Alien Nation (film)
Encyclopedia
Alien Nation is a 1988 American science fiction film
directed by Graham Baker
and produced by Gale Anne Hurd
, Richard Kobritz and Bill Borden. The storyline was based on a screenplay written by Rockne S. O'Bannon
. It stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin
, Terence Stamp
, and Kevyn Major Howard
. The film depicts the integration of aliens settling in Los Angeles, much to the dismay of the local population. Released in 1988, the motion picture takes place in 1991. The film's plot is a buddy cop theme, with some detours into science fiction.
The filmmakers also introduced some sociological ideas, such as the effects of illegal immigration
, discrimination
and racism
; as the aliens try to interact and fit in with human society. The aliens have enlarged spotty craniums, two hearts, can consume only raw food and are sensitive to seawater which acts like an acid on their skin. Over the course of the film, their slavery past is alluded as they are genetically modified for slave labor.
Alien Nation premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on October 7, 1988, grossing $25,216,243 in domestic ticket receipts. The film earned an additional $6,938,804 in business through international release to make a combined $32,155,047 gross revenue. The film was met with mixed reviews before its initial screening in cinemas, and was considered a moderate financial success after its theatrical run. The popularity of the film's concept spawned a television series in 1989, and five television movie sequels during the 1990s, in an attempt to continue the character development surrounding the fictional alien culture.
, have landed in the Mojave Desert. Los Angeles becomes their new home. Some newcomers take or are assigned names such as Harley Davidson and Humphrey Bogart. However, the aliens are a discriminated race. They are referred to as 'Slag' , and the area in ghettos which they reside is known as 'Slagtown' . Matthew Sykes (James Caan) is a Los Angeles police detective who loses his partner Bill Tuggle (Roger Aaron Brown
) in a shoot-out. The detectives were trying to stop two Newcomers from murdering another alien named Cecil Porter (Regis Parton), during what appeared to be a robbery at the mini-mart where he worked.
The next day, Sykes' superior Captain Warner (Francis X. McCarthy), announces that someone will have to work with a newly promoted Newcomer named Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin
). He also states that if no one volunteers, someone will be chosen. Although bigoted towards the Newcomers, Sykes volunteers to work with Francisco during an investigation into a similar homicide of Newcomer Warren Hubely. Sykes believes the crimes are related and that it will give him an opportunity to investigate his partner's death, which he is officially ordered not to take part in. Meanwhile, Warner assigns the robbery murder case to detectives Fedorchuk (Peter Jason
) and Alterez (Tony Perez
).
As the pair work the Hubely-homicide case, Sykes discovers similarities between their investigation and the Porter robbery. Sykes and Francisco do not initially bond (Sykes preferring to call him "George"), and it doesn't help that in the language of the Newcomers, sai'ksss (Sykes) means "shit head." Sykes requisitions a .454 Casull revolver to handle the prospect of dealing with the hardened Newcomer physiology. While at the crime lab, Francisco detects an abnormality on one of the Newcomer criminals killed in the robbery, and asks a Newcomer assistant to check for something in particular, but does not reveal what it is to Sykes. Following an interview with Newcomer Trent Porter (Brian Thompson
), the son of the Newcomer victim in the mini-mart robbery, Sykes and Francisco check out a nightclub called Encounters to investigate a link in the homicides. They want to talk to a Newcomer named Joshua Strader (Jeff Kober
). However, they end up interviewing his girlfriend Cassandra (Leslie Bevis
) instead, after he is murdered by a criminal ring led by Newcomer businessman William Harcourt (Terence Stamp) and his henchman Rudyard Kipling (Kevyn Major Howard). Cassandra attempts to seduce Sykes, who is at odds with the concept of a sexually-appealing Newcomer and retreats, much to Cassandra's amusement.
Sykes and Francisco retire to Syke's home, and the two find themselves getting intoxicated (Sykes on alcohol, Francisco on spoiled milk) and Sykes reveals how much he loves and misses his estranged daughter. Francisco confesses he finds humans strange but inspiring for their desires to aspire to high ideals even in the face of repeated failures to do so. Sykes suggests he not try to understand humans, noting their inability to understand each other.
The next morning, a henchman tries to plant a bomb in the detectives' car but he is interrupted by the hungover Francisco, who spent the night there. The bomber runs off and Francisco groggily takes the detached bomb into the house, handing it to the startled Sykes and explaining what he saw. The two of them return to the medical examiner's office, where Francisco gets the results of the test, not liking what he hears, but still trying to keeping the information to himself. Sykes, who is not happy with being kept in the dark, confronts Francisco in the elevator, demanding an explanation. Francisco reveals an unsettling secret--his species kept their slaves in line with a powerful drug they called Jabroka. It was given as a reward for those Newcomers who worked harder than others, and the drug made them work harder still; he confesses that for the slaves, it was their only avenue for pleasure, even as it killed them. The astounded Sykes asks why no one ever found out; Francisco explains that no one wanted to take the risk of not being accepted on Earth...or being exploited if humanity ever learned of the drug's existence. Sykes and Francisco resolve to look for the place where the drug is being developed, and discover a processing plant where many Newcomers worked (due to their ability to breathe methane) is the only place where it could be processed.
The two detectives head to the plant, and push their way into it despite the protests of the foreman on duty. Inside a supposedly methane-filled room, they discover the Jabroka drug lab. As Sykes watches the foreman, Francisco approaches the lab equipment with something like dawning horror, then destroys the equipment in an uncharacteristic display of unrestrained fury. He then confronts the foreman, lifting him off the ground and demanding to know where the completed product is located. Sykes wisely refrains from restraining Francisco, but does ask the foreman to come clean, saying he watched Francisco brutalize a fictional crook. They find out the drug has been taken to Encounters for a major drug deal. The Newcomers Hubley, Porter and Strader were involved in planning the operation, but were later murdered by Harcourt so he could keep the profits.
Ultimately, Sykes and Francisco track Harcourt to the Encounters club, where he is negotiating a release timetable for his potent narcotic. While Sykes is willing to call for backup, Francisco takes the car and goes after Harcourt himself, unwilling to make the existence of Jabroka known to the world. At the meeting, as Harcourt's buyers discover the potential of the drug, Francisco bursts in with the detached car bomb from earlier in one hand, and threatens to blow them up unless they hand over the drugs, demonstrating a willingness to destroy them all if the drug ever gets a chance to make his people slaves again. Kipling and Harcourt escape with the drugs after Cassandra reacts violently after she learns Harcourt had Shrader killed, and the two detectives pursue them in a car chase through downtown Los Angeles. They have a head-on collision, with Francisco being momentarily stunned and Kipling killed when the car explodes. Sykes chases Harcourt on foot, corners him on a desolate bridge. Harcourt then overdoses on a sample of the drug he was trying to distribute.
Sykes mistakenly believes Harcourt died from the overdose, but when he tells a cop about it, Francisco suddenly reacts to this news. As Harcourts' body is taken away in an ambulance, it mutates into a larger, muscular Newcomer with a violent streak. Francisco and Sykes go after the ambulance after Francisco reveals that an overdose does not kill a Newcomer, but changes the body chemistry, making them powerful and violent. They find the ambulance and two dead EMTs, and Sykes catches up with Harcourt again. After wounding him, he leads Harcourt onto the deck of a fishing trawler. The pair end up in a fight on the boat, and they both go into the water. Harcourt thrashes in the water as his body begins to disintegrate, but he drags Sykes down with him. Francisco commandeers a police helicopter, and rescues Sykes from the water by reaching down into it to pull him up even as the water eats away at his flesh. The two wounded cops look at each other as the pilot asks what the thing in the water was. Sykes responds by calling it just another ugly "slag," and Francisco then realizes Sykes will keep the secret.
With both murder cases solved, the authorities dismantle Harcourt's drug empire. The recovering detectives, now permanent partners, attend the wedding of Sykes' daughter, with whom he has mended relations and acts as her best man. Before he gives her away, he apologizes to Francisco for all the terrible things he knows he will say about him. Francisco accepts it good-naturedly, telling Sykes, "After all...you are only human." Sykes, in a voice-over, admits Francisco is a good partner, "except when he's got that sour-milk smell on his breath."
to producer Gale Ann Hurd in 1988. The agency representing the storyline asked the production staff to view it as quickly as possible due to it being submitted to other film studios as well. Both Hurd and her director of development Ellen Collett had the same initial response, seeing the script as a real page-turner. According to Hurd, what really interested her about the film's story was the whole approach to the immigrant setting and the extrapolation of that to a science fiction setting. The genre of science fiction in regards to representing aliens, tends to usually be in the form of one or two beings as shown on network series' like Star Trek. Typically, large numbers of stand-ins were not common in film since the Planet of the Apes
picture twenty years earlier. Working with co-producer Richard Kobritz, Hurd secured funding from Fox studios and began casting an experienced makeup team for the creation of the alien society. Later, Hurd contacted cinematographer Adam Greenberg
at his home in Israel to work on the production. Caught by surprise, Greenberg recalled, "I was vacationing on the Dead Sea in a kibbutz (it was 125 degrees) and I got a call from Gale. That was the last thing to expect there, ..." Though mostly an action picture, Alien Nation was somewhat of a throwback to other similar genre films such as Planet of the Apes and Silent Running
. The alien Newcomers are relegated to a second-class status. Like other minorities, they live in their own neighborhoods, frequent their own clubs and develop their own underground. Following the murder of a policeman, a human must partner up with an alien to solve the murder. Their uneasy alliance creates a social mistrust, dealing with issues such as prejudice and racism. By the end of the saga, the two completely different humanoids have combined their talents and overcome their social barriers to complete their task.
