Page 3 Cutting It Short — Yanking Aliens Out of the Series Writing the article about Alien 3 for my book ScreenScope with Ernie (see page 4), an interesting connection within the series of the first four movies revealed itself. Given the ending of the original Alien (1979) and the beginning of Alien 3, we can remove Aliens (1986) – i.e., the second movie in the series – entirely by making just a couple changes without messing up the storyline. Can you guess what changes? It’s simple – let Ash’s character live in Alien and remove Newt’s character from Alien 3. In other words, Bishop is not needed in Alien 3 (since Ash serves as the android carrying the secret) and Aliens can be yanked out of the series without necessitating any other major adjustments. Now Ripley’s fleeing EEV at the end of Alien crashes on Fury 161 in Alien 3 with the story still intact. This observation fits neatly in my assessment of Aliens that the sequel contributes very little to further the plot of the original movie and mainly relies on guns and guts (combat action) for entertaining the audience. Only the first and third movies in the series actually contribute to the plot’s progress. So what are your thoughts on it? And can you think of any other series in which one or more movies can be subtracted without an overhaul of the script? Retro Fandom — Sapphire & Steel Sapphire and Steel of the late ‘70s to early ‘80s remains a classic sci-fi mystery series with a cult following. With a haunting atmosphere and incorporation of paranormal elements, the series remains a unique work of its time. Thanks to Archive.org, now the series is available in its entirety in the public domain for free viewing. The series was created by Peter Hammond and the title roles of Steel and Sapphire were played by David McCallum and Joanna Lumley. Ghosts, time travel, and many mind-boggling phenomena were investigated by the protagonists – who are not really human. Check it out at: https://archive.org/details/ sapphire-and-steel-1979-1982. Retro — aka traveling back in time, and there are several ways. Film Quiz — The Declined Oscar-Winning Role In the Quiz Corner today, you get the answer for the previous quiz: the beautiful actress from the ‘80s and ‘90s TV and film is British actress Amanda Pays. The image of Pays posted in the previous quiz is a screenshot from an episode of the British show Dempsey and Makepeace (“The Hit,” Season 2, episode 8). For this quiz, it’s a behind-thescenes/movie trivia question. What was the famous lead role in a thriller that Michelle Pfeiffer declined and the actress who did it won an Oscar for it? Send your answers to: editor@ernestdempsey.com.
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