Doogan's 2 Cents on Alien

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Doogan's 2 Cents on Alien

The Alien laserdisc and Collector's Edition laserdisc box set

In 1979 -- May 25th to be exact, a film broke onto American screens that redefined both the horror and sci-fi genres. The movie was Alien -- and even though it was loosely and unofficially based on two previous sources (A B-grade film entitled It! The Terror From Beyond Space and the short serial-type story Black Destroyer by A.E. van Vogt), it was considered refreshing and new by audiences and critics both. It was original, not because of its formulaic "haunted house" story, but because of the stylized look of the creature and the space ships, the day-to-day routine of space travel, and the masterful pace set by director Ridley Scott.

Alien could have easily been just another throw away opportunist rip-off of the Star Wars-inspired chain of sci-fi films that popped up in the late 70s. It could have, that is, if it weren't for specific talents of three men involved in the production: visual effects supervisor and writer Dan O'Bannon, artist/designer H.R. Giger and director Ridley Scott. The overall truth is, Alien's lasting appeal can be attributed mainly to the design of the alien creature by Giger, and the conceptual design for the ship's lived in interior by Ron Cobb.

The history of how the film got made is a long and twisted one, that will (hopefully) be fully explained in the DVD special edition. However, here is the shortest version: In 1977, Dan O'Bannon was involved in the unrealized Alexandro Jordorowsky version of Dune, as a effects supervisor -- fresh from his work on Star Wars. Famed surrealist Salvador Dali was cast in the film, and a young Swiss artist by the name of H.R. Giger was assigned to develop set pieces for the planet Giedi Prime - homeworld of the House of Harkonnen. Obviously, the film collapsed due to budgetary concerns, and O'Bannon went home to L.A.. O'Bannon was prompted to write the script after spending a few weeks on the couch of old buddy Ron Shussett. Shussett reminded O'Bannon of a couple of scripts he had been working on during his years as an independent filmmaker (he wrote, designed and starred in John Carpenter's Dark Star). One of the scripts was called Memory, which was a sci-fi/character piece, and served as the structure of the opening of the film. The second was called Gremlins, which focused on a WWII bomber crew doing battle with a gremlin on board their B-17 during a mission. It only took O'Bannon a few weeks to get the scripts combined and rewritten. He then hired friends Ron Cobb and H.R. Giger to help illustrate his script with designs to lure studio investors. His original intention was to direct the film himself with a small budget. Shussett like the script he read, and showed it to some friends of his that just started their own production company.

Those friends were David Giler, Gordon Carroll and Walter Hill. Together they formed Brandywine, and, after they read O'Bannon's script (among others), they decided to take advantage of their first-look deal with 20th Century Fox, and make Alien their first film.

Meanwhile, O'Bannon was still at work showcasing his original vision for the film. He had friend Ron Cobb do a stylized storyboard for the script, and help design his version of the Alien, a crab-like squid that walked like a man at about eight feet tall. Remembering the work of Giger, he personally hired him to paint certain set piece mock-ups for the Alien script.

Once the script was purchased, Brandywine had a different vision for the film. Although bumped as director, O'Bannon stayed on as a visual effects consultant. The producers sat down and then streamlined the script. The original screenplay by O'Bannon was essentially scrapped, and totally rewritten by Giler and Hill. This became a huge pain in their butts -- when it came time for Writer's Guild arbitration, O'Bannon got script credit. Yet only one scene he'd written ended up in the shooting script, and then wasn't even shot. O'Bannon's original script outline and the final version are almost exactly alike in basic form, but O'Bannon's dialogue, alien history, and characters were dropped. The producers, Fox (who had just hit it big with Star Wars and liked the idea of another sci-fi smash), and even O'Bannon liked the new script, and everything was set for director Walter Hill. That is, until Hill realized the shooting schedule was going to conflict with his work on the production of the cult hit The Warriors. A new director was needed. And Giler found one, when he saw the The Duelists, a film directed by commercial mastermind Ridley Scott.

Everything came together nicely -- like it was meant to happen. Scott came on board after reading the entire script in an hour and a half. He found that it was tightly-written, with intelligent character development. Something he was particularly drawn too, is that very little happens for the first 45 minutes of the film. Scott finds it discouraging today, when people claim that fact to be the weakest thing about the film. "Not so," chides Scott, "you see what you need to see, and this is what these people do." It's an important point -- these characters are space truckers, concerned with getting home and nothing more -- well, that is until the alien shows up.

