Saturday 31 May 2014
Yautja Month
Right for the entire month of June my posts are going to be solely focused on Yautja(Predator). No AVP mind but the species solo outings in movies, Comics, novels and Games. Also making a deeper look at clans, weapons and certain types of predators.
Thursday 22 May 2014
Sub-species: Beasts of Prometheus and Resurrection
There are a number of creatures which seem to have spawned from the same DNA of the Xenomorph but would not be classed as one.
Hammerpede
This creature first appeared in Prometheus and seemed to be some kind of larva worm that was exposed to the fluid from the ample chamber of the Jockey ship. Very like an earth cobra this little beast was aggressive and savage like a xeno. It shared the trait of acid blood like the xenomorph but also had the ability to regenerate itself from damage or attack regrowing its head after Fiefield cut it off.
Hammerpede
This creature first appeared in Prometheus and seemed to be some kind of larva worm that was exposed to the fluid from the ample chamber of the Jockey ship. Very like an earth cobra this little beast was aggressive and savage like a xeno. It shared the trait of acid blood like the xenomorph but also had the ability to regenerate itself from damage or attack regrowing its head after Fiefield cut it off.
The Decon
While man people call this a jockey xeno or a proto xeno however this creature didnt spawn from a facehugger but a human born creature that mutated in a massive facehugger like beast. The creature emerges fully formed from the jockey and cuts it way out with is crown blade very unlike an infant xeno. The jaws while like a xeno are more like a goblin shark which inner jaw expands the full range of the mouth. Also it has a placenta when its born which a xeno does not.
New Born
More of a gene splice gone wrong. When Ripley and the Queen DNA get mixed in the cloneing process and now the Queen has a human womb and gives birth to this monster. A loathsome creature with human eyes and features. This beast is like a toddler which dosent know its own power and with a creepy wide eyed wonder of a child this beast is the one of the few things in an otherwise letdown of a movie.
Tuesday 20 May 2014
Game over man Review: Aliens vs Predator P.C
Not only are you just playing as different creatures but the method in which you play must be different. I.E you cant go in all guns blazing( you dont have any) when your the Xeno unlike the Marine who has the hardware and armour. While the predator is a good alrounder...both stealth and combat work well for him,
The story is slime line to say the least but it's set 10 years after Aliens and occurs in different movie locations such as LV426 and Fury161. Wayland Yuntani seems to have a greater insight into the xeno and seems to be breeding them. As a result youll face Xenoborgs...Aliens with lasers and other weapons.
The Marine mission is to get from LV426 to his troop ship, The Predator mission is split into two. One is set in Wayland Yuntis underground research lab to find a captured Predator the later mission is to break into a Yunti owned Hive and kill the Queen. Lastly the Alien must escape from a Yutani Hive and make it to earth.
Marines weapons include Pulse Rifle, Flamethrower, Smartgun, SADER , Minigun and Grenade Launcher. The Gold edition also gives you a skeet Launcher and Duel Pistols. The Marine can get health packs and armor if injured and he's also equipped with flares and night vision goggles.
Aliens weapons include Claws, Tail and extended Jaws. While not an impressive weapons set its jaws when head biting restore your health making every enemy a walking health pack.
Lastly the predator gear includes Wristblades, Speargun, Plasma Caster, Plasma pistol and throwing disc. It also has three vision modes and a medipack which while requires power to work it still is a godsend.
The Game is A1 in sound, lighting, A.I and graphics which I still think hold up today. This game is a must if your an Aliens or Predator fan. You can pick it up on steam for peanuts and even if you aint an AVP fan this is one of the best P.C FPS's out there.
Tuesday 13 May 2014
H.R Giger builder of the beast.
His art went on to feature in Omni Magazine earned him international acclaim. Pieces like Necronom IV caught the attention of Dan O'Bannon who came into contact with Giger during the preparation for the filming of Dunne a movie that would never come to pass with either men involved. However in the late 70's Dan O'Bannon's movie Star Beast got the green light he convinced Scott to hire Giger to design the Alien Landscape and the Star Beast itself. Giger demanded to work alone and arrived with a trunk full of human and animal bones. However Scott and O'Bannon loved the guy and he was aloud to work unhindered.
