|
Aliens trivia
Hicks was originally played by James Remar,
but Michael Biehn replaced him a few days after principal photography
began, due to "artistic differences" between Remar
and director 'Cameron, James' .
Director of Photography Dick Bush was replaced
after creative differences with James Cameron and 'Gale Ann Hurd'
.
During the sequence in which Newt and Ripley
are locked in MedLab, Ripley is attacked by one of the two facehuggers
after setting off the sprinklers, resulting in the facehugger
wrapping its tail around her neck after jumping off of a table
leg. To film this, director James Cameron had the Special Effects
crew design a facehugger fully capable of walking towards Ripley
on its own, but to make it appear as if it jumps off of the table,
Cameron used backwards-filming. He set up the facehugger on the
table leg, then dragged it off and later edited the piece of
film to play backward to make it appear to be moving forward
towards Ripley. Crew thought that the fact that water was falling
down during this whole scene would affect the sequence that was
filmed backward (it would show the water moving up instead of
down) In the end, the water was not visible enough to see the
direction in which it was falling.
According to the 1991 Special Widescreen Collector's
Edition Laserdisc release of the movie (presented on the Bonus
Disc of the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD Box Set), James Cameron
turned in the first treatment for the film, called Alien II at
the time, on September 21, 1983. Some of the differences between
this initial treatment and the final film included the following:
The character of Carter Burke was absent, instead, his dialogue
was given to someone named Dr. O'Niel, who did not join Ripley
and the marines on their voyage to the colony planet. Instead
of being taken to the Gateway Station, Ripley was taken to Earth
Station Beta. The name of the colony planet was Acheron, taken
from the script of Alien (1979), instead of LV-426. Ripley's
daughter was alive, and Ripley had a disheartening videophone
conversation with her, where she blamed Ripley for abandoning
her by going to space. There were multiple atmospheric processors
on the planet. The initial discovery of the aliens on the colony
planet is much longer, where it is shown how Newt's father gets
to the site of the eggs and is jumped by a facehugger. An additional
scene involves a rescue team going to the site of the alien eggs
and being jumped by tens of facehuggers. Sgt. Apone survives
the initial attack. The aliens sting people to paralyze them
before either killing or cocooning them. At one point Ripley,
Newt and Hicks get cocooned. The aliens cocooning people are
a different breed. They look like smaller, albino versions of
the warrior aliens. Bishop refuses to land on the planet and
pick up Ripley, Hicks and Newt, indicating "the risk of
contaminating other inhabited worlds is too great." Ripley
ends up using the colonists' shuttle to get back to the Sulaco.
Bishop tells her: "You were right about me all along."
The first draft script was turned in by James Cameron on May
30, 1985. This draft was very close to the final film
Although the first script draft turned in
on May 30, 1985 was very close to the final film, some scenes
in this version were dropped in the final film. Those include:
A shower scene with Ripley in a futuristic shower environment,
Ripley going into more detail about the facehuggers while briefing
the marines, calling the facehugger "a walking sex organ"
to which Hudson replies: "Sounds like you, Hicks."
There are thirty atmospheric processing units on the planet,
as opposed to only one in the final film. Newt formally offering
Ripley to be her daughter. Bishop encountering an alien while
crawling along the tunnel. This scene also appeared in the final
script but neither in the theatrical release nor in the Special
Edition. The second drop ship refueling itself before leaving
the Sulaco under Bishop's remote control. The first draft also
included the scene with a cocooned Burke which was shot but not
included in any of the versions of the movie.
All of the cast who were to play the Marines
(with the exception of Michael Biehn, who replaced an actor one
week into filming) were trained by real Marines for a minimum
of two weeks before filming. Sigourney Weaver, Paul Riser, and
William Hope didn't participate/attend the training because director
James Cameron felt it would help the actors create a sense of
detachment between the three and the Marines - the characters
these three actors played were all outsiders to the squad; Ripley
being an advisor to the Marines while on the trip to LV-426,
Burke being there just for financial reasons and Gorman being
a newly-promoted Lieutenant with less experience than most of
the Marines.
The preparation for the actors playing Colonial
Marines included two weeks' training with the S.A.S. (Special
Air Service, Britain's elite anti-terrorist force) and reading
'Robert Heinlein' 's novel "Starship Troopers". Michael
Biehn missed the training, as he was a last-minute replacement.
