Aliens

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Welcome to the movie Guide. I have brought it down
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of the fourthing at Discount Network, joined right now by
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Guy Davis low Their Dando and the Leta Malton. How
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are you, sir, Iron?
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Just fine? Thank you.
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And today we're going to be celebrating a film that
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is currently celebrating its fortieth anniversary.
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I didn't send a card or telegram or anything.
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Leonard, Shame on you. You're gonna break this movie's heart. Actually, no,
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nothing can break this movie's heart. It's kind of unbreakable,
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kind of bulletproof. Today we're talking about Aliens. Nineteen eighty
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six is Aliens, starring Sigourney Weaver and written and directed
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by one James Cameron. Sequels sometimes they get a bad rap.
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They could be viewed as cash ins or creatively bankrupt.
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But forty years ago one of the most important movie
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sequels ever made was Unleashed. It made miss Weaver a
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true star, it confirmed Cameron as a major talent, and
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it transformed Alien, which was made about six or so
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years earlier, from a singularly spooky standalone movie to a
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provocative and profitable franchise. And yes, the story about the
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dollar sign in this title is actually true, say yes,
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time to look at aliens. Leonard, your thoughts on this movie.
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Do you remember when it came out and what your
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initial thoughts would Do you think this was going to
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be a soulless craven cash in or were you excited
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but what might come next?
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I was excited. I was cautiously excited, a big fan.
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As you know, we discussed it before I was The Terminator,
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and that's the film that really established James Cameron as
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both writer and director, and so I had high hopes
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going into this, but I never could have foreseen what
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a powerful piece of storytelling and movie making and this
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would turn out to be. And it was game changing
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for Sigourney Weaver herself, but also for I think women
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as depicted in Hollywood movies. That door was opened by
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George Lucas a decade earlier in Star Warriors, when Princess
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Leia was the first female lead a film of that
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kind who wasn't a damsel in distress. So that started
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the ball rolling and Sigourney we were facing down this
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icky awful, a behemoth of a monster. It's extremely close ranged.
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Let's just say, turned a lot of heads.
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Not just one, but many might say yeah, because the
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movie is Aliens, not just alien This is something that
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Dan and I were actually discussing off Mike before we
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started recording. He was wondering whether Princess Layer from Star
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Wars actually did get the ball rolling for modern female
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heroes in that regard, and I was thinking, Isaac, so yeah,
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you had antecedents of that. Though even going back to
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say as far as something like The Adventures of Robin
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Hood one made married in that play by Olivia to
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Havlin was not backwards in coming forwards. Yeah, I don't
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think you've had quote, unquite strong female characters all throughout
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the history of Hollywood. Sure, what I think happened with
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Aliens and the chemistry between the creative chemistry between James
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Cameron and Sigourney Weaver created was a character who expertly
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balanced and expertly melded masculine and feminine energies. But we'll
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talk about that a little bit more. First of all,
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I just want to go back a little bit and
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sort of I'm sure there are many many people who
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already seen Aliens and know what it's about. But for
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the one or two who haven't, fifty seven years after
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the event, of Alien. The space shuttle carrying cryogenically frozen
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soul survivor Ripley is discovered and her story of a
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remote planet inhabited by hostile aliens fall on deaf ears
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until communication from that planet fall silent, and she has
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recruited to accompany a squad of soldiers to investigate. What
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do they find? Aliens? Plenty of myths and things go
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south from there.
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And she says she's accompanied by a squadron of marines.
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These are tough.
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Guys, indeed, and that's the germ of the idea. Because
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nobody really wanted an Alien sequel, which is something I've
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found very very hard to believe. This Morment movie almost
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didn't happen because there was so little faith in it
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from the higher ups at twentieth century Fox. They thought
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that either it would be cost prohibitive to make, or
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that the original Alien didn't have enough cultural impact to
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actually warrant a sequel. There was also some financial to
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and fro behind the scenes that stalled things out. But
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original producers David Geiler and Walter Hill, they had faith
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in it, and they also came up with this concept
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Ripley plus Soldiers, which is that's what, of course, Aliens became.
