Main Menu

Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 10:38:07 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Alien: Covenant.

Started by Glebe, December 25, 2016, 06:56:23 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Glebe


Following yesterday's little tease thing:

First trailer.

Now we have a trailer, we can give this a proper thread of it's own (instead of using the Neil Blomkamp thread... anyhoo, it certainly looks like it's gonna be proper gory, as footage reports suggested. It appears to cleave closer to the original Alien (with a hint of Aliens gung-ho action) than Prometheus, which I hope it improves on... but on the basis of this trailer, which is okay but not terribly surprising, I'm not getting my hopes up.

Pics here, if you fancy... oh and btw, there's also a - SPOLER ALERT - 'surprise' cameo, if you're arsed knowing about that.

mobias

Looks like it's going to be proper shit more like. It'll be to Alien what The Force Awakens was to Star Wars. If in doubt remake the original under the guise that it's not in fact a remake and hope no one notices.

Replies From View

Quote from: mobias on December 25, 2016, 12:36:22 PM
Looks like it's going to be proper shit more like. It'll be to Alien what The Force Awakens was to Star Wars. If in doubt remake the original under the guise that it's not in fact a remake and hope no one notices.

Home Alone 2 was to Home Alone what The Force Awakens was to Star Wars.

Kelvin

Definitely feels like a greatest hits package of Alien and Prometheus.

Also, if it seemed stupid that one character tried playing with a viscous-looking alien snake in Prometheus, it seems equally stupid for an entire crew to leave a ship without helmets when first exploring an unknown planet. Is it really so hard to think of a believable reason why someone might become infected?

Replies From View

Quote from: Kelvin on December 25, 2016, 12:50:06 PM
Definitely feels like a greatest hits package of Alien and Prometheus.

It's like a greatest hits package of gold and shit, in other words.

greenman

Honestly though if Prometheus was devoid of decent elements I don't think some of the criticism of its failings would have been as harsh, Fassbender's character certainly was interesting for me as was a lot of the design work.

Lindelof's crackhead screenwriting was really the main offender for me.

kidsick5000

Quote from: Glebe on December 25, 2016, 06:56:23 AM
oh and btw, there's also a - SPOLER ALERT - 'surprise' cameo, if you're arsed knowing about that.

That was also spoiled by the info on the official YouTube vid

Milverton

The problem with Prometheus was that before release it promiseth so much. Superb trailers, great design, terrific leads. It then turned out to be the stupidest film of the century so far.

Where to begin? The idiots they took, all of whom presumably passed some sort of rigorous selection process and beat of competition from what? A coma ward? Taking a grand piano into space? How one of the most iconic space craft in science-fiction is controlled by a kazoo and a hard boiled egg?

Yet of all the questions surrounding Prometheus the biggest was never fully addressed. How the fuck does Sean Harris ever get hired for professional acting roles?


Jack Shaftoe

Hopefully his star is fading, I know one person who's worked with him and described him as an astonishing arsehole of a man, even by poncy British thesp standards.

The trailer didn't inspire, did it? Maybe it's time to give the David Fincher one another go, I seem to remember that one being okay.

Also - that trailer has a bit which looks very reminiscent of the William Gibson script for Alien...4?
Spoiler alert
Alien spores are drifting through a space station, get into humans and start turning them into Xenomorphs. It was stupid.
[close]

Skip Bittman

Any kind of surprise that involves James Franco is a touch depressing.

Mark Steels Stockbroker

Gibson did a script for Alien 3.

Jack Shaftoe

Ahh, thangyew. Oh, that was the concept with the wooden planet, wasn't it?

Phil_A

Quote from: Jack Shaftoe on December 25, 2016, 10:14:13 PM
Ahh, thangyew. Oh, that was the concept with the wooden planet, wasn't it?

That was the Vincent Ward script, the one with the space monastery.

Glebe

Quote from: Phil_A on December 25, 2016, 11:39:34 PMThat was the Vincent Ward script, the one with the space monastery.

Wasn't that the wooden planet thing? Apparently Fincher wasn't too keen on it, still, I love to the aforementioned wooden planet brought to life.

Yes I can't wait for a barely reheated reboot mash up of Alien and Aliens...please Hollywood shit in my open mouth some more.

greenman

Quote from: Jack Shaftoe on December 25, 2016, 07:50:06 PM
Hopefully his star is fading, I know one person who's worked with him and described him as an astonishing arsehole of a man, even by poncy British thesp standards.

The trailer didn't inspire, did it? Maybe it's time to give the David Fincher one another go, I seem to remember that one being okay.