. Stan Winston was not directly involved in the pre-production, but left the task to his top artists–Alec Gillis, Shane Mahan
, John Rosengrant and Tom Woodruff. Producer Gale Anne Hurd commented on creating the foundation for the makeup setting saying, "The primary problem was how to sell an alien race that was humanoid without making it look like people in rubber suits—and how to make it affordable. We knew there was going to be a lot of makeup application time and removal time—that was a given." Artist Gillis recalled his involvement in the project saying, "We were involved in everything from designing and sculpting the aliens to supervising a crew of about thirty people. We sculpted the main characters, supervised the molding and production of their appliances and oversaw the sculpting of the secondary and background characters." During the design phase, the producers supported the subtlety of the makeup and trying to make the aliens look as human as possible. Hurd explained, "We wanted the aliens to be more like a different ethnic race than like lizard people, ..." She added, "We didn't want our audiences thinking, 'Gee, look how different these aliens are.' Rather, after about five minutes we wanted the audience to accept them as different from us, but not so different that no one is buying the storyline. We wanted the aliens to be characters–not creatures." A preliminary design sketch for the aliens as described by Mahan, was that "the males were going to have spines on top of their heads–kind of like a rooster's comb–and when they got angry, these spines would raise up. That would've required a mechanical headpiece, and Graham Baker thought it was a little too extreme so we went with smooth heads instead. Coming close to a final design for the headpiece makeup, Woodruff explained how the masks had "heavier brows and a heavier skin texture that looked more leathery, and there were more pronounced lumps on the backs of their heads. After we went into production on these masks, Graham Baker decided that he wanted the aliens to look even more subtle, so we streamlined the design once we started doing the principal characters." Mike Spatola was head of the painting crew for the mask design. Hairless by design, the coordinators felt the masks should have spotted marks where hair would be present on humans. Each alien headpiece had to be custom painted with a spotting pattern to match every backup secondary piece used for individual characters. Each of the actors who played aliens also had their hands painted in a spot pattern, as an original plan of supplying them with appliances for hand pieces was discarded.
After the generic alien concept was finalized, each of the effects coordinators worked with a specific actor. Mahan chose to work with Mandy Patinkin, as well as Francisco's son. Rosengrant worked with Leslie Bevis who played Cassandra. Woodruff worked on Terence Stamp who played the part of Harcourt. In trying to emphasize the uniqueness of the characters, Mahan commented, "We wanted the audience to be able to recognize the actors immediately. They were all so good, it would have been a shame to cover them up completely." Other effects coordinators like Gillis remarked, "The actor who played Trent Porter, for example–Brian Thompson–was a really rugged guy, so he came off looking like a really tough character. On the other hand, Kevyn Major Howard–who played Harcourt's murderous henchman–had very delicate, boyish kind of features, so we used that quality to create a creepy juxtaposition." While effects coordinators were struggling to finish the final design and full-scale production of the alien prosthetics, Hurd chose makeup artist Zoltan Elek to supervise the overall application. Elek had previously worked on the film Mask
and the character Max Headroom
. Elek insisted that the alien coloration be much more closer to human skin tones rather than the originally chosen yellowish pigment. Elek recalled his disagreement with Winston as Stan felt, "... the aliens should be a totally different color than the humans, with a lot of yellows, blues and grays. To me, that scheme was too monstrous–in fact, we ended up using it on the Harcourt monster at the climax." Another creative aspect of the makeup was the gradation between the principal and background masks. The crew of Alien Nation sought to avoid the same mistakes made in Planet of the Apes twenty years earlier. As explained by Gillis, "We had what we referred to as 'A-B-C-D' makeups, ... The 'A' makeups were those custom designed for the principal actors, while the 'B' makeups were mix-and-match where we would recombine pieces from other actors to create a new character. Our 'D' masks–the ones furthest from camera–were overhead slip latex masks incapable of changing expression. The 'C' masks, however, were made of foam latex and could be glued down to get some expression from the characters in the middleground." Application of the Newcomer makeup known as "spuds" or "potatoheads" on set, required four hours; a task which Patinkin described as being "a pain in the ass." Masks were manufactured in a production line to meet the enormous demand for the film. Mahan mused, "We would pull the pieces out of the oven, fix them up, paint them and have them ready for pickup that afternoon to be taken to the set. The pieces were barely cold when Zoltan and his crew applied them."
For the final dramatic scene involving Harcourt's demise, the rigged effects were handled in two stages. The first stage involved a dissolving head and body, while the second stage incorporated a flesh-less arm thrusting out of seawater. Rosengrant noted, "While the dissolving makeup had to look extreme, it also had to appear realistic within the limits of the alien anatomy Winston's crew had designed. We wanted to avoid the amorphous 'blob-of-blood' look you see in so many of these slasher and monster pictures. We wanted to be able to see Harcourt's bone structure rather than just the glob hanging off of it." For the visual appearance he added, "Of course, we did use methocel slime to make it wet and nasty-looking, but the basic understructure was rooted in anatomy." For Harcourt's facial disintegration, the coordinators came up with a foam rubber base makeup superimposed with a layer of gelatin appliances. Elek explained, the crew "dug out chunks from the foam rubber pieces, filled the holes with Bromo Seltzer, then laid the gelatin appliances over the whole thing and colored them so you could not see the holes below. Once the stuntman, the camera and everyone else was in position, we took a large syringe filled with hot water and injected it into each of the Bromo Seltzer pockets as the camera started rolling. As the Bromo Seltzer started to fizzle, the hot water began eating its way through the gelatin skin and his face appeared to bubble and melt." In the end, Mahan remarked, "We figured that going from something like the alien queen in Aliens
to these straight prosthetic makeups would be simple, but it was really a lot of work."
. Within a 5-month shooting schedule, 3 weeks were spent shooting at studio locations. Production designer Jack Collis, explained how the film integrates a minority group (the aliens) into the film saying, "The idea was to bring in this alien group, assimilate them into our society, and get them a locale that would be a part of Los Angeles, ... It would look almost as if a group of Koreans or Vietnamese that had moved into the area. This group would have established their own community. They have their own language, their own signs." The film crew installed fictional alien language signs along Western Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. Colored drawings were made of all stores on both sides of the street for two full blocks. Painted and electrical signs were designed for each building. Graffiti was also carefully planned out. The film crew did their own painting and even took a big blank concrete wall and inserted alien graffiti for a scene involving an early physical confrontation between the main characters. Essentially, the alphabet of the alien citizens had to be designed as an integral part of their environment. He commented how the crew "came up with individual alphabets and then combined them into certain words like, say, 'enter' and 'open', so that we could repeat them, ..." while also mentioning how the they "brought in a language expert to give us something the actors could be comfortable with." The Hawthorns, a well known family of sign painters, created most of the alien signs. Collis even mused how at one one point, store owners liked, and wouldn't want to take down the alien graffiti used during filming on their properties. Collis recalled how the alien language resembled "a flowing design more like hand writing than lettering, that looks almost like a heartbeat graph. Occasionally, we'd underline it as though it came from sort of electronic machine, like an IBM report. It turned out to be such a simple thing once we got it going, but we had to go through a process of 'what is this going to look like?' before we got what we wanted."
Certain fictional locations in the film such as the Encounters Club, was filmed at Club Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard
. Set decorator Jim Duffy, who was involved with the exotic dance scene at the club, used unique Austrian drapes to create a see-through design for actress Bevis who portrayed the character of Cassandra to perform around with. Smaller set areas for Cassandra's dressing room, a couple of offices, and a big conference room where Harcourt's drug deal was taking place were built on stages at the film studio. A Van Nuys bus stop set stood in as the taco burrito stand for the amusing scene between Francisco and Sykes relating to raw fast food. Some of the stunt scenes involving an action sequence later in the film was shot at a harbor in San Pedro. For certain scenes within that shot, the production crew built their own custom water tank 44 feet in length and 22 feet in width. Two submerged 75 horsepower motors churned to create artificial waves, while separate raised wind machines worked to create the effect of a helicopter hovering over water. Other practical filming locations included Nichols Canyon Beach, the Los Angeles Police Academy and the York Street police station for interiors. A bar called Monty's in downtown Los Angeles was used for a scene involving the rough alien played by Brian Thompson. The interior of Sykes's house was filmed at a home near the studio, while a location in Beverly Glen
stood in for a church in the final wedding scene. Some of the more elaborate sets used extensively in the film, were the Millennium Biltmore Hotel
and an Anheuser–Busch plant. The alien villain Harcourt, is introduced at the hotel in the elite Crystal Room. The lobby section of the hotel with its very high ceilings and extensive complement of gold motif, was used in an interview scene between the characters of Harcourt, Kipling and the detectives. Alternatively, the beverage plant was used as a disguise for a petroleum factory. Unused portions of the facility containing steel tanks were used as an interesting gloomy background. A methane lab was recreated with translucent tubes running through them, as though drugs were in the process of being refined. Certain visual smoke effects were also created to copy the look of an oil refinery.
