Aliens in movies

There are thousands of movies with all sorts of wierd aliens out there, ranging from the cute ET to the killer Aliens, so many of them in fact that they've virtually become part of our culture and everyday life. But which of these portrayals do you think would be the closest to reality if aliens did exist somewhere else in the universe?? Which of the alien "species" (from a Darwinian point of view) would have the greatest probability of evolving? Interesting question if you like Sci-fi

You forgot about Predator, surely one of the greatest films made EVER!

Well here's a sideways answer... What about any race which is close to human? We have managed to evolve and survive, because of language, which leads to reason, which leads to morality, which leads to government etc. (Basic Hobbes / Locke / Aristotle state of nature theory).

I think the hardest aliens around may well be Alien - they bleed acid! Of course, when it comes to technology, you mighy be hard pressed to find a race that can beat those in Independence Day - let's be honest, would we really have been able to take out their entire system with a virus? Ignoring all hardware compatibility problems, they would have at least have heard of Norton Virus Scanner .

Ok, I agree about Predator (well, I wouldn't go as far as saying that it was the best movie ever, but it was still very good, especially when Arnie says to it "Who the hell are you" ).
But I disagree about hominid-type aliens, I think it would be much easier for an Alien-type alien to evolve, they're just VERY efficient killers. However, they still have a lot of elements of behaviour which are similar to bees/ants... And we still don't know whether evolving clear-cut intelligence is the way to go in the long run, we still have tendencies towards self-destruction. I vote for Aliens (I mean you gotta love the acid blood !! )

But I agree, there is NO way that a virus would work on their systems, after all, there are viruses for Unix that don't work on Windows, let alone an alien computer! In any case they would have to get something like Norton AntiVirus 2002: Alien Edition !!

No one's mentioned "War of the Worlds" yet? Havn't seen it, but I know the storyline, and it's very clever!

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Alright, pay attention here...this is a theory concerning Alien that my dad came up with awhile back, and I think it's dead-on:

He thinks, to put it simply, that the Aliens evolved ON a spaceship - that they involved in that enviroment, which is why they're so incredibly efficient at killing people in that enviroment.

He thinks there was some small radioactive/chemical accident with some bug or something on a spaceship, and over a long, long time stranded on that planet/ship, it evolved into what it is.

Not only that: but it seems to take on the form of whatever it impregnates - the one in the first movie walked very upright and tall, like a human. In the second one, it "infected" a dog, and was seen running on four legs later.

Not only that: but notice at the end of the first movie: it looked an awful lot like the piping in that spaceship - hence the fact that she didn't notice it at first! All this, to me, implies the alien's evolution on a spaceship.

Oh, and my dad also has a theory on how abortion, contraceptives, and the first Alien movie are linked, if anyone cares to hear it - it's very interesting, and the evidence is undeniable.

Commish, I gotta grant you that it's one of the most interesting theories I've ever read concerning the Aliens!
But there is something I disagree with, for evolution to occur you have to have a species which is in some way fighting for survival, so that natural selection can favour the best indiidual. Even with a chemical spill, it would still be very hard fot it to evolve into the "specific" killer that it is without any interaction with other species.
If it was stuck on a ship for ages, it would have to eat something, especially because it's carnivorous. So appart from cannibalism, there would be no way to sustain such an organism on a ship, and that poses some even more interesting questions...

Actually, I'm interested in hearing your dad's theory about contraceptives, abortion and aliens, if you can be bothered to write it

That's a great theory on Aliens. If I could Karma you I would .

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And War of the Worlds - I've read the book. Basically Independence Day rips it off with an up-to-date virus. Is it true that when it was first read out (in the 1930s, I believe) loads of New Yorkers believed it was true?

Yes Ollie, you're allowed to do that, and yes, I believe some people thought it was actually true!

As for evolution: I dunno about that...I'd imagine the ones that didn't look as much like the ship would be found easily and killed - not quite Aliens of course. The ones that were too quick and stealthy would kill people, feed on them, and that would be it.

I also do think it's plausible to assume it ate small animals, and likely other aliens now and then...why?

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...because in Alien 4, Resurrection, as you'll remember, one Alien killed another so that it's Acid blood would burn a hole in the floor, thus allowing the Alien to escape. That makes me believe it's not terribly unlikely.

In addition, lets not forget that in the first Alien movie, the alien "babies" were in a hibernation of sorts - so regardless of how they got there, they might not need food.

Alright...now for another theory of my father's

Abortion, Aliens, and Contraceptives
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Remember the beginning of the movie? They go into a spaceship which, my apologies for a crude description, looks like a big pair of legs up in the air. As you can see, it holds some sexual undertones.

Aha - but it goes farther than that. What do they find inside those symbolic "pair of legs"? Eggs! They find eggs! And remember the walls of the spaceship inside? They look biological, don't they? Like ribs, like someone's inside.

This is consistent with the rest of the movie (or movies): ever notice that a recurring theme is the meeting of biology and technology? The aliens themselves look like a machine, and an animal at the same time. This is also shown when they find a dead Alien on the ship that seems to be PART of the ship - remember that? The big elephant-looking thing?

So, anyway, the *man* goes in, messes around with the eggs, and pays the price. In addition, there is another sexual undertone when the Bishop tries to force a rolled up magazine into Ripley's mouth - I'm not going to elaborate, but it implies a man forcing himself on a woman in a similar fashoin as with the eggs.

