Signs

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Re: *******spoilers**********

And a third possibility that nobody seems to have caught on - they aren't "space aliens".

Think for a sec - the movie is actually about faith, and a man's relationship with God. So, are the likely antagonists here space aliens.... or demons?

You and Ranger Wicket made the suggestion in another topic, and I dismissed it then as well.

Is it possible? Sure, but I don't like it for a few reasons:

1) It has no similarity to revelations- so the suggestion has no merit from that direction.

2) Why are the demons snatching children? The one child being shown snatched is not exactly a "sinner" in an obvious way.

3) You suggest by Occam that aliens = demons that everything starts making sense. I think it just throws more mud into the puddle- there is nothing that points in that direction.

FD

 

[Umbran]

Re: Re: Re: *******spoilers**********

You and Ranger Wicket made the suggestion in another topic, and I dismissed it then as well.

Is it possible? Sure, but I don't like it for a few reasons:

1) It has no similarity to revelations- so the suggestion has no merit from that direction.

2) Why are the demons snatching children? The one child being shown snatched is not exactly a "sinner" in an obvious way.

3) You suggest by Occam that aliens = demons that everything starts making sense. I think it just throws more mud into the puddle- there is nothing that points in that direction.

Spoilers included below.....

1)Why this hangup that Revelations should be important?The "aliens" didn't appear only in Christian countries - they appeared worldwide. The majority of the world population is not christian, and so Revelations means nothing to them. And, the other areas mentioned in the movies (The Mid East and India), definately do have traditions that include "demons" of one sort or another.

2)The one we see being snatched isn't even snatched. The alien grabs the boy and then stands there and waits...

3) Um, what, exactly, points in the direction that they are actually from space? Does an alien ambassador ever say so? The only reason to say they are from space is that their appeance corresponds to that in a modern mythology that says that aliens that look like that, and are accompanied by lights in the sky, are from space. That's hardly evidence.

 

[CaptainCalico]

[SPOILERS] missing the point

This movie was drama-suspense, not sci-fi. The aliens could have been an asteroid or a tidal wave or invading hordes of Huns. Thier role was to be the oncomong danger that precipitates all these shallowly buried issues within and between the characters. They served that role quite well even if they were not thought out in loving detail.

I enjoyed it for the sheer craftsmanship of the director and actors. (Where did they find that little girl??!! She was creeping me out the most somehow.)

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Re: Re: Re: *******spoilers**********

***Don't cry over spoiled movie milk!

Why this hangup that Revelations should be important?The "aliens" didn't appear only in Christian countries - they appeared worldwide. The majority of the world population is not christian, and so Revelations means nothing to them. And, the other areas mentioned in the movies (The Mid East and India), definately do have traditions that include "demons" of one sort or another.

Granted- I am not familiar enough with other religions to know if they have a great moment of "calling" to heaven, hell, or whatever.

The rapture is the only one I know of- and that is the framework I compared such a theory with.

2)The one we see being snatched isn't even snatched. The alien grabs the boy and then stands there and waits...

And then sprays "poison" up his nose?

Um, what, exactly, points in the direction that they are actually from space? Does an alien ambassador ever say so? The only reason to say they are from space is that their appeance corresponds to that in a modern mythology that says that aliens that look like that, and are accompanied by lights in the sky, are from space. That's hardly evidence.

Ok, I see what you are saying, but I hope you see that there is no nod that they were demons or anything- while all the speculation of the characters points towards aliens.

FD

 

[Umbran]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: *******spoilers**********

Ok, I see what you are saying, but I hope you see that there is no nod that they were demons or anything- while all the speculation of the characters points towards aliens.

Oh, like the characters were somehow experts on aliens?

There's no "nod" to my postulation, true. But the director *does* like the "nothing is quite what it appears" approach.

In the end, it really doesn't matter what they are. I only put this idea forward as a way to eliminate some seemingly gross logical problems. If you know Marvel Comics, I'm sort of aiming at a "No-Prize"

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: *******spoilers**********

If you know Marvel Comics, I'm sort of aiming at a "No-Prize"

Well, I will send you an honorary empty electronic envelope.

FD

 

[Droogie]

spoilers........



The way I see it, DocM, the aliens were probing the earth, as mentioned by the army recruiter. Maybe they had our planet pegged for a possible invasion, and after their unsuccessful preliminary raid, decided to move on due to the toxic environment. Near the end, the guy on the radio mentions that humans were possibly the direct targets, but really anything that the characters mention about the aliens is conjecture. I don't remember him saying anything about food.

The low-tech nature of the visitors themselves didn't really bother me. If you have amazing agility, skin like a chameleon and natural poison (or were they implants?), I would imagine gadgets would be less important to you. As Furn mentioned, their tech may be completely different from our own. I agree that it was a bit absurd that these aliens, who seem to have a strength at least comparable to our own, couldn't get through a barricaded door. The real question I guess would be how bad do I want to get through that door? I might be able to reach into the burrow of a wild badger easy enough...doesn't mean I'm going to do it, especially if shes protecting her young. I might be more inclined to go after something easier.

In the end it was faith that was the real focus here. The news reports were spartan, telling you that earth is being invaded by martians in five words or less. There were no scenes of panic in the streets. Even in the final showdown, there was more screen time on Mel and his dying son - his brothers fight with the creature in the livingroom was almost an afterthought, seen briefly through the window, or reflected in the TV. Not to mention that the struggle was over in seconds. The aliens were a means to an end.