Talk:Aliens (film)

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Al Matthews, in vietnam or not?

This article states; "In real life Al Matthews, who plays Sergeant Apone, was the first black marine to be promoted to the rank of gunnery sergeant while serving in the Vietnam War."

However, on the page for Al_Matthews, it says;

"In real life, Matthews was a member of the United States Marine Corps. According to IMDb, he was first black Marine ever promoted to the rank of gunnery sergeant while serving in the Vietnam War, however, this is false."

Which is true?

217.119.224.154 08:57, 17 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The link about William Hope doesn't go to a page about the actor William hope.

Fixed. Fredrik | talk 14:16, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Bishop

Was Bishop "re-introduced" in this film? Wasn't the android different, and named "Ash" in the first film? ==130.91.131.122

Bishop was a new character, though an android. I see you fixed the article, thanks! — Frecklefoot | Talk 20:21, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC)

==Have removed POV sections of "Versions" which seemed to prefer one cut over another. Jamyskis Whisper, Contribs 08:54, 13 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The analysis section

I think the section under the title 'Analysis' needs some work. The Vietnam allegory is fine, as is the bit about Ripley's daughter, but that could be expanded to further explore the theme of motherhood in the movie, including the Alien Queen. However the third piece, Weaver's real-life stance on guns has no bearing on the movie in itself and would be better suited for a trivia entry.

I agree, Weavers stance on guns belongs in trivia.

Poontang

It's my understanding that poontang is a word for sex, particularly between soldiers and natives, and that it came into heavy use during the Vietnam War. Cameron and others have commented on the movie's similarity to "Vietnam in space"--a technologically superior force decimated by a low-tech enemy and so forth. So wouldn't it be better to assume that when the marines in Aliens say "poontang," they mean what we think they mean, and not some "new" definition like eating indigenous species or something? Teflon Don 18:15, 8 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Poontang is female genitalia. Check the urban dictionary.

Female genitalia is always how I have heard it used (I don't think Ted Nugent was talking about extra-solar culinary practices on "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang"). And if you are familiar with the actual exchange in the movie, there is very little uncertainty about what is meant:

Frost: Hey, I sure wouldn't mind getting me some more of that Arcturian poontang! Remember that time? Spunkmeyer: Yeah Frost, except the one you had was MALE. Frost: It doesn't matter when it's Arcturian, baby!

[taken from the first draft of the ‘Aliens’ script dated May 28, 1985]

The exchange does seem to support the hypothesis of the paragraph.

The film also continues a suggestion in the film [is "previous film" meant here? After reading the article for 'Alien', which states the film's "gender politics have been subject of much examination", I conclude that that is what is meant, though no supporting evidence for the claim is included in the 'Alien' article] that in the future sexual orientation and gender identity would be non-issues.

The onscreen biographical reports on the missing crewmembers from the first film all include information on whether or not they have had a sex change operation. [I can't verify this, but will assume it is so]

Later on while the marines are eating in the mess hall, two of the marines joke about having sex with an alien being that might have been transgender [if you read the entire exchange it sounds more like some form of hermaphrodite where both genders have a vagina], although the joke is obscure, referring to "had some Arcturean Poontang". It may reference many things, such as eating an Arcturean creature [again, not much ambiguity or obscurity about what is being referenced when you view the entire exchange].

Suggestion for a rewrite of the paragraph:

The film also continues a suggestion from the previous film that in the future sexual orientation and gender identity would be non-issues. The onscreen biographical reports on the missing crewmembers from the first film all include information on whether or not they have had a sex change operation. Later on while the marines are eating in the mess hall, two of the male marines are discussing the merits of "Arcturian poontang" when one says, "except the one you had was MALE!" and the other replies, "It doesn't matter when it's Arcturian, baby!"

I'm also not sure if some of this paragraph, as well as parts of the paragraph on Vasquez (though I admit that the possibility of her being a lesbian or bisexual is more plausible considered in light of the Spanish comments translation), are more that the author is trying too hard to make a case for a theme in the movie about "sexual orientation and gender identity would be non-issues".

(btw, I'm not familiar with editing an article like this. Does someone have 'ownership' of it, and so should do any actual editing of the article?) MrFurry 08:00, 29 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That whole gender/orientation section needs to be pared down and reworded (not to mention it belongs as Trivia, not Impact). There is no doubt what the "Arcturian poontang" exchange is meant to convey in the film and it actually serves to discredit the premise it supposedly supports.

If sexual matters were a "non-issue" why would one male be making a joke about another male mistakenly having sex with a creature of the same gender? The very idea that that exchange might be seen as about consuming an Arcturian is kind of ludicrous.

The film is reflecting the attitudes of the time it was made (for example consider the "illegal alien" joke directed at Vazquez. In the future we defeat all sexual issues/hangups and bias but it's still common to make jokes about ethnicity and homosexual sex with aliens? That doesn't make sense to me.

Deitrich or Crowe?

This article speaks of the portrayal of women in action movies and references Ripley, Vasquez, Farro, and Deitrich as strong female roles. However, I thought that Deitrich was a male grunt and Crowe was the fourth female (who was pulled up the wall by the first attacking alien in the scene under the atmospheric processor after speaking the line "Maybe they don't show up on infrared at all"). Anyone know for sure?

Nope; Deitrich was the fourth female Marine, and the one who was first to be attacked. If I recall correctly, Crowe had the least screen time of any of the Marines. I don't remember if the film even depicted his fate. *EDIT* Seems my memory was slightly off: Crowe was the one who died when Frost's ammunition bag exploded. It was Weirzbowski who died offscreen. --BobBQ

Red Dwarf connection

I never noticed this until last night but Mac McDonald, who played Captain Hollister on Red Dwarf, also plays the guy in charge of the colony on LV-426. I found it interesting that he's a captain of a mining ship in Red Dwarf for a big corporation and then he's working for another big corporation that has giant Red Dwarf sized mining ships.--Skeev 14:01, 30 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Major Errors

I don't know where the stuff about the conceptual weapons came from, but it flies in the face of all Aliens canon I've ever seen. None of the weapons have their correct names, the pulse rifle is listed as firing a 7.2mm round instead of the 10mm rounds specified in the film, and the flamethrower is described as being built out of power drill parts, when in fact the props were made using M16 receivers.

For now, I've edited it to match the official specs. --BobBQ 2:01, 30 April 2006 (EST)

Aliens influenced Starship Troopers?

In the impact section it actually states this, even though it's well known that the Novel Starship Troopers was used as a reference on the set of Aliens. Can someone remove this please, unless there is a good reason for it. Bihal 07:13, 1 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Asimov's First Law

During the cafeteria scene on the Sulaco, Bishop tells Ripley that "It is impossible for me to harm, or by omission of action, allow to be harmed, a human being." This is, of course, Asimov's First Law of Robotics. Worth a mention?

Nightshade01 05:13, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Only if you mention that Ash wasn't programmed with Asimov's Laws. Teflon Don 15:20, 6 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Good point... though this (and more) is already mentioned in a paragraph on the Three Laws page, under 'The Laws in Film' section. Would reposting the paragraph here be redundant, or even allowed (sorry, I'm new at this)? Nightshade01 22:30, 6 May 2006 (UTC)