty gutsy.
At the very end Jackson gathers everyone near the monitors as they notice that s
omething huge is blocking the cameras in the air-scrubber chamber. Many scenes f
ollow: #1 Spence sitting in the eco-module...Birds begin to sing...The calm befo
re the storm. #2 EXT. RODINA - No movement. INT. - We see the Vietnamese command
o sitting on the floor cradling her gun, the acid burned corpse of her partner i
s beside her. #3 A series of very rapidly cut scenes where Hicks puts Ripley in
a lifeboat and launches her into space. Bishop questions him about this as she m
ight be infected. Hicks replies, "I owe her one." #4 Great combat sequence as Hi
cks leads a group of "green" marines to the scrubber room where they find a huge
mutant queen alien. The place look like the queens chamber on LV-426, only more
grotesque. Lots of the new aliens come crawling out the walls. The marines dest
roy the new queen and kill lots of the drones, but as the Queen pulls loose from
the framework that is supporting her, an enormous cloud of spores is released a
nd then sucked into the air circulation system. Hicks has Bishop close the vents
. #5 INT. RODINA HUB - The commando works her way through the core of the statio
n. She discover the almost the entire crew of the station, maybe a hundred peopl
e all cocooned in a multi-story column...A bas-relief of human bodies and glitte
ring resin. A closeup of Braun and Suslov is shown. #6 INT. OPS - Jackson, Roset
ti, and Bishop are watching the approach of the UPP cruiser Nikolai Stoiko at Ro
dina (How they are doing this is not explained other than as some form of survel
ience system. It's clear that it's not direct video, but some form of remore ima
ging.). #7 INT. RODINA - The commando gets into an interceptor and escapes from
the station. We see her blast away. #8 EXT. RODINA - We see the Stoiko launch a
missle and a nuclear blast destroy the station. #9 INT. OPS - Jackson says, "I d
on't believe it! They send for help, and their own people nuked'em! Hicks replie
s, "Maybe they asked for it." T
he following scenes are a real combat-fest. #1 Walker on the Mall blasting ali
ens and taking pulls from a jug of liquor. In the end he becomes an alien. #2 IN
T. ECO-MODULE - Spence enters and gasps at what she sees. The primates have been
cocooned in the trees. #3 Hicks on the Mall...scenes of carnage everywhere. #4
INT. OPS - Jackson, Hicks, Rosetti, Spence, and Bishop. Hicks wants to blow the
fusion package immediately. Jackson says it doesn't matter as Hicks has destroye
d the scrubber and with all the fires, they'll only have air for a few more hour
s anyway. One of the marines falls down in agony, only he doesn't become an alie
n. His chest bursts open and about half a dozen new model chestbursters pop out
and run in all different directions. Hicks evacuates everyone. #5 INT. CORRIDOR
- Bishop heads off to rig the fusion package. Hicks gathers all the survivors to
take them to the lifeboats. A few new characters are introduced at this point..
.All minor. #6 Bishop in the Mall encounters yet another queen and her drones in
the process of cocooning victims. Bishop runs for the elevator with the queen a
fter him. #7 Lots of cross-c
utting between the group heading for the lifeboats fighting their way through
the aliens and Bishops staving off the queen in the elevator. Bishop escapes by
ripping up the floor of the elevator showing his android strength. The lifeboat
party emerges from a wall of smoke to find the passage blocked by a wall of resi
n, human bones, marine helmets, rifles, etc. What follows is just too complex to
distill and too long to copy and still be fair to Mr. Gibson. Let me just say t
hat it's an incredible sequence of the lifeboat party taking alternate routes to
the bay as the aliens keep blocking their path. Lots of explosions, shootouts,
mucho violence...Really keen stuff! #8 Bishop arrives at the fusion package and
proceeds to rig it to blow. #9 We rejoin the lifeboat party at the crew quarters
where we see even more carnage including what's left of a children's preschool.
Memebers of the party freak out at this point. Spence and Hicks calm everyone d
own and they move on. #10 Bishop exiting the fusion complex...One of his polycar
bon knees gives out. He is now dragging one leg behind him. #11 Spence is separa
ted in a service shaft and trapped by an alien. She has a huge flare pistol and
kills it. She rejoins Hicks and the oth
ers. #12 Bishop climbing the elevator shaft and checking his watch: 21:40. The
y agreed he would set the fusion unit to blow at 22:00. #13 Hicks and Jackson ha
ve it out with Rosetti who is not handling things very well. Basically, they kic
k his ass. One of the party, Tatsumi is bitten, but survives. They dress his wou
nd and move on. #14 Quick scene of Bishop back on the Mall putting a patch on le
g and then moving to rejoin the others. The queen is no longer there. #15 Hicks
and company arrive at the lifeboat bay. Closeup of Tatsumi's leg wound leaving a
trail of yellow drops. Rosetti opens the door and the bay is filled with fresh
new aliens. Hicks provides cover fire and they get the door closed again. They a
ll pile into an office. It's Trent's, and they find him where he's already kille
d himself. Spence finds that the back wall of the office is actually an airlock.
Sounds of the aliens throwing themselves against the door to the office. Hicks
checks his watch it's 21:46. #16 As they prepare to enter the lock, A chestburst
er cra
wls out of Tatsumi's wound and more erupt from his chest. The survivors enter
the airlock. They all suit up and the color of their suits is important. Rosetti
gets in a yellow suit. Shortly after they exit the lock Rosetti goes through th
e change inside his suit. He kills a lab tech and then Hicks kill him. Only Jack
son, Hicks, and Spence are left alive. Hicks looks at his watch 21:59...22:00...
