The Matrix and Alien are interesting in that the later works of the creators indicate that both movies succeeded in spite of the people behind them, rather than because of them.
The Watchowski's are obviously a hot mess of insanity and plagiarism, and the latest Matrix exposes their complete lack of ability to create as well as deconstruct.
The first Matrix does a fantastic job of predicting many of the technological horrors of the internet age and the fragmenting of personal bonds and grounded, culturally inherited identities. However this is definitely not what the Brother Sisters intended. They have been adamant ever since that the film is a trans/queer allegory and that the matrix itself is traditional society, that the new identities of Neo, Trinity, Morpheus et al are their true natures and not, as au would argue is a far better comparison, facsimiles crafted by the lost children of the end of civilisation, cut off in time and lacking guidance and wisdom for how to be in the face of a world writ large in the homogenous blandments of modernity and globalisation.
The Matrix is a great film for the wrong reasons. It's fart huffing middle class elitists could see the problems we all suffer under, could predict where this was going to go as the decades rolled by even, but the reason the Red Pill and so many other aspects of the film ended up being taken up by most of the people they hate and see as evil and villainous is because they're as trap within the 'matrix' as the agents they added as villains. They hate the world but fail to see that they're the reason to hate it.
Alien meanwhile only really had Ridley Scott at the helm not getting why the film worked. Geiger and Obannon both understood what they were making, and thankfully this results in a far more coherent and understandable movie overall. The psychosexual themes and soul crushing corporatism are both perfectly implemented and play off one another in a far more convincing and relatable manner, thanks to the sterling efforts of the cast's portrayals of the 'Everyman' space truckers, and deliver a tour de force of a sci fi horror that set the benchmark for such movies and sub genre works going forward.
The two movies are actually surprisingly similar despite their superficial differences. Both trap their heroes in a situation they can barely comprehend, let alone escape, and the slow revelation of the reality of their situations, the casual manner those around them die, the looming inhuman corporate, artificial machine they live in, seeing them as disposable components and assets to be spent, the betrayals from within and final stepping up to overcome their tormentors, are almost beat for beat identical in messaging and purpose.
But Alien is better. Better acted, better conveyed as a message understood by at least 2/3 of the most import creators involved, led to at least 1 sequel that elevated its core concepts, and just generally more enjoyable.
