most imaginative non-humanoid alien in a movie (or not)

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[This thread initiated per request by M. Stinker.]

[Per thread-a-day regulations I hereby request that someone start a useful double-parody thread, to resemble "least imaginative non-humanoid alien in a movie (or not)" or "deadweight humanoid or non-humaniod aliens in movies (or not)."

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:05 (twenty-three years ago)

[This thread was filed under "animals."]

[40% lamb's wool, 40% cotton, 20% Lycra mesh]

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Tangent: I'm really tired of aliens who speak English, fires in outer space (no air, no fire!), sound in outer space (no air, no sound!) and other silliness in sci-fi.

― hstencil, Friday, 21 February 2003 00:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Maybe aliens all speak English for the same reason so many people on Earth do. Evidence in support of this theory: the aliens all speak with British accents, just like Indians and Germans and such.

Or maybe aliens all speak English because the Star Trek universal translator technology -- which does occasionally fail, with thrilling results! -- has an implied migration to all other forms of science fiction.

Or maybe aliens all speak English because NO ONE LIKES READING SUBTTILES FOR SOME CHARACTERS IN FILMS AND NOT OTHERS WHEN THERE'S NO GOOD REASON IT NEEDS TO BE THAT WAY.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Sorry, that was a bit much.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:39 (twenty-three years ago)

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (both versions).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:39 (twenty-three years ago)

haha .. yeah I'm w/ hstencil. I also hate: actors and actresses that are really beautiful and debonair, lighting that allows me to see people even when they're in a dark room, all the music that just seems to come out of nowhere all the time. um, that part in Persona where it looks like the film stops and the projector burns it. That was totally unrealistic.

Basically I only watch Italian neo-realist films.

I gotta vote for Nabisco's water one. I never saw the movie but that sounded insane! What exactly was it again?

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Did I say neo-realist? No, no, what I really meant was Dogme 95. I only watch those films.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Spacing Guild Navigator in Lynch's Dune?

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 21 February 2003 01:04 (twenty-three years ago)

i always liked the arcturan ambassador in the ep of dr who where the ice warriors weren't bad

he wz v.small and angry and haughty and moved around in a sort of mobile pod which poured water on him the whole time

in book fiction i always liked the wee guys in hal clement's MISSION OF GRAVITY

(and obv the puppeteers in larry niven and the wreaves in frank herbert)

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 21 February 2003 01:24 (twenty-three years ago)

C'mon man, how are our future space warriors going to be prepared for battle in space if they keep seeing explosions in sci-fi movies?

No bad Columbia jokes, thanks.

― hstencil, Friday, 21 February 2003 01:28 (twenty-three years ago)

hstencil the issue shd be preparation for making love in space not making war in space (it's not all anal probes you know) (well it can be if you want)

also ppl, mention film aliens which are not merely some pick'n'mix of earth species, like bears w.lobster claws or some such

it's so lame — yes yes satirical but still lame — that the daleks, which get top marXoRz for being non-humanoid, turn out to have evolved from aliens who are so totally fkn humanoid

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 21 February 2003 01:36 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/spaceship/spaceship7.jpg

"i want to eat your face
i want to eat your smile"

He is a mix of um something and sinatra!

― bnw (bnw), Friday, 21 February 2003 02:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Let's hear it for the Star Trek salt vampire and the heroin addicted eyball thingies in Liquid Sky!

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 21 February 2003 09:06 (twenty-three years ago)

> "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (both versions).

there are three versions of invasion of the body snatchers.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0049366 (original)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0077745 (donald sutherland version)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0106452 (ok, it's just 'Body Snatchers')

the third one is Abel Ferrara's version, 1993, set in an air force base and starring meg tilly and gabrielle anwar. it ups the gore quite considerably on the previous two (both of which are probably better films)

ooh, ooh, the silicon based lifeform in the original star trek, the one that created those tunnels and laid those spherical eggs and which bones later healed using cement. the horta. episode 26.
http://www.startrek.com/library/tos_episodes/episodes_tos_detail_68712.asp
(no, not strictly a movie)

obligatory Dark Star answer.

andy

― koogs (koogs), Friday, 21 February 2003 09:54 (twenty-three years ago)

the thing, yo.

