Alien - as classic as classic gets?/POO

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I saw the trailer for the director's cut of Alien played before Cabin Fever this afternoon (five-hour gaps between class are great, as long as there are enough decent movies to go see).

So which is the best - Alien, Aliens, Alien^3 (ha) or Alien Resurrection (underrated).

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:07 (twenty years ago) link

I love the first two a lot a lot. I can't wait to see the re-release. On the big screen Alien is really great, really scary and amazing-looking.

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:12 (twenty years ago) link

Damn, didn't even know about this new version! (Quicktime trailer here, 19 MB)

Aliens is a grand action flick, Cameron showing again what he could do. But the first...man. Let's put it this way -- I STILL have never been able to watch the chestburster sequence.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:18 (twenty years ago) link

POO: Aliens, I think. Maybe. It's kind of like with the first two Terminator movies: I've seen Aliens more recently, so it's what I'm going with.

I haven't seen Alien3 since knowing who David Fincher is, and have been tempted ever since to watch it again, even though it was an incredible disappointment at the time.

Had no idea about the director's cut -- there's a 20th or 25th (can that be right?) anniversary edition of the DVDs coming out soon, I've got em queued up in Netflix.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:21 (twenty years ago) link

The whole "first one's a horror movie, second one's a war pic" thing makes it hard for me to choose one.

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:22 (twenty years ago) link

The DVD box set is supposed to come out after the re-release, closer to Christmas, and Alien^3 will also be a director's cut, about an hour longer than before. (I read that somewhere, but no clue where.)

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:24 (twenty years ago) link

Aliens 3, I just don't know why David Fincher made it so... so boring.

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:24 (twenty years ago) link

Alien^3 will also be a director's cut, about an hour longer than before

!!!

Okay, I'm definitely going to watch that. Maybe I won't watch the original version, I'll just wait for that.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:25 (twenty years ago) link

Never actually saw 3 or the final one. For all that I loved the first two films, something about the whole concept of the third one underwhelmed me and I lost interest.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:27 (twenty years ago) link

Something about the third one itself underwhelmed me and I lost interest.

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:30 (twenty years ago) link

The fourth one was so weird, seeing Jeunet's style grafted with the Alien house look and tone.

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:31 (twenty years ago) link

The only piece of dialogue that stuck with me from Resurrection is the Sheriff of Nottingham's henchman saying "She is severely fuckable" about Winona's character.

The visuals have stuck with me (the giant hive-alien thing, the tech church), but I remember very little about the plot or dialogue.

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:35 (twenty years ago) link

Oh yeah, come to think of it I always forget there WAS a fourth one. Wow. The 1980s Tep is amazed the 2003 Tep actually let an Alien movie slip by.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 05:40 (twenty years ago) link

I like them all exactly equal cz Ripley is getting taller

mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 07:14 (twenty years ago) link

I haven't seen the fourth one properly. I saw bits of it. Maybe, for that reason, I got something badly wrong, because I remember wondering WTF the apparent Ripley clone was doing waking up with nail varnish on. Can anyone explain this? Is it supposed to be a funny alien hybrid attribute? Looks more like a coat of Racing Green to me...

I guess I liked the first two just fine, for different reasons. I'm not sure I could stomach sitting through the first again, though. The third one was fucking appalling.

ChristineSH (chrissie1068), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 11:55 (twenty years ago) link

the design of the fourth one was weird, since it looked like a Quake level.

which is kinda funny, since Doom & Quake had a helluva lotta basis in _Aliens_...

Kingfish (Kingfish), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 12:51 (twenty years ago) link

Aliens wins clearly. Game over man! Game over!

Dale the Titled (cprek), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 12:52 (twenty years ago) link

Alien all the way. I cannot wait until it gets rereleased, it simply begs to be seen on the big screen.

Nicolars (Nicole), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 12:56 (twenty years ago) link

Alien/Aliens, the last 2 were tripe, altho the alien in the third one had potential to be quite cool coz it was dead fast, but charles dance just mumbled once too often for my liking.

Fuzzy (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 13:13 (twenty years ago) link

then he got his head bitten off!! jeeps there's no pleasing some people

mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 13:18 (twenty years ago) link

i have suddenly realised that alien 3 = the best one

mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 13:19 (twenty years ago) link

Serves Mr Dance right. Impregnating gorillas is just asking for trouble.

