I could have done without it, but knowing that Ian Holm was hoping for more roles after The Hobbit and that he would have loved to be in the film does change my perspective a bit. In that sense it is a nice homage to an awesome actor gone too soon.
His wife is happy he's back on the big screen and got some recognition. His estate also got paid by it. Ian is still providing for his family even if he's not here anymore. Win win
Well what I don't get is the same level of respect was paid to Peter Cushing's "Grand Moff Tarkin" in his appearance in 2016's *Rogue One*. Again there, Gareth Edwards and his team, Lucasfilm reached out to Cushing's Estate and Family, they asked for their permission, they said IF the family did not agree to using Cushing's likeness for the character they would never have gone there; but the family were fine with it and I really liked the way Tarkin was handled in that movie, Sure the CGI looks horrible dated and unrealistic now, I didn't think it looked too bad when I first saw in back then. But no one back then was complaining about them using a dead actor's appearance, but more just about the whole bad CGI of it all, I mean that was before Deepfake really came about too. Ian Holm was awesome though, Alien, the Fifth Element and he had small parts in other films back in the 80s, I think he was in a Terry Gilliam movie and he played Napolion I think. Ofcouse he is iconic as Ash and Bilbo in Lotr.
@@82fdny97 For real. All of the characters were completely forgettable aside from him. The end would have been much better if he wasn't disabled and helped. Interesting how a simple whack to the neck disables an Android with super human strength when we've seen these things get ripped apart and still function.
I recall reading that when the Nostromo game for ALIEN: Isolation was released; Ian Holm was the only actor to decline the invitation to reprise his role.
@@jimjam51075a bit disrespectful. None of us have any idea why he took that decision. He had a Parkinsons diagnosis in 2007, 7 years before Alien Isolation. He may have declined to be involved on the basis of being an 82 year old man at the time with failing health.
Honestly I didn’t see any issue with the Ash reveal or appearance and didn’t see any of the roughness about it that other people keep mentioning. The biggest shock and surprise was actually seeing “him” in the movie and I really liked how it helped tie Alien and Alien Romulus together and make it all feel like it’s all part of the same world and worked in the context of the Weyland Corporation and companies mass producing products too.
It was a giant leap past rogue one, i think the character was over used but the cgi was fine, the anchoring of his head did seem odd but the way people are whining about this suggests they were focussing on their own feelings rather than watching the screen
His lips looked really wonky when talking for some reason, that was the issue for me anyway, but it's not a major thing as the rest of the movie looked so good
This movie needs a directors cut. Just got out my second screening and if you watch the whole hive sequence closely, you’ll notice they seem to cut a huge chunk of it out based on the corridors leading to the elevator (first time when three of them are there) and then the second time when Rain goes back for Andy. Watch that entire sequence and the length of the corridors closely. In the second sequence when Rain goes back, there’s a whole other stretch/section to the hive that gets revealed in a shot.
I thought making Rook the same model as Ash was brilliant. It was a nice homage to Ian Holm and a great call back to Alien. When I realized they were hiding the androids face in the shadows until they activated him, I said to myself "This has got to be Ash!" I was sure it was another synthetic of the same model, or maybe even Ash himself, either a software copy or maybe he'd managed to transmit his consciousness to a new body somehow.
A bunch of people in the cinema said the same thing! "Oh fuck they're showing Ash!". Lol, and I was probably the only one who thought it was going to be Bishop haha
The music was very good in this movie i'll give it that, and the visuals mixed with practical effects. The music toward the end and nice, big grandiose sweeping shots of the Romulus space station crashing into the ice ring all that was beautiful I felt, really cool.
Ash is my all time favourite character from the whole franchise. I was so happy to see 'him' back. When things in life get tough, remember, What Would Ash Do?
I've just came back from watching the movie and yeah, that first reveal was a little on the janky side but after that it was a nice way to tie this movie in with the first one and must have been truly lovely if emotional for his widow and family to see him on the screen again (Given he wanted more parts after The Hobbit), in such an iconic role once more. A fitting tribute for such a great actor R.I.P Sir Ian
I liked the inclusion of the character a lot but as you say the CG was rough 😭 I would have much preferred it if they’d kept to the animatronic for the early shots (as they did) because from the early side shots I was eyeing it like… that kinda looks like ash but no can’t be 💀 but then cheating the reveal, keeping it a mystery, Andy says in the film ‘I could hear you in my head’ maybe we could of heard Ian holm’s voice instead of seeing him and finally it’s revealed through one of those monitor shots or something who he is 🤷🏽♀️ because those close up, face on shots were giving space babies from Doctor who. Almost looked like the face was too small on the head
Thought I would hate Rook because of what I had heard before seeing the film but loved every single appearance from him… The uncanny CGI served to highlight that he is a robot imitating a living being. That addition was brilliant.
I loved it too mate. The bad effects were obviously noticeable but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the movie. I cannot wait for the blue ray to see all the deleted scenes and directors cut. 😁
I agree to a certain extent and was thinking in My head its a battle damaged robot so its face looks unnatural but then I noticed the flashing effect from deep fake and there was no way to see that as a robot effect. There is also a segment where his face is off angle not straight and that also is not something that can be the result of being a robot. I had to just accept that they fxxxed up that part of the movie and just focus on all the good stuff, however I did like Rook being in the movie.
I thought it was great, tbh. I thought it fit the story perfectly, with no feeling of shoehorning in memberberries for the sake of it. I actually liked the fact that the effect was imperfect, because it gave you that uneasy, not-quite-right feeling about the synthetic, which is mentioned in the lore as making humans feel uneasy in their presence. I never quite got that feeling from the human performances in any of the movies.
It was great seeing a likeness of Ian Holm as an android. The CGI for him should’ve been better. But at the same time it was a nice honor to Holm’s great portrayal as Ash in Alien.
I agree it was rough CGI… but after hearing this that definitely changes my opinion on WHY Fede chose to do it. Do I think it looks good and is necessary…. No. Do I think it was cool and was like “ok whatever I’ll let it just happen because of you know…. Movie”… yes 😂
Thought I would hate Rook because of what I had heard before seeing the film but loved every single appearance from him… The uncanny CGI served to highlight that he is a robot imitating a living being. That addition was brilliant.
I genuinely thought the Rook character and the use of Ian Holm's likeness in Romulus was a positive, even more so now after hearing the way Fede approached it beforehand.
It wasn't every frame that was bad. It was jarring at first, but as I watched it I wondered if the proportions/appearance of his face may have been damaged. He did go through a full xenomorph infestation. And he was melted by acid. I think those things may have influenced it.
@@7783DEATH did you want it to pilot the ship or something? Maybe dance around on a pole? The point is they get shot. Not to mention we see a fair bit more of the xeno life cycle and how it behaves far more than the other films.
@@wartooth88 They're supposed to be the perfect organism and unrivaled predators. Here they stand around like idiots and get shot in a straight line. Multiple times they just stand there watching, the only scene where this makes sense is when Scorched is waiting for them to open the door so he can kill all of them instead of just Kay. Every other time its just idiotic.
I genuinely got so excited to see Holmes in the film. I could tell right away that it was cgi on top of something but I was able to look past that without delay as just having the androids in the film and seeing his face was such a delightful treat.
I really enjoyed the return of Ian Holm's likeness in this film. Yes, it's obvious that the face is CGI, but the way in which it it done, and the plot point it serves is done very well.
They could have had her birth an alien having lost her baby in that fall she earlier. That would have been crazy. I just didn’t like the engineer looking alien and the egg.
@nerdofpray It seemed like they didn't know what to conjure up or put together for that part. So decided to give us that 🤣. As soon as it showed its face I was like oh no😂 wth. It was also smiling 😆 lol
brief description of Romulus: a mashup of Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Resurrection, Prometheus..... if you were to make a collage of all those films its basically that, personally I think the humanoid at the end should have been left out, just had the pregnant women go to hyper sleep then rain, then post credits showing an issue within the pregnant woman's sleep chamber as a cliff hangar. Personally I liked Ash / Rook in this, I felt this was the presence of WY, and the ever pushing need to get the mission complete. Definitely worth a watch, no where near as bad as I thought it would be, just don't think I could rewatch it
Hiya Mr H 👋, I wasn't a fan of how they attempted to CGI Ian Holm into the Android "Rook" either. His dialogue with the characters showed a bit of fan service. However, what you've explained does make sense as well. As a loyal fan of the franchise like yourself, I walked away from the cinema 🎥 feeling indifferent about the movie 🎬. Killing the "Big Chap" off screen didn't sit well with me. It would've been great seeing the original Xenomorph wreaking havoc on the space station in the early scenes which would've set-up what was to come really well.
I agree, especially considering we've all seen CGI Deepfake done much better and by Disney too, in the GOTG Vol: 2 with a young Kurt Russell as well as a young RDJ in Iron-Man 3 opening. Even Luke Skywalker in that wasted episode of the BOBF looked way better than Rook in this Romulus movie, so I just don't get it.
@@RaikenXion Those "Disney" de-aging appearances you mentioned, including the one from Ant-Man for Hank Pym were done exclusively by a UK company called Blur FX, with some people originally from The Moving Picture Company, also a UK effects company. They only had a budget of $80 million for Romulus and probably couldn't afford to get Blur FX involved.
The fact that we got David AND Walter should be enough that has already happened in the lore to satisfy both hardcore and casual fans of the franchise. Like is anybody having a problem with this? Did fans not like and nor understand Walter? I'm confused on why fans would ever be mistyfied in a story when there is presedence. Neverless I do appreciate this story becuase it IS important to leanr that Fede Alverez reached out to the family this is actually very important to learn about. Anyways, thanks for the video!
