Who REALLY Wrote ALIEN? | Making ALIEN

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The writer of Alien was Dan O’Bannon-it says it right on the screen. But the script he wrote with help from Ron Shusett was actually quite different than what we see in the final film. For one, in his version, the alien eggs were discovered in a strange pyramid constructed on the planetoid instead of being stowed on the derelict ship. This was cut for the sake of the budget, but this script also had no mention of Ash or androids at all, Ripley being a woman, or practically any of the dialogue we hear in the movie. So what gives? Where did all this stuff come from and why did O’Bannon get all the credit?
Well, the answer to that question involves a huge battle over who was really responsible for the story we see on-screen. This is the story of perhaps the best unintended collaboration that launched one of the biggest franchises in Sci-Fi.
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BONUS VIDEO (O'Bannon's Alien Story): bit.ly/3En45Z8
Cinema Stories Survey (What movies should I cover?): bit.ly/3BmNVdW
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#Alien #FilmHistory #RidleyScott
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Huge Collection of Alien Resources: cinephiliabeyond.org/alien-40...
Sources:
(Starlog #26) Starlog Magazine 026
(Starlog #24) Starlog Magazine 024
(Cinefantastique V09) Cinefantastique Magazine V09
(Strange Shapes/Fantastic Films #12) Fantastic Films Magazine #12
(The Beast Within) The Beast Within: The Making of ‘Alien’
(Brandywine Wiki) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandyw...
(Hill Wiki) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_...
(Giler Wiki) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_G...
(Worst Films Wiki) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
(LA Times) “Shell Shock on the 'Myra' Set--and It's Not a War Film: Shell Shock on 'Myra'---and It's Not Even a War Film” - by Joyce Haber, Los Angeles Times Oct 19, 1969
(Carroll Wiki) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_...
(Shock Value) Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman
(Rinzler) The Making of Alien by JW Rinzler
(Space Truckin’) Space Truckin’ - the Nostromo (Alien Series Website)
(Starlog #26) Starlog Magazine Issue 026
(The Beast Within) bit.ly/3f6ri87
(Zinoman) Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman
Music:
Artlist.io

[@aidanlynn]

I can't blame O'Bannon for being so enthusiastic during the film's production, the guy was practically living in poverty before they bought the script.

[@jekw23]

He seemed really distraught on the quadrilody. Driving around all night and referring to it as “his” movie. Sounds complicated but O’Bannon didn’t sound like he was the easiest person to work with.

[@biffmercury]

O’Bannon had felt that he had been shorted on credit in some ways. He said that John Carpenter walked away with most of the credit for DARK STAR due to his being director. I don’t think Giler and Hill had much respect for him either, based on interviews I’ve seen. O’Bannon said he and Shusett were disturbed by a lot of the swearing and other adult content that they said was inserted by Giler/Hill and that when Ridley Scott was hired, they ran up and gave him a copy of the original script. Ridley looked at it and said, “Yes, we definitely need to go back to the first way.” O’Bannon said after that, the film became a battle between two camps..one wanting one version of the film and the other camp wanting another. O’Bannon and Shusett wrote the first screenplay for what later became TOTAL RECALL. He went through the wringer on that, as well as having to fight for his cut of his Lovecraft adaptation, THE RESURRECTED. He died of stomach cancer, Chrones Disease or cancer of the intestines or something along those lines, so there’s a good chance he was in physical discomfort most of the time, which probably makes him come across as bitter…and he might have actually been bitter. I think he was kind of naive about Hollywood and the compromises that must be made if a film is to get made. However, he had a pretty bad falling out with Ron Shusett over the TOTAL RECALL property, and had pretty huge disagreements on RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) as well, so it’s possible he was just prickly hard to deal with. Anyway, another slam hit out of the park by Cinema Tyler. Great job telling the story. Obviously you went back to the original interviews O’Bannon gave to Starlog and Fantastic Films at the time of the release of ALIEN in 1979.

[@hendrsb33]

@@biffmercury It's funny you mentioned Starlog and Fantastic Films. Both magazines featured articles and amazing photo spreads of the film production before ALIEN came out. I was all in for the movie when I saw them.👍

[@biffmercury]

@@hendrsb33 Same here. Those magazines had me hyped up for new releases for months. What a great time to grow up in.

[@hendrsb33]

@@biffmercury TBH, the sequel-ization of my favorite older movies makes me feel old and jaded sometimes. I don't have the same interest in movies anymore because I feel I've seen it all-- over and over again. I can't believe I now think of ALIEN as an old classic.🖖

[@filipnikolic3509]

I read both of the scripts side by side, jumping between them after each scene. The story structure and plot points are very similar between O'bannons script and the Hill/Giler rewrite, but the characterization is much different. Dan O'bannon comes up with great ideas and does a really good job at structuring the screenplay, but the weakest elements are definitely the characters and dialogue. The characters are very one note and the dialogue feels pulpy, like a 50's sci fi cartoon. All in all, I think both parties deserve the credit for making the script what it is. Dan O'bannon laid the groundwork and Hill/Giler spiced it up to make it even more memorable.

