SCENE FOUR
The Sulaco flies past the camera. Then, Apone gives orders in the docking bay. Ripley asks Apone if there is anything she can do: Apone turns the question right back at her, not sure she has much value. Ripley pilots a loader skillfully, and Hicks and Apone laugh at her victorious smile.
Turns: Ripley shows her skills
Values: OSTRACISM + COMMUNITY
Purpose: This turn is very subtle. The true purpose of this scene is to set up the power loader for the climax. However, this scene is kept interesting by a subtle change in social dynamic as Ripley gets at least Hicks and Apone to show her some acceptance.
This is the first of several points where Ripley starts to show leadership, and get past her fears. But this one might not be necessary: it just makes a good excuse for crucial set-up.
SCENE FIVE – SEQUENCE CLIMAX
Pan over the marines readying their guns. Then, the APC drives by. Then, we see the marines climb into the APC while Apone fires them up. Ripley follows. They strap in, then the APC drives into the dropship. Some goofing around by Hudson
Turns: They launch
Values: ANTICIPATION -/+ STRESS
Purpose: This is a turn I’m not entirely sure of. Even if it isn’t really a turn, there is some purpose to the scene: it is a buildup to officially leaving the threshold of civilization, Ripley truly crossing out of safety and into the field of danger. Thus, there is a buildup and anticipation to the scene, released with the violent launch of the dropship (Almost sexual, if you think about it).
Another purpose, though, is to finally show the marines in action: well-equipped, if not well-prepared. We need to see they aren’t a complete joke, and have reason to be more confident than scared. At least until contact with the enemy.
Yet another purpose: building up the anticipation of what is going to be found is important. We want the audience to be ready for a fight, too see monsters and battle – then give them a mysterious empty colony.
Finally, this also functions as a ‘hardware show.’ The APC, the guns, the dropship – all will be coming back with relevance to dramatic events. This might be the least essential purpose, but it helps. Also, while the powerloader was shown in the last scene, showing then using all the hardware but the power loader makes the audience more likely to remember the powerloader when it finally shows up, almost an entire movie after it is introduced. This works because every other piece of equipment becomes involved in the plot, so jumping back to that loader in the final act isn’t too much of a stretch for the audience’s minds.
(this is more conjecture- machines and equipment, ultimately become the death of the aliens. It is the bad leadership of those using the equipment that makes their superior firepower fail. Ironic considering the equipment serves Weyland-Yutani, who is as evil as the aliens)
SCENE SIX
The pilots take them down. Ripley calls out Gorman for his fear, asking how many drops he’s been on. He foolishly reveals how inexperienced he is, and the men judge him.
Gorman asks Drake to pan his camera, and we see the helmet cam. Apone sees that Hicks is asleep.
Turns: Gorman reveals his inexperience
Values: STRESS -- INCOMPETANCE
Purpose: More set-up of Gorman’s coming failure and Ripley’s rise – Ripley subtly challenges Gorman, putting her more on the side of the men than Gorman. Necessary for Gorman’s failure to make sense (he is inexperienced)- but Ripley might come across as too aggressive. But then again, she will have to be kicking tail later, and was deeply troubled when we first met her.
SCENE SEVEN
Apone gets the men up and ready. In the cockpit, Pharoah can’t find the beacon – then she does, seeing the majestic tower of the atmosphere processor. Burke mentions that Weyland-Yutani manufactures them.
Ripley watches the monitors as the colony is surveyed in a flyby and Gorman describes what he sees. Ripley comments that the structure is still intact, and the power is still on.
Gorman tells Pharoah to set them down.
Turns: We see the atmosphere processor
Values: INCOMPETANCE +/- DISCOVERY
Purpose: Very weak turn. This scene is more for exposition and mood-building. The dread/suspense atmosphere is now being set up.
