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Written by: Dan O'Bannon (screenplay by), Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett (story by)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
After a space merchant vessel receives an unknown transmission as a distress call, one of the crew is attacked by a mysterious life form and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.
Verdict
Sci-fi can often be low budget or a bit too hung up on the science and over explaining the future world which can be boring. Alien is a timeless thriller because it's focused on survival. It doesn't have a strict setting, preventing it from feeling dated. The production design does a great job of looking legitimate, and the alien design has become classic. This does a great job driving tension. As soon as the alien appears, this relentlessly torments the characters until the very end. This doesn't rely on stupid character decisions or ridiculous plot elements. This is focused as the crew scramble to survive.
Watch It.
Review
Writer Dan O'Bannon wanted to do a scary movie on a space ship, building upon a film he did as a student with John Carpenter, Dark Star. The success of Star Wars is a big reason the studio moved forward with this project as sci-fi had become the hot genre.
Space travel isn't glamorous. This is a crowded, dirty mining ship. They respond to a distress call because they're obligated by law, not because they are heroes looking to save anyone. That's what kicks this into gear. The crew explores the distress call and stumble upon an eerie, skeletal ship that houses dozens of leathery pods. One of the crew gets one stuck to his face. The doctor tries to cut it off, but the creatures blood is acid that nearly burns through the hull of the ship.
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| Sigourney Weaver, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto, Tom Skerrit |
This is one of those movie that is best on your first watch, before you know what's going to happen. Even then you may already be familiar with how the alien creature hatches as it's pop culture famous. Once the alien hatches this becomes a horror movie. The crew is trapped on the ship with a monster.
One of the most ingenious devices are the motion trackers, beeping with increasing intensity when the alien gets closer. In an already tense movie, that takes the energy and fear right off the charts. This was Weaver's first leading role,
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| Sigourney Weaver plays Ripley |
A lot of credit goes to the production design. The ship is the perfect labyrinth to trap the crew. It feels lived in which was even less common in movies at the time. The alien has become a classic, yet to be topped. Even the eggs and face huggers are familiar even if you haven't seen the movie. This is a sci-fi movie that becomes a horror movie. It remains smart, not relying on the crew to make stupid decisions to prolong the plot. This does sci-fi and horror really well.
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