As scripted by writer Rockne S. O'Bannon, Alien Nation was originally called, Future Tense. The film took some of its concept from the TV series In the Heat of the Night
, with science fiction elements integrated in the plot. During production, the film had a working title called, Outer Heat, which essentially was an amalgam of In the Heat of the Night and a 1960s science fiction TV series, The Outer Limits
. Jack Collis emphasized that the film was not a "space epic" but more of an action film. He admitted, "We did build a spaceship, but it's a simple thing that you see on a TV monitor describing the landing of the aliens several years ago, before they became assimilated into our society. It gives us a background but not a lot of detail, ..." Collis noted that the film was even "reminiscent of the work I did in Cocoon
." An earlier draft of the film was actually written by director James Cameron
in 1987, but his name however, was not credited in the final cut of the film. One conceit of the script was that immigrations officials ran out of names for the 300,000 aliens, and began to name them after familiar appellations of the past. Actor Mandy Patinkin's original name for his character was set to be George Jetson. However, three days before the start of shooting, Hanna-Barbera
wouldn't allow the name to be used. Expressing his disappointment, Patinkin said, "I assumed that the name of the character I agreed to play was George Jetson. And I was pretty pissed off that there was a screw-up and that the name couldn't be used." He went on to say, "I thought it made a tremendous difference to the piece that the guy's name was George Jetson because it gave a cartoon feeling, an innocence that was important to the movie's whole idea. It's a great loss to the piece that we couldn't recover, a great misfortune that couldn't be solved. It would have helped a lot." In reference to the cartoon character, the producers would leave in the name "George" as a substitute. Patinkin added, "Everything in the script is Jetson, everything on the makeup is labeled Jetson, we always refer to him as Jetson. Not even George, but Jetson. So in our minds, he's George Jetson. So as far as I'm concerned, anybody who sees the movie, they're watching George Jetson no matter what the hell they call him." To understand his role of being a police officer, Patinkin spent two weeks hanging out with the New York City Police Department
. He took their training course, joined them on patrol, and spent time with them at the firing range. Commenting on the character development of Francisco, he said "It's one of the better jobs that people from his race have acquired. He feels very proud of the fact that he's able to be a cop."
, La Bamba
and Near Dark
, approached the film with a unique documentary-style technique. Commenting on the initial photography lighting tests, Greenberg remarked, "The first ones were a disaster. They didn't look good at all. I didn't know how to photograph these aliens. It was the first time I had to deal with this kind of thing. But I have an eye and I learned from these tests." At the Biltmore Hotel, a peculiar situation arose where the ceilings were simply too tall for standard lighting equipment. An ingenious idea was devised by the crew to have six to eight weather balloons sent up and have artificial light bounce off of them to create the proper lighting mood. Greenberg remarked, "I wanted a very rich look from that place, gold and very warm. In the story it is very late after a big party. I wasn't going for any special effect, just nice light from lamps on the tables. The problem was, the hotel management wouldn't let us hang anything from the ceiling. In pre-production they had told us we could hang lights, but I didn't believe them. The ceilings there are very high and very beautiful."
On character interactions, Greenberg noted how there was "a lot of dialogue between Jimmy and Mandy in the car. We used a lot of car mounts. I would light the alien so that he looked good, but if he passed into a shadow while going down the street you could see all the seams in his make-up. So I sometimes had to block all the streets with black paper." The aliens were not too different from humans, and an incorrect lighting or camera angle could give away seams in the makeup. In attempting to identify with the aliens regarding a unique look, Greenberg chose a deep blue color for filming. He said, "We ended up with very deep, strong blue – a sort of moonlight blue. We tried to do all the scenes in the movie that appear to be their places heavily favored by this deep blue color. The Encounters Club was one of those places." Greenberg used Arri
flex cameras and Zeiss lenses along with Fuji
stock. Commenting on film grain he said, "I figured out from tests that it is better for me to use Fuji. Once film is blown up to 70mm the grain will stand out more and Fuji has smaller grain than Kodak
. I can control the contrast with light, but I have to live with the grain." Making use of multiple cameras, Greenberg noted, "Photographically, of course, one camera is best. But as a movie maker, and because I want the film to be a success, I realize that the photography is not the most important thing. The whole movie is most important. So in pre-production, I was the one pushing the director to always shoot with two or three cameras."
Lighting challenges were abound for Greenberg as most of the film took place at night. One of the simplest techniques for lighting employed by Greenberg was using a car's headlights to dramatically produce a scene of terror. Greenberg explained, "We had a scene on Zuma Beach where the bad guys are dragging somebody into the ocean. I wanted to have a very hard, but very natural, and strong look. So, I used the car headlights. It was nice because everything behind the villains fell into darkness. It had a surrealistic look." Greenberg also remarked how he had a close working relationship with DeLuxe lab in getting the correct color for the extensive night shooting in the film by bluntly saying, "In a movie like this I wanted the blacks to be very black, so I worked closely with DeLuxe lab ..." He felt the daily challenges of night shooting visibly enhanced the appeal of Alien Nation by figuratively mentioning, "as a cameraman, you can create a lot more at night. Sometimes you have to feel your way. You also have true control at night. If a light is on it is because you turned it on."
, but later rejected in favor of music composed by Curt Sobel. Goldsmith's score was however used for the film's theatrical trailer. Musical artists Smokey Robinson
, The Beach Boys
, Michael Bolton
, Mick Jagger
and David Bowie
among others, contributed songs to the music listing. The audio soundtrack in Compact Disc
format composed by Sobel was never officially released, but a limited edition of the original score initially composed by Goldsmith featuring 18 tracks, was released in 2005. The score was entirely synthesized and limited to 3,000 copies. The melody featured throughout the film recorded by Goldsmith, was originally composed for the movie Wall Street. After being rejected for both that film project and later Alien Nation, the score was used in the 1990 film The Russia House
. The sound effects in the film were supervised by Mark Mangini. The mixing of the sound elements were orchestrated by David MacMillan and Charles Wilborn.
played the lead role of Matt Sikes, while Eric Pierpoint
was chosen to play the character of the Tenctonese
newcomer Sam Francisco. Supporting acting roles were played by Michele Scarabelli
, Lauren Woodland
and Sean Six
. Contributing directors to various episodes included Harry Longstreet, Stan Lathan
, Lyndon Chubbuck and Kenneth Johnson. Writing credits were assigned to Steve Mitchell, Kenneth Van Sickle and Kenneth Johnson among others. In the near future, the Sci-Fi Channel
is planning to air a new Alien Nation television show in keeping with the popularity of the series. The new series is rumored to take place in the decade of the 2020s
, about 20 years after the aliens' first arrival on Earth. With their population ballooning to 3.5 million, the aliens are said to live in their own communities similar to the North African ghettos in France, as described by producer Tim Minear
.
, was released with a plot surrounding a distinct Newcomer arriving on Earth attempting to lure the aliens back into a life of slavery. The film was written on a screenplay conceived by Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov
. Alien Nation: Body and Soul
would follow on October 10, 1995 with a story revolving around a slaveship medical experiment involving a child who appears to be part human and part Newcomer. A side plot also involves the character of Sikes and a female Tenctonese exploring a relationship. Harry and Renee Longstreet were credited writers for the storyline. The franchise would see two more sequels in 1996. Alien Nation: Millennium
was released on January 2, 1996, and dealt with a mysterious cult that uses mind-altering alien artifacts to lure Newcomer followers into a doomsday scenario. The film's plot is a tie-in to one of the television episodes titled: Generation to Generation that premiered on January 29, 1990. Alien Nation: The Enemy Within
was aired on November 12, 1996 and revolved around a story from which the detectives try to save their city from an alien threat originating from a waste disposal facility. Racism was a key theme encountered by the character of Francisco. The fifth and final sequel would appear on July 29, 1997. Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy
, finds the detectives trying to stop a resistance group among the Newcomers trying to indoctrinate those among them into causing mayhem. A smaller plot is introduced with the younger Newcomer Buck, played by actor Sean Six, enlisting to become a police officer. All the sequels in the series were directed by veteran producer Kenneth Johnson.
, a division of Simon & Schuster
, began publishing a novel series in connection with the film starting in 1993. The writing team of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
, known for their work in Star Trek
, committed to a novel entitled Day of Descent. Some of the novels were pretexts for the movie sequels, such as the novel Cross of Blood authored by K.W. Jeter, which became a tie-in to the Dark Horizon film, or the novel Body and Soul authored by Peter David
, which became one of the sequels of the same name. Subject matter such as racism and discrimination with extraterrestrial themes were regularly encountered within the books. Authors K. W. Jeter
and Barry B. Longyear
were regular contributors to the series with novels like, The Change and Slag Like Me.
began printing several comics from an adaptation of the general Alien Nation storyline. Among first released titles were, The Spartans created with the help of author Bill Spangler and illustrator James Tucker, and A Breed Apart authored by Steve Jones. Other titles included Public Enemy authored by Sandy Carruthers
and illustrated by Lowell Cunningham
, and a unique version entitled Ape Nation, a crossover series adapted with the Planet of the Apes
franchise. The Ape Nation series included four different adventures called Plans, Pasts, Pawns and Pains along with a collector's edition. Other contributors to the series included illustrators Terry Pallott and Leonard Kirk
to titles like, The Skin Trade.
reported that 56% of 25 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5.4 out of 10.
