Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Alien: Earth season 1, episode 1.The opening scene of FX’sAlien: Earthis probably the closest we’ll ever get to seeing a remake of the timeless originalAlienmovie. The originalAlienfrom 1979 is one of thebest movies ever made, and there’s really no reason to remake it. It’s as thrilling and beautiful now as it was 46 years ago, and there’s almost no chance anyone would dare to mess with a perfect film.
Since a remake will probably never happen, the premiere ofAlien: Earthis the closest we’ll ever get to seeing a modern reimagining of the original movie. Even thoughAlien: Earthtakes place on Earth and earlier intheAlientimeline, it basically contains the entire originalAlienmovie in its first few minutes. It’s not actually a remake, but it’s extremely evocative of 1979’sAlien.
Alien: Earth’s Opening Scene Has A Lot In Common With 1979’s Alien
The opening scene ofAlien: Earthsees thecrew of the USCSSMaginotawake from cryosleep, have a conversation over a meal, and eventually get slaughtered by the alien lifeforms they captured as specimens. It’s also eerily similar to the opening scene of the originalAlien, and essentially serves as a miniature remake of the movie.
Alien’s intro scene is iconic. Kane and the rest of the crew of theNostromowake from cryosleep wearing nothing but their underwear. They have a meal together, discuss their Weyland-Yutani contracts, and argue about compensation. Then, Dallas is called to theNostromo’s computer mainframe, Mother, and the ship is diverted to LV-426, where they find the Xenomorph eggs.
Alien: Earth’s intro is almost the exact same. The crew awakens in their underwear, enjoys a meal, has an argument about payment, and the captain is called away.Even the look and feel ofEarth’s intro is identical toAlien’s. The crew is more diverse, but they wear the same lived-in clothing, smoke cigarettes, riff with one another, and even have similar personalities and looks to the crew of theNostromo.
There are, of course, a few differences. Mr. Teng is openly a synthetic, for example, and the live specimens on board theMaginotweren’t on theNostromo. However,it’s utterly remarkable how wellEarthwas able to replicate the look and feel ofAlienin its opening moments. Even the meal table and Mother’s room look like perfect replicas ofAlien’s sets.
Alien: Earthalso basically condenses the entire plot ofAlieninto a few image montages. We see glimpses of the carnage the Xenomorph wreaks on theMaginot, and the intro ends with Morrow stowing away and preparing for the ship to crash-land. TheMaginotbasically goes through the same thing theNostromodid, just with the added twist of landing on Earth and carrying several lifeforms.
Why It’s Important For The Maginot To Be Like Alien’s Nostromo
TheMaginot’s similarities to theNostromoweren’t an accident, either. Noah Hawley, the creator and executive producer ofAlien: Earth, wanted theMaginotto look and feel like theNostromo(viaVanity Fair). As Hawley explained,Earthis trying to deeply understand the atmosphere ofAliento lend authenticity to the show as anAlienstory.
…[W]e need the authenticity. When you translate a movie to television, the first buy-in is, ‘Did they understand what Alien is atmospherically?'
Hawley also hinted that ifAlien: Earthgets more seasons in the future, the series may end up investigating Weyland-Yutani’s side of the decision to divert theNostromoto LV-426. Hawley also explained that theMaginotwill be a symbol of failure for Yutani specifically. Its similarities to theNostromocould be a major factor in the decision to investigate LV-426.
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Production Designer Andy Nicholson also noted that theMaginotand theNostromoare both Weyland-Yutani ships, so they have clear design similarities despite being used for different purposes (via FX). Nicholson and his team recreated entire sets from the originalAlienjust to makeAlien: Earthlook as similar as possible.
Alien
Cast
Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is a science fiction horror film that follows the crew of the commercial spacecraft Nostromo. Upon investigating a distress signal on a distant moon, they discover a deadly extraterrestrial lifeform. The film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and became a seminal work in both the sci-fi and horror genres, known for its atmospheric tension and groundbreaking visual effects.