Also - that trailer has a bit which looks very reminiscent of the William Gibson script for Alien...4?
Spoiler alert
Alien spores are drifting through a space station, get into humans and start turning them into Xenomorphs. It was stupid.
[close]

Yeah the Gibson script(that was for a potential 3rd film) certainly came to mind. I actually think that concept is an interesting one though even if the script treated it in a rather goofty fashion with people transforming in seconds or aliens jumping out of wounds with no warning. You could argue it fits more into the world today as well where influenza pandemics rather than AIDS are more of a fear.

kidsick5000

Quote from: captaincockring on December 26, 2016, 01:06:20 AM
Yes I can't wait for a barely reheated reboot mash up of Alien and Aliens...please Hollywood shit in my open mouth some more.

Have you tried closing it when you sense Hollywood is nearby. If not, I have little sympathy

Mango Chimes

That's a really badly put together trailer, isn't it?  The pacing's all off, and it's just a jumble of stuff, like they had a trailer and then got a last-minute instruction to make it 'red band'.  So we've lumpily got GORE! and THE WORD FUCK! and INCONGRUOUS SEX!

There's no tension or excitement, and it seems to be highlighting the problems that sank Prometheus (namely: boring crew does explicitly stupid things because the plot needs them to get infected.) Boo. Boooo.

St_Eddie

Well, I liked the trailer.  Very much so, in fact.  Admittedly, that may have something to do with already expecting this movie to be absolutely pants, so I guess the only way was up, in terms of my opinion.  I adored the cinematography on display in the trailer; significantly more so than the visuals in Prometheus (which is already a very nice looking movie).  The sets on the Covenant's shuttle are looking fantastic too (nice cramped, claustrophobic corridors - à la Alien).  There's still the small matter of the script to worry about of course and as such, I'm still very skeptical of this movie (after the shit fest that was Prometheus) but I must say that having viewed this trailer, my expectations have gone up from 'rock bottom' to 'cautiously optimistic'.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who want such things; here's a brief outline of the plot of Alien: Covenant (confirmed spoilers)...

Spoiler alert
* The film opens with a scene set before the events of Prometheus.  A younger Peter Weyland (still played by Guy Pearce) is talking to David (still played by Michael Fassbender), who is sat at a piano, playing Wagner's Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla.  David and Weyland discuss Gods; their creations and the nature of human morality.  A shot of this scene can be seen in the trailer (the large, minimalistic, white room).

* The fate if Shaw (Noomi Rapace) is covered via flashbacks.  Upon their arrival at "paradise" (possibly the engineers' homeworld), David unleashes death upon the engineers. Shaw is dead by the time the Covenant crew arrive.  David initially claims that Shaw died when they crash landed on the planet but it is later revealed that he killed her.

* Seeming as David has wiped out the engineers, he remains the sole inhabitant on the planet, prior to the arrival of the Covenant.  David sets up a workshop in the basement of the engineer's citadel, where he experiments on creating creatures by using the black goo.

* Daniels' (Katherine Waterston) husband dies in cyro-sleep, during the Covenant's trip to "paradise" (located via a beacon sent by Shaw, prior to her death).  He is played by James Franco and only appears during a scene after he is dead, when Daniels views a video diary of his (he's climbing a mountain in the video).

* The man seen convulsing during the trailer and having blood shoot from his back is "giving birth" to a neomorph.  These creatures are the result of wildlife on the planet having been infected by the black substance seen in Prometheus, which created fauna capable of releasing spores when disturbed.  These spores then enter the Covenant's crew members via their ears, nose and mouth (as seen in the trailer).  The neomorphs then grow inside their host, before ripping out.  As seen in the trailer, one victim has the neomorph burst from his back.  Another victim has a neomorph push up through his throat and out of his exploding head.

* The neomorphs initially run on all fours.  However, they rapidily grow in size and then become bipedal.  They have large fangs and two spikes on their backs.  They are also extremely fast and animalistic in nature (more so than the traditional xenomorph).

* The craft which actually lands on the planet is a landing shuttle from the main Covenant ship.  Once the neomorph bursts out from the man's back, another crew member tries shooting it with a shotgun but misses and hits a fuel tanks, blowing up the shuttle (the explosion seen in the trailer).

* Walter (an android onboard the Covenant - also played by Michael Fassbender) is very mistrusting of David, as he has spent 10 years on a planet alone, without receiving any upgrades or maintenance.  Walter is right to be mistrusting, as David uses the Covenant crew for further experiments, using the black substance.

* During the last act of the film, David has created an egg and lures the captain of the Covenant into the citidel.  He is facehugged and gives birth to the proto-xeno, which is fairly close to the classic xenomorph from the other films.

