22 unknown facts about the engineer-pilot from the movie "Alien" (9 photos)

Yes, there is too much information about this film. Therefore, in In this article, we will focus on one single detail: the history and everything else concerning the hitherto enigmatic Pilot Engineer, whom dubbed the Space Jockey on set, and so it happened unofficially among English-speaking fans.





1. History of the ship of Engineers, which find Dallas, Kane and Lambert in the words of chief designer Ron Cobb: “Due to an unknown cataclysm, all of the xenomorphs perish adults and only the eggs preserved in a special temple for reproduction on Acheron (LV-426). Through a lot years, Engineers, researchers and archaeologists arrive on the planetoid, they find a temple...” (everything goes on like the people in the film) “... someone else is killed on aboard the ship of the Engineers, and its acidic blood is burning through the hull, so the engineers are trapped with no chance of escaping. Last Man Standing includes a beacon with a warning signal about a dangerous parasite and request to refrain from landing on the planetoid."

2. Film script multiple times corresponded, including during filming. In this case we have dealing with one of the early versions of the Alien reality. By the way, Ron Cobb came up with the concept of "acidic blood" - precisely because of this feature xenomorphs do not shoot at the beast aboard the Nostromo, so as not to damage ship. However, let's think about a few features of this "Cobbian" reality.



3. How the eggs got on board the ship Engineers? Obviously, the xenomorph hatched from the Pilot Engineer turned out to be a female (if the xenomorph race does not have the ability to hermaphroditism), which gave offspring. From whom she gave offspring, if there were no more xenomorphs on board? And yet they are hermaphrodites.

4. Were there others on board engineers? Probably yes. The tunnel through which the astronauts made their way inside the ship is actually an air lock that was opened to give the team access to the surface of the planet.



5. How long did the eggs last in the dormant before the arrival of the Nostromo? Unknown, but very long - corpse The pilot engineer, according to Dallas, managed to petrify. However, fossil could be due to atmospheric action on Acheron. However-2: in the first drafts of the script indicated the time of the disaster - 10 million years before the arrival of the Nostromo. In any case, xenomorph eggs outstanding hostile environment resistance characteristics.

6. The film studio wanted to cut it out of the plan. filming the scene with the Pilot Engineer. Too costly such a decoration appeared about 8 m high. Ridley Scott and Ron Cobb managed to convince the movie bosses, arguing that it was precisely such moments and distinguish a high-level Hollywood blockbuster from category films "B". Like, for example, "Dark Star" (1974) - Cobb's previous work with O'Bannon and John Carpenter.



7. The engineer-pilot was still cut out, but already from "Aliens". According to the scenario of James Cameron, Ann Jorden did not pull out at all her husband Russ from the ship, but called the rescue team, which bumped into the pilot.

8. By the way, in this frame (as, indeed, in other frames "astronauts against the background of alien objects") we see Ridley Scott's children (Jake and Luke, then aged 12 and 9 respectively) and director of photography Derek Vanlint, and not at all Tom Skerritt, John Hurt and Veronica Cartwright. Thus it was supposed to give the scenery a larger size.



9. It's probably the size ratio young actors and scenery created grounds for speculation that in fact In fact, the Pilot Engineer is not from the race of Engineers at all - he is too large in compared to the Engineers in Prometheus. However, such an opinion was not confirmation in any more or less official source.

10. In the original script for Prometheus John Spaites animated The Last Engineer does not die at all due to the birth of a xenomorph. More precisely, he dies, but later: he sits in a chair, turns on the warning signal and only then dies. And yes it is was LV-426, not LV-223.

11. On English-language resources A pilot engineer is often informally referred to as a "space wanderer" (Space Jockey). This label stuck to the character from the crew, who had to somehow distinguish the characters.Exactly the same on the site came up with names for "face-huggers" and "chest-breakers". And the ship of the Engineers the film crew dubbed the "croissant". None of these terms are hear in any of the films of the franchise.



12. Who turned off the warning "beacon" Pilot engineer between the first and second parts of the tetralogy? did it the crew of the rescue ship Anesidora in 2137. She also brought xenomorph to the Sevastopol space station, which led to the death all its inhabitants. "Oops, did I miss something?" - ask attentive reader. You missed the PC game Alien: Isolation :)

13. The "cabin" of the pilot was used for other interior filming on the ship of the Engineers. For example, in these scenery a scene of Kane meeting with a xenomorph egg laying was filmed.

14. All key sets from the film were carefully cataloged and archived by the film studio. All but one. Petrified Pilot Engineer. Around this scenery, created personally Giger is rumored. It seems like she was present in the lobby of the cinema during premiere time, but burned out either from an accidental cigarette, or because of the actions of some vandals. Pee, they were religious fanatics offended by the excessive infernality of Giger's creations. In every This decoration has never been seen again.

15. How did the move from the wheelhouse to the cargo compartment? It was burned by the blood of a previously killed xenomorph, causing the ship to Engineers could not leave Acheron. See item 1.

16. Ridley Scott later described origin and mission of the Pilot Engineer: “This is a pilot and he is part of a military operation, if that definition can be applied at all to his world. The mission of the ship is the transportation of military cargo, that is, it biological or biomechanical carrier of deadly eggs."



17. James Cameron called the pilot "Big Dental Patient" ("Big Patient of the Dentist") due to the fact that his the chair looked too much like a chair in a dentist's office.

18. What was another name for Engineers? Mala'kaki. That's what they call themselves :)

19. Please note: the same wall is visible from different angles of the pilot. In fact, a giant decoration was placed on a spinning platform, to save on the construction of an expensive circular wall.

20. The 8-meter pilot's seat was made of wood, which was covered with plastic and rubber on top.



21. Scott and Weaver have repeatedly stated that the story of the Pilot Engineer and his ship will be revealed in the fifth series franchises. Indeed, in different sources opposite the name of the director you can see "Untitled prequel". But what kind of movie will it be? Walt Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox is difficult introduce. Will the franchise suffer the same fate as Star Wars?

22. The film's budget was $11 million (original) - $4.2 million, doubled after Ridley Scott showed to movie studios storyboard). Box office - $185 million