James Cameron Reflects on 'Aliens'
Today is considered "Alien Day" in honour of the 1986 sequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 horror classic Alien. In commemorating the event, Cameron has spoken in an upcoming issue of the Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, reflecting on the impact of the action-oriented follow-up that elevated the franchise even more-so than the original.
“My goals were twofold, and one was not prioritized over the other. The first goal was to honor and continue what Ridley had started, and the second goal was to make it my own film.” The intent was to offer something visually similar to the first film, and expand in other areas.
“I felt that it was important to be stylistically continuous with the first film. But in terms of the way the story is told, the elements of the story, introducing the idea of a future military, that was just a way into it that made it different, that was a distinguishing factor.”
When it came to practical effects, there were challenges. “We developed a pretty good little palette of techniques that were relatively straightforward and inexpensive and required a lot of craftsmanship. Almost anything can be corrected or hidden or added to or enhanced with CG now. So there’s much less emphasis on what’s going in front of an actual camera lens.”
When the question of whether he'd return to the Alien world, he gave a predictable answer. “I’ve got my own kind of alien world that I’m enslaved to now with the Avatar films, so I can pretty much rule that out.”
Alien: Covenant from Ridley Scott is due out August 4, 2017, and Alien 5 is still happening according to Neil Blomkamp and Sigourney Weaver.
Source: Screenrant
