Species (1995)
Trivia
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Spoilers (9)
During the production, MGM opted not to shoot the "nightmare train" sequence to keep costs down. H.R. Giger was not willing to accept that, however, so he spent one hundred thousand dollars of his own money to finance the sequence.
For the scene in which Sil is "born" from the cocoon, the train set was built upside down. Natasha Henstridge, totally naked and covered in KY Jelly lubricant, was pushed through the cocoon, and the shot was flipped upside down afterwards, to achieve the effect of her falling out.
Xavier Fitch (Sir Ben Kingsley) says that the alien signal was received by the Arecibo radio telescope exactly nineteen years after an outbound message was transmitted. Since the transmissions travelled at the speed of light, that means that the alien solar system is approximately nine light-years from Earth. There are two stars which are likely candidates, Sirius and Luyten 726-8A.
Frank Welker, who provided Sil's alien sound effects, said it was one of the most strenuous on his vocal chords with the various types of screaming and screeching sounds he was asked to create, but he had a lot of fun regardless.
Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger were allowed to improvise their sex scene.
Director Roger Donaldson said in an interview for Starlog Magazine in August of 1995 that the first cut of the Editor Conrad Buff IV put together was two hours and seven minutes long, and it had a different ending action sequence and battle with Sil. A few shots from the original ending can be seen in the theatrical trailer.
The premise of Sil's creation, the detection of extraterrestial transmissions that provide detailed instructions for the creation of a humanoid lifeform, is virtually identical to premise of the BBC television series A for Andromeda (1961), co-written by astronomer Fred Hoyle and author John Elliot. The only difference between the two premises is that, in this movie, Earth receives two alien transmissions, the first provides the formula for a new chemical process using methane that will provide virtually unlimited energy (thus convincing the Earth of the aliens' good intentions), then with the instructions for Sil's creation. In A for Andromeda (1961), the Earth receives only one alien transmission, this provided instructions for building a new kind of supercomputer, and the computer in turn generates the intructions for the creation of the humanoid Andromeda.
Fitch's comment that they made Sil female to be more docile is an in-joke that reveals his ignorance. In every predatory species known, the female is always more aggressive.
Michelle Williams dislikes this movie, due to the amount of bullying she received after it was released.
Michael Madsen once claimed this was one of the few movies he had done that he was proud of, but referred to the film's sequel as "lousy" and admitted he only did it for a paycheck.
Theatrical movie debut of Natasha Henstridge (Sil).
In scenes of Dan (Forest Whitaker) talking to his therapist, there is a sign on the wall in the background that at first glance is a typical "Thank You For Not Smoking" sign. On closer inspection the text actually reads "Thank You For Smoking".
Pierce Brosnan was offered a part in this movie, but declined due to scheduling conflicts with GoldenEye (1995). He worked with Roger Donaldson on Dante's Peak (1997). Andrzej Bartkowiak was the cinematographer for both movies.
In the commentary, Michael Madsen says Ben Kingsley was protective of his chair on set and didn't like anyone touching it. Kingsley said Madsen would purposely do things to it, including dumping garbage on it and hanging it from a crane.
In August 1995, a woman named Madelyne Tolentino from Canóvanas, Puerto Rico allegedly spotted the chupacabra, which supposedly had killed several animals in the last months. Tolentino later admitted she actually described Sil, the creature from this movie, and believed the events depicted were actually happening in her town.
Two alternate comic book continuations were published - "Species: Human Race" by Dark Horse Comics, featuring a male alien, and the 2005 one-shot special "Species: Offspring" by Avatar Press, featuring Sil herself.
This had the same exact tag line as the Debra Winger thriller, Black Widow (1987): "She mates. She kills."
Nearly two decades later Sir Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams would appear in Shutter Island (2010).
Dr. Stephen Arden (Alfred Molina) says he teaches comparative anthropology at Harvard. Screenwriter Dennis Feldman graduated from Harvard with a major in photography.
The first collaboration between Director Roger Donaldson and Cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak.
