Director Kenneth Johnson Writers Rockne S. O'Bannon (characters) Kenneth Johnson Stars Gary Graham A summation of the negativity was, "Played hard and fast, the film might just have worked, but the decision to soft-pedal the violence merely emphasizes the obviousness of the liberal point-scoring (parallels with Vietnamese or Nicaraguan refugees are so facile as to be crass). Francisco's Newcomer knowledge is vital to their investigation of an alien drug ring, and a friendship grows from life-or-death circumstances. Great! The Streets of Sam Francisco. The culture, habits, language, slang of the Aliens is presented in a matter-of-fact manner. A slave ship carrying an alien race known as the Tenctonese crashed in the Mojave Desert near the city of Los Angeles five years ago. Trending. During the design phase, the producers supported the subtlety of the makeup and trying to make the aliens look as human as possible. I give this series an A+. The parts with the bad guys always baffles me. GREAT SHOW. They have two hearts and bald, spotted heads. The aliens were in effect the "newcomers" or latest immigrants to the US that society was now compelled to absorb. They're highly intelligent, but if you drop them in seawater they'll melt into a puddle of goop. We used a lot of car mounts. STARRING: James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp, Kevyn Major Howard, Leslie Bevis, Peter Jason, George Jeneky, Jeff Kober, Rober Aaron Brown, Tony Simotes 1988, 94 Minutes, Directed by Graham Baker Description: They get drunk on sour milk. In the transition from Movie to TV Series, the actors were recast and the relative ages of Matthew Sikes and his daughter were changed. It followed the adventures of a human police detective (Caan) investigating the murder of his partner by Newcomers - members of an alien race that crash-landed on Earth years earlier and are now citizens of Los Angeles/USA. "[3], For the final dramatic scene involving Harcourt's demise, the rigged effects were handled in two stages. The newcomers or derogatory called slags have settled into their new homes, mostly in southern California. He ultimately gave the film a "Thumbs Up" review. The mixing of the sound elements were orchestrated by David MacMillan and Charles Wilborn. A black protester, of age to have seen racial integration of public schools first hand, can't answer. Their uneasy alliance creates a social mistrust, dealing with issues such as prejudice and racism. Following the murder of a policeman, a human must partner up with an alien to solve the murder. The characters are believable, fully developed and imperfect.The acting is top-flight, and the stories, mostly carrying a message, are not overly burdened or preachy. Artist Gillis recalled his involvement in the project saying, "We were involved in everything from designing and sculpting the aliens to supervising a crew of about thirty people. They're highly intelligent, but if you drop them in seawater they'll melt into a puddle of . Tv-shows back in the 80s did not have the same budget as tv shows have today. At least not until the real aliens arrive and set us straight about their culture and history. It was a lot of silly stuff, creatively. Fanpage devoted to the classic TV series "Alien Nation" created by Kenneth Johnson We're currently watching this on Roku's Dust channel (October of 2019). Racism was a key theme encountered by the character of Francisco. The first stage involved a dissolving head and body, while the second stage incorporated a flesh-less arm thrusting out of seawater. These ex-slaves were gradually integrated into human society (and the Overseers were largely treated as war criminals). A routine cop thriller with a comedic sci-fi twist, Alien Nation has two things working in its favor: Caan and Patinkin form a memorable duo, and the basic premise--as conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon (who later developed the film as a TV series)--intelligently accounts for the sociological impact of an alien population. They didn't look good at all. They talked about subjects that are commonplace now, but made people uncomfortable back then. [3] Elek had previously worked on the film Mask and the character Max Headroom. As the Bromo Seltzer started to fizzle, the hot water began eating its way through the gelatin skin and his face appeared to bubble and melt." There was a lot of mystery about the race that kept the Newcomers enslaved. Tenctonese believe that their souls leave their bodies in their sleep and that a serdso guides them back. Alien Nation explores murder, discrimination and science fiction. While at a crime lab, Francisco detects an abnormality on the body of one of the Newcomer criminals who was killed in the robbery. They're highly intelligent, but if you drop them in seawater they'll melt into a puddle of goop. [18] Currently, there is no exact set date on a future US Blu-ray Disc release for the film. The Newcomers had two personal names, the one that they were given by their parents or former masters, and an "Earth name" handed out by the immigration service. A routine cop thriller with a comedic sci-fi twist, Alien Nation has two things working in its favor: Caan and Patinkin form a memorable duo, and the basic premise--as conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon (who later developed the film as a TV series)--intelligently accounts for the sociological impact of an alien population. [11] The film's revenue dropped by 49% in its second week of release, earning $4,252,252. The Tenctonese name of the wife of Albert Einstein, the police