* The movie ends with a showdown between Walter and David.  David dies.  The two remaining human survivors (other than the thousands of colonists still in cyro-sleep), Daniels and Tennesse (played by Danny McBride) go back into cyro-sleep for the journey to their original destination (prior to receiving Shaw's distress beacon from "paradise").  Walter remains active on the ship and he makes his way to the embryo storage area and places two alien embryos amongst the human ones.  The end.
[close]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, a quick note to anyone complaining that Walter doesn't follow the alphabetical naming of androids throughout the Alien series (Ash, Bishop, Call, David); he actually does!  Seeming as Walter is physically the same as David and yet they are opposites; it only makes sense that as David is four letters into the alphabet (D); Walter is four letters from the end (W).  A mirror image if you will.  Clever.

mobias

That plot sounds utter shit. Not only that but it also ruins Alien. What a load of guff. Seriously can't believe they're doing that.

Phil_A

That synopsis is depressing in just how unambitious the whole thing sounds, particularly as it seems to do it's best to quash any potentially interesting developments that might've resulted from the end of Prometheus. If they're not going to do anything different with a new Aliens film at this point, why bother? Why does Scott keep coming back to this franchise if he's got nothing new to bring to the table?

Glebe

Alien: Covenant Footage Interview - Katherine Waterston.

Only just found out Katherine Waterston was Steve Jobs ex in the movie of the same name. She's English apparently, but that's a major US accent she's developed there. In any case, what a smart, attractive lady.

Replies From View

We're going to need a further prequel trilogy to
Spoiler alert
reveal why David is such a cunt
[close]
.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Replies From View on December 27, 2016, 11:42:07 AM
We're going to need a further prequel trilogy to
Spoiler alert
reveal why David is such a cunt
[close]
.

I think that you're forgetting an exchange between Bishop and Burke[nb]Sounds like a comedy double act.[/nb] in Aliens, which addressed this issue already...

BURKE: "There were problems and a few deaths were involved."

BISHOP: "I'm shocked. Was it an older model?"

BURKE: "Yeah, the Hyperdine System's Magneto model."

BISHOP: "Well, that explains it then. The Magneto's always were a bit cuntish. That could never happen now with our behavioral inhibitors. It is impossible for me to be a cunt or by omission of action, allow to be cunted, a human being."

Dr Syntax Head

Quote from: mobias on December 25, 2016, 12:36:22 PM
Looks like it's going to be proper shit more like. It'll be to Alien what The Force Awakens was to Star Wars. If in doubt remake the original under the guise that it's not in fact a remake and hope no one notices.

I hope it's not the case for Alien but you have spoken truth. There needs to be only 3 star wars films. And i'm not 10 years old anymore. Fuck star wars and everything it stands for.

Tikwid

Call me a heretic but I'm honestly really looking forward to this. Personally I think Prometheus had an absolutely superb atmosphere and aesthetic, and the few narrative inconsistencies and puzzling character choices weren't really enough to detract me from that. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of that from this film, and in a way, treating it as a Prometheus sequel seems like it'll set me up for less potential disappointment than if I treat it as an Alien prequel.

#26
Quote from: Tikwid on December 27, 2016, 06:29:43 PM
Call me a heretic but I'm honestly really looking forward to this. Personally I think Prometheus had an absolutely superb atmosphere and aesthetic, and the few narrative inconsistencies and puzzling character choices weren't really enough to detract me from that. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of that from this film, and in a way, treating it as a Prometheus sequel seems like it'll set me up for less potential disappointment than if I treat it as an Alien prequel.

Heretic.

No you're right it was a very well put together film in most respects...but it was hampered by its need to conform to the 'Alien' blueprint, this dragged it down...it was pretty good until about half way through, and even when the leaps of logic and reason did appear they didn't ruin the film too much at all.

6/10 from me.

popcorn

Christ, that trailer was so boring I couldn't even finish it. Ooh, spaceships, a big crashed alien ship, a creepy alien egg with oh what's inside it's a facehugger, fucking hell, seen this one before I reckon

Shit Good Nose

The two main reasons it will be shit:
1 - Ridley Scott directing (he shot his bolt years ago)
2 - story by Michael Green

I don't know why Scott has such a hard-on for Green - he got him on for Blade Runner 2049 (when Scott was still in the frame to direct it), and he will apparently be writing the script alone for the sequel to Covenant, all based on a very shaky cv.

Still, at least the poster and tagline are brilliant.  But then so was AVP's...

Blinder Data

Trailer made it look interesting but I fully expect this to be a canon-ruining turd, just like Prometheus was.

Honestly, anyone who thinks Prometheus had anything going for it is kidding themselves. It looked great[nb]apart from the bizarrely crap aging make-up[/nb] but that's about it. That bit when Charlize Theron dramatically reveals that Guy Pearce is her father (!) to the utter bemusement and indifference of the audience was hilarious. As a whole the film is one of the worst examples of storytelling I've seen in a recent blockbuster.