Dr. Laura Baker (Marg Helgenberger) likens humanity to a galactic weed spreading throughout the galaxy. Other science fiction works that may have inspired it are The Day of the Triffids, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or Quatermass, which had tripodal Martians.
Sir Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitaker, Alfred Molina, and Michelle Williams starred in Marvel comic book films. Molina starred in Spider-Man 2 (2004), Kingsley starred in Iron Man Three (2013), Whitaker starred in Black Panther (2018), and Williams starred in Venom (2018).
The film's cast includes two Oscar winners: Sir Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitaker, and one Oscar nominee Michelle Williams.
An extract from one of the plot descriptions of Species (1995) says, "A group of scientists try to track down and stop a killer alien. In 1974, the United States government relayed a message containing information about Earth and its inhabitants (including the DNA sequences which make up the human genoome) out to the galaxy". Natasha Henstridge who plays Sil, was born in 1974.
Natasha Henstridge appeared in the short-lived comedy Selfie (2014) opposite Karen Gillan. Like Henstridge, Gillan is a former model turned actress whose breakout role was in the science fiction series Doctor Who (2005), in which she played Amy Pond, the companion to Matt Smith's version of The Doctor.
The motel manager mentions to Sil that she doesn't want her credit card (which she took, along with the clothes, from the train conductor) to fall into wrong hands. Next scene has Fitch telling on the phone that they found her via tracing her credit card.
Spoilers
Alfred Molina recalled that Natasha Henstridge was nervous on the day of filming their sex scene since she had never acted in one before. Molina lightened the mood by telling Henstridge that it was a first for him too, since his only previous sex scene was with a man in Prick Up Your Ears (1987).
The original, effects-only version of the Sil's nightmare scene where she dreams of herself in her alien form mating with a male alien was twenty minutes long, and was much more detailed and graphic. H.R. Giger, who designed some of the effects for the movie, loved the original uncut version of the scene, and hated that it was only a few seconds long and poorly edited. Giger also came up with the idea of killing Sil by blowing her head off, since he thought that her original death where she gets burned alive with a flamethrower was weak. Giger had some other suggestions for the ending, one of which included a much bigger and more action-packed ending in a drive-in theater showing Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), a movie on which Giger also worked. In that ending, the military fought Sil with helicopters and Laura eventually killed Sil by blowing her head off with a rocket launcher. After she gets killed, Sil's baby crawled out of her, but also died, either by explosion, or by being beaten to death by one of the soldiers.
An early draft of the script had the young Sil calmly killing a friendly cab driver. In an effort to keep the audiences sympathy for her character (and to make the murder of the porter more shocking) the scene was changed to Sil killing a tramp in self defense after he attempts to attack her.
When Sil watches television at the motel, she flips through different channels and they all show various things she will do later in the movie. Like having sex, changing her hair, showing off her body, et cetera.
For Robbie's fatal kiss with Sil, Anthony Guidera and Natasha Henstridge won the 1996 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. When receiving the award, Guidera once again kissed Henstridge, then checked the back of his neck and gladly exclaimed "I am alive!" The award was presented to the two by the band KISS, whose bassist Gene Simmons, like Sil, is known for his long tongue. Henstridge was recorded while walking off stage with Guidera telling him "My boyfriend is going to kill me!"
Preston (Michael Madsen) uses a Cobray CM79LF 37mm Launcher to kill Sil (Natasha Henstridge) at the end.
Sil and Robbie's fatal kiss was originally far more gruesome, with Sil's tongue shooting down Robbie's throat and using sharp barbs like a fishhook to rip his internal organs out of his body through his mouth. H.R. Giger recycled the horrific death from an abandoned concept from Alien³ (1992), in which the Alien would kill a prisoner with a 'kiss of death'. Ultimately, the studio rejected the idea to avoid an X rating.
Despite not being part of the description for the film's R rating from the MPAA, Nudity is also present in this film. After she metamorphosed into a humanoid adult, there are several scenes throughout the rest of the film of Sil being shown either topless or completely nude.
Michelle Williams, who portrays young Sil in this film, would go on to play a person briefly infected by an alien in Venom (2018).
