About as subtle as naming the ship the Maginot.
Spoilers Alien: Earth Spoiler Thread
- Thread starter Morrus
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Swanosaurus
Adventurer
That's a reference I couldn't figure out ... who or what was Maginot? I can onl find a French politician from the first half of the 20th century ...
Ruin Explorer
Legend
That's right! Churl vs churl action!
I did check and apparently Ripley being in 3 and 4 was indeed entirely due to The Studio insisting (virtually every proposed script for Alien 3 wanted to be separate to Aliens - though often more Aliens-like than Alien-like), and I feel like Fincher and Jeunet's films represent very different reactions to being told from above by a non-creative "You will include Ripley!".
Conceptually, sure. But that's the problem. Concept and execution are different things.
If they'd brought back Hicks and Newt and had the balls to kill them off early in the movie on-screen, still leading to the same essential theme/ending, I think whilst people still wouldn't like it, Alien 3 would be a lot more respected broadly. But killing them off, offscreen, by doing a "Poochie" to them (before Poochie even!), felt to a lot of audiences just malicious and cheap, especially with the very sour, gothic and nihilistic tone of the movie overall.
Actual footage from Alien 3:
Ruin Explorer
Legend
The Maginot line was a massive line of forts and defenses that were built to protect France from invasion by Germany after WW1, but Germany just went via Belgium, which the line didn't cover.
Thus presumably it is a reference to all your careful defences be completely worthless when you get attacked in a way you were prepared for.
It’s a reference to the Maginot Line, a series of military fortifications the French built along their border prior to WWII to prevent Germany from invading. Spolier: didn’t work.
I understand the reference, but I don’t get the relevance to the ship in Alien: Earth. Everybody keeps saying ‘it’s a bit on the nose’ and I feel a bit dumb because I’m simply not seeing the metaphor. I don’t see how the spaceship is in any way analogous to a line of defense.
Swanosaurus
Adventurer
Thanks! I didn't make that connection, I somehow thought there must also be a Maginot in Peter Pan or something ...
Ruin Explorer
Legend
Wait wait I got another:
Sorry I'll stop now!
Sorry I'll stop now!
Ruin Explorer
Legend
I think the idea is that the name is foreshadowing - i.e. all the defences they have against these aliens will fail, not that the ship itself is literally the Maginot line. The "on the nose" name would be to call it The Pandora (or any of a million names for hell).
However, given how incredibly on-the-nose names like Boy Kavalier are, I can see where you're coming from. It doesn't quite fit with the broader on-the-nose-ness.
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