[WGH]

Memory: The Origins of Alien, a documentary about Ridley Scott's 1979 horror film "Alien", was released in 2019 and is now available for streaming.

The documentary starts with the ideas of Dan O'Bannon (screenplay and story) and Ronald Shusett (story). The addition of H.R. Giger artwork was at first controversial and it took director Ridley Scott to finally pull it all together.



Plenty of archival footage of Scott directing the chest burst scene and the actors reaction during filming.



92% Audience Score on RT
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/memory_the_origins_of_alien

 


 

[genjamon]

As always, YMMV and "do your research" - there's more to this story than meets the eye...

https://www.facebook.com/justsockthoughts/posts/3922680047767723

[WGH]

H.R. Giger was fascinated by the Ghost Train idea after talking with Ridley Scott about a movie first named Dead Reckoning and renamed The Train; it was never made.

The Ghost Train in genjamon's post appeared in a dream sequence as it chased a young Sil in the 1995 movie "Species". Giger was hired to design the female human-alien hybrid in "Species" and was finally able to get his train on screen.
https://youtu.be/9FyqTQ9ywnc




The same inspiration can appear in many unconnected places. Scott's "Dead Reckoning" was about a genetically-altered beast run amok on an underground train¹
The same idea appeared in the critically acclaimed 2016 South Korean film "Train to Busan" with zombies instead of a beast. Check it out, it's real good edge-of-your-seat fun.

¹https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-train-the-ridley-scott-hr-giger-movie-that-never-was/

[genjamon]

I see you don't embrace the more "esoteric" theories postulated in my post, Wayne.  Too bad.  The Truth is out there, my friend 

[WGH]

I didn't want to start a panic. Giger's fearsome train was real, luckily the doomsday train was stopped in time averting a apocalypse.

Rare film footage of Giger working a ghost train prototype was smuggled out of Switzerland by Roger Donaldson, director of "Species".

The ghost train appears at 3:30 into the video
https://youtu.be/Mw7mP7jP3NQ 

[Yog Sothoth]

I'm not sure if one can mention the history of Alien without also mentioning John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon's earlier film Dark Star (in which Dan O'Bannon also plays the role of Sgt. Pinback).  I haven't yet seen the documentary, but hopefully it does.

[WGH]

I'm not sure if one can mention the history of Alien without also mentioning John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon's earlier film Dark Star...

Yes, Dark Star is featured along with a few film clips of the Beach Ball alien. I haven't seen the film yet, from the clips it looks like a few levels below a Roger Corman film. Dark Star was the John Carpenter's directorial debut.



Both Memories: The Origins of Alien and Dark Star are available and free on Tubi, no subscription or signup required

Memories: The Origins of Alien
https://tubitv.com/movies/631963/memory-the-origins-of-alien?start=true

Dark Star
https://tubitv.com/movies/593449/dark-star?start=true

[Yog Sothoth]

Oh great!  I'm excited to watch the documentary.

Yes Dark Star is very low budget, and can be tedious at times.  But it does contain a fair amount of pathos.  Pinback's video diary is really effective and you really start to feel sympathy for these astronauts who have been away far far too long, only to be faced with one of their own planet destroying intelligent bombs that has no intention of listening to their pleas not to detonate prematurely.  Despite it's amateurish production (as evidenced by the beachball alien you've pictured)., it's a good story.