• AMillionMonkeys@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    It’s always bothered me that someone went and called their band “Death”, but I find it difficult to articulate why.

      • credo@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        The science in the film is fiction. Like jump drives, FTL, or interstellar travel in general, laser zappers and swords, consciousness transfer, etc.

      • FrChazzz@lemmus.org
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        21 hours ago

        This really depends. Are we talking about “hard” science fiction (where the science is the main driver of the story, like much of Star Trek where attempts are made to explain the fictional science) or “soft” science fiction (like Dune, where the science is not really explained, more assumed, and serves as the background for the film)? I’d argue Alien falls into the former because the biology of the xenomorph is the major focus of the story.

        • jpeps@lemmy.world
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          20 hours ago

          I’m perhaps way off, but to me sci-fi is pretty much any narrative that mirrors our own world but with specific differences that have an effect on the story. Eg a story that’s a regular setting but everyone has to pay for oxygen, or a story set in an alternate history where the British empire never faded. The differences are variables that can be used to view humanity from a different perspective.

          To me Star Trek and Dune are essentially fantasy settings. Star Trek though obviously has sci-fi stories. Eg depicting a broadly post-racial society but using aliens as a tool to explore racism in our own culture.

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      We can debate the top rankings, but Alien is in the pantheon for sure. It’s practically flawless as a movie. You could argue for 2001, or Blade Runner, or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But you would have to at least compare those to Alien to prove they’re better in some way.

        • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Aliens is quite possibly the most perfect sequel to any movie ever. Rocky II, Terminator 2, Godfather Part 2, Empire Strikes Back, it’s up there with the best of the best.

          What makes Alien/Aliens special is that they are entirely different movies. Different styles, different feel, and almost an entirely different cast. All those other excellent sequels were continuations of the story, using characters and settings established in the first film. You start with Godfather Part 2, and you’ll be almost entirely lost with who is who and why you should care. You can go into Aliens entirely blind, and you’ll still get like 90% of the enjoyment. Watching Alien improves the experience, but is actually unnecessary.

          And that’s part of why it’s so good. You should watch Alien, not just for the backstory on Aliens but because it’s an amazing standalone film.

          It woulda been cool to get some more sequels, but alas…

            • Wolf314159@startrek.website
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              2 days ago

              1979: Ridley Scott directs “Alien”.

              1981: James Cameron works as a production designer on a Roger Corman “cash-in” of Alien called “Galaxy of Terror”. It’s mostly awful (mostly due to the giant maggot rape scene), but some of the production design is WAY better than anything in this movie has any right to be.

              1986: James Cameron directs “Aliens”.

              I’m using the release years here as opposed to production for simplicity, but Aliens is really just a cash-in of a cash-in of Alien.

            • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              Yep, and I’d say they are both sci-fi, so it’s fine to compare them on the list of best sci-fi. But I give the nod to Alien because I enjoy that more as a horror movie than I enjoy Aliens as an action movie. Like if we were ranking horror movies, Alien would be in my top 10, maybe top five. For action movies, I’d put Aliens in the top 20, maybe top 10.

              • TheColonel@reddthat.com
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                2 days ago

                Yeah. Alien is is my top four on Letterboxd.

                I love Aliens, but I do think it’s inferior.

                I love the characters, set pieces, and all but it’s just not there.

                Hell, I rewatched Predator recently. I think it may be superior.

      • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        The matrix would like a word, as would Jurassic Park, and independence day. All three are far better than alien or aliens. I admit that I have a bias against sigourney weaver. She sucked in that and sucked in avatar. I’ve never seen a good movie that she was in. But the alien movies are highly overrated.

        • Taleya@aussie.zone
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          22 hours ago

          I’ve never seen a good movie that she was in

          You talking shit about ghostbusters, peasant?

        • A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          ALIEN is a movie designed around making men understand the horrors of r*pe.

          All three films you menion as alternatives came out in a post-ALIEN world, mind you.

          • 1ostA5tro6yne@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            21 hours ago

            it’s okay, there’s no giant corpo looking over our shoulder here treating us all like infants. we’re allowed to say things like rape, suicide, murder, etc.

          • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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            21 hours ago

            I thought that men learned about the horrors of rope in PE class. I’m not sure what that has to do with Alien, though.

        • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          I love all those movies. And if you don’t like an actress, I’m not going to convince you that you’re wrong. You like what you like.

          From a holistic view, I’d point out that the three movies you mentioned were also pioneers in filmmaking. They each invented new technologies to do new things. Independence Day in green screens and explosions, Jurassic Park in blending CG with pratical puppetry, and Matrix created a new type of multicamera stop-motion slow-motion.

          But they all borrowed heavily from Alien and Aliens. Each of the movies you mentioned had a direct homage to the Alien franchise. In aesthetic, in atmosphere, in creature design, they all stood on the shoulders of Ridley Scott and HR Geiger.

    • Klear@quokk.au
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      21 hours ago

      Sharknado VR was worth the money I spent on it (it was on a 50% sale, so I only paid 50 cents)

    • panda_abyss@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      I can never get in to Sharknado.

      It just… sucks.

      Like I get that it’s supposed to be corny and stupid, but I like my corny and stupid to be a function of the creators incompetence and a $257 budget most spent on aluminum foil.

      Like the movie “Independents Day” (yes, ents and not ence).