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Thing is even if the earlier stories of Strontium Dog should be considered part of the legend of Johnny Alpha built up later, that doesn't mean some of the stuff didn't happen, (from the point of view of the new stories I mean.) since the legends are based on something.

Perhaps some of the stuff relating to Durham Red in that period fits in that category... subject to interpretation where the post Johny Alpha events surround her are concerned of course.

To be fair I haven't read much Strontium Dog (basically the small pieces on this site and the new stuff we're reading now),and no Durham Red at all so this is all speculation on my part.

Then of course we also have the cross-over stories with Stronty and Dredd. I haven't read those either but I assume they're set in the original Alpha stories too right?  Again there are contradictions in the time line (i.e. the  Mega Cities, 2 atomic wars, 2 sets of  mutants etc) although I imagine that could be explained via parallel universes etc.

That's a big change to your first comment Peter. There you said it was "ok but not great" now it's the worst piece of celluloid cack you've ever seen.

Not getting at you understand, just curious about the massive swing into the negative spectrum.

Heh, interesting coincidence, as I've been writing this an ad for AVP Requiem popped up on screen!

Oh and i've said it before but I'm not convinced the predalien would have dreadlocks either as they're not really an advantageous attribute to take from the host. It does look kind of good though... but I would have stuck to the bulked up body and mandibles (although even those are questionable but they are iconic and scary.)

Also, and this might be my Geek-o-meter failing me, but I was under the impression that the Predator's dreads were actually part of his outfit(oxygen lines or something), hence him detaching some of them to take his mask off in Predator. That's like your kid being born with the same hat you were wearing when you conceived them.

Actually no, the dreadlocks are part of the Predator's body. The cables that are attached are seperate. It's an easy enough mistake to make though as the Predator's dreadlocks have a cable-like quality to them.

I've still yet to see this, but even from the clips I've seen I can see the problems with darkness, seeing creatures appart, etc.  

I can sort of understand why they did it, - it's going back to the earlier alien films where lesser is better. In many ways I agree with that, especially for those earlier films where if you saw to much of the alien it looked suspiciously like a guy in a suit (which it was). Check out the scene in Alien when Ripley blasts it out the airlock as way of example. Not the views from the front, they look cool even now, but when you see it from behind in outer space. It looks like one of those guys in rubber suits you see in Japanese Godzilla films.

Even nowdays with better effects, the lesser is better technique can work, but it has to be applied the right way, and not all the time. If it hides what's happening what's the point? In those earlier films, you still saw enough of the creature when it counted to know what was happening, and since it was aliens vs humans you could tell pretty clearly who was doing what to whom.

In this film you've got a monster mash where you WANT to see two creatures clearly duking it out.  Also I think they made the mistake of making the predalien (a good idea in itself) look too much like the predator in shape.  If you look at it's silhouette, particularly the shape of it's head, it could easily be mistaken for a predator in dim light.

One thing I noted in Alien 3 though (ok going slightly off subject but never mind, still AvP related) was shortly after Bishop 2 was hit from behind he shouts "I'm human.... I am!". The tone in which he said it, and th 'I am!" almost seemed as if he were having doubts and were pursuading himself. This made me wonder if he had been programmed to think himself human Blade Runner, or BSG style.

That being said, it's probably just my imagination running away with me in hindsight of AvP. It's just as likely his pleading tone was more for Ripley's benefit "You can trust me I'm human..."

Anyway I'm pretty sure that it was the intentions fo the creators that he was human, even without the commentary. Again, he could just be a descendant, but that seems even more of a stretch somehow. What with the finger thing reference in AvP and the fact his descendants retain the Bishop name over a hundred years (or whatever it is) later. I understand it was Henricksen's belief that Bishop 2 was another android although that doesn't make him right.

Anyway, even despite the view of creators etc, it's still up in the air unless it's actually stated in the film.

I spelt the name wrong in many places I believe. I think it's actually 'Wayland' but never mind.

Yeah- there was lot that didn't make sense in the plot- but it was fun despite that!
You're right about Lance though- I thought there was going to be well cool connection with the other movies with him there, but nothing came of it.

There is a link in that his Surname is Weyland and his company Weyland Industries, would later form part of Weyland-Yutani, the corporation who wish to exploit the Alien in the first 3 films. I think the idea is that the Bishop Android was modelled on him too, (or a descendant.) although Alien 3 confused things a bit by having a red blooded Bishop turn up claiming to be the 'real Bishop'.

One theory is that he is just another Android but with red blood to pose as human. Another possibility is that he is a human descendant of Weyland from AvP.

I suppose the lady must have survived the extreme chill of Antartica (despite wearing little more than a thin top) to inform Weyland Industries of the events.... hence Weyland- Yutani's interest in the Alien, and the link with the Bishop Android (who ironically turned out to be a good guy. ;) )

If by a cool link you're referring to the fact that more wasn't done with the Wayland character, I agree with you there. He was arguably one of the best characters in that film and it's a shame he didn't last longer.

The introduction of the other species the -Space Jockey. Who I think contributed their
giant DNA to this particular variety of Xenomorph from the original trilogy.


That's part of what I'd like to see too. You're right, it could work if the script is well written and they include it in the AvP storyline but it would have to be very well written or it could come across too disjointed (not sure that's the correct word I'm thinking of) tying all those elements together. That being said if done well it could be an assett too. (War between the predators and space jockeys being a catlyst etc?)

As for the ship, whilst the origins could be dealt with in the AvP films, I think it would still need to be done in retrospect to tie in with the Alien continuity. Why? The space Jockey was pretty much fossilized suggesting it had ben there millenia. I.e. it crashed there before the 'present day' events of the AvP films took place. (I.e. it's there now!. Sort of.)

