'Alien' Franchise Directors & Writers

In a recent interview as part of the marketing campaign for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, actress Felicity Jones, who is the lead of the picture and will be portraying a hard-to-control rebellion member, spoke about her inspiration for the character.  It will likely come as no surprise that she credited Sigourney Weaver’s role in 1979’s Alien as a major influence.

For nearly four decades now the quintessential female action star has either been heavily influenced by or compared to Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley.  The most common adjective when speaking about Ripley is “badass,” but over the course of four films in the Alien franchise Ripley wasn’t simply a one-note character of action and “badassary.”  Ripley also had an emotional side (although that was slowly eroded away over four films), and it is that balance between action and drama that has made Ripley such an impactful character for so many years.

It was the quote from Jones about the Alien movies that got me thinking about the overall franchise and what the four films have in common.  That commonality is that they are so different and the main ingredient for their differences is that no film has the same director and few have the same writers.

You may not realize this, but three of the four Alien movies have been directed by some of the greatest legends of the film industry.  That group includes Ridley Scott (who is continuing the Alien story with prequels in the form of 2012’s Prometheus, next year’s Alien: Covenant and follow-up films that will lead into the first film of the franchise), James Cameron, and David Fincher.  Even the last film with a relatively unknown director to American audiences had Joss Whedon, of Marvel Avengers fame, as its writer.

Let’s take a look at the filmmakers of each movie in the Alien franchise and see the credentials that were showcased in each production.

Alien (1979)

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers: Ronald Shusett (Story) and Dan O’Bannon (Story and Screenplay)

If you don’t know who Ridley Scott is, I’m not really sure what your even doing reading this post.  His films have garnered a total of 39 Oscar nominations, winning a total of nine.  Alien, which is among the annals of greatest horror/sci-fi films of all time, was only his second directorial effort.  He also helmed Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and The Martian.  Another footnote of Ridley’s directorial career is that he was behind the Apple Macintosh commercial titled “1984.”

Ronald Shusett is probably best known for writing the screenplay from the Philip K. Dick short story, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” which ultimately became the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film Total Recall.  His other credits include executive producer of Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report and screen story for Alien vs. Predator, a crossover film combining the xenomorph alien and hunter alien from the Predator franchise.

Shusett worked with Dan O’Bannon to help flesh out the original story that would become the working script of Alien.  However, it was originally O’Bannon’s idea of a horror movie set in space.  O’Bannon’s other work includes special computer effects on Star Wars and a co-writer credit for Total Recall.

I don’t think I’m stepping out of line in regard to Shusett and O’Bannon’s careers when I say that the true reason for success with the first film in the series was Scott’s direction, the practical effects used to heighten tension, and the fact that audiences hadn’t seen anything like Alien before.  Audiences and critics both have heaped an endless amount of praise on Alien, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%, Metacritic score of 88, and IMDb rating of 8.5.

Aliens (1986)

Director: James Cameron

Writers: Walter Hill (Story), David Giler (Story), and James Cameron (Story and Screenplay)

James Cameron’s career is summed up with two words: perfectionism and dictatorship.  Those who admire and appreciate Cameron use the term perfectionism.  Those who don’t respect Cameron and have no wish to collaborate with him again tend to throw around the term dictatorship and synonymous adjectives.  Regardless of his method’s Cameron has contributed some of the biggest grossing and most-entertaining movies in cinema history.  His filmography includes directing, writing, and/or producing The Terminator, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar.

Getting his start as a second assistant director on The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, and Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run, Walter Hill went on to work as a director or screenwriter for such films as The Warriors, 48 Hrs., Brewster’s Millions, Aliens, Another 48 Hrs., and Alien 3.  He was also a producer on all films in the Alien franchise (including the crossover events with the Predator).

David Giler started in television, but his film credits include production credits for all Alien movies, penning the Tom Hanks comedy The Money Pit, and uncredited work on Beverly Hills Cop II.

Again it is safe to say that this is another case of the director’s talents and vision having more influence than the screenwriters’ work.  Ultimately, Aliens was just as acclaimed as the first film, garnering a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 87 at Metacritic, and 8.4 on IMDb. It even mirrored Alien in box office success.

Alien 3 (1992)

Director: David Fincher

Writers: Walter Hill (Screenplay), David Giler (Screenplay), Larry Ferguson (Screenplay), and Vincent Ward (Story)

David Fincher’s first directorial effort was the third entry in the Alien series, and it is arguably his worst.  Since that time, he has gone on to direct Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl.  He is also an executive producer, and director of two episodes, of the Netflix series House of Cards.  Fincher has also directed music videos for artists including The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Billy Idol, Aerosmith, Paula Abdul, Rick Springfield, Nine Inch Nails, Justin Timberlake, and Jay Z.

The works of Hill and Giler have already been covered, so let’s move on to the third screenplay writer of the film, Larry Ferguson.  In addition to Alien 3, Ferguson wrote Highlander, Beverly Hills Cop II, and The Hunt for Red October.  In addition to writing The Hunt for Red October, he also had a small role as Chief of the Boat on the USS Dallas.

Vincent Ward was responsible for the original story of Alien 3.  His only other major film credit is an executive producer for the Tom Cruise-starring The Last Samurai.