Ricardo (RickyT), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 13:28 (twenty years ago) link

I haven't seen the fourth one properly. I saw bits of it. Maybe, for that reason, I got something badly wrong, because I remember wondering WTF the apparent Ripley clone was doing waking up with nail varnish on. Can anyone explain this? Is it supposed to be a funny alien hybrid attribute? Looks more like a coat of Racing Green to me...

Yes. Basically she was supposed to have mini-Alien claws due to her hybrid nature, even though she looked mostly normal. (This gets traded on explicitly later in the movie when they wander into the horror room filled with failed Ripley-Alien clones and she sees the myriad horrors of existence she dodged by virtue of loking human.)

I recently saw "Resident Evil" and realized that I loved it because its tone and pacing were almost identical to "Alien Resurrection". (Also, it's more successful as a movie than the "Tomb Raider" flicks, which I also loved; why did "RE" get such bad press?)

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 13:45 (twenty years ago) link

Milla.

g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 15:43 (twenty years ago) link

But she was great! "RE" played to her strengths; she had to look cute and kick ass in a menacing, violent situation with little exposition on her part.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 16:02 (twenty years ago) link

Alien Resurrection is the most disturbing of them all (the early failure hybrids, the scientists trapped up to their necks in alien-stuff, the way the alien/human hybrid gets born then sucked out of the ship at the end) - if it wasn't for cyborg Winona then i wouldn't have bothered

stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 16:04 (twenty years ago) link

I love the first movie above all, and am looking forward to seeing in on the big screen again after years of small-screen reruns. Having gotten the DVD last year, I was shocked to be reminded a) how great and imaginative it looks, still, retro computer interfaces notwithstanding, and b) that there is acutal stuff visible in the dark spots of the murked-out versions you get on cable. That said, Ridley Scott is not exactly a master storyteller or extravagant shooter, so I have a hard time imagining what "extra footage" he's gonna insert that hasn't already shown up on the DVD--extra footage, I might add, that I think he was right to leave out.

I suspect it'll be a bit like Apocalypse Now Redux: amazing new print, story none the better, and perhaps a bit worse.

Lee G (Lee G), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 16:58 (twenty years ago) link

I am sorta thinking the same thing too, Lee, about the extra footage -- the trailer seemed to have a brief clip of the Ripley/Dallas sequence when she finds and kills him after he's been cocooned, which I suppose is interesting enough to include but not really needed (and as it would appear it breaks the totally paranoid flow of the final half hour). Beyond that, there's not really much that needs or requires reincluding.

What I think will be interesting to see is how solid the visual effects will hold up on screen these days -- for its time and place, it was probably the best such effort outside of ILM's early work and in certain respects probably superior. The Nostromo really is an amazing model.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 17:50 (twenty years ago) link

For sure! Totally great production design too.

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 22:54 (twenty years ago) link

I agree with Nicolars. Alien : Aliens :: The Godfather Pt I : Godfather Pt II

(tho it's hard to beat "game over, man! GAME OVER!!" from Chet)

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 17 September 2003 23:22 (twenty years ago) link

The power of non-CGI!

Girolamo Savonarola, Thursday, 18 September 2003 01:44 (twenty years ago) link

The original Alien movie scared the bejezus out of me as a kid. HR Geiger's design of the alien and the alien ship is pretty amazing and definitely strikes some unholy nasty chord.

The chest burster was disgusting and scary, but the scene with Harry Dean Stanton and the cat is the one that caused me to absolutely freak the first time I saw the movie.

Aliens is a damn good 90s shoot 'em up with funny tag lines, but it never got me like the first one, which outside of perhaps Blade Runner is the best scifi movie of the past 25-30 years. Ridley Scott can still make movies with smokey rooms, but they are just not like these two.

earlnash, Thursday, 18 September 2003 02:53 (twenty years ago) link

More aliens correlates directly with better movie, hence Aliens wins.

Dale the Titled (cprek), Thursday, 18 September 2003 03:08 (twenty years ago) link

Alien: Resurrection is underrated! It's always been my favorite. In fact, I was a little bored by all the others, they seemed kind of cheap and/or manipulative. Maybe it's cause I'm a huge Jeunet fan, and his stamp was very much on it despite the franchise.

Dan I., Thursday, 18 September 2003 04:01 (twenty years ago) link

There are a couple amazing scenes I vaguely remember from Resurrection, like the blowtorched clone lab and the cannibalistic escape sequence.

gazuga (gazuga), Thursday, 18 September 2003 05:05 (twenty years ago) link

Wheelchair guy and the horrible things that happen to his senseless legs was brilliant, as was the scene with the arm guns ("I can't drop them, they're attached to my arms!!!" followed by ricochet behind the back shots).