Nothing! They move across the outside surface of Anchorpoint toward the external
portion of the lifeboats. #17 Outside shot of the lock shows the aliens followi
ng them...They are unaffected by the cold and the vacuum. #18 Outside the lifebo
at, Spence and jackson work on opening the hatch with a bypass. Hicks continue t
o kill aliens. #19 Hicks sees a yellow spacesuit moving across the hull...Rosett
i? No, it's Bishop. he has emerged from another lock. Bishop "greases" all the a
liens that are left on the outside. He tells Hicks that he gave them an extra ha
lf hour of time. #20 As they are getting in the lifeboat, the second queen emerg
es and leads a charge of new aliens toward them. They run out of ammo as the ali
ens close in on them. #21 Cut to the UPP interceptor: shot of a port opening rev
ealing a "viscious looking gattling style pulse cannon" (I could almost hear the
audience cheering
in my head as I read this scene). The interceptor wipes out the aliens. #22 T
he commando lands the interceptor near them and takes them on board. Jackson is
killed by the aliens in this scene. The aliens are coming up behind the ship. Sh
e fires the engines and fries them! #23 The interceptor streaks away as the reac
tor overloads and blows. The last scene is in the interceptor and it's too long
for fair-use, although, I'd love to put up the whole thing. Instead I'll just gi
ve you the gist of it and one very important extract. INT. INTERCEPTOR (dialog o
mitted, but Bishop determines that none of them are infected or they would have
already begun to change. The commando has had a lethal dose of radiation and wil
l only live a few more hours.) BISHOP You're a species again, Hicks. United agai
nst a common enemy... HICKS Yeah? BISHOP The source, Hicks. You'll have to trace
them back, find the point of origin. The first source and destroy it. HICKS I d
on't know, Bishop. Maybe we oughtta just stay out of their way... BISHOP You can
't, Hicks. This goes far beyond mere interspecies competition. These creatures a
re to biological life what antimatter is to matter. HICKS How do you mean? BISHO
P There isn't room for the both of you, Hicks, not in this universe. HICKS That'
s crazy, Bishop... BISHOP No. You're already at war, Hicks. War to extermination
. The alien knows no other mode. HICKS Hell, man, we been at war all my life. Ne
ar enough, anyway. With her (he looks down at the Vietnamese commando). With all
her brothers and sisters. That's what got us into this shit in the first place!
BISHOP But now you've seen the enemy, Hicks. So has she. She's not it. Neither
are you. This is a Darwinian universe, Hicks. Will the alien be the ultimate sur
vivor? Hicks doesn't answer. He just looks at Bishop. Bishop goes back to repair
ing his circuitry. CLOSE ON: Spence's sleeping face and the face of the dying co
mmando. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. SPACE Approach of a large ship. The PING of homing rad
ar. ANGLE ON THE HULL As it slides past, enormous letters: KANSAS CITY EXT. SPAC
E - ANGLE UP >From below Kansas City as a wide bay opens up. The interceptor com
es into frame and is drawn up into the brightly lit hold. The bay closes. EXT. S
PACE Kansas City. Receding. Gone. The stars. FADE OUT THE END ------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ ===================
======================================================= Newsgroups: alt.cult-mov
ies,rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.movies,news.answers,rec.answers,alt.answers Path
: helix.net!unixg.ubc.ca!news.bc.net!vanbc.wimsey.com!scipio.cyberstore.ca!math.
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!EU.net!sun4nl!news.nic.surfnet.nl!tudelft.nl!news.twi.tudelft.nl!vos From: Vos@
Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL Subject: MOVIES: ALIEN FAQ part 4/4 Message-ID: <CyvG3D.EE
s@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Sender: vos@dutiws.twi.
tudelft.nl (E.W.C. de Vos) Organization: Weyland Yutani - "Building Better World
s" Date: Mon, 7 Nov 1994 00:30:49 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Exp
ires: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 23:00:00 GMT Lines: 823 Xref: helix.net alt.cult-movies:16
583 rec.arts.sf.movies:8576 rec.arts.movies:42909 news.answers:4901 rec.answers:
1510 Posting-Frequency: approx. every month Archive-name: movies/alien-faq/part4
Version: 2.1 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&& & & & ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 & & & & Information and Frequently
Asked Questions & & & & Version 2.1 & & & & PART 4 of 4 & & & &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& 16. SOME HEAVY DEDU
CTIONS The following is a highly speculative theory regarding the evolutionary h
istory of the alien creatures and their natural hosts, as well as the nature and
conditions of the alien homeworld. These speculations are based on the followin
g assumptions; that the alien evolved on a planet and was not created de novo by
another species in its current form, that the alien and its homeworld have been
shaped by physical and evolutionary forces which are similar to those in effect
on our own world, that the alien is not the dominant life form on its homeworld
, existing instead as part of a complex ecosystem, and that the homeworld is as
diverse with life forms and potential habitats as is our own. The information us
ed as a basis for this speculation comes solely from the Alien, Aliens and Alien
^3 films. Important common features of aliens taken from the 3 films: Host depen
dent reproduction Dual stage metamorphic life cycle Metallo-silicate exoskeleton
Endoskeleton in juvenile form Growth-stage mediated shedding of skin Low pH blo
od Increased speed & strength (relative to human standards) Large curving crania
of varying morphology Internal mouthed tongue Carnivorous external teeth Air sa
c bellows in the juvenile form Articulated limbs and tail in all life stages Var
ying number of limbs and digits in different life stages Predatory or greater in
telligence Copious production of "slime' Presumed common features observed in so
me subset of the films: Presumed sociality and communication (i.e., the hive was
not a fluke) Internal pressure greater than 14 psi Body temperature equals ambi
ent temperature Can "breathe" underwater Nest built in hot area Some or all of t
hese features may be due to the adaptation/modification of the organism to its c
urrent lifestyle as a space faring parasitic species. In the case of modificatio
n, it would be most parsimonious to assume that the aliens were intended for use
as biological weapons. This theory assumes that the creatures found in space ar
e adapted or modified to living in this habitat, and focuses on estimating their
possible ancestral forms and the state of the ancestral homeworld. It assumes t
hat any modifications and adaptations have been made using pre-existing characte
ristics, so that the ancestral creatures posses similar characteristics. The cre
atures found in space are referred to as "modern" in the following discussion. T
o avoid confusion between discussions of various theorized species and their res
pective life cycles, the life stages have been given specific designations as fo
llows: Life cycle phases: Life stage designation [1] Egg is lain EGG *maturation
phase* [this period might occur in utero] [2] Egg matures *dormant phase* [leng
th of this phase is indefinite] Host signals are detected = motion + sounds [3]
Egg hatches and mobile crawler follows signals to hostLARVA [4] Host's breathing
orifice is secured by "face hugging" crawler *implantation phase* ~24 hours Emb
ryo is implanted in host breathing system. EMBRYO Crawler falls off, dead. *gest
ation phase* ~1-10 days [5] Chestbuster emerges from host NYMPH [6] Chestbuster
stage undergoes a series of instar-like INSTAR transformations until the imago i
s achieved. IMAGO [7] Queen-imago lays egg QUEEN The life stages encompassing th
e egg, larva and embryo are referred to as JUVENILE, and those encompassing the
nymph, instars and imagoes are referred to as ADULT. Discussion of observed char
acteristics: The alien life cycle is divided into two distinct stages which are
reminiscent of the alternating sporophyte and gametophyte generational stages of