Alien gained the artiest Oscar in 1980 and opened up interest in his art style for other horror and Sci-fi movies. The titles include Furture Kill, Poltergiest 2, Species and Batman forever as well as credited for the Alien movies. Along with designing a microphone for John Davies of Korn.
In 1998 Giger opened up a permanent exhibit in Gruyeres which is still run buy his wife Carmen Maria Scheifler Giger.
Sil from Species
Giger's Batmobile design unused for Batman Forever
Giger's design for the low budget horror Future Kill
HR Giger's creature design for Poltergeist 2
RIP HR Giger
Sad to hear the father of Cinemas greatest monster passed away age 74 after a injury during a fall.
As well as Alien he also worked on designs for Species and Future Kill.
HR Giger 1940-2014
Saturday 10 May 2014
Where's Bowski?
Did you know that Aliens has its kinda where's Wally game going on it. You see theres this marines called Trevor Wierbowski who gets little to know screen time at all. This poor fucker has become a cult icon spawning a group of fans know as Wierbowski hunters Heres their site http://www.wierzbowski.net/
Still some thing I find out that with all the attention Wierbowski gets how many of you guys out their remember poor Tim Crowe. Yep everyone forgets Crowe....sure you'd remember the poor fucker who got blown to shit buy bag of ammo that exploded but bet you never could think of his name. How come Crowe does not have his own website?
Well heres to the Fallen and Forgotten.
Weirbowski
Tim Crowe
Friday 9 May 2014
Interview with comic book creator John Cullen
Ive pulled up an old friend mine comic book artiest and writer John Cullen to discuss his likes and dislikes about the Alien series.
Martin: Which charater of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why?
John: I know it’s probably the same answer nearly everyone gives, but I’ll go with Ripley (keep in mind that I’m only counting the first two movies here).
I like her because she’s a very believable ‘bad ass’ female character, without it feeling cheap or forced. You fully buy Ripley as an ordinary woman caught up in these extraordinary circumstances and it draws you into her world and situation all the more.
It’s also really interesting seeing how her character progresses and evolves over the course of the two movies.
Martin: Which of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why?
John: No question: Alien.
Alien is just the perfect movie. It’s sci-fi, it’s horror, it’s character drama…all wrapped up in an absolutely gorgeous looking package. Other than ‘John Carpenter’s The Thing,’ there are very few sci-fi/horror hybrids that hold together as well as Alien does.
It is still one of the best looking sci-fi movies ever made and has aged fantastically well.
However, I have a lot of love for Aliens as well, as it was both my first Alien movie AND the first movie I ever saw on DVD. It still stands up as a great ‘80s action flick, but never quite hits the highs that the original does.
Martin: Where would you like to see the Alien franchise go considering the mess that was Prometheus?
John: Honestly, outside of the first two movies, I’m not overly concerned with whether the franchise continues in movie form or not. I mean, I’m sure it will, but I doubt anything will come out that will recapture how great the first two movies are. I was so excited for Prometheus, as it looked like t would be a return to form and would add some rich new lore to the franchise. Instead, it just ended up making things even more needlessly complicated.
The beauty of the first movie is its stark simplicity: it is a haunted house/slasher movie in space. That’s it. Perfect.
Unfortunately, I find that, due to the Alien/Xenomorph being such an ingrained part of movie and pop culture, it has lost a lot of its original mystery and scariness; a part of me wishes that I could go back in time to the late ‘70s and experience the movie and Xenomorph as audiences did at the time: as this exciting, new, and terrifying thing, unlike anything that had come before.
In order for the franchise to become relevant again, it’ll either need to be taken in a drastically new direction or —dare I say it— rebooted.
However, I am *very* excited for the upcoming game, Alien Isolation, which looks to take things back to basics and actually attempt to make the Xenomorph scary again. Even if the movies never recapture the magic of the originals, there’s every chance that Isolation could be the beginnings of a return to form for the franchise and may be something that will teach a whole new generation to fear the Xenomorph again.
You can check out more from John here
http://nellucnhoj.com/
and also pick up his awesome comic book here.
https://gumroad.com/l/nhoj
Martin: Which charater of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why?
John: I know it’s probably the same answer nearly everyone gives, but I’ll go with Ripley (keep in mind that I’m only counting the first two movies here).
