This weekend I finally watched Alien: Romulus (2024) given I thought it might give me something to talk about for Tech Noir, I was right. I enjoyed the return to the original Alien (1979), which in many ways is one of the pillars of the tech noir genre with its focus on greedy hi-tech companies; sleeper agent androids designed to do the powerful’s bidding; and a dark and claustrophobic atmosphere—oh yeah, there are also the aliens that the corporation secretly direct the android to return to earth for seemingly dubious purposes. But more than anything for me from the original Alien is the beautiful visualization of the technology of the future, like captain Dallas seemingly immersed within the MU/TH/UR 6000 computer.
In fact, the entire ship is a series of automated computers that was hard to fully wrap your head around in 1979:
The internet of things was a long way off:
The visual style of Alien is part of what made it so memorable, and that doesn’t go just for the technology, but also for the sense of ominous darkness that follows each character as they are hunted by the Xenomorph.
That aesthetic even extends to Jonesy the cat:
Romulus is quite intentionally an homage to the original, and some very early shots highlight the “Cassette Futurism” of Ridley Scott’s original vision. Flickering CRT screens and blinking buttons were used to highlight the out-dated technology of the well-worn workspace of the mining ship.

MU/TH/UR 9000
This point is brought home when they highlight a similar, yet more recent, operating system the mining company is running on the abandoned ship: MU/TH/UR 9000. In fact, both the plot line and the visual aesthetic of Romulus are loosely re-tracing the original. Watching essentially the same film 45 years later is still better than most of what you’ll find on Netflix, so sign me up. I was enjoying the film up and until they introduced the likeness of actor Ian Holm (he died in 2020) who played the role of the evil android Ash in the original. He was, oddly, a different android named Rook who also had as his prime directive to ensure the aliens on board were delivered safely to the company at all costs. Hmmm.

Ian Holm’s likeness used to play the android Rook in Romulus, you would be right to think this was an image from Alien Isolation video game that came out ten years ago
Many people took issue with the CGI used to render Ash Rook—it was terrible for sure—but that was not my biggest beef. My issue was the very danger the figure Ash warned us about in the original, namely the costs of artificial intelligence passing as human in order to serve the agenda of the rich and powerful, is unironically realized in the conceptualization of this re-make. Despite being dead for years, Ian Holm was included in the film not through re-used footage, but as a totally new character using his voice and likeness. While his estate seems to have been consulted on the inclusion, he has effectively lost agency over how the film companies use his likeness. In effect, his legacy as an actor is brought into question. Which, in turn, opens up the broader question of how such deep fakes in Hollywood impact any actor working presently (or not). One has to ask if some part of Holm’s soul (to use that term broadly) as an actor is now owned by the Alien franchise corporation (5 or 6 more years in the Hollywood mine, the company appreciates you!)—it’s prime directive being to make profits on the shoulders of those who helped make it successful: dead or alive.

“You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? … Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.” Alien (1979)
Despite the larger ethical questions around AI, deep fakes, and the loss of control of our likeness (Hollywood just being one example), the other question worth asking is did Romulus even need this poorly executed reference? It was apparent they were returning home to the original, and quite frankly the opening scene on the mining colony; the hijacking of the abandoned ship; and the face hugging barrage was an excellent start to the movie. The aesthetic references to the original were apparent, but the plot details were different enough to be an homage while providing their own twist, but when Ian Holm’s butchered (both figuratively and literally) likeness appears, there was a sense that we could no longer go home to the original again. Not only was it forced, but it felt wrong. Holm is an amazing actor and Alien was jut one of many roles that established him as a great talent, yet here he is coming back from the dead as a terribly re-created CGI figure with a role that only his talent could save from the implicit mediocrity of the idea—but that talent is no longer with us, he is dead. What part of that equation did director Fede Álvarez fail to understand?

The cast of the 1979original Alien
Filmmaking is an act of orchestration between the director, writer(s), cinematographer, designers, and most of all the players. What made Alien so great even beyond the aesthetics were the characters and the performances that made them by greats such as Sigourney Weaver, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, Tom Skerritt, and especially Ian Holm. It’s that alchemy that made the original one of the greatest films of the 20th century. It’s the very reason why Alien is a franchise at all, so to just mindlessly mine that talent post-humously for a half-assed wink highlights the soullessness of these franchise films. As the case with Marvel and Star Wars, we see Alien attempt redemption by returning to the source, but all the while forgetting it’s the humanity of talent that made the original great. The Tech Noir themes of this film are in many ways as much about the politics of re-making the original as the story itself. Fight me.
I was late to the Alien party, finally seeing it in 1982, in Milwaukie of all places. And for reasons, my concentration on watching the film was not all there. I need to own and watch this again thanks to your inspiration. You should review films for a living 😉
Are you really being nice to me? I don’t trust it. More importantly, now I am dying to know what you were doing in a Milwaukee movie theater in 82. Were you on an interstate date with a Wisconsin penpal? The bava needs all the naughty details.
Sorry to disappoint, but nothing naughty. I was at the U.S. Junior Nationals bike race and it was the movie they showed the night before the race. I definitely had the race on my mind. As it turns out I had mechanical issues in the race and it was crap. Alien was the highlight of the trip. BTW, I have nothing but deep respect for you and what you do in this space and what you and your team enable, and if I haven’t been, then I need to be nicer to you 🙂
Also BTW, I meant Milwaukee, the one in Wisconsin, not the city in Oregon (haha)
I was just fishing for compliments, so mission accomplished. As for the US Junior Nationals, I had no idea you were cycling at that level. You are so modest, how did this never come up in the bullpen? You sure as shit wore you bike shorts to work enough for it to slip out 🙂
I was too young for the original (or was I?), but fell in love with the franchise with Aliens.
You nailed my biggest complaint with Romulus, and even though I’m not a big fan of horror, I still very much enjoyed it. And, no matter what, it was better than Alien 3.
Yeah, I have to say so many of the follow-up films, particularly Prometheus, were just outright terrible. This is the first installment since Aliens that I was beginning to feel my love re-ignited, and overall I enjoyed it, but the Holm piece was such a flagrantly amateur move that it still remains hard to swallow. Why ruin a good story with useless nostalgia that adds little, or nothing, to a fun re-imagining. I mean the new monster at the end was truly freaky, that creature will haunt me for years, but Holm’s terribly wrought inclusion kills a lot of the potential for me.
Also, thanks for commenting here, that is very cool of you!