The mechanism used to make the face-huggers
thrash about in the stasis tubes in the science lab came from
one of the "flying piranhas" in one of James Cameron's
earlier movies Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981). It took
nine people to make the face-hugger work; one person for each
leg and one for the tail.
The APC was a airport tug, de-commissioned
by the local airport, with bits added to alter its appearance.
Only six alien suits were used. The appearance
of hundreds of aliens is simply clever editing and planning.
The body mounts for Vasquez's and Drake's
smart guns are taken from Steadicam gear.
The pulse rifles that the Marines use are
made from a Thompson M1A1 machine gun with a Franchi SPAS 12
shotgun underneath.
The M-56 smart guns and the sentry guns built
for the movie were designed around German MG 42 machine guns.
The helmets the Marines wear are modified
M-1 ballistic helmets.
There were two versions of the "Bug Stompers"
logo designed for the movie, one wearing sneakers, and one wearing
combat boots as seen on the drop ship.
A lightweight dummy model of Newt (Carrie
Henn) was constructed for Sigourney Weaver to carry around during
the scenes just before the Queen chase.
The armor for the film was built by English
armorer Terry English, and painted using Humbrol paints.
The camo pattern worn by the marines is actually
called "frog and leaf" and its use and production has
been discontinued.
None of the models or the original designs
of the Narcissus (the Nostromo's shuttle) from Alien (1979) could
be found, so set designers and model-makers had to reconstruct
the model of the ship and the interior set from watching Alien
(1979).
Bishop's Knife trick was previously seen in
John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974). Like Bishop, Boiler misses
too. It also appears in Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water (1962)
"Sulaco" is the name of the town
in Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo". See also Alien (1979).
Michael Biehn's character gets bitten on the
hand by another character. This happens to him in every James
Cameron movie he's in - see Abyss, The (1989) and Terminator,
The (1984).
One of the sets was kept intact after filming.
It was later used as the Axis Chemicals set for Batman (1989).
The "special edition" includes extra
scenes: Newt's parents discovering abandoned alien ship on LV-426,
scenes of Ripley discussing her daughter, Hudson bragging about
his weaponry, robot sentry guns repelling first alien raid, Hicks
and Ripley exchanging first names. Also included is a scene on
LV-426 where a child rides a low-slung tricycle similar to one
ridden in Terminator, The (1984), also directed by James Cameron.
During the scene inside the APV preparing
for battle, "El riesgo vive siempre!" can be seen scrawled
in white across Vasquez's armor. Literally translated from Spanish
this is: "The risk always lives!"
In an interview, composer James Horner felt
that James Cameron had given him so little time to write a musical
score for "Aliens", he was forced to cannibalize previous
scores he had done as well as adapt a rendition of "Gayane
Ballet Suite" for the main and end titles. Horner stated
that the tensions with Cameron were so high during post-production
that he assumed they would never work together again. However
Cameron was so impressed with Horner's score from "Braveheart"
that he later asked Him to compose the score for "Titanic".
Al Matthews, who plays a Marine sergeant in
this film, was in real life the first black Marine to be promoted
to the rank of sergeant in the field during service in Vietnam.
A scene on the colony before the alien infestation
was deleted from the final cut. Elements of that scene show up
in later James Cameron projects. The line, "... and we always
get the same answer: 'Don't ask'" was used in Terminator
2: Judgment Day (1991). The character name "Lydecker"
was used in Dark Angel (2000).
All the marines (with the exception of Hicks,
Gorman and Ripley) use their real life first names as their characters'
first names.
In both the standard and special addition
VHS versions, the fifteen minute countdown at the end of the
film is indeed fifteen minutes.
Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) daughter was played
by Weaver's mother.
When the difficulties entrenching Sigourney
Weaver's contract negotiations hit fever pitch, James Cameron
and Gale Ann Hurd - recently married - announced that if the
deal was not done by the time they got back from their honeymoon,
they were out. When they returned, no progress had been made
- so Cameron, determined to make the film and wary of the deadline
scenario he had created, devised a scheme: he telephoned Arnold
Schwarzenegger's agent for an informal chat and informed him
that, thanks to his new found standing in Hollywood following
The Terminator, he had decided to make Aliens entirely his own
by writing Ripley out; as Cameron anticipated, Schwarzenegger's
agent immediately relayed the information to his colleague representing
Weaver at ICM, who in turn contacted 20th Century-Fox Head of
Production Larry Gordon; both men, determined that under no circumstances
whatsoever would Ripley be written out, wasted no time in sealing
Weaver's deal; and Cameron had proved himself a master of reverse
psychology.
