Alien: Romulus (aka: In Space, no-one turns on the f*cking lights)

[seventh bullet]

I'll probably go and see it. It's going to be treading old ground with an eye for sequels to milk that IP, but I'm pleased that they're at least returning to the theme of Proles in Space with these new characters, spending the best years of their indentured lives amongst the grime and dirt of a retrofuturistic mining colony.

 

[moochedit]

MIght go and watch this tonight as not much else to do. Fingers crossed it's good but when you get to the 6th or 7th (???) in a film series my expectations are lower.

 

[T & P]

I certainly look forward to their explaining how the USS Nostromo has apparently survived relatively unscathed after we saw it blown up in a massive thermonuclear (or similarly potent anyway) self-destruct explosion that nearly killed Ripley even though her escape shuttle already was many km away.

 

[likesfish]

I don't mind people blundering about in the work but. What gets me angry is sci fi military with glowing guns or random lights on their kit first rule try not to be seen

 

[moochedit]

I certainly look forward to their explaining how the USS Nostromo has apparently survived relatively unscathed after we saw it blown up in a massive thermonuclear (or similarly potent anyway) self-destruct explosion that nearly killed Ripley even though her escape shuttle already was many km away.

Spoiler: Spoiler

it wasn't the nostromo. It was a ship sent to retrieve the alien that ripley had blown out the airlock which they assumed would be dead but wasn't

 

[moochedit]

Hmmm... i'll give it 7 out of 10. It wasn't the best but not the worst in the series either. Plot not that origanal. Standard alien movie stuff. Some of the dialogue was hard to follow at the start.

 

[T & P]

Spoiler: Spoiler

it wasn't the nostromo. It was a ship sent to retrieve the alien that ripley had blown out the airlock which they assumed would be dead but wasn't

In that case Wikipedia’s article on the film might need correcting, judging by the opening paragraph of the plot section.

Alien: Romulus - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[moochedit]

In that case Wikipedia’s article on the film might need correcting, judging by the opening paragraph of the plot section.

Alien: Romulus - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

No thats correct. The alien is recovered from the wreckage at the start (the ships in bits though). I thought you meant the main plot of the film took part on it.

 

[T & P]

No thats correct. The alien is recovered from the wreckage at the start (the ships in bits though). I thought you meant the main plot of the film took part on it.

Ah okay. Increasingly confused and feeling dumb and old; I’m sure it’ll all make sense when I watch it

 

[moochedit]

Ah okay. Increasingly confused and feeling dumb and old; I’m sure it’ll all make sense when I watch it

The nostromo wreckage is in about 3 mins of the film at the start.

 

[mentalchik]

Saw it yesterday....Alien is in the top of my favourite films of all time, never thought of it as a horror film more a sci-fi with horror aspects and imo the actual design and imagining of the xenomorph a work of genius, went to see it when it first came out and the inpact it had....

was so disappointed....it was ok but was annoyed that virtually whole scenes were just replications of scenes from the other films, for me it had hardly any tension or suspense and no suprises. I think the cast were really good but feel they missed an opportunity.

 

[JimW]

 

[seventh bullet]

Saw it yesterday....Alien is in the top of my favourite films of all time, never thought of it as a horror film more a sci-fi with horror aspects and imo the actual design and imagining of the xenomorph a work of genius, went to see it when it first came out and the inpact it had....

was so disappointed....it was ok but was annoyed that virtually whole scenes were just replications of scenes from the other films, for me it had hardly any tension or suspense and no suprises. I think the cast were really good but feel they missed an opportunity.

I wish they hadn't included the black goo nonsense. It was better that the xenomorph's origins (and the alien who fell foul of it in the derelict ship) remained a mystery (to those on the ground at least).

Just people in a grim future who normally have little agency (crew members, soldiers, colonists, whoever) just trying to survive an absolute fuckup beyond the attempts at deception and then control by their far-away bosses/exploiters.

It could've been a nice standalone within that limited scope between Alien and Aliens, and that disregarded anything that's been made after. But that's just me.

 

[ska invita]

I think the idea with the film was a soft reboot for a new generation who won't have seen any other of the previous films, hence everything being mulched into it

 

[seventh bullet]

I agree. A film with sequels in mind.

 

[Petcha]

Bit confused as to why the Guardian has reviewed it twice with quite different results

Alien: Romulus review – grungy, back-to-basics instalment goes over same old ground

Fede Álvarez’s effort is scrappier than Ridley Scott’s grandiose efforts – but everyone involved would have been better employed working on something new

www.theguardian.com

Alien: Romulus review – thrillingly gruesome new instalment gets a shot of young blood

The ever-impressive Cailee Spaeny heads a cast of fresh-faced alien fodder in Fede Álvarez’s propulsive sci-fi horror, which favours horror over storyline

www.theguardian.com

 

[Orang Utan]

Bit confused as to why the Guardian has reviewed it twice with quite different results

Alien: Romulus review – grungy, back-to-basics instalment goes over same old ground

Fede Álvarez’s effort is scrappier than Ridley Scott’s grandiose efforts – but everyone involved would have been better employed working on something new

www.theguardian.com

Alien: Romulus review – thrillingly gruesome new instalment gets a shot of young blood

The ever-impressive Cailee Spaeny heads a cast of fresh-faced alien fodder in Fede Álvarez’s propulsive sci-fi horror, which favours horror over storyline

www.theguardian.com

Because they’re written by two different people?
Technically, they write for two different newspapers as well. Ide is the Observer film critic, and Bradshaw is the Guardian film critic. There are other critics whose reviews appear in the Guardian too, and their tastes vary considerably. Personally, I trust Ide more than Bradshaw as our tastes are more aligned, but YMMV

 

[Petcha]

Because they’re written by two different people?
Technically, they write for two different newspapers as well. Ide is the Observer film critic, and Bradshaw is the Guardian film critic. There are other critics whose reviews appear in the Guardian too, and their tastes vary considerably. Personally, I trust Ide more than Bradshaw as our tastes are more aligned, but YMMV

Well yeh I get that. But it just seems an editorial oversight to have two completely different reviews going out of the same film under the Guardian banner within the space of a couple of days. The studios do use these for marketing purposes and you know which one they're gonna choose to highlight.

I've not read Ide's stuff before I don't think but I'm inclined to agree with you.

 

[Orang Utan]

Well yeh I get that. But it just seems an editorial oversight to have two completely different reviews going out of the same film under the Guardian banner within the space of a couple of days. The studios do use these for marketing purposes and you know which one they're gonna choose to highlight.

I've not read Ide's stuff before I don't think but I'm inclined to agree with you.

I don’t see why there shouldn’t be different viewpoints in one publication. Indeed, there should be. One person’s taste should not be representative of any one publication

 

[Chz]

I think it's especially important to have a second opinion when one of them is Bradshaw's.

 

[Orang Utan]

Saw it yesterday. It was adequate. Doubt it has imprinted on my mind forever like the first three films, but it was fun and never boring.

 

[May Kasahara]

Saw it yesterday. It was adequate. Doubt it has imprinted on my mind forever like the first three films, but it was fun and never boring.

Just got back from seeing it with my 15yo and would have to agree. I thought the cast were great, would like to have spent more time with some of the characters before they got bumped off though. Also agree with mentalchik that it is basically a greatest hits package from previous films, and becomes more glaringly so as the film goes on - a shame, as they could have done much more with it. Decent overall though; my son loved it, said it was very reminiscent of Alien: Isolation (which I've never played).