Well here's the thing, the Rook android in this movie mentions the Prometheus mission, and Peter Weyland's failed efforts and how the company is all about honoring his legacy to unlock the secrets to do with the Xenomorphs. We even hear the Prometheus theme music subtly play as Rook is giving that exposition. So personally I feel the writers should have gone much further here, and built a story/plot off of what had basically transpired with David-8 when he actually made contact with the MUTHUR A.I. at the very end of Covenant. If it were me I would make a sequel to this Romulus movie, and work in Ridley Scott's ideas he had for his "Alien: Awakening" 3rd movie of his Alien Prequels. Covenant ends where David has complete control of the USCSS: Covenant and her colonists all in cryosleep, along with Daniels and Tennessee. Romulus ends where Raine and Andy have gone into cryo, and are hoping to get to a sort of "Paradise" planet, that's lush, has ocean, greenery and just natural environment that is healthy, and far from where she's came from on that slave/life-contract colonist planet. The Covenant Colonist mission originally was trying to get to "Origae-6". There is a opportunity here for Fede Alverez and Ridley Scott to collaborate and make a sequel to Romulus all about Raine and Andy heading to a "Paradise" planet which turns out to actually be *Orige-6* and when they get there, they eventually discover that the planet over the past 20+ years has become anything but a "Paradise". It has been turned into the home of David-8 and his replicated Xenomorphs, that he has used the colonists (along with Daniels/Tennessee) for to create tons more Xenomorphs. So here we could have Raine & Andy go up against David-8 and his horde of Xenomorphs.
@@MindbodyMedic lol Funny, cause it's such nerds who make up the CORE of Fanbases for these hugely beloved franchises. And NOT all literally live in "basements". Mr H is from the UK and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a basement. I'm also from the UK, Brummies to be specific and we don't have "Basements" here lol. But I am a big Alien/Terminator/Predator and especially *Star Wars* "NERD" so yes I do CARE alot. Oh and be careful throwing that name "Jesus" around. I'm not religious but Ridley Scott was going to make *Jesus* a Emissary of the Engineers, sent to earth 2000 yrs ago, and his treatment by Mankind was the main factor in why the Engineers chose to ultimately wipe out the human race to their black goo, viral biological weapon. Just sayin, you never know the idea Could be reused one day in a future sequel.
Well, here on your page some time back I suggested that an 'Ash' type android might possibly appear in Alien Romulus and upon seeing the film... I was happy to see 'Rook' and glad his wife was happy Holm's was used. I really liked the fact Rook was part of the film story, OK the CGI was a little wonky but didn't worry me.
I saw the film earlier this evening and I agree with you. When you first see his face clearly it was serious uncanny valley! It actually looked better when you see him on the screens later. The voice acting though was spot on! I just really wish they ignored a certain "prequel" all together and left it's connection to the Alien universe with the original film
I love that they brought him back, he was in Alien, and in Alien isolation, just makes sense for him to be apart of the return of Alien in their efforts of going back to basics
Yes the CG wasn't great on him but they did try and hide it slightly with him appearing on a screen within the movie at times. Looking at the budget of Romulus it's not excessive at all so kudos to them for that. Also it makes total sense having a model the same as Ash, after all David and Walter were the same model in appearance. It didn't affect my enjoyment of the film at all.
Saw it last night. Was super surprised to see Ash's model. And the wonky Holm replication. But some scenes were way better than the other, like some of the ones on the monitor I would barely notice any difference
I love the fact that Alvarez reach out to the family. It's also is a tribute to alien 1979, I also fill CG has a little bit more maturing to do whether it's hardware or software, star wars used it for Carrie Fisher and peter Weller and I got good vibes at the end. It's healing in my view.
I thought it was a great idea putting the same model of synthetic person as Ash in Alien for the story of Alien Romulus and reaching out to his family was a lovely idea by Fede he is such a nice person and director as well.
@@andarudesandstorm1135 I find that the process of creating any big screen content in the franchise itself is a near impossible undertaking when it comes to fans of the franchise. It essentially goes back to the ages old expression -you cant make everyone happy all the time. It was a sentimental nod to the source material in my eyes and an idea they decided to go with for a surprise of sorts so far in to the film. I didn’t have a problem with the inclusion of that model because of what it immediately calls to mind about that model based on alien and if you’re into the novels they revisit Ash in the “out of darkness” novel and he’s amazing as a main antagonist there too. In the film it’s obviously not Ash but the likeness makes one think A2, Ash, untrustworthy. The corporation itself is a nefarious corporation and always was depicted that way from the first film so for me it wasn’t really a surprise that they’d use this model in other settings as it was mentioned they had so few AI models at that time. At least we didn’t get another David 8 model for a third consecutive film this time 🤷🏽♂️
The CGI on Rook's face was shameful. The "face" of Ian kept kind of sliding or moving, in a very subtle and liquid kind of way. It was very subtle. I was like "Oh god. They really fucked up this one."
And the eyes overall looked DEAD and his forehead was wway too Broad, I've seen enough images of Ian Holm and in his movies and he does NOT have a big broad head like that.
They could not have any blood on his face because deepfakes only works with clear face, and the obvious lack of any blood on his face made the deepfake more obvious.
Ngl i loved his appearance much more than the Vitas sixth element creature at the end The AI twist in ALIEN made it more than just a monster movie. Def Ridley Scott's best addition to the franchise
Ridley Scott has encouraged misinformation about his _actual_ and limited contributions to the Alien franchise, so that well-intentioned sycophants will retcon reality in his egomaniacal favor. Ridley Scott had _nothing_ to do with Ash being cast as an AI/AP (android). It was, in fact the Alien film's Brandywine producers, David Giler and Walter Hill, who insisted on Ash being scripted as a synthetic. They believed strongly that the film required a secondary villain and won Dan O'Bannon over to their argument by ordering him to make it so...😉 Ash as an AI/AP was not what made Alien a successful, or compelling production. The entire character could have been portrayed as just another Human, albeit an "evil" one. However, using an artificial life-form played on societal angst about soulless dehumanizing corporatism and fears of machine replacement that were prevalent during the era of the late 1970's. It also gave the story a secondary villain that was more approachable and, ultimately, more surprising than the monstrous "Big Chap" alien. The story which became known as Alien was actually the creation of Dan O'Bannon, with Ridley Scott playing a minimal role in influencing the actual story for filming considerations only. Even the decision to base the set designs of the franchise around the works of H.R. Giger predated Scott's involvement (Dan O'Bannon exposed Scott to Giger's work as part of his Alien pitch to the director). Please, stop singing the false praises of the false prophet, Ridley Scott.
@@deadmeat8754bruh we've all sceen the scripts over the years calm down with the revisionism. It's ok to admit Scott had good ideas you won't burst into flames
@@Captainkebbles1392 Thanks for sharing your Scott fan-boi sycophancy. Scott has counted on his own self-promotion and his boot-licking worshipers to gin up his contributions to the Alien franchise. Dan O'Bannon and James Cameron have positively contributed to the lore and depth of the franchise. Scott has simply sullied it with his bizarre late life musings, gratuitous ego and slasher-movie quality camp horror. I know your existence is predicated upon singing the praises of an over-rated, has-been director, but claiming Ridley Scott has contributed _anything_ of note to the franchise lore is just laughable.
How the Rook character was presented in the film was not what I had thought it would be. I imagined something along the lines of Tarkin from *_Rogue One._*
Ian was talented as a comic actor as well, although seemingly not given much opportunity for it in his career. He is hilarious as Napoleon in Terry Gilliam's *Time Bandits.*
I felt it was a respectful nod to the actor Ian. As rough as it was, even my wife, who by the way Just got into the lore within the last five years, gasped when the android spoke. All I heard was "Holy shit, Ash!"...well done.
To be honest, they did a way more realistic job with the damaged Bishop animatronic in Alien 3 and that was way back in 1992. However, the Rook character did not spoil the overall movie, Romulus is still a great film.
I appreciate the attempt of Rook I rather they tried and failed, although I always viewed it as a damaged robot. People seem to think he should have been lip synced like a human.
Just watched my 2nd screening and actually thought it was better 2nd time round. It's got a few issues but it's beautifully shot/directed and a proper in universe thrill ride. Have upped it to 3rd best / my 3rd favourite alien film after Aliens /Alien. Also really hoping for directors cut 🙏🏼
I suppose when cgi is used to deep-fake an actors likeness who has passed away, we’re all instantly aware that we’re looking at a cgi image; so judgement is imminent from the get go. Could Holmes likeness have been done better? Yes. Did it bother me to dislike it? Not at all. I loved the idea of bringing in the same model of science officer as Ash to continue WeYu’s dastardly deeds. Fabulous writing and a respectful nod to a legendary character. I love this movie, thank you Fede Alvarez 🙏
I agree with you. If they can use animaltronics to create a model in the likeness of Ian Holm, and with today's synthetic computer generated voice being so rampant everywhere, there is no reason they need a real actor to deliver the voice of Rook. They could just write the lines and have a synthetic voice delivering the lines.
I do feel them bringing back holms was unnecessary, but I also felt the same way that in universe it works well considering they have multiple of these synthetics that were produced. And for me I'm mixed on opinions regarding the cgi, I definitely agree it was very very wonky and looked odd, but in a way the odd cgi helped give Rook a more unnatural and inhuman feel considering he's an android, still not justifying how off it looked.
They could have found a human in the cryo tubes instead to give the exposition on what was going on in the station, its a wonder they didn't do that actually, oh well, it's not a major issue to me though
Not sure if it’s just me but I liked the ‘off’ cgi on Rook. It gave the uncanny valley effect to the damaged android that always had me on edge with him. Like you know he’s up to something you’re just waiting for him to reveal his true intentions. I will admit if they damaged his face a little it may have softened the cgi but I guess they wanted as much of Ian Holm’s likeness to come through. Either way I loved the inclusion of Rook. On a side note isn’t the mining colony where the Nostromo was coming from in in the first film and where Ash was originally from?
I am very comfortable with the idea that there's different models of synthetics, David being one of the first and is shown to be highly utilized (prometheus and covenant). I'm sure there's was a ton of Bishop models being used when that version was available. Similar to smart phone upgrades of our time. So with the Ash model being the latest and greatest for the era in which the Nostromo and Romulus both existed, wouldn't the crew of the Nostromo recognize Ash as a synthetic the moment he came on board? Was Ash the first run of his model?
@@Youmachan81 that actually makes sense...could be a prototype limited production espionage unit.....that mission to bring the alien back from the wreck in movie 1...would be a black-ops kind of thing.
