IIRC it was Lance who came up with the knife trick idea, as he encountered a problem at customs bringing in a stack load of different knives to try out. He was very passionate about the project, I remember he paid out to have double-pupil contacts made especially.

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Weyland Yutani Corp. Bio-Weapons Division - "Superior Weapons through Superior Genetics"

And yet one of them whines about wanting time off. His buddy says that he just got three weeks, to which he replies, "I'm talking' about breathin', not this frozen stuff".
I think it's Frost who says this. Locker scene. Makes me think Cryo Time perhaps does not count?

Well, how would you rather spend your time off? Unconscious on your way to work, or up and about doing what you want?

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Witty closing remarks have been replaced by massive head trauma and severe hemorrhaging.

I think the banter was that cryo time doesn't count as "time off".

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Weyland Yutani Corp. Bio-Weapons Division - "Superior Weapons through Superior Genetics"

As mentioned, he's whining because that 3 weeks of being frozzed is considered by the company/Corps/Colonial Administration to actually be his time off, rather than breathing as he states.

I still think they're just BSing with each other about their cryo time counting as time off. Like when someone says they're hungry and you respond, "Didn't you eat yesterday?"

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Witty closing remarks have been replaced by massive head trauma and severe hemorrhaging.

Here's a question during debriefing when Hudson says "is this gonna be a stand up fight Sir or another bug hunt?" Does that mean the marines have experience fighting Xenos or that they have already searched for Xenos before and found zip?

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Big Badass Heroes We Be!

Shortly after Ripley is asked "What exactly are we dealing with here?". She then goes on to explain about the xenomorphs physiology. So i'd guess no, nobody, bar Ripley, has encountered Xeno's before. They probably would have taken a lot more guys and more ammo if they'd known what they were up against.

However they have probably come across other organisms in their time. Just my opinion of course

Open to interpretation, like the other question, really.

In some cases, 'Bug Hunt' traditionally refers to a military op where you're picking through the Area of Operations (AO) looking for small numbers of hidden enemies, finding hidden friendlies or similar. Often considered boring compared to a 'get some' stand-up fight and possibly akin to a wild goose chase, I believe the term originated in the Vietnam War.

Now, given that the problem is suggested as a downed transmitter or somesuch and Hudson is a ComTech, bug hunt could literally mean going through a computer system hunting for bugs and glitches. In keeping with the above term, boring as fuck and totally not the stand-up fight he was looking for!

While different species, or significantly different human variants almost certainly exist (Acturians, race of hermaphrodites, perhaps?) resulting in the We Endanger Species, I doubt there's much as alien as an Alien. About the most I'd expect would be very small hostile organisms indigenous to a few surveyed/settled worlds. That'd possibly make the Marines a cross between space-cops and pest exterminators.
In short, Hudson asks if they're fighting against worthwhile armed opponents, or just killing bugs.


Your own interpretation, really.

They have absolutely 100% NEVER experienced "xenos" before. The whole terminology of "Bug" and "Xenos" (shortened from xenomorh) was general terms used by marines BEFORE they knew what the hell they were dealing with. Now, after the fact, the comics and fans have applied their usage to define the aliens species. They were never, ever, ever officially called "bugs" in the movie.

I 100% agree with Ttaskmaster's definition of a "bughunt". Look at his facial expression as he asks. That is tedious mission, not a "standup fight" against a worthy adversary.

On a related note whole Xeno thing has bugged me too (no pun intended). Gorman called it a Xenomorph as a generic scientific term for unknown extraterrestrial which changes forms. The marines had no clue what that meant then, and certainly never called them "Xenos" in the film. Again, fans and the comic books ran wild to the point it is now a commonly accepted 'name' for them.

Both terms have always been little pet peaves of mine. When ONeil called them both names in the game it drove me up the wall.

EDITED: Ttaskmaster said a lot of what I was typing and posted it before me! So content cleaned up a touch.

I also agree they clearly have encountered a few types of aliens species (as the reference to "we endanger species" on the Bug stomper drop ship AND in regard to the Vaz, Hudson, and Ferro conversation about Ripley "seeing an alien once" and the total lack of street cred that brought her. They have seen countless alien species no doubt. Just not THESE "aliens".

I could have sworn Strange Shapes (http://alienseries.wordpress.com/) had an article about the insect imagery in all three films, but I can't find it now. I'll just let Vasquez sum it up:

"These things ain't ants, pendajo."

Whether Cameron was throwing in a Starship Troops reference (as many have suggested), or simply using some military jargon, I'm afraid he created some confusion in a lot of people's minds with the term Bug Hunt. The ECA representative in Ripley's inquest says "And found something which has never been reported once from over three hundred surveyed worlds". That can certainly be taken to mean other things have been "found" and "reported", and we can therefore speculate that some of them required Marine intervention.