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They didn't work on it themselves, though, they flicked the
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a few scripts, and they tapped an up and coming
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screen runner named James Cameron. This is all pre Terminator,
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by the way. He's only just written the script for Terminator.
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He hasn't actually made it yet. Yes, but people had
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enough faith in that script, particularly Yeah, Gila and Hill,
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that they're like, this could be our guy to turn
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this into something. So he started expanding on that in
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treatments and in scripts.
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Yeah.
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Camera was clearly on the rise at this stage, even
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though he hadn't really done a whole lot. He'd been
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kicking around Hollywood for a while though, was a special
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effects guy doing a lot of work for Roger Corman.
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But he was really trying to make his name as
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a storyteller in his own right.
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I think he proved himself pretty early on. Since that time,
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I've revised my opinion of him. Overall. I think he's
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a good storyteller, but I don't think he should be
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the final one to tell the story. My dream scenario
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is he plots out the movie and then he can't
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give us the script in work in progress to John
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sales the indie Darling who I always admired, great great
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writer with an infallible ear for dialogue. If you see
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the film Lone Star or The Brother from Another Planet
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or any number of others. He's just a great, great writer,
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and I think he could take James Cameron's raw material
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takes it to the next level. Let's say I.
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Agree with you on that. I think if Cameron has
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a flaw, it's that his story structure is incredibly said,
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it is as safe as houses. But yeah, when it
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comes to fleshing out with Dalk, that's just got that
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extra little bit of light to it, got a little
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bit of a ten year for that. So yes, he
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could maybe use someone giving a last one extra past
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to the script or something like that. But yeah, certainly
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when it came to Aliens, I mean, you see that
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those really strong, solid bones of storytelling. He himself, in
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the audio commentary for this movie that he recorded said,
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in terms of storytelling, Aliens is as good as I'll
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probably ever be, And I think he's right. I'd forgotten
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before I rewatched this for this review. The first alien
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attack in Aliens doesn't happen for close to an hour
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into a two hour movie.
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No, it takes its time, takes a sweet time unfolding.
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And I chose not to watch the director's cut because
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it was longer. Yeah, and I'm not going to make
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that mistake again.
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I have watched that director's cut, and yeah, the stuff
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that's in there that is supposed to flesh out some
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other characters and also maybe give a little more motivation
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or a little more understanding of Ripley, and particularly the
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relationship that she forms with this child Newt they find
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on the beleaguered planet. It helps, but it doesn't necessarily
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improve the movie. I don't think it adds a whole lot.
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It adds running time more than it adds depth, shall
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we say.
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As running time, yes, for sure. But my wife and
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I watched it together just yesterday, and this is not
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her favorite kind of movie, to put it mildly, but
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she got completely engrossed as I did, and as the
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intensity built, we were with it one hundred percent. It's
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a masterfully crafted film.
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It really isn't it. I think the genius of it
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is that it's just enough in so many ways, It's
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just intense enough. It doesn't hit you with it all
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at once. It sort of gradually builds up its intensity.
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The film acclimatizes you. I think, to go along with it.
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It never throws more at you than he can handle.
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It's just violent enough. It never overdoes it. But yeah,
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Cameron's genius that he knows just how much to give you.
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He has faith in himself, of course, but I think
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also faith in the audience.
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Yes, I agree.
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It's amazing that this came together as well as it did, though,
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because apparently the making of it was no picnic. There
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were lots of stories about James Cameron's career about big
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gym clashing with actors, clashing with Cruz, clashing with collaborators.
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They're mirriad. They started early in his career, even before
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he became quote unquote James Cameron. But Aliens apparently really
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set the tone for this. He filmed in England, yes,
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and was reportedly very unhappy with the shall we say,
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laid back approach that the UK crew took the filming.