Sigourney Weaver told James Cameron that she
wanted to do three things in the movie; not handle a weapon,
die, and make love to an alien. While none of these wishes were
fulfilled, she got to do all three in the later movies.
While salary negotiations were going on with
Sigourney Weaver to reprise her character in the second movie,
the studio asked James Cameron to work on an alternative storyline
excluding Ripley, but Cameron indicated the series is all about
Ripley and refused to do so.
Lance Henriksen wanted to wear double-pupil
contact lenses for a scene where Bishop is working in the lab
on a microscope and gives a scary look at one of the marines.
He came to set with those lenses, but James Cameron decided he
did not need to wear them because he was acting the character
with just the enough amount of creepiness already.
There was talk of bringing 'H. R. Giger' back
for the second movie to do more design work, but James Cameron
decided against it because there was only one major design to
be done, that of the Alien Queen, which Cameron had already done
some drawings of.
A set design company offered to build James
Cameron a complete and working APC vehicle from scratch, but
the cost was way to high for the budget James Cameron had in
mind.
James Cameron had several designers come up
with ideas for the drop ship that took the marines from the Sulaco
to the planet. Design after design, he finally gave up on them
to come up with on he liked and constructed his own drop ship
out of a model of an apache helicopter and other spare model
pieces.
Frost and Spunkmeyer mention Arcturans. In
The Hitch Hiker's To The Galaxy series, various Arcturan species
are mentioned.
The baby alien bursting from the colonist's
chest clearly has a pair of more-or-less functioning arms. This
is different from the final model infant used in Alien (1979)
which originally had arms, but director Ridley Scott thought
they didn't, or wouldn't, look right, so he had them removed.
When the set crews were looking around for
floor grating to use on the Sulaco set design, they asked a local
set design manufacturer/shop if they had anything of the sort.
Indeed they did, an immense pile of old floor grating had been
sitting out in the back of their shop for the last seven years.
It was left there from when they tore down the set of Alien (1979).
Bishop states that he cannot "harm a
human, or through inaction, allow one to come to harm."
This is the First Law of Robotics as written by science fiction
author Isaac Asimov.
The pouch Ripley takes onto the lift at the
end of the movie is a British Armed Forces respirator haversack.
Like most films, the movie wasn't shot in
sequence. But for added realism, James Cameron filmed the scene
where we first meet the Colonial Marines (one of the earliest
scenes) last. This was so that the camaraderie of the marines
was realistic because the actors had spent months filming together.
James Cameron had the actors (the marines)
personalize their own costumes (battle armor and fatigues) for
added realism (much like soldiers in Vietnam wrote and drew things
on their own helmets). Actress Cynthia Dale Scott, who plays
Cpl. Dietrich has the words "BLUE ANGEL" written on
the back of her helmet. Marlene Dietrich was of course the star
of Blaue Engel, Der (1930) or Blue Angel. Bill Paxton has "Louise"
written on his armor. This is a dedication to his real-life wife,
Louise Newbury.
The JP12 Designation in the Inner Loading
Lock chamber on the Sulaco was also used in Batman (1989) on
the Batwing right near the missile launchers.
The MedLab door open/close sound effect is
the travel pod door open/close sound effect from 2001: A Space
Odyssey (1968).
In the scene in the air shaft where Vasquez
shoots the alien with a handgun, Jenette Goldstein could not
handle the recoil of the gun properly. As a result, producer
'Gale Ann Hurd' doubled for Vasquez in shots where the gun is
fired. She was the only woman available who had experience firing
handguns.
Three different types of smoke were used in
the film, one of which has since become illegal to be used on
movie sets.
One of the face-hugger eggs used in the movie
is now exhibited in the Smithsonian Museum in Washigton, D. C.
The Alien Queen has transparent teeth, as
opposed to the warrior aliens.
Due to budget constraints, several mirrors
were used in the first scene aboard the Sulaco to show more cryogenic
sleeping chambers than there actually were.
The initial cinematographer was Dick Bush.
However, director James Cameron fired him a month into production
because he wasn't satisfied with the lighting, and the two men
reportedly hated working with each other. Cameron then tried
to hire Derek Vanlint, the DP on the previous film. Vanlint wasn't
interested, but recommended Adrian Biddle for the job.