plants and fungi. Plants produce distinct types of reproductive cells (spores o
r gametes) which give rise to genetically distinct types of organisms. Spores gr
ow into gametophytes, which produce gametes, while gametes fuse to form sporophy
tes which produce spores. In the alien species, the sporophyte stage could be re
presented by the juvenile stages. These would create the "spore" or embryo. The
gametophyte stage could be represented by the adult stages. These would lay eggs
after gamete fusion. Such a strategy in might be indicative of an chaotic and d
angerous natural environment (see discussion of hypothetical ancestors). We have
zero knowledge of the genetics of these creatures, so further speculation on th
e existence or nature of alien reproductive cells is futile. The alien morpholog
y seems to be a melange of arthropod and vertebrate characteristics. The segment
ed exoskeletal carapace and variable numbers of limbs are reminiscent of terrest
rial arthropods (as well as armored fishes and reptiles to a lesser extent), whi
le the adult body plan seems more vertebrate in nature; the presence of a jaw, s
pine terminating in a tail and limbs ending in grasping hands and feet as oppose
d to the mouthparts, legs and body plan of an arthropod suggest a vertebrate mor
phology. The larval legs are articulated via an endoskeleton, which appears to b
e covered in a sheath of muscle and a pliable external layer of protein and sili
con. This seems to indicate that the oldest ancestors of these creatures posesse
d endoskeletons, and that exoskeletons evolved later. As is the case with verteb
rate evolution in the Silurian and Devonian periods, the endoskeleton may have e
volved first as a means to protect the CNS, and the exoskeleton could have evolv
ed secondarily; in response to environmental challenges. The eggs are complex or
gani
sms in and of themselves. They are responsible for maintaining life support fo
r the larva for an indefinite amount of time, and must recognize a potential hos
t and distinguish it from valid members of the nest. The eggs contain rudimentar
y moving parts. Once the egg has determined that a host is proximal, it releases
the larva. In the modern species, the egg is flammable, translucent and unarmor
ed. Their gracile nature in comparison to the adults may be in response to the s
ecurity afforded by the nest strategy. Because of these unusual qualities in an
egg, it might be that the egg and larva constitute a single organism up until th
e point where the larva is released. The size of an egg in comparison to the siz
e of the contained larva indicates substantial internal morphology, consistent w
ith requirements for life support and sensory systems. Despite the obvious immed
iate differences, the organism's basic body plan may be conserved between the ju
venile and adult forms. The larval form has 8 legs, and while imago forms only a
ppear to have 4 limbs, queens appear to have 8. All forms have a single articula
ted tail, implying the presence of a spine and CNS. As the juveniles posses an e
ndoskeleton it could be assumed that the adults do as well. The adult head morph
ology is quite distinctive. In the post-nymph forms, the mouth contains a second
ary set of jaws on the end of the tongue, and the head is long and curved. In th
e modern species, it is probab
le that the larval form is derived to the point where a majority of the sensor
y portions of the larval body remain in the egg when the larva is released. Anat
omy corresponding to the adult head may be contained within the egg. Accordingly
, if the juvenile "air- sacs" are used for respiration, any adult breathing appa
ratus would be located posterior to the hindmost pair of adult legs. Four "vanes
" are visible on the backs of most adults, and six are visible along the backs o
f queens. These may function in breathing. Additionally, the head configuration
of the adult may be adaptive in that it would prevent accidental implantation of
an embryo into an adult by a larva, or prevent intentional implantation by a la
rva of another sp
ecies. The legs of the larva will not easily grasp the adult head, and the ven
tral "embryopositor" tube will be subject to attack by the mouthed tongue. This
may suggest that there are competing species of these creatures on the homeworld
. While in the egg, the larva sloshes about in a fluid, suggesting aquatic origi
ns for this species. The emerging larva retains a thin coating of the internal f
luid, and this layer appears to be caustic, although the caustic properties are
not as dramatic as those displayed by the organism's blood. The combination of t
he egg fluid and blood pH indicates drastically different aquatic environment on
the homeworld than on earth. It is possible that the pH of the egg fluid is clo
ser to the true pH of the oceans on the homeworld and that the caustic propertie
s of the organism's blood are due to a combination of modification and adaptatio
n to the parasitic lifestyle, or the egg maturation process may deplete the egg
fluid of its caustic properties. Interior carapace pressure might indicate a hig
her average planetary pressure than 14 psi. This could be a defense mechanism, o
r it could simply be circulatory pressure. The internal physiology of the organi
sm has yet to be revealed, but pulsing "artery-like" structures have been observ
ed in emergent nymphs. Possibly the homeworld is larger or the atmosphere is hea
vier tha
n on earth. The larval air sacs/bellows might be a historical adaptation to li
ving beyond the aqueous environment, but it is possible that these are a parasit
ic adaptation, and are not required by the organism. The degree to which they fu
nction is probably dictated by the atmospheric requirements of the host, but we
have no knowledge of the organism's atmospheric requirements. If such sacs are r
equired, the larva will not survive in vacuum. The adults appear to function as
well underwater as out of it, implying that the do not use air sacs. It is possi
ble that inert gasses irritate the adults. Possibly, they breathe using modified
gill structures located in the dorsal vanes. Body temperature is ambient, perha
ps indicating a generally warm planetary surface temperature, or geothermal habi
tat requirement. It remains to be seen how long the imago can survive in a vacuu
m or sub- freezing temperatures. The low pH of the blood would seem to indicate
a drastically reduced freezing point. Queens survive extended periods of transit
through both of these environments, and it is possible that other instar and im
ago forms may as well. The various adult forms demonstrate aversion to open flam
es, but unlike the eggs and nymphs, are not flammable. This suggests temperature
boundaries within the upper limits of terrestrial environments. The lack of obv
ious eyes in any observed stages indicates that the aliens either live entirely
in enclosed or subterranean areas, or that there is no visible light incident on
the surface of the homeworld. If the organisms lived entirely underground, thei
r size and potential for well populated nests implies a well developed and robus
t subterranean ecosystem. If they lived the entirety of their lives i
n their nests, they would be dependent upon the movement of prey and hosts int
o the nest for survival. It is possible that they lure these into the nest, but
the aliens seem quite capable and adept at retrieving them as well. If they dwel
led on an illuminated surface for any amount of time, eyes would be a distinct a
dvantage. The aliens display significant ability to cling to and move on vertica
l and inverted surfaces, supporting the idea that a significant portion of time
is spent underground or in enclosed spaces. Nests fit this description, and it m
ay be that castes which venture outside of the nest posses eyes. In this case, t
hese castes have not yet been observed. The nests might be constructed above or
below ground or water, but seem to be designed so that the resinous construction
material covers all surfaces near their cores. Partially submerged nests would
require air chambers for hosts and larvae. Copious amounts of a viscous substanc
e are constantly being secreted from the mouthparts and neighboring regions. Thi
s substance appears to be used in constructing nests, hardening to form a resin.
