Can someone explain Alien (1979) to me like I'm stupid?

joeccash

So I watched Alien for the first time recently with some friends, and it's been in my mind for a while, so I wanted to discuss it with someone who can give me good reasons as to why it's considered one of the best movies of all time? Essentially, I'd love to hear some people who love the movie talking about it. Mostly, I'd like to hear about why; 1) It was so great and innovative in it's time, 2) Why it's still a brilliant movie to watch; what makes it universally great? Just to give a bit of context, I didn't really see what was so wonderful about it. To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of horror movies to begin with, but I didn't see anything particularly brilliant about it.

Miguel_Sanchez

Here's a critical analysis of it I found through the Google Machine. It gives a rundown of the time it was released and what made it so successful etc.: http://ryuhawk.hubpages.com/hub/Alien-1979-Analysis

Zubeneschamali

joeccash wrote: »

So I watched Alien for the first time recently with some friends, and it's been in my mind for a while, so I wanted to discuss it with someone who can give me good reasons as to why it's considered one of the best movies of all time?

It isn't.

It's an interesting example of a horror movie where Ridley Scott threw a big sci-fi budget and production values at a monster/slasher movie script.

But the actual script isn't at all original and it contains lots of the horror movie clichés that make me want everyone to just die and get it over with.

Shryke

It's a brilliantly realized and executed Sci-Fi. Absolute AAA. Honestly you'd be doing a lot better to spend 5 seconds googling the film rather than ask here.
But if a tense sci-fi film isn't your thing there is no reason for you to like it. Different strokes and all that.

Cork boy 55

Alien is a pretty simple movie great but simple
ship lands, picks up alien, alien kills them all

The Key to the movie is the surpise of the Alien
even the trailers gave nothing away.(the egg, the facegrapper, the "birth"
the rapid growth, acid blood and so on)

If you have already seen all the other movies first and you know everything about the Alien, there is no surpise, no suspense.

You need to either watch Alien before all the others
or put yourself in a cinema movie goer seeing this for first time back in the day


Watching it with full knowledge of the Alien beast destroys the main strenght of the movie.

Technocentral

One of my favourite (with Bladerunner) films of all time, but I think film, like any art form, works on a gut level, you either like it or you don't, no amount of explanation or intellectualisation ever really changes a persons initial instincts, all I'll say is that when it came out it's look and "realistic" feel was very fresh and new (seen it first myself in mid 80s), lots of the look and creature design has been used in tons of subsequent films you may have seen, so the impact has been watered down. The same I'd say as with people who dismiss another of my favourites Citizen Kane as a "boring old black and white film" (bloke I used to work with). It works the other way around too though, I can't imagine the new one having the same visceral impact on me as Alien did 26 or 27 years ago.

foxyboxer

joeccash wrote: »

So I watched Alien for the first time recently with some friends, and it's been in my mind for a while, so I wanted to discuss it with someone who can give me good reasons as to why it's considered one of the best movies of all time? Essentially, I'd love to hear some people who love the movie talking about it. Mostly, I'd like to hear about why; 1) It was so great and innovative in it's time, 2) Why it's still a brilliant movie to watch; what makes it universally great? Just to give a bit of context, I didn't really see what was so wonderful about it. To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of horror movies to begin with, but I didn't see anything particularly brilliant about it.

No point in deconstructing why it is so revered then?

It was a success because of our fear of the unknown.
Okay there's a ship, in space, towing back to earth. Meh.

Is that an SOS or a warning?
What the hell is that ship?
Why is it designed like that?
Jesus, a dead elephant?
How did the ship crash?
How long has it been there?
Why is there a hole in it's chest?
What's down that hole?
What are those egg things?
Jesus, what's that wriggling inside?
etc
etc

Basically, when you watched it for the first time back in the day, you had no idea what was going on and the general mood was "WTF"

MrStuffins

I think Alien was superb at the time and there are many many reasons why it was original and loved at the time. Although if you know everything about the Aliens and the history of the movie, I can understand why you wouldn't think it was awesome on first viewing in 2012.

Aliens though, that's a movie which stands up much much better in 2012! My favourite of the Alien franchise by a mile!

seamus

One thing about it, is that aside from the chestburster scene (and possibly the scene with Ash's severed head, if you're squeamish), it's not particularly gory or worthy of the "slasher" genre (unlike the sequels).

While it also brings in the "monster" genre, it does so in a much more suspenseful way, than say Godzilla. The monster isn't terrifying because it's huge or because it's vicious. It's terrifying because you have no idea where it is.

It also brings in something which isn't often seen in other monster movies - it asserts that the monster is utterly indestructible. There comes a point in most monster/horror movies where the protagonist reaches a point which seems hopeless, but then there's a revelation which gives a glimmer of hope - a way of killing the monster, and escape route, anything.

In Alien, when almost everyone is dead and everything seems hopeless, the story reveals one more thing - that not only is everything hopeless and she's trapped with an invincible monster, but a member of the crew has been actively working against her. This means that there's no let-up in the terror, no obvious means of escape.

