Question about the plot to Aliens (1986)

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... and if one of those things gets down here then that will be all, and all this this bullsh*t, you can just kiss all that goodbye!



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On my last re-watch the one that stood out to me was "I don't know if you've been keeping up on current events, but WE JUST GOT OUR ASSES KICKED!"
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i ve seen this movies about 20 times, and i would still watch it, that s how much rewatchability these movies have



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
Oh okay... Yeah I guess... It's just when you watch other movies, the military has no problem doing dirty deeds for the government. Like in Avatar or District 9 for example, the military is doing pretty sinister things, and the public either ignores them or supports them. So it's hard to swallow this Alien universe when everyone has sense of moral pride, compared to other movies, where the government has no problem finding people who are all about risking their lives to take whatever they want.
Think this just goes back to that it was a private corporation rather than the government and this Corp had a secret agenda.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Okay thanks. I just watched the movie again and apparently, because the company decided to mislead everyone, the military has jurisdiction over Burke, as Ripley points out, when Burke wants to not exterminate the Aliens.

So why would the company hire the military and mislead them into going along, when the military has power over them and can just kill the aliens if they want to? Wouldn't the company want to hire private mercenaries, who will do what they say, if they want to be paid, rather than the military, who is allowed to supersede over the company?



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
Okay thanks. I just watched the movie again and apparently, because the company decided to mislead everyone, the military has jurisdiction over Burke, as Ripley points out, when Burke wants to not exterminate the Aliens.

So why would the company hire the military and mislead them into going along, when the military has power over them and can just kill the aliens if they want to? Wouldn't the company want to hire private mercenaries, who will do what they say, if they want to be paid, rather than the military, who is allowed to supersede over the company?
But wasn’t it meant to be secret what Bourke was doing? If no one found out....there could be no superceding. Unfortunately Burke’s secret plans were foiled. Unfortunate for the company, unfortunate for Burke. Now are we also sure they are military and not private merc....if the company misled people, if it was not clear in there contracts...then even private Mercs wouldn’t have to follow the company’s directions as they wouldn’t be under contract. You’d need to of course look at both contracts before coming to that conclusion.

I haven’t seen it in a while. I want to check it out again soon...because of all this discussion and it’s a great film. But did the company convey to the mercs/military that there was aliens? From what I remember they denied it and the mission was more a investigation as to why the colony had lost communication.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Yeah I guess, it's just that in other movies, a person in the position of power has no problem with hired muscle keeping a secret. For example, in The Godfather, in order the mafia to commit crimes, they have soldiers who are completely aware of the crimes that they are committing and do not have to be fooled into thinking they are doing something else.

So why wouldn't the company just hire criminals who believe in using aliens for the weapons division, and have no problem keeping secrets, like other criminal organizations?

I mean this is the first movie I can think of where a criminal organization is rich, yet they are completely incompetent at being able to form a criminal organization that believes in what they are doing.

I mean I know this movie is set in the future, but is this future a place where no such thing as large criminal organizations exist, so they have to fool morally good people into commiting crimes for them all the time?



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
Ok maybe I’ll go another theory. In life anything that’s illegal makes a contract void. So weyland trying to capture alien DNA and make a biological weapon, I’d assume that’s illegal. So they can’t make anyone work for them in this regard...its illegal and the contract would be void. Hence why it was kept secret.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
But why is it illegal though? If you look up the United States constitution and lawbooks, there is nothing in there about using alien anatomy to make weapons. So wouldn't that make it not illegal, since no laws were passed on that?



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Sorry, I don't mean to make you sigh, I actually, seriously do not get why it's a crime, when there is no law against it that is established.



Welcome to the human race...
I think it does go back to the idea that the marines are ultimately expendable so, assuming that Weyland-Yutani does have their own private mercenaries who are aware of the corporation's illegal activities, there's no sense in wasting them on a mission where their only purpose is to either die or be impregnated by the Xenomorphs. I think it's also a question of whether or not the military would've ever figured out what Burke was up to, which they probably never would have if it wasn't for Ripley and her past experience with the company.



Hellloooo Cindy - Scary Movie (2000)
Ok so weyland Corps plan was most likely illegal, it’s secret as the crews expendable, it’s also secret due to commercial interests that’s probable. Ripley came along both to assist and to be expendable. Think the subject about done.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Okay thanks, but why bring Ripley along when she already gave them so much info on the subject? What more could info could she have for them, that she didn't give?

Also, it is still not explained why bringing back aliens to study is 'illegal', since I think most government would jump on the chance to bring back the find of the century.



Welcome to the human race...
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, she's a loose end that the company needs to tie up.

Also, since the company's plan to study the creature from birth necessitates implanting them in human hosts (and killing said hosts in the process), that alone would make them illegal.



But why is it illegal though? If you look up the United States constitution and lawbooks, there is nothing in there about using alien anatomy to make weapons. So wouldn't that make it not illegal, since no laws were passed on that?
Why would you expect United States law today to be identical to United States law in a fictional universe in which we've started traveling the galaxy?