alien

This Japanese poster for AVP2: Requiem uses a bold silhouette of the "Predator-ized" xenomorph to great effect, creating a very cool poster for a movie that most people found disappointing. Audiences didn't exactly flock to see the Predators fight the Aliens in a present-day, rural Colorado town. Fox has since decided to "reboot" both franchises, separate from one another.

Most science fiction films announce their arrival with a bang. If a movie is about aliens, we'll be seeing aliens in the first ten minutes. If the movie features time traveling robots, we'll see some time traveling robot action within the first act. Most movies wear their genre on their sleeve and display it proudly.

Some movies don't announce their true identities so soon. For better or for worse, some movies don't let their freak flag fly until late in the narrative, long after it's lured in viewers who would normally never watch a science fiction story. Below, I've taken the time to dissect eight science fiction movies that may not, at first, appear to be science fiction movies. I know I've missed too many to count, so feel free to abuse and educate me in the comments below!

Oh, and it gets about as spoilery as you can get from here on out, so tread lightly.


1. Predator (1987)



How Does It Start?

Well, technically the very first shot tells us this is a science fiction film, but no one remembers that shot. They remember the dawn arrival of a helicopter filled with the toughest team of mercenaries ever put on film, the bicep-bulging reunion of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch and Carl Weathers' Dylan and the lousy tough-guy jokes on the chopper flight into hostile territory. The first act of Predator is the best men-on-a-mission action film of the 1980s, complete with the standard Arnie death-puns ("Stick around!"). It's the manliest non-homo erotic movie ever made, the story of a team of bad*ss super soldiers ruining nameless guerillas in the jungle...

Whoa! What Was That?

...And then an invisible monster brutally shuffles the mortal coil of Shane Black's Comic Relief Commando. An alien big game hunter, eh? That sucks. You just can't plan for some things.

Now What?

The science fiction twist of Predator (which isn't really a twist since everyone knows it's going to happen, but whatever, this is my article) is brilliant not only for its concept, but for how and when it is revealed in the movie. By hiding the titular villain for the first thirty minutes or so, we get to spend time watching Schwarzenegger, Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke and Sonny Landham prove that they're the toughest guys on the planet. They're relentless and deadly and pretty much unstoppable in that 1980s action movie kind of way.

Once we're comfortable with the fact that no human being can possibly bring these guys down, a super-intelligent creature with highly advanced weaponry pops up and begins picking them off with relentless ease. I don't think anyone who watches Predator will ever forget Ventura's sudden demise, where his minigun-toting Blain goes down without a fight.

Of course, this all culminates in the classic climax, where Arnie goes mano-a-beastie with the Predator, a sequence that manages to feel equal parts Conan the Barbarian and Alien. The science fiction element ups the ante, increases the threat and manages to make a goofy flick into one of the great sci-fi action hybrids of all time.

I was already excited about Sega/Rebellion's Alien Vs. Predator video game, but I fear they may have driven me into a rabid level of anticipation with their new pre-order goodies. Alien Vs. Predator: Hunter Edition is the name of the $99 set that includes the game, four multi-player maps that won't be made public until a later date, an articulated facehugger, a hardcover Dark Horse Alien Vs. Predator book, a Weyland-Yutani sleeve badge, and a 3-D postcard.

I'm hoping a demo is on the way soon. It's a great pre-order incentive, but the game still has to be pretty good to justify the cost. I don't know about you, but I don't want to wait until February 16 (the game's planned launch date) to find out.

Figures.com has a picture of the collector's set, which you can view after the jump.

Kayla Kromer, the creator of the infamous Hamburger Bed, and the recent Millennium Falcon bed that has received world wide attention isn't just into movie inspired beds. She also makes movie inspired food, with her latest creation being a Gummi Alien head.

If you look closely, you can see a lot of detail around the neck, despite the black color. The creepy creature which scared the pants off a lot of people debuted in the move Alien in 1979. In space, no one can hear you scream, but at Kayla's house, you can take a bite out of that nightmarish creature, and instead of acid, it's gummi sweetness.

Kayla put a lot of effort into her latest creation. After looking at several pictures of the movie props, she sculpted a positive mold using Sculpty. After that was cured, she made the negative mold with food grade quick set polymers. After that hardened, she painted in the teeth with white chocolate, and then poured in melted gummi bears that had been died black.
After some cooling in the fridge, she popped it, and voila, Gummi Alien!

[photo credit: Kayla Kromer]

Reports on Thursday night state that Dan O'Bannon passed way at the age of 63. Harry Knowles at Ain't It Cool News broke the story after a phone call from David Fein, producer of the "Alien Legacy" DVD set.

O'Bannon's death has not been confirmed by official sources at this time, but according to the AICN report, O'Bannon had been hospitalized for some time.

Dan O'Bannon co-wrote Alien (1979) with Ronald Shusett, leaving an indelible mark on science fiction cinema. O'Bannon's mark is all over science fiction films since the early 1970s, beginning with his first film in 1974, Dark Star. He also wrote Blue Thunder (1983), Lifeforce (1985), Screamers (1995), and the "Soft Landing" segment of Heavy Metal (1981), and adapted the Philip K. Dick short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" into Total Recall (1990).

O'Bannon was more than just a writer. On Dark Star he was both writer, editor, and actor. He worked as a computer animator on Star Wars. He was even hired to supervise special effects on Alejandro Jodorowsky's failed production of Frank Herbert's Dune. In 1985, he directed Return of the Living Dead.

