This is Suda51 Owner of Cinema51
Good evening
Hello, this is Sekine, Manager of Cinema51
At night I run a pub called Bar Plastic Model
How have you been?
Actually, we at Grasshopper will be releasing...
Well, it’s not a “new” title, but a remastered title
What’s the game called?
“Shadows of the Damned”
I’ve heard of that
Yeah?
I’ve heard rumors
We’ll be releasing it on Halloween, so it’ll be coming out a bit after you watch this
What’s the main draw of this game?
The main draw is probably New Game+
What does “New Game+” mean?
It means once you’ve cleared the game, you’re all powered up and strong, right?
So you can restart the game again keeping all those power-ups
I mean, most games have this
But it wasn’t in the original version
So everyone has probably been asking for that in the comments, yeah?
That’s right
Also, it supports 4K
That awesome!
I know, right?
Your face in 4K...
My face doesn’t appear at all
So that’s what’s up
Anyway that’s the game, and on that note...
There’s a movie that’s really similar to “Damned”
That’ll be our movie for today
The title is...
Alien: Romulus
KK Yabukiri
Cinema51 Resurrected Korakuen Viewing Room
“The most intense survival thriller in the universe is about to begin!"
"With a survival rate of 0, is escape even possible?"
"The latest film from Don’t Breathe director Fede Álvarez – Alien: Romulus"
This time it's a new director, and I imagined that it would be a new type of Alien movie
But according to the press releases it seems that it's supposed to be more of a return to the original
Like experiencing the scary atmosphere of the first Alien movie once again
It said that this is a good entryway for your first Alien movie, if you’ve never seen the series before
It's a spin-off, but it gives a good idea of what the Alien movies are like
So yeah, that was my initial impression
So the director, um, John Cassavetes...
That’s totally not him
Fede Álvarez...
He did a remake of Evil Dead
Oh, really?!
So he knows what he’s doing
Yeah, that’s right
So you should go into this movie knowing that it’s gonna be scary
You know it’s gonna be terrifying
But what he’s doing is basically the same
In Don’t Breathe, people go into houses looking for stuff
Like, rich old people’s houses
Oh OK, I get it
Young people going in to search for something...
So it’s the same exact plot...
Yeah, it’s exactly the same
He’s doing what he’s good at
Yeah, that’s right
So he took what he’s good at and stuck it onto this movie
The “We’re OK, we’re OK... We’re NOT OK...” pattern
“Let’s not do this, Let’s not do this...”
And the main character is a woman
That part fits with the Alien storyline
So maybe the director took elements from Alien and created his own world
and almost all the main characters from the Alien movies were women
but I felt like all these elements fit perfectly and made a great movie
It sort of feels like this Alien IP, or series, has started to come back, right?
So did have you seen Prometheus and Covenant, that came before this?
Yeah, I saw those
What did you think?
They were good
“Alien” is like the raw material
And it’s up to each director how they want to make that material into their own film, I feel
Originally it began with Ridley Scott
And then for 2...
You remember all of them?!
Yeah, I do
I can’t remember all of them...
2 was Paul Verhoeven...
Which is totally wrong...
2 was the Terminator guy
Not Cameron Diaz...
James Cameron
Oh yeah, James Cameron
3 was... David Fincher
And then 4 was...
The French guy
Pierre... something
Jeunet...
Either Jeunet or Cameron, one of them
Then Prometheus and Covenant were done by Scott again
So now they finally have a different director...
But Ridley Scott’s been involved in most of them, right?
Pretty much, yeah
It feels like a “battleship” series
“Prometheus” was the name of the ship
And “Covenant” was the ship’s name, too
This one is called “Romulus”, which is the name of half of the space station
The other half is the name from the same myth, the other brother...
Anyway, that’s explained in the movie
Yeah, that’s right
The movie is based on the struggle taking place on the Romulus side
Up till now, and I don’t remember exactly
But the main characters in Alien movies weren’t necessarily really hardcore warriors, right?
