ALIEN was released in 1979 and now 33 years later Ridley Scott is returning to the franchise in PROMETHEUS set to release June 8th of 2012. I have high hopes for this new film, but nothing will ever come close to the visceral realness of the original. Pure collective imagination went into the creation of that film. It was a perfect storm when you consider Ridley’s mind, Sigourney Weaver’s acting and the amazing works of Moebius , Terry Rawlings music and let us not forget H.R. Gieger’s art. All these men were great in their own right and getting all these egos into one room to create a story like this is a thing of myth.
The Alien Makers is one of those heartfelt documentaries that film buffs like me love to sink my teeth into.. The interviews contained in it have very little, if any, words from the interviewer. It’s the type of documentary that really and I mean really digs deep into the psyche of those who were closely involved in the film, like Brian Johnson (SFX Supervisor on Alien), Ivor Powell (Associate Producer) and Sandy Lieberson (Vice President of Fox in 1979). Some of the stories about the production are hilarious and eye opening and really gives those of you in the biz insight on just how far we’ve come as an industry. The site itself is loaded with production stills from the first film, some of which I have posted on this blog after the jump. If you have a couple of hours checkout this amazing documentary. By the way don’t ever ask Sandy Lieberson if “Alien was supposed to be a B film?” He really hates that.
WARNING: The CGI in this film is very cheesy and apparently there’s an Alien makers 1 and 2, but I only managed to find this one in full length on youtube. You can however check out the whole film on it’s site.
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