Original Alien vs. Now

S.M

You could, it would just be like Alien. Low budget effects, smaller sets, character actors that don't want 20M for a 10 minute scene.

AvP was done cheap, with Anderson saving nearly $20m by shooting in Prague, and it still cost $60m with a decidedly non- A-list cast.

They did AvP:R even cheaper, using locations and saving on building sets, with a cast of unknowns - and it still cost $40m and was rubbish.  And that was 10 years ago.

Simple inflation and labour costs mean you couldn't do a film like this now for $20m.

From what I could research $20 million in 1979 was about $66 million in 2016. Procede from there.

In response to the original post, there's possibly a trend going on in Hollywood amidst the modern efforts to expand on old franchises. A lot of Promethus felt like it was trying to provoke nostalgia for Alien in a similar way The Force Awakens felt like it was trying to provoke nostalgia for A New Hope.

I think Force Awakens barely pulled it off. Prometheus on the other hand seemed to fail.

It seems with Prometheus, there was an attempt to force those blue collar (space trucker) qualities on a group on white collars (scientists). In the pre-Lidelof script, this feeling doesn't seem to be present. Not sure if that means it was his fault or Ridley's.

Either way, I understand what they were trying to do, but I think it was a mistake.

In general, movies like Alien and Star Wars had influences and inspirations but were fresh and new concepts at the time and they hit big and hard. It seems like those movies are trying to recapture that- that might be possible with younger generations but becomes a tougher sell for old people like me. 

Well said dk.I felt that was a mistake they made with Terminator Genisys(my brother loves it but agrees).

"From what I could research $20 million in 1979 was about $66 million in 2016. Procede from there."

Yeah I think $60m would be the absolute minimum.

EDIT - Double post

Original Alien vs now? 

When I compare Alien 1979 with Prometheus the thing that I think about is the group in question. 

In Alien they are more of a group. They are all eating together and the scenes are like someone said life identical (realistic). We have a tight group in front of us and also are shown hiearchy between them. They are Seven little indians, each presenting a feeling and own uniqness. RS is a director psychologist.

In Prometheus for me they are more individualistic. Despite Prometheus fancy camera work/special effects Alien 1979 is simply very, very realistic. Simply brilliant and brilliantly simple.

One actor that for me stands out in Prometheus is Fassbender and he reminds me of old school of acting.

It is also impressive what Noomi did given the fact that she was a less known actor back then.

In any case Alien 1979 for me is very realistic and the most important part of that is that right people met each other, on acting level, designer level (ships, effects, the monster) and director level RS.

And of course the Alien is Epic!

Neptune-

Nicely said.

The 1970s and early 80s also had a more.........grittiness and realistic vibe to them as well. Movie makers were certainly influenced by things they liked but were also pioneering movies that would influence what we have today- and they probably weren't even thinking about that. Well, possibly Lucas. Side note his pre Star Wars THX 138 was great and fans should see it.

As many have pointed out it's very difficult to compare Alien with Prometheus, at least regarding character development and dialogue. I think Covenant will fall more inline with what we expected after seeing Alien like.

I will agree the overall tone of Alien was far more relatable and felt more real than Prometheus. But, I don't think Prometheus ever set out to follow that template. Covenant on the other hand seems to be following that style more closely.

Apart from Ripley, character development in Alien is practically non-existent.

I always thought Kane said "dry dock time."