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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Prepare Yourself.

---

Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien Nation: The Movie

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

Curt Sobel replaced Jerry Goldsmith as the film's Composer. Goldsmith's score was rejected early in post-production for being "too weird", and replaced with music by Sobel. Goldsmith's rejected score was released in Spring 2005 as a Varese Sarabande CD Club Release limited to three thousand copies.

---

Goofs

When Sykes is about to be struck by Hubley's son at the bar, Francisco stops him. The son then says something in the Newcomer language that is translated on screen as, "You smell like a human". However, he is only saying Francisco's real name, the same one Francisco himself told Sykes earlier, not a statement about him smelling like a human.

---

Quotes

Det. Samuel 'George' Francisco: You humans are very curious to us. You invite us to live among you in an atmosphere of equality that we've never known before. You give us ownership of our own lives for the first time and you ask no more of us than you do of yourselves. I hope you understand how special your world is, how unique a people you humans are. Which is why it is all the more painful and confusing to us that so few of you seem capable of living up to the ideals you set for yourselves.

---

Connections

Referenced in District 9 (2009)

---

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.

User Reviews

Not half bad

Considering that it is little more than your standard cop buddy movie, the slight variation being that the buddies are a tough seen-it-all cop and a by-the-books rookie who is an alien, Alien Nation ends up being a pretty good film. You can give a lot of credit to James Caan and Mandy Patankin for that. They have great chemistry as the partners. Both are very accomplished actors, and they make a very cliched script into something well worth watching. 7/10