They should have used animatronics for Ian Holm’s Rook character. They “thought” CGI would make it feel as if it was giving Ian Holmes a real presence in the film. I understand and totally using the synthetic model of his character because it’s carrying on the mission of WY. In Alien, Ash had a secret mission and turned into a protagonist. In Alien Romulus they are basically using the same model and synthetic programming as Ashe to now experiment on the Xenos and facehuggers. A few things to think about. Ashe was reporting findings back to WY which could be used for Rook’s programming and also in AR did they possibly find Ashe’s chip and used that to upload to Rook for better understanding of what happened on the Nostromo. Its very onboard with David and Walter as David was programmed too close to be human and gathered information for the best interest of WY and himself wanting to out do humans and Walter being programmed with less if/and statements in his logic. Ashe/Rook had the same logic.
Rook was a nod to a character from the books he was made at the same time as Bishop and at least in the books bishop and Rook were identical as they were the same model
I think that line of AI were specifically built. The "Ash" and "Rook" are just a two from a unknown line of how many that were Specifically built for handling the Alien(Xenomorph). I do wish the visual appearance of Ian Holm was better, but after I got used to seeing the poorly done effects of his face. It was really well done with how it was used.
Re animatronics, Film Dirt said the same in his channel, they SHOULD have just used an animatronic Ash with a likeness to Ian Holm since the android was broken anyway rather than the bad CGI version we got.
like you it was obvious to tell it was CGI but what I think makes it easy to deal with through most of the movie is when we are looking at him when hes on the monitors it looks perfectly fine due to the CRT look and static of the displays. Overall I loved seeing him again.
Great movie. Loved it. It fell just shy of being absolutely amazing though. Just saw it last night. Can't quite put my finger on it yet. It needed just a little more.....something. Ultimately, really good though. Almost like a Rogue One "offshoot" Alien film lol.
Rook is in the BISHOP book and short stories. The androids in Bishops group had slightly different programming, but all looked the same, so Rook shouldby Bishops twin in appearance. Ash was also harassing Ripley throughout several books by transferring his program from system to system. Keeping her as a viable host for as long as possible.
I have questions (without spoilers)....Tyler's whole backstory, what happened to Kay after, the group dynamic pre their meet up, clarity over the Romulus and Remus set-up.....yeah. Might go and see it again.
For some reason I liked it. It’s off putting sure, but i didn’t hate. Like it was return to original pre cgi effects. However I bet they had fully designed and model animatronic and some executive was probably like, hey throw some CGI on it, the kids now-a-days love the CGI’s
This does change my opinion of that scene. I was put off at first with the CGI. It was bad and got better once he was just on a screen. Glad hid family was cool with it. Now he is a part of this new Aliens movie years after his death. That is awesome and I'm glad they did it.
The reactions have taught me a couple of things: Alien fans aren't hard to please, the studio finally caught onto that after three decades. The trailer turned me off to the film altogether. It's popularity also proved to me that Alien fans aren't hard to please. I can live with these two things. I enjoyed a couple of Alien movies but am obviously not an Alien fan.
Hmm I don;t know bout this really, because in many reviews I'm seeing Alien fans didn't like the few nods to Ridley Scott's alien prequels films, Mr H included. The Rook scenes where he reveals small details of the doomed Prometheus mission and the very Engineer/Human/Alien creature that birthed from that young woman toward the end. Alot of fans really do not like that at all. I'm fairly okay with it tbh, I just wish they had gone abit further with it and revealled stuff to do with David-8 when he made contact with MUTHUR from Alien Covenant ending; but then, I'm a fan of Covenant and especially Prometheus.
The fact that they went to such lengths to use practical effects for the aliens only to throw all of that all out the window for Rook and the engineer alien hybrid at the end really annoyed me. CGI Ash really put me off
@@ichigen511 Yea, I was actually bracing myself from what I´ve heard of the terrible CGI online and once I saw it for myself, I actually thought it was pretty good as well, the lips/mouth area needed a bit more work but nowhere near as terrible as the online discourse would let you believe.
Ridley got his way again it seems 😂🙈the black goo was probably his insert too.. Didn’t mind the idea of Rook . I suppose they tried to get the best version and likeness they could , perhaps there wasn’t enough money chucked at the workshop / animation company whom took on that part of the project or maybe it was rushed due too time constraints , or more than likely both… It is new technology granted , but the de-aged Harrison ford in the last Indiana jones film was pretty good. However they still had Harrison ford as an actor to work with for his facial expressions. Using a stand in actor for Ian Holmes to track similar facial expressions and then use the cgi to put Ian Holmes’s face superimposed in their place . Didnt work so well , perhaps it didn’t work so well when using stand in actors for this new technology . For it to be good at least , the real actor probably still needs to be alive . However I can see this method getting better and better as the years pass…
Absolute nonsense. If you've seen deepfakes on TH-cam, you'll know they can be placed over ANYONE with similar features. Ive seen it done professionally on a show called Deepfake Neigbour Wars, and its seamless. The technology is here NOW.
As far as I can remember the *Black Goo* was actually Damon Lindelof's idea because he ripped it straight off of a classic X-Files episode. I'm a Alien fan who does really like Prometheus, the dumb scientists never bothered me in that movie because I just view it as "Peter Weyland" was a suspicious man" who did not trust anyone of his Employees, not even his own daughter with that mission. So he purposefully hired "Academic Scientists" you know the types who won't do things properly, get scared easily at big findings; and therefore won't be a risk for the Company overall, where they could possibly sell out to rival companies. I've read the extra files in the bluray features and Peter Weyland said of the Prometheus mission if it's a success, he hopes to bring his big discoveries back to Earth and basically be hailed as a king, even "God", keeping all those great findings for himself. For me personally Prometheus's themes on "Creation" and exploring such big subject, but within the Alien franchise I really loved and it brought alot of much needed World Building to the franchise. I just feel where Ridley Scott screwed up badly was deciding to kill off the Shaw character in Covenant Off-Screen and deciding to lean more into the A.I. side of things through the David-8 character. Also Ridley wanting to make David the actual main *Creator* of the Xenomorphs in Covenant was a horrible idea. I always saw David as more of a "John Hammond" type of figure, someone who came in and was able to basically REPLICATE" or *Recreate* a Already Existing, Ancient Lifeform from eons ago. The Xenomorphs can and SHOULD absolutely stay a complete mystery regards where and how they came about, ALWAYS. That should never be touched. I don't actually think Ridley Scott got his way, if he had there would never have been a "Alien Romulus" movie but the Disney company would have gone with his planned "Alien: Awakening" sequel by now. I think this was all the director Fede Alverez himself, choosing to pay lip-service to Ridley and his alien prequels; by having the android Rook character give that bit of exposition and reveal about the whole doomed "Prometheus mission". I'm the kind of fan who having loved Prometheus and just liked the first half of 2017's Covenant, actually went into this Romulus movie Not expecting anykind of "Connection" to Ridley's Alien prequels, and then realizing that's what the director Alverez chose to do subtley; I now wish he had just delved into that more, and explored what happened after David-8 made contact with MUTHUR at the end of Covenant events. My attitude is if you're gonna make connections to something previous in a franchise, GO ALL THE WAY into it, OR just don't go there at all, and focus on a whole new direction.
@@RaikenXion I too are in the minority loved Prometheus (even if it had dumb ass flaws) and two thirds of covenant . It was something new and interesting the expand the universe ( not everyone agrees with that though as we know lol) . The xeno didn’t exist if you think about it perhaps until after David made the protomorph exist in covenant , so somewhere along the line between the end of covenant and the first Alien movie , it was re-engineered again to give us the classic xeno , as David was 90% there when he managed too create the snarling protomorph we see in covenant. There’s still a movie to be made somwhere how xeno came to be from David and how a face hugger impregnated an engineer and led to the derelict on lV-426 and bursting out; as it must been a queen and laying eggs in the derelict and this giving us the xeno in the first alien movie and all movies thereafter including Romulus . The engineers always had the decan maybe to get the black goo from . Whether the decans were always about before the engineers or someone created the engineers from the black goo as they did at the beginning of Prometheus . Or the engineers used the black goo to better themselves make them more highly evolved , as they were more like humans at one time . As someone suggested on the thread , the engineers couldn’t reproduce anymore so they may used the black goo to produce their own species (as well as humans) as well as being able to use it as a biological weapon to destroy life ( the plan from them in Prometheus to kill off humanity ) From the statue seen in Prometheus in the chamber of the decan, it’s obvious the engineers worshiped the species because of the powerful bio material it gave them (black goo). Whether the engineers themselves discovered the decan and they utilised it and it became a god to them or whether someone made the engineers from the decan , who knows . They still worshiped the decan in the end though and used its bio for their own advantage , for good and for bad . We won’t know all the answers truly , unless that 3rd follow On movie from covenant is made . It’s a shame it might not ever , just left it hanging … ;(
@@Dannyevolution7865 I do agree it's criminal if they never bother to make a 3rd movie that can connect right up into 1979's Alien. I think the Urns containing those Ampules that house the black goo, it's the black goo substance itself that contains the Xenomorph DNA. In my own head canon I see it as the Engineers replicated a "viral bomb" more controllable and safer method of their bio-weapon, than handling the actual Facehugger eggs. And I do agree the Engineers definitely revered and worshipped the Deacon lifeform. I think there's either a few different types of engineers, ones that are like their synthetic "robot" types, which are those we saw at the 223 temple/facility, and the last surviving Engineer there, because if you look at his inner, pressure or "bio-suit" it seems to be melded to his own skin at the wrists and neck area; which I've always found very interesting. And there's the Engineers native to the Covenant planet, who just all wear basic robes. But it could just be that those bio-suits have this biomechanoid technology that when they wear them they kind of just mold to their skin. But then that last surviving Engineer when he got shot a few times bled black blood, and just seemed to shrug those gun shots off like they was nothing; and he got very offended after feeling David's head, stroking his hair and he could tell David was "not a real boy", NOT *Human* but artificial, "Synthetic" which could well be much like him. Although even then, when he was awakened from his cryo sleep after 2000 years, and if I remember that Engineer breathed. So it's all quite ambiguous and can be interpreted in many different ways. It's nice to talk to someone (again) who actually appreciates Prometheus for it's themes, and all it's really cool ideas. I made up my own story, which does explain pretty much everything around the Engineers and actually Connects right up to the events of Alien. Would you like to read my story? See what you think of it?
