ALIEN Nostromo Pistol + Accuracy in Prop Replicas

Accuracy is the name of the game for many replica prop fans. Here's a comparison of two ALIEN props, and a quick discussion about "screen accurate" replicas, and props that fall short.

ALIEN is one of those game-changing films that finally brought respect to dark sci-fi/horror monster movies, and allowed films like John Carpenter's The Thing to be greenlit. This Nostromo pistol design is a holdover from the days of the classic sci-fi raygun, combined with the Star Wars-y blaster trends. The EVA pistol is a mutt bridging the gap between these two eras of sci-fi weapons. From the overall oddball design, it looks designed to be strange and unexpected. Something an audience would not recognize from their own world.

Films like ALIENS, BLADE RUNNER, and Logan's Run all received interesting sci-fi weapons that have earned cult follows and stand out as prime examples of sci-fi weaponry.

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BACKSTORY
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When the Nostromo sets down on LV426 on company orders, Captain Dallas orders the weapons to be broken out of storage for the EVA to the source of the signal. During the walk, we can can see some sort of large framed futuristic pistol on the hips of our space trucker astronauts. No mention is made of what these pistols are or what they fire. At no point in the film, do the characters address these weapons by name or pull them out during the warrior-drone's attack on the crew. In the original release, these bulky futuristic-looking pistols were only seen if one really looked on the hips of the landing party, and in one scene laying on the massive table in the common room.

In the 2003 Director's Cut, Kane pulls out his pistol has he approaches the eggs in the silo, but the scene only lasts a few seconds.The clearest photos of the pistol were seen in promotional stills and on-set photos for magazines of the day. If Kenner had moved forward with production of the 3 3/4 inches action figures, than the Nostromo EVA handgun would have been packaged with the Dallas figure. The later highly detailed 2008 Kane and Dallas figures from Hot Toys were featured with the pistol and the odd holster. There are some hints about why this pistol looks so funky. From an interview with special effects supervisor Nick Allder that the pistol has fiber-optics for the prop to emit a real laser beam (similar today's laser pointers) from the bottom of the magazine well cylinder most likely.

In the film, this laser pistol was a miniaturized, weaponized version of the laser welders used by Dennis Parker and Samuel Brett aboard the USCSS Nostromo. The pistols used by the Nostromo crew were equipped a 4x20 scope mounted on top of the weapon and an unknown device (possibly a laser guide) on the bottom. The pistols used by the crew of the Nostromo also had "NOSTROMO" and "LIGHT SYNC. DIAL" on the side in the right font Futura Demibold. Presumably, if the pistol were used on another ship, "NOSTROMO" would be replaced with the ship's name.

Some MK 50 Compression Suits in 2122 featured a holster for the laser pistol on their right leg.

BEHIND THE SCENES
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In the scripts, these are referred to as laser pistols, in the final film they are never fired and only referred to as "weapons". In the original ending of Alien, Ripley was to find herself hanging outside of the shuttle Narcissus by a cable, with the Alien clinging to the end. Before climbing back aboard she was to shoot the Alien in the head with one of the laser pistols, only for it to have almost no effect on the creature. Storyboards were created for the sequence, but it was later simplified to the version seen on film.

CREATION OF THE PROP
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Full-size props of the pistol were based on the Rexim-Favor submachine gun, with their barrels shortened, stocks and magazines removed, "NOSTROMO" and "LIGHT SYNC. DIAL" in the font Futura Demibold added to the side of the pistol used by Kane, 4x20 scopes added to the top and a Singe Point Scope (which was also used on blaster props in the Star Wars films) attached to the bottom of the magazine wells.

MINI VERSIONS FOR CHILD ACTORS
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A second, smaller version of the Nostromo pistol was also custom-made, based on a Webley Junior Mk.II air pistol by Webley & Scott. These props consist of a commercial Webley metal air gun with various production modifications, additional dressing including a metal tube with threaded plug in the gun barrel, an added arm and a sight-scope accessory on top, etc. The miniaturized versions were used by the children who played Dallas, Kane and Lambert in some long shots where the pistols were seen in the holsters on the suits' legs, and was scaled down to match their smaller suits. Three of the smaller Webley props were constructed by production.

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