Partly for that reason it might be better if they just concentrated on the aliens again...

As for the AvP films, I don't think any of them really screw up the continuity as there's nothing to say in the Alien films that they never reached Earth. Considering the high death rate etc with an alien infestation the majority of people on earth would still be ignorant of the fact. That being said, it somehow doesn't feel entirely right considering the big build up in Alien: Resurrection "We must keep them away from Earth". Sure they'd say that anyway regardless of whether the Aliens had been to Earth or not... so that idea is based more on feelings than logic.

As for the Predator's using the Aliens in the ancient past, I never really took that to mean that they were the engineers of the Alien species, more folk who have taken advantage of something already existing.

I'm sure they did a bit of extra genetic engineering tailoring the aliens to their requirements (hence the speed up of the aliens incubation period and hatching- something people had a problem with in the AvP series, although it is easily explainable!). but I don't think they're the progenitors of the species.

Oh yeah, I mean to say, I kind of hope they don't do another AvP sequel, the main reason being, whilst they churn these out there's less chance of another Alien sequel.

Ok I know there have been plenty of those, but I'd like to see the film that deals with the origins of the Aliens and the planet etc. It was something Ridley Soott was interested in seeing (possibly doing), and apparently James Cameron had started (or was at least thinking of starting) on an alien script when he learnt of the production of the first AvP and stopped.

Whether Cameron's script that dealt with the Alien's origins etc I don't know... but either way they are the director who produced the best Aliens films in the series.

I want to see this. I've seen different reviews on the net, some that it's a step up from AvP others that it's worse.

I wasn't too keen on the first 10 minutes they showed on the web (I forget the site now.)
Spoilers for that bellow (I won't bother tagging it out as it's only for the first 10 minutes.)


I particularly disliked how easily and quickly one alien managed to defeat the predators, who are big powerful creatures int their own right. Also the story device with the quick response from the lone predator to the distress call... on a completely different planet. Ok, so it's alien tech but there are just so many other ways they could have brought the predators in, i.e. survivors from the ship for example...

Ok bigger spoiler bellow from reviews I've read...


I understand that with the predalien they also introduced something new to the alien lifecycle. I've seen that criticized, and I think rightfully so. However I've actually thought of a logical reason that might work. More on that when I and others have seen the film though.

As far as ship design is concerned, I liked it and I didn't think it looked much like the Enterprise D (possibly a bit like the more industrial Enterprise E, but only remotely.)

That being said I think they should have gone for the original submarine look idea and left the saucer shaped ships for the Federation time period.

I liked the more tactile look of the sets (too silver panels and buttons etc) but I don't think they should have called the ship Enterprise as everyone thinks of Kirk's ship as the first Enterprise. Yes I know they get around it as this is the Enterprise NX-01 (or something like that ),a pre-federation ship whilst Kirk's is the USS Enterpise NCC-1701 (crikey what a geek I am) but even so. Course that means they would need a different name for the show, but that's fine with me.

As for the ladies, they were lovely but the sexiness was overhanded. Putting T'Pol in colourful jumpsuits in season 3-4 (despite the beleivable explanantion, she's left the Vulcan Science wotsit and thus has given up the uniform) was rather silly. (Her new eyebrows made sense in keeping her in line with other Vulcans from other series though, but they should have given her those from the start.)

Yeah I've come across different explanations.

There was a comic explanation which stated that there were 2 races of Klingons, the ridged heads and the more humanlike ones. The smooth heads were the dominant race in the Original series time period, the others in the new series.  Trouble is, Kor Kang and Koloth, characters from the OS appeared in DS9 with ridges.

A novel surround Kirk before became captain claimed the original Klingons were humanlike, and the new ridged ones were the result of some kind of chemical experimentation. (I.e. like a kind of steroid I guess.)

Obviously the Enterprise one would likely be considered the canon although it is unusual too in it's own way. Just to add to previous poster, basically the klingons used DNA taken from human augments. (They were people who were created from embryos left behind during the Eugenics Wars.  I.e. they're like the genetic supermen of Kahn noonian Singh... but even stronger as Dr Soong added his own augmentation to their biology.)

In effect they created their own augments, but being an inpricise science they developed human foreheads too. Some of these people happened to be infected with a virus which in turn was mutated by the augment DNA making it more powerful. It ended up infecting  much of the empire worlds resulting in many of the other klingons developing the same way. (That's what I meant about confusing in the other post. I don't think augmentation would quite work that way...)
Oh yeah, the virus kills them too if it runs full course.

Anyway, Dr. Phlox was able to cure the virus, but he was unable to remove the part which alters the Klingons humanlike characteristics. The result is you now have Klingons who look human and also react in  a more human way (i.e. we're more prone to fear apparently) but without the augment super-strength.

Obviously at some point between the OS and films (possibly during the films considering the hybrid appearans of General Chang from The Undiscovered Country, wasn't he a great character?) they'd found a way to reassert their Klingon characteristics.

I thought the origins of the change in klingon head in Enterprise were interesting although rather confusing and overly complicated. They don't contradict Worf's comment in DS9 either, because those circumstances would be embarrassing.

Either way the new film wouldn't need to address them since it's been dealt with already. To keep with continuity though they should probably have the klingons look human, although it's possible there are others off-screen whose parents/grandparent escaped the virus.

I agree they could have just not mentioned it in DS9 and Enterprise though. After all before then, there was no reason to think the original klingons in Star Trek don't have ridged foreheads.  It just means using your imagination rather than taking what you see on screen literally.

Oh and Enterprise got pretty dark in season 4, particularly the episodes surrounding the augments. (One fight scene made me wince.)