Thick strands may also be produced, although the mechanism for this is unclear.
Prior to hardening, the resin does not display caustic properties, and may act
to neutralize acids. This would be useful, both in offering protection from an a
cidic environment, and in protecting the nest from being accidentally dissolved.
Homeworld speculation: (assuming that the aliens are not entirely subterranean)
The homeworld has a higher atmospheric pressure and possibly a greater gravity
than terrestrial standards. It has oceans which are of a very low pH and most li
kely an atmosphere of similar low pH. The EM spectrum incident upon the homeworl
d is significantly different from terrestrial standards, lacking "visible" wavel
engths. This might indicate that the planet's orbit is very large, that it is ex
tremely overcast or that it orbits a weak sun. In this case, the ecosystem might
be based on geochemical and geothermal systems. Geothermal activity might also
provide a relatively high ambient temperature. Th
e acidic nature of the aquatic and atmospheric environments might also be due
to extensive production of hydrogen sulfide and other "high energy" compounds vi
a geochemical activity. A high level of volcanic and tectonic activity might be
maintained by tidal forces stemming from planetary and stellar bodies in the sys
tem. An ecosystem not based on photosynthesis would require radically different
energy production schemes. Such an ecosystem might be founded on thermo- and aci
dophillic microorganisms. Larger autotrophs might incorporate endosymbiotic vers
ions of these microorganisms. Vegetative "plants" would be found around areas of
geothermal and geochemical ac
tivity, both on the surface and on the floor of the oceans. Other organisms mi
ght exploit the difference in pH and temperature at the boundary between aquatic
and terrestrial environments. If volcanic activity were responsible for the ove
rcast nature of the atmosphere, incident light might be used by photosynthetic o
rganisms high in the atmosphere. Thermophillic photosynthesizing organisms might
also be found near lava flows. Areas free of volcanic activity would be dead zo
nes, possibly inhabited by hibernating organisms awaiting an increase in ocean l
evel or the occasional lost creature. Extensive tectonic and volcanic activity m
ight result in habitats subject to frequent change. A geothermal habitat might b
e replaced by a geochemical or volcanic habitat, or might be flooded. If this we
re the case, organisms would have to be either extremely adaptive or mobile in o
rder to survive. Hypothetical ancestors: The presence of an endoskeleton and an
exoskeleton implies that conditions changed during the evolution of the organism
, requiring armored protection of the entire body. Drastically increased predati
on is one such possible change, while a dramatic lowering of the pH of the envir
onment is a second. These options are not mutually exclusive; hostile changes in
the environment may cause increases in levels of predation. A low pH ocean coul
d literally dissolve its inhabitants, forcing them to lower their pH to meet tha
t of the environment, present a barrier against the caustic properties of their
surroundings, leave the oceans or try these strategies in various combination
s. Thick layers of continuously renewed armor would be constantly ablated by t
he acid, but could protect underlying tissues, and secretion of neutralizing sub
stances could serve as similar a shield. A lowering of the blood pH might offer
some protection, but might also begin to damage one's own tissues, and would pro
bably be energetically expensive. Raising the pH of one's tissues would not be a
successful strategy in an aquatic environment. The aliens posses all of these c
haracteristics to various degrees, suggesting that the aquatic environment is ei
ther extremely caustic, or became progressively more caustic in discrete degrees
. The modern species appears only to produce secretions in and around the mouth
region; possibly the protective substance has to be applied to exposed regions o
f the anatomy, or whole body coverage is not necessary beyond an aquatic environ
ment. In the former case, hardening of the resin might serve to bolster the exos
keleton, or the exoskeleton might be formed of the same substance, secreted from
the surface of the body. The endo- and exoskeletons would be made from differen
t substances in this case. In either case, the secretions around the mouth are u
sed for building the nest. Ancestral types might have been covered in an additio
nal layer of secretions. The larvae are known to have an external layer composed
of some combination of protein-polysaccharides and polarized silicon. Larvae do
not seem to produce secretions, and the external layer is not as hard in appear
ance as the adult carapace. In non-nymph adults, this carapace has a metallic ap
pearance, and is probably composed of additional materials. The teeth of nymphs
often have a metallic appearance. If the hardening of resinous secretions were t
he source of the exoskeleton, these secretions might contain different substance
s depending on their intended use. Secretions destined to become armor, structur
al material or strands and cables might have very different compositions. Living
in a variety of challenging and dangerous environments might favor the observed
division of reproductive strategies. The organism might be able to adapt rapidl
y to changing environments by using varying morphologies and reproductive strate
gies as a means of "shifting gears". An organism that was unconcerned with findi
ng a mate could focus on finding a carrier or host capable of moving its offspri
ng to a potentially more hospitable area. Organisms in a hospitable area could f
ocus on reproducing themselves as efficiently as possible. Primitive juveniles c
ould create embryos to be carried away by mobile hosts, while successful adults
could create multiple eggs which were suited to their environment. Thus selectio
n operates one way on the juveniles, selecting for those able to find suitable h
osts (including mobility when the environment is shifting), and another way on t
he adults, selecting for those best suited to their environment. This implies th
at primitive juvenile stages were capable of predicting environmental shifts and
altering their host selection accordingly. That the modern species has an "atro
phied" juvenile stage implies that a stable environment was located, or that a n
ovel strategy for relocating was developed. The stable environment may have been
space, or perhaps there are yet unobserved castes capable of carrying eggs long
distances. The ancestral organism's life cycle might have been similar to that
