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Alien
1979
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 .. Read more
| Starring | Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton |
|---|---|
| Director | Ridley Scott |
| Genres | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
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Alien
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.
| Starring | Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright |
|---|---|
| Director | Ridley Scott |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 56 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Collections | 100 must-see movies |
| Genres | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 15 May 2000 Production year: 1979 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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This revolutionary “haunted house in space” thrill-ride is the classic business, stunning you with shock after shock, even when the fascinating creature is exposed in all its hideous glory. The top-notch acting (super-astronaut Sigourney Weaver) and imaginative bio-mechanical production design (with the alien created by Swiss artist HR Giger) succeed in flattering a script culled from many cult sci-fi movies, including It! The Terror from beyond Space and Planet of the Vampires. There's also director Ridley Scott's eye for detail and brilliant way of alternating false scares with genuine jolts, which help to create a seamless blend of gothic horror and harrowing science fiction. The director's cut, released in 2003, boasts a remastered sound mix and sequences cut from the original — until now only available on the Alien DVD — including a much-discussed cocoon scene.
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Ridley Scott took the standard ingredients of a horror movie set in an old dark house, shifted them to a new gleaming spaceship and created a deliberately scarifying and highly commercial shocker: On its own terms, a classic of suspense Ð and art directio
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Most helpful member's review
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19 out of 24 people found this review helpful
something he ate?
It's easy to forget how the Alien series began, what with the lamentable Alien Ressurection and deeply flawed Alien3 following the big budget carnage of Aliens. This movie is a finely crafted exercise in suspense, favouring slow build-ups to crash-bang progression, while not forgetting to provide the occasional jolt to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
Sigourney Weaver was revelatory as Ripley, creating an iconic heroine in the process. Easily a match was the stunning set and creature design; Geiger's monsters in particular seem to resonate with everyone who sees them, and it's hard not to have a strong reaction to the appearances of each consecutive 'stage' of monster.
It's easy to overlook the rest of the cast, and the wonderfully realised dynamic they create, with John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto and most notably Ian Holm all delivering excellent performances which contribute to some of the film's strongest scenes.
The only grumbles i'd have would be a relatively weak ending which seems to highlight possible budgetary restraints, and the unavoidable fact that the more you see of the Alien, the less scary it becomes. Which only goes to show, the strength of this film lies in is taut camerawork and direction, showing that what you don't see is often what scares you the most. -
Most recent members' review
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Still great
Arguably the best sci-fi / horror film yet made, the director's cut doesn't really bring anything new to the film. Some of the shots look a bit better, and there are some new scenes. However, only one of these scenes seems to bring anything new to the story.
One nice thing is that this DVD has both cuts, so you can compare and contrast for yourself. -
News and features
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Weaver: 'I'm nothing like my film characters'
- 09 Dec 2009
Sigourney Weaver has shattered her action heroine image by insisting she suffers from phobias of earthquakes and elevators in real life. The actress is best known for her role as rifle-wielding monster killer Ellen Ripley in Alien, but she admits she could never be that brave because she's actually terrified of a number of things. She explains, "I'm very different from my image. I have faced aliens, ghosts and gorillas on film but in real life many things frighten me. Like taking elevators. I'v Read more
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