Alien: Covenant footage was screened. Results are in...

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Please hold your applause till after the me.
What have they done, the Aliens look so fake, why are there no practical effects aside from the face huggers.
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Little Devil's Avatar
MC for the Great Underground Circus
What have they done, the Aliens look so fake, why are there no practical effects aside from the face huggers.
it's the damn color scheme.
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Unintenionally funny is the best kind of funny, and this definitely looks like Prometheus 2: Electric Bughuntaloo.
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i have to admit the new trailer has striked fear into me, hope the movie is gonna be great



A good amount of it looks great, though I think they showed too much too soon. However, I have to agree that the CGI Aliens aren't cutting it. That last scene was ridiculous. To top it off, the Star Wars-esque extravaganza looked really out of place. It's 50/50 for me right now. This could turn out to be really great or a huge disappointment.



I love the look of this. A lot of it seems overblown, but I don't care. It's borderline impossible to make an Alien movie that I won't like. I actually hope they go with more extraterrestrial planet stuff. The spaceship stuff doesn't look as appealing as its forerunners.
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it's the damn color scheme.
I saw a great YouTube comment today, telling Ridley Scott "there are other colours than teal"



Ok, after watching the 2 trailers I'm already laughing.

1 - "human vegetation" - LOL wot?
2 - "who planted it" - oh dear... because the entire vegetation on Earth was "planted by humans".
3 - If you are going to colonize a new planet, you MUST do it with gay people [nothing wrong with gay people, obviously, but they won't contribute to multiply the colony - unless via sperm donation. It's way too cumbersome all the same]
4 - No one seems to rely on their on-board computers to analyze the surface of the planet. "I heard there's a planet we can colonize. Dunno what it looks like at all, let us all just rush in"
5 - Ripleys' mom spotted. Because the entire universe hates a random yet unborn woman.


Visually it looks alright. It also has Aliens. GOOD.
I meant to reply to this earlier but pesky real life got in the way.

I'm looking at all the comments so far and I'm agreeing with so much – I think we've all got the same, if not similar, niggles.

WARNING: spoilers below
The human vegetation thing stuck with me as well. It wasn't particularly about who planted it but just the term. Why not "Earth vegetation?" Just seems like a weird phrase, as if it's been written by someone coming to sci-fi afresh. I laughed remembering a great Doctor Who line (from Colony in Space ironically ) "There's no animal life, just a few birds and insects". Did you know Ridley Scott nearly designed the Daleks ?

The gay colonist thing is a fair point – actually I hadn't noticed that at all – and perhaps sperm donation would be the way round it. They might even be thinking along the current lines of 3-person fertility.

I liked some of what I could see of the aliens. There's a strange, light-coloured thing that's like a cross between a facehugger and a chestburster that attacks someone. I like the overtly new stuff the best.

The alien attacking the – drop ship? – does look very poor. Its legs are like a spider aren't they? But, I feel like it needed to be a man in a suit, even with CGI to enhance it. I would also say that "Holy ****!" doesn't even cut it if that thing is smacking its head on your windshield. More like "F**** me!" Even Michael Caine in Jaws: the Revenge is better.

Couple of other things. The emotive mention of "couples" is like a reversal of Ripley's exhausted "Families. Oh Jesus" in Aliens; the shot of Waterston seemingly reacting to bloody remains or something equally hideous calls to mind Ripley finding what's left of Lambert and Parker in Alien. You worry that there will maybe be too many nods to the past at times. I like the prologue red herring choking scene though.



Little Devil's Avatar
MC for the Great Underground Circus
WARNING: spoilers below
The human vegetation thing stuck with me as well. It wasn't particularly about who planted it but just the term. Why not "Earth vegetation?" Just seems like a weird phrase, as if it's been written by someone coming to sci-fi afresh. I laughed remembering a great Doctor Who line (from Colony in Space ironically ) "There's no animal life, just a few birds and insects". Did you know Ridley Scott nearly designed the Daleks ?

