Aliens or Terminator: Which franchise should have stopped after two?

[Kane52630]

Alien 3 assembly cut did nothing wrong so I might say Terminator, but then again I really liked Dark Fate even though it's not really close to T2.

 

[Mysteryman]

Alien 3 assembly cut did nothing wrong so I might say Terminator, but then again I really liked Dark Fate even though it's not really close to T2.

I enjoyed Dark Fate as well.

 

[Lily Adler]

People use that forum to discuss Terminator in general not just that movie. There’s a Neil Blomkopf Alien thread that gets resurrected every now and then.

And I will never stop showing my disdain for its cancelation.

 

[Asr]

As for Alien, that universe hasn't been explored nearly enough. We know very little about human society in the Alienverse.

Totally agree on this point especially. Earth could be a near-apocalyptic wasteland for all we know in the Alienverse. Heck, it might as well be post-apocalyptic with half (or more) of humanity wiped out, since the movies have established that there are space "cargo trucks" and galaxy-faring starships (I mean why else would things like these be built?). We know virtually nothing about Weyland-Yutani either - the only movies that have actually shown Weyland and Yutani were the AvP movies, but we don't know anything else about "the company" that's constantly mentioned in name in the movies. I mean heck, I'd be interesting in seeing the formation of Weyland-Yutani and the first spaceships that they send out and the first extraterrestrial lifeforms they collect, with the science & political intrigue that might come from company scientists and/or executives. That could've been a TV series right there - maybe it sounds like Star Trek a bit with that description, but would definitely be something I'd watch.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Terminator. The story was wrapped up.

With Alien, I think there was still an opportunity to tell new stories. Unfortunately, everyone they hired to do it (including Ridley Scott) came up with crap.

 

[Sithborg]

And I will never stop showing my disdain for its cancelation.

Ehh, I'm not entirely sold on Blomkamps memberries.

 

[Lily Adler]

Ehh, I'm not entirely sold on Blomkamps memberries.

I just wanted something else than what Scott ended up doing with Covenant.

 

[Drizzle]

Terminator. The story was wrapped up.

With Alien, I think there was still an opportunity to tell new stories. Unfortunately, everyone they hired to do it (including Ridley Scott) came up with crap.

My inner 6-year-old will forever be disappointed that outside of the Dog Xenomorph in 3, they still haven't given us any other animal/Xenomorph hybrids in the movies like in the Kenner toy line from the early '90s. That alone could have been worthy of a sequel. Some crazy Noah's Ark sort of expedition in space that has a ton of animals on board is infested with Xenomorphs. All hell breaks loose.

 

[C Prometheus]

While I personally like both Terminator: Dark Fate and the Assembly Cut of Alien 3, their controversial decisions about beloved fan-favorites aside, I do think that more damage has been done overall to the Terminator franchise with its followups past T2.

Like everyone else has said, there's good elements to be found here and there in the Alien films past Aliens- it's just the general execution of said-films that are lacking. There's absolutely potential still left in that franchise. Hell, I spent a good chunk of last year listening to a number of Alien audio books on my way back home after work and enjoyed them all.

Heck, if we're willing to move out past the realm of just films, I'd argue Alien: Isolation is easily the best story in either franchise past their respective heydays.

 

[Closerframe]

Terminator should have ended after T2. Alien still has potential and I’m curious what Noah Hawley does with the series.

 

[MOVIELORD101]

Alien, HANDS DOWN. Unless somebody makes the "retconning Alien 3" idea Neil Blomkopf wanted to do, this series got wrecked HARD (though Alien Resurrection is a guilty pleasure of mine). Terminator still has potential with the right people (Salvation had the right idea IMO, and that movie has a decent cult following), but Alien right now is in Ridley Scott's warped clutches and he has no idea how to handle the series. Alien Covenant was just absolute garbage. Scott wants to focus more on AI stuff in a series about freaking aliens! Why doesn't he just let someone else handle Alien if he just wanna do stuff with robots and AI?

 

[Punisher_MAX]

T3 should have been a new story with a new cast of characters. Maybe showing the fall of civilization and the early war. Or the machines going further into the past to enslave humans earlier could have been fun and increased the horror element. Or a film set 100 years after machines took over, and the machines have colonized other planets in the solar system and are using humans as slaves and workers. Could have introduced humans that were loyal to the machines and replacing their body parts with cybernetics. Make a trilogy culminating in a solar system war. Humans win, but the machines flee the solar system leaving the threat of their return in case Fox wanted to make more films at some point in the future.

Why does this sound like a variation of Mass Effect and the Reaper War?

 

[Zantera]

For me it has to be Terminator. I actually like Alien 3 (really like it if we talk Assembly Cut) and while it's not great - I do think Resurrection is a dumb fun viewing experience. Heck even Prometheus and Covenant has some cool visuals even though both are flawed. Terminator on the other hand, 3 is fairly mediocre, 4 is interesting because its different but still pretty boring, 5 and 6 just feel like no new ideas and a band way past their prime trying to stay relevant.