of a caterpillar/butterfly. The organism searches for a host off of which an emb
ryo may feed after being lain by a larva, much like a caterpillar on a leaf. Pos
sibly older pre-parasitic forms of this organism were like caterpillars; the imp
lanted "embryos" may have been mobile, representing an intermediate life-stage (
PRO-EMBRYO). It is possible that the nymph stage may have occupied this position
, having been "laid" by the larva in a more advanced form. It certainly seems to
be the case that the juvenile and nymph stages of the modern species are develo
pmentally simplified. The modern larva is not capable of ingesting nutrients, be
ing solely devoted to implanting one embryo, and some modern nymphs emerge sans
limbs or with "limbs buds". This primitive life cycle might have proceeded as fo
llows: [1] Egg is lain - matures - hatches [2] Larva proceeds in search of food
and an appropriately mobile host. [3] Larva finds a host, lays pro-embryo on the
host and returns to stage 2. [4] Pro-embryo "grazes" on host organism or organi
sms [5] Pro-embryo develops into first instar, becoming independent of host. [6]
Instars develop into imago forms. [7] Imago searches for food and mates, lays e
ggs. This life cycle is only "mildly" parasitic; the pro-embryo does not necessa
rily harm the host during its grazing/feeding activity, but remains in jeopardy
of discovery and extermination in this vulnerable state. If the pro-embryo were
implanted internally to the host and absorbed nutrients directly from the host,
it could be less vulnerable. The first parasitic ancestors may have placed their
pro-embryos internal to the host, where nutrients could be obtained partially d
igested food in the host's "stomach" or digestive system. If the host digestive
system bore similarity to vertebrate systems, there may have been compartments o
f extreme pH, which may have contributed to the acidophilic nature of the modern
species. More advanced parasites might have done away with their pro- embryo fo
rms, simply implanting embryos within their hosts and which would grow to nymph
form by stealing nutrients directly from the host. These parasites would not hav
e been social organisms. hypothetical ancestors and habitats: unarmored aquatic
vertebrate in a mildly acidic ocean slime-resin coated aquatic vertebrate in an
acidic ocean resin-armored and slime coated aquatic creature in a very acidic oc
ean armored terrestrial creature coping with a variety of hostile surface enviro
nments above described creature with a grazing pro-embryo form above described c
reature with a parasitic embryo form The development of sociality: In descending
order, the "weak" points in the life cycle of the pre-social organisms appear t
o be the dormant phase, the gestation phase and the travel time of the larva fro
m egg to host. These risks could be minimized by securing the eggs "underground"
(away from host/egg predation), and by immobilizing hosts near to the eggs. The
eggs might remain susceptible to predation by small egg eating creatures or lar
ger creatures capable of entering an active nest, requiring cooperative measures
on the part of adults in protecting them. Sociality might develop naturally fro
m such a system. Initially, a division of labor between hunter-foragers to locat
e and retrieve fresh hosts and warrior-scavenger-nurses to protect the eggs and
gestating hosts from predators might suffice. The subsequent evolution of the qu
een dominated caste system may have been a way to diminish competition for hosts
between partially related organisms, by establishing genetically homogenous nes
ts. The large numbers of eggs produced by modern queens seem to indicate a strat
egy involving overproduction of eggs. The persistence of this strategy in the mo
dern species might be due to co-evolution of egg predators, or to environmental
conditions where the risk of destruction of significant portions of the nest was
high. Host Mediated Adaptation: A further means to adapt to an environment is b
y adopting strategies developed earlier by another species. The embryo is in a p
rime position to learn about the metabolic and environmental conditions of its h
ost. Knowledge of local environmental conditions such as the pH, atmospheric con
tent and energy generation schemes would be important for post emergence surviva
l. Varying energy generation schemes may result in differing metabolisms. Knowle
dge of the metabolic level and requirements of the host gives an advantage to be
used in hunting such hosts. The development of the nymph might mimic other phys
ical attributes of the host as well. For example, if the host spent much time ha
nging upside down, the nymph could develop that way as well, making it a compete
nt predator in an "upside down" environment. Adult organisms are presumably adap
ted to their environment via some combination of this host mediated process in c
oncert with post- emergence selection. In the primitive species, larval offsprin
g of these adapted adults will have to evaluate the state of the environment to
determine if they should seek a mobile host to find a more hospitable environmen
t, or if the should seek one to which they are adapted. If a larva chooses a mob
ile host, its embryo may posses different metabolic requirements or a generally
different metabolism, which may result in the death of the embryo after prolonge
d exposure. The nymph must remain capable of aborting its development at the min
imum possible stage and emerging from the host, developing a new adaptive strate
gy from the information gathered from the host, and surviving to reproduce and l
ay eggs adapted to the new environment. This minimum stage is limbless, displayi
ng only the buds of limbs, and uses the segmented tail for propulsion. If the la
rva chooses a host to which it is adapted, there will be much less danger to the
embryo from the host's metabolism, and the nymph will be able to develop to its
full form prior to emergence. This full form possesses two sets of limbs in add
ition to the tail. It is possible that a host chosen by a larva that detects no
impending environmental shift might be immobile or vegetative in nature. Once a
relatively stable environment has been located (in which several rounds of repro
duction were possible), a varying progression of forms might be observed, as pre
ssures of selection and host mediated adaptation refine the organism's strategy
for survival in the environment. Sensation: Since the creatures do not posses an
y eyes by terrestrial standards, they must have some other means of sensing thei
r environment. If the body plan is conserved between juvenile and adult stages,
it is reasonable to assume that the same types of sensors are used in each case.