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He was no fan of the English tea break apparently,
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and I found a segment from a farewell speech that
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he gave to the crew after filming had wrapped. He said,
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this has been a long and difficult shoot. Fraught by
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many problems, but the one thing that kept me going
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through it all was a certain knowledge that one day
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I would drive out the gate of Pinewood and never
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come back, and you, sorry Bussards, would still be here.
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James Cameron, what a guy, what a team player?
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Well, you know, I've known him on a professional basis
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for decades now. We have a very nice relationship. I've
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interviewed him on occasions, including a tribute evening at the
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Santa Barbara Film Festival some time back, where the Governator
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made a surprise appearance. Schwarzenegger came to present the actual
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award to Jim and we bonded also over the fact
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that his wife, Susie Amos, former actress now retired, who
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bore him I think five children adopted the late Great
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Gloria Stewart, who played Old Rose in Titanic, and I
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was very friendly with Gloria, so we shared that in common.
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But one time, when he did an Imax documentary about
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diving for the Titanic, the junk hit was such that
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he sat still and they paraded the various tea journalists
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through one at a time, and when I came in
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the room, he looked up and he saw me. He said, oh, hey,
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how are you doing. I said fine. He said, you're
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always cheerful, You're always smiling. How do you do that?
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And I felt like saying I didn't, but I felt
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like saying, well, I don't work for you.
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Feeling he actually probably would have respected that. It's a
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sign that I'll use it bit when we talk, Lenna.
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But I think game recognizes game, and I think, you know,
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Cameron is a very capable and very confident person. And
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it's certainly when it comes to, you know, his artistic life.
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It's not bragging if you can do it, yeah, and
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he's someone who's consistently proven that he can do it.
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I think it might be Weaver who actually said she's
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worked with Cameron a few times and she's always astonished
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at the difference between him on set and him away
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from set.
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You know. She said, yeah, we had.
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Dinner after a production had wrapped, and he was the
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most charming, funny, likable individual, almost a complete one eighty
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from the person she was dealing with on set. She
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didn't have a problem with him on set, I mean
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they were both there to do the job, but she
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was like this seems like a completely different person. I mean,
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I had no doubt that he is that charming and
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likable person that you've met. But yeah, I also have
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no doubt that he would be just an absolute bear
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to work for. But you get movies like The Terminator,
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you get movies like Avatar, you get movies like Titanic,
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you get movies like Aliens.
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As a result, true in that he's reminiscent of dig
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as a Hollywood street for just a moment. Henry Hathaway
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a very, very successful director from the thirties. They started
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in the Silent era, but became a director in the
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thirties and was still working in the early seventies. He's
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directed True Grit with John Wayne to name one notable example.
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He too was a Jacqueline Hyde. People who worked with
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him want to wring his neck, and because he wants
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to ring theirs, he drove people crazy, but socially just
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a lovely guy.
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But apparently he and Weier get along just famously because
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they've worked together multiple times. Liv I wanted to ask
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you about Sigourney Weaver. I wanted to get your take
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on what it is about her, particularly as Ripley, which
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I think you could say is her signature role, even
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though she's had a very long and story career and
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you know, shown terrific range and capability across the board.
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Do you think as Ripley, it's because she projects strength
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and capability and integrity without sacrificing humanity. I think it
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makes her a fairly, if not unique, then pretty distinct
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character in the action movie character canon.
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Yeah, she's not a superwoman. No, she's a very competent
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person and she's we see like an ordinary woman thrown
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into extraordinary circumstances. Yeah, but he handles it so well
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with that, as you said, without show voting. There's a
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scene where she they're wondering what she can be doing
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at given moment when they're still approaching the planet, and
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she goes and gets in a like a forklift type
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of vehicle, a very formidable looking vehicle, and shows that
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she can handle it. She can handle it easily, doesn't
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break a sweat. And that's an example of a movie
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showing you instead of telling you that this is the
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woman who's up for almost anything.