SCENE EIGHT
The dropship lands, and the APC drives out. Apone readies the men. The APC stops, and the men rush out to take positions. Apone scans the colony – it is abandoned and drenched in rain, but otherwise calm.
The first squad goes ahead, and bypasses the door. The colony door opens. The marines proceed inside.
Opening another door, they see the interior – empty, and scarred from battle.
The second team moves in. Apone describes the damage while Ripley and Gorman watch the marines’ monitors. Gorman orders the motion trackers out – no motion.
The marines continue to search rooms, recently lived in. Ripley sees something and has Hicks investigate: acid burns, and Burke confirms what Hicks suspects: it’s the creature Ripley faced.
The marines screw around some more, Gorman says he’s coming in, which Ripley finds foolish. Hicks and Vasquez mock Gorman.
Turns: They see the interior of the facility, Ripley notices the acid burns
Values: ANTICIPATION – MYSTERY -- DANGER
Purpose: The motion trackers are introduced here, an important tool for suspense and turning points later. And the helmet cameras, already introduced, are used in action. This is important, as their pay-off scene is coming and the audience needs to visually understand them before that – this scene is designed to show the helmet cam function through Ripley’s interaction with Hicks’ images. Dually, that same moment confirms that there is probably something to be scared of out there. But where are the monsters?
SCENE NINE
Gorman, Ripley and Burke meet the marines inside. Ripley is terrified, as the marines vocalize their thoughts- the barricades are the sign of a last stand the colonists fought.
Then, they enter the lab, and see face huggers in tubes. Burke asks Ripley if they are the same ones, and she nods to confirm.
When Burke gets close, one is even alive. Bishop reads the files on why they are there, suggesting their threat. Then, a motion tracker shows something. After a check that it isn’t another marine, the group closes in to see what it could be.
Turning Points: They find the samples, motion tracker comes alive
Values: DANGER -/+ CONFIRMATION -/? DANGER
Purpose: Aliens isn’t the horror movie Alien was, but it does capture some of the terror of what lies in the dark, particularly with our unseen-but-present monster thus far. But then this scene shows us the monster (its larvae), some dead and one even alive. But the monster is contained in a tube. Isn’t this hurting the terror?
Not so much, since we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg that is the threat (a whole hive of aliens). Also, the monsters have been up to something – and we aren’t sure what. So seeing the monster dead/encased here seems to be comforting, until one considers the implications of a larger threat looming in mystery.
Really, the whole first half of this movie is a slow, creeping set-up to actually meeting the aliens. Though we have clearly seen evidence of them, we haven’t really seen the threat in full. At least, not yet.
Consider all this in the context that the turns of this scene are repetitive with the turns in the last scene. We’re being teased, details meted out piece by piece – yet we have learned little. In fact – couldn’t this whole scene be cut, from an exposition standpoint?
But it doesn’t seem boring, and helps to sustain the tension.
SCENE TEN
The marines creep forward, watching the motion tracker. Ripley knocks something over, but she moves on. They move as it gets closer, closer, closer – then something runs by. Hicks looks below the floor, and sees a little girl. Hicks reaches for her, but she bites. The marines use flashlights to search for Newt as she crawls away, then Ripley sees her go in a duct, and follows.
Turns: They find Newt, Newt bites Hicks
Values: STRESS + LIFE - RESISTANCE
Purpose: Finally! They are going to find an alien – but they don’t, it’s a girl. We’ve being set up for a big scary monster – false alarm.
This is a very functional way to introduce Newt- she is nearly feral, surviving on fight/flight instinct alone. Not unlike the state Ripley is trying to escape…
She represents answers to the marines, but she is also the introduction of a catalyst to get Ripley’s desire to overcome her fears to the next level.
SCENE ELEVEN - SEQUENCE CLIMAX
Ripley follows Newt into her hidey hole, where Newt presses against the wall. Ripley takes in the trash filling the hole, and its mementos.