I had no issues with the deep fake. It was a bit off but the character had been messed up so I was happy to attribute any oddness to that. The voice actor for Sir Ian did an outstanding job though, and Jonsson playing Andy was something very special. It's just a shame they added that 4th act, though it did let them showcase the destruction of the station which looked great.
The Ash/Rook CGI was the worst part of Alien : Romulus. The entire character could have been dispensed with, but for the need for a lot of exposition to tie Romulus in to Scott's installments. Andy and his developmental arc was the _only_ AI/AP Romulus needed.
@@RaikenXion Wouldn't that have been great?!? I think fede might have considered more Isolation elements, but Scott was determined to make changes that linked back to his prequels and the original film he directed (but did not create).
@@deadmeat8754 Well I mean here's the thing, Alien Isolation is such a amazing game in how it just brings alive the retro-futuristic world of Alien, in how it EXPANDS that universe in the beautiful designs of the architecture, facilities, equipment etc of the Sevastopol Space Station. I remember spending quite a long time playing through Alien Isolation, because I would just keep stopping and looking at the overall design of the areas I was slowly, sneaking and traversing through. All while having the frickin Xenomorph hunting me. I think with Alien yes, Ridley Scott did not so much create the actual visual look of that masterful Film. That is ALL down to H.R. Giger who to this day honestly does NOT get enough credit for his amazing art design of the whole "Derelict Ship", especially the Pilot/Space Jockey chamber and underground area where all the facehugger eggs are stored, as well as his Xeno designs taken from his Necronomicon IV artwork. But Ridley did play a hand in alot of things too, he reworked stuff from Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shussett's original script. Ridley was the one who shot the movie, that awesome shot that pans out showing the mysterious "Space Jockey" in all his glory, as Ridley has his own children, clad in mini Nostromo miner spacesuits, investigating it. That shot today really is beautiful and perfectly showcases Giger's amazing art work. The space jockey in his chair with massive cannon-like navigational unit; SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN DESTROYED!!! That was a piece of *Artwork* and belonged in a Art Gallery in Giger's hometown or kept somewhere in Galleries, Film Archives in Hollywood or something. Also Ridley Scott knew how to capture and bring out the best performances in those actors, he built up tension between Yaphet who wanted to be the main badass to eventually take down the "big chap" and Sigourney; and it was Ridley Scott who as the director was really thinking outside the box back then, because he wanted it to be the Female Lieutenant - "Ellen Ripley" who eventually outsmarts the Xenomorph and defeats it. Today Hollywood completely panders to all this radical Feminism; but Ridley Scott did it first way back then in 79, and he did it Genuinely. Yaphet butted heads with Mrs Weaver over that for weeks during filming, NOT because he was sexist, but because he just was just looking at it as the "Man" steps up and "protects." And I mean he was a pretty big, stocky guy and a great Actor too. The way the characters come together is just wonderful in Alien, you end up caring alot about all of them because even though say Parker & Brett couldn't stand Ripley and basically hated her guts; when sh*t got real and the "Alien" had physically broken out into the ship, they listened to her and all worked together as a "team" in order to try and defeat it. You even see shots where Yaphet holds Lambert after she attacked Ripley, nothing romantic or sexual, he just helps he and takes her away pulling her off Ripley because of how emotional Lambert was. Another scene I like is when after they found out the dark truth from Ash the Android, they walk out the room and Parker just turns back and flames up Ash. He respects and works alongside Ripley, because he realizes as much of a "bitch" she may be often; she as second in command when Captain Dallas is off the ship, she cared utmost for her Crew, that meant Everyone so their was nothing personal. Ripley DID NOT WANT to risk the crew whatsoever. She also cared for Kane in that she absolutely wanted to help him, but wait for 24hrs decontamination first, to make sure nothing he brought onboard could put the whole crew at risk. If the crew and overall ship is put in danger, then none of them could make it back home (which sadly kinda happened). So yeh just great performances, and Ridley Scott helped alot in that by deliberately letting tensions build up in some of the actors over weeks, which really aided in their performances in the Film. Look at Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, she was so emotional. Lastly I'll just say Ridley also had a clever imagination, because he was the one who did the whole scene showing the facehuggers inside the eggs, he put kitchen washing up gloves on, put his hands together, crossing his thumbs to make a kind of butterfly or bird shape, and just flicked his fingers; which created the futtering of the facehugger's finger/limbs as it sits inside the eggs. And don't forget it was Ridley's idea, directing that whole iconic, graphic "Chestburster" scene how it would go down. Today we're all so very aware of it, but that whole idea had never been thought of before back then, very original and truly shocking and scary.
@@deadmeat8754 I think alot of Scott's ideas can work and be continued on and expanded from in other sequels in the Alien franchises, but it definitely needed some "Fresh Input" by younger directors, that was evidently clear as far back as 2017 with Covenant. Fede is a good choice as director, but I think ultimately it's the controlling Disney studio who are at blame here; for again being abit scared and reigning back Fede's "Romulus" Interquel movie to have a 15 rating. Which dialled back on the gore and violence alot. That isabella merced scene toward the end was LAME, when that Engineer/Humanoid birthed from her, nothing really gory about that, she's just having a complicated birth; I guess what many people find disgusting and disturbing about it, was specifically what came out of her, a alien/cocoon essentially. I feel that it would have truly been disturbing in that thing that breaks out of the cocoon then goes onto actually eat her rape her instead. I'm just saying what Alien Romulus really needed was it's own nasty, shocking, controversial "death scene" just as Alien 79 had the "chestburster". Something really far out of conventional norms to give the movie real weight. Visually Romulus looks beautiful but it just doesn't go far enough at all in any other area.
I liked the Rook character, it was a nice surprise though I thought it did look a little off, but then so did the orginal when it was pulled apart though back then that was due to limitations with special effects so I wasn't sure if it was meant to match that asthetic , in some regards I liked that as it looked more artificial than human. I assumed they used some AI to help replicate Ians voice though I the voice acting was spot on.
I could have done without it, but knowing that Ian Holm was hoping for more roles after The Hobbit and that he would have loved to be in the film does change my perspective a bit. In that sense it is a nice homage to an awesome actor gone too soon.
This is the only way they would have got him involved, by him being dead. Thats what makes it so grotesque
His wife is happy he's back on the big screen and got some recognition. His estate also got paid by it. Ian is still providing for his family even if he's not here anymore. Win win
Well what I don't get is the same level of respect was paid to Peter Cushing's "Grand Moff Tarkin" in his appearance in 2016's *Rogue One*. Again there, Gareth Edwards and his team, Lucasfilm reached out to Cushing's Estate and Family, they asked for their permission, they said IF the family did not agree to using Cushing's likeness for the character they would never have gone there; but the family were fine with it and I really liked the way Tarkin was handled in that movie,
Sure the CGI looks horrible dated and unrealistic now, I didn't think it looked too bad when I first saw in back then. But no one back then was complaining about them using a dead actor's appearance, but more just about the whole bad CGI of it all, I mean that was before Deepfake really came about too.
Ian Holm was awesome though, Alien, the Fifth Element and he had small parts in other films back in the 80s, I think he was in a Terry Gilliam movie and he played Napolion I think. Ofcouse he is iconic as Ash and Bilbo in Lotr.
Ian Holm was a phenomenal actor. He was good at being the creepy synthetic Ash and the bumbling priest in 5th element.
Both great films! Loved him in the 5th element
Give a round of applause to David Jonnson and his performamce. That dude deserves some awards for his dynamic take on an artificial person👏
Only good part
@@82fdny97 well yeah he carried it as a dynamic character protagonist.
@@82fdny97 For real. All of the characters were completely forgettable aside from him. The end would have been much better if he wasn't disabled and helped. Interesting how a simple whack to the neck disables an Android with super human strength when we've seen these things get ripped apart and still function.
Agreed. He was my favorite in the movie. He was believable and interesting.
@@muccmaster yep
I wish they used an animatronic like Bishop in Alien 3. It was creepy and less distracting than the CGI face Rook had.
☝️☝️👌 exact same thoughts..
Yesh it's a wonder they didn't do something like that instead
Considering the practical fx on show, very much agreed
100% this was the direction they should have went with it
@@rpf8949 They actually did use an animatronic with CGI facial enhancements.
I recall reading that when the Nostromo game for ALIEN: Isolation was released; Ian Holm was the only actor to decline the invitation to reprise his role.
That's changed since his heirs can cash that check now.
@@jimjam51075a bit disrespectful. None of us have any idea why he took that decision. He had a Parkinsons diagnosis in 2007, 7 years before Alien Isolation. He may have declined to be involved on the basis of being an 82 year old man at the time with failing health.
@@NNICKKK This is probably the reason why.
Honestly I didn’t see any issue with the Ash reveal or appearance and didn’t see any of the roughness about it that other people keep mentioning. The biggest shock and surprise was actually seeing “him” in the movie and I really liked how it helped tie Alien and Alien Romulus together and make it all feel like it’s all part of the same world and worked in the context of the Weyland Corporation and companies mass producing products too.
It was a giant leap past rogue one, i think the character was over used but the cgi was fine, the anchoring of his head did seem odd but the way people are whining about this suggests they were focussing on their own feelings rather than watching the screen
His lips looked really wonky when talking for some reason, that was the issue for me anyway, but it's not a major thing as the rest of the movie looked so good
A lot of people are circle jerking the same rhetoric rather than thinking outside the box
Exactly I thought it was fine ,I was just surprised to see him
@@danielpeckham5520I felt like the lips was done on purpose because it an old beat up Android
This movie needs a directors cut. Just got out my second screening and if you watch the whole hive sequence closely, you’ll notice they seem to cut a huge chunk of it out based on the corridors leading to the elevator (first time when three of them are there) and then the second time when Rain goes back for Andy. Watch that entire sequence and the length of the corridors closely. In the second sequence when Rain goes back, there’s a whole other stretch/section to the hive that gets revealed in a shot.
It’s cuz the movie was written like shit
Lmao imagine they had an alien queen sequence and Ridley did a Mickey mouse from south park and insisted on the Mark Zuckerberg mutant offspring
@@796ror maybe your taste is 💩.
@@MindbodyMedic😬
@@796r go cry elsewhere 🤡🤡🤡 movie was great.