 

[MadVillainy]

Ehh, I'm not entirely sold on Blomkamps memberries.

Yeah I don't get why people want Blomkamp's version.

I guess YMMV, but he hasn't made a good movie since 2009. Even the horror film he made in quarantine got wrecked. I think he's a one hit wonder until proven otherwise

 

[MOVIELORD101]

Yeah I don't get why people want Blomkamp's version.

I guess YMMV, but he hasn't made a good movie since 2009. Even the horror film he made in quarantine got wrecked. I think he's a one hit wonder until proven otherwise

Because of how dirty Alien 3 did to Newt, Bishop, Hicks and Ripley. That's why. And I'm sorry, but Alien 3 is just terrible, with Covenant being worse only because they retconned the entire name of the series for no reason!

 

[MadVillainy]

Because of how dirty Alien 3 did to Newt, Bishop, Hicks and Ridley. That's why. And I'm sorry, but Alien 3 is just terrible, with Covenant being worse only because they retconned the entire name of the series for no reason!

Ok... I didn't say "I don't know why people want Alien 3 or 4" at all. I said "I don't know why people want Blomkamp's version" of Alien 3 or 4 or whatever you wanna call it

And I said that because, imo, Blomkamp hasn't done a good movie in a while. If you're gonna do it, get a better filmmaker

 

[Captain Tired]

Never gave much of a **** about Hicks and Newt snuffing it tbh. Alien 3 may have its flaws, but conceptually I still think it beats the idea of Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop travelling the stars as a makeshift family unit and fighting Xenos everywhere they go. That would just be corny imo.

 

[Coffee]

T3 dropped the ball for me with the story. The first film established a solid story...T2 progressed it, but also flipped it on its ear...T-100 is now the protector, Sarah is no longer the target, but John is. We see Connor's turn from reluctant participant to full blown warrior.

The problem with T3, for me....(apart from the ending) is that it didn't bring anything different to the table. Once again John is on the run, with T-100 as the protector, almost a rehash.

I also thought they could've done something with Miles Dyson's son & made him a bigger player...whether hero or villain or somewhere in between. I liked the brief concept of going after others in the resistance, but they didn't expand on that. Ultimately, I wanted something different & new.

I liked the ending that pushed the plot line into the war, but the other elements (killing Sarah off screen, the recasting of John, random action destruction fro the sake of random destruction, etc.) were a huge mistake.

 

[MadVillainy]

I didn't have a problem with T3 being a rehash. It just wasn't that interesting.
Now if they did another "Terminator travels through time to protect _____" after that, that would've been bad.

 

[henzINNIT]

Never gave much of a **** about Hicks and Newt snuffing it tbh. Alien 3 may have its flaws, but conceptually I still think it beats the idea of Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop travelling the stars as a makeshift family unit and fighting Xenos everywhere they go. That would just be corny imo.

Ha. Agreed. The characters served their purpose. But this was a horror series and nobody is precious.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Never gave much of a **** about Hicks and Newt snuffing it tbh. Alien 3 may have its flaws, but conceptually I still think it beats the idea of Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop travelling the stars as a makeshift family unit and fighting Xenos everywhere they go. That would just be corny imo.

If you read the Alien novels, the Earth War with the Xenos was actually pretty awesome and it had Ripley and Hicks at the heart of it. A true action/horror sequel to Aliens that mixed in religious fanaticism and the utter destruction of human civilization a la Doom 2 would've been *chef's kiss*

But yes I HATE Alien 3 and tolerate Resurrection.

Anything after T3 also sucks and only cause the end of T3 was amazing. Dark Fate was, at best, ok.

 

[Sithborg]

If you read the Alien novels, the Earth War with the Xenos was actually pretty awesome and it had Ripley and Hicks at the heart of it. A true action/horror sequel to Aliens that mixed in religious fanaticism and the utter destruction of human civilization a la Doom 2 would've been *chef's kiss*

But yes I HATE Alien 3 and tolerate Resurrection.

Anything after T3 also sucks and only cause the end of T3 was amazing. Dark Fate was, at best, ok.

[glares in Sarah Connor Chronicles]

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Even as a 13 year old kid at the movies, I was never okay with the ending for T3. I haven’t watched it in years, but I just really hate the idea of Judgment Day being inevitable.

Why put the audience and your characters through all those films and sacrifices just to unleash the one thing they’ve been fighting to keep from happening?

Damn you greedy film execs.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

Terminator. No question. × Million!

Alien can still be salvaged.

 

[henzINNIT]

Even as a 13 year old kid at the movies, I was never okay with the ending for T3. I haven’t watched it in years, but I just really hate the idea of Judgment Day being inevitable.

Why put the audience and your characters through all those films and sacrifices just to unleash the one thing they’ve been fighting to keep from happening?

Damn you greedy film execs.

The series started as a causality loop. It was the second film that first deviated and changed the stakes. That's why I never minded 3 flipping back the other way.