Species at 30 makes for a great guilty pleasure

Summary

That said, Giger didn't much care for the final film, which he thought was much too similar to the Alien franchise, which boasts his most famous creature design, the xenomorph. For instance, there is the same punching tongue (Giger had wanted to incorporate barbed hooks for Sil), and Sil giving birth seems eerily akin to Alien's famous "chestburster" scene. Giger did manage to convince the director to have the team ultimately take out Sil with a fatal shot to the head, rather than with flame-throwers, which he felt was too derivative of Alien 3 and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Giger had a point: Species is not particularly ground-breaking or original in terms of plot or the nature of the alien posing a threat to humankind. The dialogue is uninspired (occasionally downright trite) and the characters aren't well developed, most notably Kingsley's weak-willed amoral scientist and Whitaker's reluctant empath—both exceptionally gifted actors who are largely wasted here. Poor Whitaker is reduced to looking broody and stating the obvious about whatever Sil might be "feeling." There are gestures towards themes that are never fully explored and the outcome is predictable, right down to the final twist. The mating game Sil picks up a potential mate (Anthony Guidera) at ta local club MGM Sil picks up a potential mate (Anthony Guidera) at ta local club MGM Taking out a romantic rival: "She's pretty hard on the competition." MGM Taking out a romantic rival: "She's pretty hard on the competition." MGM Sil's a bit camera shy, but at least she's found a genuinely nice guy in John (Whip Hubley). MGM Sil's a bit camera shy, but at least she's found a genuinely nice guy in John (Whip Hubley). MGM Taking out a romantic rival: "She's pretty hard on the competition." MGM Sil's a bit camera shy, but at least she's found a genuinely nice guy in John (Whip Hubley). MGM R.I.P. John, who just wanted to take things slow. But Sil's biological clock is ticking! MGM A dark-haired Sil sets her sig...