And this time, they went even further
With the main character being basically a total amateur
And since the events of Alien, it’s like a new type of Alien has been born
There are a few really surprising scenes, right?
Yeah, seriously...
I went like *this* several times!
It feels like, “Here it comes...” you know?
Yeah
It’s a weird thing to say, but it feels kind of like a haunted house movie
Yeah, I totally get that
As someone in the game industry, there’s a game that’s exactly like it
Originally an homage to Alien, there’s a series called Dead Space
And this movie was basically Dead Space
It was just like Dead Space
Do you mean the way the movie was made?
The general plot, and being stuck inside this cramped space, exploring around...
It was hella Dead Space
Like Alien begat Dead Space, and then Dead Space begat Romulus
The director is pretty young, so he probably plays video games
And they brought over the guns from the second Aliens movie
Those were pretty awesome
This one takes place between the first and second movies, right?
Yeah, between 1 and 2
I didn’t really know that it took place in between 1 and 2
but one of my staff members told me the other day and I was like, “Oh, wow”
I need to get more into the series
That made me think: so there’s Alien, and then there’s Dead Space...
And now from that, there’s Romulus...
It’s like Space Sheriff Gavan again
Gavan, again?!
Just like with Iké Boys...
There’s Space Sheriff Gavan, then Robocop, then Special Rescue Police Winspector...
All these “space cop” series, you know? They all go the Robocop route
These robots all get closer and closer to Robocop
I just thought of that whole line of different series...
All influencing each other...
There’s a Toei movie with Azusa Nakamura called Lady Battle Cop
Azusa Nakamura?! That takes me back
She basically becomes Robocop in Lady Battle Cop
Wow
Yeah, Lady Battle Cop
It’s an amazing B-movie
Oh really?
So if you get the chance....
Is it part of a series?
No, it’s just one movie
Did Miike direct it?
It wasn't Miike
To me, Romulus felt like Ridley Scott bringing Alien back to its roots after Prometheus
and it’s been awhile since the last Alien movie
When Ridley Scott first brought back Alien, James Cameron was on board as well
and they were like, “Yeah, let’s bring back the Alien series”
And when Alien Vs. Predator was about to get made, Cameron apparently jumped ship
But Ridley Scott didn’t want to give up, and then Prometheus came about
When I saw Prometheus, it wasn’t in the theater
I actually saw it on an airplane on an overseas business trip
And I watch Prometheus with no knowledge of it whatsoever
Just thinking, “Oh, it’s a Ridley Scott sci-fi movie, this should be good”
Partway through, I was like, “Huh, I feel like I’ve seen similar stuff before”
And then I was like, “Wait, what...? Giger...?!”
I thought it was just in my head, and it just looked similar
And all these enemy things are coming out on screen
But they never full-on bust out the “Alien” creatures, you know?
There’s stuff that kind of resembles them
And then something is inside the main character’s stomach
I was like, “Wait, what?”
But it doesn’t rip itself out...
So I just figured they were doing something sort of similar
But then finally, this “Giger”-type thing...
So you really had no idea?
I had no idea
You’re so innocent
It surprised the shit out of me
I was like, “WHAAAT?!” “FOR REALS?!”
It was amazing
So Prometheus was so fun to watch for me
It was such a shocking movie
I was so amped up
They made it so you don’t even realize it’s an Alien movie
Oh, I see
But what did you think about this one?
I mean, it was clearly an Alien movie!
Really?!
There wasn’t even a title...
That’s how they released this one
It was so exciting for me
That’s awesome
It was amazing
If I was a hardcore fan, I’d have noticed when “Prometheus” came up
With the font and everything
But I didn’t even remember that, so I was telling everyone
“Hey, this is actually an Alien movie! Have you seen this?!”
But this time I knew ahead of time
I think everyone was surprised that YOU were surprised about that
But considering that, the fact that it has “Alien” in the title means that
maybe they kind of regretted the way they did that last one, you know?
Maybe, yeah
Like, “Let’s just stick ‘Alien’ in there”
Yeah, that could’ve been it
I feel like Prometheus and Romulus are sort of sister movies, you know?