[@davidlean1060]

I have said this on an earlier Tyler video. When you read O'Bannon's script, you see in your mind's eye a Rodger Corman movie. When you read the finished script, you see the movie itself in your head. O'Bannon, bless him, was needlessly chippy and precious about the entire thing. It happens I guess. The entertainment industry as a whole is full of stories about artists getting ripped off and 'rat f**ked', but Dan was unfair on the Brandywine trio. Walter HIll, for example, is far more than a maker of 'tough guy movies', to quote O'Bannon. Have your doubts at the time, but one reason I like Hampton Fancher is he admits that the writing of Blade Runner had to be taken away from him. When he saw the film, he realized, 'Ridley was totally right'. It's a shame Dan couldn't come to the same conclusion afer the saw how succesful the film became. I'd like to think he enjoyed his success. One project set him up for life and not many can boast that. Despite his misgivings at the time, I hope he realized how lucky he was and celebrated it.

[@yw1971]

Hill/Giler also did a rewrite on Star Wars (together with Katz & Hayword)

[@akfreed6949]

I agree with O'Bannon that Walter Hill and his company tried to rip him and Ronald off .

[@21stcenturyhiphop]

@@davidlean1060 O' Bannon is a great writer, bit his version of Alien is bad, as far as scripts are concerned. Hill and Giler's version is superior in every way, but O'Bannon's ideas are sound. I don't think O'Bannon was quite ready to make films within the Hollywood system yet, but I do believe he grew creatively from his experience on Alien; his subsequent scripts are leaps and bounds better.

[@nooneofconsequence1251]

You may be right... but I also find that dialogue often reads as more "pulpy"/"cheesy" whatever when you haven't heard it read outloud by a talented actor. All of the lines in the re-write you probably read in your head with the same voice as the actors in the film gave to them. In the same way that there are some lines from the original Star Wars that, on paper, are absolutely horrible. But... coming from the lips of gifted actors like Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, or Carrie Fisher... they become memorable and quotable.

[@AllThingsFilm1]

The acid for blood came from Ron Cobb, one of the concept designers of ALIEN. Overall, I think ALIEN was improved because of the changes made, including making Ripley a woman.

[@bb1111116]

The addition by Hill and Giler of the Ash character and the company backstory became the backstory of all the later Alien franchise movies. In an Alien movie commentary Ridley Scott pointed this out.

[@watonemillion]

yea, hill and giler produced all of them. got their dirty claws in the franchise and refusing to let go

[@dmor6696]

I still think that the start/stop destruction sequence of the Nostromo by Ripley is what really gave me major amounts of stress... And the landing in LV 426, that soundtrack is just fantastic... I was 8 years old I was and still am a sci fi boy at heart

[@astropioneer3296]

But nothing compares to the fear you feel playing the original Alien board game, from Kenner. It really recreates the suspenseful terror of the movie.

[@ThisSteveGuy]

0:42 - Okay, zooming into the title so it says LIE is too fricken clever.

[@catmate8358]

It's probably fair to say that all four writers deserve some credit, Bannon and Shusett for the original story and Hill and Giler for additional development. The android, the female lead, the evil corporation, these are all good stuff. Creative work is like that - things are often fluid and progress is made in steps. Not all ideas are good but their authors are often not in a position to see it because it's their ideas and they like them. That's where other people come into play - other people in this case being Hill and Giler but probably also Scott and a few others. Many people work on a film. All this being said, it's important to realize that a script is not a film. Alien is remarkable for the visuals and credit for this must be given to Scott and Giger. In the hands of a different director and without Giger, it would have been a very different film. Think of how different Aliens is compared to Alien, and yet Cameron's work was based on the first film and he maintained it's general visual style. Now imagine if Cameron worked from scratch on Alien instead of Scott and think of Avatar.

[@stephenwalker2924]

This went straight into my Watch Again playlist even before I watched the blessed thing! Cinema Tyler is essential viewing, always.

[@gregbors8364]

Agreed

[@Jarumo76]

RIP Alan Ladd Jr. 1937-2022

[@PrivateIvan]

Loving your continuing coverage of Alien, thanks! Perhaps you cover this in the supplemental material, or will cover it later, but Hill's "haiku" script/rewrite of Alien has garnered a level of fame as the epitome of a stripped down script.

[@PopCultureMinefield]

I have broken this down for folks on some of our live streams, and it's great how you put it all into one video. I was lucky to have been friends with Ron Shussett for years, back int the '80s and '90s, and got many stories from him. Man, I love your videos.

[@artcamp7]

Now you're dipping into my real obsessions. oh joy

[@Bsmiley333]

Even though O'Bannon probably doesn't deserve %100 writer credit, he crucially got Ridley to include Giger, Cobb, and Foss in for the design work that defines the look of the film. I'd say that essential contribution is worth an FX consultant credit. Amazing how many key connections have to happen for a great film like this to be created.

[@Chrispy01a]

The script (and subsequent film obviously) could have turned out to be a real stinker with so many cooks however I get the feeling everyone knew this was going to be something different, something really special. Hence I guess most of the rewrites and changes were done with a real passion to get it right (and with some fear that they didn't want to mess it up). Superb content as always!

[@ericjohnson9623]

I remember O'Bannon talking about the Ash twist on the commentary. Unlike Shusett, who liked the twist, O'Bannon said that it reminded him too much of "there's a secret Russian in our submarine" plots and that the movie didn't need a secondary antagonist or threat. He also said that the sequence was fantastic in its execution, calling it something like "a bad idea beautifully directed by Ridley and wonderfully acted by Ian Holm."

[@KourtneysPlasticSaladBowl]

well it's good thing they got rid of 70% of the crap dan came up with, right?

[@serroche]

One of my all time favourite movies, so glad it was released the way it did.