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Yeah, there's a lot of great show don't tell in
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this in this film. Yeah, And I think these two
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came together at just the right time. I think, I mean,
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Cameron sort of proved his bona fardies with The Terminator.
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Prior to this. I was always of a mind that
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Fox and the producers of Aliens saw The Terminator and said,
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oh yeah, here's our guy. And it all came together
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very very quickly after that. But it was actually ingestating
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for a fair while before The Terminator was actually made.
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But once that movie released, Cameron sort of had the
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clout to say, I want to direct this as well,
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and everyone was going for it. But his creation, and yeah,
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a creation along with Linda Hamilton of Sarah Connor in
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the first Terminator, it helps set the template in a
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lot of ways. But I don't know, I think Ripley
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is kind of the apotheosis of that. And yeah, Cameron's
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always been a big fan of strong female characters from
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a dramatic standpoint, but also a really practical and pragmatic one.
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He made this, he had this quote, we said, eighty
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percent of the time it's women who decide which film
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to see. So if you're going to put a really
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strong and fully rounded female character front and the center,
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there's a good chance you're going to make some money.
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Scarnie Weaver is not a sex part, not trying to
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pass herself off as one. She's an attractive woman, obviously,
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but she doesn't use her looks to create a character
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or give residence to a character. She uses her acting skills,
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and she can do it in comedy. I'm thinking of
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working girl. She's a villain of the piece, so to speak,
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with Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford. And she's really good.
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And she's just as believable as there, even given some
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traumatic license for comic exaggerations, as she is here.
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I'm wondering if she's been as good as Ripley in
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other alien movies as she is here, or whether Cameron
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might be a secret spice that helps enhance it. I
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think she's been good in all the alien movies she's
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been in, right, But this is the real standout one,
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and this is the one that she was nominated for
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an Oscar for.
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I interviewed her at the premiere of Galaxy Quest, where
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she went blonde for that film, wore a blonde wig whatever,
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and she was She's candid enough to say that she
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noticed that people treated her differently as a blonde men, particularly.
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Well, yeah, I'm wondering if it's a yin and yang
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kind of thing, particularly when she's playing Ripley, that she
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ideally balances the best of masculine and feminine traits. I mean,
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there's a very maternal quality to Ripley as well. But yeah,
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as he said, she's also someone who, when the chips
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are down, has to step up and project some fairly
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sort of masculine energy in terms of in terms of action,
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we're talking a lot about Sigourney Weaver, but this has
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got a terrific supporting cast surrounding her. Yes, names that
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will be for me, some of whom are no longer
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with us. This is one of the first movies that
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Bill Paxton to prominence. He's a classic scenes stealer in
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this movie.
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Yes he is. It's a very showy part, and he
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takes full advantage of that. Every time I thick about him,
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I get sad because he was good actor who had
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started a directing career. He was very promising and I
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was cut down in the prime of his life, and
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that makes me sad.
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I was really sad. And when I heard about the
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death of Bill Paxton as well, only he was only
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about sixty one. When he passed away as well. That
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was terrible. Yeah, I mean, sorry to the name drop fromone,
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but I think people come to the show for that. Occasionally.
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I did a terrific phone interview with a with Paxton
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for the TV show Big Love that he started in
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for HBO, and of course the interview wraps up, but
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he was still in the line of waiting his next interview,
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and I hung on just a little longer. I could
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hear him say to the the PR person in the background.
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He said, that was a good interview. I don't think
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my feet touched the ground for like three days. I
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was like, Bill Paxson thought my interview was good. I
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was so happy. Yeah, But I think Hudson, his character
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Hudson in this movie, he pretty much represents the audio.
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I think we would all be Hudson in this situation.
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We would just be shit scared essentially. But luckily he
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gets the opportunity to step up and show his metal.
