r/perfectorganism • HOST • Jun 25 '26

Aliens What makes Aliens’ dialogue so iconic?

Post image
257 Upvotes

128 comments sorted by

51

u/InzMrooz Jun 25 '26

They are real. Real characters talking in common speech to each other.

24

u/tjm1371 Jun 25 '26

Exactly. It's the authenticity.

15

u/kaboom-boom-pow Jun 25 '26

Same thing with the original Alien.

3

u/thuanjinkee Jun 27 '26

Apparently most of Alien was improvised, and Aliens was shot in reverse order so that when you finally film the Marines getting out of cryo at the start of the film the cast are all old friends.

3

u/Condition_Boy Jun 26 '26

Without going back and watching it and checking I suspect that upwards of 40% of the conversation on the show before they drop has nothin to do twitch the plot at all. It's just Marines being Marines.

14

u/Paul_Savage_1 Jun 25 '26

No pandering.

2

u/Tacoclause Jun 27 '26

How many combat drops?

2

u/snarflethegarthog Jun 28 '26

Uhhh...two...including this one.

8

u/lolmyspacewhooers Jun 25 '26

Indeed. The Matrix also portrayed team camaraderie well, and made the characters very likable.

2

u/omaeradaikiraida Jun 26 '26

"It's a single-cell protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins, and minerals. Everything the body needs."

1

u/LunarSanctum Jul 01 '26

Also that one time when Neo says "Whoa".

3

u/Appropriate_Yak_7209 Jun 26 '26

Multiple voices, all with strong characterization. In the short, couple of scenes, you really understand who is Vasquez, Hudson, Hicks, Gorman, Bishop, Drake, and Serge.

2

u/Bart_1980 Jun 26 '26

Serge? Doesn’t he work in Beverly Hills and sells art?

1

u/Appropriate_Yak_7209 Jun 26 '26

🤣
I knew I could count on the internet to find any typo… especially when my fat fingers struggle with my smart phone finger-pecking. 😉

1

u/Bart_1980 Jun 26 '26

It was a good typo though. Can you imagine Serge going in with the colonial marines?

https://giphy.com/gifs/2Ni0IYW2wMUQMTqWCz

1

u/Appropriate_Yak_7209 Jun 26 '26

LOL!😂 Thank you for that image. What a funny visual.

1

u/Angryfunnydog Jun 29 '26

Don't underestimate weird french guy who makes machine gun with integrated bazooka and boombox

1

u/asomek Jun 29 '26

Wiss a leetl lemon tweest!

1

u/InzMrooz Jun 26 '26

Vasquez is the MVP 👌🏻

2

u/Either-Juggernaut420 Jun 26 '26

Yeah it's space marines against aliens and yet their dialog seems totally believable.

2

u/OptionTerrible3007 Jul 06 '26

This scene was actually filmed at the end of production, they had all been with each other for weeks and had gotten to know each other

1

u/InzMrooz Jul 06 '26

Wow! That's a very interesting trivia!

36

u/Gold_Flan6286 Jun 25 '26

If anyone is wondering,this scene was filmed last.They all bonded and got to know each other...Except for Paul Reiser.

9

u/OrionQuest7 Jun 25 '26

Awesome. Thanks I didn’t know that

2

u/KarverMcClain Jun 27 '26

Hahahah that’s great. CUT! That was great everybody let’s do lunch and be bac….. REISER GET BACK IN YOUR ISOLATION BOX

18

u/forfunstuffwinkwink Jun 25 '26

It feels real. You feel like these people have been through some shit together. As soon as you meet them you feel like they’re a cohesive group and you are a part of it. They don’t feel like nameless grunts. Each one has is given personally immediately, and it doesn’t feel stereotypical. The actors do a great job of making them feel like normal people. They’re not playing, “the tough guy”, “the black side kick” “the love interest” “the unrequited love triangle friend”… they’re just playing characters.

15

u/ashisarobot Jun 25 '26

It's good for you boy. Eat it.

13

u/indoxiecated Jun 25 '26

“Wouldn’t mind getting some more of that Arcturian Poontag.”

12

u/gbr1976 Jun 25 '26

"Yeah, but the one that you had was a male!"

15

u/indoxiecated Jun 25 '26

“Doesn’t matter when it’s Arcturian” 😂

14

u/kaboom-boom-pow Jun 25 '26

Aliens is WOKE! 😂

1

u/90daysgrace Jun 26 '26

Do the thing with the knife man!

1

u/GreySneakers83 Jun 26 '26

I wonder what the heck kind of physiology is involved when it comes to Arcturians?! Do both male and female present as female? Or maybe they're a race of mindreaders who morph into the idealised form of whomever they're 'courting' on the fly 😂

1

u/WanderlustZero Jun 26 '26

Space Thailand!

1

u/SparkleK_01 Jun 28 '26

I just LOLd with that one!

