Aliens (1986)
Paul Reiser: Burke
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Quotes
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Private Hudson : [after the drop ship crash] Well, that's great. That's just fuckin' great, man! Now what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty shit now, man!
Corporal Hicks : [grabs him by the shirt] Are you finished?
Newt : I guess we're not gonna be leaving now, right?
Ripley : I'm sorry, Newt.
Newt : You don't have to be sorry. It wasn't your fault.
Private Hudson : That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?
Burke : Maybe we can build a fire, sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don't we try that?
Newt : We'd better get back 'cause it'll be dark soon and they mostly come at night. Mostly.
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Private Vasquez : [after barely surviving the alien surprise attack] All right. We got seven canisters of CM-20. I say we roll them in there and nerve gas the whole fuckin' nest.
Corporal Hicks : It's worth the try, but we don't know if that's gonna affect them.
Private Hudson : Look let's just bug out and call it even, okay? What are we even talking about this for?
Ripley : I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Private Hudson : Fuckin' A!
Burke : Hold on, hold on just a second. This installation has a substantial dollar value attached to it.
Ripley : They can *bill* me.
Burke : Okay, I know this is an emotional moment for all of us, okay? I know that. But let's not make snap judgments, please. This is clearly... clearly an important species we're dealing with and I don't think that you or I, or *anybody*, has the right to arbitrarily exterminate them.
Ripley : [laughs feebly] Wrong.
Private Vasquez : Yeah. Watch us.
Private Hudson : Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!
Burke : Look. I'm not blind to what's going on, but I cannot authorize that kind of action. I'm sorry.
Ripley : Well, I believe that Corporal Hicks... has authority here.
Burke : *Corporal* Hicks has...
Ripley : This operation is under military jurisdiction and Hicks is next in chain of command. Am I right, Corporal?
Corporal Hicks : Yeah... yeah, that's right.
Burke : Yeah... Look, Ripley, this is a multi-million dollar installation, okay? He can't make that kind of decision. He's just a grunt! Uh, no offense.
Corporal Hicks : [coldly] None taken.
Corporal Hicks : [into headset] Ferro, do you copy?
Corporal Ferro : [on comms] Standing by.
Corporal Hicks : Prepare for dust-off. We're gonna need immediate evac.
Corporal Ferro : [on comms] Roger. On our way.
Corporal Hicks : I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit.
[looks to Ripley]
Corporal Hicks : It's the only way to be sure.
[Ripley smiles]
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Burke : [about the facehuggers] Look, those two specimens are worth millions to the bio-weapons division. Now, if you're smart, we can both come out of it as heroes and we'll be set up for life.
Ripley : You're crazy Burke, you know that? You really think that you can get a dangerous organism like that past ICC quarantine?
Burke : How can they impound it if they don't know about it?
Ripley : Oh, they *will* know about it, Burke, from me. Just like they'll know that you were responsible for the deaths of 158 colonists here.
Burke : Wait a second...
Ripley : You sent them to that ship.
Burke : You're wrong.
Ripley : I just checked the colony log. Dated 0-6-1-2-7-9, signed Burke, Carter J. You sent them out there and you didn't even warn them. Why didn't you warn them, Burke?
Burke : Okay, look. What if that ship didn't even exist, huh? Did you ever think about that? I didn't know! So now, if I went in and made a major security issue out of it, everybody steps in. Administration steps in, and there are no exclusive rights for anybody; nobody wins. So I made a decision and it was... wrong. It was a bad call, Ripley. It was a bad call.
Ripley : Bad call?
[Ripley grabs Burke by his vest and shoves him against a wall]
Ripley : These people are *dead*, Burke! Don't you have any idea what you have done here? Well, I'm gonna make sure they nail you right to the wall for this! You're not gonna sleaze your way out of this one! Right to the wall!
[Ripley lets go of Burke]
Burke : Ripley...! You know, I... I expected more from you. I thought you'd be smarter than this.
Ripley : I'm happy to disappoint you.
[Ripley leaves]
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Bishop : [puzzled by Ripley's reaction towards him] Is there a problem?
Burke : I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't even... Ripley's last trip out, the syn- the artificial person malfunctioned.
Ripley : "Malfunctioned"?
Burke : There were problems and a-a few deaths were involved.
Bishop : I'm shocked. Was it an older model?
Burke : Yeah, the Hyperdyne Systems 120-A2.
Bishop : Well, that explains it then. The A2s always were a bit twitchy. That could never happen now with our behavioral inhibitors. It is impossible for me to harm or by omission of action, allow to be harmed, a human being.
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Private Hudson : [puts his rifle against Burke's head] I say we grease this rat-fuck son-of-a-bitch right now.
Corporal Hicks : It just doesn't make any goddamn sense.
Ripley : He figured that he could get an alien back through quarantine, if one of us was... impregnated... whatever you call it, and then frozen for the trip home. Nobody would know about the embryos we were carrying... me and Newt.
Corporal Hicks : Wait a minute, now... we'd all know.
Ripley : Yes. The only way he could do it is if he sabotaged certain freezers on the way home... namely, yours. Then he could jettison the bodies and make up any story he liked.
Private Hudson : Fuck. He's dead. You're dog-meat, pal!