The eggs appear to be able to detect motion and proximity, and to be able to di
stinguish between hosts and nestmates. The sensation of heat may not be importan
t to this process, as the natural host may have had similar body temperature. Th
e larvae are capable locating and determining the distance to the host implantat
ion orifice, and of leaping through space to that orifice. The adults are capabl
e of distinguishing between nestmates and potential hosts, and are capable of de
tecting movement. They are probably also possessed of pattern recognition system
s, and spatial arrangement recognition systems. Adults have been observed to fix
ate on objects using their heads, suggesting that their primary sensory organs a
re located in the anterior portions of their heads. All adult stages are capable
of producing a variety of sounds, and it is probably the case that they can hea
r and communicate via sound. Communication with "stripped down" eggs is probably
better facilitated via chemical means than sound. It is likely that recognition
of nestmates is achieved via a combination of chemical and sonic communication.
Eggs might communicate with each other via chemical signals. The detection of m
otion and proximity may be facilitated via sonic systems. In terrestrial nocturn
al, subterranean and aquatic environments, these have proven quite successful, a
nd accordingly, the shape of the head is reminiscent of cetacean crania. However
, the large curving structure of the head might serve as some other sort of sens
or as well. It could be used to detect EM wavelengths other than visible light,
although it is not obvious how useful such a structure would be in detecting lon
ger or shorter wavelengths. Interestingly, the creatures might have a sensory sy
stem similar to the "motion tracking" technology developed by humans. Communicat
ion: Variation in the surface morphology of the head seems to indicate a sensory
function. Lone adults have uniform smooth reflective heads, while adults functi
oning in a nest have distinct anterior and posterior head sections; the posterio
r region being covered in a ribbed pattern with a sagittal crest, and the anteri
or region being characteristically smooth with a pair of pits on either side of
the head. This morphology in social organisms may be used in sonic and chemical
communication. That this ribbed pattern is visible in the neck regions of the lo
ne adult may indicate that the smooth reflective surface of the heads serves as
a canopy covering more complex structures. This smooth canopy is reminiscent of
the smooth surfaces of the queen's headpiece sheath. This sheath is comprised of
at least three independent pieces, the largest of which possesses several overl
apping flanges. Various sized holes are visible between these flanges, and the e
ntire sheath may serve as a production organ for chemical signals. In the transf
ormation from imago to queen-imago (see the discussion of ancestral types below)
, the adult canopy may develop into the sheath. Once this transformation has bee
n accomplished, the new queen would issue chemical signals destroying the canopi
es of any nearby adults. If the ribbed structures beneath the canopy corresponde
d to modest versions of the signal procution organs beneath the queen's sheath a
nd were be used for communication between nestmates, the canopy might serve to i
solate a lone adult from foreign signals. Canopied adults would in effect be "de
af" to most nest signals. If all nestmates are progeny of the same queen, then t
he canopy destroying signal produced by a particular queen might be genetically
specified. A canopied adult which found itself near a foreign nest or a foreign
queen would not be susceptible to that queen's signals, and would develop into a
queen. An adult which found itself near a related nest or queen would lose its
canopy and join the nest. A dead queen would be replaced by a young canopied adu
lt. It could be assumed that an uncanopied adult would be utterly subservient to
the commands of a queen, in which case it might be possible for one queen to ki
ll another and steal the uncanopied members of the nest. The canopy must allow l
imited communication, as a valid queen must be able to order its destruction. Po
ssibly, canopied adults would be capable of identifying hosts harboring embryos
as well, and could act to protect related embryos and possibly destroy unrelated
ones. The modern and ancestral natural hosts: The modern species" reproductive
cycle is problematic because it displays a dependence upon the death of a host f
or the reproduction of a each organism. A host which survived nymph emergence mi
ght favor the development of this lifestyle. Such a host would have to withstand
the damage incurred in emergence, and be able to survive further rounds of impl
antation, gestation and emergence. Alternatively, ancestral forms of the organis
m might have used a less injurious host-emergence strategy. If instead of creati
ng new exits, the nymphs emerged via the orifice through which they were implant
ed, the chance of the host surviving would increase dramatically. Possibly, ance
stral organisms used such a strategy. Also, a host with thick exterior armor wou
ld make creation of new exits difficult. In any case, a large organism would be
better suited to surviving the embryo development process. The parasite might be
little more than a pest for a host of sufficient size, and might even serve som
e symbiotic function by feeding on exoskeletal parasites of the host after emerg
ence. The implantation period indicates a requirement for about 24 hours of clos
e contact. This is facilitated by the articulated limbs and the tail. In modern
creatures, the larval "embryopositor" appears to be composed of soft tissue, ind
icating that implantation is probably directly onto the desired internal substra
te as opposed to being gained by destruction of external tissue. In addition to
other possible functions, the mouthed tongue of the imago might function to perm
it sampling of the tissue contained within a hard carapace. These data suggest t
hat the natural host possessed a hard shell. During the implantation phase, the
host is provided with atmosphere via specialized bellows structures on the larva
, implying that the host would be in danger of asphyxiation during the implantat
ion process. Thus the natural host probably has only one breathing orifice, and
is at least partially terrestrial. The parameters of the area surrounding the na
tural host's breathing orifice may be estimated via observing the length of tail
available and the available span of the articulated limbs (2-3 feet for the lim
bs and 4-5 feet of tail). This orifice is most likely at the end of a stalk of i
ndeterminate length, which might be up to a foot in diameter. The terminus of th
is stalk is most likely a spheroid 1-2 feet in diameter. The amount of oxygen pr
ovided to the host is limited by the size of the larval bellows apparatus, and t
his would limit the size of a potential host and that host's activity during imp
lantation. Possibly the bellows size has evolved to parallel changes in host siz
e. The constrictive nature of the tail would seem to suggest that the host's bre
athing is accomplished by changing the volume of the stalk. Bi-directional air f
low in the host might be accomplished via the use of peristaltic waves. Since th
e host is likely armored, the tail would probably not be capable of constricting
the host unless this strategy were used to inhale and exhale. Assuming that the
host would resent an attack on its sole breathing orifice and the subsequent im
plantation event, temporary incapacitation of the host would be desirable on the
part of the organism. An extremely large host might be able to detach the larva
at negligible expense to its own structure. Possibly the constrictive nature of
the tail is used to immobilize the host initially. However, an incapacitated ho
st would be easy prey to various other predatory creatures. It is possible that
the implantation period would not be *extremely* uncomfortable for the host, and
that the host would be capable of enduring the implantation period without suff
icient cause to successfully dislodge the parasite. In this case, the implantati
on process might only diminish the host's "natural breathing capacity', requirin
g the supplemental air supply provided by the larva. In such a scenario, it migh
t be possible for multiple larvae to simultaneously implant embryos in hosts. Em
ergence of the nymph seems to be triggered by moderate levels of host activity.