/VE1117789176.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 Alien Nation Film Review]. Variety Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
Another positive review centering around the science fiction elements of the film was delivered by Janet Maslin
of The New York Times
. She praised the theme saying, "Alien Nation has the best science-fiction idea this side of The Terminator." However, Maslin was quick to admit the film "settles down, with remarkable ease, into the routine of a two-cop buddy film, extraterrestrials and all. Matthew and Sam (whom Matthew refuses to address that way, renaming him George) go through all the familiar stages of forging a friendship between partners: cool antipathy, exchanges of insults, growing mutual respect on the job and, finally, an all-night drinking binge to solidify their buddyhood." On a negative front, author Jay Carr of The Boston Globe
commented on James Caan's performance viewing him "Looking like a Paul Newman gone wrong, ..." He went on further stating that "the film's air of enlightenment is only makeup deep. And while 'Alien Nation' is no smarter than, say, a 'Lethal Weapon,' it hasn't got the juice or the level of sensory jolt a 'Lethal Weapon' supplies." Other critics such as Gene Siskel
acknowledged the similarities between other police thriller movies, but still found the film to be a "Genuinely entertaining version of that old reliable; a cop buddy picture with two very different detectives". He explained, "Now this is an example of how a you can put a nice twist on a familiar story, and it will work if its been fully written. Caan and Patinkin have special characters to play." Compelled by the acting, he felt "The buddy combination here, worked for me." He ultimately gave the film a Thumbs Up review. Not nearly as impressed with the film was author NF of TimeOut Magazine calling it, "Worthy, predictable, and dull." A summation of the negativity was described as being, "Played hard and fast, the film might just have worked, but the decision to soft-pedal the violence merely emphasises the obviousness of the liberal point-scoring (parallels with Vietnamese or Nicaraguan refugees are so facile as to be crass)." Critic Leonard Maltin
bluntly referred to the film as "A great concept that doesn't quite pay off." But in a hint of commendation, he remarked how the film contains "many clever touches and terrific performances by Caan and Patinkin."
for Best Science Fiction Film of 1988, and received two Saturn nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Mandy Patinkin
as well as Best Make-Up for John M. Elliott Jr. and Stan Winston
. The film also received two other nominations, among them for Best Dramatic Presentation from the Hugo Awards and Best Film for Graham Baker from the Fantasporto
International Fantasy Film Awards.
. The film's revenue dropped by 49% in its second week of release, earning $4,252,252. In the month of November during its final weekend showing in theaters, the film came out in 10th place grossing $1,306,849. The film went on to top out domestically at $25,216,243 in total ticket sales through a 5-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $6,938,804 in box office business for a combined total of $32,155,047. For 1988
as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 41.
video format on September 10, 1996. The Region 1 Code
widescreen
edition of the film was released on DVD
in the United States on March 27, 2001 and includes a narrative and interview filled Featurette, a Behind the Scenes clip featuring director Graham Baker, a TV Spots special, the Theatrical Trailer and Fox Flix theatrical trailers for The Abyss
, Aliens
, Enemy Mine
, Independence Day
and Zardoz
. Currently, there is no exact set date on a future Blu-ray Disc
release for the film.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by Graham Baker
Graham Baker (director)
Graham Baker is an American film director. He directed numerous films from 1981 to 1999.- External links :...
and produced by Gale Anne Hurd
Gale Anne Hurd
Gale Anne Hurd is an American film producer and screenwriter.-Early life:Hurd was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Lolita and Frank E. Hurd, an investor. She grew up in Palm Springs, California and graduated from Stanford University with a B.A...
, Richard Kobritz and Bill Borden. The storyline was based on a screenplay written by Rockne S. O'Bannon
Rockne S. O'Bannon
Rockne S. O'Bannon is a television producer and writer. He is the creator of the science fiction movie Alien Nation, television shows seaQuest DSV, The Triangle and Farscape. He is married with one daughter and two sons - all three children adopted from Russia. He resides in California,...
. It stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
, Terence Stamp
Terence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
, and Kevyn Major Howard
Kevyn Major Howard
Kevyn Major Howard is a Canadian actor best known for his role in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.After acting in high school, Howard moved to Los Angeles and Hollywood in the late 1970s....
. The film depicts the integration of aliens settling in Los Angeles, much to the dismay of the local population. Released in 1988, the motion picture takes place in 1991. The film's plot is a buddy cop theme, with some detours into science fiction.
The filmmakers also introduced some sociological ideas, such as the effects of illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
, discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
; as the aliens try to interact and fit in with human society. The aliens have enlarged spotty craniums, two hearts, can consume only raw food and are sensitive to seawater which acts like an acid on their skin. Over the course of the film, their slavery past is alluded as they are genetically modified for slave labor.
Alien Nation premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on October 7, 1988, grossing $25,216,243 in domestic ticket receipts. The film earned an additional $6,938,804 in business through international release to make a combined $32,155,047 gross revenue. The film was met with mixed reviews before its initial screening in cinemas, and was considered a moderate financial success after its theatrical run. The popularity of the film's concept spawned a television series in 1989, and five television movie sequels during the 1990s, in an attempt to continue the character development surrounding the fictional alien culture.
Plot
The year is 1991, three years since a giant ship bearing 300,000 aliens, the NewcomersTenctonese
The Tenctonese, also known as Newcomers, are a humanoid species in the Alien Nation, television series and earlier film, as well as the later Alien Nation telefilm series. They are from the planet Tencton, though references to numerous slave colonies throughout the series and telemovies indicate...
, have landed in the Mojave Desert. Los Angeles becomes their new home. Some newcomers take or are assigned names such as Harley Davidson and Humphrey Bogart. However, the aliens are a discriminated race. They are referred to as 'Slag' , and the area in ghettos which they reside is known as 'Slagtown' . Matthew Sykes (James Caan) is a Los Angeles police detective who loses his partner Bill Tuggle (Roger Aaron Brown
Roger Aaron Brown
Roger Aaron Brown is an American character actor known for his role as Deputy Chief Joe Noland on the hit CBS drama television series The District from 2000 to 2004, and for his minor role in the 1988 science fiction film Alien Nation as Det. Bill "Tug" Tuggle, the partner and friend of Matthew...
) in a shoot-out. The detectives were trying to stop two Newcomers from murdering another alien named Cecil Porter (Regis Parton), during what appeared to be a robbery at the mini-mart where he worked.
The next day, Sykes' superior Captain Warner (Francis X. McCarthy), announces that someone will have to work with a newly promoted Newcomer named Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
). He also states that if no one volunteers, someone will be chosen. Although bigoted towards the Newcomers, Sykes volunteers to work with Francisco during an investigation into a similar homicide of Newcomer Warren Hubely. Sykes believes the crimes are related and that it will give him an opportunity to investigate his partner's death, which he is officially ordered not to take part in. Meanwhile, Warner assigns the robbery murder case to detectives Fedorchuk (Peter Jason
Peter Jason
Peter Jason is an American actor who performs in many plays, movies, and TV commercials, including Desperate Housewives and Deadwood. In his free time he makes his own furniture out of wood. He has appeared in 12 Walter Hill films, 7 John Carpenter films, has acted in over 100 commercials and...
) and Alterez (Tony Perez
Tony Perez (actor)
Tony Perez is a film and television actor. Perez was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He is best known for portraying Officer Mike Perez on Hill Street Blues from 1981 to 1985....
).
As the pair work the Hubely-homicide case, Sykes discovers similarities between their investigation and the Porter robbery. Sykes and Francisco do not initially bond (Sykes preferring to call him "George"), and it doesn't help that in the language of the Newcomers, sai'ksss (Sykes) means "shit head." Sykes requisitions a .454 Casull revolver to handle the prospect of dealing with the hardened Newcomer physiology. While at the crime lab, Francisco detects an abnormality on one of the Newcomer criminals killed in the robbery, and asks a Newcomer assistant to check for something in particular, but does not reveal what it is to Sykes. Following an interview with Newcomer Trent Porter (Brian Thompson
Brian Thompson (actor)
Brian Thompson is an American actor. His distinctive square-jaw profile, powerful voice, and imposing stature has led him to be typecast as a villain in many action films and TV series, and a some comedies: Joe Dirt, The Three Amigos, Weird Science, Key West, and Life Stinks.-Career:Thompson has...
), the son of the Newcomer victim in the mini-mart robbery, Sykes and Francisco check out a nightclub called Encounters to investigate a link in the homicides. They want to talk to a Newcomer named Joshua Strader (Jeff Kober
Jeff Kober
Jeff Kober is an American actor, known for his performances on television and film.-Major work:Jeff Kober, a native of Billings, Montana, was born on December 18, 1953. Not satisfied with being a rancher, Kober relocated to the L.A. area in his twenties with the desire to become an actor...
). However, they end up interviewing his girlfriend Cassandra (Leslie Bevis
Leslie Bevis
Leslie Bevis is an American character actress. Bevis worked as a top European model before her work in film and television...
) instead, after he is murdered by a criminal ring led by Newcomer businessman William Harcourt (Terence Stamp) and his henchman Rudyard Kipling (Kevyn Major Howard). Cassandra attempts to seduce Sykes, who is at odds with the concept of a sexually-appealing Newcomer and retreats, much to Cassandra's amusement.
Sykes and Francisco retire to Syke's home, and the two find themselves getting intoxicated (Sykes on alcohol, Francisco on spoiled milk) and Sykes reveals how much he loves and misses his estranged daughter. Francisco confesses he finds humans strange but inspiring for their desires to aspire to high ideals even in the face of repeated failures to do so. Sykes suggests he not try to understand humans, noting their inability to understand each other.
The next morning, a henchman tries to plant a bomb in the detectives' car but he is interrupted by the hungover Francisco, who spent the night there. The bomber runs off and Francisco groggily takes the detached bomb into the house, handing it to the startled Sykes and explaining what he saw. The two of them return to the medical examiner's office, where Francisco gets the results of the test, not liking what he hears, but still trying to keeping the information to himself. Sykes, who is not happy with being kept in the dark, confronts Francisco in the elevator, demanding an explanation. Francisco reveals an unsettling secret--his species kept their slaves in line with a powerful drug they called Jabroka. It was given as a reward for those Newcomers who worked harder than others, and the drug made them work harder still; he confesses that for the slaves, it was their only avenue for pleasure, even as it killed them. The astounded Sykes asks why no one ever found out; Francisco explains that no one wanted to take the risk of not being accepted on Earth...or being exploited if humanity ever learned of the drug's existence. Sykes and Francisco resolve to look for the place where the drug is being developed, and discover a processing plant where many Newcomers worked (due to their ability to breathe methane) is the only place where it could be processed.
