Hey, hey, I'm back! Who knows for how long. Too much of me is too much of a good thing in my opinion...
Hey, hey, I'm back! Who knows for how long. Too much of me is too much of a good thing in my opinion. And that's what it's all about - opinions!
Member since:02.08.2000
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I was 12-years-old in 1979, when Alien first came out. I loved horror movies and I loved science-fiction. I wanted to see this movie sooooo badly. Instead, I had to content myself with reading the newspaper reports about people actually running out of the cinema, they had found it so scary! I read all the magazines with their tantalising photographs of the film’s terrible secrets, and I also read the novelisation by Alan Dean Foster. My family got our first VCR in 1981.
Boy, was I ready to see this movie.
With my expectations boiling like a climaxing kettle, there was every chance I was in for a huge letdown when we finally sat down to watch it, shiny video club membership card having been used for the first time. By we, I mean my mother and I. This was considered prime family viewing in our house. My mother, possibly the sweetest woman on the planet, now that Mother Theresa has passed on, is a huge fan of bloody, gruesome horror films full of murder and mayhem. She hates swearing and sex scenes, but as far as she is concerned, the gorier the better. God bless you, Mom.
Luckily, we were not to be disappointed. It immediately became one of my favourite movies and has remained part of that elite list subsequent to further viewings. I hadn’t actually seen the film for a number of years when I sat down to watch the DVD. Once again I felt that surge of anticipation, mixed with angst – now that I was a mature Ciao reviewer, a man of great taste and intellect (naturally), would the film stand up to the test of time as well as I? This is what I saw…
I guess there must be some of you youngsters out there that haven’t seen this movie so I’ll briefly (hah!) outline the plot. The Nostromo is out in deep space, heading home at the end of its contracted mission, collecting minerals for its owners, the
mysterious "Company". The crew is kept in deep sleep during the tortuously long journey home, the ship flying on auto-pilot. But then the ship picks up a strange signal which it can’t seem to identify and the computer, "Mother", awakens the unhappy crew.
It seems that there is a clause in their contract that requires them to investigate such occurrences. The crew set down on the inhospitable planet from which the urgent signal emanates. The captain, Dallas (Tom Skerrit), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) and Kane (John Hurt) investigate the source of the signal, a seemingly ancient, crashed spaceship, vast in size and obviously alien by design. During their exploration, Kane stumbles across what appears to be a nest of dormant eggs. But as he approaches one it senses him and peels open. Intrigued, Kane cautiously peers in...and SLAM...something leaps out and attaches itself to the face-mask of his spacesuit.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the crew, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the medical officer, Ash (Ian Holm), and the engineers, Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton), have lost contact with their colleagues and have no idea what’s going on. When Dallas arrives at the shuttle and demands to be let in, Ripley queries what’s happened to Kane. Dallas insists it is a medical emergency and that regulation quarantine procedures have to be overlooked in order to save his life. Ripley refuses but Ash lets them in.
In the sickbay, Ash removes Kane’s helmet, which has been burned through, to reveal an alien organism, a face-hugger, which has wrapped itself tightly around the unfortunate officer’s head. Also, it has inserted some kind of tube down his throat and seems to be keeping him alive. When they try to remove it they discover that the alien has acid for blood and they can’t get it off without killing Kane.
Just as they’ve given up hope for their friend and run out of ideas, the face-hugger detaches itself and dies. Kane appears to make a complete recovery but insists on one last meal before they all return to cryo-sleep. The crew are laughing and joking, anticipating their imminent return to Earth, when suddenly Kane starts to convulse and clutch at his chest. Is it just some bad linguini, or is it...something else?
Suffice to say, the rest of the movie is a bit like classic slasher/horror movies, such as Halloween and Scream, as the ill-fated crew line up to become the full-grown creature’s next victim, although much more elegantly shot. Which, if any of them, will survive? And what about that cat?
It’s amazing to note that for a very long time at the beginning of this movie nothing actually happens (as even the director, Ridley Scott, remarks during his commentary) but don’t let that put you off. Instead, the whole opening sequence is a master-class in creating suspense. Ridley creates a brooding atmosphere, tension and menace dripping from the screen, until we can bear it no more and then...he quite simply lets us have it. Once the action really starts, the remainder of the film maintains an almost breathless pace, full of shocks and horror, culminating in a satisfying climax.
The famous chestbursting scene is rightly lauded as a highlight. Ridley didn't tell the actors exactly what was going to happen and the looks of shock on the actors' faces are quite genuine.
So, hopefully that’s whetted your appetite, and if you’ve never seen it, I trust you’re rushing out immediately to get hold of a copy, and if you have and are hunting out your old faded video copy, don’t bother, because I suggest you get this superb DVD edition instead. The picture has been cleaned-up and it really does look fantastic.
Every set is a testament to the designer’s and Ridley’s imagination. Another triumph, of course, is the monster itself. Lovingly created by Swiss artist, H.R. Giger, it is brilliantly brought to life, and it is its achievement in not looking like a man-in-a-suit (most of the time) that is the cornerstone of the success of the movie and what makes it genuinely terrifying. (Well, if you’re a wimp or a girlie! Hey, I wasn’t scared – I was just looking for a 5p that had fallen behind my seat...honest!).
The acting also deserves considerable praise. Every member of the cast creates a memorable character and it really twists your insides to see what happens to some of them. To me, the scariest part of the movie is when the captain, almost broken-down, chants, "This can’t be happening", just before...
Sigourney Weaver probably deserves most praise in what was a debut role for the then unknown actress. Tough, yet vulnerable, it’s easy to see why Ripley was resurrected for the three sequels.
The DVD contains a host (no pun intended!) of worthwhile special features. The best is the aforementioned commentary by the director. This really is first class. Ridley looks back on the film with, clearly, great affection and nearly everything he has to say is interesting and informative. Next come the deleted scenes, all of which are worth seeing, but especially the real gem – the famous "cocoon" scene. This scene was in the novel and its exclusion from the final film has seen it become a thing of legend. To finally see it after all these years, makes the price of admission worth it for this alone.
The trailers, a special feature that I do not normally regard as all that special, are more interesting than usual, due to their vintage. It’s surprising how subtle they are - it’s hard to imagine this type of trailer being used nowadays. There are also some quite interesting production drawings and designs, including those of Giger, which are actually worth looking at more than once for a change.
Does the film still stand up, twenty years later? Absolutely. I agree with Ridley on this one. Not quite your standard sci-fi movie and not a horror one, either, it really is just a GOOD movie – and they, like Hannibal Lecter’s lunch, are very rare indeed.
Remember, in your living room, everyone can hear you scream!
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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
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 ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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 ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
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 begin when the crew of the spaceship No...
Advantages: Looks great, mixes genres perfectly. DVD features excellent Disadvantages: Will not appeal to everyone, some special effects are not believable
gunmenoftheapocalypse 11.12.2003 (11.12.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Alien (DVD)
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.
![Alien [DVD] [1979]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78531320.jpg "Alien [DVD] [1979]")
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