Do you believe the Alien-clone LIFE got the shaft?

It's unfortunate that LIFE is struggling, it's fantastic and deserves so much better.

yeah, I thought the movie was excellent and plausible. But I personally could not compare it to the Alien universe, if I'm understanding correctly.

No. I think it suffers from a lack of advertising--you barely hear anything of it. It was a decent movie; in my opinion, it was infinitely more interesting than Interstellar but not as good as Prometheus or Arrival. Certainly better than that god-awful Beauty and the Beast remake, which is obviously doing much better at the box office but then again, it's been plastered all over everything for a month.

It's a pity that history keeps repeating itself.

Everything is derivative to a certain degree. A L I E N was no different in that sense and viewed in much the same way. How ironic that attitudes have not changed.

Like A L I E N and THE THING, I suspect/hope LIFE will gain in popularity and prestige over time.

@Raido,

We disagree sir because I thought Arrival was a snore lol and I like the pacing better than Prometheus.

@Aorta,

I agree.  I doubt it could double its 58 million budget.  And the saturation of movies, will even hurt it with good worth of mouth.

I had read that its timing with AC may have hurt, but I'm not sure I agree. I didn't see much advertising for it- I stumbled onto the ad while watching an unrelated YT video.

I read that Forbes piece too, he's doing what a lot of industry guys do where they jockey a lot with handles like brand vs new ip's and spin a lot of data, but I think point blank if Life was a better movie it would have done better. Of course a lot of us like it, we're all nerds on an aliens forum if it doesn't do well with us it's sunk, but it vacillates between being a prestige space movie like gravity and a haunted house movie like alien and ends up being neither. The characters are morose, the Martian though scientifically valid isn't particularly charismatic, the movie ends up being monochromatic, cramped without being claustrophobic, I think especially with Logan & Kong audiences are pumped for a fun sci fi thriller and this just didn't hit the mark.

I was only barely aware of it, honestly it was the words 'Alien ripoff' that got my attention lol. But it has as much in common with The Blob as Alien, or 2001 as Gravity, and both those big movies owe much to their predecessors.

I feel that a lot of critics aren't actually suited to their jobs, some are little more than eloquent trolls. Their influence is out of proportion to their ignorance. What is 'good' or 'original' science fiction? Something that will gratify their ego to talk about?

LIFE is what a movie like that s supposed to be; Scary and fun. As a bonus, it's exceedingly well made, and has the courage to do a couple things most Hollywood efforts shy away from. Alas, no good deed goes unpunished.

@Colonialsoldier- Yeah I'm going on a one man campaign to get this movie seen ha ha. 

LONE- GO SEE LIFE. 5 TIMES.

These critics will probably gush over Blade Runner since Ford is in it.

"LONE- GO SEE LIFE. 5 TIMES."

Noobs I will !!!!! ;)

I think in time like The Thing and even Alien it will be greatly, and rightfully appreciated on a larger scale. Those movies are iconic and kind of set the bar so everything that has tension, has a creature from space will be compared to those two. Just like any movie with an animal attacking people will be compared to Jaws or serial killers will all be "copies" of Silence of the Lambs.

So many movies get the copycat label unjustly, by these shallow critics standards all westerns are copy cats because they share a handful of thematic elements across the board.

I feel many movie critics are overly eager to earn the title critic so they are over zealous in searching for something wrong with everything. I guess if they dont knock a movie way down they dont feel they are earning their title of critic. sure there are things wrong in Life but it is a wonderfully crafted movie with a realistic smart story and a buttload of tension and i feel the way they took a not so original story trope and made it their own was awesome. Lets face it all movies set in space after Alien was made all get compared to it, but monsters attacking humans in space has been around for about a century, calling it a shallow copycat is unjust and just flat out incorrect.

I love how although disenchanted with humanity in the film, David still chose Life and to make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve what he had tried so hard to distance himself from....i also love the ralistic approach to this as its on the verge of what we are doing has humans right now, we are searching Mars for life and water and trying to get samples. It feels plausible and real and a tale told in the hear and now with current technology and approaches and for me that made it all the more tense and felt more real and thus i was able to immerse myself into the story deeper and really feel the tension and fear it was displaying.

Other than having a creature attacking humans in space i dont see all the similarities critics are claiming. Most of the claims are a bit of a stretch....

Most of the claims of copycat are a stretch...similar to saying all movies where people fall in love are copying Pretty Woman for the sheer fact that someone fell in love...uh oh must be a copycat...or saying all movies that include lawyers are the same because they all seem to have a court room in their stories..

Critics suck, i just hope and believe this film will get the credit it deserves in time, is it Alien or The Thing, no but its better than Arrival and Prometheus and most all other space critter movies over the past 20 years.

It's been heavily promoted for some time in Australia.  And I've read a number of reviews that say it's an unashamed Alien rip-off, while still giving the movie a positive review.

Definitely not as good as a "thinker" like Prometheus. It's a decent film, 3 stars, but nothing significant. While a fun romp, it'll disappear from everyone's memory in a month or two. It's just not that memorable, although it's fun for a couple of hours.

When you look at these movies that are designed to generate fear, how many do a good job? I submit that LIFE's key parallel to Alien is how scary it is, and how otherworldly it's organism is, in appearance and behavior.

Otherwise, you put a hostile life form on a vehicle with humans and these things will happen: they will attempt to learn about it while simultaneously dodging it. They will attempt to kill it. To do so, they will have to make themselves vulnerable. They will, in service of the Sci fi/ horror template, mostly fail and die. 

LIFE is worth remembering for doing a few things the majority of science fiction films, including all the Alien films, have declined to do up to now: be truly brutal and horrific. The differences are subtle, but significant. It will be interesting to compare this experience to AC. Don't misunderstand, I already know AC is gonna give me stuff only Ridley can give. But LIFE was scary. I haven't felt that since I was a kid.

I think something bursting out of a dudes chest during dinner was pretty brutal by 1979 standards.

SM- Without question. Alien scared the living hell out of me.

My views are very personal but I must say, I haven't felt that level of horror since first seeing that scene. Almost 40 years. It wasn't just the content, which was terrible enough, it was the quality of it, the originality of it. I submit that LIFE provided me with the same very unique thrill, which challenges the idea that it's unoriginal. 

For people who aren't immersed in this stuff as we are, this accusation of plagiarism paints a very inaccurate picture. That's my issue with how it's being criticized. The similarities with other well executed space horror is because it's well executed space horror.

So what if the movie reminds people of Alien? That tells me if you liked Alien than you would probably like Life. Honestly, I trust the word of forum members more than paid and jaded critics. If I made Life, I would feel flattered being compared to Alien. Interestingly, Beauty and the Beast raked in the cash over the weekend- a remake of a story how old? I doubt it broke a centimeter of new ground.

Lone put it very well pointing out that everything is derivative of something else from the past.

Others have said it before- it will likely be appreciated over the long haul.

...AND, I take offense to those "critics" that call "Life" an "Alien rip-off". That's a lazy take. Hell, is ANY movie that involves a hostile Alien in space an "Alien Rip-off"? If so, then what was "Alien" itself? They seem to have forgotten that "bad things in space" movies have been around since film began. 

I hate critics. Period. I trust fans more than critics.