Alien Aliens

 

So the plague has visited my home this past week. No, not the Wu Flu. No, this was its older, more mature cousin: the upper respiratory tract infection. Little One brought it home from high school and spent four days at home after I took her to the local Care Now for diagnosis. She passed it along to my wife, who then spent three days at home. Me, since I work from home, I have been exposed to these sickos all week, but since for some unknown reason God has made my immune system Schwarzeneggerian, I simply laughed at their attempts to infect me.

One thing I did with the Little One was have a movie Saturday. And what did we watch? The classic, classic science fiction movie, 1979’s Alien. We tried to rope Patch into experiencing it with us, but she would have none of that, off on her own tangents creating this and that. Instead, the two of us dug into our sub sandwiches and chips while watching the horror from LV426 unfold upon the crew of the Nostromo. But before I let you know what a Gen Z thinks of one of my all-time favorite SF movies, note that when we finished she immediately said, “Let’s watch Aliens.”

So we did. We spent about five hours in front of the tube this past Saturday. And we both loved it.

I first was exposed to the Alien way back in 1979. Since I had just turned 12, and my parents weren’t exactly moviegoers, I didn’t get to see it in the theaters. But my uncle bought me the paperback novelization, which I devoured in no time. Soon I was creating my own version of the alien story, with different characters and scenarios. I remember playing with my Star Wars action figures and using a curved rock as the alien creature. I even wrote a short story about it, long lost to the ages.

But I didn’t see the movie until video rentals became a thing, probably three or four years later. Surprisingly, I have no memory of the first time I watched it. But since I conservatively estimate I have watched it a minimum of twenty times.

A few years later I saw James Cameron’s Aliens in the theaters the summer of ’86 with my friends. That was one of only two movies to ever physically jar me as I watched it. (The other was the 2005 War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise.) Physically shaking. Incredible, but true. As we were leaving, my pal noticed and said, “Don’t worry. If an alien jumps on the car I’ll just do this – ” and he switched on the windshield wipers.

About a decade ago my wife bought me the Alien Quadrilogy for a birthday. Four movie collection on eight disks, though I’m not a big fan at all of the last two movies. I’ve watched these DVDs maybe half a dozen times over the years. The last time was with Little One when she was about 12. The same age as me when I first encountered the Xenomorphs.

Well, as of last Saturday, she insisted she barely remembered anything about the flicks this time around. Which was kind of a good thing, because she went into it with fresh eyes. And, I’m pleased to say, she was hooked into it right from the start. When the Nostromo first crash lands on LV426 to investigate that “distress” signal. She remembered the groundbreaking chestbursting scene, but that was about it.

Immediately after we threw Aliens on. She remembered more of this one. She remembered Hicks, Hudson, and Newt. Also she recalled the climactic battle with the alien queen. I think she enjoyed this one better, which struck me as a bit odd, as she has a huge preference of haunted house horror over the typical fights and explosions action flick. And the tagline that Alien is just a haunted house in space is, well, in fact, true.

These first two movies of the Alien franchise are undoubtedly my best movie-sequel pair. A runner up could possibly be Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Godfather I and II. Terminator and T2. Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade would qualify had it not been for that icky middle movie. I dunno what else. Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein? Regardless, I think Little One would agree with my Alien assessment.

What a great way for a father to bond with his daughter. I heartily recommend it … but only if you’re slightly askew as we are here at Chez Hopper.