WAIT! There's more! Remember the last scene? Well, the air sucks the Alien out into space, much like an abortion of sorts. Not enough for you? Well, how about the cable with the blade stuck into the Alien, so it's dangling out there attached to a string, looking remarkably, at this point, like an embilical (I know I spelled that wrong!) cord? Then, she releases it.

What's she do after this supposed abortion? She sits with her cat.

Couple that with the fact that the man who was largely responsible for the look and feel of the Alien itself was obsesses with contraceptives in very odd ways, and I think the connection is clear.

That's a lot of evidence for me to be convinced otherwise! I know what to look out for next time I watch it .

Most of the evidence concerning the contraceptives and such is from a book called "Monsters of the Id" - fortunatly, my father had a chance to interview the author on the book...I havn't read it myself, but will soon.

It discusses how horror movies came in popularity as a way for their creators to deal with their own sexuality guilt - freaky stuff, but it makes a lot of sense once explained.

Alright, you know Peter would have something to say to all of this that would be an arguement(I love to argue). I agree with you about all the resemebalnces, except it is immposible. I will tell you why. Oh and add that multi colored spoiler thing in here if neccessary

First off the Aliens were discovered not in a ship, but in a rock. The actual ship, the Nostromo, was a mining vessel. Its purpose was to obtain large chunks of meteors and transport them to a refinerey close to earth so that they could be mined and taken over the minerals. This is where the alien was first found. As for the chair on where the face hugger leaps out of. It was a giant drilling laser used for cutting chunks out of the cave in the rock. Hence the ribbed features of it. So again their evolution from their surroundings, the pipes on the ship etc, would not of occured as you said, because they were not born there. Although the ones on the ship could have been born there, seing as how one hatched aboard the ship.

I just thought I'd throw in my two cents.

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I'll have to look into their birthplace to confirm.

However, concerning the riblike look of the inside of the ship/rock/whatever: that's aside from the point really - I just meant that it was obvious the filmmaker was making a point - that the big "pair of legs" had a biological look inside.

I have read almost every Aliens book, almost all of the Aliens versus Predator books, I have the Aliens Versus Predator computer game, and got all four Aliens movies as a DVD collection the other day. I'm positive that is the origins of the Aliens, in relationship to the movie. If you go by the book, the Aliens evolved from bacteria on a planet galaxies away, and were brought to human civilization and were bred for hunting.

I gotta admit I haven't read any of the books, but a friend of mine is absolutely nuts about aliens and he has all these ideas and theories as to where the aliens came from...I think one of them was that they were specifically genetically engineered to hunt humans by some other alien race, sort of like a biological weapon. I agree it sounds kinda radical, but there is a possibility...

Also, about the evolution of the aliens, think about it, if they placed a monkey on a space ship in hibernation, spilled some chemicals and radiation around it and left it alone for a while, it's highly doubtful that it would evolve into a human.

By the way Commish, the way you present the evidence makes the point really clear that there might have been some symbolism in the movie, but do you really think the writers and director would have gone that far to express their sexual frustrations?

The monkey thing is unlikely...but this is Science Fiction!

I really don't know if the symbolism is on purpose - some of it, I think is. Perhaps some is subconcious. I really don't know. I do believe, however, they did more in that movie that we realize.

My father and I were both watching it, and we both noticed that at one point, Bishop is drinking a glass of milk. What surprised us is the fact that it wasn't something else: it wasn't Space-Cola, or Water, which would be the most likely drink.

The fact that it was milk, we both think, was a concious decision: the makers of the film (or maker) specifically wanted him to be drinking MILK there...it contributes to the "fleshy" feel of the whole movie, and oddly fits.

Hate to argue again. But it wasn't milk. It was some sort of mixture that his body needed. Notice how when he got bashed up his blood was the same color as the drink...

I noticed there was white stuff inside of him, but does that mean that it wasn't milk? It may not have been...either way it contributes to the point I'm trying to make.

Oh of course. I think your explaination is too intricate to be wrong.

That wasn't milk it was synthetic something or other.
They said it in the movie. Dang you people, you're going to make me rent that movie so I can see the legs and the thing with the thing and stuff aren't you?

Btw, I think real aliens are invisible. If they can invent a spaceship that travels faster than light they can probably invent some device that makes them invisible or some type of clothing that reflects light in wavelenghts that humans can't see. They might be peeking at you right now... over your shoulder LOOK OUT!!


Either that or they look like cabbages and they roll around to get places.

That's what they looked like in the movie The Seed People.

So I was talking to Santa last night and he goes:

Do you really think Zerpus is an alien?

Who?

Zepperus. Zefferpus.

No, why? I said. I was just goofing.

Think about it. Here on Earth we have people who love foreign movies right?

Right.

And aliens are in orbit all around us monitoring our radio and tv transmissions.. well, there could be some aliens who like our stuff don't you think? Maybe they could like Earth movies.

Uhh...

Yeah, and so they probably visit this board. Like Zeferdoess does.

Dude, what's in your eggnog? Where did that come from? And his name is Zephyrus

What kind of name is Zenfurnace anyway? That's probably what they call Marlon Brando on his planet and he named himself after him.

I think you're from another planet Santa, you and your flying reindeer.

At that he started saying how he loved his little fuzzy reindeer and started chasing them all over the yard trying to hug them. That made me wonder. Hmm.. I guess aliens could be on this message board.