[@nabooster]

If you ever make a film, it will be genius Tyler. You tell us more about the intricacies about film-making than anybody I've ever come across. If anyone with any clout is reading this, this chap deserves his own series/show.

[@Poopscipade]

I don't know, man. The RLM guys know a lot about film as well...and they made Space Cop.

[@greyone40]

Whatever film he made, it would be worth watching just for the hours and hours of top notch "behind the scenes" extra content.

[@LorcaLoca]

Directing films and analysing films require some different skills.

[@gregbors8364]

Directing is a whole different ballgame. Not saying Tyler wouldn’t be good at it, but people like Kubrick, Coppola and Peter Jackson have insane organizational skills and work ethics

[@nabooster]

@@Poopscipade That's a very good point!

[@finalascent]

I'm glad they combined the ship and the egg repository. The size of that chamber bothered me until I thought of something: what if the Space Jockeys were also exploring/exploiting minerals? Maybe they had an orbital GPR which picked up a huge cavity on LV-426, and they set down right on top of it to begin checking it out...

[@1800astra]

Great summary. As a long-time fan of Alien, this is surely one of the least edifying aspects of the brilliant collaborative success that the movie is known for. Everything from the future and alien aesthetic, to the costumes and production design, the music and incredible sound effects, and the A-game editing of Terry Rawlings, it's all a great advert for the collaborative partnership between creatives, producers and the technical and marketing teams. This particular chapter, the basically 'who did what and who should get credit' issue has been bubbling under since the 1979 Cinefantastique coverage aired the dirty laundry, and unfortunately subtracts from the burnish that the whole Alien production rightly deserves. That it turned out as good as it did is testament to it becoming greater than the sum of its parts, and hearing O'Bannon snipe at the Producers and hearing the Brandywine team downplay O'Bannon's contribution so long after the fact is disappointingly mundane. 'Success has many fathers' indeed.

[@lorddouglas6659]

I will always associate Dan O'bannon with "Dark Star" one of my favorite movies.

[@theplasticlens]

Yes! And in 'Dark Star' there are seeds of Alien right there for all to see, including hunting an alien in the maintenance ducts!

[@DarksaberForce]

Don't forget Return of the Living Dead.

[@vincentgoupil180]

Agree, "Dark Star" is also one of my favorite movies. Always thought this Alien was orginally the beachball prop alien from "Dark Star" Pinback (Dan O'Bannon deflated. O'Bannon bought attention to H.H. Geiger which for me made the movie similiar to Moebius and "Bladerunner" O'Bannon was associated with.

[@TroyFullwood]

Obannons script is really not that different from the finished film, having read it. Very few of Hill and Gilers big ideas to fix the story ended up in the finished product outside of new dialogue - a lot of them are pretty stock and feel poorly thought out. Punching up the dialogue was really all that it needed.

[@nicolasauproux]

thanks for the copyright on the portrait I made of him, most of people don't put it ^^

[@agfagaevart]

Another link to Star Wars not mentioned here, is that Dan O'Bannon had a Computer FX company which supplied graphic displays for the Death Star's approach on Yavin at the end of the movie.

[@ianbauer4703]

Beautiful breakdown of film history as always.

[@JohnInTheShelter]

Enjoyed your video very much. All of your videos come from a place of enthusiasm and deep interest, but also knowledge. You credit sources as no other movie KZbinr I know does. The battle was published in Cinefantastique and elsewhere in 1979. The O'Bannon draft IS the movie's story (minus some additions), but Walter Hill in particular redid almost every line of dialog. The Writer's Guild decides authorship by looking at all the submitted scripts without the author's name(s). Even at the time, pretty much everyone agreed that Hill's draft was much crisper--his scriptwriting style is punch and sharp. Scenes Hill added REALLY changed things--at one point, there was no ALIEN in the damned thing--it was a creature made by HUMANS on a now-abandoned secret base. I admire O'Bannon and think he was treated shabbily--imagine the fan reaction to the various mistreatment of Roddenberry and Lucas among others. He was a pain on the original, but if he'd come along a little later, and had better publicity, things might not have gone so badly for him. OTOH, there's no way O'Bannon deserved solo screenplay credit. Read Hill's drafts. As Scott said at the time, if they went with the original idea of MOTHER they'd have to credit Stanley Kubrick. Hill then split MOTHER into the computer and Ash. I think people need and want One Creator of the properties we like. But it's not simple, especially not years later. But while we think of these movies as being Lucas movies or Spielberg movies or Scott or Cameron movies, there are multiple names under the Written By credits, and various 'producer' types who may have gotten those credits for a polish or two. All those names on the screen for ten minutes at the end are there for a reason.

[@Kipa12312]

I've been waiting for this!

[@ryangettig274]

Certainly the corporate paranoia,and Ash came from David Giler,who wrote The Parallax View-1974,a top tier 70's conspiracy film.Right there with The Conversation &Winter Kills for me:)

[@davidlean1060]

You name one of Alan J Pakula's Conspiracy Trilogy and then fal to mention the other conspiracy classic he made, All The President's Men! Tut tut ;)

[@ryangettig274]

@@davidlean1060 Oh yeah,wise guy who is NOT david lean-Technically it's a quartet quintet,that extended well into the 80's &90's:)Klute,ATPM,TPV,Presumed Innocent&The Pelican Brief.Cut.Print:)

[@davidlean1060]

@@ryangettig274 Well, I am, I'm just not THAT David Lean. I presume you don't have Ryangettig247 on your passport either, so there's a pair of us in it lol

[@ryangettig274]

@@davidlean1060 Season's Blessings-I wish Pakula was still making pictures,instead we get FreeWilly In Space Smurf shite from someone who used to be James Cameron.

