Tweet
Most people think Ridley Scott thought up all of the Alien mythology, but there's more to it.
The movie Dark Star, a Carpenter-O'Bannon joint venture, already gave us a hint of what was to come (albeit with a low budget).
It was Dan O'Bannon (who suffered from Crohn's disease and had terrible abdominal pains), who thought up the chestburster concept. He knew what he was talking about. He also found Giger, and showed his work to Scott, who was over the moon about it.
Most of the first ground work was done by O'Bannon.
Both men were headstrong, didn't work well in a team, and O'Bannon got kicked out by Scott and producer Giler. Later, Giler and Scott would claim to have done all the hard work, and dismissed O'Bannon's work. He didn't even get a credit during the first release (until he sued and won).
Now, I agree that Scott is a visionary director. I admire the man. But credit where credit is due, he could have shared the glory. What I find very sad, is that he dismissed O'Bannon script as cr*p, apart from the chestburster idea.
Ok, fair enough.
But consider this. In O'Bannon's script, he decribed the inside of the ship as "some sort of temple, with the eggs arranged in a circular formation". The chestburster was also described as "an octopus like creature". Those are a few examples of his original idea.
O'Bannon died in 2009. Three years later, we get Prometheus. All of a sudden, aspects of this film start to sound pretty familiar, right?
I can hear O'Bannon cursing in his grave....
The movie Dark Star, a Carpenter-O'Bannon joint venture, already gave us a hint of what was to come (albeit with a low budget).
It was Dan O'Bannon (who suffered from Crohn's disease and had terrible abdominal pains), who thought up the chestburster concept. He knew what he was talking about. He also found Giger, and showed his work to Scott, who was over the moon about it.
Most of the first ground work was done by O'Bannon.
Both men were headstrong, didn't work well in a team, and O'Bannon got kicked out by Scott and producer Giler. Later, Giler and Scott would claim to have done all the hard work, and dismissed O'Bannon's work. He didn't even get a credit during the first release (until he sued and won).
Now, I agree that Scott is a visionary director. I admire the man. But credit where credit is due, he could have shared the glory. What I find very sad, is that he dismissed O'Bannon script as cr*p, apart from the chestburster idea.
Ok, fair enough.
But consider this. In O'Bannon's script, he decribed the inside of the ship as "some sort of temple, with the eggs arranged in a circular formation". The chestburster was also described as "an octopus like creature". Those are a few examples of his original idea.
O'Bannon died in 2009. Three years later, we get Prometheus. All of a sudden, aspects of this film start to sound pretty familiar, right?
I can hear O'Bannon cursing in his grave....
Comment