I thought making Rook the same model as Ash was brilliant. It was a nice homage to Ian Holm and a great call back to Alien. When I realized they were hiding the androids face in the shadows until they activated him, I said to myself "This has got to be Ash!" I was sure it was another synthetic of the same model, or maybe even Ash himself, either a software copy or maybe he'd managed to transmit his consciousness to a new body somehow.
A bunch of people in the cinema said the same thing! "Oh fuck they're showing Ash!". Lol, and I was probably the only one who thought it was going to be Bishop haha
Just saw it today in 4DX - I thought his virtual appearance was quite fun and made for an interesting extra antagonist.
Anybody surprised how good the score was? It has that early 90's classical sound fused with a modern take.
Completely blew me away. Literally started with that eerie silence you expect from space, then building up throughout the movie. Very industrial.
What score lol besides some classic songs recaps the rest is so underwhelming. Covenant music score run circles on Romulus..
@@GDAWG. My favourite track is the Chrysalis. It has that primeordial and lovercraft horror vibe that perfectly represent the Xenomorph
The music was very good in this movie i'll give it that, and the visuals mixed with practical effects. The music toward the end and nice, big grandiose sweeping shots of the Romulus space station crashing into the ice ring all that was beautiful I felt, really cool.
The score was nonsensical in this movie. Drowned out the Alien a bunch of times. I remember wanting way less of it
I like the whole chess pieces names for the androids...Bishop? Rook?
We also had an alien queen...
@@mikeadams7904 right? And her xenomorphs being pawns?
I’m debating going for round 2 tonight just to be able to rewatch that ending
Ash is my all time favourite character from the whole franchise. I was so happy to see 'him' back. When things in life get tough, remember, What Would Ash Do?
I've just came back from watching the movie and yeah, that first reveal was a little on the janky side but after that it was a nice way to tie this movie in with the first one and must have been truly lovely if emotional for his widow and family to see him on the screen again (Given he wanted more parts after The Hobbit), in such an iconic role once more. A fitting tribute for such a great actor R.I.P Sir Ian
I liked the inclusion of the character a lot but as you say the CG was rough 😭 I would have much preferred it if they’d kept to the animatronic for the early shots (as they did) because from the early side shots I was eyeing it like… that kinda looks like ash but no can’t be 💀 but then cheating the reveal, keeping it a mystery, Andy says in the film ‘I could hear you in my head’ maybe we could of heard Ian holm’s voice instead of seeing him and finally it’s revealed through one of those monitor shots or something who he is 🤷🏽♀️ because those close up, face on shots were giving space babies from Doctor who. Almost looked like the face was too small on the head
I also caught the earlier side profile and thought it looked like ash.
Thought I would hate Rook because of what I had heard before seeing the film but loved every single appearance from him… The uncanny CGI served to highlight that he is a robot imitating a living being. That addition was brilliant.
I loved it too mate. The bad effects were obviously noticeable but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the movie.
I cannot wait for the blue ray to see all the deleted scenes and directors cut. 😁
I agree to a certain extent and was thinking in My head its a battle damaged robot so its face looks unnatural but then I noticed the flashing effect from deep fake and there was no way to see that as a robot effect. There is also a segment where his face is off angle not straight and that also is not something that can be the result of being a robot. I had to just accept that they fxxxed up that part of the movie and just focus on all the good stuff, however I did like Rook being in the movie.
Holy shit you’re the only one that understands!
Agree!
Agree, It didn't take me out in the slightest. He's a Fraking Synth, he SHOULD have a little uncanny going on.
I feel like i enjoy watching mr H talking about alien films more than actually watching alien films
Crazy how they recreated the Ash android from the original film. Definitely was a surprise when he appeared.
I thought it was great, tbh. I thought it fit the story perfectly, with no feeling of shoehorning in memberberries for the sake of it.
I actually liked the fact that the effect was imperfect, because it gave you that uneasy, not-quite-right feeling about the synthetic, which is mentioned in the lore as making humans feel uneasy in their presence. I never quite got that feeling from the human performances in any of the movies.
It was great seeing a likeness of Ian Holm as an android. The CGI for him should’ve been better. But at the same time it was a nice honor to Holm’s great portrayal as Ash in Alien.
*_This info on the Androids is quite interesting, especially with the Alien TV-Series being centered around Androids._*
The tv series is going to flop miserably, and if they go with some of the theories i’ve heard they are they will alienate (excuse the pun) the fans.
I agree it was rough CGI… but after hearing this that definitely changes my opinion on WHY Fede chose to do it. Do I think it looks good and is necessary…. No. Do I think it was cool and was like “ok whatever I’ll let it just happen because of you know…. Movie”… yes 😂
It didn’t affect my enjoyment of the movie even though it was very noticeable. What would you rank it out of 10? I’m an easy 9.
When his head was not moving it looked fine and when it was on the TV screen it worked but when the head moved it looked really CGI.
Thought I would hate Rook because of what I had heard before seeing the film but loved every single appearance from him… The uncanny CGI served to highlight that he is a robot imitating a living being. That addition was brilliant.
@@TotalfreedomlivingI especially loved them lifting ash's dialogue, so creative much wow!
I genuinely thought the Rook character and the use of Ian Holm's likeness in Romulus was a positive, even more so now after hearing the way Fede approached it beforehand.
It was good to see Ian Holms back in another Alien movie He's such a great actor RIP Ian
I'm going for a rewatch.
@@kingbugs3558 me as well
I thought Ian holmes cgi was decent. The way the aliens moved was also great to see, the suits are much better than cgi
It wasn't every frame that was bad. It was jarring at first, but as I watched it I wondered if the proportions/appearance of his face may have been damaged. He did go through a full xenomorph infestation. And he was melted by acid. I think those things may have influenced it.
@@kingbugs3558 it looked crap when looking straight forward at him when he was not on a monitor. Other than that it was passable.
The suit was cool bit they barely did anything but line up to die. Lame
@@7783DEATH did you want it to pilot the ship or something? Maybe dance around on a pole? The point is they get shot. Not to mention we see a fair bit more of the xeno life cycle and how it behaves far more than the other films.
@@wartooth88 They're supposed to be the perfect organism and unrivaled predators. Here they stand around like idiots and get shot in a straight line. Multiple times they just stand there watching, the only scene where this makes sense is when Scorched is waiting for them to open the door so he can kill all of them instead of just Kay. Every other time its just idiotic.
RIP Ian Holm.
I genuinely got so excited to see Holmes in the film. I could tell right away that it was cgi on top of something but I was able to look past that without delay as just having the androids in the film and seeing his face was such a delightful treat.
Well. Just saw Alien Romulus again. And I enjoyed it AGAIN.
I really enjoyed the return of Ian Holm's likeness in this film. Yes, it's obvious that the face is CGI, but the way in which it it done, and the plot point it serves is done very well.
The ending was bollocks 😊
They could have had her birth an alien having lost her baby in that fall she earlier. That would have been crazy. I just didn’t like the engineer looking alien and the egg.
@@aguidamonster💯
Could've atleast given us a pathogen-enhanced Xenomorph as the finale big bad, instead of the emaciated, alopecia slender man we got ffs
@nerdofpray It seemed like they didn't know what to conjure up or put together for that part. So decided to give us that 🤣. As soon as it showed its face I was like oh no😂 wth.
It was also smiling 😆 lol
@@nerdofpray I thought it was creepier than any alien in the movie.
brief description of Romulus: a mashup of Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Resurrection, Prometheus..... if you were to make a collage of all those films its basically that, personally I think the humanoid at the end should have been left out, just had the pregnant women go to hyper sleep then rain, then post credits showing an issue within the pregnant woman's sleep chamber as a cliff hangar.
Personally I liked Ash / Rook in this, I felt this was the presence of WY, and the ever pushing need to get the mission complete.
Definitely worth a watch, no where near as bad as I thought it would be, just don't think I could rewatch it
Watched it this evening. Interesting.
it's really good enjoy!
Interesting in a good or bad way? I loved it personally.
Furthermore im pretty sure at one point i saw Andy looking out a window and saw The Narcissus? Its a blink and you'll miss it moment.
100% this
Wasn't just me then 👀
I missed that. When?
bit of a bloody coincidence! In all the vastness of space they see it flying by but no one else finds it for another 37 years.
@@Jinx_Arcane_19 right as they boarded Romulus in that first chamber with cryo beds
Hiya Mr H 👋,
I wasn't a fan of how they attempted to CGI Ian Holm into the Android "Rook" either. His dialogue with the characters showed a bit of fan service. However, what you've explained does make sense as well.
As a loyal fan of the franchise like yourself, I walked away from the cinema 🎥 feeling indifferent about the movie 🎬.
Killing the "Big Chap" off screen didn't sit well with me. It would've been great seeing the original Xenomorph wreaking havoc on the space station in the early scenes which would've set-up what was to come really well.
I agree, especially considering we've all seen CGI Deepfake done much better and by Disney too, in the GOTG Vol: 2 with a young Kurt Russell as well as a young RDJ in Iron-Man 3 opening. Even Luke Skywalker in that wasted episode of the BOBF looked way better than Rook in this Romulus movie, so I just don't get it.
@@RaikenXion Those "Disney" de-aging appearances you mentioned, including the one from Ant-Man for Hank Pym were done exclusively by a UK company called Blur FX, with some people originally from The Moving Picture Company, also a UK effects company. They only had a budget of $80 million for Romulus and probably couldn't afford to get Blur FX involved.
The fact that we got David AND Walter should be enough that has already happened in the lore to satisfy both hardcore and casual fans of the franchise. Like is anybody having a problem with this? Did fans not like and nor understand Walter? I'm confused on why fans would ever be mistyfied in a story when there is presedence. Neverless I do appreciate this story becuase it IS important to leanr that Fede Alverez reached out to the family this is actually very important to learn about. Anyways, thanks for the video!
Fassbender is alive and able to consent. Ian Holm is very much not alive and I don't care what his widow says.
Well here's the thing, the Rook android in this movie mentions the Prometheus mission, and Peter Weyland's failed efforts and how the company is all about honoring his legacy to unlock the secrets to do with the Xenomorphs. We even hear the Prometheus theme music subtly play as Rook is giving that exposition.
So personally I feel the writers should have gone much further here, and built a story/plot off of what had basically transpired with David-8 when he actually made contact with the MUTHUR A.I. at the very end of Covenant.
