Regular Price $19.98

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, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about Alien (The Director's Cut)

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

Customer Reviews for Alien (The Director's Cut)

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).

Alien (The Director's Cut)

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.

4/10Alien (The Director's Cut)

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.Alien (The Director's Cut)

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.Alien (The Director's Cut)

A landmark in movie making.
First things first.
Aliens destroys this one.
Ok I'm done.
It's actually kind of unfair to compare the two. The directors take such a different approach to the films.
Alien is a piece of movie history.
Brilliant from start to finish.
Masterfully acted and directed.
Superbly paced.
One of the many movies you simply can not miss and should probably own by now.
Highly recommended.Alien (The Director's Cut)