Film of the Week #57 - Alien

Karl Hungus

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/

The first, and many would argue, the best. Certainly though, most would concur when I say that Cameron's the only one to have come close to where Ridley Scott had set the bar. Essentially it's a very simple film, where the Alien stalks and kills off the cast one by one, it's often copied, but never equalled.

Probably one of the strongest reactions I've ever had from a film as well, because the first time I've seen it as a youngster, I nearly threw up at the chestburster scene. Result!

BlitzKrieg

hmm Aliens got in how many weeks ago?

and Alien only showing up now...

tsk tsk poor form.

Doubt any others from the franchise will show up (though I would gladly nominate the extended cut of alien 3)


What is so amazing about Alien is that the film is something just over 2 hours long and the alien is probably in it for a total of 15 minutes actual screen time.

But you're still in awe and wound up through the whole 2 hours. Its something sci fi films lost until recently, sci fi is at its best when it gave you the time to sink into its world. And the world of Alien...the ship...the nostromo...the planet...the people. Are all terrifying things.

Alien is pure solid golden fantastic.

vagina Dentate!

Creature

Ah Alien a true cinematic work of art. Lets see..

The visual effects/set design for this film are amazing. The sprawling cavern that houses the eggs and the interiors of the Nostromo and the derelict spacecraft are all wonderfully designed and very memorable.

The cast is spectacular also. I particularly enjoyed Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto and of course John Hurt for the little time he's there.

And of course the alien. That beautifully realised cross between and man, machine and insect and it's faithful face-raping parasitic companion. Elegant and beautiful yet terrifying.

It's when I watch this film that I'm especially glad to be a fan of film and cinema.




Oh and acid for blood...genius!

mike65

Ridley Scotts second finest filum after Blade Runner. And the best of the Alien (I hate to use this word) franchise by a decent distance.

For the first time a spaceship that looked, sounded and smelt (!) like you imagined one really would, the interiors were inspired by subs and the cockpit of a B-17 bomber the sets evoke claustrophobia very nicely. Technically the film looks in every respect many times the budget of a mere £10.5 million the cinematography, set design and effects both physical and optical are first class. H.R. Gigers monster is of course a stroke of genius and it was lucky that Dan O'Bannon met Giger as he was working on an aborted production of Dune. The sequences on the moon are for me the best of the film as the rainy blue fog reveals the remains of a craft and then the discovery of the "pilot".

While it was also luck that David Giler, looking at the script said "hey why don't we make Rilpey a woman" as that meant the crew dynamic was altered - if there was one woman there would really need to be two so there was, (and this of course also meant the maternal aspects of the sequels could be developed).

Thematicly Alien is of course crude and low brow, after all alien rampage splats crew of spaceship is'nt Harold Pinter is it

Its just a pity all the manily awful rip-ofs that have followed only attemped to replicate
the splatter and not the artful tension that Scott develops by allowing the monster to remain largely unseen as the crew stew in thier fear of what it might be and where.

Alien is a "sophiscated" 1950s b-movie with the best tag-line in moviedom.

Mike.

Karl Hungus

Sorry about the mishap here fellows.

Nerin

i saw aliens 3 when i was 11 and i was hooked.
of course then i grew up a little got sense and realised that it wasnt that great, alien and aliens were great though.
i think its the idea of the species that makes the films so popular,people get so interested as to what will happen if they take (whatever species) as hosts.
theres endless possibilities with the different acid blooded breeds of oogly booglies.
but people just keep messing up the franchise, so it detracts from the interest in the idea,when the idea is put into practice in some god awful films.

ps: always wondered what alien breed came from that giant skeleton. go go uber queen!

BlitzKrieg

right off to change my vote for this week.

mike65

So I wasted my time on my post above

Mike.

Galvasean

nerin wrote: »

i think its the idea of the species that makes the films so popular,people get so interested as to what will happen if they take (whatever species) as hosts.

Check out the old toys. They had some great concepts

grimm2005

crazily enough i still havn't seen any of the alien films in full (just while flicking channels and such) but constantly hear amazing things about them (1 and 2 especially, not so much 4).

Regardless, i'm gonna buy the quadrilogy on monday (€27 in hmv w/ student discount; bargain if i've ever seen it for a 9-disc set)

tman

grimm2005 wrote: »

crazily enough i still havn't seen any of the alien films in full (just while flicking channels and such) but constantly hear amazing things about them (1 and 2 especially, not so much 4).

Regardless, i'm gonna buy the quadrilogy on monday (€27 in hmv w/ student discount; bargain if i've ever seen it for a 9-disc set)

I've seen the last 3, but for some reason have never sat down and watched all of the first film... Think I'll wander into HMV tomorrow and pick it up for myself too:)

Nolanger

Anyone see a '50s movie called It! The Terror from Beyond Space?
Very similar to the first Alien movie.

biko

Ha! I actually saw the trailer for that a few days ago.
Bit naff but funny! And indeed kinda Alien-like.

Declan A Walsh

Let me just echo what some contributors have said. "Alien" is a great film largely because of the suspense and the feeling that any moment that something awful is about to happen ... which it does sometimes. There is a bit of gore but much of the shock element is in the mind. Great performances too from the cast and, yes, the set is fantastic and what you would imagine a spaceship to look like.

And who can forget THAT scene with John Hurt?

Karl Hungus

No point in creating a new thread for it, here's Alien.

BlitzKrieg

I always wonder how alien would do today?

I know it was re released 2 years ago, is there anyone here who only saw it for the first time back then?

Just curious because the number of complaints in the cloverfield thread about how long it took for the film to pick up and how little of the monster we saw. I'd wonder how these people feel about Alien, where its almost half the film before the alien makes its introduction and is rarely seen even after that.

Though I guess the build up to the alien's introduction is one of the most convincing representations of the future ever, while cloverfield was just a party at some dudes apartment.

mike65

QFT, so much to feast the eyes and ears on. I was in the attic today and dug out (while looking for something I did'nt find) a few tie-in books about the film. I even bought Alien The Movie Photo Novel (remember them?)

Mike.

BlitzKrieg

i got the aliens colonial marines technical manual

its so cool.

Necronomicon

Appropriately enough, "H.R. Giger's Alien" came through the door today, ordered it off Amazon a couple of weeks ago. It's absolutely fascinating.

It's not written in retrospect; the entire book is taken from Giger's diary, from when he was approached right the way through production, culminating in him deservedly winning his Oscar. He was frustrated by studio execs constantly wanting to change parts of his design, be it due to budget constraints or just different vision. And since the passages are all written present-tense, his anger at times is really visible as you read it.

An absolutely must-read for Alien fans.

Bubs101

One of my favourite films but I find that the reason I prefer Aliens is better is because it has much more replay value. I find it hard to sit down and watch it these days.

Having said that the first time I saw it I was about eleven and it scared the bejaysus out of me. I'd be really paranoid about opening doors, convinced that an Alien would always be behind it

galactus

I've posted before (when Aliens won FotW) on how great this movie is and there's not much to add apart from I'm wearing my Nostromo tshirt today.

Weyland-Yutani: Building Better Worlds!

fitz

It's damn near flawless.
The only thing I'd change about this film is the "jazz hands" moment when Dallas meets the alien. What was Scott thinking?! :P