Production Year: 1979 - Science Fiction - Director: Ridley Scott - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright more
Director Ridley Scott's breakthough film, an immensely successful blend of horror and science fiction, is a classic in both genres and spawned a host of sequels and imitators.... more
Alien [DVD] [1979]
By transplanting the classic haunted house scenario into space, Ridley Scott, together ... more
with screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, produced a work of genuinely original cinematic sci-fi withAlienthat, despite the passage of years and countless ...
Alien [DVD] [1979]
By transplanting the classic haunted house scenario into space, Ridley Scott, together ... more
with screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, produced a work of genuinely original cinematic sci-fi withAlienthat, despite the passage of years and countless ...
Alien DVD
Alien is the first movie of one of the most popular sagas in science fiction history and ... more
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 N...
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
A review by 4ku-Papa on Alien (DVD) October 19th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Outstanding
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?
Outstanding
Advantages:
It's truly and genuinely terrifying .
Disadvantages:
It's also truly and genuinely terrifying . Don't watch if you scare easily .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Please note, this is a review of the FILM and NOT the DVD. Thanks.
Ridley Scott, one-time Hovis bread advert director, pulled a masterstroke when he invited Swiss conceptual artist H.R.Giger to design the sets for his forthcoming full-length feature, 'Alien' (1979). In doing so, he created a film that is so lavishly atmospheric and downbeat, the memory of Star Wars only three years earlier seems to be in another galaxy far, far away. With 'Alien', Scott redefines the horror-film genre while at the same time, creating his own niche of sci-fi horror.
But first, the story …
The film begins with the deep-space exploration and mining vessel ' Nostromo' awakening its incumbent, 7-person crew from their inter-stellar hibernation. It becomes clear the ships computer, 'Mother', had received what appears to be an SOS signal from a nearby, hitherto uninhabited planet. As part of their contractual obligations to the omnipresent 'Company', the crew are required to leave the safety of their ship and investigate the signal.
After a particularly heavy landing onto the uneven surface of the planet, noxious elements swirling all around them, three of the crew members venture outside to find the source of the signal. As the trio of reluctant explorers investigate a millennia-old spaceship of 'undetermined origin' (read, alien), one of them, Kane (John Hurt), literally stumbles upon a lair containing hundreds upon hundreds of seemingly lifeless eggs. Closer inspection, in retrospect, was a bad idea. His last words, 'Wait, there's movement inside …' sets in motion a chain of events leading to a horrifying finality. From here-on, the crew are subjected to a terrifying game of cat and mouse through the labyrinth of tunnels, air-ways and ducts that make up the Nostromo. They have no weapons to speak-of, they are not trained marines, they have limited resources and they have no idea what they are hunting, or more specifically, what is hunting them. And that SOS signal? It was a warning …
As an exercise in building tension and suspense, this film has few equals. It is genuinely terrifying even with repeated viewings. Adhering to the old adage of 'less-is-more', Scott imbues a morbid sense of curiosity into the viewer as glimpses of the alien are few and far between but what you do see, you'll wish you hadn't. As mentioned, the settings are designed by H.R.Giger and are purposefully drab but exquisitely detailed - 'atmospheric' is a word seemingly invented solely for the purpose of describing this film. The long-range matte shots, the space-ship interiors, the reflected outline of the ship against a distant sun and many others are all executed with a discernible 'joie de vivre' and it's this attention to detail that breathes life to the story. Giger and his team won an Oscar for their set-design and is one truly deserved.
The soundtrack is low-key and minimalistic with Scott relying on the environment to provide ambience and background noise. Usually, there's little more to be heard than the steady hum of the ships huge engines or the natural sounds of an industrial space-vessel of this size and complexity. It's disturbingly quiet, space *is* after all, and merely enforces the sense of fore-boding.