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So that's that's great. Yeah, you've got Michael Bean, who's
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a bit of a Cameron regular. He stepped in at
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the last minute to play Hicks of the very strong
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Silent Soldier in this replaced James Ramar. It's a little
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wonder that he carved out a very nice sort of
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B movie career as an action here after this.
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He's really good, and so was Lance Hendrickson. Absolutely playing
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a replicant on callin that in this movie. No artificial human,
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I think is howy describe him. And he has a
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great line which I'm going to give away if I
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get it right. I may be artificial, but I'm not stupid.
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A lot of great work from Hendrickson in this. Sijowny
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Weaver and James Cameron of course the dual most valuable
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players of Ailiens, but I would say Henrickson as Bishop
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gives them a run for their money. It's a really
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well thought out performance. It's a very actory performance. He
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can tell the work that Hendrickson has put into creating
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this character and bringing them to life. I mean, he's
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sort of eerily still, but he's incredibly likable as well.
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He's really thought this out. He's really deliberated every choice
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and it integrated it so well into the film. I
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really like Lance Henrickson in this. I'm glad that he
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got to sort of be part of the franchise. Moving forward,
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you've got Paul Riser in there as well. He's the
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perfect oh right, corporate scumbag. I think he kind of
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set the template in a lot of ways. I'd always
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liked Riser, I'd seen him in a few movies prior
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to this, but I was wondering when he'd get his
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opportunity to sort of step up and break through. And
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he did it here.
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He nails it here, nails it absolutely.
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And someone wished to mention I think is Jeanette Goldstein.
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She packed on something like ten pounds worth of muscle
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and also slathered on a lot of Brann makeup to
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play Vasquez. She's kind of one of the standouts and
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among these marines. I think she admits even today is like,
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I think you would probably get an actual Latina actress
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to play this role as opposed to a blonder Jewish
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woman from Beverly Hills. But I think she's incredibly convincing
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and very very good.
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Indeed, cheers, there's an example how times change from Nathan
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eight six to twenty twenty six.
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Yeah. I think the case was we needed someone who
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had the muscles, and Goldstein was the closest they could
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find too that we should go behind the scenes as well,
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the music in this is I'm going to use your
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favorite word here, Lenard, it's kind of iconic. From our
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man James Horner, the late James Horner. It's really incredible.
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Composer's usually given a month and a half to sit, yeah,
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six weeks or so to compose a score for a film.
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He had three weeks, and it's amazing that he put
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this together so well. Some of it was only written
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the night before it was actually recorded with yours. I
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mean talking about working under pressure, but maybe that's working
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with James Cameron. It's incredible that so many parts of
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this score, and there's especially a Q called Bishop's Countdown,
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it became the temp music, or the music that was
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used for more than like two dozen genre movie trailers
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over the years after that, unused portions of it world.
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They were even repurposed for die Hard. It's just a
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clear sign of how great that music is. And I
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think we need to give a shout out to our
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man Stan Winston as well.
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Stan Winston, Yes, how the man has left us too soon.
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Absolutely, he took the baton from Alien creator H. R.
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Giger to create the creatures for this movie, and particularly
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the alien queen who we encountered at the end of
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the movie. Fantastic work by Winston. The original design by
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Giger is of course absolute nightmare fuel, but I think
401
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Winston really expanded on it so well. The alien queen
402
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is a monster for the ages.
403
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.000
She was a live puppet, right, that's correct? Yeah, yeah,
404
00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:59.440
Stam Winston was an al arg guy, not a digital guy.
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Created so many creatures and characters that have lived on,
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and most of them lived on digitally as in Jurassic
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Park sequels and terminate your sequels. But he was a
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very talented fellow and I only got to interview him once,
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but I sorryly didn't have more opportunity to speak to him.
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Very colorful guy, very funny.
411
00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.599
And Lennard, you originally gave this film three point five
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out of four. What was it that kept it from
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the four rating for you in particular?
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Well, I'm very stingy with my four star ratings and
415
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always have been. I observe that mark for the best
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of the best of the best, and I feel that
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if you give it away too often, it loses its meaning.