Also as foxyboxer quite astutely notes, up until the conversation with Ash, you're constantly left trying to figure out WTF is going on, you're never given a chance to catch up with what's happening. This draws the viewer into the movie by giving you the same experience as the characters; everything is happening so fast and not only are you trying to process new information and figure out what's going on, but you're being hunted by some savage alien too.

foxyboxer

On another note; when Ripley initiates the self destruct on the Nostromo, she is told by MUTHR that there is ten minutes to self destruct. And it is almost to the second of screen time until it explodes which is pure cinema.

Once you get over the initial viewing with the shocks etc, it is revered also from the fact that it is simply a work of art and a fantastic showcase for Giger's material.

Zubeneschamali

seamus wrote: »

While it also brings in the "monster" genre, it does so in a much more suspenseful way, than say Godzilla. The monster isn't terrifying because it's huge or because it's vicious. It's terrifying because you have no idea where it is.

It also helps that you don't see until right at the end that it's just a guy in a rubber suit.

mikhail

Tension. Mood. Atmosphere. Alien starts off with long shots of a ghost ship. The computer lights up. The crew slowly awaken. The music and the slow pace allows tension to build for an hour, and then is released for a few minutes before suddently exploding out of John Hurt's chest again. After that, the crew get more and more desperate, and by the end, we're left with Sigourney Weaver racing around in a blind panic with sirens going off everwhere.

Then there's the art direction. People above have dismissed this as just applying a bigger budget to a B-movie concept, but Scott assembled some amazing people, like H. R. Geiger (whose artwork is creapy as hell, and who designed the alien), Chris Foss and Ron Cobb (more conventional science fiction artists, but still among the best at the time). Scott obsessed about the look of every frame, and the set design, lighting and camerawork are top notch. The look of Alien has been aped endlessly.

Perhaps less frequently mentioned in relation to Scott's movie than the franchise as a whole, Ripley was a tough heroine in a time when that was still something of a novelty. In fact, the role was initially written for a man.

foxyboxer

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

It also helps that you don't see until right at the end that it's just a guy in a rubber suit.

Yes, Kane's 'son'.

krudler

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

It isn't.

It's an interesting example of a horror movie where Ridley Scott threw a big sci-fi budget and production values at a monster/slasher movie script.

But the actual script isn't at all original and it contains lots of the horror movie clichés that make me want everyone to just die and get it over with.

cliched now maybe, not so much back on its release.

Zubeneschamali

krudler wrote: »

cliched now maybe, not so much back on its release.

Eh, that's what everyone said on its release. They even got sued for plagiarism.

Fysh

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Eh, that's what everyone said on its release. They even got sued for plagiarism.

Yeah, and then the writer proved that his script came first and the lawsuit ground to a halt.

Don't let that stop you from trying to claim that you disliking it means it's clearly without any merit, though :rolleyes:

pixelburp

What's to like about it? Welllllll ...

Fantastic production design
Strong characterisation & crew interactions
Great acting from ensemble cast
Iconic creature design
Original, unnerving horror concept
Amazing visual design
Haunting score
Unforgettable scenes
Knife-edge tension
Atmosphere by the barrel-load

... Just for a start like. It's a classic & rightly so: I wouldn't call it a slasher movie, but more of a gothic haunted-house film, in space. The succession of imitators shouldn't detract from the quality of the progenitor.

krudler

pixelburp wrote: »

What's to like about it? Welllllll ...

Fantastic production design
Strong characterisation & crew interactions
Great acting from ensemble cast
Iconic creature design
Original, unnerving horror concept
Amazing visual design
Haunting score
Unforgettable scenes
Knife-edge tension
Atmosphere by the barrel-load

... Just for a start like. It's a classic & rightly so: I wouldn't call it a slasher movie, but more of a gothic haunted-house film, in space. The succession of imitators shouldn't detract from the quality of the progenitor.

All that, and its still better looking than most modern movies, the production design on that movie is staggeringly good.

shadowcomplex

I watched this and predator for the first time when I was 11 or 12, both scared the **** out of me. I was home alone and it was at night too

bnt

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

Here's a critical analysis of it I found through the Google Machine. It gives a rundown of the time it was released and what made it so successful etc.: http://ryuhawk.hubpages.com/hub/Alien-1979-Analysis

I'm amazed that there can be an "analysis" that makes no mention of HR Giger's hugely influential designs. The alien itself is a great example, avoiding the clichés from previous films, which made them either too humanoid or too abstract to be scary. It looks like it's made from random bits of human and animal anatomy in obscene configurations. It's "body horror" to us because the alien is not totally alien.

It doesn't want to negotiate. It has no agenda. It doesn't want to kill you and eat you as food. It has no message for humankind. It doesn't want to learn from our wisdom and experience. It wants to use your body as a host for its larvae, which will grow inside you, then burst out through your chest in the most painful fashion imaginable. In evolutionary terms, it is a very successful species. It taps in to our fears of some of the species with which we share this planet. :eek:

fluke

shadowcomplex wrote: »

I watched this and predator for the first time when I was 11 or 12, both scared the **** out of me. I was home alone and it was at night too

I say this with all sincerity that that sounds like it was one epic night!