[@davidlean1060]

@@ryangettig274 Shame alright. I fondly remember watching those 3 films with my old man when I was only about 12 or 13. The old man, who is long gone now, saw great films as a means to an education! Want to learn about the coruption of powerful men, watch a Pakula film. Want to learn about escaping the yolk of powerful men and becoming your own man, watch a Kubrick movie and so on....

[@HumanHamCube]

I'm a big Alien fan and there were Nuggets in your video I hadn't heard before. AWESOME!

[@fredo1070]

Fantastic documentary.

[@odt4492]

"the perfect organism. unclouded by delusions of morality."

[@phillip5245]

The cold (albeit modulated) sound of Holm''s delivery in, "I can't lie to you about your chances. You have my deepest sympathies" always put a chill up my spine.

[@CMDR_Verm]

You can call me out for being a supporter of the underdog but I think Dan O'Bannon got a raw deal throughout his career. He provided the ideas which other's then tried to steal from him and put him down as a moaner or money-grabber. Let's be honest, it was because of Dark Star that Alejandro Jodorowsky called O'Bannon in to design aspects of his Dune project - not these Brandywine moneymen or John Carpenter (no disrespect to him). After Dune's failure, O'Bannon went home and picked up a script he'd been working on (Star Beast as Alien was originally entitled) but on which he'd reached an impass. Shusett helped him out with the facehugger concept to move the story along and there you go. To add a bit more detail, it was whilst working on Dune that O'Bannon had been introduced to the work of Giger and he convinced Ridley Scott to use Giger for the alien design etc. The studio fought this as they thought Giger was too extreme but Scott stuck to his guns. Rather than Hill, Giler and Carroll claim credit, it sounds to me that if it were left to them, Alien would never had existed. Every time I read of their supposed involvement I just get angry. I think their characters were summed up in ''Aliens'' as Carter Burke. Believe it or not, that only just occurred to me.

[@joebiden53245]

keep up the good work

[@Socrates21stCentury]

Nice job, thanks!

[@joeyjojojunior1794]

13:12 God Bless you for this sweet, Simpsons throwback.

[@agesflow6815]

Thank you, CinemaTyler.

[@erikbihari3625]

The question:-"that's the question".

[@savannahbanks]

Found you last night! Joined Mubo…. But can I get these great movies to play on the tv?

[@jamesstaggs4160]

Ah Spaceballs. "I knew it I'm surrounded by assholes. Keep firing assholes" may be the funniest line I've ever heard. It was set up perfectly and it was delivered with such sincerity. Just great stuff.

[@bruta1ny]

Criminally low views for this brilliant and well-crafted video

[@yw1971]

1:19 - Too bad Scott does not care anymore for such quality

[@Plathismo]

"...he added a sex scene between Dallas and Parker." Wait, what?!?

[@cleowho]

I don't know if he mis-spoke, or just poorly informed. It was Lambert and Parker who had a scene where they were 'making out' while Kane's corpse floats past outside.

[@MagneticDonut]

I love your videos man. Of the gratest cinema channels on yt

[@CybershamanX]

(4:33) I love how "person" is crossed off on the sign and replaced with "monsters". 😉

[@germanboneu6503]

Hill and giler did the rewritings to get o'bannon out of the writing credits, with that base i solely believe o'bannon's story, they tried to rip him off and couldn't, he even said that the ash character was their idea if im not mistaken, and i take his word over any producer, also the sex scene was between ripley and dallas not ash, he was the one to get giger, who was introduced to him by Giraud aka Moebius, heck he even wrote The Long Tomorrow witch was the inspiration for blade run (the revolutionary sci-fi movie!) so he wasn't just the writer, he also created the visual themes, he got the alien creature design from giger and the sci-fy elemnts from other people he collaborated with! He said that te final script was more than 80% of to the original, witch if you count the deleated scenes is practically all of the original, dan has been stomped by the industry countless times, he was a great writer, a trully sci-fi geek, a great director and also created the speacial effects that star wars later riped off (or maybe he did them as he is credited as the computer special effects for the movie)

[@vincentgoupil180]

Good you mentioned Giger and Moebius Always thought the Alien was orginally from the beachball alien in "Dark Star" :)

[@SoniListon-lu4cn]

Weaver had a really strong point about the logical improbability of the sequel. Why would a person, after going through something like this, ever want to go in space again? In the sequel, they said "you can fly again", like that is some super desired job (didnt look like that in the original). Also, in the sequel, Ripley character agreed to go back "to be sure" aliens are dead or to kill them or sth. That weakens her character, turning her from a beliveable person into a more of a comic book character.

[@matthewdoyle6823]

"Ash and the Robot Subplot." I'm putting that on a T-shirt!

[@kudukilla]

Most importantly who put Jones into the script?

[@jeromelemoine1942]

There was already a cat in the first O'Bannon's draft (i don't remember if her name was Jones) and the startling scène where it's mistaken for the creature was already there right from the start.

[@jonesygrets6029]

Watch a anime called lily cat Basically alien the anime There’s a cat in that too 😂

[@SmartCookie2022]

I believe Giler and Carroll's involvement in Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, and even the belated sequels, tells us everything we need to know about who were the real creative brains behind Alien... and that was Dan O'Bannon and Ron Shusett. As for Walter Hill, Gordon Carroll and David Giler, they were very good script polishers.