She tries to talk to Newt, but she runs. Ripley grabs her, consoling her. Eventually she stops struggling. Ripley takes in her face, then notices a memento and picks it up – a second grade citizenship award.
Turns: Newt stops struggling
Values: RESISTANCE +/- PEACE
Purpose: This turn is weak – but it’s not by accident that it is RIPLEY who catches Newt, and does so alone. The relationship between these two will be important, so this plants the idea of their relationship. Ripley calms Newt, and Ripley is the first to see that newt used to be just a little girl. She was transformed by terror, as was Ripley.
(Interestingly, in the ‘special edition’ there is a cut scene way before this, before Ripley’s inquest. It sets up that Ripley’s daughter has died while she was drifting through space. This was meant to set up her longing to make up for failed maternal duties. But the editors wisely deemed it unnecessary – because it is about empathy as much as maternalism)
SCENE TWELVE
The marines toy around with their new base in operations. Gorman tries to get details from Newt while she is medically examined. Ripley stops his futile efforts. After the medic’s report, Ripley makes her own attempt to open up Newt.
She offers Newt hot chocolate, then cleans Newt’s face. Newt doesn’t respond, but Ripley is becoming more comfortable with her, and maybe Newt with her.
Ripley compliments Newt’s bravery, and this prompts Newt tocorrect Ripley in calling her Rebecca. Ripley accepts newt’s real name. Ripley addresses Newt’s doll, getting her name as well – Casey.
Ripley asks about Newt’s brother, gets his name – but she doesn’t mention where he might be. Ripley gets Newt to confirm that she has parents, but when asked for their location, Newt reacts with hostility, saying they are dead. Ripley apologizes.
Ripley tries to encourage Newt, but she is resigned to fate.
Turns: Newt Speaks, Newt declares her family dead
Values: PEACE + TRUST - TRAGEDY
Purpose: The first shot of this scene sets up the shutters, which aren’t terribly important but will be significant later, when a major plot detail is viewed out of them.
SCENE THIRTEEN
Bishop is examining one of the facehugger larvae, when Spunkmeyer comes in with requested supplies. Bishop gives him an absent look when asked for anything else – and when asked about the creature, Bishop seems to be a little in love with it.
Turns: Bishop gives him a look?
Values: ROUTINE – OBSESSION
Purpose: This is a small subplot, thematically related to the main plot. The inciting incident began in the cafeteria, and here we are advancing it. Bishop might be bad, or so this scene wants us to suspect. In the end, he is good, but it adds some drama, and gives Ripley another chance to overcome crippling old fears.
SCENE FOURTEEN
(This scene is intercut with the Scene Twelve)
Hicks searches for colonist PDTs on a monitor. Then, he calls out – he’s found them all together. They are all in the processor – together. Gorman gives the order, and they move out.
Turns: Hudson
Values: ROUTINE + DISCOVERY
Purpose: There’s no accident that the editors inserted part of this scene into the conversation between Ripley and Newt. This seems to contradicts Newt’s assessment: “they’re dead.” It seems to be a positive development, contradicting all this nervousness, and once they arrive this may all be over. A good set-up for the upcoming bloodbath.
SCENE FIFTEEN
The APC moves to the atmosphere processor. Inside, Newt comforts Casey while Ripley and Gorman watch monitors of the over-arching structure.
The APC enters a door, then stops. The marines exit, and advance.
On the monitors, Ripley and Gorman watch the marines’ helmet cams. Then Gorman notices something strange. He inquires, and Hudson
The marines comment as they observe, and Burke speculates. Hudson
But as she watches, Ripley makes a connection – gunfire could blow the whole place up. Burke realizes it, too, and explains it to Gorman. Gorman freaks.
Gorman then gets an idea – he orders Apone to collect magazines, and use only flame units.
Magazines are collected, though Vasquez and Drake smuggle out replacements. The marines move on.
