Alien (1979)

The original series of films

The film that launched the franchise, 1979’s Alien, is remembered as a classic of its era – and is still considered to be a very fine and ground-breaking film. The decision to have a woman in the lead role of a sci-fi action film made it stand out and Sigourney Weaver’s performance as Ellen Ripley created an iconic film character. A fairly simple story of an alien terrorising the human crew of a ship, it was nonetheless a gripping one and a huge hit. Rather surprisingly, it took seven years for a sequel to be completed, but 1986’s Aliens proved to be another critical and commercial smash hit. Weaver returned, with Ripley the only survivor of the crew from the original film and having been in hypersleep for 5 years. This time she joined a new crew that were investigating a colony ship that has gone missing and coming into contact with deadly aliens again. The next film in the original series was released in 1992 and was called Alien 3 – centring on Ripley’s experiences after crash landing on a prison planet- and ends with her being forced to kill herself after finding out she has an alien within her body. Ripley returned in the form of clones in 1997’s Alien Resurrection, but by this time the franchise had run out of steam at the box office.

Alien Resurrection

Prequels

After a prospective sequel on earth that would have been directed by Joss Whedon fell through, the franchise returned with new lead characters in the prequel film Prometheus in 2012. Set within the same universe and with the creative involvement of original director Ridley Scott, it is still only loosely connected with the earlier films, but was a sizeable hit – although some fans found the aliens and plot disappointing. The new film follows on from this, featuring events that are supposed to have taken place around 20 years before Alien, but whether the prequels will go any further remains to be seen.

Prometheus

Spin-offs

As with other franchises, there have been a number of spin-offs from the main series, including crossover film Alien vs Predator. All of the films have been novelised, while a comic book series inspired by it has been published by Dark Horse Comics. There have also been games, ranging from video games like 1982’s Atari Alien and Alien Isolation from three years ago for Sega, to a new Alien online slot game.

Although nothing is certain at the moment, there are certainly rumours that there will be more films in this franchise and fans will be hoping that this proves to be the case.

As you will quickly see, the picture quality is extremely poor. If you can handle shakiness, overexposure, and the worst part, completely blurriness as it’s most likely taken with a cam, then check it out. But if you want visual detail, I recommend passing this up.

Prometheus Official Synopsis

Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Blade Runner, returns to the genre he helped define. With Prometheus, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Alien was released over 30 years ago and is still one of the most beloved sci-fi/horror films ever made. At a time when the world was fascinated with Star Wars, Star Trek, and all ages science fiction, Ridley Scott stepped up to the plate and delivered a truly scary adult sci-fi film that had the right combination of great direction, great art design, and great casting.

Thankfully, Fox has pulled out all the stops and given Alien the treatment it deserves for its Blu-ray release. Alien has never looked or sounded better than it does on Blu-ray, plus there are lots of extras for Alien fanatics.

The film [rating:5]

Some may prefer Aliens to Alien, but Alien is the one that started it all. This film propelled Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver’s career and has been the inspiration for countless sci-fi and horror films and directors. What made this film unique is that everything came together so well. Separately, the basic plot elements and script may not have resulted in a great film, but combined with a visionary director and one of the most iconic creature designs ever created, something special was created.

The attention to detail and pacing is what really helps make Alien work as not only a great science fiction film, but a great scary movie. Scott didn’t rush to show the alien onboard, instead focusing on the building tension and the characters. By the time the alien was loose on the ship, the audience was invested in the characters, making the alien encounters more intense and believable.

If you think of this film as having followed the slasher formula, it may not have been too shocking that Sigourney Weaver’s character survives, but in 1979, for the cast involved, and given the amount of screen time other actors had, it was part of the surprise. Traditionally, we would have probably seen Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) take charge and save his ship, but not here. Instead, Ripley managed to escape the alien and even saved Jonesy in the process.

Most of the praise for the creature and alien ship design can be given to H.R. Giger. His unique vision helped this film to stand the test of time. No one has been able to come up with such a unique and iconic creature design since and not even any of the sequels were able to capture the look of the creature used in this film. Alien was the only film that showed off the creature with a transparent head and visible skull underneath. While difficult to see in previous versions, you can see it better in certain scenes in the Blu-ray edition.

As much as I love this film, I have one minor gripe with an effects shot that just doesn’t work and I’m sure you know what I’m going to say before I even mention it. Science Officer Ash has a head problem towards the end of the film and they cut back and forth between actor Ian Holm and a dummy head that looks absolutely nothing like him. It doesn’t take away from the movie for me, but everyone I watch Alien with laughs during this scene. This scene briefly removed the sense of realism established in other scenes, and I think this particular scene could have been shot differently.

Even with that minor item, Alien is still a masterpiece. No one has been able to replicate the mix of horror and sci-fi that you see here and that is one reason why it is considered one of the greatest science fiction and horror films of all time.

Review by: Jonathan James

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

[rating:5]

Year Released:

25 May 1979 (USA)

Director:

Ridley Scott

Cast/Crew

Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto

Genre

Sci-Fi, Horror

Official URL:

Alien Anthology