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I guess I didn't think about bug hunt just being a reference to a boring mission one things for sure they definitely were not ready for what they found on 426. So were Drake and Vasquez dating in the film there seems to be some hints to that.

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Big Badass Heroes We Be!

Maybe.
However., they were the only two Smartgunners and those military types who crew heavy weapons often set themselves slightly apart from (even believing themselves slightly above) the basic rifle-toters. They form a unique bond with each other through a shared passion for their more specialised weapon.
Additionally, there is a supposed backstory that the two of them were in juvenile prison together, escaping by being drafted into the USCMC. If you look closely, you'll see Vas has a tear tattooed on her cheek just below the eye, symbolising that she's killed someone while inside (or something like that).
As a result, they are closer to each other than the rest of the squad. Whether they are also dating is your own interpretation.

Firstly I love everyone's attention to detail I completely missed the tear tattoo or half the graffiti on the drop ship it makes watching Aliens even more fun each time! Second where is this back story for Vas and Drake are there comics out there with this info I should look up?

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Big Badass Heroes We Be!

I always thought his bug-hunt line hinted at the USCM (or at least the battalion) being the go-to force when WY suspected an alien race to exist on a planet.
They'd be sent in to have a look, maybe die in process and then if they found anything the company would send it's own 'handlers' in.

Tha's what I've always imagined anyway

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AKA: Simon

I always took the term bug-hunt to refer to the level of xenos have been encountered before, as in nothing more than an irritating infestation to be exterminated.

Any creatures encountered by humans up until this time (though in theory, reference to Artcurians may indicate sentient alien life), have been animilistic creatures, so the Colonial Marines are called in, if they're too prolific for colonists to handle, to act as 'Roach Exterminators'. Hence them being dismissive of Ripley's reports, as they've never encountered anything that was a serious threat to an armed marine. In fact, were it not for the fact that they'd happened to nest below the atmosphere processors, and if they'd taken the information more seriously, I doubt if even the alien hive would have proven too much for them.

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Weyland Yutani Corp. Bio-Weapons Division - "Superior Weapons through Superior Genetics"

There's also the factor that any alien race that's not significantly different to terran patterns is most likely to be along the "Bug" line of development. It's just the most functional, really.

It's probably a military reference as mentioned, makes a lot of sense, but i always personally thought of it as, yeah, putting down various lifeforms that're little more than pests (or at least not on the caliber of a xenomorph), which would predominantly be insectlike (or along those lines, anyway).

It's mentioned in the novelisation by Alan Dean Foster.
I *believe* this was written with the benefit of him having a draft script copy, that included things which never made it into the final screenplay.

There's also mention of such things as the infamous Burke Cocoon scene and Ripley being very upset when Wierzbowski karked it. She'd liked Wierzbowski...

I'm still upset about the lack of Ferro's shower scene where she "wiped a towel over her belly, which was as flat and muscular as a steel plate"...

For the most disturbing idea of what James Cameron might have had in mind, Google "The Long Tomorrow" by Dan O'Bannon and Mobius. I'm at work so I can't post the pictures, but it is worth noting that the final fight between the Engineer and the Trilobyte in Prometheus is heavily influenced by the Arcturian encounter in O'Bannon's comic book.

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I am reminded of what Hudson said when Vaz suggested they go back for Apone and Dietrich...


"F--- THAT! I AIN'T GOIN' BACK IN THERE AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"


Kevin

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Scroll halfway down on this page:

http://alienexplorations.blogspot.com/2 ... es-on.html

The tentacled thing on the bed is an Arcturian.

Male? Female? It don't matter when it's Arcturian!

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Yeah I'm with Burton...so there was an idea to have Ripley and Weirzbowski have a thing? Was the Hicks Ripley flirting added in later or something?

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Big Badass Heroes We Be!

It actually originates from Alien.
There was meant to be a scene that strongly indicated (if not actually showed) Ripley and Lambert being a couple.

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AKA: Simon

Where did you get that info? I know there was a scene with Ripley and Dallas having sex (it was in the script but scrapped). It's implied in the film that Parker and Lambert are having sex (and it's blantantly stated in novelization) but I never heard about her and Ripley. There is one scene that Ripley askes Lambert if she has ever slept with Ash.

Charlie

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"There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated. On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money."

The Weirzbowksi and Ripley thing was just a smile and wink kind of interaction from the Aliens Novelization. I need to re-read that whole thing, but as I recall she thought the Ski man was a stud muffin (or something to that effect). Not sure what the original scripts take on that was, but even in the book it wasn't much of a big deal.

Hard to be flirty with no lines. Hard to have a relationship when your gone in the first battle.