The two detectives head to the plant, and push their way into it despite the protests of the foreman on duty. Inside a supposedly methane-filled room, they discover the Jabroka drug lab. As Sykes watches the foreman, Francisco approaches the lab equipment with something like dawning horror, then destroys the equipment in an uncharacteristic display of unrestrained fury. He then confronts the foreman, lifting him off the ground and demanding to know where the completed product is located. Sykes wisely refrains from restraining Francisco, but does ask the foreman to come clean, saying he watched Francisco brutalize a fictional crook. They find out the drug has been taken to Encounters for a major drug deal. The Newcomers Hubley, Porter and Strader were involved in planning the operation, but were later murdered by Harcourt so he could keep the profits.
Ultimately, Sykes and Francisco track Harcourt to the Encounters club, where he is negotiating a release timetable for his potent narcotic. While Sykes is willing to call for backup, Francisco takes the car and goes after Harcourt himself, unwilling to make the existence of Jabroka known to the world. At the meeting, as Harcourt's buyers discover the potential of the drug, Francisco bursts in with the detached car bomb from earlier in one hand, and threatens to blow them up unless they hand over the drugs, demonstrating a willingness to destroy them all if the drug ever gets a chance to make his people slaves again. Kipling and Harcourt escape with the drugs after Cassandra reacts violently after she learns Harcourt had Shrader killed, and the two detectives pursue them in a car chase through downtown Los Angeles. They have a head-on collision, with Francisco being momentarily stunned and Kipling killed when the car explodes. Sykes chases Harcourt on foot, corners him on a desolate bridge. Harcourt then overdoses on a sample of the drug he was trying to distribute.
Sykes mistakenly believes Harcourt died from the overdose, but when he tells a cop about it, Francisco suddenly reacts to this news. As Harcourts' body is taken away in an ambulance, it mutates into a larger, muscular Newcomer with a violent streak. Francisco and Sykes go after the ambulance after Francisco reveals that an overdose does not kill a Newcomer, but changes the body chemistry, making them powerful and violent. They find the ambulance and two dead EMTs, and Sykes catches up with Harcourt again. After wounding him, he leads Harcourt onto the deck of a fishing trawler. The pair end up in a fight on the boat, and they both go into the water. Harcourt thrashes in the water as his body begins to disintegrate, but he drags Sykes down with him. Francisco commandeers a police helicopter, and rescues Sykes from the water by reaching down into it to pull him up even as the water eats away at his flesh. The two wounded cops look at each other as the pilot asks what the thing in the water was. Sykes responds by calling it just another ugly "slag," and Francisco then realizes Sykes will keep the secret.
With both murder cases solved, the authorities dismantle Harcourt's drug empire. The recovering detectives, now permanent partners, attend the wedding of Sykes' daughter, with whom he has mended relations and acts as her best man. Before he gives her away, he apologizes to Francisco for all the terrible things he knows he will say about him. Francisco accepts it good-naturedly, telling Sykes, "After all...you are only human." Sykes, in a voice-over, admits Francisco is a good partner, "except when he's got that sour-milk smell on his breath."
Cast
- James CaanJames CaanJames Caan is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles in The Godfather, Thief, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, Brian's Song, Rollerball, Kiss Me Goodbye, Elf, and El Dorado...
as Matthew Sykes - Mandy PatinkinMandy PatinkinMandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
as Sam "George" Francisco - Terence StampTerence StampTerence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
as William Harcourt - Kevyn Major HowardKevyn Major HowardKevyn Major Howard is a Canadian actor best known for his role in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.After acting in high school, Howard moved to Los Angeles and Hollywood in the late 1970s....
as Rudyard Kipling - Leslie BevisLeslie BevisLeslie Bevis is an American character actress. Bevis worked as a top European model before her work in film and television...
as Cassandra - Peter JasonPeter JasonPeter Jason is an American actor who performs in many plays, movies, and TV commercials, including Desperate Housewives and Deadwood. In his free time he makes his own furniture out of wood. He has appeared in 12 Walter Hill films, 7 John Carpenter films, has acted in over 100 commercials and...
as Fedorchuk - Tony PerezTony Perez (actor)Tony Perez is a film and television actor. Perez was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He is best known for portraying Officer Mike Perez on Hill Street Blues from 1981 to 1985....
as Alterez - Jeff KoberJeff KoberJeff Kober is an American actor, known for his performances on television and film.-Major work:Jeff Kober, a native of Billings, Montana, was born on December 18, 1953. Not satisfied with being a rancher, Kober relocated to the L.A. area in his twenties with the desire to become an actor...
as Joshua Strader - Keone YoungKeone YoungKeone J. Young is an American character actor. His father is Chinese and his mother is Japanese.He has been prolific in his character work and has made numerous guest appearances on such varied television series as Diff'rent Strokes, The Golden Girls, Murphy Brown, Mad About You, Family Matters,...
as Winter - Brian ThompsonBrian ThompsonBrian Thompson is an American actor.Brian Thompson may also refer to:*Brian Thompson , reporter and anchorman for WNBC-TV*Brian Thomson , senior correspondent for SBS World News *Brian B. Thompson, British writer...
as Trent Porter - Francis X. McCarthy as Captain Warner
- Roger Aaron BrownRoger Aaron BrownRoger Aaron Brown is an American character actor known for his role as Deputy Chief Joe Noland on the hit CBS drama television series The District from 2000 to 2004, and for his minor role in the 1988 science fiction film Alien Nation as Det. Bill "Tug" Tuggle, the partner and friend of Matthew...
as Bill Tuggle - Regis Parton as Cecil Porter
- Tom HardyTom HardyEdward Thomas "Tom" Hardy is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the 2008 British film Bronson, the character of Eames in Inception, and the villain Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis...
as Little boy (uncredited role) - Don Hood as Moffet
- Earl BoenEarl BoenEarl Boen is an American actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known as criminal psychologist Dr. Peter Silberman in the Terminator series...
as Duncan Crais - Edgar Small as Minkler
- Diana James as Ortiz
Origins and themes
One of the usual 25 stories received each week by 20th Century Fox, the original screenplay for Alien Nation was submitted as a spec–scriptSpec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
to producer Gale Ann Hurd in 1988. The agency representing the storyline asked the production staff to view it as quickly as possible due to it being submitted to other film studios as well. Both Hurd and her director of development Ellen Collett had the same initial response, seeing the script as a real page-turner. According to Hurd, what really interested her about the film's story was the whole approach to the immigrant setting and the extrapolation of that to a science fiction setting. The genre of science fiction in regards to representing aliens, tends to usually be in the form of one or two beings as shown on network series' like Star Trek. Typically, large numbers of stand-ins were not common in film since the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (1968 film)
Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison...
picture twenty years earlier. Working with co-producer Richard Kobritz, Hurd secured funding from Fox studios and began casting an experienced makeup team for the creation of the alien society. Later, Hurd contacted cinematographer Adam Greenberg
Adam Greenberg (cinematographer)
Adam Greenberg, A.S.C. is a cinematographer noted for his work in Israel and The United States, including numerous films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger...
at his home in Israel to work on the production. Caught by surprise, Greenberg recalled, "I was vacationing on the Dead Sea in a kibbutz (it was 125 degrees) and I got a call from Gale. That was the last thing to expect there, ..." Though mostly an action picture, Alien Nation was somewhat of a throwback to other similar genre films such as Planet of the Apes and Silent Running
Silent Running
Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...
. The alien Newcomers are relegated to a second-class status. Like other minorities, they live in their own neighborhoods, frequent their own clubs and develop their own underground. Following the murder of a policeman, a human must partner up with an alien to solve the murder. Their uneasy alliance creates a social mistrust, dealing with issues such as prejudice and racism. By the end of the saga, the two completely different humanoids have combined their talents and overcome their social barriers to complete their task.
Makeup
Although several makeup effects companies were considered, 20th Century Fox chose Stan Winston StudiosStan Winston
Stanley Winston was an American visual effects supervisor, makeup artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, Iron Man, Edward Scissorhands, and Avatar...
. Stan Winston was not directly involved in the pre-production, but left the task to his top artists–Alec Gillis, Shane Mahan
Shane Mahan
-External links:* at Variety...
, John Rosengrant and Tom Woodruff. Producer Gale Anne Hurd commented on creating the foundation for the makeup setting saying, "The primary problem was how to sell an alien race that was humanoid without making it look like people in rubber suits—and how to make it affordable. We knew there was going to be a lot of makeup application time and removal time—that was a given." Artist Gillis recalled his involvement in the project saying, "We were involved in everything from designing and sculpting the aliens to supervising a crew of about thirty people. We sculpted the main characters, supervised the molding and production of their appliances and oversaw the sculpting of the secondary and background characters." During the design phase, the producers supported the subtlety of the makeup and trying to make the aliens look as human as possible. Hurd explained, "We wanted the aliens to be more like a different ethnic race than like lizard people, ..." She added, "We didn't want our audiences thinking, 'Gee, look how different these aliens are.' Rather, after about five minutes we wanted the audience to accept them as different from us, but not so different that no one is buying the storyline. We wanted the aliens to be characters–not creatures." A preliminary design sketch for the aliens as described by Mahan, was that "the males were going to have spines on top of their heads–kind of like a rooster's comb–and when they got angry, these spines would raise up. That would've required a mechanical headpiece, and Graham Baker thought it was a little too extreme so we went with smooth heads instead. Coming close to a final design for the headpiece makeup, Woodruff explained how the masks had "heavier brows and a heavier skin texture that looked more leathery, and there were more pronounced lumps on the backs of their heads. After we went into production on these masks, Graham Baker decided that he wanted the aliens to look even more subtle, so we streamlined the design once we started doing the principal characters." Mike Spatola was head of the painting crew for the mask design. Hairless by design, the coordinators felt the masks should have spotted marks where hair would be present on humans. Each alien headpiece had to be custom painted with a spotting pattern to match every backup secondary piece used for individual characters. Each of the actors who played aliens also had their hands painted in a spot pattern, as an original plan of supplying them with appliances for hand pieces was discarded.
