I can’t wait Alien: Romulusaim for attack A delicate balance It sits somewhere between the horror thrills of the original 1979 film and James Cameron’s action-packed sequel, and if you’re in the mood to revisit this iconic sci-fi world before Romulus, you might enjoy this look at the series’ most memorable spaceship.
Alien movie series (coming soon) Alien TV SeriesThe Alien series is rather odd in that no two films are exactly alike, with each director and writer bringing their own unique sensibility to not only the creatures but also the universe that surrounds them. But there are also constants, such as the incredible work that went into making the technology and spaceships as believable and memorable as possible. The exception here might be Alien 3, which was decidedly smaller in scale and took place primarily inside an underground prison.
Whether this is your first time watching the Alien series or you want to get a complete refresher before heading back to cinemas this summer, I highly recommend giving it a watch. alien movies order and Ranking alien movies from worst to best A list to reassess the legendary sci-fi horror series and learn something, perhaps even more to uncover: Best Alien Game Ever Using a pick might make you scream even louder.
USCSS Prometheus
Weyland’s USCSS Prometheus is one of the coolest and most impressive ships in the series, not only due to its imposing and stylish appearance, but also due to its more advanced equipment supporting the science mission sent to LV-223 in 2091. Despite this, the Prometheus arrived at the unknown moon in 2093 and was destroyed just a few days later.
The Heliades-class J science probe was built and operated exclusively by Weyland and was the most advanced spacecraft available at the time of its first launch. Faster than Light It surpassed its predecessors in capabilities. The most iconic element of the ship was its four nuclear ion plasma engines with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. The ship carried several scientists, crew members, and mercenaries. In addition, a huge garage hangar housed more than 20 vehicles. Other important rooms and facilities included a hypersleep chamber, crew escape modules and ejection pods, advanced MedPods that could be easily used by any crew member, and a long-range communication antenna similar to that of the USCSS Nostromo.
For years there has been debate about the ship’s incredibly advanced design and technology compared to the more rusty, retro-futuristic ships in the original film, but in-universe, the simple explanation is that Weyland built the best, most advanced ship possible for the mission to LV-223, not just because of its importance, but because Peter Weyland himself was part of the expedition. In comparison, the ships seen in Alien and Alien 2 are more geared towards manual laborers and clearly outdated military forces.
Class E Landing Drop Shuttle
As impressive as the USCSS Covenant was in Alien: Covenant , the shuttle used by the crew to land on the unknown planet in 2104 features much more prominently in the film, playing a major role in some tense scenes.
Generally, Lander 1 and 2 were standard dropships, but their manufacturer, Weyland-Yutani Corporation (now no longer Weyland Corporation), outfitted the vessels appropriately to handle medical emergencies and more delicate situations requiring advanced capabilities. Lander 2 was destroyed, prior to the events seen in the film, in a collision with a shuttle carrying the EarthSavers, a fanatic cult who believed Earth was about to be destroyed by monsters from the stars and tried to stop the ship carrying their crew from leaving Earth.
The Lander One dropship had space for one pilot, one co-pilot, and ten passengers, with space left over for cargo, equipment, a payload bay, and an advanced medical bay. In the film, the lander is marked “02”, even though it is always referred to as “Lander One” by the crew. This may be a homage to the off-screen destruction of a sister shuttle, and the crew’s subsequent “resetting” of its designation (or it may simply be a continuity error).
USCSS Nostromo
Although the original Alien film intentionally kept the full size and shape of the Nostromo hidden in darkness for much of its runtime, the ship still became one of the most iconic spacecraft in cinematic history. We love its brooding, dark corridors, its retro-futuristic style, and Narcissus, the tiny, lightweight shuttle used by Ellen Ripley to escape her (first) Xenomorph nightmare in 2122 with the ship’s smallest passenger, Jones the orange cat.
The USCSS Nostromo, owned and modified by Weyland-Yutani, was a Rockmart CM-88B Bison M-class star freighter manufactured by Rockmart Industries. Rather than carrying cargo on board like a freighter, the Nostromo towed cargo in hitches like a tractor truck. Most often, the ship was used as a commercial carrier transporting automated ore and oil refineries between Earth and the outer colonies, such as in Aliens on LV-426 (aka Acheron).
The Nostromo and its precious cargo were utterly destroyed when Ellen Ripley attempted to use the emergency destruct system to kill the murderous Xenomorphs. For decades, the cause of its disappearance remained unknown to the public, but its fate, at least, was revealed in 2179, when Ellen Ripley was rescued from decades of hypersleep.
USS Sulaco
When we think of both movies, we can’t help but picture the giant ships Nostromo and Sulaco, both of which appeared in Alien. Built by Lunar Welsen Industries, the Sulaco was a military frigate and a Conestoga-class troop transport used by the United States Colonial Marines (USCM).
In particular, it was used in the mission to find out what had happened. Hadley’s Hope Colony The ship was manned by a full fighting force of Colonial Marines on Acheron in 2179. The frigate had a somewhat unfortunate reputation, having already sustained heavy damage in previous missions, and even more so in an unfortunate docking accident that had resulted in the deaths of five crew members.
According to behind-the-scenes sources, James Cameron’s design vision for the giant spaceship centred around the idea of a forest of antennae entering the frame, followed by the giant mass of the Sulaco behind them, rather than the spherical design originally proposed by concept designer Syd Mead, giving the impression that the giant spaceship was part of the same universe as the Nostromo.
UD-4 “Cheyenne” dropship
The iconic “Cheyenne” dropship used by the USCM may be more famous than the Sulaco it carried, especially since it carried the M577 armored carrier (the car/tank used on the ground in LV-426). Designed for rapid force deployment and aerial attacks on medium and small targets, the dropship had the capability to take off and land vertically, but was usually launched from the large belly hangars of military frigates.
The Cheyenne was outfitted with mission-specific, customizable weapon hardpoints, typically equipped to provide heavy fire support to ground troops. In conjunction with the rotary cannon, the weapons pods carried a range of ordnance, including air-to-surface rockets, unguided mini-rockets, self-guided missiles, anti-armor tactical missiles, and even explosives for self-defense.
Behind the scenes, the idea was to create a dropship that would in theory resemble a modern military helicopter, with much of its DNA coming from aircraft used in the novel. Space Warrior Cameron ultimately settled on a design based loosely on the Apache AH-64 attack helicopter, but also incorporated elements of F-4 Phantom II fighter jets and Huey helicopters to capture the distinct Vietnam War-era feel the filmmakers were going for.
USM Auriga
By the time of the universe’s 2381 A.D., humanity’s presence among the stars had inevitably grown, and the United Systems Military (USM) began a project aimed at recreating the Xenomorph race by cloning Ellen Ripley, who had died after being impregnated by aliens just days before her sacrifice, with most of this project taking place aboard the USM Auriga.
This huge medical research vessel, over 2,600 meters long, had a “permanent crew” of 42 enlisted men and a team of seven scientists, and was actually controlled by an AI program named Father. Although the crew size was limited due to the vessel’s size, the ship had a large entertainment hall, ample sleeping quarters, a chapel, and numerous laboratories. In addition, a lifeboat was installed in case of an emergency, allowing the pilot to remotely control the Auriga from outside if necessary.
In reference to the core theme of Alien: Resurrection, namely rebirth, Nigel Phelps’ original design for Auriga was partly modeled after a Christian cross, but issues arose when scaling the model for camera and framing. It was eventually redesigned with a more traditional hull, although the final result features ribbed side panels referencing the “fingers” of the facehugger. However, in the novel, Auriga is depicted as a space station closer to the aforementioned vertical idea.