I like her because she’s a very believable ‘bad ass’ female character, without it feeling cheap or forced. You fully buy Ripley as an ordinary woman caught up in these extraordinary circumstances and it draws you into her world and situation all the more.
It’s also really interesting seeing how her character progresses and evolves over the course of the two movies.
John: No question: Alien.
Alien is just the perfect movie. It’s sci-fi, it’s horror, it’s character drama…all wrapped up in an absolutely gorgeous looking package. Other than ‘John Carpenter’s The Thing,’ there are very few sci-fi/horror hybrids that hold together as well as Alien does.
It is still one of the best looking sci-fi movies ever made and has aged fantastically well.
However, I have a lot of love for Aliens as well, as it was both my first Alien movie AND the first movie I ever saw on DVD. It still stands up as a great ‘80s action flick, but never quite hits the highs that the original does.
Martin: Where would you like to see the Alien franchise go considering the mess that was Prometheus?
John: Honestly, outside of the first two movies, I’m not overly concerned with whether the franchise continues in movie form or not. I mean, I’m sure it will, but I doubt anything will come out that will recapture how great the first two movies are. I was so excited for Prometheus, as it looked like t would be a return to form and would add some rich new lore to the franchise. Instead, it just ended up making things even more needlessly complicated.
The beauty of the first movie is its stark simplicity: it is a haunted house/slasher movie in space. That’s it. Perfect.
Unfortunately, I find that, due to the Alien/Xenomorph being such an ingrained part of movie and pop culture, it has lost a lot of its original mystery and scariness; a part of me wishes that I could go back in time to the late ‘70s and experience the movie and Xenomorph as audiences did at the time: as this exciting, new, and terrifying thing, unlike anything that had come before.
In order for the franchise to become relevant again, it’ll either need to be taken in a drastically new direction or —dare I say it— rebooted.
However, I am *very* excited for the upcoming game, Alien Isolation, which looks to take things back to basics and actually attempt to make the Xenomorph scary again. Even if the movies never recapture the magic of the originals, there’s every chance that Isolation could be the beginnings of a return to form for the franchise and may be something that will teach a whole new generation to fear the Xenomorph again.
You can check out more from John here
http://nellucnhoj.com/
and also pick up his awesome comic book here.
https://gumroad.com/l/nhoj
Xenomorph caste 5:Drone
Also known as the Lurker the Drone was first encountered buy the crew of the Nostromo. The star beast is somewhat smarter then the warrior xenomorphs....as it was alive a shorter time period on the ship then the Warriors on LV426 yet still managed to evade capture and death at the hands of the crew. The Drone also seemed to be some what taller hence its other nickname "the Big Chap". With bigger dorsal horns and blade its a sight to be seen.
One other feature that the Nostromo Drone had that the Drones who later appeared in the series lost was the transparent skull. The dome was see through and underneath was a human skull making it even more frighting and savage something I think was lost with the later versions.
However it seem this design is returning with Alien Isolation and with it all the terror of being hunted buy a Lone Xenomorph. Its only fitting too as this was the creature that started it all.
One other feature that the Nostromo Drone had that the Drones who later appeared in the series lost was the transparent skull. The dome was see through and underneath was a human skull making it even more frighting and savage something I think was lost with the later versions.
However it seem this design is returning with Alien Isolation and with it all the terror of being hunted buy a Lone Xenomorph. Its only fitting too as this was the creature that started it all.
Featured in
Alien
Alien Resurrection
AVP
Aliens: Colonial Marines(Xbox 360, PS3)
Alien Isolation (Xbox One,PS4)
Tuesday 6 May 2014
Interview with Sci-fi fan Dwayne Moloney.
I'm chatting to comic artiest, one of the voice's of Secret of the Sailor Madness podcast and all round Sci-fi fan Dwayne Moloney about what elements of the Aliens franchise he enjoys and what could make it a good sci-fi.series again.
Martin: Which character of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why? Dwayne :Well, one of the many brilliant things about Ripley in the first film is she aint even the main character, she just kinda ends up that due to process of elimination, which is amazing! And while the first has her just barely survive, the second film has her come to terms with her trauma, to face it head on. Her character arc has her need to learn a new way to exist, to become a warrior, and to relearn how to be a mother. Its really quite brilliantly put together!
