Overall Rating
  Awesome: 79.78%
Worth A Look: 12.02%
Average: 6.56%
Pretty Bad: 1.09%
Total Crap: 0.55%
5 reviews, 153 user ratings
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| Alien |
by Slyder
"Primal scream in space"
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After the success of The Duellists, English director Ridley Scott decided to tackle the science fiction genre and who would’ve thought that by doing so, he would create two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. The latter is Blade Runner, but the former is this little movie. Working on a tight 8 million dollar budget, Scott finds more ways than one to blend horror with science fiction in order to create a landmark classic. Right in the aftermath of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this movie could have not arrived at a better time.Couple hundred years ahead, the Commercial ship “Nostromo” is diverted from its heading towards Earth in order for its crew to investigate a supposed SOS signal from another planet. In charge of the ship is Commander Dallas (Tom Skerritt) along with his XO, Lieutenant Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), and after a couple of tussles in the crew regarding monetary and contract issues, they decide to investigate the signal after all. After docking in the unknown planet with unfortunate results since the ship gets damaged in the process, Commander Dallas, along with crewmembers Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) and Kane (John Hurt) head off to trace the beacon, and in the process find a mysterious ship, unlike anything they had seen before. Ripley and Medical Officer Ash (Ian Holm) stay behind to track the team and decipher the mysterious signal as mechanics Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and Parker (Yaphet Kotto) try and repair the ship. The rescue team encounters in the ship a colony of eggs unbeknownst to them, and when one of the eggs is disturbed, an organism jumps out of the egg and attacks Kane. As they head back to try and help him, they take off back towards the Nostromo in order to get out of the planet as soon as possible and head back to Earth. What they don’t know is that the organism has planted something on Kane’s body from which it would later pry itself out and transform itself into a horrifying alien beast, with acid for blood, and from which no one can escape from.
The film is unquestionably a technical standout right from the start. Director Ridley Scott constructs a dark, moody environment thanks to rich, detailed sets ranging from the complex mechanical components and alleys of the Nostromo ship to the eerie, desolate landscapes of the Alien planet. These settings, along with the film’s deliberate pacing create a tense, suspenseful atmosphere full of primal fear that gets into your skin and doesn’t let go. The catalyst of course, is the alien creature itself, designed by HR Giger, and a horrific animal beast in the purest sense. It’s quite an awe to watch as well as horrifying, and whenever it appears it just scares the living shit out of you. In order to enhance the primal fear that the Alien creature irradiates, Scott brilliantly uses shadows and light in order to “hide” the Alien from full view, with impressive results. Equally horrifying are the “face-hugger” and the “chest-burster” creatures whom precede the alien, and their respective appearances are just as scary and will stick in your memory for ages. All in all an impressive technical achievement from Giger, Carlo Rambaldi in the FX department and Scott himself.
The ensemble cast is virtually flawless with the highlight being Sigourney Weaver in her star-making role as Ripley, the woman who would become a prototypical female heroine thanks to this movie and on the following sequels. Tom Skerritt is also faultless as the ill-fated Dallas, and Ian Holm is perfect in the chilling role of Ash, who possesses a pair of secrets unbeknownst to the equally ill-fated crew; secrets which will also bring out splashes of social conscience into the mix as well.Ultimately, this flick is a certified classic in the science fiction and horror genres. Alien still looks fresh and hypnotic after all these years and it’s a film that is guaranteed to scare the lights out of you and keep you on your toes every minute that passes as you watch it. It was Ridley Scott’s first full-fledged masterpiece which cemented his reputation once and for all as a director with a singular artistic vision. A must-see no matter what. 5-5
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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=583&reviewer=235
originally posted: 12/27/05 19:31:22
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Trilogy Starters: For more in the Trilogy Starters series, click here.
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USA
25-May-1979 (R)
DVD: 06-Jan-2004
UK
N/A
Australia
13-Nov-2003 (R)
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