Yahoo Lifestyle I Genuinely Can't Watch "Alien: Romulus" The Same Way Again After Finding These "Alien" References In The Film
There are obviously MASSIVE spoilers ahead for Alien and Alien: Romulus!
If you love sci-fi and horror movies, then chances are you've seen Alien, the amazing film directed by Ridley Scott that introduced us to Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley, who some consider one of the best "final girls" of all time.
Since Alien hit theaters 45 years ago, numerous sequels, crossover films with the Predator series, and more have continued the story. And this year, we have another prequel to add to the franchise: Alien: Romulus.
Directed by Fede Álvarez and written by Fede and Rodo Sayagues, Alien: Romulus is set between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) and follows a group of young space colonists who dream of escaping their world in search of a better one. This leads them to board a spacecraft just outside their colony's orbit, and, well, chaos ensues.
The movie stars an all-star cast of up-and-coming talent, including Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu.
Now, since this movie comes after the events of Alien, it's filled with some great details, Easter eggs, and more that pay tribute to Ridley Scott's original sci-fi horror movie, as well as James Cameron's beloved sequel, Aliens. So here are just 13 that connect the three movies:
1.First, in a not-so-subtle Easter egg for longtime Alien fans, the new movie opens with us seeing the destroyed Nostromo, the ship from the OG movie.
There's even a reference to the Nostromo being found at Zeta 2 Reticuli, which is where the Nostromo crew was originally woken up by the distress call in Alien.
2.Of course, this is where the Weyland-Yutani crew finds the original alien, aka xenomorph, that Ripley sends out of the shuttle at the very end of Alien. If you look closely, you can see the harpoon still stuck inside of it, too.
3.In Alien: Romulus, you can see MU-TH-UR on one of the computers, which is, of course, a reference to the AI that ran the Nostromo in Alien, aka MOTHER. However, the AI appears to have been updated because it's now MU-TH-UR 9000 instead of 6000.
4.In Alien: Romulus, Andy reveals to Tyler and Bjorn that he prefers to be called an "artificial person," which is exactly what Bishop tells Burke and Ripley in Aliens.
5.In Alien, after Kane's chest is ripped open in the iconic chest-burster alien scene, Brett notably builds an electric stun rod so they can keep the rest of the crew safe. In the new movie, Bjorn finds a similar tool and threatens to use it on Andy, and then uses it on an alien and several facehuggers.
6.Of course, one of the biggest connections between Alien and Alien: Romulus is Rain, Andy, and Tyler coming across Rook, the ship's science officer, who looks like Ash from the original Alien.
Ian Holm, who played Ash, died in 2020, so the film used CGI to recreate his likeness, and he was voiced by Daniel Betts.
Speaking about having Ian appear in Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez told Entertainment Weekly, "The whole thing started with me calling the estate and talking with his widow. She felt that Ian was given the cold shoulder by Hollywood in the last years of his life, that he would've loved to be part of more projects after The Hobbit, but he wasn't. So she was thrilled about the idea of having him back."
7.Also, when Rook explains why he's on this ship, he says it has been 20 years since the Nostromo incident, which is how we officially know when exactly Alien: Romulus is set. Aliens takes place 57 years after the events of Alien, which puts this movie right in the middle.
8.When Rain, Tyler, and Andy come across the colony of facehuggers on the walls and the various cocoon of people where they find Kay, Andy says, "Busy little creatures." This is the same thing Burke says in Aliens when they come across a similar hive.
9.Also, the blue mist that Andy notices on the floor is similar to what Kane finds in Alien when he first finds the alien egg while exploring. The mysterious blue mist can be spotted above the chamber where the egg is.
10.In Alien: Romulus, Rook tells Rain that he can't lie about their chances of survival. In Alien, Ash says a similar thing after he's been revived by the Nostromo's crew and asked about the alien.
11.One of the best callbacks is when Andy uses the rifle to blast and kill a xenomorph who is about to attack Rain while they are in the elevator shaft. Andy says, "Get away from her...you bitch," which is, of course, a nod to Ripley's iconic line in Aliens when she's saving Newt.
12.In Alien: Romulus, when Tyler teaches Rain how to use the rifle, it's actually an earlier version of the weapons seen in Aliens that all of the Colonial Marines carry. It's also reminiscent of a similar moment in Aliens when Hicks teaches Ripley, too.
13.And finally, the entire final fight between Rain and the human-alien hybrid is seemingly an homage to Alien. Like Ripley, Rain is ready to put herself into cryosleep when she suddenly needs to fight an alien and jump into a spacesuit. There's even a moment with a closeup of Rain's space helmet as the creature sneaks up on her, which is similar to the iconic moment with Ripley in Alien.
What did you think of Alien: Romulus? Did you spot any more fun homages to the OG films? Heck, what's your current ranking of the Alien movies? Tell us everything in the comments below!