But this time they took that terror of being stuck in this enclosed space
and really ran with it, I think
But I felt like the aliens appeared pretty early on
and that these amateurs figured out how to handle them pretty quickly
They seemed a bit too clever
Yeah, they were kinda too smart
They seemed to have really good survival instincts
Yeah, it probably had to do with the environment they grew up in
They really seemed to handle themselves well
The aliens appearing so soon was kind of a sign of the times, wasn’t it?
Generation Z
Yeah, Generation Z
They don’t want to be teased
They don’t want an “intro”
Yeah, exactly
The music, too
The music?
Yeah, that song
Ah, that’s why they had the “Alien” appear in the opening
Yeah, like “This is an Alien movie!”
First you get the chorus
The chorus comes first
Oh yeah, that was it
The music AND the movie?
The music and the movie, yeah
The chorus comes first with this generation
It was almost exactly two hours, maybe an hour and 50 minutes?
That probably feels super long to people these days
Yeah, people say that 20 hours is long for a video game these days
Even Sakurai of Smash Bros. said that people tell him they get turned off
when they hear that a game has like 200 hours of gameplay
I guess that’s just how it is these days
Maybe we’ll be able to fast-forward through video games soon, huh?
Possibly, yeah
At x1.5 speed...
Yeah, playing at x1.5...
It’s because of the culture of watching other people streaming gameplay on YouTube
How does the game industry feel about people watching other people play games online?
I don’t get it at all, but the kids seem to be totally into it
Yeah, they really are
Watching game streamers on YouTube...
It’s the same with movies – kids watch the reactions of people watching movies
Wow
There are lots of elementary school kid YouTubers now, right?
These kids show the latest Disney movies and stuff on their screens
and all these other kids watch how they react to the movies
Huh?
What’s interesting about that?!
I don’t get it at all, either
Just watch the actual movie, you know?
Maybe for the next Alien movie, someone will be watching us...
Ripley will be watching us going “Whoa...!”
The designs are still the same
Yeah, the designs are still awesome
Each alien actually has a specific name, they’re all a little bit different
The tall one that comes out at the end is apparently called “Offspring”
Did you know that Offspring wasn’t actually CG?
Huh?
What do you mean?
So it’s an actual prop?
Apparently it’s a person
What?!
It’s actually a Romanian basketball player named Robert Bobroczky, who’s 2.31m (7’7”) tall
So they stuck the arms and legs on him?
The director had him come to the studio wearing the arms and legs
and apparently he freaked everybody the hell out
Damn!
Wow
With a bunch of lotion on him?
Yeah
Did they really need to use an actual person for that?!
Maybe he’s a horror otaku himself
Do you realize that in the long, long history of Cinema51
This is actually the second time we’ve discussed an Alien movie?
What?! I don’t remember at all...
How do you even remember that?!
Think about it: why was an Alien movie made by this team in the first place?
Oh! Dune!
That’s right
Dune, that’s it...
We haven’t actually done Dune, but...
Yeah, it was, uh... That one dude... um...
Jodorowsky
The director Jodorowsky's Dune project...
The team for that project...
That’s it!
Giger was there, and the same production crew was there...
And just as they were about to make it, the funding fell out
but they had the team lined up, so they decided to make *something*
And the project they came up with was...
Alien
Oh yeah, that’s right
Without Jodorowsky's Dune, Giger wouldn’t have designed the aliens...
And Giger might not have become such a world-famous famous designer
Jodorowsky is actually pretty amazing
So it was because of him that this whole series became a thing?!
I had no idea, I just found that out now
Yeah
So the stuff in the Alien movies is based on stuff he designed for Dune?
The engineers?
I feel like the engineers were based on some of that stuff, too
By the way, have you seen the new Dune?
Actually I haven’t
You haven’t seen it?
Nope
It’s pretty good
Oh, you’ve seen it? I totally assumed you hadn’t
I watched them on a plane...
Airplanes again...