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Have you ever revised it down the line? If you
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ever had a three or three in a housetile movie
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that you like, it deserves a little more.
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When I'm blue and I'm looking to something to cheer
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me up, and I watched the Marx Brothers, I say
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they should get four stars for showing up. You know,
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when I read the A Hitchcock movie, he should just
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get four stars for being Alfred Hitchcock. Sometimes it seems
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like I'm quibbling, which is why I Will fought against
427
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the idea of star reading when we first did the
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book so many many years ago. But my editor with Adamant,
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he said people love to argue with those readings, and
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he wasn't wrong.
431
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It's funny. I was thinking about the relationship between Aliens
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and Alien, and I really believe that the overwhelmingly positive
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critical and commercial response to Aliens boosted the reputation of
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its predecessor, of Alien. I mean that movie was already
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popular and respected, but having this equally well crafted follow
436
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up that was so different, I don't know. I think
437
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it put the virtues of both movies into sort of
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sharper perspective. I mean, Aliens is this incredibly executed white
439
00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.440
knuckle thrill ride. It works so well in that regard
440
00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:54.440
that you look at Alien, which is a completely different movie.
441
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It's creepiness and its tone becomes even creepier as a result.
442
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I think people looked at Alien with fresh eyes after
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watching Aliens.
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You may be right. You may well be right. I did.
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When Risley scart re edited, slightly re edited Alien, twenty
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or twenty five years after it was made the theatrically,
447
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I went back to it. I bushed it this reading
448
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and my review.
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I think something we should point out is also this
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is we talked a little bit before about how Fox thought,
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oh no, it's going to cost too much to make.
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It's not going to be worth the return on investment.
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Even adjusted for inflation, this movie would cost less than
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sixty million dollars to make today, when you're hearing about
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movies that are, you know, costing two hundred three hundred
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million dollars. That's a steal. That's an absolute bargain, and
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it goes to show that Cameron was right. I did
458
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want to sort of bring a full circle and go
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back to that possible urban legend story about Cameron selling
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the producers on his vision of the movie by writing
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the word alien, by putting the letter S at the end,
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and then drawing a line through it to make a
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dollar sign. We always thought that's too good to be true.
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It actually is true. According to James Cameron, he was
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meeting with Gila and Hill. He said, look, we should
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call the movie Aliens. It's an indication to both the
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characters and the audience they're not dealing with one monster
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but many. And guess what it also means dollars And
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they went for it. According to James Cameron, sometimes you
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have to do kind of slightly outrageous things, and I
471
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think he has made a habit of that throughout his career.
472
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How can you make Aliens for sixty million if inflation adjusted,
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but films like the live action Mulwaanna can cost two
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hundred Where is that extra money being spent in twenty
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twenty six? What's it being spent on?
476
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I don't think it's being spent so much as it's
477
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being laundered. I think there's corruption going on. We need
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a Royal commission.
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Into this and a suit observation.
480
00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:46.640
We're not naming names here, but yeah, it's odd, isn't it.
481
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:48.359
You think things would have cost more back then because
482
00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:49.079
it was practical?
483
00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:49.640
Sure?
484
00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:53.559
Yeah? No, apparently? Yeah, Fox when they saw some of
485
00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:57.200
the initial rushes for aliens, were furious because like, we're
486
00:23:57.240 --> 00:23:59.279
giving you all this money, where are all the effect shots?
487
00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:01.759
He said, you're looking at the effecttionals. They're so well done,
488
00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:04.039
and so will INTEGRT. It's like that you couldn't tell
489
00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:06.599
that they were effectionals. James Cameron, he's good at what
490
00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:07.079
he does.
491
00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:09.559
Does this film work as well for you, Leonard, if
492
00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:12.000
it was made, say, twenty years ago, and do you
493
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.599
think Cameron would relied on CGI for the alien? Do
494
00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:16.519
you think this film has as much impact if the
495
00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:19.680
Alien Queen was CGI and not a practical effect?