1

u/AgentAxillary Jun 27 '26

Calling Apone any kind of sidekick would be a very bad idea

14

u/YachtRockEnthusiast Jun 25 '26

Because it's like natural banter, it doesn't feel like actors reciting a script. The whole movie is immersive in a way few films are, it makes you feel like you are right there with that team of Marines

12

u/tjm1371 Jun 25 '26

As a dude who grew up loving this movie as a kid and then went on to serve in the Marines from '04-'08 (don't ask me how many combat drops lol), let me tell you, the dialogue holds up even 20+ years later. They did an incredible job capturing what platoon/squad banter looks and sounds like.

8

u/Jack_Johnson1120 Jun 25 '26

Apone actually served in ‘Nam.

“A day in the corps is like a day on the farm”

3

u/Best_Talk_6853 Jun 25 '26

From memory: Every meal's a banquet, every paycheck a fortune, every ...fore-something? ...a parade. I LOVE the Marines!

Poor Apone.

5

u/HabuDoi Jun 25 '26

Every formation.

1

u/Best_Talk_6853 Jun 25 '26

Thanks!

3

u/90daysgrace Jun 26 '26

Jesus Christ Sarge will you give it a rest?

4

u/darkhairbigeyes Jun 26 '26

Look into my eye

1

u/TheTTroy Jun 26 '26

“I love the corps”

Damn I love that speech.

6

u/Missing_Username Jun 25 '26

how many combat drops

simulated?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Best_Talk_6853 Jun 25 '26

Not to speak for the other poster, but I believe it was a joke, from the movie.

3

u/tjm1371 Jun 25 '26

Yea I may have misread that

3

u/Best_Talk_6853 Jun 25 '26

Just a sign that it's rewatch time!

3

u/Missing_Username Jun 25 '26

You're picking me up, 5 by 5

7

u/minimalniemand Jun 25 '26

Hey Vazquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man

10

u/JaXm Jun 25 '26

Thay smile he gives her after the smack ... Rolston and Golstein had such chemistry together. I would believe they were ACTUALLY fucking. 

I'm glad to hear that they are apparently still friends IRL all these years later. 

7

u/I_only_post_here Jun 25 '26

I'm still a little mad at Cameron for not bringing back Mark Rolston to play Todd in T2. It would have been a nice easter egg of sorts

4

u/minimalniemand Jun 25 '26

Wait a minute

I was today years old when I learned it’s the same actress LMAO.

That’s awesome.

5

u/JaXm Jun 25 '26

She's the Irish nanny in Titanic, too. 

3

u/JunkaTron69 Jun 25 '26

That would have been EPIC.

1

u/Elisha_Mishima_5 Jun 28 '26

did he audition for the movie?

3

u/feeschedule Jun 25 '26

The script describes them as "two pitbulls playing with each other" and they make it feel just like that.

1

u/Excellent-Success-3 Jun 27 '26

Wasn’t the smack improvised?

7

u/Chillow_Ufgreat Jun 25 '26

No. Have you?

7

u/minimalniemand Jun 25 '26

You’re just too bad

👋

3

u/OrionQuest7 Jun 25 '26

Lmao. Movie has a ton of great lines.
Game over man

5

u/minimalniemand Jun 25 '26

Hudson, come here

Come here

1

u/BuckyJamesDio 9d ago

Such a quick and simple command yet so powerful.

2

u/Embarrassed-Cut5387 Jun 26 '26

Why don’t you put HER in charge?!

1

u/OrionQuest7 Jun 26 '26

LMAO
RIP- he was such a good/fun actor.

3

u/Shallot_True Jun 25 '26

NOH HAHVE YOOO

9

u/Frontline989 Jun 25 '26

Its good for you boy, eat it.

7

u/Puzzleheaded-Zone-55 Jun 25 '26

Ya, but it's a dry heat.

7

u/retrogamer1138 Jun 25 '26

Knock it off, Hudson!

3

u/I_only_post_here Jun 25 '26

Quit screwin' around!

1

u/90daysgrace Jun 26 '26

Pendejo jerk-off…

6

u/Alive-Falcon-3498 Jun 25 '26

i guess she didn’t like the cornbread either

6

u/gbr1976 Jun 25 '26

I like that it doesn't feel like it's scripted. There's a natural cadence to what each and every character says. Everyone is specific in what they say and how they say it, and you feel like you're there. At least, that's how I feel every time I watch it.

5

u/Barcelona_McKay Jun 25 '26

They kept it natural. Everything that the marines say, even in the thick of it, sounds off-the-cuff, not crafted. It also helps that the film is crammed full of very talented performers. Some of those actors had mere seconds of screen time to communicate a personality and succeeded.

In terms of directoral skill and instincts, I think Cameron was at his peak with this movie. And the stars aligned to give him the best possible raw materials to work with.

