Trust me.
[YELLING]
James Cameron's Aliens is one of the best examples of an action
horror film.
The electric cast, enrapturing story structure,
and an atmospheric dread punctured
by rapid bursts of action have propelled the film
into being a classic the likes of which is rarely rivaled.
The central relationship between Ripley and Corporal Hicks
is also one of the most iconic pairings in genre filmmaking.
And yet, the now beloved performance of Michael Biehn
almost was never to be.
I like to keep this handy for close encounters.
Hicks was almost played by another actor entirely.
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Ridley Scott's Alien redefined the aesthetics
of science fiction on the big screen
when it was released in 1979.
From its Ron Cobb designed industrial spaceship interiors
to its H.R. Giger spawned otherworldly
alien creatures, the film captured the minds of audiences
across the globe.
It was a runaway success.
However, it took nearly 10 years for the film
to generate a sequel.
The film Aliens released in 1986 is the brainchild
of cinematic auteur James Cameron.
Having just written and directed The Terminator, a cult horror
film that took on huge box office gains,
all eyes were on Cameron.
But how does the man who half directed Piranha II
and only had one hit under his belt
convince the studio to risk the legacy
of a beloved classic space horror film.
At this point, it's practically an urban legend.
Cameron told the executives at Fox
on the prospect of producing an Alien
sequel by attending a meeting, writing the word
alien on a whiteboard, then adding an S
and then drawing a line through it to form a dollar sign.
Fox agreed with Cameron's assertion.
There was money to be made off the nightmarish visuals
that Scott and company had created.
Cameron pitched something wildly different.
A departure sequel that would throw out
nearly everything else from the visuals of the first movie.
Gone would be the oil derrick employees
crossed with deep space blue collar workers.
It would be military personnel chic.
Hey, Vasquez.
Have you ever been mistaken for a man?
No.
Have you?
Cameron wanted to make the film a romantic military space epic
horror film for the ages.
Bridge over the River Kwai crossed
with Gone With the Wind with a backdrop of interstellar
nightmare fuel.
Yes, they'd keep H.R. Giger's terrifying alien design,
but for the rest of the film, they
take a more is more approach.
Why have one alien when you can have hundreds?
Cameron pitched a story that would
see Ripley working as a consultant,
journeying with a platoon of space marines
that had discovered a new infestation
of these horrifyingly vicious extraterrestrials.
Production for Aliens began in September of 1985
at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, London.
The brash young filmmaker, used to working on low budget genre
spaces, clashed with the traditional English crew.
Multiple key members of the production staff
thought Cameron didn't have enough experience
to make the film and so actively worked
against him during the shoot.
The conflict came to loggerheads when cinematographer Dick Bush
insisted that the xenomorph hive should be lit brightly so
that the audience could observe the intricacies
of the costumes.
Cameron wanted a smoky and atmospheric aesthetic
to the hive.
After shooting for a few days with Bush's lighting choices,
Cameron pulled rank and had Bush fired.
The mounting pressures seemed to be
getting worse and worse by the day
until something almost unthinkable happened.
One of the main American actors in the film
needed to be sent home immediately.
That's it, man.
Game over, man.
Game over.
James Remar had made a name for himself
on the large and small screen, turning
in brooding performances in films like The Warriors
and Cruising.
He would eventually go on to be recognizable for roles
in Dexter and Django Unchained.
However, at this point, Remar looked
as though he was poised to break out
into a quintessential leading man for the 1980s.
For Aliens, Cameron cast him as Hicks, the film's central love
interest for Ripley and leader of the space marines.
Cameron was looking for someone who had a rugged masculinity,
the emotional vulnerability to portray Sigourney Weaver's love
interest, and the paternal honesty
to be the adoptive father for the character Newt,
the sole survivor of the base the space marines explore.
However, this arc towards superstardom
was short lived for Remar, as while they were filming Aliens,
it was discovered that he was in the possession
of illegal substances.
After only a few weeks on the film,
this discovery sent Remar's visa,
his possibilities of work, and the entire production
into a tailspin.
The production took a solve the problem
and don't talk about it with anyone style
approach to this unfortunate turn of events.
Remar was sent home, and Cameron's Terminator colleague
Michael Biehn received a phone call
in the middle of the night asking him
if he had a working passport.
The next thing he knew, he was on a plane to England.
He would be the new Hicks.
If you watch the finished film, you
can see that Hicks' military gear, specifically
his flak vest, moves around on him
and appears to be two sizes too large.
This is because the costume was fitted for Remar,
and the production didn't have the time or money
to be able to tailor them to Michael Biehn's body correctly.
In 2011 at a convention appearance,
actress Cynthia Dale Scott, who played Dietrich in the film
said--
We showed up for the day, and we looked at the call sheet
and, we're reading and we're going "Michael Biehn,
who's Michael Biehn?"
And they said "he's Hicks."
After being touched down at Heathrow,
he and Cameron had an impromptu meeting where they slightly
alter the character of Hicks to distinguish him
from the character of Kyle Reese, the time traveling
soldier that Biehn had previously
embodied for Cameron.
Come with me if you want to live.
These small tweaks ultimately ended up
creating the aspects of Hicks' personality
that made him such a fan favorite character.
In spite of the recasting, the schedule for Aliens
was grueling and did not present many opportunities
for reshoots.
As such, footage of Remar as Hicks
is included in the finished film.
The production had already completed
filming on the hive assault sequence, much of which
was far too expensive to reshoot.
Granted, it's from the back and in shadow,
so unless you know it's him, you'd never guess.
The trinity of Ripley, Hicks, and Newt was so beloved by fans
that when the franchise distanced itself
from Hicks and Newt in Alien 3, it's
arguable that they killed the franchise's viability.
Yes, the film is an action horror film,
but the human characters, their relationships, and the theme of
found family struck a chord with viewers in a way
that no one could have imagined.
This was in large part due to Michael Biehn's steely yet
vulnerable performance.
His rendition of Hicks is what made the film function.
You instantly believe the connection
he has with both Ripley and Newt.
They feel like a familial unit almost immediately.
Without him, who knows if the film is half as successful?
Could James Remar have had an equally iconic turn as Hicks?
It's possible.
However, the wounded nature of Biehn's performance
allows the audience and Ripley to fall in love with him.
It's a locator.
Then I can find you anywhere in the complex on this.
Thanks.
Despite the multiple decades in between the film's production
and its not inconsiderable critical acclaim,
much of the cast has chosen to never speak
about Remar's firing.
The ultimate lesson of Aliens is that sometimes you have
to adapt to your surroundings.
You have to take into consideration
that things aren't going to go the way you want it,
so you have to evolve.
Aliens is now a beloved classic that
is one of the most celebrated films produced in the 1980s.
It's arguably the best film in the Aliens franchise.
It expands the world of the original film,
gave the titular villain a name, the xenomorph,
and developed Ripley into one of the most iconic characters
in genre history.
And yet, with one small piece of the puzzle missing,
would it have been the same?
Well, that's it for this episode of Nerdstalgic.
What do you think?
Will we ever see that unproduced version of Alien 3
that was going to be directed by Neill Blomkamp
and return Newt and Hicks to life?
Comment down below and let us know your thoughts.
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