Alien War was a "

total reality ''Total Reality'' is a 1997 American action and science-fiction film directed by Phillip J. Roth. The musical score was composed by Jim Goodwin. The film stars David Bradley, Ely Pouget, Thomas Kretschmann, Anna Nicholas, Marcus Aurelius, and Pat ...

" experience in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

that originally opened at the Arches in Glasgow in April 1992 themed around the

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

series of films. Created by John Gorman and Gary Gillies, the attraction had a short run as a mobile event at various

exhibition centres A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

in the UK (including the

Bournemouth International Centre The Bournemouth International Centre (commonly known as the BIC ) in Bournemouth, Dorset, was opened in September 1984. It is one of the largest venues for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment and events in southern England. Additionally, it ...

and the

Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre The Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (also known as the General Electric Exhibition Centre and often shortened to the AECC) was a large exhibition and conference complex, in the suburb of Bridge of Don, in Aberdeen, Scotland. The compl ...

). On 15 October 1993 it opened in the basement of the

Trocadero centre The London Trocadero was an entertainment complex on Coventry Street, with a rear entrance in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. It was originally built in 1896 as a restaurant, which closed in 1965. In 1984, the complex reopened as an exhibition and en ...

in London. The permanent attraction in London closed after a flood in August 1996 and was never reopened. It made a short return between December 1999 and January 2000 in the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in a modified form.

Technology

The marines originally carried blank firing pistols. For Alien War London, an innovative electronic system called Soundfire was developed to allow the weapons to sound like those used in the film ''Aliens''. The system consisted of M41A pulse rifles with infrared transmitters and small strobe lights (to simulate muzzle flash). When the trigger is pulled a signal is transmitted to receivers hidden in the set. A central computer then plays gunfire

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...

to speakers in the correct area of the set. The method of producing the effect was entirely different from how it would be imagined the weapons would discharge. The strobe lights also resembled blue camera flashes, and did not resemble a muzzleflash. The system also played other sound effects such as the Alien sounds and suffered teething troubles in the first months after opening meaning that the blank firing pistols had to be used for most early shows. The show was seen in various guises and briefly featured an actor dressed as the Predator for a spell prior to it closing in Glasgow.

Alien War 2008

Alien War (now called Alien Wars) opened at its original home at the Arches Glasgow on 6 December 2008 and ran until 30 August 2009 in a modified format that is unrelated to the

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

film series.MySpace page with news of the 2007 Alien War tour, blog entry "Alien Wars is back!"
/ref> It opened in Liverpool at Wirral's spaceport and ran until March 2010. A number of exhibits from Alien War and the associated Movie Magic Exhibition, Glasgow, were acquired by IDEAS, the Edinburgh-based design consultancy, intended for inclusion within the UFO Land, Sc-Fi Museum, part of the Zenith Project and Scarborough Council.

Footnotes

External links

International Herald Tribune Article about Alien War
{{Alien (franchise) Alien (franchise) games Outer space in amusement parks