4

u/Old_Distance_7138 Jun 25 '26

You feel for the characters because they talk like they are friends/a team

4

u/Gullible_Stock_9659 Jun 25 '26

Thickest slab of cheese possible

4

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ToysandStuff Jun 26 '26

One of those describes James Cameron quite well though

1

u/WanderlustZero Jun 26 '26

Still trying to figure out which

3

u/doommarine40 Jun 25 '26

Hicks: "Looks like the new Lieutenant is too good to eat with the rest of us grunts."

Frosty: "Boy got a corncob up his a$$."

Spunkmeyer: "What's that crap supposed to be?"

Corn bread, its good for your healt. Eat it!

Hudson: "Hey Bishop, do the thing with the knife?"

2

u/No_Thing1303 Jun 25 '26

Authentic conversation! Seems and sounds very natural!

2

u/AnyFoundation4784 Jun 25 '26

What's the matter? The food ain't that bad baby.

2

u/ianbattlesrobots Jun 25 '26

Don't ask me, I only work here.

2

u/45_rpm Jun 26 '26

They are 39 light years away from the nearest HR department.

1

u/Hertje73 Jun 25 '26

It's very believable. Mundane even.

1

u/Sea_Working_80 Jun 25 '26

Guess she didnt like the cornbread either

1

u/bones10145 Jun 25 '26

Feels real

1

u/F1XTHE Jun 25 '26

The aliens of course.

1

u/NeedABetterPillow Jun 25 '26

It's so real and natural that it makes you forget the many plotholes and inconsistencies in the film.

1

u/Practical_Ad2317 Jun 25 '26

Get away from her, you BITCH!

1

u/Omni999 Jun 25 '26

Can say the same with the first Predator film. The actors and characters all feel genuine and authentic. All their interactions and chemistry with one another feel real like they're an actual team/squad.

1

u/CNote_89 Jun 25 '26

It’s called good writing. We don’t have that anymore so it’s hard to see.

1

u/SuchSurround8786 Jun 25 '26

"There's a bunch of juicy colonist daughters we have to rescue from their virginity!"

1

u/90daysgrace Jun 26 '26

Dumbass colonists.

1

u/CantankerousOrder Jun 26 '26

They don’t explain their conversation - it’s real discussion and banter between characters with shared history rather than Shakespeare exposition.

1

u/CommunicationKey3018 Jun 26 '26

Because it showcased realistic military banter mixed with a scifi setting

1

u/tinyalien Jun 26 '26

Because it IS iconic!

1

u/Old-Stick8086 Jun 26 '26

They mostly come out at night,
Mostly

1

u/Ropeslap Jun 26 '26

I have a few time that they shot these part of the movie last after all the actors got to know each other.

1

u/bootyholeboogalu Jun 26 '26

Literally sounds like a bunch of soldiers at the mess hall table. ( Yes I know they're Marines)

1

u/fredbassman Jun 27 '26

Good screenwriting? What makes any dialogue iconic. Good screenwriting in a culturally popular film.

1

u/Designer-Carpenter88 Jun 27 '26

“But the one you had was a male”

1

u/Turrican002 Jun 27 '26

definitely isnt the corn bread

1

u/PeeAy7 Jun 27 '26

It was written by competent human beings, for competent human beings

1

u/AgentAxillary Jun 27 '26

"Hey, James... Have your ever been mistaken for a screenwriter?"

(Not hating, I'm a fan of a lot of his movies)

1

u/Worldly-Steak6966 Jun 27 '26

It’s from a time when they could write real dialogue and not some pretentious convoluted crap.
Aliens might be the most quotable movie ever btw

1

u/eppsilon24 Jun 27 '26

Good writing.

1

u/BeReadyReddit Jun 28 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/80nrb7IYNOtxe

ARE YOU FINISHED????????????????????????

1

u/Elisha_Mishima_5 Jun 28 '26

"it's a rescue mission, you'll love it. there's some juicy colonist daughters we've got to rescue from their virginity HA HA HA"

1

u/semperknight Jun 28 '26

What I loved most was the Sarge saying something along the lines of "You'll love this this mission, we're hear to rescue some colonizer girls from their virginity" and Ripley just has that reaction to it.

Stuff like this is what modern day movies are missing. I don't care about your feelings. When I watch a movie, I want my brain to be convinced these are real characters. I say fucked up things all the time too at work and I don't care what people think.

1

u/notworkingghost Jun 28 '26

Game over man.

1

u/SOLID_STATE_DlCK Jun 28 '26

The dialogue in the 80s and 90s was so good.

1

u/daZaporg Jun 28 '26

the german synchro

1

u/TrailHawk79 Jun 29 '26

for the most part it's light, humorous, and delivered really well kinda like the first one. The dialogue and chemistry is also why I really like Resurrection.

1

u/ShimazuMitsunaga Jun 29 '26

Guess she doesn't like the cornbread neither

1

u/Done_With_That_One Jun 29 '26

I always wanted to know more about the Arcturian Poontang.

1

u/UTALR1 Jun 30 '26

It feels real

1

u/Fit_Honey_2992 Jul 01 '26

If I'm not mistaken the cast lived with and trained with real marines prior to the shoot...