[@CMDR_Verm]

I couldn't agree more. It was the idea of O'Bannon to begin with, later having the contribution of his good friend Shusett, that made Alien the story that is was. Any alterations made by anyone after the script was finished might be acknowledged but Hill, Guyler and Caroll always come across as saying that Alien would have been nothing without them. The arrogance of these talentless money-men always get my back up.

[@21stcenturyhiphop]

​@@CMDR_Verm Waler Hill is far from talentless, and has many classic scripts and films go his name. Dude literally invented the modern buddy cop movie.

[@davidlean1060]

@@21stcenturyhiphop ...and The Driver has been influencing film makers like JIm Cameron and Nick Refn since its release in the 70s. The Warriors too. Although not a fav of mine, that film still has a huge cult following. He was far from a maker of 'tough guy movies', to quote O'Bannon.

[@21stcenturyhiphop]

@@davidlean1060 Walter Hill has a sneaky amount of classic films, and had a really unique haiku screenwriting style. A great director and writer.

[@davidlean1060]

@@21stcenturyhiphop That's at least 2 movies that turn up on people's fav list. As much as I like O'Bannon, he can only boast one.

[@bbloomfield6497]

I rarely watch TV, but flicked around last night to find Alien playing. In standard definition, aspect ratio blown, channel watermark in the corner, pop up ads and of course ad breaks. So horrific I turned it off immediately.

[@user-bm8us6lf7x]

There were so many Alien movies and series, during the late 60's and 70's it is hard to say but many say it was taken from the move called, The Ore.

[@user-bm8us6lf7x]

There was also a movie, Xenomorph.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

12:38 looks like my post was deleted. Regardless, I guess it was the 1977 Walter Hill script that has these story elements (as it was the more staccato Hill and Giler script in 1978 that introduced Ash in place of Mother)... I know Cinefantastique Vol.9 Issue 1 has an excellent set of articles on *Alien,* including excerpts of this early Walter Hill script. If anyone has a copy or PDF of this script, please let us know.

[@JohnMoseley]

I had a debate with a housemate once in which she claimed that if I didn't like things to be badly written, then, by definition, I didn't like sci-fi.

[@russellb5573]

I see what you did there! The word 'lie' in Alien. Clever! Just a point. I like your video's but personally would prefer to listen to your unique voice and what you've got to say, rather than distracting/ irritating background music. That's my pennies worth from over here 🇬🇧 Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, which ever you prefer. LOL

[@CinemaTyler]

Thanks for the feedback! If you have a few minutes, I'd love it if you could fill out this survey to help me better understand what you like and what could be fixed: bit.ly/3BmNVdW

[@nobodynothing00000]

Walter Hill and David Giler did a rewrite to punch up the dialogue. You wouldn't even believe me about the stories in Hollywood about writers getting credit and not getting credit. In any event Walter Hill's movie typically have very lean, spartan dialogue. You better believe Eddie Murphy ad libbed most of his stuff in 48 hours.

[@Ravewolf24]

O'Bannon may have been overbearing and hard to work with, but don't forget that the script rewriters tried to claim primary credit on the script and, by their own account, just coldly welcomed O'Bannon to deal with it in arbitration as their only response when he understandably objected. But then that backfired on them when arbitration found in favor of O'Bannon.

[@dsolosan]

I don't think this is true. The shot of the Hill/Giler script in this video only shows the top of the title page which has Alien, screenplay by Hill/Giler (11:38). Later on (15:23), you see the bottom of the page which has "based on screenplay by Dan O'Bannon, etc." They can type whatever they want on their page, but in the end, the WGAw will decide who gets what in arbitration.

[@Ravewolf24]

@@dsolosan Yes, that is right, my recollection though was taken from another account in which Giler himself references an exchange with O'Bannon on this and his own saying at that point that it would have to go to arbitration. Unfortunately, I can't seem to presently find where that is on the DVD extras etc., but I do recall it. In the Fox Making Of video, as you may recall, O'Bannon cynically claims that Giler and Hill were just making arbitrary changes to attempt to take more credit, while Giler literally claims to have rewritten the whole script from "top to bottom." Meanwhile, Ron Shusett contradicts this, downplaying their script changes. Obviously, both sides have their own point of view and agendas. I imagine that the truth lies somewhere in-between.

[@Malum09]

To me Basically is Story by O'Bannon and Shusett and final script by O'Bannon, Giler and Hill.

[@KirtFitzpatrick]

I'm glad you're not doing wall to wall Kubrick videos anymore. Your videos are excellent. But I can only handle so many Kubrick stories. I'm glad you're finally using your talents to tell other stories. ;-)

[@BishopBigans]

The basic story of Alien is remarkably similar to Queen of Blood(1966)

[@kevinmcgrath2077]

Also the basic story of Lifeforce (1985) uses "Vampires in Space" themes similar to Queen of Blood :)

[@lesleyrussell8200]

the basic story of alien 79 was copied from stoker,s DRACULA the voyage of the demeter

[@kidzoki]

I read O'Bannon's screenplay a few years back. Recall being shocked at how much of the finished film O'Bannon hadn't written. Also remember thinking it was pretty flat and seemed like a shameless rewrite of "It! The Terror From Beyond Space." Hill and Giler performed a miracle and saved the show.

