History Film / AlienNation

** WunzaPlot: Wunza human, wunza former alien slave.

* PunBasedTitle: Alien nation; alienation.

* ForeignCussWord: Inverted, in that in the Tenctonese language, "Sykes" roughly translates as "excrement cranium" ("shithead").

The film was adapted into the 1989 TV series ''Series/AlienNation'', which lasted for one season and five TV movies.

* PunBasedTitle

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture

* PunyEarthlings: The Newcomers have great strength, stamina, durability, ability to survive in environments humans can't, extra hearts, and if they overdose on an [[FantasticDrug extraterrestrial]] [[PsychoSerum narcotic]], they transform into [[AxCrazy murderous, supercharged berserkers]]. But they do have a [[WeaksauceWeakness strange weakness]] or two: [[KillItWithWater Water with high salinity burns them like sulphuric acid burns naked mole rats]] and they get [[AlienLunch stinking drunk from sour milk]].

** [[Series/AlienNation The Series]] suggests, that this weakness may have been introduced artificially into thie genome of the Tenctonese to make them more easy to control. It's also gradually going away, and will probably be gone within a generation or two at the ''most''.

* InvisiblePresident: Averted; the film uses a clip of the "If not us, who? If not now, when?" quote from RonaldReagan's second inaugural address to reference the legislation that recognized the aliens as refugees (and future citizens).

* AlienAmongUs: The Tenctonese[=/=]Newcomers are refugees and slaves. In this case it was over 100,000 aliens, who form their own community in Los Angeles. Therefore the cultural misunderstandings went both ways, as humans learned to deal with odd newcomer traditions.

** [[Series/AlienNation The Series]] suggests, that this weakness may have been introduced artificially into thie genome of the Tenctonese to make them more easy to control.

* YourMom: An really nasty Tenctonese insult: "Your mother mates out of season".

** That's not their heroin, their heroin is a blue substance that tastes like detergent to humans, but has the (nearly) same or a stronger effect on Tenctonese than heroin would on humans, including deadly side effects. Tis dope was used to keep them docile as slaves, more work equaled more dope, to the bitter end, literaly.

* HumansAreBastards: A lot of them are racist towards the Newcomers, however the movie has a subversion as the Newcomers aren't presented as being any better than the humans, and have many of the same faults we do, as well as some that are unique to their society.

** [[Series/AlienNation The Series]] suggests, that this weakness may have been introduced artificially into thie genome of the Tenctonese to make them more easily to control.

*** And to understand how bad the drug really is, one has to remember, that taking out the drug and the dealer was enough for George Francisco to walk into the BigBads club with a C4 charge in his hand and [[DeadManSwitch the finger on the button]], [[TakingYouWithMe prepared to take drug and dealer with him, if necessary]].

* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: The newcomers get drunk on sour milk.

** [[Series/AlienNation The Series]] suggest, that this weakness may have been introduces artificially into thie genome of the Tenctonese to make them more easily to control.

* ForeignCussWord: Inverted, in that in the Tenctonese language, "Sykes" roughly translates as "excrement cranium".

* BizarreAlienBiology: Saltwater burns Newcomers.

* HumansAreBastards: A lot of them are racist towards the Newcomers.

* GonnaNeedABiggerWarrant: Murder of a cop during a robbery -> re-introducing a devastating alien drug.