Mint Sauce

The chest burst scene is amazing, also done in one take to get the pure fear and surprise experienced by the crew.

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

It also helps that you don't see until right at the end that it's just a guy in a rubber suit.

You also dont see the fully grown Alien/Man in rubber suit in full untill near the end, barr glimpses or shawdows, which also adds to the suspence.

FlashD

joeccash wrote: »

and it's been in my mind for a while, QUOTE]

........and so is the difference between the best and the mediocre.

Forgettable or unforgettable. The classics are ingrained for a lifetime.

Bet in 10-15 years time, it will be Alien you will remember and not what Optimus Prime did at the end of blah blah.

Duggy747

Ain't nobody gonna have a problem with Alien on my watch.


Ain't nobody!

For it's time, it was completely different in terms of tone to the other sci-fi movies. It was dark and grimy, the ship looked battered and used, the crew swore and smoked like sailors. Their initial job in space wasn't anything significant or important, they were just hauling minerals for their company. The sets, the soundtrack, the dialogue, all helped add to it's downtrodden atmosphere.

The xenomorph is a particularly strange being, thanks to Giger's bizzare imagination. Everything about it is unsettling, from it's egg being delivered from a facehugger (which still creep me out, bleurgh!), it's birth through Kane, right up to when it's fully grown and hiding. The fact that we nor the crew know where it is during the movie and we only ever get to see glimpses of it just adds oodles of tension.

The feminists loved the fact that Ripley was female and ended up as the protagonist. I quite liked the change of a female lead and one who wasn't a helpless damsel in distress. She was scared shìtless but she was able to look after herself. At the time it would've been a nice curveball, too, with the audience presumably thinking that the hero would have been one of the males (probably Dallas)

I watched it recently in 1080 and the film is still stunning looking. Aliens was a fantastic sequel to it and tonely different enough that you can't even properly ask nor answer the question "Which is better, Alien or Aliens?"

mike65

Its just a brilliantly well crafted film, as such something from a different and lost era. From the title design to the spacesuit pipe work it just looks perfect. You won't find a more plausible looking depiction of life on a working spaceship - Alien is the Das Boot of haunted house in space movies! Pity the set and costume design was not recognised by the Academy.

Zubeneschamali

Fysh wrote: »

Yeah, and then the writer proved that his script came first and the lawsuit ground to a halt.

Before AE Van Vogt's 1939 stories "Black Destroyer" and "Discord in Scarlet"? Nope, they settled the suit out of court.

pixelburp

That it took any form of inspiration from a short-story of decades ago shouldn't detract from the quality of the film itself. So it has similarities, this happens; sci-fi concepts don't exactly live in a vacuum. Hell even things like Harry Potter has had its share of "hey that's just like my work!" claims. Star Wars famously took 'inspiration' from The Hidden Fortress.

Big difference though between parallels with a random short-story and claims of cliche.

Fysh

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Before AE Van Vogt's 1939 stories "Black Destroyer" and "Discord in Scarlet"? Nope, they settled the suit out of court.

I was thinking of the Jack Hammer accusations.

Aside from which, if we're going to say "Oh, but it was like X" where X came beforehand and ignore all the quality work that went into making it an astounding piece of cinema in its own right we might as well just take a torch to 99.9-odd% of all human creative endeavours ever made because they're all just knock-offs. Hell, we could go better and decide that since there are only seven basic stories we only need one iteration of each and declare all human creativity now complete.

Or, in a less blatantly silly sort of move, we could accept that there are values in execution and recognise the strengths on display in Alien - such as the unsettling designs for the xenomorph and facehuggers, the strong direction, the depiction of space travel for working-class grunts, and so on.

You've made it patently clear that you don't rate the film. If you can't offer better arguments than the one you've provided so far, perhaps you might want to accept that others differing with your opinion isn't the end of the world. I mean, you've hardly made a compelling case for "Alien is a derivative and pointless film".

Tipsy McSwagger

Sigourney Weaver in a sexy pair of panties:)

Galvasean

FlashD wrote: »

Bet in 10-15 years time, it will be Alien you will remember and not what Optimus Prime did at the end of blah blah.

Hey! that guy died for your sins!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfd-SEnPjgU

foxyboxer

When you're making a movie everyone involved has no idea what the finished product will be like considering it has to go through so many hands before it get's released.

It's one of those movies where everyone involved was working at the top of their game. From the music to the editing to even the marketing campaign "In space, no one can hear you scream" is one of the best tag lines ever. Even the cast themselves during principal photography, realised they were involved with something a bit special.

Everything in the movie works. It's what the definitive creature-feature could be given the best talent in every area of a production. "The Beast Within" making of documentary is fantastic and gives a real insight into the movie from it's initial concept "Dark Star" with a monster to it's cultural impact.