496
00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:24.000
I speculate no. I think that this film, which is
497
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:28.319
forty years for a long time and we've all become
498
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:32.240
sort of inured to what CGI can do. CGI could
499
00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:36.359
do anything photorealistically now, anything any writer or director can
500
00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:40.519
dream up can be visualized. But that doesn't mean it's
501
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:46.400
going to be convincing. Convincing in an emotional sense that
502
00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:50.039
you feel that you're really standing next to or under,
503
00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:55.200
or in or outside given creature or group of creatures.
504
00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:58.000
I think that this film couldn't be improved upon.
505
00:24:58.359 --> 00:25:02.240
Cameron is definitely a guy who tech loves any new
506
00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:04.759
gadget or any sort of technical innovation that will help him,
507
00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:06.960
you know, bring his vision to the screen. You see
508
00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:09.359
that with the Avatar movies, and you even see that
509
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.079
with Titanic as well. So I think he probably would
510
00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:14.160
have adopted any tools that you get his hand on
511
00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.640
to bring his vision the screen. But sure, I think, yeah,
512
00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:20.519
Aliens works because Sigourney Weaver is in the room with
513
00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:24.160
this huge alien queen puppet. I mean, Dana, we've spoken
514
00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:27.200
in the past. During COVID, we will record our podcasts
515
00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:30.759
in different houses, you know, via the wonder of Internet,
516
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:34.960
of the Internet, that's what it's called. But the quality
517
00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.279
of the show improved immensely when it was you and
518
00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:39.920
I face to face. You've got to be present with
519
00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:42.839
something else, even if that's something else is not real.
520
00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:44.880
It may be fake, but it's real, if you know
521
00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:47.119
what I mean. Yeah, that's why Aliens work something because
522
00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:48.240
of that tactile quality.
523
00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:51.680
Let me add for five trivia points that Sigourney Weaver,
524
00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:55.000
whose name was Susan. Her birth name was Susan. She
525
00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:58.680
adopted the name Sigourney in college when she was embarking
526
00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.839
on her theatrical career. Was the daughter of Sylvester Pat Weaver,
527
00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:07.039
who was the original head honcho NBC here in America,
528
00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:11.480
the National Broadcasting Company, and her uncle was a comedic
529
00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:15.839
performer named Doodles Weaver. I have a huge Doodles Weaver fan.
530
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.799
And if you don't know who he is and you're
531
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.759
at all curious, you can go to YouTube most likely
532
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:27.160
and hear his recording with the Spike Jones Orchestra of
533
00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:31.599
a Mother's Day Spectacular. He's calling a horse race on
534
00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:35.720
radio as if it is the William Tell overture playing
535
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:39.319
behind him. And if you discover this kind of thing
536
00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:42.000
when you're a kid, it stays with you for life.
537
00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:45.400
And the one time I talked to Sigourney was at
538
00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:48.359
the showing a Galaxy quest. I asked her she had
539
00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:51.680
introduced her children to Doodles.
540
00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:54.960
She had no, but Sigourney took that name from a
541
00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:57.279
very minor character in the Greg Gatsby And I said,
542
00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:00.720
a very seavy move, Sigourney Weave, that's a name that
543
00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.599
belongs on a movie poster. Susan Weaver, she's more like
544
00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:05.680
the vice president of the local chapter of the PTA
545
00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:06.480
or something like that.
546
00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:07.759
Yeah, yeah, right.
547
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:17.400
Would you want to do a double feature after aliens,
548
00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:19.279
or would you just need to take a little while to.
549
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.160
Catch you now after an exhaustion film like this?
550
00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:28.039
Okay, then fine, I'm going to make a suggestion though, Okay.
551
00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:31.240
James Cameron was married to an equally talented filmmaker named
552
00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:34.119
Katherine Bigelow for a while there, and she made an
553
00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:38.319
underrated vampire western called Near Dark in nineteen eighty seven.
