異形 4 in 1

Bought the "Alien" 4 in 1 collection. I saw this collection sitting on the top shelf of the DVD section in my local B and N months ago, wanted to grab it then and there, but hesitated and waited. I did this a few times, and finally decided to just get it and get it over with.

The first Alien movie I saw (on TV) was Aliens (the 2nd in the series) directed by James Cameron. I was still in junior high, and USA was showing Aliens that afternoon. It was already about 40 minutes into the film, but I got pulled in right away, and I was completely blown away by it, gave me nightmares. I remember I had to keep on changing channel when the action scenes got too intense for me, but always changed right back because I didn't want to miss anything. Aliens is the only sci-fi action/horror/thriller that made me want to watch so bad but also scared the wind out of me. I literally froze in place at the sight of those saliva-covered grotesque creatures that kill with their tongues and acidic "blood". I mean I still kinda shudder at the thought of those things, but am at the same time fascinated by the Alien films. So this is what made me hesitate about getting the DVDs, I thought the films would still be too intense for me. But it turned out I have grown a lot more numb to violence and gore over the years, though I'm just as repulsed by sordid horror films that are nothing more than mindless slash and splash.

So I watched all four Alien movies in two afternoons. Unquestionably, the first two in the series are monumentally better than the latter two. The first Alien, directly by Ridley Scott, definitely has a "British touch" to it (whatever that means). It is characteristically un-Hollywood, the build-up to the climactic "chest burster" scene is long and requires patience; the dialogues and character development are rather subtle, highly believable, especially the unexpected turn of events which begins with the android Ash who suddenly turns predatory on his teammates, and which leads to the ultimate revelation of the "real" purpose behind the mission of the ship named Nostromo, as masterminded by the Company. Surprisingly, the central figure of this movie, the alien itself, does not get that much screen time (compared to the latter ones). But this doesn't change the fact that Alien is creepy-as-hell and beats Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection (4) on the "scare-o-meter", both of which contain much much more slash and splash.

Aliens(2) is a roller-coaster-like action packed combat thriller, and it is GOOD, i mean, mind-numbingly good, though in a completely different way from Alien(1). I imagine it must have been pretty easy to screw up Aliens and turn it into something like Alien 3. But Cameron is just too good at this kind of stuff. The suspense is heart-gripping; there is a lot more gore and violence, but not to the point your stomach begins to churn. Mostly, it is the combination of suspense and powerful action scenes that makes this film excel. But there IS something else in this film that leaves a mark: the development of the character Ellen Ripley, the lone heroine, the bond between Ripley and the little girl Newt, something that turns into a mother-and-daughter bond, versus the similar queen-and-offspring bond between the queen alien and all the other aliens. So the final climactic moment in Aliens is the showdown between the "two mothers" -- Ripley and the queen alien...both of them lean and mean when it comes to protecting their children.

Alien 3 is, simply put, a mistake. There should have been only two alien movies, Alien and Aliens. In Aliens, most of the marines died, but the movie still ends on a hopeful note, with survivers Ripley, Newt, Ripley's love interest Hicks, and the android Bishop returning to base. But Alien 3 decided to smother even this feeble hope, killing everyone but Ripley. The entire movie feels pointless, and whats worse, Alien 3 decided to end with Ripley jumping into a furnace, and with that, there just HAS to be another sequel. I mean, you just don't kill the heroine in a series like this.

So, we come to the last in the series, Alien Resurrection. And "resurrection" means bringing Ripley, and, more importantly, the alien back to haunt us (oh yes, the new Ripley is badass), and not just any alien, the mother queen. This is the only alien movie i watched in the theatre. I don't loath this one as much as I should, because mostly, I don't mind watching Ripley lording over everybody else(including the aliens). She is angry, she is mean, and she spews acidic blood. But other than that, this movie is like a fetish nightmare, and every character thinks he/she is so tough that they just can't get over themselves.

今年就是大片年啊，就是大片年

過去的兩年因爲某些原因，幾乎整年沒有進電影院。

我看電影的態度基本是：大屏幕看與小屏幕看有明顯差別的，就去電影院看。文藝片和劇情片也喜歡，但通常不會急著去影院看。所以，那年錯過了Avatar尤其可惜，尤其是裏面有我相當喜歡的Michelle Rodriguez和Sigourney Weaver。

不過，今年就當是把前兩年錯過的都補回來。今年真是大片年啊，大片年。從四月份開始，Fast Five就震撼揭開了暑期檔的序幕，整個暑期，各種超級英雄匯聚一堂，集體轟炸粉絲的荷包。從F5，到Thor, Panda2, X-men first class, Transformers3，到Green Lantern和Captain America，印象中沒有任何一年有這麽多super blockbuster這麽密集的一起上映。而我們這些粉絲也樂得幾乎一個禮拜進一次影院。

如果沒有記錯，看超級英雄電影，是從X2: X-men United開始的。當時連X1都沒看過，對X-men的漫畫也基本不熟悉，就跟朋友進了影院。一邊看，朋友一邊小聲講解人物關係，竟然看得津津有味。後來又回頭補看了X1。在X2的結尾，Jean為了救其他人而犧牲了自己，大家都很期待她在X3的閃亮復活和回歸，卻沒想到X3是這樣令人難過的結局。

我一直覺得像X-men這類大片，雖然正面人物（或觀衆能找到認同感的人物）不是不能挂掉，但整體還是要給人希望，結局不能真的令人感到沮喪。而X3就犯了這個大忌：Jean死了不說，Cyclops也被她親手殺死，Magneto失去了特異能力（雖然這個地方似乎埋了伏筆），Mystique也變成了普通人並被Magneto抛棄，Rose鉄了心要變普通人，而最難過的是，Jean竟然是死在Wolverine的刀下。我堅決不接受這是X-men系列的最終結局啊！這太苦情了吧。

好在上個周末上映的X-men: First Class非常好看，因此説不定以後還能看到其他X-men的後續故事。飾演Charles Xavier的James McAvoy應該說從各方面都難以跟後來的Patrick Stewart聯繋起來，不過這並不表示他演的不成功。誰又能想到，禿頭的X教授年輕的時候竟然是個泡妹高手，滿嘴甜言蜜語。不過有一點從一開始就可以肯定，Xavier是塊天生當領袖的料，他非常擅長安撫他人，也沒有人比他更會説服他人。從最初，X-men團隊就是以他為核心。

而我更感興趣的則是年輕的Eric Lehnsherr（Magneto）。由於X1和X2的Magneto是由老戯骨Sir Ian McKellen飾演，那種老辣陰險的氣質完全被演活了（還記得X2裏面，Magneto只靠三個小鉄球就輕而易舉的逃出監獄），因此，在前傳裏看到一個特別菜鳥的Magneto（由Michael Fassbender飾演）是很有意思的事情。

看來在兩人都還年輕的時候，無論是心理還是特異能力，更強大和更成熟的都是Xavier。Eric由於幼年時候在納粹集中營的陰影，人格從小就有扭曲的一面，特異能力的力量源泉一直是來自於内心的憤怒。而直到認識了Xavier，被其“淳淳善誘”，告訴他只有當内心找到平靜，特異能力的威力才能夠真正變得強大（好像抄自熊貓2），而我們也似乎看到了Eric能夠返回光明一面的希望。

前傳的成功之處（之一）在於：導演很流暢又細膩的描畫出了Xavier和Eric，這兩位特異人中的領軍人物從陌生人到相識，到相交，到相知，直至最後的分道揚鑣。兩人雖然選擇了兩個完全不同的人生理念，但他們之間有著非常複雜的過去，也曾經像兄弟一般並肩作戰過。