[@joneggelton]

That original script is such a chore to read. If I remember correctly, the only bit of dialogue which made it through the countless re-writes, is proto-Ripley's attempt to assert authority and stop the facehugger being brought aboard. Of course other than those few lines, it's really nothing like the final scene, because Ash (who defies her) was a later addition.

[@Captain_Willard]

Just stumbled across this channel, I'm gonna have to watch all the videos

[@SpaceJockey805]

Dan OBannon wrote it > David Giler and Walter Hill made it better > Ridley Scott receives all the credit

[@nabooster]

Failure is an orphan, success has many parents. IMHO, Alien is thanks mainly to O'Bannon, Shusett, Scott & those other guys

[@ryangettig274]

Terry Rawlings,Roger Christian,Gordon Willis,Carlo Rambaldi,Ron Cobb,Jerry Goldsmith,and there are tons more...

[@ryangettig274]

Mary Selway-legendary casting agent:)

[@apollion888]

My hovercraft is full of eels

[@hulking_presence]

10:54 is this from alien too? I don't remember it

[@blacknapalm2131]

*The android David wrote the script after coming back in time with his space flute and dictating it to O'Bannon who typed it out* 'I'll blow you do the fingering'

[@robderiche]

I love Dark Star

[@hh-jy1ld]

Epic franchise

[@vincentgoupil180]

CT are you comparing Dan O'Bannon to his character Pinback in "Dark Star" ? :) *Thanks* for showing how it takes a team to produce a movie even thro' Dan O'Bannon was the orginal creative force (not that O'Bannon didn't have his influences). Then again a camel is a horse designed by a committee. The writing and story are important but H.H. Geiger made "Aliens" just as Moebius made "Bladerunner"* visually memorable, both associated with O'Bannon. Always thought the Alien here was a takeoff of the beachball pet Alien in "Darkstar". * After reading Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" consider it amazing "Bladerunner" came out as well as it did. Dick's cold story is something a meth head would come up with.

[@astraton2001]

You forgot to mention that the Alien Story is more or less a copy of the A.E. van Vogt Book The Voyage fo the Space Beagle.

[@ProfessD]

The eternal question

[@ToriHiragana]

Speaking of cool band names, my brother came up with Scalping Wendy, a Peter Pan reference, that always stuck with me. Your welcome

[@tobiasmyers3505]

Dude! That's effed up.

[@jhberg17]

Inspired by Planet of Vampires, at least the creative team avoided making Dark Star 2, turned it into a classic.

[@TheGyroBarqusShow]

I don't see why people love Aliens more than Alien, two different films but the first is way more thought provoking and got so many things going on for it, while Aliens is an action film with jump scares.

[@PvtSchlock]

Jesus, my hands were busy, covered in brisket grease and I couldn't skip the ads. I could Texas Chainsaw someone right now. I hate everything now.

[@SmashyMcGee]

Watching the behind the scenes interviews and seeing Bannon talk always fascinated me. Just seeing his lack of self awareness, bitterness towards script changes. He was unable to accept that what he wrote was b-movie schlock. Alien is the example I always mention when talking about how scripts are really just a blueprint, without the casting, design & direction, Alien would have been forgotten IMO. Which some memorable lines as "we'll blow that fucker into space." The script itself is still the weakest part of the whole. Love your work Tyler!

[@Khultan]

Thank God that never ever went to Roger Corman. Dodged that disaster.

[@burningpapersun1]

I've read so many different Alien scripts. I love that some of it came about in Prometheus. Im enthralled by the idea of androids in conjunction with the alien franchise and bladerunner.

[@thedudeabides3138]

Fascinating, thank you. Immediate Sub & Like.

[@outlet6989]

In the real world, all movie scrips evolve. Everyone involved in the finished film must work as a Team to produce a movie. Movies of the past had very short credits. Today's movies have page after page of credits. This is easy to see with the long list of directors and producers in the movie credits. All writers should be in the credits. If one writer, like O'Bannon, demands top billing, I would modify the credits. I would list all writers alphabetically in the credits under Scrip Writers. To satisfy O'Bannon's ego, he would be last under the word AND.

[@RandomnessTube.]

Whoever came up with the face sucker casting Sigourney Weaver and designing the set are all the winners here.

[@alansmith8837]

Read the book in the 70s i think by alan dean foster also C.T. watch the 50s b film "it the thing from beyond space" you'll see where the idea came from.

[@davidlean1060]

Dude, the novel was commissioned after the movie. Dean Forster's novel is basically merch in support of the film.

[@alanfoster6589]

@@davidlean1060: The novel was commissioned and written while the project was still filming. All novelizations are merch support for the movie, and hopefully profit for the book publishers.

[@SoulStylistJukeBox]

Walter Hill saved this film

[@roycesouther8294]

Producers make shit for profit, directors make art for culture.

[@user-rt9zq8rs9k]

Dan OBannon is the original writer . The Walter Hill and the other 2 producers tried the rewrite moves to actually take credit away from OBannon from all the rewites .

[@AndrossUT]

Wow you didn't even mention the original "Memory" script

[@CinemaTyler]

The video you just watched was just on the rewrite by Hill and Giler. This is the video on O'Bannon writing the original script and talks about 'Memory': kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmOthWOtpqujapY Sorry for the confusion.

