It was a showdown between two mad-as-hell mothers.
Details here:gofobo.com/aliens30th.
For now, a clash between two deep-space mama grizzlies.
20th Century-Fox
The team who previously made The Terminator, ironically, did not want to use robotics.
What if theres a swat and it hits someone?
Thats going to hurt them potentially kill them.
20th Century-Fox
We wanted to avoid that.
Cameron:I did the initial drawings.
Because you got to remember, there was no CG back then.
Everett Collection
I think it’s possible for you to put two people inside it.
He thought I was nuts.
So we did a test where we built a frame that could hold two people.
And its less likely to break!
Cameron:So we hung up this body [skeleton], put a couple guys in it.
We covered them in black plastic garbage bags.
It was just easy, and cheap, readily available black polyethylene.
On set, the actress never learned about how the mechanism of her foe would work.
So it was kind of a great showdown and very satisfying.
I dont know what [Henns] memories of that are.
She was a trooper, to stand there, you know, and take it all in.
Cameron:It all worked out pretty well.
Kind ofsurprisinglywell, for being such a hair-brained idea.
I think probably three or four guys manipulated the different axes of the head.
Weaver:Of course, I dont think of her as a puppet [laugh], even today.
I made sure that I didnt know all that.
I sort of stayed in my own world.
But I know that it must have been crazy inside the Queen, you know?
A lot of times, shes reacting to nothing.
Other times, she was reacting to the full-size puppet, that was actually there.
you’re able to see these model versions from the film in the image above.
Hurd:I kept thinking, There is no way this is gonna work.
And you couldnt tell when we cut from full-size to those [miniatures].
One has to acknowledge that Jim is indeed a genius.
So that [fight] was basically a giant exercise in practical effects.
So it was either practical full scale, or it was practical miniature.
The awkward movements made choreography a challenge.
Cameron:Im the conductor, and Stan was the conductor.
Jim doesnt leave stuff to chance.
For Weaver, the dance begins with a betrayal The Queen allows Ripley to remove the child and go …
But before she leaves, the human opens up with her flamethrower on the nest of eggs.
Weaver:[Ripley] is basically saying my children are more important than yours, you know.
And whats kind of great is that Jim gives the Alien Queen full rights of motherhood, you know?
She has every right to be outraged.
All shes doing is doing what shes biologically supposed to do.
The actress never felt endangered.
But she did feel dangerous.
You know, we just went for it.
And luckilyIdidnt kill anyone.
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