precinct janitor, is "Okiana" (from the Russian word "okean", meaning "ocean"). D'Angelo, Carr (November 1988). The melody featured throughout the film recorded by Goldsmith, was originally composed for the movie Wall Street. Greenberg explained, "We had a scene on Zuma Beach where the bad guys are dragging somebody into the ocean. [6] A bar called Monty's in downtown Los Angeles was used for a scene involving the rough alien played by Brian Thompson. Having said that, this show is about the top of the line for TV scifi. The Encounters Club was one of those places." [6], As scripted by writer Rockne S. O'Bannon, Alien Nation was originally called, Future Tense. I wasn't going for any special effect, just nice light from lamps on the tables. Many of the episodes centered around what one would expect for any immigrants; settling in, retaining one's own culture, defining a new identity etc. The TV movies they made were good, but I wish the series could have stayed on. The so-called 'newcomers' have now become part . [6] The alien villain Harcourt, is introduced at the hotel in the elite Crystal Room. Making use of multiple cameras, Greenberg noted, "Photographically, of course, one camera is best. 1 Mar. He even ends up in a serious relationship with a Newcomer woman, Cathy Frankel. A flowing design more like hand writing than lettering, that looks almost like a heartbeat graph. Just finished binge watching the series and TV movie's. This series pissed off someone in the studio because it didn't;t make season 2. You give us ownership of our own lives for the first time and you ask no more of us than you do of yourselves. Unused portions of the facility containing steel tanks were used as an interesting gloomy background. The best way to assess in which category that bit of leftover milk in your fridge falls is to follow your nose and taste buds. We tried to do all the scenes in the movie that appear to be their places heavily favored by this deep blue color. I didn't know how to photograph these aliens. This should have run at east a couple more seasons. It proves a lumbering marriage of action and sci-fi that alienates both audiences. Samuel 'George' Francisco: And still it fits? Det. "[8], Cinematographer Adam Greenberg, whose previous film credits included Three Men and a Baby, La Bamba and Near Dark, approached the film with a unique documentary-style technique. Seriously. "[3] Another creative aspect of the makeup was the gradation between the principal and background masks. Newcomers get aroused from humming, so Matt starts humming the star-spangled banner. Enjoy! The cast replacements fair well and there's more of a look into the racial undertones with the newcomers. [6] Smaller set areas for Cassandra's dressing room, a couple of offices, and a big conference room where Harcourt's drug deal was taking place were built on stages at the film studio. Harry and Renee Longstreet were credited writers for the storyline. Without fail, every single episode of this tragically short-lived series was, in turns, touching, humorous and compelling. "[3] Other effects coordinators like Gillis remarked, "The actor who played Trent Porter, for exampleBrian Thompsonwas a really rugged guy, so he came off looking like a really tough character. Very good writing, acting for the late 80's It's not Babylon 5 but it's up there. We sculpted the main characters, supervised the molding and production of their appliances and oversaw the sculpting of the secondary and background characters." It's a good mixture of sci-fi and cop show, and the big themes - racism, slavery, xenophobia - are handled with subtlety. Shame on the negative people! "Gruza", the name of the slave ship (after the Russian word "gruz", meaning "cargo". The original James Caan movie was a decent buddy cop flick, but the premise really lends itself to long0for television; and there's some great character development here as a result. Matt compares the Purist objections to Newcomer children in US schools with racism toward black people openly and shames them. These points are well presented in a context of overly familiar plotting and standard-issue sarcasm. That would've required a mechanical headpiece, and Graham Baker thought it was a little too extreme so we went with smooth heads instead." The smaller earthlings are easily overwhelmed by the huge, two-hearted, armed and deadly aliens. Other odd Newcomer names: "Dallas Fort-Worth", "Amos N. Andy", "Polly Wannacracker", "Thomas and Alva Edison". Alien Nation was the best show ever made that took people inside the ugly world of racism and helped combat it. [45] However, the film was later put on hold. the leader of the binnaums who murdered those which left his order. They take on roles in society just as if they were human.You see. A human detective named Matthew Sikes is partnered with an alien immigrant named George Francisco to solve crimes arising from the uneasy relationship between the "Newcomers" and their human neighbors. "Ahpossno" (from the Russian word "opasno", meaning "dangerous"), a fitting name for the Overseer scout, who came to Earth to investigate the disappearance of a quarter-million "cargo", although he saves the Tenctonese from a annihilation attempt by bio-weapon from a Purist group (. Tuggle is mowed down and Sykes, swearing to avenge his death, volunteers to ride with the force's. [6] Some of the more elaborate sets used extensively in the film, were the Millennium Biltmore Hotel and an AnheuserBusch plant. Though short-lived, it really is worth watching. 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