This summer's slew of popcorn movies so far has been pretty weak. I don't care about boy wizards. The robots in disguise are at it again and i could care less. Trek, Wolverine and a new Terminator can all wait for video. No, the movie i was looking forward to seeing last Monday was a movie i have already seen in the theatres. I've seen it on DVD already too. I've seen it on VHS and Beta and Laser Disc as well. I've seen it on cable and edited for regular television. The last time i saw it was a few months ago on my ipod during a long flight back from Hawaii. I've probably seen this movie a 100 times already all told. However the last time i saw it when it was showing in the theatres i was 6 years old. Thirty years later i witnessed the movie Alien in the theatre again. The circle is now complete.
Any casual reader of this blog knows i like Ridley Scott's 1979 Sci Fi classic Alien. I like it a lot. I did a whole month's worth of posts on the movie. It's a fascination bordering on mania. I know i promised to lay off Alien for awhile but this is different. This post had to be done.
I was reading the paper a couple of weeks ago and i noticed for a limited time only (one week) at the Film Forum Theatre in NYC they were going to show Alien in celebration of it's 30th year anniversary. I knew i had to go. As I've said I've seen it about 100 times but one more time wouldn't kill me. So i went online and bought a ticket.
The screening was going to be the Director's Cut. Ridley Scott is known as the "King of the Director's Cut" and I've seen that version before. There were a few tweaks added here and there that i noticed. Mostly dialogue was added or old dialogue was tightened up. A few shots here and there were added to to the landing on the Alien planet and some extra scenes were added of the crew hanging out at the beginning. Also the scene where Ripley finds out what happened to Brett and Dallas after the Alien gets a hold of them was added at the end. All fine and welcome additions.
The best part of the seeing it again in the theatre though was seeing the movie with a crowd. It's like when you go see a band perform that you're really into play live. The theatre was pretty packed and it seemed like most everyone there had seen Alien before and probably liked it as much as i did. Everyone jumped at same time when the Alien did something terrible. People laughed when Parker said something funny. Everyone jumped and freaked during the chest bursting scene. Everyone snicked when a beheaded at some of the effects like when Ash is a dummy one second and then Ian Holm with his head sticking out of the middle of the table the next second. I even snickered at that one. However familiar the movie was to me it was probably one of the best times i ever had at the theatre in a long time. It was like riding a roller coaster where you know exactly when every turn and dip is going to happen with a bunch of people who are just as knowledgeable of said roller coaster. It was still really fun.
When i saw Alien in the theatre the first time i was a little kid. All the slow parts at the beginning were boring to me then. Now 30 years later they were the best parts. The sound and the score sounded incredible. I heard things i never heard before. Small sound effects and little queues that i never picked up on from the TV were booming in surround sound in the theatre. Mumbled dialogue that was lost through a the sound mix at home were clear as a bell now. Even the extra scenes that kept popping up were very welcome. All in all it was like seeing it again for the first time.
If i were you I'd comb your local paper. It's the movie Alien's 30th anniversary. Maybe it's playing near you. If you liked Alien or loved it, if you've seen it a couple times or a 101 times, I say you should see it again in the theatre. It's that good.
**p.s. - just to the right of here in the prior business section under May 2009 was this blog's Alien Month. 4o+ posts on the movie Alien. check it out. **
7 comments:
Ahh, I love that movie. Seeing it on the big screen would be awesome.
That's really cool. Glad you got a chance to see it again on the big screen. I would love that. It's such a classic.
I too caught it on the big screen at the F2 and loved the shit out of it.
Here's the debate point. At one point in the film Ian Holms's character actually says, "Now that we know it's dietary requirements . . ."
But he's incorrectly assuming that the alien has eaten Harry Dean Stanton's character. In fact, Brett and Dallas have both been slimed to the wall to provide hosts for more baby aliens.
So, what the hell do the aliens eat?
Happy to hear you finally got another opportunity to see this one on the big screen! There really is nothing quite like watching a horror film with a packed audience with a bag of popcorn and a huge Pepsi, wish I coulda been there!
Saranga- i hope you get the chance. check your local listings.
Keith- a classic indeed and so far one of the highlights of my summer. see if it's playing by you and check it out.
CRwM- glad you got to go! it was totally the shit, right?
about your debate point, here's where the math gets fuzzy and i don't want to sound like a know it all. mainly cause i don't know it all.
Ash doesn't say "dietary requirements" (tomato) he says "nutritional requirements" (tomatoe) if i'm thinking of the part of the movie you're thinking of. He and Ripley are discussing how fast the Alien sheds it's cells and adapts to the ship's atmosphere. i guess what he means is the thing was found on the harsh Alien planet and then it adapted with no problems to the ship's conditions. also it helps explain how he goes from chest burster to 7 feet tall so fast.
i've often wondered what the Alien ate. Brett looked pretty molted in the extra scene at the end and was covered by that resin the Alien secretes. My guess is the Alien might produce that stuff because of the "cell shedding" Ash was talking about and use the protein he gains from his kills to make it. however when Alien (the movie) was made i'm not sure the writers thought that far ahead as to what the alien was doing with Brett and Dallas. I think he was just nesting since there were no eggs around to make baby Aliens. i think he killed Brett outright to get started and was saving Dallas for later. it might be the reason one of the reasons the scene got cut. it brings up too many questions and Scott is a big believer in less is more. also the scene he thought slowed down the movie momentum.
The short answer:
Q: what do Aliens eat?
A: human beans. woka woka.
Carl- it was top notch. i hope it's playing by you and you get to see it too. and yer right, when the right horror movie is on in the theatre people get really keyed up and it really adds to the fun.
and when the movie is bad and the people behind you heckle what's on screen that can be fun too.
I'm jealous... I've never seen it on the big screen
iMike- check yer local paper. you never know there could be a midnight showing someplace near you.
worth the trip.
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