A point I particularly like about the film is the level of technology that is used throughout. Scott never lets his fantasies run wild and keeps the technology only ever-so slightly above- par. An affliction of any science-fiction film is the dreaded 'technology-projection' syndrome where, within only a few short years, technological advancements in real-life can render a film laughably obsolete. Witness films such as Disneys 'Tron' (although that film was held in low regard for a while, it is now being touted as a 'retro' classic). Scott resists the urge to introduce Star Wars-type weapons or unfathomable force shields and tractor beams. The only 'miss' he makes in this area is the conceptualization of 'Mother', the central computer of the Nostromo. A room full of un-labelled, flashing lights, a crappy keyboard and a user-interface that would make even pre-Windows Bill Gates blush, does not a good computer make. I wish I could type slang into my computer and make it work.
If the acting were terrible, all the atmospheric production in the world couldn't save the film but the cast, to pardon the pun, are stellar. Resisting the urge to go with 'young and beautiful', instead casting 'older and weary', the seven crew members of Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Brett (Harry Dean Stanton), Kane (John Hurt), Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Ash (Ian Holm), plus the ships ginger cat, Jones (yes, a cat!), lend a real measure of authenticity to proceedings. Certainly, none of them could be classed as 'blockbusters' in the same vein as say, a Tom Cruise or a Bruce Willis, but that's a plus point in this reviewers mind. They are all accomplished character actors with solid resumes in theatre, TV and film. But, the feature belongs to Ripley with Sigourney Weaver bringing possibly a career-best performance. Despite Oscar nods for 'Working Girl' and 'Gorillas in the Mist', as deserved as they were, Weavers role as Ripley will be the one she is most identified with. She is strong, determined but displays more than a little vulnerability in the face of such a hostile enemy. Her heroism knows no bounds. The uber-talented Ian Holm, playing creepy Science Officer Ash with a hidden agenda, also deserves special credit. His observation of the alien as a 'perfect organism' is chillingly and simply delivered.
Without wanting to spoil the plot, there are several memorable set-pieces but the one that is most likely to stick in the mind is the infamous, literally gut-wrenching scene when the alien first makes its gruesome appearance. I read somewhere that director Scott hadn't told the actors what was going to happen in this scene so the blood-spattered, shocked faces you see are real reactions. Wow, that just seems cruel. Incidentally, in 2004, this scene was voted the second-most scariest scene ever in a movie. You won't forget it in a hurry.
Alien has been copied many times since it was first shown but none have bettered it. It's as relevant now as it was back then, probably even more so. It's a masterly-crafted tale from a director at the top of his game. Ridley Scott would, arguably, go one better with 'Blade Runner' three years later, but nothing comes as close to providing a sheer-terror, edge-of-your-seat, shout-out-load scary ride as he does here. James Cameron probably comes closest with his sequel seven years later, 'Aliens' (I don't agree but many think the sequel is a better film). Alien is probably the most important and influential science-fiction film since Stanley Kubricks '2001' (1968) and both can be held up as master-pieces of the genre.
I have a small personal story that demonstrates the effect of this film. While reading the original Carl Lloyd Parker novel, I decided to watch the film again. It was late, the house was dark and I was stupidly reading the book by torchlight at the same time as the film was playing in the background. Now, I *also* have a big ginger cat called Jones, which is pertinent as you will see. And yes, I'm sad, I named him after the cat in Alien. You see, *exactly* at the moment I was reading a scary scene about the 'Jones' in the book, the *same* scary scene involving 'Jones' was playing on-screen. You can see it coming can't you? My real-life 'Jones' decided he wanted feeding and did his usual 'I'll scratch his legs till he's had enough and will get up and feed me' routine. I tell you, I've never jumped so bloody high in my life. I put the lights on, turned off the TV, changed my trousers and went to bed. The films infinitely quotable tagline says, 'In Space, No-one Can Hear You Scream', but in my front living-room, I woke the whole house. Scary stuff indeed.
Rated: 18
Runtime: 117 minutes
Where I'm coming from: I rate Alien a perfect 10, Aliens an excellent 9, Alien 3 a pretty poor 6 and Alien 4 a slightly better 7. Alien V Predator doesn't even warrant a rating.
