Alien

"In space, no-one can hear you scream.

The chapter in the powerful and terrifying alien science fiction saga!

Alien is the first movie of one of the most popular sagas in science fiction history, and introduces Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, the Iron-willed woman destined to battle the galaxy's ultimate creature.
The terror begins when the crew of the spaceship Nostromo investigates a transmission from a desolate planet and makes a horrifying discovery - a life form that breeds within a human host. Now the crew must fight not only for its own survival, but for the survival of all mankind."

What an influential year 1979 was for films? Mad Max, Apocalypse Now and Alien.

There are very few movies that get the heart beating from the first frames, Alien is one of the exceptions. Back in '79 this movie was really a film out of the ordinary, predominantly out of place with the films of its time and to this day it has stood the test of time making it a sci-fi horror classic. If you ever get the chance, see this on a cinema screen because this is the only way to do the film justice.

The story starts in deep space with the commercial Starship 'Nostromo' waking up systems ready for the crew who are in 'hyper-sleep'. Slowly the camera pans through the ship with Jerry Goldsmith's music setting the tone marvellously. The crew then awaken unknowingly to a nightmare scarier than their worst dreams. The ships central computer 'Mother' has received a distress call of unknown origin from a planet and the crew must investigate this or forfeit their shares. Three of the crew negotiate a desolate unwelcoming planet towards the source of the signals - in the distance they first see the alien ship that looks unlike anything seen before, a ship that appears organic. Within the alien ship one of them discovers a massive area that contains a mysterious type of egg-like life forms, that are still alive. This is the start of a deadly cat and mouse game between the crew and an alien.

Much of the time the movie lets the viewer's imagination do the work rather than showing all the gory details. In my view this selective use of gore and exposure of the creature works really well because your imagination can be more frightening than anything seen. This could be because in '79 they didn't have the resources filmmakers have now, but whatever the reason it works splendidly. The tension between the crew and the claustrophobic nature of the spaceship help the overall feel of the movie, and obviously, the fact they are dealing with an alien that is intent on killing them. Ridley Scott's direction really ramps up the apprehension and fear aided by Jerry Goldsmith's masterfully understated score, the extraordinary imagination of artist H.R. Giger and of course the acting, all make Alien an unique experience.

All in all, Alien is an indispensable movie for any horror movie fan's collection.

Reviewed: 15/05/05

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Script (Revised Final, June 1978) .pdf
Quiz
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Giger's Painting Necronomicon V

• Movies

The Thing from Another World (1951)
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
Night of the Blood Beast (1958)
Terrore Nello Spazio (1965)
The Thing (1982)
Aliens (1986)
Predator (1987)
Predator 2 (1990)
Alien 3 (1992)
Species (1995)
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Alien Vs. Predator (2004)
Inseminoid (1981)
Within the Rock (1996) (TV)
Leviathan (1989)
Forbidden World (1982)
Alien Terminator (1996)