554
00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:42.079
It reunited Bill Paxson, Lance Henrickson, and Jeannette Goldstein. It
555
00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:43.960
is a very very good movie that seems to be
556
00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:45.880
hard to find, although I am told it is getting
557
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:48.319
a four K home video release either later this year
558
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:51.559
or early twenty twenty seven, and is well worth checking out.
559
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.200
Cameron Bigelow. I get the feeling they're both very strong personalities.
560
00:27:55.240 --> 00:27:57.759
That's maybe why their personal relationship didn't last. But they
561
00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:00.279
collaborate a lot on a few things professionally. I think
562
00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:01.720
that had a great deal of respect for each other.
563
00:28:01.799 --> 00:28:04.160
They went head to head in the Oscars race, Cameron
564
00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:07.400
with avatar, Bigelow with a hurt locker. We know who
565
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:10.559
came out victorious in that one, but her movie Near Dark,
566
00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:12.160
if you can find a way to track it down
567
00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.960
by all means, do so. It's a very very good film.
568
00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:16.599
Watch it on a separate note.
569
00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:20.279
Now, can we discuss before we go the introduction of
570
00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:23.559
the character Mute Leonard. What are your thoughts on Mute
571
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:26.400
and how she was played into the story here for Aliens?
572
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:28.160
Was she a wise choice by Cameron?
573
00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:32.920
Oh? Sure, sure, because she's an innocent and she's a survivor,
574
00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:36.559
and she gives Ripley a deeper meaning to her brief
575
00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:40.359
what she's supposed to accomplish. A mother would never leave
576
00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:44.720
her young behind an animal world, and a human with
577
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.799
a beating heart like Ripley would not leave this little
578
00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:52.319
girl alone and perhaps foredoomed wouldn't happen?
579
00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:55.480
Yeah, I think the character of Nude gives Ripley something
580
00:28:55.480 --> 00:28:59.240
to fight for as opposed to just something to fight against. Yeah, yeah,
581
00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:03.359
so it raises the stakes in that regard. It's just
582
00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:05.359
a shame that, Look, we don't want to sledge a
583
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:07.279
child actor here, but it's a shame that Carrie Hen
584
00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:11.000
is not a better or more polished actor, shall we say,
585
00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:13.799
Carrie Hen, who played a nude was not a professional
586
00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:16.440
child actor and has not pursued acting after this. So
587
00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:20.079
not the best actor perhaps, But it does well given
588
00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:22.920
the demands and requirements of the role.
589
00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:25.480
I'm not trying to cast suspersions. I understand she's out
590
00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:27.839
of curate. She doesn't spoils the movie in anyway for
591
00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:28.519
me anyway.
592
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:30.440
All right, guys, well hope you enjoyed that review there
593
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:33.319
of Aliens. Don't forget you can support the show by
594
00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:35.880
joining the family on Patreon for as little as just
595
00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:37.680
one dollar per month. Link for that as in the
596
00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:40.039
description of this podcast, where we get access to exclusive
597
00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:42.480
reviews as well as early and ad free access to
598
00:29:42.519 --> 00:29:45.440
the weekly show as well. Also, please get in touch
599
00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.680
with Leonard and Guy. It is the Movie Guide podcast
600
00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:50.200
at gmail dot com. Send through all of your questions
601
00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:53.039
and we'll get to those in an upcoming mailbank episode.
602
00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:56.240
And continue to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
603
00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:58.400
wherever you are listening to this show. Check us five
604
00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:00.000
stars and liive us a few kind words that would
605
00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:02.680
much appreciated. But for now, Guy, thanks for joining us.
606
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.559
Game Over, Man, Game Over, Thank you, Van and Molten.
607
00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:08.039
My closure and we will catch you off in the
608
00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:10.720
next episode of The Movie Guide with Malton and Davis.