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Starring:
Tom Skerritt,
Sigourney Weaver,
Veronica Cartwright,
Harry Dean Stanton,
John Hurt,
Directed By:
Ridley Scott,
Rated: R (Restricted)
Release Date: 1979-05-25
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Format:
Anamorphic,
Collector's Edition,
Color,
DVD-Video,
Widescreen,
NTSC,
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Editorial Reviews and
DVD Information
Description
The terror begins when the crew of a spaceship investigates a transmission from a desolate planet, and discovers a life form that is perfectly evolved to annihilate mankind. One by one, each crew member is slain until only Ripley is left, leading to an explosive conclusion that sets the stage for its stunning sequel, "Aliens."
Amazon.com essential video
A landmark of science fiction and horror, Alien arrived in 1979 between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back as a stylishly malevolent alternative to George Lucas's space fantasy. Partially inspired by 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space, this instant classic set a tone of its own, offering richly detailed sets, ominous atmosphere, relentless suspense, and a flawless ensemble cast as the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, who fall prey to a vicious creature (designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger) that had gestated inside one of the ill-fated crew members. In a star-making role, Sigourney Weaver excels as sole survivor Ripley, becoming the screen's most popular heroine in a lucrative movie franchise. To measure the film's success, one need only recall the many images that have been burned into our collective psyche, including the "facehugger," the "chestburster," and Ripley's climactic encounter with the full-grown monster. Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is one of the cinema's most unforgettable nightmares. --Jeff Shannon
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Customer Reviews
ALIEN (20TH CENTURY FOX/1979)
REVIEW: Nerve-jangling sci-fi/horror flick that has become a modern cinema classic thanks to eye-popping sets, superb special effects, Ridley Scott's spot-on directing, and H.R. Giger's unforgettable monster designs. "ALIEN" takes the basic concept of Agatha Christie's "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE" (to cite the most famous of the isolate-a-group-of-people-and-kill-'em-off-one-by-one movie plots), and transplants it into space (complete with a bogus little "Indian" boy). The title creature that threatens the crew of the space ship Nostromo has got to be one of the most terrifying movie villians ever: but is he any match for Sigourney Weaver's tough-as-nails heroine, Ripley? Or the other members of a stellar cast who use every resource they have in order to play a deadly cat-and-mouse game with the hungry predator? Director Scott takes a lot of chances with this material, and succeeds on every level in conveying a sense of isolation (which is enhanced by the minimal use of a musical score punctuated by long silences and/or the natural beeping and buzzing of computers and engines and sirens found aboard the ship) and a real atmosphere of claustrophobic dread that creates an almost unbearable level of suspense. The ending itself is a masterpiece of scream-your-lungs-out tension. If you enjoy thrillers or science fiction movies (or if you just enjoy being scared out of your wits): Then "ALIEN" is a must-see film that should keep you awake long into the night. HARSH LANGUAGE: about 54 words (72 if you count the rough language found in the deleted scenes). VIOLENCE: about 9 scenes including some very graphic gore. NUDITY/SEXUAL REFERENCES: only 3 instances involving Weaver in some very skimpy panties, a fairly quick shot of some porno photos hanging on a wall, and the sight of Veronica Cartright's semi-bare chest in the opening scene where they are waking up from hibernation. Also the "sexual" implications of the "face-hugger" scene as well as Giger's phallic alien design.
NOTES FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE: Although an awesome film (and a very, very scary one): the fact remains that "ALIEN" has an awful lot of (needlessly) foul language. The violence itself is understandable (after all it IS a horror movie), and because the evil doer is a completely imaginary creature there is a "distancing" effect that makes it a rollercoaster thrill ride more so than a depressing slasher flick. Credit for a good measure of the film's success belongs to the ensemble cast (who obviously had a great time bringing this story to life), and to the awesome sets and Giger's alien designs which are absolutely knock-out! Add to that the positive heroics of the Nostromo crew who put all their personal, social, and class discrepancies aside in order to fight against a common enemy: and you've got a bullseye of a motion picture. But because of the profanity, the sexual suggestiveness of Giger's designs, and the gore: the film should probably earn a mild OBJECTIONABLE rating from a Christian moral perspective.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
1.) Won for Best Effects/Visual Effects
2.) Nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration
Excellent SciFi/Horror film for its time
I first saw this film in 1979 when it was first released. It scared the crap out of me then. I recently bought this DVD and watched it again. Still very well acted and sets up its sequel, Aliens, very well. The computer technology ("Mother") on the Nostromo is very dated. The movie "2001, A Space Odyssey" had technology that we still haven't been able to duplicate and it was released 11 years earlier.
A note about this DVD release: Dolby Digital sound is not the default, you have to select it under the Languages menu (Dolby Surround 5.1).
Respectfully Disagree
In writing this review, I realize that I'm probably going to get negative votes, and that's okay with me because I'm bigger on being honest when writing these than getting helpful votes. But I'll just ask ALIEN lovers to respect the other-side, because I can see that a lot of people truly love this film and I totally respect that. But the movie, in my opinion, isn't the classic it's cracked up to be.
First, it moves with the speed of a glacier, and I'm not exaggerating. By the time I'd gotten to the hour and fifteen minute mark, I could count the events that had happened on one hand. Now, I've seen some other reviews say that the slow pace is essential in building the tension, but I'd disagree. I was never left enthralled by the world or the ship the camera so slowly pans around, and I never once felt the tension that said pace was supposed to build. Unlike Alfred Hitchcock's work or even the early works of Shyamalan, "Alien" lacks tension and just seems to float in the emptiness of space. Now, there could have been another reason for the slow pace, and that could be for director Ridley Scott to show how beautiful and complex his cinematography is. However, it doesn't have the intricacy for that to be the case, because never once did I marvel at a short like I did in another slow-paced, "director's film," There Will Be Blood. I just don't get what the point was. Slow pace, if done right, can be enthralling--heck, I'm a Stephen King fan, and that guy spends hundreds of pages setting up a story before getting to the meat and I don't mind--but that isn't the case with "Alien."
Another thing is the characters. The time that could have been used to develop these characters and flesh them out so they could be more than just talking heads who get killed off one by one was instead spent showing them waking up and eating. The dialogue never really rings true, despite Sigourney Weaver's nice performance, which prevents this film from being a total downer. From the climax to the final scenes of the movie, she was interesting to watch as she overcame her state of panic and truly fought back against the Alien threat, but other than that (and the scenes where they try to find the cat, which serve to add a spark of humanity to otherwise undeveloped characters) the characters don't connect at all.
The movie isn't all bad. Like I said, I liked Weaver's performance and a few select scenes, such as the "Find Jones!" bit. Also, the Alien itself is designed masterfully and has, of course, become an iconic image. It says a lot when a movie monster designed so long ago can still evoke fear, and that creature certainly does. The movie as a whole, though? In my opinion, it does not.
4/10
Don't touch the egg............
Seen this movie years back. Excellent plot, fx. and acting. Not munch I could say that have not been said already. Alien it's far-more better then the Star Wars trilogy.
The Best
Well, I have just watched (yet again) Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece: Alien. The patient pace of the film taken with its stunning cinematography makes for a veritable visual feast. Scott can turn a clunky shipping vessel into a haunting work of art: his masterful orchestration of light and shadow within a wonderfully drab and metallic set casts the perfect visual mood for the encounter with the 'other.' The performances, too, are simply fantastic. The cast hits a wonderful sweet spot in refusing to over act their parts, rendering the characters surprisingly tactile: they brilliantly animate a minimalist but very competent script. In any case, it hard to find anything to criticize about this film, which is why I think it tops my list of best sci-fi films ever.
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