The gay colonist thing is a fair point – actually I hadn't noticed that at all – and perhaps sperm donation would be the way round it. They might even be thinking along the current lines of 3-person fertility.

I liked some of what I could see of the aliens. There's a strange, light-coloured thing that's like a cross between a facehugger and a chestburster that attacks someone. I like the overtly new stuff the best.

The alien attacking the – drop ship? – does look very poor. Its legs are like a spider aren't they? But, I feel like it needed to be a man in a suit, even with CGI to enhance it. I would also say that "Holy ****!" doesn't even cut it if that thing is smacking its head on your windshield. More like "F**** me!" Even Michael Caine in Jaws: the Revenge is better.

Couple of other things. The emotive mention of "couples" is like a reversal of Ripley's exhausted "Families. Oh Jesus" in Aliens; the shot of Waterston seemingly reacting to bloody remains or something equally hideous calls to mind Ripley finding what's left of Lambert and Parker in Alien. You worry that there will maybe be too many nods to the past at times. I like the prologue red herring choking scene though.
All fair paints as well. Yeah I liked the choking scene but when she started to choke I could see where it went after two seconds.



I also meant to mention that it surprises me how much Ridley Scott is deferring to CGI, especially for the aliens. From what I've seen so far they're looking – and behaving – much more like animals than a version of people. That makes them less frightening to me, and calls to mind Alien: Resurrection where they were at their most animalistic.

WARNING: spoilers below
The alien trying to break through the cockpit screen reminds me quite a bit of the Alien Queen, even though the head is more like a normal alien – looks bigger than a normal one as well, with the arms being very elongated.



I also meant to mention that it surprises me how much Ridley Scott is deferring to CGI, especially for the aliens. From what I've seen so far they're looking – and behaving – much more like animals than a version of people. That makes them less frightening to me, and calls to mind Alien: Resurrection where they were at their most animalistic.

WARNING: spoilers below
The alien trying to break through the cockpit screen reminds me quite a bit of the Alien Queen, even though the head is more like a normal alien – looks bigger than a normal one as well, with the arms being very elongated.
why would they behave as a human, they are animals alright, it's not that they have a brain like a human being, they are smart ofc, anw it's about time for a new alien film and this looks to be bloody, hopefully it is gonna be good, i liked prometheus better after second and third viewing by the way.



why would they behave as a human,
You've just reminded me of that great Legend line "We are all animals my lady" .

I always think back to Alien, because there's a lot made of it being a version of a human. "Kane's son"; "It's like a man, it's big"; and there's even the Lambert death where Veronica Cartwright alludes to it "checking [her] out". So there's a lot of extra, and very disturbing, stuff there beyond it just being a ferocious beast.

There's also its body shape. You remember how the Alien: Resurrection ones had hind legs even though they apparently came out of humans? Didn't make sense where it did in Alien 3. They've lost that human aspect over time that made them really unsettling. Arguably even Aliens, as great as it is, weakened the menace by having the more relatable structure of a queen, warriors and drones.

I liked Prometheus as well, especially the Engineers.



A few more titbits of information out this week, including a new teaser involving Walter.

WARNING: spoilers below
The reported new footage relates to Alien in quite a clever way, because Ash's fascination with the Alien makes even more sense if it was the product of another android's experiments.

Also, I'm intrigued by the description of David's weird and wonderful collection of horrors that he created on the way to perfecting the eggs. Smacks of The Island of Doctor Moreau (and Alien Resurrection), and might explain why the Alien trying to break in to the cockpit looks so different to an Alien from a human host.



I remember thinking this when I saw the trailer and it wandered out of my thoughts until now — the planet is too ordinary. Yes you have the strange 'pods' with their deadly infectious spores but other than that it's basically just a beautiful location, beautifully filmed, but indistinguishable from Earth. Even if the Engineers previously visited the planet to doctor it I don't see why it should look like a carbon copy.

The crewmember mentions "human vegetation" (actually a good replacement line would have been "This is wheat. What are the chances of finding wheat all the way out here; who planted it?"). It seems obvious that to reinforce how incongrous this would be the planet should have had more about it that was unfamiliar. Maybe the trees or the rocks were a peculiar shape, or the colour of the sky; just something that would mark the place out as alien. I'm not saying "double basses growing on trees" but you get the idea.