[@AndrossUT]

@@CinemaTyler nice segue

[@zardox78]

The addition of the whole twist with Ash being an android and the company knowing about the derelict all along creates 2 problems that I've never really heard anyone acknowledge. 1. Ash doesn't go on the mission to explore the alien ship. The only scientist (and apparently the only medic) on this crew of space-truckers doesn't go with them to respond to a signal that _could_ be an S.O.S. and _could_ be extra-terrestrial, as far as the rest of the crew is concerned. Either way, you figure this would be his time to shine. And Dallas should be figuring that too. Instead, he brings Lambert... because somebody needs to be there to complain, I guess. Meanwhile Ash, whose mission is "Bring back lifeform, priority 1. All other priorities are rescinded," takes it on blind faith that one, and _only_ one, of the away party is gonna get a face-hugger... and everything goes exactly according to plan. If all 3 of them got face-hugger-ed, there would be no one to drag anybody back to the ship. If Dallas took one look at the Space-Jockey and said "This thing is fossilized. There's no one and nothing here that needs saving. And even if they were still alive, I doubt they would look at us as peers or allies. Let's go back to the ship now that we've fulfilled our contractual obligations," then Ash's mission fails. And why doesn't he go, according to the script? Well, because somebody needed to push the button to let the team back in. A surface-level issue that is introduced and put to bed in the very same scene. It feels like a band-aid, but at least they went to the trouble to put a band-aid on that issue, unlike the other one. 2. Ash doesn't even try to freeze Kane. Instead of trying to "bring back lifeform" in a nice convenient package, he opts to let it go ahead and be birthed even though he's absolutely certain it's going to kill everyone and has no reason to believe it's going to spare him. So, what does he think is gonna happen when all the crew is dead? Who's gonna stop the ship when it gets near Earth in 10 months? Remote control? Because that's never mentioned. If they can control their ships remotely then what the hell do they even need (to pay) a crew for? And who's gonna go on board and try and wrangle the thing? Ash's devious plan has no "plan" in it. It feels very much like this is a symptom of this twist being an 11th hour addition. See, they needed/wanted the chest-burster to come out at dinner, not while Kane is unconscious and being put into cryogenic sleep. That scene was the centerpiece of the whole script, and they weren't about to throw it out so that the newly added twist would make more sense. They could've covered this glaring issue with another band-aid. They could've given Ash a line while the remaining 3 crew members questioned him. Parker could ask (for the 3rd time) "Why didn't you just freeze Kane?" And he could've responded "It seems my orders are conflicting with my core programming, and I'm afraid it's led to some poor decisions on my part." But they didn't. We're left to assume that this clusterfuck of a plan (which results in total failure _and_ the loss of the ship and payload) is his plan A ... and there never was a plan B.

[@DenisMaksymowicz]

I wish you had spent more time on the influence of Giger on the look of the alien and other aspects of its homeworld and how much it was carried through to the following films.

[@NR-rv8rz]

Seems like some cinematic treasure comes about due to almost chaotic/accidental confluence of good inputs. Blade Runner is the same. The original source material is cringe but somehow, gold came from Scott's creative process. It's a pity Scott lost that magic touch.

[@naminogiri]

Long story short, Ridley Scott came and got all the merit

[@TheStarTrekApologist]

So this is an ad for your Patreon

[@FUNeRaLPyR3]

Dam dude I had no idea that having a female Lead was such a major movie . I grew up with alien being a major staple so leanings all of this and seeing clips of the interviews it makes me Wonder if society was on the right path and then people Started bitching about nonsense and now We are back sliding

[@parmadacruz8755]

My idea for an Alien5 movie is as follows: It takes place after alien4 and takes places on an earth in ruins. TheRipleyClone has transformed into an entity that is producing eggs,and a lot of humans are affected,and a war breaks out.They have to use a nuke on the swarms of xenomorphs and decidedes to travel to the planet where they think the xenomorphs orginate from.There they find there are multiple forms of xenomorphs.They manages to form a clone of a xenomorph that is able to communicate with them. And a peace is established. But as allways Weyland-Yutani has spies that want the xenomorph for their biological weapon program. And it is a surprice who the spy is. And that Weyland-Yutami has a lab on a spacestation not far from the xenomorph planet. Where they finds forms of xenomorphs that noone has seen before.

[@moviesgalore9947]

Hill and Giler definitely made the script the huge success it became but it was Ridley's direction that made it a classic sci-fi-horror movie that launched a huge franchise.

[@kevin7mckinney]

KZbin or moderator settings is blocking/removing comments proving this entire video wrong.

[@WitcherOnTrail]

Oh brother. Hill and Giler did NOT write Alien. The WGA made the definitive and correct assessment in regards to writing credits. There is a HUGE difference between writing a story/screenplay (conception, genre/aesthetic, characters, plot, themes, archetypes, villains, heroes, conflicts, structure, crisis, resolution) - and "punching up" dialogue and "making it sexy" (what Hill and Giler specialized in). O'Bannon was thoroughly steeped in the sci-fi genre/aesthetic - Hill specialized in Westerns. The WGA evaluated all screenplays thoroughly and determined it was definitively O'Bannon's creation. Changing characters names, switching which character got infected, switching characters death order - that doesn't get you a writing credit. O'Bannon had no issues at all sharing story credits with Schusett. Director Scott enjoyed having O'Bannon around - it was O'Bannon who convinced Scott to pursue Giger for the Oscar winning Alien design.

