this is a space for Cassette Futurism -- retro images, media, design and technology from the 70s and 80s
*reposts to get started, mods welcome
The entire movie embodies Cassette Futurism, but IMO the self-destruct sequence is particularly great. The entire process looks so satisfying that I probably wouldn't be able to stop myself from running it if I were one of the crew.
More of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9CqREun_Bg
Man, it's like Ridley Scott saw this gorgeous prop on set and said: "Okay, gimme one hard light over there and move it around until this thing looks really cool." You really can't see half of what's in the frame because it's obscured by the other half of the frame and the prop itself makes no sense... but somehow that doesn't matter: something important is happening.
This is how a self-destruction system ought to be. An extremely long, and somewhat complicated series of hoops. Because you seriously don't want to just accidentally flip a plastic cap and hit a button or even require a key or two.
And the only movie to depict one this way is the one where you want the ship to blow up and not be miraculously stopped at the final seconds. The tension!
Thats was complicated like that just because they didn't want Jones to activate it by "accident".
This and Bladerunner is on my watchlist.
Yeah, Blade Runner is also amazing at capturing the aesthetic. I watched the final cut version of it, which is the only one that Ridley Scott got complete creative control over. Haven't watched the other cuts but did check out the monologue voiceovers on youtube that are on some of the other cuts, and I didn't care for them. The happy ending on some of them also seemed silly. There's a whole Wikipedia article about the various versions lol.
Haven't yet watched Blade Runner 2049 yet, but I've heard it's worth watching. Not quite as good as the original, but not much worse.
What I love about Blade Runner is the dead-simple use of literal atmosphere: rain, fog, hard lights, and hard shadows. It's always cold, rainy, humid, and it's hard to see. Every scene is just... uncomfortable yet it has this exotic beauty to it.
Is there any difference between different cuts in Story and Aesthetics? Or Is it same?
Yes. The original was butchered by studio execs that didn't understand the film. I've only seen clips of it, but it's pretty bad.
The final cut is what I and most people recommend. It's a small aesthetic and pacing change over the "directors" cut.
And definitely watch Alien too!
(ˊᗜˋ)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*
Other than the happy ending on some cuts providing a different tone for the ending, I don't think there's any difference in the story/aesthetics
This is one of those movies that sticks with you. The aesthetic blows me away every time, from the very beginning. The sets are incredibly cassette-ey while super sleek and modern for the time, and obviously fully practical. Quite possibly my favorite movie in terms of set design. You can tell the overall design is timeless because it changes very little across the decades that they’ve been making Alien movies.
Reminds me of this video about real world mechanisms that are used for arming nukes:
https://youtu.be/F1LPmAF2eNA
Mmmm... Look at that satisfying gif