Turns: We see the changed structure, Ripley points out a danger
Values: MYSTERY – THREAT - - FAITHLESSNESS
Purpose: This scene could possibly be cut – can’t the marines just be killed by a mass of Aliens? But it isn’t, because we need to see these big bad marines with their technology lose – and lose bad. This scene sets that up: it is Gorman’s incompetence that screws them.
As a detail, it seems arbitrary, perhaps so much that it might distract from the story. But it leads up to Ripley taking command, and when that happens, it is such a turning point and payoff for her character that we don’t care anymore.
SCENE SIXTEEN
The marines move on, then notice colonists pasted into the walls with the alien resins. Ripley tells Newt to look away, first kindly then with threat.
Gorman and Ripley watch on the monitors as Hicks sees an egg, and lifts up a facehugger larvae with his shotgun.
One marines lifts the head of a seemingly dead colonist – but her eyes open. The marines spring into action to help – but the woman asks for death. Ripley watches in horror, knowing what will happen. An alien bursts its way out, and the marines grab a flamethrower to destroy it. It burns, and dies.
Turns: They notice colonists in the wall, colonist opens her eyes, Alien bursts from colonist.
Values: FAITHLESSNESS - - DEATH + HOPE - HORROR
Purpose: This is the horror Ripley has run from, revealed to her again and the marines. This is a taste of what they are here to destroy. Also, it is a mini-crisis for Ripley. Will she retreat into terror and helplessness again?
Functionally, this is a taste of the aliens’ horror, before the greater threat of the hive reveals itself and kicks their ass.
Note that the negative turning points are piling up here. It avoids repetition, again, primarily because a sense of suspense and dread is being so thoroughly and carefully crafted.
SCENE SEVENTEEN
As the flames die down, a hiss rises through the nest. We see aliens awakening somewhere, and the marines prepare for combat.
Ripley tells Gorman to pull his team out – he doesn’t respond. Hudson Hudson
Then one marine walks by a strange looking wall – which comes to life and grabs her.
Her flamethrower goes off, igniting the bag off ammunition – which explodes, killing a few marines. Gorman calls for a report in frustration, but one doesn’t come.
Another marine screams as he is taken. Vasquez and Drake open fire. Gorman freaks out, futilely demanding they stop.
Gorman now directs an order at Apone – but Apone can’t make it out. Apone is taken by an alien. Gorman desperately calls for Apone’s attention. Ripley tells Gorman to get them out of there, but Gorman dismisses her. Ripley gives her own orders, but Gorman pulls off her mike.
Ripley swears in frustration. The marines shout at the cameras, desperate for orientation.
Gorman nervously recounts his commands, feeling sorry for himself. Ripley straps Newt in, and takes the wheel of the APC. Gorman rushes and tries to wrest the controls from her, but Burke pulls Gorman aside – and Ripley is in command.
Turns: The alien attacks, Ripley takes command
Values: HORROR – DEATH ++ COURAGE
Purpose: Ripley taking command is a really positive turn, for the plot and for her character as a whole. It is probably emphasized further by the dread and stacking negative turns that have led us here.
And it does need to be emphasized – this is the “midpoint crux” of Ripley’s character – the moment when her flight is overpowered by fight. From here on out, her fear is conquered and she proves herself as the leader.
SCENE EIGHTEEN
The APC barrels through the corridors. The marines retreat from battle. Then the APC slams through a wall, and the marines get the idea. Drake and Vasquez lay down cover while the marines maneuver into the APC for extraction.
But an alien appears near Drake, so Vasquez fires – spraying its blood all over Drake. Drake dies a burning death, and his flamethrower fires into the APC. They scramble to put out the fire while Hicks pulls Vasquez away from going after Drake.
Then an alien pushes the door back open, and Hicks blows it away. Hudson
Turns: Drake is sprayed, Alien enters the APC, Hicks kills the alien
Values: HOPE – DEATH - - DEFEAT + WRATH
Purpose: This is the “Action scene” so far – now that the marines are getting some help and stand a chance, the filmmakers are milking it for some back-and-forth conflict. This scene shows us we have changed genres – no longer thriller, but now Action-Thriller.
