Alien : Earth

[belrog999]

I watched the first episode last night. At first, I thought I was watching a cheap remake of the original film, "Alien". After a while the plot took a turn. I won't reveal any spoilers, but I wasn't impressed. Watch it and let us know if you can see the plotline that will end the series.
Steve

[bucketfoot-al]

I don't know if Hollywood will ever learn that redoing classic films never results in anything remotely close to the original in terms of quality.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

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I was excited when I watched the trailer some weeks back as it looked REALLY good.

the 1st 2 episodes were released Tue 12th Aug, with the other 6 coming out 1 per week from now on.

I watched the 1st episode last night and was NOT disappointed (from the 1st seconds of the opening credits I had chills!)

Set two years before the events of the original 1979 "Alien", you could see the care and attention that was put into this by everyone involved.

The story dovetails into the already known universe, and expands this in a clever, imaginative and logical way (unlike Prometheus and Covenant).

Everything about it was great . . . the script, setting(s), casting (perfect!), acting, characterisation . . . and the cinematography & effects are truly incredible. So very VERY good - I couldn't find a single thing to complain about.

It must have cost an absolute FORTUNE to make as it's more like a high-quality movie than a TV show - and we've got 8hrs of it!

E02 is ready to roll tonight!

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[Heavy Metal Spike]

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Well - S01E02 was "up there" (pun intended ) too.

This thing is a beautiful piece of connective "world building" - LOVE it!


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[Squidy53]

I agree with you Spike. Production-wise it's top notch. But I'm just not feeling it. [****SPOILERS AHEAD***] I found it a little hard to accept the Teen Trillionaire would send his precious and prized synths into such a situation. The alien is completely invincible and kills everything in sight. There is more tension somehow when it's a fairer fight. As an audience member fear of seeing something really gory (as this is) it's not the same as suspense or tension. Still, the eye alien is nifty.

[Tim Fortuna]

You could lose the whole synth/brother/sister bs and you would probably have a good show. This just went way too far out of the Alien world and lost all the tension imo. Of course I will watch it all though. lol

[Squidy53]

You could lose the whole synth/brother/sister bs and you would probably have a good show. This just went way too far out of the Alien world and lost all the tension imo. Of course I will watch it all though. lol

***SPOILERS***
Yeah, agreed on all counts. Now we're there let's hope it goes somewhere useful. Perhaps the intention is to include a philosophical exploration of the ethics around synthetic humans. Maybe the makers have employed super beings because ordinary humans just can survive around these hyper hostile organisms and without them we'd have no one root to for, as you would say there.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

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Equal rights (and scripts) for synths I say!

SPOILER (ish) - unless you have watched at least E01 - "quote" to view
Joking aside - I really like that they are stronger and more durable than adult humans, appearing as adult humans, but with the emotional & experienced background/capabilities of kids that are barely teenagers. The actors portraying the parts do it REALLY well.


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[Tim Fortuna]

I will add that the sets are phenomenal and the acting is very well done.
As for the synths I am constantly reminded of the storyline in Fallout 4 (video game).

[Squidy53]

Contains spoilers. Select " to read.
While "In Space, No One..." was reasonable, the latest episode "The Fly" really does strain credulity with its logic and the choices of its characters. This show wants to create the threat and thrill of these incredibly dangerous alien organisms and yet houses them in a facility whose protocols and hardware are easily circumvented, and which is staffed by morons. I guess there's little story if the aliens are truly secure. Or maybe the scripters could devise a truly inventive way for them to escape instead of lazily relying on the “Too Dumb to Live” horror movie meme. A similarly secure facility was completely undone in 'Jurassic World Rebirth' by a free spirited "Snickers" wrap. I guess it was a Snickers because we weren't supposed to take it seriously.

[Tim Fortuna]

Spot on Squidy!

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Nah - disagree

This is the best thing to hit the franchise in decades. VERY well written, and the perfect way to expand the franchise.

If the upcoming Predator film has had half the effort put into it by those involved then I'll be extremely happy.

This has saved the Alien universe from mediocrity and repetitiveness - everything about it is incredible.

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[Squidy53]

Deleted.

[timetraveler]

I think the roots of this story go back about 20 years prior to the first Alien film (excluding the Peter Pan references). I'm referring to the Crawling Eye (or Trollenberg Terror). The T-Ocellus looks like a miniature of the crawling eye alien monster, particularly when it only has one iris. It also has similar capabilities. Wendy has a remarkable resemblance to Anne Pilgrim. Both Wendy and Anne were able to receive communications from monsters. Anne is very exceptional compared to others, as is Wendy. There was tremendous character development potential for Anne going well beyond moving the plot along and being a quasi-rescue/romantic interest for (secret agent!) Alan Brooks. With her powers and his international connections, all the ingredients were there for an Ultra Q/X Files series. Even the "Professor" from the observatory could have been part of the team, and maybe, the Reporter ala Kolchak. At a minimum Anne should have played a much bigger role in the film. The character's name, Anne Pilgrim suggests mystery and a backstory crying out to be told. Is she an alien? Does she have some prior connection with the Crawling Eyes. The Eyes themselves seem intelligent, like T-Ocellus and they are on a mission. Perhaps they are adult versions of the T-Ocellus. Who knows, maybe someday we'll find out what the "Andes Incident" was.

[Squidy53]

Hit " (quote) to read.

Wow, that's out of left field but fascinating. I think the T-Ocellus is the best/most interesting thing about Alien: Earth. It's a great monster/alien, one of the most unique created. It knocks the Xenomorph off the podium. It adds some fascinating plot possibilities including alien-alien interaction. This promises to supercharge the alien franchise. It certainly needs it; I'm bored by the Xenomorph. I can't take any more "monster-in-house", “And Then There Were One” scenarios.

I'm a deep fan of 50's screen SF but 'The Trollenberg Terror' (or 'The Crawling Eye' as it's better known in the US) is not that familiar to me. Similarities with previous alien monsters are around including the TT as you've pointed out. The cyclopean saucer pilot of 'Atomic Submarine' also resembles T-O and it too has mind controlling abilities. The aspect that really horrifies me about the T-O and makes it truly unique is how it installs itself within the host which none of its predecessors came close to. It's not just body horror/possession it's, yikes, eye horror.

Anyhow I watch TT again and think some more on your theory.