Having an incredible talent making his directorial debut alongside two veterans of the Alien franchise and a credible writer in Ferguson with some legitimate hits under his belt wasn’t enough to save this installment of the series.  Alien 3 is by all accounts a flop, both critically and financially, despite taking in five million more than its budget at the domestic box office.  The movie stands at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, 59 at Metacritic and IMDb users have put it at 6.4.

Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writer: Joss Whedon

Fans of French cinema will know the title Amélie, however it is likely that most outside of France haven’t the foggiest notion what I am referencing.  Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet gained acclaim following his debut Delicatessen and sophomore effort, The City of Lost Children.  He was then given the reigns of the fourth Alien film, Alien: Resurrection.  Following a disappointing release, Jeunet returned to France to make Amélie, which is widely regarded as his greatest achievement, and A Very Long Engagement.

To say Joss Whedon is a geek-boy God would be an understatement, and a little ironic considering Whedon is an atheist.  His contributions to television and film include writing, producing, and directing Buffy the Vampire Slayer (both film and television versions), Roseanne, Toy Story, The Office, Dollhouse, Glee, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Firefly, and Serenity.  He also went uncredited with work on Speed, Waterworld, Twister, and X-Men.

Alien: Resurrection has its defenders out there, but mostly it is derided as a failure.  Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 54%, Metacritic scored it at 63, and it sits at 6.3 on IMDb.  It also tanked at the domestic box office, making only $47 million on a $70 million budget.

I should likely include Scott’s Prometheus in this post, considering it also has a strong female lead that must battle alien creatures, but I like that the first four movies in the Alien franchise were directed by different men with varying careers and influences.  Incorporating Prometheus and giving Scott two films in the post would alter how each movie is perceived, especially since he plans on continuing with the Prometheus story in another three films, giving his first feature a little more authority.

In this day and age where movie universes are connecting all the threads of a film series and having a single director or a production overseer making sure it all works seamlessly, it is a little refreshing to get an uncommon take and different atmosphere with each entry in the series.

Hardcore History Podcast

With the annoyance of my co-workers smacking on gum and incessantly gabbing about the most inane things you could ever dream up, I'm constantly on the lookout for ways to ignore them.  For the longest time I have been listening to the top 500 rock and roll albums from a list published by Rolling Stone magazine.

However, the other day I heard an interview on the radio with Dan Carlin, who hosts the Hardcore History Podcast and the amount of praise being delivered to Carlin's show was worth checking out.  Well, after listening to only a handful of episodes I can safely say that I will be devouring anything Carlin releases in regard to the Hardcore History podcast.  It is an incredible, in-depth look at all sorts of topics from history.

The few podcasts I've heard have been interviews with historians and authors James Burke, Gwynne Dyer, and Victor Davis Hanson, so I haven't even really listened to a typical Hardcore History podcast that features only Carlin speaking about a topic.  Yet, the depth of his Q&A with the featured guests is proof of the passion he has for history and I can't wait to hear more of his insight on specific topics, which range from ancient emperors and kings who ruled in Biblical times to the 20th century World Wars.

A specific example of an intellectual nugget from the Q&A episodes was when Burke stated that "history doesn't repeat itself, people do."  We've all heard the old adage that history repeats itself.  It is a pretty common quote that is used when wanting to make a point of trying to show the parallels between two historical moments several years apart or as a warning of not repeating a catastrophic event again.  However, we hardly think about the quote itself and Burke is absolutely correct.  It isn't history repeating itself.  History can't repeat itself.  History isn't a living organism with thoughts and actions.  It is the people who make history and it is the people who repeat their mistakes that results in history repeating itself.

This isn't earth-shattering insight from Carlin or Burke, but it certainly is a way of looking at history that I hadn't done before.  And that is what I like about this podcast.  It makes me re-examine the events I learned about so long ago and consider them in context and delve a little deeper in what was going on rather than just memorize the names, dates, and places of history.

Another example from the Burke interview was that he claims the Dark Ages is a misnomer.  That is a pretty bold statement considering everyone knows the term Dark Ages and has a rough idea of the time period it is referring.  However, Burke believes that the Dark Ages weren't necessarily as terrible as they have been made out to be and that there are perfectly acceptable reasons for why things were the way they were.

A specific case in point Burke used was the disuse of roadways.  It is conventional wisdom that the roads of Europe became plagued with bandits and thieves, resulting in less travel and the roadways went into disrepair (as much as a pathway in a grass field can fall into disrepair).  However, it is Burke's belief that the real reason roadways went by the wayside was due to the fact that once the Roman marketplace was no longer a desired destination point there was no need to travel there, resulting in the roads being less and less traveled.  That makes a lot of sense and I haven't really considered that to be a proper reason for the roadways of Europe to go unused.  I just assumed it was the bandit theory that held the most weight.

The next episode of Hardcore History I intend to listen to will be the first that is simply Carlin speaking about a specific topic.  It is titled "Prophets of Doom" and it takes a look at the millennial preachers and prophets who cropped up following Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation movement.  I'm really looking forward to it and hopefully it stirs the same level of interest in history that these past episodes have done.