Advantages: Great sci-fi horror Disadvantages: None
*** INTRODUCTION *** Alien is a 1979 sci-fi horror film directed by Brit Ridley Scott. It stars Sigourney Weaver in her first lead role and, as a result of the film's success, catapulted the actress into the public consciousness and did so virtually overnight. Briefly, the film centres on a small, terrified crew who, one-by-one, are picked off by an incredibly vicious predator. The premise was later to be used as the basis for the popular BBC1 show, ... ...contains the remains of an alien creature whose ribs appear to have been bent out of its chest from the inside. Upon further investigation and exploration of the ship Kane finds a chamber which contains hundreds of eggs. One such egg, seemingly due to the proximity of Kane, "hatches" and releases a spider-like creature which attaches itself to his face. Meanwhile, Ripley is able to determine that the S.O.S. signal originally detected by Mother is, ...
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Advantages: Tense and atmospheric with good use of suspense Disadvantages: None
...Alien is a shaping film in the history of horror having spawned many imitators over the past twenty-five years. Combining equal parts of science fiction and horror there’s something distinctive about the mood of the film right from the start. The film feels somehow oppressive and as the spaceship lumbers through space Ridley Scott (Director) takes us on a silent tour of the gigantic vessel. The camera pans smoothly through the ship and the lack of ... ...of the great strengths of Alien is the way that it is paced. It is slow to build up and while some people consider the beginning to be laboured and unnecessary I feel it adds to the tension that grows as the film progresses. This is not one of those all out slasher films that preys on people with a lust for unnecessary action and bravado. Scott realises the impact of suspense and uses it to great effect. In a sense he realised that it is not the ...
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Advantages: A true masterpiece of sci-fi horror which will never be bettered Disadvantages: Will probably affect you for life
...a screenplay by Walter Hill, Alien is a film that was pretty much unique for its time: a sci-fi film that didn't portray a happy, all-is-well antiseptic version of the future. Right from the opening shots of the film where we are given a guided tour of the Commercial Towing Vehicle Nostromo, you can see that the future is ever-so-slightly dirty, and possibly depressing. We are told that the Nostromo is returning to Earth towing a refinery which is ... ...team is attacked by an alien facehugger, which unknown to his colleagues implants an embryo inside him. After returning to the ship and apparently recovering, the crewmember (played by John Hurt) "gives birth" to the beast in one of cinema's most truly memorable scenes. The creature evades capture and grows rapidly, then begins killing off the remaining 6 crew members one by one. They can't kill it, as its acid blood will eat through the hull of ...
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Advantages: Story, Acting, Visual Effects, Everything Disadvantages: the UMD format, no extras,
I have owned Alien (and others in the series) in many guises, from VHS Tapes, The Alien Legacy boxset and the Quadrilogy Boxset through to now having the movie in UMD Format for the PSP, so yes you could say I am a fan of the films, and although the subsequent sequels (bar Aliens) has diminished in quality, I still enjoy each and every one of them. The Review
It was on the year of release, 1979, when Ridley Scott's Alien first hit the cinema ... ...to the ship where the Alien is born and the crew have to tackle an ever evolving creature throughout the dark, cold steel caverns of the massive vessel. Although released in 1979 the catalyst for Alien or Star Beast as was the original working title (aren't we all glad that the name changed?) came 5 years previously when O'Bannon worked on the screenplay for Dark Star with John Carpenter, where, although a totally different movie, showed us the dirty ...
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Advantages: a fantastic looking and atmospheric film Disadvantages: not for the faint hearted
...a long way from home, Alien offers us a futuristic world but with all the grime and dirt that you find in today's world. The ship Nostromo for all its futuristic nature is a factory ship, populated by people just doing their jobs for the required rate of pay. No light sabres, no vast ships saving the forests, no teleports and no psychic powers and no one boldly going anywhere, just a possible slice of future reality. The ship is dirty, wet and unpleasant ... ...of seven, one ship, one alien and not forgetting a cat, but like all good films it's not the originality of the plot that immortalises it but the way it is presented to you. The film neatly combines slow burning suspense with action and its obvious that Ridley Scott fully understands Hitchcock's famous bomb under the table statement, (in short, if it goes off, that's action, if it doesn't, that's suspense). In an age where films seem to be high on ...