[@kevin7mckinney]

In a 2004 interview in Film International #12, Walter Hill described his initial impression of O'Bannon's screenplay: "We believed if you got rid of a lot of the junk - they had pyramids and hieroglyphics on the planetoid, a lot of von Daniken crap, and a lot of bad dialogue - that what you would have left might be a very good, very primal space story." Hill summarizes precisely the scope of his affect on the screenplay: removed a few non-essential elements and "punched up" the dialogue (for what O'Bannon had already, as it turns out, was THE primal space story).

[@WitcherOnTrail]

The real crux of the screenplay writing contention is The Corporation/Ash (added by Hill and Giler). The Corporation does NOT warrant a screenplay credit. Kubrik's 2001 Space Odessy came out 11 years before Alien - a subversive/conniving AI killing off a space crew had already been done. I understand why O'Bannon resented the insertion of Ash; imagine you wrote the screenplay for Jaws (1975), and then producers inserted a character who chums the water and pushes crew mates overboard - because he doesn't like the beaches being closed. I truly love the Ash character - primarily because Ian Holmes is PHENOMENAL; hell, the entire cast crushed it. But if you take Ash/The Corporation out of the screenplay, what do you lose? A subplot - you lose The Corporation - that's it. The greedy mayor/town council in Jaws, who certainly frustrate the protagnoist and prolongs the shark's massacre - never upstages the main threat: the shark. Hill and Giler toed-the-line with upstaging O'Bannon's Alien with their own precious creation (The Corporation). Sure, The Corporation made for some tense moments - but I have to stress that The Corporation/Ash could have been left out of this film entirely. The Corporation/Ash is needed about as much as the damn cat; both were devices which kept things moving - but you didn't NEED the cat in the movie. Hill and Giler would like you to imagine they miraculously "polished a turd" - it was more like they smelted O'Bannon's gold ore, and Scott forged a solid gold bar out of it.

[@kevin7mckinney]

Why draw direct comparisons between Jaws and Alien? Because Hill/Giler got the contract by pitching Alien to every studio as "JAWS IN SPACE". This true story resulted in Charles Harris using the pitch phrase as the title to his book on "powerful pitching for film and tv screenwriters". I won't give Hill/Giler credit for themes/subplots they directly lifted from a HUGE blockbuster that happened just 4 years prior to Alien. In Jaws, the movie diverged greatly from Benchley's novel on several large sub-plots (the mafia, Hooper and Brody's wife!), including changes to who d!es and how the shark is ended - and all the changes worked great. And Benchley was one of the screenwriters making these changes to his own story. Toning down and greatly reducing subplots and peripheral conflicts truly kept the monster the main focus. Hill/Giler basically added a "mayor/town council" to O'Bannon's Alien in the form of "Ash/The Coporation"; except in Jaws, you never saw the mayor try to kill Brody (with a dirty mag).

[@WitcherOnTrail]

In every discussion about sequels post Alien - Hill and Giler were ALWAYS pushing The Corporation - whereas Scott had always wanted to explore the Aliens origin/nature. O'Bannon has been fully vindicated - fans are unanimous that the franchise declined sharply immediately after the second film. In the 2nd film (James Cameron, who LOVED Alien), we get plenty of Aliens, and the android theme is limited to a pedantic dichotomy of slimeball Corporate-shill-sub-human Burke & tin-man-with-a-"heart" Bishop - what a a switcheroo, right! As the franchise continued into films 3 and 4 (both fully Hill and Giler's responsibility), the "center did not hold" - there was now an entrenched dissonance; how can you experience deep cosmic space horror about a monster that Hill/Giler's villain (The Corportation) has commodified? Here we are, 4 decades deep into the franchise - with an android STILL stabbing the crew in the back and reporting to Corporate. Hill's 2004 disdain for the supposed "von Daniken cr@p" he thought existed in O'Bannon's screenplay is pure irony: where has the entire franchise ended up? Fully submerged in (per Hill's criteria) "van Daniken cr@p". Prometheus is full-bore "Chariots of the Gods" (cave paintings, star-maps, Engineers mad about Jesus...). Both of the AvP movies (Hill and Giler produced): full-bore "van Daniken" (Predators taught humans to build pyramids, tribes worship Predators as gods and provide human sacrifices to them).

[@UntiltedName]

Had Corman gotten Alien, the film would have been campy as shit and not have enough integrity to launch a franchise. It would have been a cult classic in niche fandoms in the best case scenario. Geiger might not have even gotten involved. It's odd even saying that considering how inconsistent the franchise became anyways. It tries so hard to get back into being a campy b movie but big budget never let it.

[@davidlean1060]

I think Ash was Giler and co poking fun at the annoying O'Bannon. In his eyes, Giler etc would have been the interfeering corprates and as a bit of fun at Dan's expense, they included a similar theme into the screenplay. Dan was so dismissive of their efforts, even up until his death and that's a shame. Hampton Fancher went through something similar with the Blade Runner rewrites, but he realized once he saw the movie that Scott and co were absolutely right to bring in Peoples to finish off the script. Pity O'Bannon never found the same peace with Alien.

[@nomadmarauder-dw9re]

Before Alien, all the creatures looked and sounded...human. Even the bad guys. And everybody was too pretty and too smart. The Alien is ALIEN and the characters are regular people of the sort that do actual work for a living.

[@RonHutchCraft2]

a sex scene between Dallas & Parker? how in the world would that work? back then it wouldn't have.

[@mcolville]

You read the original script, you can see they weren't kidding. It's awful.

[@jeremyjohnson7676]

just watch the making of ALIEN. Everything are explained. I'm so annoyed about all those "content" creators who are making science out of stuff that isn't science at all.