Samuel Elias Brett Biographical information Date and place of birth 13 July 2069, Houston, Texas, Earth Rank Engineer Physical description Species Human Gender Male Height 5'11" Hair color Brown Eye color Brown Chronological and political information Affiliation Weyland-Yutani USCSS Nostromo crew Status Deceased[1] as of June 3, 2122[2] Portrayed by Harry Dean Stanton
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Samuel Elias Brett^[3] was the engineering technician aboard the commercial towing vehicle USCSS Nostromo. He was serving on the ship during its fateful voyage in 2122 when it encountered a Xenomorph on LV-426, an incident that eventually led to the destruction of the ship and the loss of all but one of its crew.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Encountering the Alien 1.3 Director's Cut 2 Personality and Traits 3 Equipment 4 Behind the Scenes 4.1 Deleted scenes 5 Trivia 6 Appearances 7 Gallery 8 References

BiographyEdit

Early lifeEdit

Brett suffered from a violent childhood.^[3] After failing to graduate from the Nicholson Public High School in Hawks, West Virginia, he studied at the ICC Engineering Trade School on Earth, where he earned a degree in engineering. Prior to his posting aboard the Nostromo, Brett served aboard the USCSS Hurd.

Encountering the AlienEdit

When the Nostromo was damaged by dust entering one of the engine intakes^[4] while setting down on LV-426 in 2122, it fell to Brett and Parker to repair the ship. When Kane was brought back aboard with a Facehugger attached to his face, Captain Dallas elected to leave the moon immediately, regardless of the fact several non-essential systems had yet to be fixed. When an unsuccessful attempt to remove the Facehugger led to the creature's blood eating through several decks of the Nostromo, Dallas used Brett's pen to inspect the rapidly oxidizing acid, melting the tip, much to Brett's chagrin.

After Kane was killed by the Chestburster implanted inside him, Brett constructed several cattle prods and some sturdy nets to help catch the creature, and with assistance of several motion detectors the crew set about finding it. Brett, Parker and Ripley soon detected a signal, but when they discovered it was merely Jones, the ship's cat, Brett let him go. Ripley and Parker frustratedly pointed out they would now just pick up the cat's signal again later on, and so Brett set off to retrieve Jones. While hunting for the cat in the Nostromo's hold, he was ambushed by the now fully-grown Alien and killed, before being dragged away into the ship's ventilation shafts.

Director's CutEdit

In the Director's Cut of the film, Ripley discovered Brett's corpse in the bowels of the Nostromo as she attempted to escape the ship. He was cocooned to the wall and slowly transforming into a new Xenomorph Egg, alongside a still alive Dallas, apparently prepared as the host for the resultant Facehugger. Dallas begged Ripley to kill him, and she subsequently torched the both of them with her flamethrower.

Personality and TraitsEdit

As the "working class" aboard the Nostromo, Brett and Parker were constantly angling for increased pay and bonuses from Captain Dallas, much to the latter's annoyance (particularly as pay grades were not something he had control over). In addition to being somewhat distant from the more educated "upper class" crew members, he seemed to operate very much in Parker's shadow, with a habit of always agreeing with anything Parker said, backing him up with a simple, "Right."

EquipmentEdit

Being an engineer, Brett was adept with a wide range of tools and mechanical equipment aboard the Nostromo. When the crew began hunting the Alien, Brett constructed several electric cattle prods to "encourage" the creature into their nets, although these devices proved to be of no use against the fully matured creature.

Behind the ScenesEdit

Deleted scenesEdit

Several scenes cut from the final version of Alien gave Brett a slightly more pro-active and intelligent personality, most notably a scene in which he suggests to the others after Kane's death that he construct some basic cattle prods and nets to help catch the Alien, a plan accepted by the others.

The later scene where Ripely discovers Brett and Dallas in the ship's hold was mainly cut because director Ridley Scott thought it slowed the movie down too much in its final act. However, it was later partially reinstated for the 2003 Director's Cut of the film, minus Ripely's dialogue from the scene.^[5] The full sequence was included in the novelization of the film.^[6]

TriviaEdit

• One of the vessels Brett was assigned to prior to the Nostromo, the USCSS Hurd, is an obvious reference to Gale Anne Hurd, one of the producers on Aliens (and, at the time, wife of Aliens director James Cameron). Several other vessels listed in the Nostromo crew's résumés reference other crew members on Alien and Aliens.

AppearancesEdit

• Alien/novel/comic (First Appearance)
• Aliens (picture only)
• Aliens: Nightmare Asylum (indirect mention)
• Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual (mentioned only)

GalleryEdit

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett (writers) and Ridley Scott (director). Alien [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
2. ↑ Colonial Marines Technical Manual
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Crew dossier seen in Aliens, available as bonus feature on Alien Anthology Blu-ray
4. ↑ Alan Dean Foster (1979). Alien novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 30. 
5. ↑ Mark Kermode, Ridley Scott, Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett, James Cameron. Alien Evolution [DVD]. Nobles Gate Scotland.
6. ↑ Alan Dean Foster (1979). Alien novelization. Warner Books, Inc., 210.