For Scott, the alien was the key. He wanted a creature that defied explanation, and he needed it quick. O'Bannon soon pulled out the designs he had commissioned from Giger, and showed them to Scott, along with a new book focusing on the artist's work. It was Scott's intention to create a monster that looked as if no human could be behind the mask. It was to be long and angular, with an impossible frame that only a few men would be able to fill (it actually was filled by young African design student Bolaji Badejo) -- something caught in reality, but manifested from a nightmare. Giger's visions, as seen in his book Necromonicon, would be perfect. Scott pointed out attributes already existing in Giger's previous works (especially the pieces titled Necronom), and by tooling his designs to O'Bannon's original design work, the team's vision started to came together.

Production began in July 1978, and everything went along without a hitch. Scott shot the film as if it were a play, in chronological order -- discussing with each performer their character's history, and tooling them to each individual before shooting began. In most cases, the cast had no idea who would live or die, and were fed their pages day-by-day. He also kept the alien design secret from each performer, and recorded their first reaction "in the moment". Take a look at Harry Dean Stanton (Brett) during his death scene. His reaction to the creature was genuine -- he couldn't believe his eyes. Another authentic moment was captured during the chestburster scene. When Kane's blood splashes Veronica Cartwright, her reaction was real. Scott didn't tell her how much blood might be used, and when the raspberry puree they used as blood erupted into her face, she jumped back and shrieked -- a very real reaction.

Production ended in December 1978, and the film was released to wide critical and audience acclaim. The film racked in $40,300,000 domestically, and landed in the top 5 in the years blockbuster list -- an incredible feat in a year with included Rocky 2, The Jerk, Moonraker and Meatballs. It was also nominated for two Academy Awards, and won for Best Visual Effects -- honoring Nick Alder (who went on to work with Scott again on Legend), Denys Ayling, H.R. Giger, Brian Johnson and Carlo Rambaldi.

To this day, Alien has become one of the best sci-fi films ever made -- and has spawned a series of sequels, helping to launch the careers of top-notch filmmaking talent, including James Cameron and David Fincher.

Several interesting supplements were included on the now out-of-print Collector's Edition laserdisc box set of the film, and we may see some of the materials find their way to the upcoming DVD release. Not only should we learn more about the history of this film -- most likely in a new documentary, we should also find behind-the-scenes footage, early poster concepts, trailers, and with any luck, conceptual art from Giger, Cobb and French comic artist Jean 'Moebius' Giraud (who helped design the costumes).

The DVD will also hopefully include the deleted footage available in the boxed set, which is described here:

Rise And Shine
Kane ambles into the mess area to prepare a coffee and a smoke. He calls out: "Rise and shine Lambert." Lambert is heard to reply, "What time is it?" Kane then mumbles "What do you care?"

The Alien Transmission
Before arriving on the planet LV-427, Lambert plays for everyone a really freaky alien transmission that's being sent to the ship. It was designed by Ben Burtt, an Academy Award winning sound designer who worked on Star Wars. It's truly freaky -- and was cut to quicken the pace of the film.

Kane's Point Of View
Exactly that -- longer and more detailed shots of the facehugger ejecting onto Kane's face.

Lambert Confronts Ripley
During Kane's examination, there is a longer take of Parker, Brett, Lambert and Ripley "discussing" what happened in the Derelict ship. Lambert is seen kicking and screaming at Ripley for refusing to let the search party back on the ship. This explains some of the visible tension between the two women seen in the theatrical release.

Kane's Condition
Right after the acid scare -- the crew is seen congregating in the examination room to discuss Kane's condition. Questions include: "What the hell is that?", "Did he get acid on him?" and "Is he going to be allright?" There are few answers. There's also a bit of chestburster foreshadowing in this scene, when Ripley notices and questions Ash about dark areas in Kane's lungs.

Ripley and Parker
A longer throw away scene showing Parker's opinion of Ripley ("What a bitch..."). As he and Brett make repairs, Ripley calls down on the radio and Parker gives her crap.