If it were me I would make a sequel to this Romulus movie, and work in Ridley Scott's ideas he had for his "Alien: Awakening" 3rd movie of his Alien Prequels. Covenant ends where David has complete control of the USCSS: Covenant and her colonists all in cryosleep, along with Daniels and Tennessee.
Romulus ends where Raine and Andy have gone into cryo, and are hoping to get to a sort of "Paradise" planet, that's lush, has ocean, greenery and just natural environment that is healthy, and far from where she's came from on that slave/life-contract colonist planet.
The Covenant Colonist mission originally was trying to get to "Origae-6". There is a opportunity here for Fede Alverez and Ridley Scott to collaborate and make a sequel to Romulus all about Raine and Andy heading to a "Paradise" planet which turns out to actually be *Orige-6* and when they get there, they eventually discover that the planet over the past 20+ years has become anything but a "Paradise". It has been turned into the home of David-8 and his replicated Xenomorphs, that he has used the colonists (along with Daniels/Tennessee) for to create tons more Xenomorphs.
So here we could have Raine & Andy go up against David-8 and his horde of Xenomorphs.
@@RaikenXion NOBODY CARES except basement dwelling nerds. Jesus
@@MindbodyMedic lol Funny, cause it's such nerds who make up the CORE of Fanbases for these hugely beloved franchises. And NOT all literally live in "basements". Mr H is from the UK and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a basement. I'm also from the UK, Brummies to be specific and we don't have "Basements" here lol. But I am a big Alien/Terminator/Predator and especially *Star Wars* "NERD" so yes I do CARE alot.
Oh and be careful throwing that name "Jesus" around. I'm not religious but Ridley Scott was going to make *Jesus* a Emissary of the Engineers, sent to earth 2000 yrs ago, and his treatment by Mankind was the main factor in why the Engineers chose to ultimately wipe out the human race to their black goo, viral biological weapon.
Just sayin, you never know the idea Could be reused one day in a future sequel.
Well, here on your page some time back I suggested that an 'Ash' type android might possibly appear in Alien Romulus and upon seeing the film... I was happy to see 'Rook' and glad his wife was happy Holm's was used. I really liked the fact Rook was part of the film story, OK the CGI was a little wonky but didn't worry me.
I saw the film earlier this evening and I agree with you. When you first see his face clearly it was serious uncanny valley! It actually looked better when you see him on the screens later. The voice acting though was spot on! I just really wish they ignored a certain "prequel" all together and left it's connection to the Alien universe with the original film
I love that they brought him back, he was in Alien, and in Alien isolation, just makes sense for him to be apart of the return of Alien in their efforts of going back to basics
Where was he in the game? Haven't played much of the dlcs.
@@PieroMinayaRojas nostromo dlc
Yes the CG wasn't great on him but they did try and hide it slightly with him appearing on a screen within the movie at times. Looking at the budget of Romulus it's not excessive at all so kudos to them for that. Also it makes total sense having a model the same as Ash, after all David and Walter were the same model in appearance. It didn't affect my enjoyment of the film at all.
Saw it last night. Was super surprised to see Ash's model. And the wonky Holm replication. But some scenes were way better than the other, like some of the ones on the monitor I would barely notice any difference
I think it worked fine and brought back some menace from the original film
I love the fact that Alvarez reach out to the family. It's also is a tribute to alien 1979, I also fill CG has a little bit more maturing to do whether it's hardware or software, star wars used it for Carrie Fisher and peter Weller and I got good vibes at the end. It's healing in my view.
not gonna lie, straight up thought Ash returned, but then i remembered Ash's AI is currently onboard the Narcissus
I wish it was just a new, different looking android. It wouldn't have been so distracting with the CGI and callbacks with the dialogue.
They could have used that andoid from Alien Isolation instead.
I thought it was a great idea putting the same model of synthetic person as Ash in Alien for the story of Alien Romulus and reaching out to his family was a lovely idea by Fede he is such a nice person and director as well.
“The A2s always were a bit twitchy” 😅
That's why some people are mad about it being involved in this movie. The A2s don't have the behavioral inhibitors.
@@andarudesandstorm1135 I find that the process of creating any big screen content in the franchise itself is a near impossible undertaking when it comes to fans of the franchise. It essentially goes back to the ages old expression -you cant make everyone happy all the time.
It was a sentimental nod to the source material in my eyes and an idea they decided to go with for a surprise of sorts so far in to the film. I didn’t have a problem with the inclusion of that model because of what it immediately calls to mind about that model based on alien and if you’re into the novels they revisit Ash in the “out of darkness” novel and he’s amazing as a main antagonist there too. In the film it’s obviously not Ash but the likeness makes one think A2, Ash, untrustworthy. The corporation itself is a nefarious corporation and always was depicted that way from the first film so for me it wasn’t really a surprise that they’d use this model in other settings as it was mentioned they had so few AI models at that time. At least we didn’t get another David 8 model for a third consecutive film this time 🤷🏽♂️
@@Sabir_DelNorte I get what you're saying. I was joking but yeah it's cool they brought back Ash again after all these years.
@@andarudesandstorm1135 agreed, was nice to see that add in for a rather good film despite what most have called out already. Did you like Romulus ?
@@Sabir_DelNorte Yes I liked it! I'm interested to see if there's a Directors cut for Romulus. I bet they're saving that for the blu ray release.
The CGI on Rook's face was shameful. The "face" of Ian kept kind of sliding or moving, in a very subtle and liquid kind of way. It was very subtle. I was like "Oh god. They really fucked up this one."
And the eyes overall looked DEAD and his forehead was wway too Broad, I've seen enough images of Ian Holm and in his movies and he does NOT have a big broad head like that.
They could have made it even work if they had splashed more white blood over his face, maybe have half of his face torn apart like Bishop in Alien 3
They could not have any blood on his face because deepfakes only works with clear face, and the obvious lack of any blood on his face made the deepfake more obvious.
The name Rook is a great reference to the name Bishop, the android from Aliens
Honestly didn't expect it, but I gladly took it cause I had just seen Alien 2 months ago
I loved seeing android ash again, very clever - just a brilliant film all round tbh
Ngl i loved his appearance much more than the Vitas sixth element creature at the end
The AI twist in ALIEN made it more than just a monster movie. Def Ridley Scott's best addition to the franchise
Okay, now someone HAS to make a Vitas Seventh Element meme with the alien engineer hybrid like that one TH-camr did with Thanos. 🤣
Ridley Scott has encouraged misinformation about his _actual_ and limited contributions to the Alien franchise, so that well-intentioned sycophants will retcon reality in his egomaniacal favor.
Ridley Scott had _nothing_ to do with Ash being cast as an AI/AP (android). It was, in fact the Alien film's Brandywine producers, David Giler and Walter Hill, who insisted on Ash being scripted as a synthetic. They believed strongly that the film required a secondary villain and won Dan O'Bannon over to their argument by ordering him to make it so...😉
Ash as an AI/AP was not what made Alien a successful, or compelling production. The entire character could have been portrayed as just another Human, albeit an "evil" one. However, using an artificial life-form played on societal angst about soulless dehumanizing corporatism and fears of machine replacement that were prevalent during the era of the late 1970's. It also gave the story a secondary villain that was more approachable and, ultimately, more surprising than the monstrous "Big Chap" alien.
The story which became known as Alien was actually the creation of Dan O'Bannon, with Ridley Scott playing a minimal role in influencing the actual story for filming considerations only. Even the decision to base the set designs of the franchise around the works of H.R. Giger predated Scott's involvement (Dan O'Bannon exposed Scott to Giger's work as part of his Alien pitch to the director).
Please, stop singing the false praises of the false prophet, Ridley Scott.
@@deadmeat8754bruh we've all sceen the scripts over the years calm down with the revisionism. It's ok to admit Scott had good ideas you won't burst into flames
@@Darth_CornpopI could not unseen it when it was on screen
@@Captainkebbles1392 Thanks for sharing your Scott fan-boi sycophancy. Scott has counted on his own self-promotion and his boot-licking worshipers to gin up his contributions to the Alien franchise. Dan O'Bannon and James Cameron have positively contributed to the lore and depth of the franchise. Scott has simply sullied it with his bizarre late life musings, gratuitous ego and slasher-movie quality camp horror. I know your existence is predicated upon singing the praises of an over-rated, has-been director, but claiming Ridley Scott has contributed _anything_ of note to the franchise lore is just laughable.
How the Rook character was presented in the film was not what I had thought it would be. I imagined something along the lines of Tarkin from *_Rogue One._*
After watching romulus went back and watched alien I had forgotten how good it was Disney must be streaming the 4k version because it looked great
Can’t wait for the lore videos from this film.
Ian was talented as a comic actor as well, although seemingly not given much opportunity for it in his career. He is hilarious as Napoleon in Terry Gilliam's *Time Bandits.*
I felt it was a respectful nod to the actor Ian. As rough as it was, even my wife, who by the way Just got into the lore within the last five years, gasped when the android spoke. All I heard was "Holy shit, Ash!"...well done.
To be honest, they did a way more realistic job with the damaged Bishop animatronic in Alien 3 and that was way back in 1992. However, the Rook character did not spoil the overall movie, Romulus is still a great film.
I appreciate the attempt of Rook I rather they tried and failed, although I always viewed it as a damaged robot. People seem to think he should have been lip synced like a human.
Just watched my 2nd screening and actually thought it was better 2nd time round. It's got a few issues but it's beautifully shot/directed and a proper in universe thrill ride. Have upped it to 3rd best / my 3rd favourite alien film after Aliens /Alien. Also really hoping for directors cut 🙏🏼
I suppose when cgi is used to deep-fake an actors likeness who has passed away, we’re all instantly aware that we’re looking at a cgi image; so judgement is imminent from the get go.
Could Holmes likeness have been done better? Yes. Did it bother me to dislike it? Not at all. I loved the idea of bringing in the same model of science officer as Ash to continue WeYu’s dastardly deeds. Fabulous writing and a respectful nod to a legendary character.
I love this movie, thank you Fede Alvarez 🙏
“Yeah, yeah, but your filmakers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should”. Dr. Ian Malcom
I agree with you. If they can use animaltronics to create a model in the likeness of Ian Holm, and with today's synthetic computer generated voice being so rampant everywhere, there is no reason they need a real actor to deliver the voice of Rook. They could just write the lines and have a synthetic voice delivering the lines.
