How so? I thought he was trying to say Harlan Elllison wrote I Robot. I thought it was funny that he was so passionate and then got the author wrong. I see now he meant the screenplay but nontheless I expect to be called on things like that as well if it looks like I made a mistake.

Anyways I meant no offense and was laughing with him and not at him as the expression goes.

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

PRECISELY. Which is why they needed to be brutally killed before the opening titles had finished. The whole structure of the film is about destroying everything and everyone that Ripley cares for in the most horrible manner available. How else do you suggest making a single Alien so utterly, soul-destroyingly terrifying, and bring her to the point where that fall is triumphant rather than an admission of defeat?

While I didn’t particularly car for A3 one way or another, I found myself extremely annoyed that they killed off the other characters. Aliens is just about my favorite Sci-Fi Horror flick and there was actual character development instead of a one faceted blow ‘em here, one of the reasons that people identified with them. To me, at least, it really cheapened the spirit of the previous movie and the survival of the characters against nearly impossible odds.

On a side note. A buddy of mine has a new dog that he named Ripley, he’s taught her to roll over and play dead when someone says, “Game over, man.”

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Photons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.

It was a cop out. If it's such a great way to advance a franchise then why not kill off Spock, McCoy and Scottie. Or Han, Liea, and Chewbacca. Then have a story with just Kirk or Luke.

Newt, Hicks and Bishope were characters like that. It was suicide for the series. And like I said, the version we saw at the theaters was just awfull and that's the one just about everybody saw. Nobody who's not a die hard fan is going to shell out 26.99 to take a chance that a bad movie might get better with the release of the special edition.

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

They had to kill off Newt; the actress who played her would have been six years too old to play the role when they came to make Alien 3. Re-casting her would have been pretty lame- sure, killing her was tragic, but such is tragedy.

Hm.. pretty good point on that.

IIRC, Micheal Biehn was available to play Hicks again, so I don't understand why they didn't bring him back.

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I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

That's easy and im not even a writer. Another navigation blunder ala Aliens, hypersleep malfunction or take up the Alien conquest of earth 4 years later.

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

OK, first a disclaimer: I liked Alien3 when I saw it in the cinema, even if nobody else did.

James's suggestions would all be fine, and indeed keeping all three characters alive would be an excellent idea, if the third Alien film was going to be an action movie like Aliens, or indeed go in a number of other directions.

But the film is a horror movie and a tragedy. So I've just never quite understood the complaints about the fact that it's (a) horrific, and (b) tragic.

Also, the comics had already explored the possibilities of a gun-toting Ripley and Newt team, running around as they try to cope with an overrun Earth and pretty much exhausted the whole Colonial Marines thing. Taking the Alien back to the core of being a terror in the dark, with nowhere to escape and little chance to fight, is a perfectly valid choice to make I think.

But then, if I was in charge I'd have left Spock dead, too. And killed Han in the explosion of the 2nd Death Star as Ford and Kurtz wanted. Fictional SF characters the Universe over are pretty glad I'm not a screenwriter, all things considered.

Presumably, they killed him because Alien 3's story wouldn't have worked with Hicks in the picture- the one of the main themes of the third film is that Ripley is alone, threatened, and no-one believes her. The presence of a marine corporal to back up both her story and herself would have changed the film utterly- and, for better or for worse, that was the story that the filmmakers wanted to tell.

Apparently, Michael Biehn was livid that they killed him off in Alien 3, and charged them a ludicrous sum of money to even use his image in the third film. That's presumably why we never see his body, and also why the only glimpse we get of him is a blurry shot of him from his digital record.

I did too, for the same reason. I actually ended up liking Alien3 better than the first, and much better than the second. (To say I hated 4 though, doesn't come anywhere near the truth.)

Uh, wait, wasn't it Calrissian aboard the Falcon (along with his Sullustan co-pilot) who was supposed to have been killed in the explosion? Ford/Solo was on Endor at the time.

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. o O ( "Quote that 'Blazing Saddles' scene at Mike, and the BAUTer gets it! " )

At the point where the idea of the Falcon getting caught in the explosion was first raised, Solo was still going to be piloting it. You're right, though - even after switching him to the Endor crew the old bird wasn't going to make it until very near the end of production - hence the "I've just got this feeling I'm never going to see her again" line from Han before they go their seperate ways.

It would have been an interesting twist if Han said he got a feeling he wasn't going to see the Falcon again, then died on Endor (instead of the Falcon being destroyed).

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Yes, they laughed at Einstein, but only because of his silly hairstyle; no one was actually laughing at his science.

Way too subtle for Lucas.

"So love has blinded you?" (hurl)

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

I'm amazed every time I see the "they had to kill off Newt because the actress grew up" argument. Am I the only one who thinks that it was just poor thinking to make Alien 3 follow directly on Aliens in the first place? There was absolutely nothing to prevent a "space" between the movies, and really, it was the logical thing to do - Sigourney Weaver aged quite a bit between it and Alien, yet since she'd been in hypersleep, she should be roughly the same age as in Alien. The multiple decades she spent "frozen" between Alien and Aliens might have allowed her to age a few years even while in hypersleep, but between Aliens and Alien 3, there was no such "excuse".
And on top of that, they managed to mess up Newt's age in Alien 3 anyway, stating it as "around 12", when she was very obviously 9-10 in Aliens. All the more reason to think Alien 3 took place in some strange alternate universe, and pretend it never happened.

Whatever happened to the alleged film of Rendezvous with Rama? I seem to hazily recall Morgan Freeman's name in connection with the project. The IMDB entry seems to be a stub.

Yeah, I remember the annoucements about that years ago. David Fincher was signed on to direct. But haven't heard anything since. Sounds like it's been pretty much shelved.

Could have been a great film - or completely dire. The main problem with translating the story to the screen is, much like Clarke's 2001, Rama is a slow unfolding story about the amazement of discovery ET life. There's not really any big fight scenes or action sequences - which seem to be the requirement for sci-fi movies these days. You'd need a really great director to be able to capture the right sense of tension, suspense and awe. Fincher IMO, is not that director. He's no doubt a talented director, but not sure he could restrain himself for this film.

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Time cube is evil.

Huh?


- Bob

In one of the many versions of Alien3 (certainly the most interesting of the abortive attempts), the events took place on a wooden satellite. There's a very interesting section on it in the big documentary on the second disc of the current Alien3 release, which is also discs 5 and 6 of the giant Quadrilogy set, if you'd rather that - it's well worth it.

Yes, buying the Quadrilogy means getting Resurrection, and I know most people hate it. But it's still watchable for its flaws, and the doc on the mess behind it is well worth the price alone.

Are you sure Carrie Henn would have reprised her role anyway? The only thing she's ever acted in was Aliens, it seems she prefers being a teacher.

Can you say more about this? How can a satellite be made of wood? WHY would it be made of wood??


- Bob