Yeah, I saw both of them on a plane
They were both good, and that one weird actress didn’t do that voice, which was good
OK, glad she didn’t do the voice
Yeah, me too
By the way, Suda, have you ever considered making a really hardcore sci-fi game
like the kind of stuff Ridley Scott makes?
I mean, I’d like to see you make one, but...
I’d like to try, but I haven’t read much hard sci-fi...
I’m more of a “regular literature” kind of dude, so...
I wouldn’t know how to do it
If I had someone who was good at hard sci-fi it would probably be easier
So you’ve never really thought about doing a hardcore “cyber world”-type game?
Nope
If I was gonna make a Silver Case sequel, that’s how I’d want to do it
“Silver Case: 26th Ward”
I like stuff that was “overseen” by hardcore sci-fi writers
Like back in the day, “Sakyo Komatsu” and “Shotaro Ishinomori”
Oh yeah, that kind of thing is cool
I’d love to do something like that
Who would it be these days?
These days?
Probably a mangaka or something, I guess
If it was a mangaka, then maybe Tsutomu Nihei?
But Nihei has his own specific world-building, you know?
Yeah, his touch is pretty specific, so a fiction writer might be better
Since they don’t already have the visual aspect to base things on
I’ve always wanted Grasshopper to make a “BLAME!” game, by Tsutomu Nihei
Well... IP-related stuff is a real bitch, so...
You say that, but you keep offering to make Deadpool games and stuff
Deadpool sells, so... (*GhM actually received an offer from Act***sion to make a Deadpool game once)
I’ve actually been asked to make an Alien game, a long time ago
I just remembered – I’ve been asked twice
You mean “an Alien game”? Or “a game like Alien”?
No, an actual Alien IP game
We spoke with the producer and they had an actual plan made up and everything
And they wanted us to make the game as they proposed it in the plan
So it had to be the way they wanted it?
Yeah, and they were gonna cast the actual actors from Europe, too
They said they had the OK from the producers at Disney
But in my experience, getting the “OK” from a producer basically means jack shit
Really?
Yeah
There are lots of producers, right?
You gotta look into just how much weight a specific producer’s “OK” really has
The publisher said, “No, it’s definitely OK”
But I could just feel that it was definitely not gonna work out
So we start getting into specifics, like contracts and whatnot
And the producer from Disney or wherever suddenly gets moved to a different department...
I’m like, “See? I knew it...”
I had always considered Alien games to be Sega games, you know?
And apparently Sega didn’t want to make this game
So that felt hella sketchy to me
Alien games tend to sell really well; they’re pretty popular
So considering that, the whole thing just felt super dodgy – like, all of it
This kind of thing happens a lot in this industry, guys!
Did you have an idea of what kind of game it would’ve been if you’d made it?
I mean, they had the whole thing planned out already, so...
I don’ really remember... But I think it was really Alien-ish
KK Yabukiri
Cinema51 Resurrected Korakuen Viewing Room
So that’s our take on Alien: Covenant No, wait... Romulus!
You totally biffed that
No no, I did that on purpose!
Yeah, sure you did
Uh... Prometheus
Alien... Romulus
This summer has been really hot
Even in September
It has!
It’ll be hot in October, too
It probably will!
So it’s perfect for movie lovers!
Yeah, totally
In this hot Japanese summer, you gotta watch some good movies
What are you talking about?!
Summer is for horror movies
You get all scared and start sweating, right?
You’re like, “It’s hot, so I’m wanna get into a cold sweat!”
So anyway, we’re gonna finish this up now,
but what should we do for our next episode?
There have actually been a lot of big movies coming out
Marvel movies like Deadpool & Wolverine, and then Alien: Romulus
I’d like to do a slightly smaller film, in a smaller-scale theater next time
If we can’t find something like that, we could just do another blockbuster
We’re gonna go look for a good movie to cover, so...
If you find something good, let us know in the comments
Yeah, be sure to leave a comment
Let us know what you want to see
Tell us what you think is good
Alright, we’ll see you in the next episode