Why did Ripley try to deactivate the self-destruct sequence at the end of Alien?

Why did Ripley try to deactivate the self-destruct sequence at the end of Alien? - Free stock photo of ball-shaped, business, cartography

In the final sequences of Alien (1979), Ripley activates the self destruct sequence of the Nostromo.

After seeing the alien in front of the shuttle entrance, Ripley runs back to the control room and frantically tries to deactivate the self destruct.

The whole sequence can be seen here in pictures and in the YouTube clip below.

Why would Ripley make this decision; what’s the need for disabling the self-destruct?

Basically she was dead anyway. Nowhere to go and the alien was on to her. So it would just seem to be the best option to destruct the ship and the alien.



Best Answer

She was a fighter, giving in and commiting suicide was not in her nature. Have a look at her in Aliens, insisting on being taught how to use the grenade launcher, returning the loader to fight the queen etc.

The alien moved around the ship and although it was blocking her way out at the moment it would probably move, it was just a matter of her not getting caught. If nothing else she might be able to hold it off with the flame thrower until she got out, there were several options other than just giving up.

I am guessing that at that point she was going to turn off the self destruct, get in the pod and blast off and then just broadcast a warning about the ship's contents.




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What is Ripley doing at the end of Alien?

After having killed the Alien by thermal shock, Ripley sacrifices herself by diving into a gigantic furnace just as the alien Queen begins to erupt from her chest. Her plan was to exterminate the final trace of the Aliens and prevent the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from using it as a biological weapon.

Why did the Nostromo self destruct?

In 2122, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley engaged the self destruct aboard the Nostromo in an attempt to kill the Alien, which had stowed away on board.

Why does Ripley save the cat?

He's probably included because H.R. Giger was a well-known cat lover; the cast and crew of Alien wanted to pay tribute to him. The most obvious explanation for why he survives with Ripley is to help bring a slight upbeat to an otherwise dark film. It's also possible the director just didn't want to kill a cat.

What happened at the end of Alien?

It's eventually revealed that Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) isn't dead, as the crew had thought. Fearing death, he in fact used the crew to bring him to the alien race that created humanity, in hopes of discovering the key to immortality.



Auto-Destruct Sequence Failure




More answers regarding why did Ripley try to deactivate the self-destruct sequence at the end of Alien?

Answer 2

If you remember watching the movie. The scene where she sees the alien before she goes to disable the self destruct. Well the main reason she went to go disable it was that the alien was blocking her only way of escape, the shuttle (Narcassis). When she went back to disable the auto destruct this was when the alien stowed away on the shuttle.

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