Dan I., Thursday, 18 September 2003 06:27 (twenty years ago) link

My pick: Alien. Reason: Ian Holm, who cannot be in a bad movie.

weatheringdaleson (weatheringdaleson), Thursday, 18 September 2003 07:27 (twenty years ago) link

This is going to suck: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370263/

Dan I., Thursday, 18 September 2003 07:51 (twenty years ago) link

I have some relatives from southern Switzerland who come from the same town (Chur) as HR Giger, who described the place as "an early inspiration for my work as it's an eerie, sick place with more alcoholics and maniacs than anywhere I've ever seen"

dave q, Thursday, 18 September 2003 08:09 (twenty years ago) link

I agree with Nicolars. Alien : Aliens :: The Godfather Pt I : Godfather Pt II

Have you checked first that Nicolars prefers The Godfather Pt I to Pt II (like some sort of freak)?

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 18 September 2003 08:26 (twenty years ago) link

Dan: If a computer game has to be adapted, then it'd better be by Paul W.S. Anderson, or eles it'll suck. Scientific. Fact.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 18 September 2003 08:28 (twenty years ago) link

i have high hopes for Alien vs Predator. i mean think about it, it could amazing. wouldn't it actually be HARDER to fuck this up (esp. seeing as its PW Anderson who i think was a good choice of director tho part of me would rather it was John McTiernan!)

stevem (blueski), Thursday, 18 September 2003 10:39 (twenty years ago) link

bleah. without colonial maries, the flick won't be as much fun.

still, i like how some random project first proposed about12-13 years ago is finally coming to light.

no doubt it'll be filled with really bad CGI, tho.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Thursday, 18 September 2003 11:38 (twenty years ago) link

as opposed to really bad men in suits. is Kevin Peter Hall actually going to be in it? i hope so

stevem (blueski), Thursday, 18 September 2003 11:52 (twenty years ago) link

Alien best.

Aliens spoilt by resemblances of formerly unheimlich creatures to, variously, men in (ill-fitting) suits and finger puppets, with distracting tendency to emit angry rhino noises when squished (and they're far too easily squished).

Alien 3, 2nd best, valiantly fatalist (as with the 3rd Terminator film. Is this a trend? Does American Pie 3, also, reassert the universal ascendancy of some mad demiurge's implacable design?).

Alien Resurrection spoilt by unwarranted introduction of French visual humour.

Neil Willett (Neil Willett), Thursday, 18 September 2003 18:57 (twenty years ago) link

that's what I'm saying! if not spoilt then at least weirdened

s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 19 September 2003 00:52 (twenty years ago) link

poppycock. That's what made it good. And I'm almost certain AvP will have humans too, marines or not. They need Faces to identify with.

Dan I., Friday, 19 September 2003 01:31 (twenty years ago) link

I liked 'earth girls are easy'. did they make sequels to that? prequels, maybe?

RJG (RJG), Friday, 19 September 2003 01:47 (twenty years ago) link

if alien vs. predator doesn't have humans in it that might be good! or completely unwatchable!

it also might be my favourite movie ever in any case

s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 19 September 2003 02:54 (twenty years ago) link

Finally, found out some more information on the overall new DVD set/release:

http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=2224

I'm all for the huge slew of extra features on the first two, hope these all get released individually...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 19 September 2003 04:40 (twenty years ago) link

REVIVE!

http://skeletonart.com/images/Art/334-Strange01-400.jpg

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 1 November 2003 02:56 (twenty years ago) link

Sometimes I think this is my favourite book about film.
http://www.alienscollection.com/quartet.jpg

Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Saturday, 1 November 2003 03:04 (twenty years ago) link

I saw Alien for the first time last week, and proves once again that I shouldn't watch scary movies.

Leee (Leee), Saturday, 1 November 2003 05:54 (twenty years ago) link

Come now, Leee, don't fret. Have some of this corn bread. You might get an upset stomach, though.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 1 November 2003 05:59 (twenty years ago) link

Is this not getting a wide release, or do my local theaters just suck?