Vasquez now also has a reason to be mad at Gorman, and want revenge – her sub-plot just had its inciting incident.
SCENE NINETEEN – SEQUENCE CLIMAX
The APC is driving out, when an Alien smashes through the window, clawing at Ripley She stops the APC, sending it flying off the APC. Then she guns it forward, running over the bug (splash).
The APC smashes through the gate, and leaps over the rocky terrain of LV
Hicks tries to move Ripley out of her mania with reason, then coaxing. Ripley lowers the throttle, and the beaten APC grinds to a halt.
Turns: Alien attacks, Ripley kills the alien
Values: WRATH + SAFETY
Purpose: This is somewhat irrelevant, and a weak turn. But it does continue the Ripley-Hicks sub-plot, with him sensing her terror below the courage, and helping her out. Also, her further heroics are more effective by reminding us that she is still a little bit unnerved by the whole thing.
SCENE TWENTY
Ripley checks on Newt: she gives a thumbs up. Burke tries to check on Hudson
Hicks checks on Gorman, who is out cold. Vasquez tries to take out her rage and grief on him, but Hicks orders her back.
Then Hudson Hudson
Vasquez turns back to killing the xenomorphs, suggesting they use nerve gas. Hicks doubts this, but then Ripley suggests that they nuke the site from orbit.
The marines seem to be behind this, but Burke objects. Ripley gets around Burke’s objection by pointing out that military command applies, and Hicks is therefore in charge.
Burke appeals to Ripley that this is foolish, but Hicks gives and order, and they move to evacuate.
Turns: Hudson
Values: GRIEF + HOPE – HOPELESSNESS + POWER – CORRUPTION + RESOLVE
Purpose: This is setting up the fear that will undercut the next act: the fear of being taken and violated. Also, Burke’s sub-plot just took a major turn: he wants to do more than kill these aliens, he wants to control and exploit them.
Ripley’s refusal of a rescue mission shows her hard leadership further emerging, though perhaps cloaked in a throwback to her past terror. And her suggestion of nukes earns her respect from the men, again as a leader.
The relationship between Hicks and Ripley is based on their mutual respect for the other’s resolve, as of the conclusion of this scene.
SCENE TWENTY ONE
Pharoah calls for Spunkmeyer to get into the Dropship. He comes up the ramp, but notices something sticky. Pharoah ignores his calls to wait, and Spunkmeyer moves on.
In the cockpit, Pharoah asks Spunkmeyer what took so long. But an alien enters, and attacks before Pharoah can reach her gun.
Turns: Spunkmeyer sees goo
Values: DUTY – DEATH
Purpose: This is essentially set-up so that the Act 2 Climax doesn’t seem to come out of nowhere. Also, it sets up the nature of the aliens for the next act. No that they are alerted to a threat, they will sneak around everywhere.
SCENE TWENTY TWO – ACT TWO CLIMAX
Part of this scene is cut in before scene Twenty One.
The group carries Gorman on a stretcher to a landing point, and throw down flares. They watch the Dropship as it flies over a ridge – but then it strikes a hill, and falls apart. It is about to crash right into them. Ripley calls for them to run, and they take cover as the dropship explodes around them.
Emerging from cover, they survey the wreckage. Hicks shuts up Hudson Hudson freaks out some more, and Burke mocks Hudson
Newt warns that the aliens are more active at night, which is falling.
Turns: The Dropship hits the ridge, crashing
Values: HOPE – HOPELESSNESS
Purpose: This is a major negative reversal, which precedes the ending, a major positive reversal. Interestingly, the focal point of this scene is Ripley apologizing to newt, which is major evidence to the audience that Ripley’s survival might be falling second to her desire to be a support for Newt.
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