O'Bannon's next project was slated to be Silvaticus 3015, but according to a Quiet Earth from 2008, the script had not been written and there were no plans for production. The story was reported to center around the near extinction of the human race in 2585 by "mass murder." Another project showing as in development is called "They Bite."

In writing this, seeing how many classic science fiction films he wrote, it's hard to imagine him not writing more for us. He will be missed.

Lance Henriksen is one of those actors who are better than the material they choose. He's been quietly forging a career in the straight-to-video trenches, and I'm not really sure why. He's got an interesting screen presence, and I'd much rather see him taking small roles in great films than starring roles in terrible ones.

That being said, Henriksen is always a welcome face in the Alien franchise. After making a name for himself in 1986's Aliens as the android Bishop, Henriksen's appearance in Alien 3 felt like a real treat (at the end of a movie that needs way more treats, if you ask me), and he added a bit of gravitas to the junk food actioner AVP: Alien Vs. Predator.

Sega and Rebellion, the makers of the new Aliens Vs. Predator first-person shooter, recognize Henriksen as probably the only actor next to Sigourney Weaver whose likeness has become synonymous with the Alien series -- they're adding Henriksen to the 2010 video game.

Henriksen gushes, "This is the first time I've been fully represented in a game, with my voice and how I look, and the Rebellion guys have done a great job. I might score from this game!" Bad puns aside, every bit of news about this game is making me more and more excited. Henriksen will be playing Karl Bishop Weylund, a descendant of the character he played in the AVP film. Aliens Vs. Predator, coming to PC, X-Box 360, and PS3, should hit stores in February.

(via Latino Review)

Name: E.T., short for "extra-terrestrial".

Appears In: Steven Spielberg's incredibly long-titled smash hit from 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and His Adventures on Earth.

Homeworld: Brodo Asogi (according to the sequel novel E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet, one of the most depressing books I probably ever read as a child. E.T. figures out how to send his mind across the galaxy to communicate with Elliott back on Earth, but Elliott can't really hear him because he's busy meeting girls at the mall.)

Demeanor: Friendly and naked as a jaybird.

Special Abilities: Can create a powerful, quasi-symbiotic psychic bond with others. Heals wounds by touch. Makes bicycles fly with the power of thought.

Turn-Ons: Gardening, children's television, bicycle riding, Reese's Pieces, DIY projects, cross-dressing.

Turn-Offs: The Feds, beer, living far away from home.

Career Highlights: Returning from the dead. Meeting the King of Pop. Becoming the logo for Amblin Entertainment. Being the first of many to tell Drew Barrymore to "be good".

Career Lowlights: Inspiring a bland breakfast cereal. Being the star of an Atari video game so abysmal that they buried thousands of unsold copies in the New Mexico desert. Inspiring Neil Diamond to write "Heartlight".

(Strange Invaders is SciFiSquad's weekly look at the fictional lifeforms that inhabit our galaxy. Check back every Friday for a new entry in this series.)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe this is a prop from any of the Alien movies. In fact, I don't know what movie this alien head was made for because the video doesn't say -- but I do know that it's funky and freaky and even though it's obviously fake, it's still scary as all hell. Doing a little investigating online, I believe the folks responsible for this alien head come from a small Canadian-based production company called KRE8-FX Productions, who specialize in props, FX, costumes and video production.

From their website: Kre8-fx is an artistic design studio owned and operated by Pete Mander in Onatrio Canada.. Most of our creations are original commissioned works . we recreate props and costumes from existing films to widen our portfolio. In this way we can demonstrate our talents in a manner that is familiar and recognizable to potential and existing industry clients. When creating such works, our aim is to demonstrate our capabilities.

Check out video of the alien head after the jump, and tell me you'd feel safe sleeping in the same room as that thing overnight.

Those hoping to find an illegal alien costume this week thinking it would make the absolute perfect Halloween costume are out of luck, because the one that was for sale over at places like Target and Amazon has been pulled from shelves because folks are offended that it depicts the alien in a prison uniform holding up a giant green card. I say ... why is it so offensive? If aliens were to come down and try to buy the house next door to me, wouldn't they have to obey the same laws as me? Why is everything offensive to everyone these days? When did our society completely lose our sense of humor as a whole? Back in the 80s, you could wear a Halloween costume that featured a big bald man kicking an elderly lady, and that was totally appropriate.

These days ... pshhh! Can't even buy a good old alien costume from Target. When they were selling the costume, this was the description that came with it: "He didn't just cross a border, he crossed a galaxy! He's got his green card, but it's from another planet! Sure to get some laughs, the Illegal Alien Adult Costume includes an orange prison-style jumpsuit with 'Illegal Alien' printed on the front, an alien mask and a 'green card.'"

These people who wanted it banned do know that by banning a Halloween costume, you just create more demand for it, right? What do you think? Is it wrong? Should we be offended by it? Or do people need to take a chill pill and ease up on the Halloween get-ups?

[via Geekologie]

Is it too late for someone to come up with a cooler name than "Predalien" for the Alien/Predator hybrid that made its debut in 2007's Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem? Gamespot interviewed Tim Jones, AVP project lead for Sega/Rebellion's new first-person shooter, and he confirmed that the monster mash-up would make an appearance in the game.

"I can confirm that the Predalien will feature in the game, and there will be other alien types too, including a couple of things that have never been seen before in the Aliens or Predator universe," Jones states. I'm not sure fans are clamoring for more of the Predalien, but, if the character turns out to be playable, that would probably get folks more excited.

Story details are still under wraps, but Jones reveals that the game takes place thirty years after the events of Alien 3. Alien Vs. Predator is scheduled for release on March 31, 2010 for PC, Playstation 3, and X-Box 360.