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Saturday, 1 November 2003 07:17 (twenty years ago) link

Am I the only person who adores that Alien-doing-a-bong-hit painting?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 1 November 2003 07:24 (twenty years ago) link

Cross post spoiler:

I'm quite curious to see the Director's Cut. Is it radically different?
-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), October 26th, 2003.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Couldn't say, since I didn't see the first version. I assume the big dance number with Madeline Kahn and Burt Reynolds was in the original?
-- Skottie (n...), October 26th, 2003.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, it was pulled because RS was worried it'd be too scary for family audiences.
-- s1utsky

Skottie, Saturday, 1 November 2003 07:27 (twenty years ago) link

I assume the big dance number with Madeline Kahn and Burt Reynolds was in the original?

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That made my night.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 1 November 2003 07:30 (twenty years ago) link

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000VCZK2.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Nine discs. Three billion hours of bonus material, including featurettes, screen tests, production artwork, interviews, and way more. All in a tidy little case. It's beauuuuutiful.

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 14 November 2003 00:24 (twenty years ago) link

Is "Quadrilogy" a real word?

s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 14 November 2003 00:42 (twenty years ago) link

If the marketers say it is, it is. I'll content myself with eventually getting the first two movies on separate sale (assuming they do go on separate sale).

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 November 2003 00:43 (twenty years ago) link

That's what I was thinking. glad I didn't buy them in the "old editions."

DVDS ARE A SCAM

s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 14 November 2003 00:53 (twenty years ago) link

I've pre-ordered the "Quadrilogy". Release dates are as follows:

Region 1 - 2 December.
Region 2 (UK) - 8 December.
Region 4 (Australia) - 10 December.

All the sets are identical.

Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Friday, 14 November 2003 00:56 (twenty years ago) link

glad I didn't buy them in the "old editions."

I picked up both, but used and some time back. So I'm content to rebuy in this case.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 November 2003 01:00 (twenty years ago) link

How do the extras compare on the two editions?

s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 14 November 2003 01:22 (twenty years ago) link

I'll have to get the box set - I need 1,2 and 4, and if three is a director's cut, maybe it will be better.

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Friday, 14 November 2003 01:29 (twenty years ago) link

isn't it usually a tetralogy?

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 14 November 2003 18:12 (twenty years ago) link

The Alien films will also be released individually on January 6th (Region 1). Please note the 9th disc full of bonus features is exclusive to the quadrilogy set.

Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Friday, 14 November 2003 18:26 (twenty years ago) link

*checks specs* Mmmm...I'll just have to steal that. ;-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 November 2003 18:29 (twenty years ago) link

I can't help thinking that a quadrilogy should be about dancing.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 14 November 2003 18:40 (twenty years ago) link

How do you know it's not?

Hunter (Hunter), Friday, 14 November 2003 19:29 (twenty years ago) link

"I'll lead, honey...why are you looking sick to your stomach?"

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 November 2003 19:31 (twenty years ago) link

I'm so glad they're being released individually! I certainly don't want or need 3 or 4.

El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Friday, 14 November 2003 19:32 (twenty years ago) link

See, EDR speaks much words of wisdom.

(Also, how glad am I that the theatrical Aliens will FINALLY be on DVD? I like some of the extra footage but the whole feel of the movie is undercut by showing the happy terraforming station before the aliens come along -- the Marines arriving and finding nothing = far more effective.)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 November 2003 19:35 (twenty years ago) link

Yeah, I gotta agree with you there.

s1utsky (slutsky), Friday, 14 November 2003 19:47 (twenty years ago) link

I just watched Aliens, I liked it better than Alien because it was not as scary and also because it had the buff chick.

Leee Majors (Leee), Friday, 14 November 2003 22:22 (twenty years ago) link

I thought the Alien Director's Cut was a bit of a waste of time, they didn't ruin the film enough for it to be a proper director's cut

DG (D_To_The_G), Friday, 14 November 2003 22:25 (twenty years ago) link

Forgot to mention that I saw the Alien director's cut at the Cinedome a couple weeks ago and on the whole I prefer the original theatrical version better. The extra scenes while nice, didn't really do all that much for me. However the big difference was the vast improvement in the sound. Full digital ickyness.

Along with Ned, I'm happy that the theatrical version of Aliens is getting released. It's really the only one of the four that I would want on DVD.

Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 15 November 2003 12:07 (twenty years ago) link

My extended Alien series complete, some thoughts.

Alien: too scary for me! I had to watch the intense parts virtually on mute.

Aliens: I love video games dressed up as movies. If they limited the dialogue to practically nothing, this would be the best movie ever. (which also holds true for first Matrix)

Alien^3: terrible. Brits in movies must be classy and well-groomed, otherwise they are just Australians. CGI was wretched, obv.