| We wanted the aliens to be more like a different ethnic race than like lizard people, ... We didn't want our audiences thinking, 'Gee, look how different these aliens are.' Rather, after about five minutes we wanted the audience to accept them as different from us, but not so different that no one is buying the storyline. We wanted the aliens to be characters–not creatures. |
| — Gale Ann Hurd |
After the generic alien concept was finalized, each of the effects coordinators worked with a specific actor. Mahan chose to work with Mandy Patinkin, as well as Francisco's son. Rosengrant worked with Leslie Bevis who played Cassandra. Woodruff worked on Terence Stamp who played the part of Harcourt. In trying to emphasize the uniqueness of the characters, Mahan commented, "We wanted the audience to be able to recognize the actors immediately. They were all so good, it would have been a shame to cover them up completely." Other effects coordinators like Gillis remarked, "The actor who played Trent Porter, for example–Brian Thompson–was a really rugged guy, so he came off looking like a really tough character. On the other hand, Kevyn Major Howard–who played Harcourt's murderous henchman–had very delicate, boyish kind of features, so we used that quality to create a creepy juxtaposition." While effects coordinators were struggling to finish the final design and full-scale production of the alien prosthetics, Hurd chose makeup artist Zoltan Elek to supervise the overall application. Elek had previously worked on the film Mask
Mask (film)
Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz. Dennis Burkley and Laura Dern are featured in supporting roles. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress....
and the character Max Headroom
Max Headroom (character)
Max Headroom is a fictional British artificial intelligence, known for his wit and stuttering, distorted, electronically sampled voice. The character was created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel, and Rocky Morton in the mid nineteen eighties, and portrayed by Matt Frewer as "The World's first...
. Elek insisted that the alien coloration be much more closer to human skin tones rather than the originally chosen yellowish pigment. Elek recalled his disagreement with Winston as Stan felt, "... the aliens should be a totally different color than the humans, with a lot of yellows, blues and grays. To me, that scheme was too monstrous–in fact, we ended up using it on the Harcourt monster at the climax." Another creative aspect of the makeup was the gradation between the principal and background masks. The crew of Alien Nation sought to avoid the same mistakes made in Planet of the Apes twenty years earlier. As explained by Gillis, "We had what we referred to as 'A-B-C-D' makeups, ... The 'A' makeups were those custom designed for the principal actors, while the 'B' makeups were mix-and-match where we would recombine pieces from other actors to create a new character. Our 'D' masks–the ones furthest from camera–were overhead slip latex masks incapable of changing expression. The 'C' masks, however, were made of foam latex and could be glued down to get some expression from the characters in the middleground." Application of the Newcomer makeup known as "spuds" or "potatoheads" on set, required four hours; a task which Patinkin described as being "a pain in the ass." Masks were manufactured in a production line to meet the enormous demand for the film. Mahan mused, "We would pull the pieces out of the oven, fix them up, paint them and have them ready for pickup that afternoon to be taken to the set. The pieces were barely cold when Zoltan and his crew applied them."
For the final dramatic scene involving Harcourt's demise, the rigged effects were handled in two stages. The first stage involved a dissolving head and body, while the second stage incorporated a flesh-less arm thrusting out of seawater. Rosengrant noted, "While the dissolving makeup had to look extreme, it also had to appear realistic within the limits of the alien anatomy Winston's crew had designed. We wanted to avoid the amorphous 'blob-of-blood' look you see in so many of these slasher and monster pictures. We wanted to be able to see Harcourt's bone structure rather than just the glob hanging off of it." For the visual appearance he added, "Of course, we did use methocel slime to make it wet and nasty-looking, but the basic understructure was rooted in anatomy." For Harcourt's facial disintegration, the coordinators came up with a foam rubber base makeup superimposed with a layer of gelatin appliances. Elek explained, the crew "dug out chunks from the foam rubber pieces, filled the holes with Bromo Seltzer, then laid the gelatin appliances over the whole thing and colored them so you could not see the holes below. Once the stuntman, the camera and everyone else was in position, we took a large syringe filled with hot water and injected it into each of the Bromo Seltzer pockets as the camera started rolling. As the Bromo Seltzer started to fizzle, the hot water began eating its way through the gelatin skin and his face appeared to bubble and melt." In the end, Mahan remarked, "We figured that going from something like the alien queen in Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
to these straight prosthetic makeups would be simple, but it was really a lot of work."
Set design and filming
Numerous interior and exterior locations used to suit the needs of the story, were filmed in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Within a 5-month shooting schedule, 3 weeks were spent shooting at studio locations. Production designer Jack Collis, explained how the film integrates a minority group (the aliens) into the film saying, "The idea was to bring in this alien group, assimilate them into our society, and get them a locale that would be a part of Los Angeles, ... It would look almost as if a group of Koreans or Vietnamese that had moved into the area. This group would have established their own community. They have their own language, their own signs." The film crew installed fictional alien language signs along Western Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. Colored drawings were made of all stores on both sides of the street for two full blocks. Painted and electrical signs were designed for each building. Graffiti was also carefully planned out. The film crew did their own painting and even took a big blank concrete wall and inserted alien graffiti for a scene involving an early physical confrontation between the main characters. Essentially, the alphabet of the alien citizens had to be designed as an integral part of their environment. He commented how the crew "came up with individual alphabets and then combined them into certain words like, say, 'enter' and 'open', so that we could repeat them, ..." while also mentioning how the they "brought in a language expert to give us something the actors could be comfortable with." The Hawthorns, a well known family of sign painters, created most of the alien signs. Collis even mused how at one one point, store owners liked, and wouldn't want to take down the alien graffiti used during filming on their properties. Collis recalled how the alien language resembled "a flowing design more like hand writing than lettering, that looks almost like a heartbeat graph. Occasionally, we'd underline it as though it came from sort of electronic machine, like an IBM report. It turned out to be such a simple thing once we got it going, but we had to go through a process of 'what is this going to look like?' before we got what we wanted."
Certain fictional locations in the film such as the Encounters Club, was filmed at Club Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
. Set decorator Jim Duffy, who was involved with the exotic dance scene at the club, used unique Austrian drapes to create a see-through design for actress Bevis who portrayed the character of Cassandra to perform around with. Smaller set areas for Cassandra's dressing room, a couple of offices, and a big conference room where Harcourt's drug deal was taking place were built on stages at the film studio. A Van Nuys bus stop set stood in as the taco burrito stand for the amusing scene between Francisco and Sykes relating to raw fast food. Some of the stunt scenes involving an action sequence later in the film was shot at a harbor in San Pedro. For certain scenes within that shot, the production crew built their own custom water tank 44 feet in length and 22 feet in width. Two submerged 75 horsepower motors churned to create artificial waves, while separate raised wind machines worked to create the effect of a helicopter hovering over water. Other practical filming locations included Nichols Canyon Beach, the Los Angeles Police Academy and the York Street police station for interiors. A bar called Monty's in downtown Los Angeles was used for a scene involving the rough alien played by Brian Thompson. The interior of Sykes's house was filmed at a home near the studio, while a location in Beverly Glen
Beverly Glen, Los Angeles, California
Beverly Glen is a Beverly Crest neighborhood located around Beverly Glen Boulevard north of Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive. A predominantly wealthy area, with residences ranging from large gated estates, to smaller one story family homes. Stone Canyon Reservoir lies in the...
stood in for a church in the final wedding scene. Some of the more elaborate sets used extensively in the film, were the Millennium Biltmore Hotel
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, originally named the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel of the Biltmore Hotels group, is a luxury hotel located on Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Upon its grand opening in 1923, the Los Angeles Biltmore was the largest hotel west of Chicago, Illinois in...
and an Anheuser–Busch plant. The alien villain Harcourt, is introduced at the hotel in the elite Crystal Room. The lobby section of the hotel with its very high ceilings and extensive complement of gold motif, was used in an interview scene between the characters of Harcourt, Kipling and the detectives. Alternatively, the beverage plant was used as a disguise for a petroleum factory. Unused portions of the facility containing steel tanks were used as an interesting gloomy background. A methane lab was recreated with translucent tubes running through them, as though drugs were in the process of being refined. Certain visual smoke effects were also created to copy the look of an oil refinery.
| A flowing design more like hand writing than lettering, that looks almost like a heartbeat graph. Occasionally, we'd underline it as though it came from sort of electronic machine, like an IBM report. It turned out to be such a simple thing once we got it going, but we had to go through a process of 'what is this going to look like?' before we got what we wanted. |
| — Jack Collis on Alien Nations language. |
As scripted by writer Rockne S. O'Bannon, Alien Nation was originally called, Future Tense. The film took some of its concept from the TV series In the Heat of the Night
In the Heat of the Night (TV series)
In the Heat of the Night is a television series based on the motion picture and novel of the same name. It was broadcast on NBC from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS until 1995...
, with science fiction elements integrated in the plot. During production, the film had a working title called, Outer Heat, which essentially was an amalgam of In the Heat of the Night and a 1960s science fiction TV series, The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
. Jack Collis emphasized that the film was not a "space epic" but more of an action film. He admitted, "We did build a spaceship, but it's a simple thing that you see on a TV monitor describing the landing of the aliens several years ago, before they became assimilated into our society. It gives us a background but not a lot of detail, ..." Collis noted that the film was even "reminiscent of the work I did in Cocoon
Cocoon (film)
The score for Cocoon was composed and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released twice, through Polydor Records in 1985 and a reprint through P.E.G. in 1997 and features eleven tracks of score and a vocal track performed by Michael Sembello...