Going back over the franchise, LV-426 and Fury 161 were much more unearthly, I would say especially due to their inhospitable visuals. Even LV-223 in Prometheus was a passably foreign realm for similar reasons.



Little Devil's Avatar
MC for the Great Underground Circus
I remember thinking this when I saw the trailer and it wandered out of my thoughts until now — the planet is too ordinary. Yes you have the strange 'pods' with their deadly infectious spores but other than that it's basically just a beautiful location, beautifully filmed, but indistinguishable from Earth. Even if the Engineers previously visited the planet to doctor it I don't see why it should look like a carbon copy.

The crewmember mentions "human vegetation" (actually a good replacement line would have been "This is wheat. What are the chances of finding wheat all the way out here; who planted it?"). It seems obvious that to reinforce how incongrous this would be the planet should have had more about it that was unfamiliar. Maybe the trees or the rocks were a peculiar shape, or the colour of the sky; just something that would mark the place out as alien. I'm not saying "double basses growing on trees" but you get the idea.

Going back over the franchise, LV-426 and Fury 161 were much more unearthly, I would say especially due to their inhospitable visuals. Even LV-223 in Prometheus was a passably foreign realm for similar reasons.
I agree in all regards. The dude should have said "Earth Vegetation" OR "Earth-like vegetation". [it looks like wheat, but is it?] - or even nothing at all because there are trees all over the place.

Another thing I noticed is the "Listen, There is no sound". She was expecting birds and insects and monkey sounds? Why?

And even more peculiar, so they know it's a planet capable of colonization, but know nothing about it? Nothing at all? It makes no sense.



I agree in all regards. The dude should have said "Earth Vegetation" OR "Earth-like vegetation". [it looks like wheat, but is it?] - or even nothing at all because there are trees all over the place.

Another thing I noticed is the "Listen, There is no sound". She was expecting birds and insects and monkey sounds? Why?

And even more peculiar, so they know it's a planet capable of colonization, but know nothing about it? Nothing at all? It makes no sense.
Yeah, nobody's surprised that everything is like Earth. Just the wheat .

I pondered over that "Listen" line as well. I'm assuming that the alarm is supposed to come from there being flora on the planet but no fauna whatsoever. And yet at the moment Daniels' reaction sounds contrived. I think whatever Katherine Waterston did, it would sound off. There is nothing wrong with her delivery but the flaw is in what's supporting her, namely the world-building. To me, it would have made more sense for the team to disembark, marvelling at how identical to Earth this alien planet was, listing all the flora that was replicated so far from our area of space and then to hit the audience with "where are the animals?". It certainly hints at extermination whichever way you slice it.



Little Devil's Avatar
MC for the Great Underground Circus
Yeah, nobody's surprised that everything is like Earth. Just the wheat .

I pondered over that "Listen" line as well. I'm assuming that the alarm is supposed to come from there being flora on the planet but no fauna whatsoever. And yet at the moment Daniels' reaction sounds contrived. I think whatever Katherine Waterston did, it would sound off. There is nothing wrong with her delivery but the flaw is in what's supporting her, namely the world-building. To me, it would have made more sense for the team to disembark, marvelling at how identical to Earth this alien planet was, listing all the flora that was replicated so far from our area of space and then to hit the audience with "where are the animals?". It certainly hints at extermination whichever way you slice it.
EXACTLY! So these guys can travel the galaxy and yet a simple planet reconnaissance [which can be done from across a vast distance] is a foreign concept? lol.

"oh look, trees" I would be amazed, my self.



EXACTLY! So these guys can travel the galaxy and yet a simple planet reconnaissance [which can be done from across a vast distance] is a foreign concept? lol.

"oh look, trees" I would be amazed, my self.
Yeah, it's like the writer has come to the science fiction genre completely fresh, with hardly any useful research, and has no awareness of the kind of shorthand that is available.