This might be a valid strategy if the host was preyed upon. Moderate levels of a
ctivity would indicate that there were no predators around and that the locale w
as safe for nymph emergence. Sufficiently high level of activity might indicate
flight from a predator, and a period of inactivity might be indicative of a host
's attempt to hide from a predator. The general conclusions regarding the natura
l host are as follows; it is a large terrestrial or semi-aquatic organism which
breathes through an orifice at the end of a stalk. This could be the host's head
, or it could be a specialized structure. The host is most likely armored and is
possibly prey to other predators. Most of the above speculation regards the nat
ural host of the pre-social organism. The natural host of the social organism is
most likely a smaller version of the described host. Smaller hosts would occur
in more abundant numbers, and their populations might tolerate the parasitic lif
estyle of increasing numbers of aliens. In addition, it is more efficient to cap
ture, immobilize and maintain smaller hosts than large. It is possible that the
modern organism's penchant for creating a new emergence orifice is a modificatio
n subsequent to the dispersal into space; on the homeworld, the social organisms
might remain capable of multiple rounds of implantation, gestation and emergenc
e on a single host. Some species might retain the ability to switch from a socia
l mode to a more primitive non-social mode. Proposed ancestral types: Presumably
, organisms which use these strategies still live on the homeworld. Early ancest
or: a non-social creature with a multi-stage life cycle. Most stages of this lif
e cycle are omnivorous. This is a very primitive version of the organism. Natura
l host: The natural host might be any large mobile creature, or it might be some
sort of immobile vegetative organism. Life cycle: Eggs are laid in large clutch
es, perhaps buried in the ground or perhaps attached to vegetative organisms via
resin. This resin might also serve to protect the eggs from predation. After a
long maturation phase, these eggs hatch and larvae emerge. These are free living
organisms in their own right, devoted to finding food and potential hosts. Poss
essed of advanced sensory capabilities, these creatures are capable of producing
many pro-embryos. The eggs of this species would be little more than containers
, possessing no sensory apparatus and probably opening upon the signal of the la
rva. These larvae locate and lay pro-embryos on putative hosts. These pro-embryo
s digest whatever available food there is to be found on their substrate; the fo
od might be other surface parasites or vegetative matter or secreted substances.
These pro-embryos would be capable of moving between hosts, and some in some "v
egetative" species might serve in a "cross-pollinating" capacity. In more advanc
ed forms, the pro-embryos might live in the host digestive system, feeding off o
f partially digested nutrients. Once a sufficient level of nutrition has been ac
hieved, the embryo metamorphoses into a nymph and becomes a free living organism
. Progression through of a series of predatory instars yields the imago, which s
erves the sole purpose of laying more eggs. Comments: There are a variety of lif
ecycle and lifestyle strategies which may be derived from this organism. There a
re probably a variety of different species descended from this general form. The
imago is the fully adult form of the organism, having spent all of its instars
searching for food. As with the pro-embryo, this food might be both vegetative o
r "animal" in nature. Medial ancestor: a non-social predatory creature with a du
al stage life cycle. This type of creature is perhaps on the verge of developing
into the modern organism. Natural host: The natural host is a large creature th
at breathes atmosphere through a single orifice on the end of an armored stalk.
Airflow through this stalk is maintained by expanding and contracting the walls
of the stalk, possibly via peristaltic waves. Life cycle: Thick-hided and perhap
s armored eggs are buried in the ground and are mortared in place with resin. Th
e eggs mature and enter the dormant phase. The motion and sound of a passing pot
ential host signals the egg to hatch and disgorge the larva which pursues, catch
es and "boards" the host. In this organism, the larva's sole purpose is to locat
e and implant an embryo into a host as quickly as is possible. Its sensory appar
atus are devoted to this task alone, and because it does not take nutrition, it
can only afford to implant a few embryos; in most cases it can only manage one.
The egg retains a modest ability for detection and controls the release of the l
arva. The larva then locates the breathing orifice, affixes itself to it via mea
ns of the legs and tail and supplements the air flow to the host during the impl
antation phase. The embryo is implanted in the internal substance of the breathi
ng canal. Once implantation is complete, the larva dies. The host proceeds, unti
l the nymph emerges from its "breathing trunk" via the natural orifice. The host
most likely survives this ordeal, although it might experience labored breathin
g for a few days. The nymph goes through a series of instars , which hunt for fo
od, until an imago is realized, which hunts for food, mates and prospective host
ranges. The mouthed tongue might be integral to all three pursuits, as well as
protecting the adults form implantation by larvae of other species. Putative hos
ts might be weakened by use of the mouthed tongue, making them more susceptible
to being boarded by the larva. A series of eggs might be lain over a large area,
awaiting a weakened host to stumble through. Possibly, the adults are capable o
f cucooning themselves and or severely weakened hosts with resin in order to pro
tect against predation. Comments: The eggs and larvae of this species appear int
ermediate in that they share the responsibilities of host detection and selectio
n. This suggests that the larva and egg are a single continuous organism in this
species and that sensory organs are shared or duplicated between the two parts.