." An earlier draft of the film was actually written by director James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
in 1987, but his name however, was not credited in the final cut of the film. One conceit of the script was that immigrations officials ran out of names for the 300,000 aliens, and began to name them after familiar appellations of the past. Actor Mandy Patinkin's original name for his character was set to be George Jetson. However, three days before the start of shooting, Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
wouldn't allow the name to be used. Expressing his disappointment, Patinkin said, "I assumed that the name of the character I agreed to play was George Jetson. And I was pretty pissed off that there was a screw-up and that the name couldn't be used." He went on to say, "I thought it made a tremendous difference to the piece that the guy's name was George Jetson because it gave a cartoon feeling, an innocence that was important to the movie's whole idea. It's a great loss to the piece that we couldn't recover, a great misfortune that couldn't be solved. It would have helped a lot." In reference to the cartoon character, the producers would leave in the name "George" as a substitute. Patinkin added, "Everything in the script is Jetson, everything on the makeup is labeled Jetson, we always refer to him as Jetson. Not even George, but Jetson. So in our minds, he's George Jetson. So as far as I'm concerned, anybody who sees the movie, they're watching George Jetson no matter what the hell they call him." To understand his role of being a police officer, Patinkin spent two weeks hanging out with the New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
. He took their training course, joined them on patrol, and spent time with them at the firing range. Commenting on the character development of Francisco, he said "It's one of the better jobs that people from his race have acquired. He feels very proud of the fact that he's able to be a cop."
Cinematography
Cinematographer Adam Greenberg, whose previous film credits included Three Men and a BabyThree Men and a Baby
Three Men and a Baby is a 1987 comedy film starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Nancy Travis , and Ted Danson, and directed by Leonard Nimoy, in his first non-Star Trek movie directorial role. It follows the mishaps and adventures of three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to...
, La Bamba
La Bamba (film)
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The picture features Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck, and Joe Pantoliano...
and Near Dark
Near Dark
Near Dark is an American vampire/Western horror film, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow, and directed by Bigelow. The story follows a young man in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires...
, approached the film with a unique documentary-style technique. Commenting on the initial photography lighting tests, Greenberg remarked, "The first ones were a disaster. They didn't look good at all. I didn't know how to photograph these aliens. It was the first time I had to deal with this kind of thing. But I have an eye and I learned from these tests." At the Biltmore Hotel, a peculiar situation arose where the ceilings were simply too tall for standard lighting equipment. An ingenious idea was devised by the crew to have six to eight weather balloons sent up and have artificial light bounce off of them to create the proper lighting mood. Greenberg remarked, "I wanted a very rich look from that place, gold and very warm. In the story it is very late after a big party. I wasn't going for any special effect, just nice light from lamps on the tables. The problem was, the hotel management wouldn't let us hang anything from the ceiling. In pre-production they had told us we could hang lights, but I didn't believe them. The ceilings there are very high and very beautiful."
On character interactions, Greenberg noted how there was "a lot of dialogue between Jimmy and Mandy in the car. We used a lot of car mounts. I would light the alien so that he looked good, but if he passed into a shadow while going down the street you could see all the seams in his make-up. So I sometimes had to block all the streets with black paper." The aliens were not too different from humans, and an incorrect lighting or camera angle could give away seams in the makeup. In attempting to identify with the aliens regarding a unique look, Greenberg chose a deep blue color for filming. He said, "We ended up with very deep, strong blue – a sort of moonlight blue. We tried to do all the scenes in the movie that appear to be their places heavily favored by this deep blue color. The Encounters Club was one of those places." Greenberg used Arri
Arri
-History:Arri was founded in Munich, Germany as Arnold & Richter Cine Technik in 1917, named after founders August Arnold and Robert Richter. They produce professional motion picture equipment, digital and film cameras and cinematic lighting equipment...
flex cameras and Zeiss lenses along with Fuji
Fujifilm
is a multinational photography and imaging company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.Fujifilm's principal activities are the development, production, sale and servicing of color photographic film, digital cameras, photofinishing equipment, color paper, photofinishing chemicals, medical imaging...
stock. Commenting on film grain he said, "I figured out from tests that it is better for me to use Fuji. Once film is blown up to 70mm the grain will stand out more and Fuji has smaller grain than Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
. I can control the contrast with light, but I have to live with the grain." Making use of multiple cameras, Greenberg noted, "Photographically, of course, one camera is best. But as a movie maker, and because I want the film to be a success, I realize that the photography is not the most important thing. The whole movie is most important. So in pre-production, I was the one pushing the director to always shoot with two or three cameras."
| The aliens were not too different from humans, and an incorrect lighting or camera angle could give away seams in the makeup. |
| — Adam Greenberg |
Lighting challenges were abound for Greenberg as most of the film took place at night. One of the simplest techniques for lighting employed by Greenberg was using a car's headlights to dramatically produce a scene of terror. Greenberg explained, "We had a scene on Zuma Beach where the bad guys are dragging somebody into the ocean. I wanted to have a very hard, but very natural, and strong look. So, I used the car headlights. It was nice because everything behind the villains fell into darkness. It had a surrealistic look." Greenberg also remarked how he had a close working relationship with DeLuxe lab in getting the correct color for the extensive night shooting in the film by bluntly saying, "In a movie like this I wanted the blacks to be very black, so I worked closely with DeLuxe lab ..." He felt the daily challenges of night shooting visibly enhanced the appeal of Alien Nation by figuratively mentioning, "as a cameraman, you can create a lot more at night. Sometimes you have to feel your way. You also have true control at night. If a light is on it is because you turned it on."
Music and soundtrack
The score for the film was originally composed by Jerry GoldsmithJerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
, but later rejected in favor of music composed by Curt Sobel. Goldsmith's score was however used for the film's theatrical trailer. Musical artists Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
among others, contributed songs to the music listing. The audio soundtrack in Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
format composed by Sobel was never officially released, but a limited edition of the original score initially composed by Goldsmith featuring 18 tracks, was released in 2005. The score was entirely synthesized and limited to 3,000 copies. The melody featured throughout the film recorded by Goldsmith, was originally composed for the movie Wall Street. After being rejected for both that film project and later Alien Nation, the score was used in the 1990 film The Russia House
The Russia House (film)
The Russia House is an American spy drama, based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré. It was directed by Fred Schepisi, and starred Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, with Roy Scheider, James Fox, John Mahoney, and Klaus Maria Brandauer in supporting roles.It was filmed on location in...
. The sound effects in the film were supervised by Mark Mangini. The mixing of the sound elements were orchestrated by David MacMillan and Charles Wilborn.
TV series
The following year after the film's release, the extraterrestrial plot concept was used as the basis for a television series of the same name. The show attempted to move away from the original film's premise, and delve more into the alien's distinct culture and characteristics. Premiering on September 18, 1989, the series aired 22 episodes and ran for a single season, ending on May 7, 1990. Actor Gary GrahamGary Graham
Gary Graham is an American actor. He is probably best known for his starring role as Detective Matthew Sikes in the television series Alien Nation , which was followed by the TV movies Alien Nation: Dark Horizon , Alien Nation: Body and Soul , Alien Nation: Millennium , Alien Nation: The...
played the lead role of Matt Sikes, while Eric Pierpoint
Eric Pierpoint
Eric Pierpoint is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as George Francisco on Fox Network's Alien Nation. He has appeared on all of the Star Trek spin-offs. He played five characters in the four series from 1993 to 2005.He is the son of retired CBS news correspondent Robert...
was chosen to play the character of the Tenctonese
Tenctonese
The Tenctonese, also known as Newcomers, are a humanoid species in the Alien Nation, television series and earlier film, as well as the later Alien Nation telefilm series. They are from the planet Tencton, though references to numerous slave colonies throughout the series and telemovies indicate...
newcomer Sam Francisco. Supporting acting roles were played by Michele Scarabelli
Michele Scarabelli
Michele Scarabelli is a Canadian actress. She is probably best known for her role as Tenctonese Newcomer Susan Francisco on the Fox Network science fiction series Alien Nation and the 5 television movies that followed....
, Lauren Woodland
Lauren Woodland
Lauren Woodland is an American actress.-Career:Woodland has been acting since childhood. In 1989, she appeared in the Fox Network science fiction series Alien Nation as the child newcomer Emily Francisco...
and Sean Six
Sean Six
Sean Six is an American actor who started acting at the age of 8. His first role was in the theater, in a production of Fiddler on the Roof at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium...
. Contributing directors to various episodes included Harry Longstreet, Stan Lathan
Stan Lathan
Stan Lathan is an American television director, film director, television producer and television director.-Career:Lathan’s career began with public television in Boston where he co-created and directed one of the first and longest running urban themed magazine shows, Say Brother...
, Lyndon Chubbuck and Kenneth Johnson. Writing credits were assigned to Steve Mitchell, Kenneth Van Sickle and Kenneth Johnson among others. In the near future, the Sci-Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
is planning to air a new Alien Nation television show in keeping with the popularity of the series. The new series is rumored to take place in the decade of the 2020s
2020s
The 2020s or "twenty twenties" is the decade that will begin on January 1, 2020 and will end on December 31, 2029. It is the third decade of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium.-Notable predictions and known events :...
, about 20 years after the aliens' first arrival on Earth. With their population ballooning to 3.5 million, the aliens are said to live in their own communities similar to the North African ghettos in France, as described by producer Tim Minear
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
.
