Alien Nation

19881988
RR
1h 31min

6.3/10

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... Read allIn 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.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.

6.3/10

15K

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations

Videos1

Trailer 0:32

Alien Nation

Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. in Enemy Mine (1985)

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. —Jonathan Broxton <j.w.broxton@sheffield.ac.uk>

police buddy cop investigation buddy movie alien 162 more

Taglines
- Prepare Yourself.
Genres
- Action
- Sci-Fi
Certificate
- R
Parents guide

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.

Goofs
When George is hanging outside the helicopter, above the water surface, he should be screaming in pain since the rotor-blades would whip up a pretty dense cloud of seawater, thus he would be injured since his race is extremely sensitive against seawater, as pointed out by Joshua Strader, and William Harcourt in the end scene, their bodies react to it as we would to sulfuric acid, as referenced in the movie.

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.

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.

Connections
Featured in At the Movies: Alien Nation/Elvira: Mistress of the Dark/Imagine: John Lennon/Salaam Bombay/Track 29 (1988)

Soundtracks
You've Really Got a Hold on Me
Written by Smokey Robinson (as William Robinson)
Performed by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (as Smokey Robinson and The Miracles)
Courtesy of Motown Record Company, L.P.

Top review

7/10

Premise more interesting than plot

This is like a lot of movies where the premise is more interesting than the plot. The arrival of the "Newcomers" seems to be a metaphor for the immigrant experience in America, but this is not followed up. It goes from a sci-fi movie into a cop-buddy movie, and it's really not bad on that level. It seems, however that the filmmakers passed on an opportunity to make a really significant commentary. One wishes for the film that got away.

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