Immediate ancestor: a predatory social creature, possibly smaller than the medi
al ancestral type. This is the organism which immediately predated the modern or
ganism. Natural host: a smaller version of the ancestor's host, or a similar sma
ller creature. Life cycle: A fertile queen lays thick hided eggs in a protected
creche. These are guarded and tended by various castes of adult relatives. The n
est is created and maintained by the adults and is constructed from secreted res
in. The adults procure hosts from outside the nest and immobilize them near matu
re eggs. The eggs open and the larva immediately attach to the host. Larval ener
gy usage is almost totally devoted to adhering to the host and implanting a sing
le embryo. The large eggs contain most of the important sensory and decision mak
ing apparatus, leaving the larvae as "stripped down" as is possible. Implantatio
n and gestation occur as in the medial ancestor, but the nymph tears its way out
of the host body. Unless it is sufficiently large, the host likely expires in t
he emergence. The nymph develops into an imago via a series of instars, which mi
ght perform particular duties required by the nest according to their age or cas
te. Comments: Queens display at least six limbs, and an additional pair of hind
limbs are required to support the ovarian organ systems. Queens have a greater n
umber of limbs, digits and dorsal vanes than are observed in various adult forms
, and thus may represent a most advanced instar form. If this is the case, the v
arious observed forms may represent different instar stages of adult development
, and each of these might correspond to a different caste. A nymph which found i
t self isolated from a nest, or in a nest sans a functional queen, might develop
rapidly through a series of instars (which would only be of use in a functional
nest) and into a queen- imago which could then begin the egg laying process and
re-establish control of a leaderless nest. A queen in a functioning nest would
suppress this development in all other individuals, halting their development at
the penultimate imago stage. This could be accomplished via a special queen- pr
oduced chemical signal which causes the destruction of adult canopies. A lone im
ago metamorphosing into a queen-imago might require a period of hibernation as i
t develops the morphological characteristics of a queen: the auxiliary ventral a
rms, large headpiece sheath and externalized ovarian systems with associated leg
s. In this case, the adult canopy might be the source of the developmental signa
ls which trigger the transformation, and would develop into the sheath. The quee
n-imago is a form devoted to producing large numbers of eggs in a short amount o
f time. Presumably, this form is a novel development which is specific to the so
cial species. It might be that imago form retains the ability to lay eggs at a m
uch lower rate and at much greater expense to itself. This would require an over
ride of the natural inclination for canopied imago forms to develop into queen-i
magoes, and would probably only occur under periods of extreme stress when the n
utritional requirements of metamorphosis into a queen could not be met. Problems
: The most difficult problem regards the provenance of the "acidic blood'. It is
likely that the caustic properties of the blood are not due to simple pH, but t
hat other chemical and enzymatic factors are in effect. Regardless, the origin o
f such a system remains difficult to estimate. The egg fluid would seem to indic
ate a moderately acidic aquatic environment. An acidification of the blood might
have arisen as a defense mechanism, or in response to changes in the environmen
t, or as an adaptation to a life cycle stage in an acidic digestive environment.
The organism's "blood" might be its digestive system, which would suggest an ex
tremely different internal structure than terrestrial standards. The caustic pro
perties of the blood appear to be more effective on synthetic and organic materi
als than on metals, supporting the idea that other chemical and enzymatic factor
s are at work, which in turn supports the digestive theory. Disclaimer: The char
acteristics discussed above are not the sole characteristics available for discu
ssion, nor are the conclusions drawn the only conclusions possible. This is simp
ly one possible picture based on the set of assumptions and the data. ----------
------------------------------------------------------------------- 15. REVISION
HISTORY (Daryll Hobson initiated this FAQ) v1.0 - March 22, 1993 - Initial draf
t. Most information supplied by me alone. v1.1 - March 31, 1993 - Added countles
s bits of information supplied by interested users of the net. v1.2 - April 14,
1993 - Revision control. Chestburster scene added, more info on the dog/cow scen
e of _ALIEN^3_, more _ALIENS_ cut scenes, added to the alien physiology discussi
on. Small changes to the merchandise list. Added more "memorable quotes" and mor
e "trivia". Added "rituals" section and switched around the order of the section
s to make the FAQ more readable. v1.3 - May 5, 1993 - Small changes to the "Who
is?" section. Removed the Chestburster scene. Organized the discussion section.
Added some more frequently asked questions. More complete descriptions of the cu
t scenes from _ALIEN_ and _ALIENS_ were added as well. More trivia. v1.4 - June
23, 1993 - Added Gibson's ALIEN^3 script synopsis, James Cameron's answers to a
few questions about ALIENS and vastly improved the merchandise and FAQ sections.
v1.5 - Sept 14, 1993 - Added more frequently asked questions. Added running tim
es to some of the _ALIEN_ cut scenes. More rituals. Added extensive info about _
ALIEN^3_ script rewrites. v1.6 - Sept 21, 1993 - In an effort to reduce (elimina
te?) the all-too-common flaming of _ALIEN^3_, I added a section to Frequently Di
scussed Topics that addresses both sides of the argument. Broke the FAQ up into
3 parts so I could (once again) post it to the Internet. v1.7 - Dec 25, 1993 - F
INALLY got an FTP site for the FAQ. Added to the technical errors, frequently
asked questions, trivia. Increased emphasis on NOT asking me "Where can I get Gi
bson's ALIEN 3 script?" v1.8 - Mar 8, 1994 - More information on soundtracks. Ad
ded to frequently asked questions, trivia and memorable quotes. Memorable quotes
ordered according to when they occur in the movies. Didn't get around to adding
ALL that new merchandise yet. What a nightmare! v1.9 - April 10,1994 - Changed
information on how to get Gibson's ALIEN 3 script. Added to frequently asked que
stions, merchandise and memorable quotes. v2.0 - June 14, 1994 - Added more memo
rable quotes, questions and merchandise. Prepared the document to be HANDED OFF
(ie: no longer maintained by me). (Eelko de Vos took over the maintenace of the
FAQ) v2.1 - August 12, 1994 - Added some more info on various subjects. Also add
ed part four to the faq: Steve's document about what he derived from the alien m
ovies. It are the insights of a molecular biologist. I rearranged some bits, but
most this document is mostly in its original state. I made the Alien WWW pages
grow considerably. They are at: http://www.twi.tudelft.nl/~vos/alien.html &&&&&&
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