Alien Trilogy: Top shots From Each Film

All three films from the original Alien Trilogy are works of the great, exceptionally talented directors who aren't only great with their stories, but stunning with their visuals as well. There should be a Alien Trilogy Frames book, like it was for the two Star Wars Trilogies, showcasing best screencaptures from each film. All three films are full of stunning shots and I wanted to showcase my top 5. But it was so hard to narrow it down to just 5 that eventually I settled on one more. So lets take a look in chronological order and Ill explain each one of my choices

Ridley Scott's 1979 Alien has very deep, very dark dominating blacks. In a lot of it, its the blackest dark that's dominating the screen, with  splotches of images on it. Its as if an image drawn on a black paper. Lots of it is also backlit and bathed in dark blue. 

Remember that I had to narrow it down to 5, which was hard enough as it was. So just because I'm not listing certain shot that doesn't mean I don't recognize the beauty of them 

1. The shot of the derelict from up close could as well be a scifi painting. Its shrouded in mist and dark blue hue. The way its lit, colored, and presented in this contrasty, misty environment makes this one one of the winners for me

2. With some of the shots I won't be very original, and naturally a shot of the derelict pilot, also called the Space Jockey, makes my selection as well. The imagery, the evenly displayed haze, the colors, the shadows, the tone. Not to mention the imagery itself, of the bones of this impossible, fused creature that grew out of the chair. H. R. Giger's design, whose style is one of a kind, and it's masterful presentation make that shot as special as it is

3. Now this one may not be as obvious choice for some as the other ones were, but I had always loved that shot. The composition of the frame, the strong light beaming out of the opening, the backlit characters that emerged from it. All those elements make this shot a winner for me

4. A shot of machinery, but one of my favorite shots from the film. I really like the way the light is used in this shot, how the foreground machinery becomes a silhouette

5. Also from the same sequence, is a shot of the alien regaining its footing after its landing. Beautifully lit and colored, pure perfection

 

6. Might be my favorite shot from the film. Every time I view the Director's Cut and this shot comes up I whisper something in amazement. Hard to believe Ridley didn't like the scene

James Cameron's 1986 Aliens has a very dream-like imagery, and is one of my favorite looking movies ever. I love its look and visual style. Aliens is full of hazy, strongly backlit, blue imagery, and very much  about the interplay of harsh light and shadows. The Expressionist imagery is an intentional continuation of the first film’s style

James Cameron: I wanted to create a seamless blend coming from the end of the first film into the beginning of the second film. And I certainly wanted to honor all the things that were good about the first film, so I went to school on Ridley's style of photography, which was actually quite a bit different from mine because he uses a lot of long lenses much more so than I was used to working with, but you know, the smoke, the backlight , the textures, the way he forces the frame by putting a lot of equipment and machinery and foreground pieces and so on , I really studied all that because I wanted it to be a stylistic continuity. Now, I also wanted to have my own style, you know, grafted onto that so that I felt enough of a sense of authorship to make it worth doing (Aliens Audio Commentary)

James Cameron: A lot of the mood and style and so on was basically carried on [from Ridley's film] I would say, even though we were telling a different kind of story (fandom int, 2016)

James Cameron: “I think it has stylistic elements of the first film” (Quentin Melson 1986 TV interview)

1. The first shot of the film is always a 'wow' moment for me, specially when viewed on the large screen. The composition of the shot and that beautiful nebula, about which James Cameron was very specific, create an amazing first shot

2. The beginning itself was full of great shots and imagery, and it was hard to decide between a few shots but eventually I picked this one as well. So this one is a quintessential Aliens shot, with harsh backlight, haze and steely, neon blue tone. There's just something about that shot I really love, like the similar shot in Alien that I also listed in my favorites

3. A great dissolve of Ripley's face into a globe of Earth. The transitioning shot is just a beautiful image

4. This wide shot of the APC driving up the Atmosphere Processor ramp is often overlooked and rarely talked about, but its grand and looks like a vintage sci fi painting. Fantastic matte painting

5. This one is definitely one of my top favorites from the trilogy. The backlight, the red warning light, the way the shadows fall and extend on the walls from the nightmarish shape.

A have to cheat here a little and mention another fantastic shot of an alien. This for me is a quintessential Aliens shot, perfectly summarizing its dream-like backlit style. Its just a terrific , stunning shot. Aliens: Book Two Issue #2 cover is loosely based on it. This is also one of my top shots from the trilogy. This may be my favorite shot from the trilogy period as far as the imagery goes

6. An iconic shot that has always taken my breath away while watching the film. I remember my jaw dropping when I saw it for the first time as an adult. The panning up, slow reveal shows the grotesque, gigantic alien queen backlit in the shape of a black widow spider (shown below a composite of the panned shot courtesy of Metalien from AVPGalaxy)

David Fincher's 1992 Alien 3 is using a lot of browns and orange colors. Its looks mostly like a candle lit church, which gives it that spooky and somewhat centuries old look of old, candlelit, brick built European structure. In places, its lit with a very clinical, soft light.

1. Dark, gritty imagery, with great foreground composition. Big fan of that shot

2. This shot is a very obvious one often referenced in Alien 3 related articles. This one image tells a lot about the environment and helps set up the tone

3. This one is also an often shown shot from the film. Its a somber, gut wrenching shot overlaying grieving eyes over the funeral proceedings

4. Here Spike is giving birth to the monstrosity that is the alien Runner. The whole sequence is both grotesque and terrifying, and very well lit. Very good work with the shadows, and the composition

5. Terrific although horrific shot at the same time, of prisoner Murphy's remnants all over the tunnel, in a typical David Fincher style. The lighting and the framing of the fan is terrific in this shot

6. One of my two favorite shots of the alien runner in the movie, beautifully bathed in contrasting shadow, lit with rusty brown