Post by MALCOLM XERXES™ on Aug 18, 2004 12:21:32 GMT -5
WED. AUG. 18/2004/12:25 E.S.T.
Having seen all the ALIEN™ films to date, & owning both PREDATOR™ & PREDATOR 2™ on VHS, I viewed ALIEN versus PREDATOR™ @ the cinema last SUN. with eager anticipation, but I was disappointed by the film for very basic reasons:
1) There was not enough violence in it
2) What violence there is in the film was not nearly graphic enough
3) It lacked Suspense, so I did not feel any sense of creeping horror as an audient
4) The fight scenes were edited as though geared toward Attention Deficit Disorder
5) Unlike MR. JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING™, the Antarctic environment was not acknowledged as being 1 of the forces attempting to kill Homo sapiens.
For me, there are 2 operative elements in any good Horror story that is depicted on celluloid, & these are: Terror & Horror.
Terror is what one feels when the door is locked: “Please, GOD™, don’t let whatever that thing is find out where I am!”<br>
Horror is what one feels when the door has been unlocked by the whatever one has been hiding from in the first place: “Please, GOD™, don’t let whatever that thing is touch me, now that it knows where I am!”<br>
Intellectually, I was aware that the situation shown to us in ALIEN™ versus PREDATOR™ was intended to be perceived as mortally dangerous, but @ no time did I feel it to be so, despite all the screaming that went on, nor did I ever feel that what was happening to the characters onscreen was an adventure that I would like to have: in short, I was completely alienated (in the Brechtian sense of the word) from the film, rather than drawn into it on a visceral & emotional level, as I had been when I saw JURASSIC PARK™ @ the cinema.
I had not enjoyed ALIEN3™ when I saw it @ the cinema, but @ least it had the money shot of ELLEN RIPLEY being confronted face-to-face by the thingy in the prison infirmary, & that is definitely *not* something I would want to have happen to me in Objective Reality!
That said, I expect that ALIEN™ versus PREDATOR™, like BLADE II™, will be a film that I enjoy more on DVD than I did @ the cinema, but in the meantime, there are still the entertaining comic book adaptations from DARK HORSE COMICS™, which I recommend to anyone who is not squeamish.
I received an Email this past MON. that invited me to collaborate on a spec’ script for the next ALIEN™ picture, but I turned down the opportunity for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that the projected timeframe for working on the screenplay conflicts with current ongoing commitments, but I would dearly love to work onscreen alongside ELLEN RIPLEY’S clone!
Having seen all the ALIEN™ films to date, & owning both PREDATOR™ & PREDATOR 2™ on VHS, I viewed ALIEN versus PREDATOR™ @ the cinema last SUN. with eager anticipation, but I was disappointed by the film for very basic reasons:
1) There was not enough violence in it
2) What violence there is in the film was not nearly graphic enough
3) It lacked Suspense, so I did not feel any sense of creeping horror as an audient
4) The fight scenes were edited as though geared toward Attention Deficit Disorder
5) Unlike MR. JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING™, the Antarctic environment was not acknowledged as being 1 of the forces attempting to kill Homo sapiens.
For me, there are 2 operative elements in any good Horror story that is depicted on celluloid, & these are: Terror & Horror.
Terror is what one feels when the door is locked: “Please, GOD™, don’t let whatever that thing is find out where I am!”<br>
Horror is what one feels when the door has been unlocked by the whatever one has been hiding from in the first place: “Please, GOD™, don’t let whatever that thing is touch me, now that it knows where I am!”<br>
Intellectually, I was aware that the situation shown to us in ALIEN™ versus PREDATOR™ was intended to be perceived as mortally dangerous, but @ no time did I feel it to be so, despite all the screaming that went on, nor did I ever feel that what was happening to the characters onscreen was an adventure that I would like to have: in short, I was completely alienated (in the Brechtian sense of the word) from the film, rather than drawn into it on a visceral & emotional level, as I had been when I saw JURASSIC PARK™ @ the cinema.
I had not enjoyed ALIEN3™ when I saw it @ the cinema, but @ least it had the money shot of ELLEN RIPLEY being confronted face-to-face by the thingy in the prison infirmary, & that is definitely *not* something I would want to have happen to me in Objective Reality!
That said, I expect that ALIEN™ versus PREDATOR™, like BLADE II™, will be a film that I enjoy more on DVD than I did @ the cinema, but in the meantime, there are still the entertaining comic book adaptations from DARK HORSE COMICS™, which I recommend to anyone who is not squeamish.
I received an Email this past MON. that invited me to collaborate on a spec’ script for the next ALIEN™ picture, but I turned down the opportunity for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that the projected timeframe for working on the screenplay conflicts with current ongoing commitments, but I would dearly love to work onscreen alongside ELLEN RIPLEY’S clone!
but from what you said I may very well wait to see it on DVD. It is too bad that you had to turn down the invite...but at least it let's you know they are thinking of you in it.... 