Alien: Resurrection: surprisingly good, I'd actually watched it once before and I think I was lukewarm to it, not to mentioned confused b/c I had not seen the others yet. However, I have a feeling that Ripley/Sigourney hurt the film; since the film was mostly about gloss, having a familiar character and the attempts to provide enough characterization really conflicted with the mood of the band of outcasts, who are all neat poses and smarmy one liners.

Leee Majors (Leee), Saturday, 22 November 2003 21:32 (twenty years ago) link

My box set arrived today, I am giddy like schoolgirl.

Which to watch first? I just saw Alien in the theatre, so Aliens is the logical choice - but I've never seen ^3 and Resurrection has Winona...

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 27 November 2003 00:19 (twenty years ago) link

three years pass...

Revive.

I can't believe this, but I've never seen any of these in their entirety. Just watched the first one (director's cut, so I don't know what extra stuff I shouldn't have seen) and it was great, about to watch the second.

The question is, should I bother with the last two?

S-, Friday, 6 July 2007 13:08 (sixteen years ago) link

god that scene in the air ducts with Dallas running around with the flamethrower, and that panicky woman yelling in his earpiece where the alien is. One of the greatest horror moments in movie history.

I said in my original post that the last two films were tripe. Actually the third was is worth a watch just for the dog alien, be prepared for some dodgy cgi though.

I may have to watch the fourth one again myself, can't remember much about it.

Ste, Friday, 6 July 2007 13:23 (sixteen years ago) link

ten months pass...

http://www.sayagain.co.uk/b3tapix/images/alienminer.gif

and what, Thursday, 29 May 2008 14:47 (fifteen years ago) link

bloomerbait

latebloomer, Thursday, 29 May 2008 21:23 (fifteen years ago) link

A+, btw

latebloomer, Thursday, 29 May 2008 21:27 (fifteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Just watched the first one again, do we know if and when it's coming out on bluray?

Now to watch Warriors, movies from the fucking 70's are the tits !

Ste, Monday, 23 June 2008 21:36 (fifteen years ago) link

warriors vs aliens

s1ocki, Monday, 23 June 2008 23:18 (fifteen years ago) link

two years pass...

Needs the Alien standing behind them being all, "Hey, guys, what are we looking at?"

Shock and Awe High School (Phil D.), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 15:01 (thirteen years ago) link

one year passes...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lurx40MS0i1qbo6leo1_500.jpg

SFX-guy Gavin Rothery is posting lots of behind the scenes photos from the first Alien movie. They are all AWESOME.

Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 16 November 2011 22:03 (twelve years ago) link

two years pass...

http://i.imgur.com/avA7JBR.png

, Wednesday, 23 April 2014 01:36 (ten years ago) link

What's this?

Drop soap, not bombs (Ste), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 09:55 (ten years ago) link

that's the guy in the Alien suit IIRC

TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 23 April 2014 09:57 (ten years ago) link

four years pass...

"you need a WHATomorph suit by tomorrow morning?"

StanM, Sunday, 24 March 2019 06:19 (five years ago) link

max fischer would be proud

i'm w/ tato, super hot AND weird!! (bizarro gazzara), Sunday, 24 March 2019 22:18 (five years ago) link

ten months pass...

I thought "Memory: Origins of Alien" was a really good doc. A bit of making-of/background (some of which was new to me), but it's mostly a lot of smart What It All Means discussion.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 21 February 2020 22:08 (four years ago) link

one year passes...

Memory: Origins of Alien on channel 4 now, I'm half way through. Seems to have a fair bit of interview footage from previous docs, still I'm always there for the story of the meeting of minds of o'bannon & giger & scott, especially the victory snatched from the jaws of defeat of giger being let go, then rehired by scott. Didn't know the comic book forebears of the script. I'm finding the 'what it all means' guy a wee bit much maybe I'm not against all that.

ledge, Sunday, 5 September 2021 13:28 (two years ago) link

... but I'm not against all that.

ledge, Sunday, 5 September 2021 13:29 (two years ago) link

A bit weird in the end, a mix of "making of" and "meaning of" but after they go all in on the chestburster scene it just ends, so nothing about the actual full size creature; I think there was one single mention of cobb, none of foss or moebius, excepting a brief shot of a moebius comic in o'bannon's archive.

ledge, Sunday, 5 September 2021 20:27 (two years ago) link


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