Burke : This is so nuts. I mean, listen - listen to what you're saying. It's paranoid delusion. How - It's really sad. It's pathetic.
Ripley : You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage.
Corporal Hicks : All right, we waste him. No offense.
Ripley : No. He's gotta go back.
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Lieutenant Gorman : [referring to the knife game] I thought you never missed, Bishop.
[Ripley looks up to see a white milky substance leaking from between Bishop's thumb and index fingers]
Ripley : [to Burke in an accusatory tone] You never said anything about an android being on board! Why not?
Burke : Pff, it never... never occurred to me. It's just common practice. We always have a synthetic on board.
Bishop : I prefer the term "Artificial Person" myself.
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[Burke greets Ripley at the hospital after she has been rescued from hypersleep]
Burke : I'm Burke. Carter Burke. I work for the company. But don't let that fool you, I'm really an okay guy. I'm glad to see you're feeling a little better. They, uh, they tell me that all the weakness and disorientation should pass soon. It's just natural side effects of such an unusually long hypersleep, or something like that.
Ripley : What do you mean? How long was I out there?
Burke : [stunned] Has no one discussed this with you yet?
Ripley : No. But, I mean, I don't... recognize this place.
Burke : [visibly uncomfortable] No, I know. Uh, okay, it's just that, uh, this might be a shock to you. It's long...
Ripley : *How* long? Please.
Burke : [after a pause] Fifty-seven years.
Ripley : [stunned disbelief] What?
Burke : That's the thing. You were out there for fifty-seven years. What happened was, you had drifted right through the core systems, and it's really just blind luck that a deep salvage team found you when they did. It's one in a thousand, really. I think you're damn lucky to be alive, kiddo. You could be floating out there forever.
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Ripley : Lieutenant, what do those pulse rifles fire?
Lieutenant Gorman : 10 millimeter explosive tip caseless. Standard light armor piercing rounds. Why?
Ripley : Well, look where your team is. They're right under the primary heat exchangers.
Lieutenant Gorman : So?
Ripley : So, if they fire their weapons in there, won't they rupture the cooling system?
Burke : [interjecting] Ho, ho, ho. Yeah, she's absolutely right.
Lieutenant Gorman : So? So what?
Burke : Look, this whole station is basically a big fusion reactor, right? So you're talkin' about a thermonuclear explosion and adiós, muchachos.
Lieutenant Gorman : Oh, great. Wonderful. Shit!
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Burke : Busy little creatures, huh?
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Ripley : Do you have any news about my daughter ?
Burke : Well we did come up with some informations. Why don't we sit down. I was hoping to wait until after the inquest... Amanda Ripley-McClaren - married name, I guess - aged 66. And that was the time of her death. Which was two years ago. I'm really sorry.
Ripley : Amy...
Burke : Um... She was cremated and interred at Westlake Repository, Little Chute, Wisconsin. No children. I checked.
Ripley : I'd promised her... that I'll be home for her birthday, Her 11th birthday.
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Ripley : I don't believe this. You guys throw me at the wolves, and now you want me to go back out there? Forget it. It's not my problem.
Burke : Can I finish ?
Ripley : No. There's no way.
Lieutenant Gorman : Ripley, you wouldn't be going in with the troops. I can guarantee your safety.
Burke : These colonials marines are very though hombres. They're packing state of the art firepower. There's nothing they can't handle. Lieutenant, am I right ?
Lieutenant Gorman : That's true. We've been trained to deal with situations like this.
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Med Tech : How are we today ?
Ripley : Terrible
Med Tech : Well, better than yesterday at least
Ripley : Where am I ?
Med Tech : You're Safe. You're at Gateway Station, been here a couple of days. You were pretty groggy at first, but now you're OK. Looks like you've got a visitor.
Ripley : Jonesy. Come here! Hey, come here. How are you, you stupid cat? How are you ? Were have you been ?
Burke : I guess you two have met, huh . I'm Burke. Carter Burke. I work for the company. But don't let that fool you. I'm really an OK guy. I'm glad to see that you're feeling a little bit better. They told me that all the weakness and desorientation should pass soon. It's just natural side effects of such an unusally long hypersleep, or something like that...
Ripley : What'd you mean, How long was I out there ?
Burke : Has no one discussed this with you yet ?
Ripley : No. But, I mean, I don't recognise this place.
Burke : No, I know. Uh... OK. It's just that, uh, this might be a shock to you. It's longer...
Ripley : How Long ? Please.
Burke : 57 years.
Ripley : What?
Burke : That's the thing. You're out there for 57 years. What happened is. You had drifted right through the core system, and It's really just blind luck that a deep-salvage team found you when they did. It was one in a thousand, really. I think you're damn lucky to be alive, kiddo. You could be floating out there forever.
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Lieutenant Gorman : I can guarantee your safety.
Burke : These Colonial Marines are very tough hombres. They're packing state-of-the-art firepower. There's nothing they can't handle. Lieutenant, am I right?
Lieutenant Gorman : That's true. We've been trained to deal with situations like this.
Ripley : Then you don't need me. I'm not a soldier.
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Burke : This nuts I mean should listen to yourselves talking its paranoid delusions it's sad it really is.
