Alien (film)

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Alien
This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 2002.
In space, no one can hear you scream.
Genre: Sci-fi Horror Suspense Drama Thriller Directed by: Ridley Scott Produced by: Gordon Carroll David Giler Walter Hill Ronald Shusett (executive) Written by: Dan O'Bannon Starring: Tom Skerritt Sigourney Weaver Veronica Cartwright Harry Dean Stanton John Hurt Ian Holm Yaphet Kotto Cinematography: Derek Vanlint Music by: Jerry Goldsmith Distributed by: 20th Century-Fox Release date: May 25, 1979 (United States) September 6, 1979 (United Kingdom) Country: United States United Kingdom Budget: $11 million Box office: $184.7–203 million Franchise: Alien Prequel: Alien: Covenant (canon) Sequel: Aliens (release) Alien: Isolation (canon)

Alien (stylized as A L I E N ) is a 1979 science-fiction thriller horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon. Based on a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, It is the first film in the Alien franchise. When the movie was released on May 25, 1979, it received mixed-to-negative reviews; however, the reception was changed, and it is considered one of the greatest sci-fi horror movies of all time. In 2002, the film was preserved in the National Film Registry. A "Director's Cut" version would eventually be released in 2003, which restored a few deleted scenes.

Why It Makes You Scared of Space (in a Good Way)

1. Unlike other movies about space aliens, rather than have them as intelligent beings who try to invade Earth, they're here more like deadly predators, which is creative and scary.
2. Memorable and iconic characters, such as Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. The Alien (later known as the "Xenomorph") itself also became an iconic movie monster. Notably, the Xenomorph was designed and created to convey a fear of rape, and it succeeded.
3. Amazing designs courtesy of Ron Cobb, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, and Chris Foss, who designed the movie's human aspects, such as the space suits and the Nostromo itself, and the late H.R. Giger, who designed the movie's alien aspects, which succeeds at being very disturbing and helped popularize the artist. Noteworthy is that Foss, Giger, Moebius, and O'Bannon had previously worked on Alejandro Jodorowsky's canceled film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune.
4. The idea of a space film about a killer Alien creature named Xenomorph going inside of the spaceship named Nostromo and finding and killing it before it kills everyone on the ship at the time is very original.
5. The movie has a lot of great and memorable characters, but not limited to
   • Ripley was a near badass character in the third act in the movie, before her more badass improvement in the second film, she averts being a damsel in distress, though she is in her underwear at two points (much like a scantily-clad female character). She subverts audience expectations by killing the alien.
   • Dallas is also a great character, even though that he is similar to Kirk, he's not the one who kills the alien, subverting audience expectations.
   • Ash is also a great character, although that he is similar to Spock, he turns out to be an android trying to keep the alien alive, so he doesn't kill the alien either, subverting audience expectations.
6. The poster is very iconic, with the quote "In space no one can hear you scream" on the poster.
7. Excellent acting, with Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, etc..
8. Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack is impressive, even if a lot of it ended up not being used (see BQ#2).
9. Lots of scary scenes became iconic, notably the chestburster scene. The filming of this scene actually terrified the actors; Veronica Cartwright's reactions were genuine.
10. Unlike so many generic horror movies which are over-reliant on pointless gore, violence, and jumpscares, this movie successfully manages to be scary by utilizing extreme suspense, tension, and horrific/disturbing imagery -- which it does amazingly.
11. Great-looking sets.
12. Amazing cinematography that gives the feeling of watching a space movie with great camera adjustments it uses.
13. Most of the special effects are amazing, especially the Alien costume design.
14. The deleted scenes that were restored for the Director's Cut version are interesting. For example
    • The cocoon scene, in particular, is considered to be one of its more disturbing scenes.
15. So many awesome quotes, examples include:
    • "This thing bled acid! Who knows what it's gonna do when it's dead!"
    • "Micro changes in air density, my ass."
    • "It's a robot! Ash is a goddamn robot!"
    • And of course, "Final report, the commercial starship Nostromo. Third officer reporting. The other members of the crew—Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash, and Captain Dallas—are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier within six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, the last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
16. Brilliant sound design that enhances the creepy and anxiety-inducing atmosphere of this film.
17. The film teaches a good lesson about consequences caused by disturbing unknown life forms as shown with Kane.
18. Awesome direction by Ridley Scott, who later directed Blade Runner and Legend.

Bad Qualities

1. Some of the special effects were painfully obvious, most notably the cuts between Ash and a mannequin version of him.
   • This is at least excusable for the period and budget the movie was made in.
2. A lot of Jerry Goldsmith's score got cut out of the film, angered the composer, and caused him to swear off working with Scott until Legend in 1985.
   • However, Goldsmith's score is very impressive, as mentioned above.
3. The movie has a couple of plot holes, and the characters sometimes make foolish decisions.
   • Was it really smart of Dallas to go after the alien by himself?
4. Like in Legend, some scenes at the film's climax can be risky for viewers with photosensitive epilepsy.

Trivia

• H.R. Giger's artistry in this film is said to have inspired the infamously gross 2022 game Scorn.

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