― g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 21 February 2003 10:02 (twenty-three years ago)

The Thing, because you never get to see IT.

And It from Stephen King's IT, for the same reason.

Jan

― Jan Geerinck (jahsonic), Friday, 21 February 2003 10:48 (twenty-three years ago)

most imaginative: chocky! a green laser effect that wobbled when s/he spoke. smashing.

alpha centauri in jon pertwee who was v funny (i think that's what mark esss is on about) with a grebt high-pitched voice.

― Alan (Alan), Friday, 21 February 2003 10:54 (twenty-three years ago)

no alpha centauri wz in the same ep, but was sorta kinda humanoid

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 21 February 2003 11:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Quite right...

Alpha centauri on right
http://www.shillpages.com/dw/story/st--3m09.jpg

Arcturan ambassador on right
http://www.shillpages.com/dw/story/st--3m23.jpg

― Alan (Alan), Friday, 21 February 2003 11:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Tin Man (Michael Jackson)
The Alien in... Aliens. We were both stuck to our seats last night. Even though we had seen it before, we were still insanely SCARED.

― nathalie (nathalie), Friday, 21 February 2003 11:38 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.trekonline.de/bilder/tribbles.jpg

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Friday, 21 February 2003 11:44 (twenty-three years ago)

facehuggers are just EEEEEEEK!!!
the stuff of nightmares. spidery, smothering *and* death by chest bashing. grim.

― g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 21 February 2003 11:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Re: the silicon based life form in Star Trek- this is the only episode of Star Trek my sister has ever seen. Consqeuently she thinks Kirk and co. combat giant pizza every week.

― Richard Jones (scarne), Friday, 21 February 2003 11:51 (twenty-three years ago)

RETURN OF TRIBBLE-CAT!http://www.mycathatesyou.com/images/amir_102002.jpg

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 21 February 2003 12:48 (twenty-three years ago)

eh, the Daleks?

― DV (dirtyvicar), Friday, 21 February 2003 13:08 (twenty-three years ago)

daleks discussed (and crossly dismissed) up-thread, dv

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 21 February 2003 13:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Rutans! Jellyfish-esque see thru electric enemies of the Sonatarans.

The Wheelies of "Chorlton and the" fame.

― Pete (Pete), Friday, 21 February 2003 13:25 (twenty-three years ago)

In theory, computer effects make non-humanoid aliens easy, so we should be seeing a lot more of them, but obviously not. It is not necessarily due to lack of imagination - one of the advantages of a humanoid alien is that it can have facial expressions and body gestures that humans can relate to, and therefore function as a character. A way-out alien can usually only function as a monster-type, or as exotic background.

― fletrejet, Friday, 21 February 2003 13:32 (twenty-three years ago)

that 1998 Invasion:earth mini-series has men-in-suits but it also had those enormous CGI black mass-of-goo-and-tentacles things the size of a town which were meant to be 3D cross-sections of a higher-dimensional beastie. they were pretty good.

― Alan (Alan), Friday, 21 February 2003 13:48 (twenty-three years ago)

higher-dimension is always good

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 21 February 2003 13:50 (twenty-three years ago)

the blob!

― g.cannon (gcannon), Friday, 21 February 2003 14:02 (twenty-three years ago)

The uncle of one of my best friends always claimed that he created the daleks and had the credit pinched by Terry Nation. He wasn't a random mentalist wandering the streets shouting this*, I should add, but a regular and major Dr Who scripter at the time. His nephew said there was some supporting evidence in scripts and so on, but I don't know.

* cf Chester Lampwick on the Simpsons

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 21 February 2003 20:13 (twenty-three years ago)

eleven months pass...

yes, well, I've heard Terry Nation describe how he had the inpsiration for how the Daleks moved ("I'd seen the Georgian State Dancers, and how they didn't appear to dance across the stage. They'd just glide. That was the effect I wanted to get") but I don't recall him saying anything else abt how the idea came to him, so maybe the appearance of the Dalek's was the work of your mate's uncle and Nation only came up with the idea of how the Daleks should move. It does seem odd that, if Nation *had* come up with the idea of appearance of the Daleks that he should not say something abt that too.

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 13:28 (twenty-two years ago)

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