his is a Web site dedicated to Wierzbowski. Who? You know,
Wierzbowski, the Colonial Marine from Aliens. The
sort of bald and pudgy one. The one who buys the farm real
early.
Who cares about Wierzbowski? Actually dozens, if not hundreds, of fans do, and they sing their praises to him at Wierzbowski
Hunters, Noah Mittman's Web shrine to a virtually unknown
character.
The site's primary area--called Sightings--is a
gallery of Wierzbowski's appearances. It contains still pictures
that point out where, for instance, Wierzbowski's back is visible
for a few seconds in a particular scene, or where a helmeted
figure appears in a background doorway, and although he's rather
blurry, he's probably Wierzbowski. His primary appearance in the
film is a reaction shot of some marines sitting at the mess hall
table, where he is right in front, a full close up of his face.
The shot lasts 10 frames. This section also contains scans from
the Aliens board game that feature Wierzbowski, and a few promo photos.
The Features area has three choices: Ask
Wierzbowski, where readers can write to the W-man himself
for advice, (e-mail wierzbowski@benhur.condenast.
com).
Wierzchitchat, a bulletin board with a variety of
Wierzbowski-related topics, and The Neverending Wierzbowski
Story, a long and rambling tale of Wierzbowski's exploits
that anyone can add to. The site also has a feedback page, a
What's New page, and a couple of sound files: a clip of
Wierzbowski's death cry from the film, and an original piece of
music, "Wierzbowski's Theme."
Perhaps some people have too much time on their hands
On the surface this may all sound frivolous and empty. It is,
but it's also fun. Impeccable graphic design and witty
commentary make this Web site more than some little one-off joke.
It is pleasing to look at and nicely organized, with an integrated
style that rivals many professional sites. The annotations to
the Sightings gallery are for the most part hilarious. They take
a light-hearted tone that both praises and lampoons the silent
marine.
The site also does a great job in providing many venues for
readers to contribute. Be it through jokes ("A priest, a rabbi,
and Wierzbowski walk into a bar..."), speculations on what
would have happened had Wierzbowski lived, or just letters ("This
site is one of the . . . biggest wastes of time I have seen. My
hat's off."), everyone can chip in. Of course, this leads to
plenty of unfocused rambling. The Neverending Story in
particular is a muddled tapestry of inchoate fiction--often
tending toward the psychotic--a full reading of which might leave readers in such a battered mental state that they will start
to believe this site actually means something.
The single greatest disappointment is that none of the Ask
Wierzbowski letters or replies are available. After all this
time, Wierzbowski's voice deserves to be heard, but not so.
Maybe later.
Anyway, Wierzbowski Hunters may be neither deep nor
broad, but it's definitely worth a visit for a quick laugh. It
also has the distinction of being the only Aliens
Web site without a single picture of the aliens.
