Roger Ebert's review
Roger Ebert’s review is discussed: 3½ stars
In the discussion (2)
- The hosts report Ebert awarded 3½ stars
- They contrast his praise of craft with his discomfort at the sustained intensity
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The Rewatchables episode
aired August 31, 2026Casting What-Ifs
Weaver negotiations; Paxton and Remar/Biehn casting
In the discussion (4)
- Weaver’s salary negotiation is recounted
- Paxton’s prospective Police Academy 2 role and Bobcat Goldthwait are discussed
- James Remar’s removal and Biehn’s quick arrival are recounted
- Pacino visiting a neighboring set leads to imagined roles for him; those are jokes, not casting history
Recasting Couch
Boston; director swap; Costner and Barrymore
In the discussion (4)
- Move the setting to Boston
- Swap Kubrick and Cameron between Aliens and Full Metal Jacket
- Young Kevin Costner as Hicks
- Drew Barrymore as Newt
Half-Assed Internet Research
Practical effects, production conflicts and the extended cut
In the discussion (11)
- British crew tea-break conflicts
- A lightweight Newt dummy for carrying scenes
- Carrie Henn repeating slide takes
- Fourteen puppeteers operating the alien queen
- Heavy prop weapons
- Henriksen’s reported illness from Bishop’s milky effects mixture
- Reuse of the alien-nest set for Batman
- Editing out the colony sequence
- Weaver’s objections to cutting Ripley’s daughter backstory
- Franchise timeline complications
- Alien: Isolation’s Amanda Ripley premise
Picking Nits
Ripley ignored, inconsistent logic and survival mechanics
In the discussion (10)
- Authorities ignore Ripley’s experience
- Claims of no comparable alien life versus Marines’ alien-sex talk
- Ripley’s financial situation after hypersleep
- Newt surviving alone
- Destroying the eggs despite an imminent explosion
- Ripley’s exposure inside the power loader
- Holding on during airlock decompression
- Sparing Burke needs more justification
- Marines overlook the ceiling
- The Marines’ effectiveness is questioned and defended as Vietnam commentary
Probably Unanswerable Questions
Hypersleep, transfer changes and Bishop’s future
In the discussion (6)
- Whether Ripley’s teeth were altered in the 4K transfer
- Biological needs during and after hypersleep
- How to spend the first moments after waking decades later
- Relative horror of cocooning, implantation and being torn apart
- A deleted Burke cocoon scene and timeline logic
- Bishop’s reconstruction after losing half his body
Best Double Feature
Alien / Platoon
In the discussion (2)
- Alien is repeatedly selected
- Platoon is an additional suggestion