Alien Nation (1988)

In 1988, Earth makes the first contact with an alien civilization. In 1991, these aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after three years of quarantine.

Director:

Graham Baker

Writer:

Rockne S. O'Bannon

Stars:

James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Caan	...	Matthew Sykes
Mandy Patinkin	...	Sam Francisco
Terence Stamp	...	William Harcourt
Kevyn Major Howard	...	Kipling
Leslie Bevis	...	Cassandra
Peter Jason	...	Fedorchuk
Conrad Dunn	...	Quint (as George Jenesky)
Jeff Kober	...	Josh Strader
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Bill Tuggle
Tony Simotes	...	Wiltey
Michael David Simms	...	Human Dealer
Ed Krieger	...	Alien Dealer
Tony Perez	...	Alterez
Brian Thompson	...	Trent Porter
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Capt. Warner (as Frank McCarthy)

Storyline

A few years from now, Earth will have the first contact with an alien civilisation. These aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after years of quarantine but are victims of a new type of discrimination. When the first Newcomer police officer, Sam Francisco is assigned his new partner, he is given Matthew Sykes , a mildly racist veteran, the animosity between them soon gives way to respect as they investigate the Newcomer underworld, and especially Newcomer leader William Harcourt.

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Plot Keywords:

police | buddy cop | black comedy | alien race | investigation | 

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Taglines:

Prepare Yourself.

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Future Tense

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$25,216,243

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$32,155,047

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Entertainment Partners II L.P., Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin) was originally going to be named George Jetson, but Hanna-Barbera wouldn't give the rights to the name. The decision to call his character "George" in the movie was kept as an in-joke to the George Jetson character name.

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Goofs

During the shootout at the beginning of the film Kipling fires the 'BRI Sabot Slugs' at Tuck from his shotgun's drum magazine before he is seen loading the magazine in the first place.

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Quotes

[Matt and George are showing each other pictures of their respective children]
Det. Samuel 'George' Francisco: This is my son, Richard. He's four years old. We named him after your former president, Richard Nixon.
Det. Sgt. Matthew Sykes: [beat] George, from now on, tell people that you named him after the director Richard Burton. Just trust me on this.

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Alternate Versions

In UK cinemas, 2 versions were shown in different cinemas. In some cinemas, certain Newcomer native dialogue was subtitled into English and in others it was not. This happens most notably in the scene where George and the morgue attendant discuss the Newcomer corpse and recognise aspects of the body as representing the drug addiction. Also a short dialogue between Harcourt and Kipling after Harcourt first meets George and Matt where Kipling tells Harcourt that Sykes was the policeman in the shootout at the film's opening.

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Connections

Referenced in Alien Nation: The Game (1989)

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Soundtracks

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Published by ABKCO Music, Inc.
Performed by Jane's Addiction
Courtesy of Tripple X Records

User Reviews

Good movie...hated the tv show and movies though.

The reason I liked the movie and hated all the subsequent tv stuff is the movie had James Caan. He is what I enjoyed most about the movie and he was not in any of the tv stuff as far as I know. The interplay between him and Patinkin was great. The movie revolves around aliens who are living on earth...Caan can't stand these aliens, and really takes to disliking them when his partner is killed by one. He volunteers to be the partner of one of the aliens so that he can use the alien to find out what and who was behind his partner's death. During this time being partnered with the alien Caan's character learns to actually like being around him and they end up becoming friends. This movie has good action and comedy as Caan's character tries to figure things out and learns about his alien friend's different weaknesses and strengths. Basically it is a buddy cop movie that has an alien teamed with a human.