DaboGirl

"Oh my." The Sulu dance "Rocks"!

Saldana Needed Some Convincing To Take On Uhura

by TrekMovie.com Staff

About a year ago TrekMovie.com broke the news that Zoe Saldana had been offered the role of Uhura in the new Star Trek. At the time it wasn’t clear if she would take the role, due to her obligations shooting another Sci-Fi blockbuster, Avatar. Now in a new interview Saldana reveals that the director of that film helped talk her into taking the Trek job. The actress also talks more more about Uhura and her possible future as well as JJ Abrams’ respect for the fans.

Trek respect from Titanic director and Abrams

Saldana recalls what it was like getting the role of Uhura telling Star Trek Magazine she was "on the fence" and had a "lack of knowledge about Star Trek." But even though it might effect her schedule on his new Avatar film, James Cameron (Titanic) helped her realize what an opportunity it was, Saldana notes.

I was working on Avatar and even Jim [Cameron] was saying, "You’re kidding me? You’re not going to do Star Trek?! Give me J.J.’s number, and I’ll call him." He invited J.J. over to the set, and just to see these two directors having a sci fi conversation…. I think I would charge people.

Since taking the job, Saldana has got to know Trek much more. She tells STM that since filming has ended she has been watching even more Trek and has gained a new respect for the show and the original creators. She also notes how much much respect J.J. Abrams had when making the new Star Trek, telling STM:

[JJ] understand that he’s making a movie for the fans primarily. We always felt that as well. We always treated everything with so much respect. "Ok, how is this done?" There were things that were very appointed that we should not be tampering with and I needed to know specific details. Anyone like me can go and see this movie and be blown away regardless, because they’re starting from the moment they walk in the theater. But for the fans, we’re picking up where others left off. W needed to know how to do things in a way that won’t change their history of Star Trek.

Uhura: communications for now - butt kicking next time

In the interview Saldana also talks about the challenge of taking on the role that Nichelle Nichols made famous, and she may have also dropped a hint about the movie itself:

As a woman, I always want to find roles that are empowering to women, not just soccer moms, or girlfriends or victims. She’s Uhura, man. She communicates! If it’s not for her, nobody will understand the Romulan language! All these people in the ship need her. She’s so necessary, just like Scotty and every body.

Of course if the new Star Trek works out, there will be more films with this new cast, and Saldana is already thinking ahead, telling Star Trek mag she will be ready to expand her scope:

…there’s so much space for her to grow and start branching out. I want to see her do some kicks or something. I’m very physical. Why should Captain Kirk always be the one to save the day? Uhura should tell Spock and Kirk, "You know what? I’ve got this one."

Link: http://trekmovie.com/2008/08/25/saldana-ne...-take-on-uhura/

I could see me voting for about half of the ones up there, but I actually think Eratosthenes moving Enterprise D was my favorite.

Nicely done. :blink:

Dabo Queen is coming from out of nowhere and making that last minute push!

"I don't care what people think. people are stupid."

Charles Barkley

I don't even know where the name Gamera comes from. I just got to know him under that name. *too lazy to google now* *lol* But yeah, I guess Stephen of Borg would be the best choice for a Trek site...

Gamera

Place of birth: Artic ocean

Age: over 8,000 years

Sex: unknown

Height: 60 meters

(approx. 197 feet)

Weight: 80 tons

Air speed: Mach 3

Water speed: 150 knots

Land speed: 200 miles per hour

Weapons: claws, teeth, spits fire, gives off radio jamming energy waves

paycheck

I forced myself to set through the 1st Terminator - bored out of my mind and that chick screamed and screamed and screamed.

And while Alien was certaintly intense - it was ultimately little more than Jaws in Space in other words - avoid being eaten or killed by the creature.

Roger Ebert mentions the same Jaws comparison, however he calls it a great movie. I felt between Ridley Scott & H.R. Geiger they really set a unique dark/complex tone for the film.

Alien (1979)

by Roger Ebert

"Alien" has been called the most influential of modern action pictures, and so it is. - Roger Ebert

Variety noted a few years later that Weaver remained the only actress who could "open" an action movie, and it was a tribute to her versatility that she could play the hard, competent, ruthless Ripley and then double back for so many other kinds of roles. One of the reasons she works so well in the role is that she comes across as smart; the 1979 "Alien" is a much more cerebral movie than its sequels, with the characters (and the audience) genuinely engaged in curiosity about this weirdest of lifeforms.

At its most fundamental level, "Alien" is a movie about things that can jump out of the dark and kill you. It shares a kinship with the shark in "Jaws," Michael Myers in "Halloween," and assorted spiders, snakes, tarantulas and stalkers. Its most obvious influence is Howard Hawks' "The Thing" (1951), which was also about a team in an isolated outpost who discover a long-dormant alien, bring it inside, and are picked off one by one as it haunts the corridors. Look at that movie, and you see "Alien" in embryo.

