Has the alien creature been worn out?

in some cases yes, he does have a point, the alien has been thrown around way too much lately, i remember him saying something about the alien being a creature that's somewhat unobtainable and very deadly, and in alien resurrection it seems they were able to catch and contain a few. which is true, i think the original design of the alien was the best and if used properly it just "might" be able to scare people but you never know.

I would also have to agree that the creature does not have the impact that it used to have. I think King has a very good point on how a creature is used. I have just watched one of the new Dr Who episodes (Cold War, series 7 ) Where an Ice Warrior has been re introduced. The whole episode is very Alienesque, but what made this a great episode is that the film makers had shot the episode in such a way that they have been able to give an old monster a new lease of life. I don’t see why this could not be possible with the Xeno.

You all are right the xeno has been overexposed. With monsters the less you see and the less you know the scarier they are. This scene from Mel Brook's [Spaceballs[ may help to show why the xeno isn't as terrifying as it used to be[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEEwAvlJOcI]Your text to link here...[/url]

Right now, it's at a point where I am pretty sure it has been used a bit too much or in the wrong way, but if it were to make an appearance or star in a possible Prometheus 3(I don't have confidence in that, just a scenario) or a small part in paradise we can count on a good time with it, but other than that, I don't really see a good look out for our dearly beloved alien

[size=100]I agree the xeno has been overused and demystified in the process. The whole point of the thing was it was almost never completely shown in the first movie. By the second movie they had exposed them in droves and fought a war with them. It was all downhill from there. This is probably why there was no identical xeno in Prometheus and only one scene with the deacon, which is a different xeno from the classical one from the Alien series. It's supposed to be mysterious and hopefully damn-near impossible to kill. By alien resurrection they actually had them contained in cages where they could be studied, and you could kill them with a home-made shotgun!! So much for the ultimate dangerous creature which the xeno was intended to be![/size]

Those stupid bird-footed designs from the later films and the truly infantile 'toys' action-figures and comic spin-offs threatened to ruin it, but the original remains untouchable in it's haunting phantasmagorical appearance. Untouchable. Amen.

A worthy successor would be Carlos Huante's White Deacon apparition for the sequel. That is truly terrifying.

@Nostromo, That's exactly it!! The first film had the Xeno lurking in shadows, folded up in creepy, unrecognizable positions, blending in with backgrounds, etc. It was much more horrifying as an elusive, rarely seen, un-named organism. I am currently undergoing rigorous self-hypnosis to remove anything after the original Alien movie in my mind. All of that is to say Yes, sadly; but only because it was so misused after the first film. (Swimming, hordes, queens, etc.) But soon that will never have happened...

The original xeno-creature also inspired a toy, a cool toy but a child's toy after all. Watch this [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YQ8sYXVoAZA]commercial[/url]. With the rest of the thread I agree; the real monster is the Alien from Giger. Indeed the original life cycle is more frightening, though less practical. But the big difference of cycles depends on the type of movie (Horror or action). Anyway I also prefer the biomechanical monster instead of the insect ala starship troopers.

No, The Alien Creature has not been worn out but the idea of it has. Ridley Scott had an amazing idea, and it could have been made into a fantastic series if done correctly. However Jim Cameron decided that Scotts idea wasn't good enough or didn't have enough marketability so he decided to take a scary and horrifying concept and turn it into a stupid cheesy action flick thus leading to Alien 3 and Resurrection...

three years ago SCREEN RANT were suggesting that (what became) Prometheus was being pitched as an [url=http://screenrant.com/alien-reboot-niall-10357/]Alien Reboot[/url]. I watched Ridley Scott's original 1979 film Alien on terrestrial TV with a 'xeno newb' the other night and "Yes, it's just like Prometheus," said they.

Sorry but I think the two couldn't be more different!! Alien is a small, claustrophobic horror flick, while Prometheus is a vast, thoughtful, and relatable movie about the human condition. Yes, both are visually awesome, and I find they work together VERY well!! That being said, Alien was amazing as well, but never had me questioning my existence and possible connection to the Alien creature or 'Xeno' (a Cameron term I would LOVE to abolish) So that's my humble opinion- the two are very different films, but hell yeah, Prometheus and Alien back to back is an awesome watch!!

I agree with most of what has been said above. the Alien became a less frightening creature because they took it out of it's surroundings we're familiar with: an old, battered space ship layered with pipes inside and claustrophobic corridors. In the first one it feels like the Alien could come from anywhere, because of it's biomechanical look. It even surprised Ripley on the escape shuttle because she couldn't see it. That's what I always liked about Alien: You have a big-ass monster hiding somewhere on your ship and you can't hide from it because you can't even see it. The movie itself was also a lot more eerie and mysterious than anything that followed. So I believe the sets are to blame mostly and the fact that the creature became less 'gigerisch' over the years. In Aliens they became a bit too easy to handle at some point for my taste. Alien 3 was a step back in the alien universe compared to the first two ones , and the rest... I think you know by now how I feel about them.

I think Ridley realized this and thas why he wanted all kinds of different xenomorphs but I believe 20th century shut him down on that...

I don't think that the Alien has been overdone at all. It of course has less impact but that is only due to modernisation in films and so higher expectations of content.

No, I think not. For me there is one alien movie: "alien the 8th passenger" the rest is crap. One of the most frightening thing about the movie was the fact that you never get a good look of the beast and your imagination makes it even more terrifying.

The Alien creature is worn-out in the sense that we've seen a LOT of it, in a lot of LOW-quality films. I'd argue that it's been OVEREXPOSED rather than overused. When filmed correctly, it can still be horrendously terrifying. That's why we all still keep going to these movies, because we remember the awesome fear and excitement that Ridley created with the original. The Alien creature is only as terrifying as the writing and cinematography will allow it to be. Writers and directors have to start showing some restraint when it comes to screen-time. The Alien movies frighten us most when we don't know whats coming or where it is until its too late. There movies are at their best when they prey upon our primordial fears and senses. One last thing to think about- If Ridley and Giger came to us with something immensely frightening in the next movie, I'd happily move on to having the sh*t scared out of me by some other fascinating creature.

Good art can never be overexposed. Seeing people *trying* to stereotype the image is like watching someone trying to make a logo out of a paragraph. Giger's work is genius. Having said that, if something like the xenomorph were to appear in future movies, it would be awesome to see some really interesting and radical variations (albeit with the same aesthetics, unlike the "deacon") - i.e. different types of creatures made using the same Giger-style biotechnology.