Planning The Search
Following the chestburster scene, the crew discusses a plan of action in the just cleaned (and hopefully minty-fresh) mess area. Brett comes up with the idea, and is given the assignment of creating the cattle prod device we see him show off in the original cut. He claims he can make it in 20 minutes to an hour, but Dallas offhandedly states it'll be more like 2 to 3 hours with him doing the work.

A Quick Glimpse
A raw cut of Brett being picked up by the alien. We see more blood, and we get a glimpse of the alien going up into the ventilation shaft. Parker and Ripley are shown coming in and getting a crimson rain shower. This scene explains why Parker now knows the alien to be human sized.

Ripley Reassures Lambert
Dallas just being killed, Ripley has a short exchange with Lambert telling her their new plan of action. Ripley also asks Lambert if she ever has sex with Ash -- hinting at her growing suspicion of the science officer.

Airlock Sequence
The original shooting script called for a huge action sequence where Parker, on the way to the hanger, sees the alien near the airlock. The only pieces filmed, show Ripley and Lambert on the Bridge (fresh from their discussion listed above), responding to Parker's instructions to open the airlock over the radio. The scene cuts, and we would have gone on to show Ripley getting to the airlock, and the alien being scared off by an alarm (most likely triggered by Ash). The door would have closed on the alien's tail, spraying acid blood and causing the oxygen to escape. The area would have been depressurized, and Ripley and Parker would have passed out. That was all unfilmed. The next piece actually shot, shows Lambert calling for them on the radio, and then radioing Ash to meet her at the airlock with oxygen. Ash would have been confronted by Ripley for setting off the alarm -- a charge he would deny.

Lambert Up Close and Personal
Scott's original intention, was to show that no one could be in the alien costume -- this was the shot that would have done that. Unfortunately, the effect was unconvincing. Lambert and Parker are reading the Narcissus when the alien comes to visit. The scene shows the alien crouched down behind Lambert. It then crawls, crab-like, toward Lambert and stands up straight, towering over her.

The Cocoon Sequence
Of course, the most talked about cut scene is this one. Ripley, having just found Parker and Lambert slaughtered, would find her way into the landing gear bay. She was to come face to face with the alien's breeding process. She finds Dallas cocooned (to be used as a host for a facehugger), with Brett transforming into another alien egg. Dallas begs to be killed, and Ripley, in a crying rage, lays waste with her flame thrower to the entire room. This "lifecycle" is contradictory to what we later learn about the alien reproductive cycle, as seen in the sequel Aliens.

Alien's Death
Two longer cuts of the alien getting harpooned and then being shot out of the thruster. No real loss, just longer cuts.

In addition to the deleted scenes and other supplements, a number of interesting bits of trivia can be learned in the laserdisc box set, such as:

The alien was originally intended to have a life span of one day. It was born whitish-opaque, then goes brown, and then by the end of the scene it was totally black. This would explain why it was moving slowly around the ship, and lying down in the Narcissus. Ash would have known this, and he would have also known that the biggest problem was, once dead, the alien would decompose rapidly, and the blood would burn a whole through the ship. Thus, he needed to let the alien life-cycle go full circle, back to the egg stage. The alien egg can survive just fine in a vacuum.

The original ending for the film, at least if Scott had gotten his way, was to have the alien turn out to be super intelligent, and communicate through Ripley's voice and send a distress call rescue ships (giving it the opportunity to find new hosts). Silly now, but imagine if that was the ending back in 1979. It would have been a little unsettling.

The only scene actually written by O'Bannon, but not shot, showed Ripley and Dallas about to have sex in an observation chamber.

The SOS signal received by the Nostromo was already decoded by "The Company" and was known to be a very detailed warning about the alien itself, and the threat posed by the creature. The Company wanted the creature for it's weapons division, and as next passing ship was the Nostromo, it was ordered to stop.

The so-called Space Jockey, was a biomechanical creature that was part of the chair it "sat" in (also the control board it operated to fly the ship).

On the Derelict ship, the blue field that Kane passes through is perceived to be a security system, set up by the Derelict crew to alert of an erupted egg below in the cargo hold. In actuality, it was created by the eggs themselves, so that they would collectively know when a potential living host was near. The laser that was used for this effect, was donated by the rock group The Who.