In another way, Ridley Scott's 1979 movie is a great original. It builds on the seminal opening shot of "Star Wars" (1977), with its vast ship in lonely interstellar space, and sidesteps Lucas' space opera to tell a story in the genre of traditional "hard" science fiction; with its tough-talking crew members and their mercenary motives, the story would have found a home in John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction during its nuts-and-bolts period in the 1940s. Campbell loved stories in which engineers and scientists, not space jockeys and ray-gun blasters, dealt with outer space in logical ways.

Certainly the character of Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, would have appealed to readers in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. She has little interest in the romance of finding the alien, and still less in her employer's orders that it be brought back home as a potential weapon. After she sees what it can do, her response to "Special Order 24" ("Return alien lifeform, all other priorities rescinded") is succinct: "How do we kill it?" Her implacable hatred for the alien is the common thread running through all three "Alien" sequels, which have gradually descended in quality but retained their motivating obsession.

One of the great strengths of "Alien" is its pacing. It takes its time. It waits. It allows silences (the majestic opening shots are underscored by Jerry Goldsmith with scarcely audible, far-off metallic chatterings). It suggests the enormity of the crew's discovery by building up to it with small steps: The interception of a signal (is it a warning or an SOS?). The descent to the extraterrestrial surface. The (I'm trying to say a bad word but can't)ing by Brett and Parker, who are concerned only about collecting their shares. The masterstroke of the surface murk through which the crew members move, their helmet lights hardly penetrating the soup. The shadowy outline of the alien ship. The sight of the alien pilot, frozen in his command chair. The enormity of the discovery inside the ship ("It's full of ... leathery eggs ...").

A recent version of this story would have hurtled toward the part where the alien jumps on the crew members. Today's slasher movies, in the sci-fi genre and elsewhere, are all pay-off and no buildup. Consider the wretched remake of the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," which cheats its audience out of an explanation, an introduction of the chain-saw family, and even a proper ending. It isn't the slashing that we enjoy. It's the waiting for the slashing.

Hitchcock knew this, with his famous example of a bomb under a table. (It goes off -- that's action. It doesn't go off -- that's suspense.) M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" knew that, and hardly bothered with its aliens at all. And the best scenes in Hawks' "The Thing" involve the empty corridors of the Antarctic station where the Thing might be lurking.

"Alien" uses a tricky device to keep the alien fresh throughout the movie: It evolves the nature and appearance of the creature, so we never know quite what it looks like or what it can do. We assume at first the eggs will produce a humanoid, because that's the form of the petrified pilot on the long-lost alien ship. But of course we don't even know if the pilot is of the same race as his cargo of leathery eggs. Maybe he also considers them as a weapon. The first time we get a good look at the alien, as it bursts from the chest of poor Kane (John Hurt). It is unmistakably phallic in shape, and the critic Tim Dirks mentions its "open, dripping vaginal mouth."

Yes, but later, as we glimpse it during a series of attacks, it no longer assumes this shape at all, but looks octopod, reptilian or arachnoid. And then it uncorks another secret; the fluid dripping from its body is a "universal solvent," and there is a sequence both frightening and delightful as it eats its way through one deck of the ship after another. As the sequels ("Aliens," "Alien 3," "Alien Resurrection") will make all too abundantly clear, the alien is capable of being just about any monster the story requires. Because it doesn't play by any rules of appearance or behavior, it becomes an amorphous menace, haunting the ship with the specter of shape-shifting evil. Ash (Ian Holm), the science officer, calls it a "perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility," and admits: "I admire its purity, its sense of survival; unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."

Sigourney Weaver, whose career would be linked for years to this strange creature, is of course the only survivor of this original crew, except for the ... cat. The producers must have hoped for a sequel, and by killing everyone except a woman, they cast their lot with a female lead for their series.

Variety noted a few years later that Weaver remained the only actress who could "open" an action movie, and it was a tribute to her versatility that she could play the hard, competent, ruthless Ripley and then double back for so many other kinds of roles. One of the reasons she works so well in the role is that she comes across as smart; the 1979 "Alien" is a much more cerebral movie than its sequels, with the characters (and the audience) genuinely engaged in curiosity about this weirdest of lifeforms.

A peculiarity of the rest of the actors is that none of them were particularly young. Tom Skerritt, the captain, was 46, Hurt was 39 but looked older, Holm was 48, Harry Dean Stanton was 53, Yaphet Kotto was 42, and only Veronica Cartwright at 29 and Weaver at 30 were in the age range of the usual thriller cast. Many recent action pictures have improbably young actors cast as key roles or sidekicks, but by skewing older, "Alien" achieves a certain texture without even making a point of it: These are not adventurers but workers, hired by a company to return 20 million tons of ore to Earth (the vast size of the ship is indicated in a deleted scene, included on the DVD, which takes nearly a minute just to show it passing).

The screenplay by Dan O'Bannon, based on a story he wrote with Ronald Shusett, allows these characters to speak in distinctive voices. Brett and Parker (Kotto and Stanton), who work in the engine room, complain about delays and worry about their cut of the profits. But listen to Ash: "I'm still collating it, actually, but I have confirmed that he's got an outer layer of protein polysaccharides. He has a funny habit of shedding his cells and replacing them with polarized silicon which gives him a prolonged resistance to adverse environmental conditions." And then there is Ripley's direct way of cutting to the bottom line.