TV films
Following the demise of the television series in 1990, plans were devised to continue the popularity of the concept surrounding the race of the Newcomers through a string of television films. Premiering on October 25, 1994, the first of five sequels entitled Alien Nation: Dark HorizonAlien Nation: Dark Horizon
Alien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season, ending in 1990 with a cliffhanger series finale. Dark Horizon was written to be the season opener for the second season, but when the series was unexpectedly canceled and looked like it might never return to...
, was released with a plot surrounding a distinct Newcomer arriving on Earth attempting to lure the aliens back into a life of slavery. The film was written on a screenplay conceived by Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov
Diane Frolov
Diane Frolov is an American television writer and producer. She has written for several television shows, including The Sopranos and Northern Exposure. She frequently co-writes episodes with her husband, Andrew Schneider.-Career:...
. Alien Nation: Body and Soul
Alien Nation: Body and Soul
Alien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season. Alien Nation: Body and Soul was the second television movie produced to continue the story after the premature cancellation of the popular series. It follows the television series format of two parallel...
would follow on October 10, 1995 with a story revolving around a slaveship medical experiment involving a child who appears to be part human and part Newcomer. A side plot also involves the character of Sikes and a female Tenctonese exploring a relationship. Harry and Renee Longstreet were credited writers for the storyline. The franchise would see two more sequels in 1996. Alien Nation: Millennium
Alien Nation: Millennium
Alien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season. Alien Nation: Millennium was the third television movie produced to continue the story after the premature cancellation of the popular series...
was released on January 2, 1996, and dealt with a mysterious cult that uses mind-altering alien artifacts to lure Newcomer followers into a doomsday scenario. The film's plot is a tie-in to one of the television episodes titled: Generation to Generation that premiered on January 29, 1990. Alien Nation: The Enemy Within
Alien Nation: The Enemy Within
Alien Nation was a television show from the Fox Network which lasted a single season. Alien Nation: The Enemy Within is the fourth television movie produced to continue the story after the premature cancellation of the popular series...
was aired on November 12, 1996 and revolved around a story from which the detectives try to save their city from an alien threat originating from a waste disposal facility. Racism was a key theme encountered by the character of Francisco. The fifth and final sequel would appear on July 29, 1997. Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy
Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy
Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy was the fifth and final television movie produced to continue the story of the prematurely canceled television series Alien Nation. The plot introduces the idea that among the Tenctonese slaves, there was a resistance movement called the Udara who were implanted...
, finds the detectives trying to stop a resistance group among the Newcomers trying to indoctrinate those among them into causing mayhem. A smaller plot is introduced with the younger Newcomer Buck, played by actor Sean Six, enlisting to become a police officer. All the sequels in the series were directed by veteran producer Kenneth Johnson.
Books
Pocket BooksPocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
, a division of Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, began publishing a novel series in connection with the film starting in 1993. The writing team of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are a prolific husband and wife writing team, known mainly for their involvement with the Star Trek franchise. They have written several books both within and outside of Star Trek, and acted as executive story editors and co-producers on the fourth season of the...
, known for their work in Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, committed to a novel entitled Day of Descent. Some of the novels were pretexts for the movie sequels, such as the novel Cross of Blood authored by K.W. Jeter, which became a tie-in to the Dark Horizon film, or the novel Body and Soul authored by Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
, which became one of the sequels of the same name. Subject matter such as racism and discrimination with extraterrestrial themes were regularly encountered within the books. Authors K. W. Jeter
K. W. Jeter
Kevin Wayne Jeter is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters...
and Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear
Barry B. Longyear born 1942 is a US writer and novelist who resides in Maine.-Career:He is best known for the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella Enemy Mine, which was subsequently made into an identically titled movie and a novelization in collaboration with David Gerrold. The story tells of an...
were regular contributors to the series with novels like, The Change and Slag Like Me.
Comics
Between 1990 to 1992, Malibu ComicsMalibu Comics
Malibu Comics was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California. Malibu imprints included Aircel Comics and Eternity Comics...
began printing several comics from an adaptation of the general Alien Nation storyline. Among first released titles were, The Spartans created with the help of author Bill Spangler and illustrator James Tucker, and A Breed Apart authored by Steve Jones. Other titles included Public Enemy authored by Sandy Carruthers
Sandy Carruthers
Sandy Carruthers is a Canadian artist and graphic design instructor, known for his work as the first illustrator of the original Men in Black comic book series, and as creator of the webcomic series, Canadiana: the New Spirit of Canada.- Biography :...
and illustrated by Lowell Cunningham
Lowell Cunningham
Lowell Cunningham is an American creator and writer best known for The Men in Black, which became the basis for a media franchise.-Biography:Cunningham created the comic book series The Men in Black...
, and a unique version entitled Ape Nation, a crossover series adapted with the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (franchise)
Planet of the Apes is a United States media franchise with seven films , two television series, and comic books. The series began with the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes, which was based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle.-Background:The original series of...
franchise. The Ape Nation series included four different adventures called Plans, Pasts, Pawns and Pains along with a collector's edition. Other contributors to the series included illustrators Terry Pallott and Leonard Kirk
Leonard Kirk
Leonard Kirk is an American-born comic book artist living in Canada. He has worked on such properties as Supergirl, JSA, Star Trek, Batman, and Witchblade...
to titles like, The Skin Trade.
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 56% of 25 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5.4 out of 10.
/VE1117789176.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 Alien Nation Film Review]. Variety Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
| "The movie is simply a failure of imagination. Nobody looked at the screenplay and observed that it didn't try hard enough, that it had no surprises, that it didn't attempt to delight its audiences with twists and turns on the phoned-in plotline." |
| —Roger Ebert, writing in The Chicago Sun Times |
Another positive review centering around the science fiction elements of the film was delivered by Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. She praised the theme saying, "Alien Nation has the best science-fiction idea this side of The Terminator." However, Maslin was quick to admit the film "settles down, with remarkable ease, into the routine of a two-cop buddy film, extraterrestrials and all. Matthew and Sam (whom Matthew refuses to address that way, renaming him George) go through all the familiar stages of forging a friendship between partners: cool antipathy, exchanges of insults, growing mutual respect on the job and, finally, an all-night drinking binge to solidify their buddyhood." On a negative front, author Jay Carr of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
commented on James Caan's performance viewing him "Looking like a Paul Newman gone wrong, ..." He went on further stating that "the film's air of enlightenment is only makeup deep. And while 'Alien Nation' is no smarter than, say, a 'Lethal Weapon,' it hasn't got the juice or the level of sensory jolt a 'Lethal Weapon' supplies." Other critics such as Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
acknowledged the similarities between other police thriller movies, but still found the film to be a "Genuinely entertaining version of that old reliable; a cop buddy picture with two very different detectives". He explained, "Now this is an example of how a you can put a nice twist on a familiar story, and it will work if its been fully written. Caan and Patinkin have special characters to play." Compelled by the acting, he felt "The buddy combination here, worked for me." He ultimately gave the film a Thumbs Up review. Not nearly as impressed with the film was author NF of TimeOut Magazine calling it, "Worthy, predictable, and dull." A summation of the negativity was described as being, "Played hard and fast, the film might just have worked, but the decision to soft-pedal the violence merely emphasises the obviousness of the liberal point-scoring (parallels with Vietnamese or Nicaraguan refugees are so facile as to be crass)." Critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
bluntly referred to the film as "A great concept that doesn't quite pay off." But in a hint of commendation, he remarked how the film contains "many clever touches and terrific performances by Caan and Patinkin."
Accolades
The film won the Saturn AwardSaturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Science Fiction Film of 1988, and received two Saturn nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
as well as Best Make-Up for John M. Elliott Jr. and Stan Winston
Stan Winston
Stanley Winston was an American visual effects supervisor, makeup artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, Iron Man, Edward Scissorhands, and Avatar...
. The film also received two other nominations, among them for Best Dramatic Presentation from the Hugo Awards and Best Film for Graham Baker from the Fantasporto
Fantasporto
Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...
International Fantasy Film Awards.
Box office
The film premiered in cinemas on October 7, 1988. At its widest distribution in the U.S., the film was screened at 1,436 theaters grossing $8,421,429, averaging $5,889 in revenue per theater in its opening weekend. During that first weekend in release, the film opened in first place beating out the films, The Accused and PunchlinePunchline (film)
Punchline is a 1988 American film written and directed by David Seltzer and stars Tom Hanks as a very talented young comic who helps a housewife, played by Sally Field who wants to break into stand-up comedy.-Synopsis:...
. The film's revenue dropped by 49% in its second week of release, earning $4,252,252. In the month of November during its final weekend showing in theaters, the film came out in 10th place grossing $1,306,849. The film went on to top out domestically at $25,216,243 in total ticket sales through a 5-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $6,938,804 in box office business for a combined total of $32,155,047. For 1988
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 41.
Home media
The film was initially released in VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
video format on September 10, 1996. The Region 1 Code
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
edition of the film was released on DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
in the United States on March 27, 2001 and includes a narrative and interview filled Featurette, a Behind the Scenes clip featuring director Graham Baker, a TV Spots special, the Theatrical Trailer and Fox Flix theatrical trailers for The Abyss
The Abyss
The Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri...
, Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, Enemy Mine
Enemy Mine (film)
Enemy Mine is a 1985 science fiction film based on the story of the same title by Barry B. Longyear. It was produced by 20th Century Fox, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and starred Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr...
, Independence Day
Independence Day (film)
Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
and Zardoz
Zardoz
Zardoz is a 1974 science fiction/fantasy film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman. It stars Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, and Sara Kestelman. Zardoz was Connery's second post-James Bond role...
. Currently, there is no exact set date on a future Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
release for the film.