I do feel them bringing back holms was unnecessary, but I also felt the same way that in universe it works well considering they have multiple of these synthetics that were produced. And for me I'm mixed on opinions regarding the cgi, I definitely agree it was very very wonky and looked odd, but in a way the odd cgi helped give Rook a more unnatural and inhuman feel considering he's an android, still not justifying how off it looked.
They could have found a human in the cryo tubes instead to give the exposition on what was going on in the station, its a wonder they didn't do that actually, oh well, it's not a major issue to me though
I liked it! it just seemed like they could have smoothed it out a bit more. It seems to get better in the latter part of the film.
Not sure if it’s just me but I liked the ‘off’ cgi on Rook. It gave the uncanny valley effect to the damaged android that always had me on edge with him. Like you know he’s up to something you’re just waiting for him to reveal his true intentions.
I will admit if they damaged his face a little it may have softened the cgi but I guess they wanted as much of Ian Holm’s likeness to come through.
Either way I loved the inclusion of Rook.
On a side note isn’t the mining colony where the Nostromo was coming from in in the first film and where Ash was originally from?
I am very comfortable with the idea that there's different models of synthetics, David being one of the first and is shown to be highly utilized (prometheus and covenant). I'm sure there's was a ton of Bishop models being used when that version was available. Similar to smart phone upgrades of our time. So with the Ash model being the latest and greatest for the era in which the Nostromo and Romulus both existed, wouldn't the crew of the Nostromo recognize Ash as a synthetic the moment he came on board? Was Ash the first run of his model?
If Ash type was a mass produced model why did the Nostromo crew not know he was a synthetic?
Mass produced within the company for scientific needs. So not for general public to interact with
Plus, Romulus happens like 20 years after Alien, so, maybe Ash was the first unit released and in the time since, the model has gone standard.
Or just produced for secret laboratory things like this renaissance space station?.. and infiltrate on the Nostromo ;)
It would've been better if they had stumbled on recordings with the real Ash. Maybe he was transferred to the Nostromo to oversee company business.
@@Youmachan81 that actually makes sense...could be a prototype limited production espionage unit.....that mission to bring the alien back from the wreck in movie 1...would be a black-ops kind of thing.
They should have used animatronics for Ian Holm’s Rook character. They “thought” CGI would make it feel as if it was giving Ian Holmes a real presence in the film. I understand and totally using the synthetic model of his character because it’s carrying on the mission of WY. In Alien, Ash had a secret mission and turned into a protagonist. In Alien Romulus they are basically using the same model and synthetic programming as Ashe to now experiment on the Xenos and facehuggers. A few things to think about. Ashe was reporting findings back to WY which could be used for Rook’s programming and also in AR did they possibly find Ashe’s chip and used that to upload to Rook for better understanding of what happened on the Nostromo. Its very onboard with David and Walter as David was programmed too close to be human and gathered information for the best interest of WY and himself wanting to out do humans and Walter being programmed with less if/and statements in his logic. Ashe/Rook had the same logic.
I agree. The Rook character should've just been done animatronically; it likely would've been even more effective.
Rook was a nod to a character from the books he was made at the same time as Bishop and at least in the books bishop and Rook were identical as they were the same model
I think that line of AI were specifically built. The "Ash" and "Rook" are just a two from a unknown line of how many that were Specifically built for handling the Alien(Xenomorph). I do wish the visual appearance of Ian Holm was better, but after I got used to seeing the poorly done effects of his face. It was really well done with how it was used.
I think the CGI could have been better! it was like Ians face was not attached right
He had a broad head too
I just realized, you are all light up and happy! You did like the movie
Still gotta watch it....cant w8
its so good. I stayed away from the trailers etc went in blind.. I would try not to know too much about it before watching..
Lower your expectations.
Re animatronics, Film Dirt said the same in his channel, they SHOULD have just used an animatronic Ash with a likeness to Ian Holm since the android was broken anyway rather than the bad CGI version we got.
First I saw I thought "man that's bad", but after a while I got used to it. I hope they polish it a bit for BD release tho.
like you it was obvious to tell it was CGI but what I think makes it easy to deal with through most of the movie is when we are looking at him when hes on the monitors it looks perfectly fine due to the CRT look and static of the displays. Overall I loved seeing him again.
im with you on this one, it was like watching them comedy sketches where you have a different mouth moving on a still image of a head?
Great movie. Loved it. It fell just shy of being absolutely amazing though. Just saw it last night. Can't quite put my finger on it yet. It needed just a little more.....something. Ultimately, really good though. Almost like a Rogue One "offshoot" Alien film lol.
No one is talking about how if the recovered big chap they can also recover the QUEEN from Aliens.
Rook is in the BISHOP book and short stories. The androids in Bishops group had slightly different programming, but all looked the same, so Rook shouldby Bishops twin in appearance. Ash was also harassing Ripley throughout several books by transferring his program from system to system. Keeping her as a viable host for as long as possible.
I have questions (without spoilers)....Tyler's whole backstory, what happened to Kay after, the group dynamic pre their meet up, clarity over the Romulus and Remus set-up.....yeah. Might go and see it again.
For some reason I liked it. It’s off putting sure, but i didn’t hate. Like it was return to original pre cgi effects. However I bet they had fully designed and model animatronic and some executive was probably like, hey throw some CGI on it, the kids now-a-days love the CGI’s
I’m the only guy I know if that didn’t mind the ash appearance and even thought it looked quite good. I’ve seen the movie twice too.
I'm sure they will clean it up for the 4k release or in some future special edition.
Should have done animatronics like Lance Hendrickson bishop in Alien 3
This does change my opinion of that scene. I was put off at first with the CGI. It was bad and got better once he was just on a screen. Glad hid family was cool with it. Now he is a part of this new Aliens movie years after his death. That is awesome and I'm glad they did it.
I thought they could have worked in a little more battle damage and wear & tear to the face but kept some likeness to hide the imperfection of the cg.
Talk about avp plans for new one both director's of Romulus and prey would work half and half on it if they made new avp movie
The reactions have taught me a couple of things:
Alien fans aren't hard to please, the studio finally caught onto that after three decades.
The trailer turned me off to the film altogether. It's popularity also proved to me that Alien fans aren't hard to please.
I can live with these two things. I enjoyed a couple of Alien movies but am obviously not an Alien fan.
Hmm I don;t know bout this really, because in many reviews I'm seeing Alien fans didn't like the few nods to Ridley Scott's alien prequels films, Mr H included. The Rook scenes where he reveals small details of the doomed Prometheus mission and the very Engineer/Human/Alien creature that birthed from that young woman toward the end. Alot of fans really do not like that at all.
I'm fairly okay with it tbh, I just wish they had gone abit further with it and revealled stuff to do with David-8 when he made contact with MUTHUR from Alien Covenant ending; but then, I'm a fan of Covenant and especially Prometheus.
In alien isolation the synthetics are mostly all the same.
I think Ian Holm would have been flattered that someone went to this much trouble, although i do recall FLEABAG was after this role but was denied.
The fact that they went to such lengths to use practical effects for the aliens only to throw all of that all out the window for Rook and the engineer alien hybrid at the end really annoyed me. CGI Ash really put me off
It didn't bother me in the slightest. I thought it was well done, not perfect, but well done. Didn't take me out of the movie at all.
Put me off a lot too
@@ichigen511 Yea, I was actually bracing myself from what I´ve heard of the terrible CGI online and once I saw it for myself, I actually thought it was pretty good as well, the lips/mouth area needed a bit more work but nowhere near as terrible as the online discourse would let you believe.
Loved the practical effects but it made the xenos a bit boring in their action
I don't know what you're talking about. I noted how practical the end hybrid looked in most shots, it was great.
Ridley got his way again it seems 😂🙈the black goo was probably his insert too..
Didn’t mind the idea of Rook . I suppose they tried to get the best version and likeness they could , perhaps there wasn’t enough money chucked at the workshop / animation company whom took on that part of the project or maybe it was rushed due too time constraints , or more than likely both…
It is new technology granted , but the de-aged Harrison ford in the last Indiana jones film was pretty good.
However they still had Harrison ford as an actor to work with for his facial expressions. Using a stand in actor for Ian Holmes to track similar facial expressions and then use the cgi to put Ian Holmes’s face superimposed in their place . Didnt work so well , perhaps it didn’t work so well when using stand in actors for this new technology . For it to be good at least , the real actor probably still needs to be alive .
However I can see this method getting better and better as the years pass…
Absolute nonsense. If you've seen deepfakes on TH-cam, you'll know they can be placed over ANYONE with similar features. Ive seen it done professionally on a show called Deepfake Neigbour Wars, and its seamless. The technology is here NOW.
As far as I can remember the *Black Goo* was actually Damon Lindelof's idea because he ripped it straight off of a classic X-Files episode. I'm a Alien fan who does really like Prometheus, the dumb scientists never bothered me in that movie because I just view it as "Peter Weyland" was a suspicious man" who did not trust anyone of his Employees, not even his own daughter with that mission. So he purposefully hired "Academic Scientists" you know the types who won't do things properly, get scared easily at big findings; and therefore won't be a risk for the Company overall, where they could possibly sell out to rival companies.
I've read the extra files in the bluray features and Peter Weyland said of the Prometheus mission if it's a success, he hopes to bring his big discoveries back to Earth and basically be hailed as a king, even "God", keeping all those great findings for himself.
For me personally Prometheus's themes on "Creation" and exploring such big subject, but within the Alien franchise I really loved and it brought alot of much needed World Building to the franchise.
I just feel where Ridley Scott screwed up badly was deciding to kill off the Shaw character in Covenant Off-Screen and deciding to lean more into the A.I. side of things through the David-8 character. Also Ridley wanting to make David the actual main *Creator* of the Xenomorphs in Covenant was a horrible idea. I always saw David as more of a "John Hammond" type of figure, someone who came in and was able to basically REPLICATE" or *Recreate* a Already Existing, Ancient Lifeform from eons ago. The Xenomorphs can and SHOULD absolutely stay a complete mystery regards where and how they came about, ALWAYS. That should never be touched.