Sigourney Weaver threatened to not do any
more "Alien" movies after seeing the movie's final
cut, so as a compromise, the 1987 Special Edition was released
on Laser-Disc.
The town in which the colonists live is called
Hadley's Hope.
In a scene which was cut from both the theatrical
cut and the special edition of the film Ripley gives Burke a
grenade so he can kill himself after she discovers him in a cocoon.
In the scene where Burke and Ripley are discussing
her psych evaluation results, a People magazine can be seen on
a table.
Aliens bloopers
Continuity: Ripley's headset around the time
she tells Gorman "they're cut off".
Continuity: Lt. Gorman tells Ripley that the
pulse rifles fire caseless ammo, but in several scenes where
they're being fired, cases can be seen being ejected from the
breech.
Continuity: In addition to the large belt
of grenades that she throws into the Queen's chamber, Ripley
also wears a belt with six grenades which she keeps on her. She
never uses the grenades on this belt, although later it is seen
to be empty.
Continuity: Cpl. Dwayne Hicks states that
the M-41A pulse rifle fires caseless ammunition. However, we
often see (especially when Vasquez is firing hers in the air
shafts) shell casings flying away from the weapon.
Continuity: The tracker that Ripley uses to
find Newt ends up reading a distance of 0.0 meters between the
tracker and the locator beacon (the watch-like device) that Newt
had been wearing. However, it should read something like 0.7
meters, since Ripley was standing up with the tracker taped to
her gun, and the beacon was on the floor at her feet.
Continuity: The APC window becomes unshattered.
Continuity: When Ripley tries to break the
glass in the med lab there is a scuff mark on the glass before
her first swing. After this finishes, the mark disappears and
we see Ripley actually making the mark with her second swing.
Continuity: The yellow caution light on the
loader when the mother alien pulls it into the airlock.
Continuity: When Ripley retrieves some weapons
to rescue Newt, she picks up one weapon from the rack, puts a
different one down on the floor, picks up the second weapon from
the rack, and puts the first one down on the floor.
Crew or equipment visible: Bishop's body as
he stops Newt being sucked out of the airlock.
Continuity: During the inquest, Van Leuwen
refers to Ripley's company ID number as NOC14472 while the data
screen in the background displays NOC14672.
Incorrectly regarded as bloopers: The Marines
in the film wear (current) Army stripes - but insignia could
change in the next several hundred years.
Continuity: As soon as the alien snatches
Newt, the motion detector stops sounding.
Continuity: Near the start of the movie, Pvt.
Frost uses the pump on the bottom of a pulse rifle to chamber
a round; but later on, the pump is shown to chamber one of the
grenades.
Continuity: The first time Ripley grabs the
Alien queen during the fight in the power loader, the loader's
hand is closing on the queen's neck. In the next shot the hand
has grasped the queen's snout.
Continuity: When Burke, Ripley and Lt. Gorman
first enter the colony building, they pass through the pouring
rain outside and get soaking wet. A few seconds later, inside
the building, their clothes and Ripley's hair are dry again.
(This scene is part of the extended edition)
Revealing mistakes: When the Alien surfaces
to snatch Newt, two wires lifting its tail out of the water can
be seen.
Continuity: Just after finding Newt, Ripley
gives her a cup of hot chocolate and the cup handle switches
sides between shots.
Revealing mistakes: As Ripley races to rescue
Newt from the facehugger at the end of the film, an alien comes
jumping out at them. The wires holding up the actor in the alien
suit are clearly visible.
Continuity: Near the end when Ripley is on
the dropship and is seen arming herself. We see her grab a pulse
rifle and lay it down. We then see her grab another pulse rifle,
but she actually lays down a flamethrower.
Revealing mistakes: Just before Ripley rescues
Newt from the cocoon, she kills the parasite coming out of the
pod and one of the aliens charges at her. As it is moving down
and towards Ripley, wires can be seen on top, helping to move
it along.
Revealing mistakes: The wire pulling the queen's
tail through Bishop's chest can be seen.
Revealing mistakes: When the loader falls
into the airlock the wires holding it can be seen.
Continuity: Sgt. Apone's meters on the display
in the APC (Cardiomonitor, EEG, etc.) flatline at least one minute
prior to his being killed by an Alien.
Continuity: When the team first go to sub-level
3 to find the nest, the mission time in the bottom left corner
of their head-cams keeps jumping backwards and forwards.
|
