Alien (1979) - Ridley Scott

Alien (1979)
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Dan O'Bannon (Story & Screenplay), Ronald Shusett (Story)
Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Bolaji Badejo

It should come as no surprise to anyone that reads this blog that I am a movie fan. I am also a fan of movie theaters. Even with the advent of really good home theater systems I still think that nothing beats seeing a great film with an audience in a theater. That is how movies were designed to be seen and it really is the best way to see them. Of course this is all assuming you can find a really good theater that isn't overrun by rowdy teenagers. Luckily I live pretty close the AFI Silver Theater and the E-Street Landmark Theater. Both of which tend to show films that don't draw in the rowdy crowd.

Why, you may ask, am I talking about my love of movie theaters in what should be a review of Ridley Scott's suspense masterpiece Alien (1979)? That would be because the AFI Silver recently showed a screening of Alien and it really is one of those movies that works best on the big screen. It is one of those films that creates such a great atmosphere that it just doesn't feel the same watching it in your living room, no matter how great your TV and sound system are. The film also has such a unique visual style and seeing it on that giant theater screen really makes that style shine.

Alien is arguably one of the best horror/suspense films ever made. Everything that happens in the film is designed to build up the tension. From the claustrophobic settings, the eerie set design, the slow reveal of the actual alien, and our heroine in Sigourney Weaver, everything about the film just works great. Ridley Scott doesn't waste his time with cheap scares that most horror movies use (ok, so there are a few jump scares but they never come across as cheap). He slowly builds the tension in the film until everything hits a boiling point and all hell breaks loose.

The designs of the the alien environments in the film and the alien itself are simply some of the most amazing science fiction designs ever created. HR Giger created an extremely terrifying looking alien that managed to become a cultural icon. His designs for all the alien environments gave them a perfect other world quality. Everything looked very alien and strange but still seemed to have a realistic design with real purpose in mind. It didn't seem like it was just thrown together to look cool. It just managed to look cool while still looking like it could be an alien environment that actually exists.

Because of how great the set designs are, the film manages to avoid another trap that most science fiction films fall into. After 30 years, Alien still manages to have and interesting look to it. While there are some minor things that look dated (computer interfaces and such) the film as a whole has aged very well. The film makers put enough thought into their set designs that there aren't many things in the film that make it obvious that it was made in the late '70s.

On top of the tension and the great set and creature designs the film also works because of how well the actors work together in the film. Everyone in the film plays their role perfectly and they work together well enough that they seem like a crew that has been together for a long time. This really helps to create a feeling of realism in the film which just helps to add to the tension. The film manages to also create what would become one of the best action heroines in film history. Sigourney Weaver played Ripley in a total of four Alien films and she managed to be a complete bad ass in all of them. She created a very strong female action heroine and avoided many of the cliches that normally come with that.

There tends to be a lot of debate when it comes to this movie and its sequel, James Cameron's Aliens (1986). Many people find the sequel to be the better of the two films while many others believe that you can't beat the original. I fall into the camp of people that prefer the original film. While Aliens is a really good action film it can't hold an candle to the atmosphere that Ridley Scott was able to create in Alien. Personally I can find something to like in all the films of the Alien franchise (excluding those Alien vs Predator movies) but none of them even come close to touching the greatness that is the original Alien.

Rating: 10/10