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Advantages: Great film Disadvantages: SOme scenes are boring
...Aliens on DVD is fantastic. I've been a fan of this film out of the 4 films made because of its pure action packed nature and it keeps you glued right up to the edge of your seat.
The advantages of this DVD is that there are extra minutes which were cut out of the original release. Some of these extra scenes are a complete waste of time such as Ripley chatting to Burke before the mission. But some of them really help to set the scene and add to the tention.
The animated scene access controls are one of the best things about this DVD too. Its like you are comanding a group of colonial marines around as you select what you want to do.
This DVD is like all DVD's should be, extra scenes not added to the original prodution, photo galaries, behind the scenes documentary. FANTASTIC - the Dolby suround sound in this feature is...
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Advantages: Excellent presentation of the film itself in terms of both image and sound; comprehensive photo gallery; interesting interview with James Cameron. Disadvantages: No Director’s Commentary; only one trailer included; no music audio options — essentially, this is not an extras-lite DVD, but it simply has nowhere near as much content as the Alien DVD it follows.
...After the impressive package that was the ‘Alien’ DVD, expectations were running high as the ‘Aliens’ disc was slotted into my player. Aliens is a very popular film indeed, and some people even seem to like it more than the first film. My own opinion, however, is that this film, whilst admittedly good, is slightly inferior to Alien, and unfortunately the same turned out to be true of the DVD release.
THE FILM
The film starts as Ripley is found in a state of suspended animation, drifting through space in one of the Nostromo escape pods after the events of the first film. She is shocked to discover that she was in hibernation for nearly 60 years and upset to discover that her young daughter died two years ago as a middle-aged woman, and reacts in disbelief when her story about the events onboard the Nostromo...
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Advantages: good animation and storyline, some funny moments, family film Disadvantages: None
...found it was all suitable for the places in which it was used and did help add drama to certain parts of the film. The film was set in the present time and despite being animated it looked good and I liked the design of the alien ships and inside the space crafts. They all fitted the film very well.
The DVD which we have does have some bonus features which include:-
Modern Monster Movie-Making
Three Never Before Seen Deleted Scenes
DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox
Filmmakers Commentary
The Tech of Monsters vs. Aliens
We did not take the time to watch any of the bonus features so I ma unable to make comment on them.
The running time of this film is 90 minutes and I found this to be a good length. My eldest who is 7 managed to sit through the whole film and he did enjoy it but my 5 year old did keep getting up and wondering...
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Director Ridley Scott's breakthough film, an immensely successful blend of horror and science fiction, is a classic in both genres and spawned a host of sequels and imitators. Starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley, ALIEN focuses on the crew of the space cargo ship Nostromo, which lands on a moribund planet in response to a faint SOS. Inside a crashed ship, the crew members come upon strange pods, one of which spews forth a repellently fleshy insectile creature that locks on to the face of the unlucky Kane (John Hurt). Despite Ripley's advice, science officer Ash (Ian Holm) allows Kane to return to the ship, where the creature finally releases its grip. Soon, however, in one of the film's most infamous scenes, one of its offspring explodes horribly from Kane's stomach and scurries away. Dallas (Tom Skerritt), the vessel's captain, leads the others in a search for the rapidly growing, acid-dripping alien before it can cut them down--one by one. A triumph of art direction, set design, and special effects, ALIEN gains much of its impact from the contrast between the bleak, antiseptic beauty of the space vessel's interior and the primordial horror of the alien, a brilliantly original fusion of insect, man, and machine designed by Swiss surrealist painter H.R. Giger. The top-notch cast also includes Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto, and Harry Dean Stanton.
Technical information
Special Features: Interactive Menus, Scene Access, Original Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Commentary By The Director, Artwork, Photo Galleries, Original Storyboards, Isolated Original Score, Alternative Music Track
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review: "...ALIEN outshines all competition in the luminous splendour of its photography..." (Sight and Sound, p.258-9, 01/09/1979)
"...An old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future, made all the more believable by the expert technical craftsmanship....[Weaver] carries it off well..." (Variety, 23/05/1979)
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