Martin: Which of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why?
Dwayne: Hmm, probably Aliens for the afore-mentioned reasons, but both it and Alien are near-perfect movies. Aliens only comes out on top for me as its probably one of the best film sequels out there.
Martin: Where would you like to see the Alien franchise go considering the mess that was Prometheus? Dwayne: I think there needs ta be a new main characters, unrelated to the previous films. It'd have to move to something on a larger scale, perhaps a colony during an infestation rather than after. The colonists could fight off the infestation… mebbie the colony could have been set up by WY to be infected, and the colonists fighting back or something! I feel the genre would have to change a bit too, that gives each story a uniqueness. Alien was kinda like a slasher movie, Aliens was vietnam influenced, thats why I like the idea of the colonists; an internal struggle against overpowering odds.
You can check out more from Dwayne here.
http://iamoftenwrong.tumblr.com/
and here
http://secretofthesailormadness.blogspot.ie/
Martin: Which character of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why? Dwayne :Well, one of the many brilliant things about Ripley in the first film is she aint even the main character, she just kinda ends up that due to process of elimination, which is amazing! And while the first has her just barely survive, the second film has her come to terms with her trauma, to face it head on. Her character arc has her need to learn a new way to exist, to become a warrior, and to relearn how to be a mother. Its really quite brilliantly put together!
Martin: Where would you like to see the Alien franchise go considering the mess that was Prometheus? Dwayne: I think there needs ta be a new main characters, unrelated to the previous films. It'd have to move to something on a larger scale, perhaps a colony during an infestation rather than after. The colonists could fight off the infestation… mebbie the colony could have been set up by WY to be infected, and the colonists fighting back or something! I feel the genre would have to change a bit too, that gives each story a uniqueness. Alien was kinda like a slasher movie, Aliens was vietnam influenced, thats why I like the idea of the colonists; an internal struggle against overpowering odds.
You can check out more from Dwayne here.
http://iamoftenwrong.tumblr.com/
and here
http://secretofthesailormadness.blogspot.ie/
Game over man Review: Alien vs Predator the last of his clan
This is the last of the Gameboy Alien games Ill be reviewing. AVP the last of his clan is a side scrolling beat'em up that puts you in the sandals of a lone hunter who must destroy an out of control hive which is clan allowed to be seeded on a populated planet. To my vast knowledge this is the first ever AvP game so that alone peeked my intrest and I had to buy it.
The graphics have not aged well and the music leaves alot to be desired but in fairness this is the first ever AVP game so cut it a little slack. Hell you got the Predator theme in 8 bit on the intro....what more could you want. The controls are basic as fuck and theres a sweet little menu for selecting the weapons....dont get too excited, you'll hear how sucky they are next.
The Yautja's weapons include Wristblades, Cuttingdisk, Shouldercanon and Bombs. Most are useless other then the cutting disk. Cloak seems only to be there to kill the facehuggers who jump on you. The foes include Facehuggers, Chestbursters and Warriors...along with the Queen boss. The Aliens are the toughest but the do constantly respawn and keep in mind there no medkits in this game at all.
While not a great game you could get a bit of fun outta it for oh the first 20 minutes but after that your going to be bored very fast. AVP the last of his clan for the Game boy is a game for hardcore fans only.
The graphics have not aged well and the music leaves alot to be desired but in fairness this is the first ever AVP game so cut it a little slack. Hell you got the Predator theme in 8 bit on the intro....what more could you want. The controls are basic as fuck and theres a sweet little menu for selecting the weapons....dont get too excited, you'll hear how sucky they are next.
The Yautja's weapons include Wristblades, Cuttingdisk, Shouldercanon and Bombs. Most are useless other then the cutting disk. Cloak seems only to be there to kill the facehuggers who jump on you. The foes include Facehuggers, Chestbursters and Warriors...along with the Queen boss. The Aliens are the toughest but the do constantly respawn and keep in mind there no medkits in this game at all.
While not a great game you could get a bit of fun outta it for oh the first 20 minutes but after that your going to be bored very fast. AVP the last of his clan for the Game boy is a game for hardcore fans only.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)