Posted by Gremlin [172.165.117.31 - ACA5751F.ipt.aol.com] on 29 March 2002 at 11.07.16 ZuluTime:
In Reply to: Agreed posted by Jurassosaurus on 29 March 2002 at 06.04.04 ZuluTime:
As neat as it might sound to connect Alien to Predator, I'm kinda opposed to that, too.
One problem is that Predator was a really weak film. It was one of those really rare franchises in which the sequel was better than the original; in fact, granting that The Empire Strikes Back wasn't so much a sequel as an episode, Predator2 is about the only case of a superior sequel I can think of.
And, while I'm factoring sequelae against episodes, Aliens was nothing compared to Alien. AlienCubed is known worldwide as the worst film in the series [to date], but Aliens comes close, simply because it was never meant to be an action film. Also because it, for whatever reason, involved Paul Reiser.
I'm not sure we need a sequel to Mad about Aliens at the moment.
Regarding the predators, I've heard that the xenomorphs [I'd really like a better 'scientific name' than 'strange form' for these things] were created by the predators [another good place for a real species moniker] so they'd have something fun to hunt. That bugs me a lot. Partly because it screams LucasFilm BackPlot, and partly because the xenomorphs appear to be far more deadly than the predators, even without weaponry; I'm not sure I can accept that the predators were actually able to kill the xenomorphs.
Which could, I suppose, explain how the xenomorphs got loose into the galaxy.
I've also heard that both the predators and the xenomorphs were created by this third species, and that it was the third species which can be seen in the ship in LV-426. That makes a little more sense to me, I suppose.
All that aside, the ending of Alien4 suggest that, were there ever an Alien5, it would take place on Earth. So that's another option.
Granting the possibilities, if I were the one writing this ?final film, I'd look for a way to combine the various theories into something sensible. I could almost see this working:
Granted, if it were me, I'd make sure there was no possibility of either Alien6 or Predator3; you eventually have to end these things before they become the Godzilla or 007 series, which can't take themselves seriously anymore.
On which note: is anyone else dreading Terminator3, or is that just me. Especially factoring this brilliant plan to accuse the Company in Alien of being Cyberdyne.
I can see it now. We've secretly cloned Dutch--the guy singularly responsible for killing the first predator--and implanted the CSM101 endoskeleton to make it a still-greater killer for SkyNet...a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company which got its start cloning Detective Vukovich to replace the faulty Ian Holm model; we've also cloned Bill Paxton as everything from a streetpunk in 1984 Los Angeles to a smaertassed cop in 1997 Los Angeles to something in between in the BugHunt brigade sent to LV-426.
Another reason to keep Jim Cameron away from this thing....
--Gremlin