The result is a film that absorbs us in a mission before it involves us in an adventure, and that consistently engages the alien with curiosity and logic, instead of simply firing at it. Contrast this movie with a latter-day space opera like "Armageddon," with its average shot a few seconds long and its dialogue reduced to terse statements telegraphing the plot. Much of the credit for "Alien" must go to director Ridley Scott, who had made only one major film before this, the cerebral, elegant "The Duelists" (1977). His next film would be another intelligent, visionary sci-fi epic, "Blade Runner" (1982).

Though his career has included some inexplicable clinkers ("Someone to Watch Over Me"), it has also included "Thelma & Louise," "G.I. Jane," "Gladiator" (unloved by me, but not by audiences), "Black Hawk Down" and "Matchstick Men." These are simultaneously commercial and intelligent projects, made by a director who wants to attract a large audience but doesn't care to insult it.

"Alien" has been called the most influential of modern action pictures, and so it is, although "Halloween" also belongs on the list. Unfortunately, the films it influenced studied its thrills but not its thinking. We have now descended into a bog of Gotcha! movies in which various horrible beings spring on a series of victims, usually teenagers. The ultimate extension of the genre is the Geek Movie, illustrated by the remake of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," which essentially sets the audience the same test as an old-time carnival geek show: Now that you've paid your money, can you keep your eyes open while we disgust you? A few more ambitious and serious sci-fi films have also followed in the footsteps of "Alien," notably the well-made "Aliens" (1986) and "Dark City" (1998). But the original still vibrates with a dark and frightening intensity.

RikerChick

Irene Brustad

DaboGirl

CaptainsBeauty

Luvin1stdegree

Look who's popular with the ladies.

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Playing

I voted Sarah Conner...that might be partially because I've only ever seen half of one scene of the original Alien, I think...or was it?...*ducks*

My dear, sweet Eratosthenes you know I love you right?

You seem like a very bright young man that always posts good stuff.

To borrow from miss TUH you are casting an uninformed vote. Eratosthenes have you ever in your life argued with someone about some issue or event and they have made up their minds and you have 1st hand experience with it and they have never seen it or experienced, but yet and still they they have made up their minds? Well, you are freely admitting that is what you are doing. You can't vote twice, but do yourself a favor go pick up the Alien DVD.

Sure this entire poll is "IMO" and "IMO" Sarah Connor in the original Terminator really wasn't even all that amazing. It's in T2 that she became this force to be reckoned with.

Ripely's character shatered stereotypes and barriers that others could follow in her footsteps after.

I might be wrong, but name me a big studio Sci-Fi/Action movie with a female lead 1970s or before. The Terminator movies that came after don't even fit that bill. Sarah Connor was never the star 'Arnold' was the star of those movies.

Who was the star of the Terminator movies?

Movie Review Query Engine

Based on many critic's reviews they are available at the site below.

Terminator ratings:

51% Excellent

35% Good

12% Fair

2% Poor

Alien ratings:

69% Excellent

22% Good

7% Fair

2% Poor

Link: http://www.mrqe.com/

Note: I'm guessing it was the same two lame critics that rates each as poor.

After conducting an exit poll I predict 'Ghost of Major Hayes' will be the winner.

Congratulations.

this isn't about critical acclaim anyway, it's just about personal favorites. Rotten Tomatoes gave Terminator and T2 100%, and Alien only got 97%.

Only 97% on 'Rotten Tomatoes'? Well, that is certainly pretty subpar.

How many Ocar nominations did Linda Hamilton rack up for playing the role of Sarah Connor?

Amigo, your are 'Cherry Picking' your match up. How about Terminator 1 vs. Alien?

I love Terminator1 & 2, however Alien & Aliens I just feel are superior as far as artfully made cinema.

I realize neither one was the FX driven juggernaut that T2 was.

I voted Sarah Conner...that might be partially because I've only ever seen half of one scene of the original Alien, I think...or was it?...*ducks*

Eratosthenes or 007 if you ever have any free time just look up Alien & Aliens vs. Terminator & Terminator 2 on a respectable critics website Jeffery Lyons, Roger Ebert, Gene Sisckle, Joe Bob Briggs and let me know how many stars and whatnot.

And just an FYI James Cameron directed Aliens, Terminator & Terminator 2. Ridley Scott (Blade Runner/Gladiator) directed Alien.

In 1987 Sigourney Weaver was Nominated for an Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role as Lt. Ellen Ripley.

prescription

Ellen Ripley. No doubt about it.

mammal

I'm actually surprised more people haven't commented on this thread. *bumps to today*

The reason for that is that the same video was posted a long time ago and we all commented then.

Ditto, but Andriod Girl thanks for posting it. I really enjoyed it the 1st time I saw it.

8233

I've always found that song obnoxious and annoying. And not in the good way.

Different strokes for different folks.

I love it! Thanks Android girl for sharing it.

déjà vu

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