" Mother, turn the cooling unit back on! Damn You! "

[The Companyman]

So this does what?

Ripley done activated the self distriuction mode. She could clearly over ride that.

Did Ash throw a monkey in the wrench? Did the Company? And if so would'nt that risk losing the " specimen "? Even though they have the pinpoint location of the other eggs.

Did she blow it her self somehow? in a rush. Was mother even real, or just a figment of the realizatipon of the times! Like GOD!? Who knows. ( Just covering it all )

I ask because Encore Action is showing all three in a row, and they have rotated back to the original and I just heared her sayed it!

So then I wonder what everyone thinks...

[BlackWatch]

Well, that's how the self destruct sequence is initiated: by turning the cooling units off, thus overheating the engines and "blamo!". When Ripley realizes the Alien is blocking the corridor to the Narcissus she rushes back to the controls to try and turn the cooling units back on, but it's too late, the opportunity to shutdown the self destruct countdown had already passed. So by Ripley screaming, and she actually says this: "Mother, I've turned the cooling units back on! Mother...? Damn you!" is just frustration on Ripley's part. Mother, the mainframe computer, doesn't listen to audio commands...

[Hieronymus]

Quite so.  The option to override KABOOM expires after five minutes; probably, by that time, some component of the cooling system or the reactor or whatever has become irreversibly damaged, or high temperatures make it dangerous to try to re-start the cooling system (imagine the cooling tubes shattering on contact with fresh coolant, like the alien in A3).

Ripley missed that window by a couple of seconds, that's all.

[SiL]

Mother, the mainframe computer, doesn't listen to audio commands...

Given Ripley's overall level headedness, I seriously doubt she's going to start wasting time yelling that she could spend trying to type in an explanation. True, we never see Mother take voice commands ... but by the fact Ripley actually waits for a response, calls to it again, then gives up would suggest it has that capability.

/nerd.

[BlackWatch]

I always believed she yelled at Mother initially because she was frustrated, then the pause she takes is to see if what she did with the cool units worked or not, then when she realizes it didn't she yells in frustration again. She was already pissed at Mother for the lack of answers she got from her, plus the fact Mother had Special Order 937 (which was obviously withheld from Dallas and the rest of the crew). So I still don't think Mother takes audio commands.

[SM]

No I agree with SiL.  Ripley expected - and got - an answer.

Earlier drafts - some quite late - had Mother responding with "Too late for remedial action." or something.  Instead she simply responds by continuing the countdown.

[SiL]

Earlier drafts - some quite late - had Mother responding with "Too late for remedial action." or something.  Instead she simply responds by continuing the countdown.

Late? Try the shooting script!

        INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE

        The door crashes open, Ripley comes pounding in.
        The chamber filled with smoke.
        Engines whining dangerously.
        Ripley breaks out in perspiration from the intense heat.
        She runs to the controls.
        Begins throwing the cooling unit switches back into place.
        The sirens continue sounding.

                                 MOTHER'S VOICE
                         (o.s.)
                  Attention.  Engines will overload
                  in three minutes.

        Ripley pushes a button and speaks into it.
   
                                 RIPLEY
                  Mother, I've turned all the
                  cooling units back on.

                                 MOTHER'S VOICE
                         (o.s.)
                  Too late for remedial action.
                  The core has begun to melt.
                  Engines will overload in two
                  minutes, thirty-five seconds.

        A moment.
        The Ripley turns and runs from the engine room.

[dude]

Instead she simply responds by continuing the countdown.

What a bitch. Though I can see why the "Too late for remedial action" wasn't included, too many comparisons with HAL 9000 would be drawn.

[SiL]

Coincidentally, that's exactly why they cut her down from being entirely voice-activated in O'Bannon's drafts into the written interface in the computer annex in the final film.

[SM]

Try the shooting script!

That qualifies as "quite late" I'd reckon. 

[SiL]

That qualifies as "quite late" I'd reckon. 

It's later than late. It's the latest!

[SM]

Just goes to show how much of that flick was ad-libbed (or close enough to ad-libbed).