Jaws vs. Alien

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Jaws vs. Alien
54.00%
27 votes
Jaws
46.00%
23 votes
Alien
50 votes. You may not vote on this poll




Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I like Jaws better mainly because of the characters as I felt that in Alien the characters are way too much of your normal everyday people. I know people defend this saying it's better that way, but I felt the characters were less interesting because of it, and they were never really pushed far enough.

Also, after the chestburst scene, the rest of the movie sort of retreated into the haunted house formula, which caused it to kind of go downhill for me cause it felt repetitive in the sense that the Alien was just going to pick off every character one by one, with one surviving in the end. The Ash surprise, was a surprise, but that was the only unpredictable thing.



It's all contextual and subjective tho. The tech and the stiff chest burst alien totally bug me more than the shark. Still though, I enjoy alien more overall. Because of contexts that appeal to me.

And the comparison was was between jaws and alien. Not alien to other sci-fi tech at the time.


Wow! Typing on this phone is getting worse!!! I've had to edit at least 3x grrr
Well the point I was making about other tech at the time pertained to the broader argument about which stands the test of time more. Jaws has the advantage of being set when it was filmed, but if Jaws was set in the future I dread to think how aweful their computers would be. Much worse than Alien's I expect.

It isn't all subjective though. Your personal preference is, but to say one is better than the other must have measurable criteria. I do believe acting, directing, cinematography, writing, sound, lighting, and other aspects can all be carefully analyzed and contrasted for comparison.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
It's true that Alien has better cinematography and sound, and lighting and all that, but I feel that Jaws has the better script though.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Ok then.
From 1:46 on bothers me very much as for SFX and quality. 2:05 more so, and the run right after. For some reason, I can't help but think of Jose Jalapeno. For some reason.




Also 0:50 here. Not sure how they got a Wookie to perform for the soundtrack, but I can give bonus points for that crossover.




Ok then.
From 1:46 on bothers me very much as for SFX and quality. 2:05 more so, and the run right after. For some reason, I can't help but think of Jose Jalapeno. For some reason.




Also 0:50 here. Not sure how they got a Wookie to perform for the soundtrack, but I can give bonus points for that crossover.

I don't care if stuff bothers you when there's nothing better in Jaws. I'm not trying to argue that Alien is perfect.



And the scene where the blonde girl freezes from fear makes my hairs stand up just thinking about it.
I think Ridley Scott called it "barely concealed terror" . Veronica Cartwright definitely makes that scene but the editing is phenomenal as well. The bit I think is particularly horrific is the shot of Lambert's face as the Alien turns on Parker.

She's great in a similar way in Invasion of the Body Snatches and The Witches of Eastwick – and the fact that she's in The Birds is brilliant too.



I think Ridley Scott called it "barely concealed terror" . Veronica Cartwright definitely makes that scene but the editing is phenomenal as well. The bit I think is particularly horrific is the shot of Lambert's face as the Alien turns on Parker.

She's great in a similar way in Invasion of the Body Snatches and The Witches of Eastwick – and the fact that she's in The Birds is brilliant too.
Find me a face from Jaws that's more intense than this:




Find me a face from Jaws that's more intense than this:
Yeah that's the thing in Alien. They don't know what they're looking at, so it's not just fear, it's fear of the unknown.



I can't recall any other movie period where I saw someone paralyzed by fear like that.
No, I can't now you mention it .



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
When you say screen code, what do you mean by "screen code"?

My bad for missing this. I can't capture the scene but I mean screens like this:

https://giphy.com/gifs/retro-ZkUMyzW7Q7quI



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
To be clear, @Zotis, my initial reply was to Breno's comment of holding a movie's FX to today's standard. My point was to site a reference in Alien that do not hold up equally to those standards, IMO.



To be clear, @Zotis, my initial reply was to Breno's comment of holding a movie's FX to today's standard. My point was to site a reference in Alien that do not hold up equally to those standards, IMO.
I'm contesting the "equally" part.



Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy?
Did not expect MoFos here to be so split on these movies- in my last poll,Exorcist vs. The Shining, the Exorcist won by a fair margin which was somewhat surprising. But as of 6/18/18 the vote for Alien vs. Jaws is DEAD EVEN.



Ok then.
From 1:46 on bothers me very much as for SFX and quality. 2:05 more so, and the run right after. For some reason, I can't help but think of Jose Jalapeno. For some reason.
I didn't watch the clip because I should really be familiar enough with the scene by now to know what you're talking about .

The escape of the chestburster is probably the only dodgy moment in the sequence – but the scene is so good. I'd lay a pound to a penny that there aren't many actors who could have done what John Hurt did here. RIP John .

I would also say that I'm not a fan of the horrible cut between the model of Ash's head and Ian Holm as Ash. It could be the weakest moment in the film.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I agree with the cut if Ian Holm to the fake head was horrible. All Ridley had to do was put the camera at a different angle on one of the shots, so the cut wouldn't look so obvious, but he chose to jump cut, with the camera in the same space.



The escape of the chestburster is probably the only dodgy moment in the sequence – but the scene is so good. I'd lay a pound to a penny that there aren't many actors who could have done what John Hurt did here. RIP John .
The scene works brilliantly in my opinion because the director didnt let on to most of the actors exactly what would be happening. I remember Sigourney Weaver and Yaphet Koto talking years later about how they had to take a break after that scene just to get their nerves back. And wipe the blood off...
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Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies...



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Chest Burster! Not bad. Not bad at all to get the swing into the week.