I don't actually think Ridley Scott got his way, if he had there would never have been a "Alien Romulus" movie but the Disney company would have gone with his planned "Alien: Awakening" sequel by now. I think this was all the director Fede Alverez himself, choosing to pay lip-service to Ridley and his alien prequels; by having the android Rook character give that bit of exposition and reveal about the whole doomed "Prometheus mission".
I'm the kind of fan who having loved Prometheus and just liked the first half of 2017's Covenant, actually went into this Romulus movie Not expecting anykind of "Connection" to Ridley's Alien prequels, and then realizing that's what the director Alverez chose to do subtley; I now wish he had just delved into that more, and explored what happened after David-8 made contact with MUTHUR at the end of Covenant events.
My attitude is if you're gonna make connections to something previous in a franchise, GO ALL THE WAY into it, OR just don't go there at all, and focus on a whole new direction.
@@RaikenXion I too are in the minority loved Prometheus (even if it had dumb ass flaws) and two thirds of covenant . It was something new and interesting the expand the universe ( not everyone agrees with that though as we know lol) .
The xeno didn’t exist if you think about it perhaps until after David made the protomorph exist in covenant , so somewhere along the line between the end of covenant and the first Alien movie , it was re-engineered again to give us the classic xeno , as David was 90% there when he managed too create the snarling protomorph we see in covenant.
There’s still a movie to be made somwhere how xeno came to be from David and how a face hugger impregnated an engineer and led to the derelict on lV-426 and bursting out; as it must been a queen and laying eggs in the derelict and this giving us the xeno in the first alien movie and all movies thereafter including Romulus .
The engineers always had the decan maybe to get the black goo from . Whether the decans were always about before the engineers or someone created the engineers from the black goo as they did at the beginning of Prometheus . Or the engineers used the black goo to better themselves make them more highly evolved , as they were more like humans at one time . As someone suggested on the thread , the engineers couldn’t reproduce anymore so they may used the black goo to produce their own species (as well as humans) as well as being able to use it as a biological weapon to destroy life ( the plan from them in Prometheus to kill off humanity )
From the statue seen in Prometheus in the chamber of the decan, it’s obvious the engineers worshiped the species because of the powerful bio material it gave them (black goo). Whether the engineers themselves discovered the decan and they utilised it and it became a god to them or whether someone made the engineers from the decan , who knows . They still worshiped the decan in the end though and used its bio for their own advantage , for good and for bad .
We won’t know all the answers truly , unless that 3rd follow On movie from covenant is made . It’s a shame it might not ever , just left it hanging … ;(
@@Dannyevolution7865 I do agree it's criminal if they never bother to make a 3rd movie that can connect right up into 1979's Alien.
I think the Urns containing those Ampules that house the black goo, it's the black goo substance itself that contains the Xenomorph DNA. In my own head canon I see it as the Engineers replicated a "viral bomb" more controllable and safer method of their bio-weapon, than handling the actual Facehugger eggs. And I do agree the Engineers definitely revered and worshipped the Deacon lifeform.
I think there's either a few different types of engineers, ones that are like their synthetic "robot" types, which are those we saw at the 223 temple/facility, and the last surviving Engineer there, because if you look at his inner, pressure or "bio-suit" it seems to be melded to his own skin at the wrists and neck area; which I've always found very interesting.
And there's the Engineers native to the Covenant planet, who just all wear basic robes. But it could just be that those bio-suits have this biomechanoid technology that when they wear them they kind of just mold to their skin. But then that last surviving Engineer when he got shot a few times bled black blood, and just seemed to shrug those gun shots off like they was nothing; and he got very offended after feeling David's head, stroking his hair and he could tell David was "not a real boy", NOT *Human* but artificial, "Synthetic" which could well be much like him. Although even then, when he was awakened from his cryo sleep after 2000 years, and if I remember that Engineer breathed. So it's all quite ambiguous and can be interpreted in many different ways.
It's nice to talk to someone (again) who actually appreciates Prometheus for it's themes, and all it's really cool ideas. I made up my own story, which does explain pretty much everything around the Engineers and actually Connects right up to the events of Alien. Would you like to read my story? See what you think of it?
@@RaikenXion sure why not , interesting 👌
I had no issues with the deep fake. It was a bit off but the character had been messed up so I was happy to attribute any oddness to that.
The voice actor for Sir Ian did an outstanding job though, and Jonsson playing Andy was something very special.
It's just a shame they added that 4th act, though it did let them showcase the destruction of the station which looked great.
Am you sure it was a voice-actor? I thought it was that modulated A.I. voiceover people are using alot nowadays.
The Ash/Rook CGI was the worst part of Alien : Romulus. The entire character could have been dispensed with, but for the need for a lot of exposition to tie Romulus in to Scott's installments. Andy and his developmental arc was the _only_ AI/AP Romulus needed.
Well, the thing is they could have actually used that Android from the "Alien: Isolation" game instead.
@@RaikenXion Wouldn't that have been great?!? I think fede might have considered more Isolation elements, but Scott was determined to make changes that linked back to his prequels and the original film he directed (but did not create).
@@deadmeat8754 Well I mean here's the thing, Alien Isolation is such a amazing game in how it just brings alive the retro-futuristic world of Alien, in how it EXPANDS that universe in the beautiful designs of the architecture, facilities, equipment etc of the Sevastopol Space Station.
I remember spending quite a long time playing through Alien Isolation, because I would just keep stopping and looking at the overall design of the areas I was slowly, sneaking and traversing through. All while having the frickin Xenomorph hunting me.
I think with Alien yes, Ridley Scott did not so much create the actual visual look of that masterful Film. That is ALL down to H.R. Giger who to this day honestly does NOT get enough credit for his amazing art design of the whole "Derelict Ship", especially the Pilot/Space Jockey chamber and underground area where all the facehugger eggs are stored, as well as his Xeno designs taken from his Necronomicon IV artwork.
But Ridley did play a hand in alot of things too, he reworked stuff from Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shussett's original script. Ridley was the one who shot the movie, that awesome shot that pans out showing the mysterious "Space Jockey" in all his glory, as Ridley has his own children, clad in mini Nostromo miner spacesuits, investigating it. That shot today really is beautiful and perfectly showcases Giger's amazing art work. The space jockey in his chair with massive cannon-like navigational unit; SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN DESTROYED!!! That was a piece of *Artwork* and belonged in a Art Gallery in Giger's hometown or kept somewhere in Galleries, Film Archives in Hollywood or something.
Also Ridley Scott knew how to capture and bring out the best performances in those actors, he built up tension between Yaphet who wanted to be the main badass to eventually take down the "big chap" and Sigourney; and it was Ridley Scott who as the director was really thinking outside the box back then, because he wanted it to be the Female Lieutenant - "Ellen Ripley" who eventually outsmarts the Xenomorph and defeats it. Today Hollywood completely panders to all this radical Feminism; but Ridley Scott did it first way back then in 79, and he did it Genuinely. Yaphet butted heads with Mrs Weaver over that for weeks during filming, NOT because he was sexist, but because he just was just looking at it as the "Man" steps up and "protects." And I mean he was a pretty big, stocky guy and a great Actor too.
The way the characters come together is just wonderful in Alien, you end up caring alot about all of them because even though say Parker & Brett couldn't stand Ripley and basically hated her guts; when sh*t got real and the "Alien" had physically broken out into the ship, they listened to her and all worked together as a "team" in order to try and defeat it. You even see shots where Yaphet holds Lambert after she attacked Ripley, nothing romantic or sexual, he just helps he and takes her away pulling her off Ripley because of how emotional Lambert was.
Another scene I like is when after they found out the dark truth from Ash the Android, they walk out the room and Parker just turns back and flames up Ash. He respects and works alongside Ripley, because he realizes as much of a "bitch" she may be often; she as second in command when Captain Dallas is off the ship, she cared utmost for her Crew, that meant Everyone so their was nothing personal. Ripley DID NOT WANT to risk the crew whatsoever. She also cared for Kane in that she absolutely wanted to help him, but wait for 24hrs decontamination first, to make sure nothing he brought onboard could put the whole crew at risk. If the crew and overall ship is put in danger, then none of them could make it back home (which sadly kinda happened).
So yeh just great performances, and Ridley Scott helped alot in that by deliberately letting tensions build up in some of the actors over weeks, which really aided in their performances in the Film. Look at Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, she was so emotional. Lastly I'll just say Ridley also had a clever imagination, because he was the one who did the whole scene showing the facehuggers inside the eggs, he put kitchen washing up gloves on, put his hands together, crossing his thumbs to make a kind of butterfly or bird shape, and just flicked his fingers; which created the futtering of the facehugger's finger/limbs as it sits inside the eggs.
And don't forget it was Ridley's idea, directing that whole iconic, graphic "Chestburster" scene how it would go down. Today we're all so very aware of it, but that whole idea had never been thought of before back then, very original and truly shocking and scary.
@@deadmeat8754 I think alot of Scott's ideas can work and be continued on and expanded from in other sequels in the Alien franchises, but it definitely needed some "Fresh Input" by younger directors, that was evidently clear as far back as 2017 with Covenant. Fede is a good choice as director, but I think ultimately it's the controlling Disney studio who are at blame here; for again being abit scared and reigning back Fede's "Romulus" Interquel movie to have a 15 rating. Which dialled back on the gore and violence alot.
That isabella merced scene toward the end was LAME, when that Engineer/Humanoid birthed from her, nothing really gory about that, she's just having a complicated birth; I guess what many people find disgusting and disturbing about it, was specifically what came out of her, a alien/cocoon essentially. I feel that it would have truly been disturbing in that thing that breaks out of the cocoon then goes onto actually eat her rape her instead.
I'm just saying what Alien Romulus really needed was it's own nasty, shocking, controversial "death scene" just as Alien 79 had the "chestburster". Something really far out of conventional norms to give the movie real weight. Visually Romulus looks beautiful but it just doesn't go far enough at all in any other area.
I liked the Rook character, it was a nice surprise though I thought it did look a little off, but then so did the orginal when it was pulled apart though back then that was due to limitations with special effects so I wasn't sure if it was meant to match that asthetic , in some regards I liked that as it looked more artificial than human.
I assumed they used some AI to help replicate Ians voice though I the voice acting was spot on.