Rating: 
Summary: terrific
Review: Having just reread the reviews for ALIENS, I feel I have to defend this film again. James Cameron is a fine director - sure - and he makes huge, pretty mega-pictures. But this Scott film is a gem, scary as a sonofabitch, with superb performances all around. The great thing is that after some initial shocks you know exactly (more or less) what's going to happen... and it still scares the hell out of you. I remember seeing this film the day it came out in the theatres. People looked ashen walking out...Hey, I couldn't sleep for a couple of days! Ok ok so i get scared easily... but Holy Moses, this guy knows how to make a movie. Its BY FAR the best of the series and not only for its originality. Don't believe anyone who tells you differently. Cameron's film is slick and heroic in a strange way but Scott's movie is a classic. Honest.
Rating:
Summary: In Space No One Can Hear You Scream
Review: That was the fitting tagline to this 1979 classic. Alien is certainly a masterpiece of the Sci-Fi/Horror genre. Ridley Scott's richly atmospheric and lavishily detailed direction immediately makes this a film that stands high above all of its rivals. The story itself is simple and harkens back to those 1950's space creature pictures. The production design is simply marvelous. The design of the Nostromo is filled with realistic details, and creates a claustiphobic atmosphere. H.R Giger's contribution is simply breathtaking. His design of the derilict spaceship and the Alien itself has been much imitated since. The seven foot creature is truly a work of art. Only Aliens came close to really recaptuing the striking horror and beauty of the creature. The cast which featured Sigourney Weaver in her debut, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm. Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright and Harry Dean Stanton is diverse and each adds something to the film. The music score by Jerry Goldsmith is filled with all sorts of eerie & strange sounds and creates a stomach churning atmosphere. The pace of the film is slow by todays standards, but it's what creates the build up for the several shocking encounters with the Alien. The 20th anniversary DVD is fiiled with extras, looks and sounds terrific and is a must have for fans of this film.
Rating:
Summary: A Gothic Horror Masterpiece
Review: Alien (by 1492's Ridley Scott), despite some opinions to the contrary, has *proven* to be an exceptional piece of work. If it were not, its sequels would never have been inspired. Bad films are ignored, and this portrait of character has been anything but ignored. It is therefore by popular opinion quite a memorable picture. Those who disapprove of Alien are mostly those who eager for action horror, and this is not an action horror. Aliens (by Titanic's James Cameron) was an action horror - a very different kind of movie. Alien 3 was a gothic horror once more, but not with even a comparable level of quality as Ridley Scott's vision. Alien Resurrection was an action horror, but not with even a comparable level of quality as James Cameron's vision. If you are interested in the *aesthetic* use of film in this genre, there are few movies that surpass this one. Prove me wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: The beginning of an era.
Review: It is difficult to write an impartial review of this movie. One must seee it in the time that it was first released. The idea of a small crew ( in space, at sea or otherwise ) battling an unknown monster has been repeated too often. From movies like Alien and Deep Star Six it has degenerated to the level of Virus and Deep Rising. In Alien, the theme was still original and when you look at it as such it is a great movie. The small cast does an excellent job, aided by a strong script an excellent score and good directing and the alien itself is still effective ater all these years. The whole atmospheer of the movie is one of the best ever achieved, as you see the doomed crew slowly succumbing one at the time to the unknown terror. A must for all SF and Horror fans
Rating: 
Summary: What do people see in this film?
Review: What do people see in this film? I am not one for horror films, though I do like this alien stuff. Nothing happens in the film. Nothing. We spent most of the time waiting and waiting for something to happen. This movie could have been cut to half an hour, easy. There is a saying that says that fear is being scared of the unknown, something that the X-Files has done really well. Unfortunately, this film has tried to do this too and has gone too far. Rather than waiting for something to happen, while on the edge of our seats, we wait and wait and wait and wait. We barely get to see the alien and the special effects are pretty poor. Sure it was a long time ago, so we can't expect too much, but look at Star Wars, which came out around the same time. They were much better than Alien, and Lucas had half the money. Alien is simply a boring film that deserves no credit.
Rating:
Summary: An classic sci-fi.
Review: From the writer of Total Recall and the director of Thelma and Louise, together, they made this film a huge success and they made this a classic. They have a mission to do before they enter earth and the Computer Mother want them to in a planet searching for the unknown and one of the crew member saw it and find it after egg pod open and the life form jump at the man inside the helmet and the life form holding the man face been there for days. Then it dies and man seems fine just in to the creature come out of his chest. After is growing incredible rate. Smart, scary, intelligent film with a lot plot twist by watching thoughout the film. Not bad commentary track by the director. Director Ridley Scott give an Audio Commentary, all thought the film. Deleted Scenes also have a scene cut of the cycle of the alien. This film is digitally remastered on THX Picture Quality and Sound. An good looking anamorphic Widescreen(2.35:1) format & Clear sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Grade:A. Panavision.
Rating:
Summary: As essential to your collection as the air you breathe...
Review: I hate to sound that pretentious about a Ridley Scott film but I'm afraid that I have to in this case. This picture is a surefire way to feel more cosy no mater where you're watching from. There are two ways to break this film down, the first being as the primary entry in a trilogy. On that level, 'Alien' knocks the stuffing out of 'Aliens' by a superior approach ('Alien 3' has been kicked around enough so I won't add to its misery here by rubbing in the iodine) to the subject. The first film relied wholeheartedly on tricks found only in the horror school whereas the latter snowballed into a multi-story car park of blood, bullets and bravado. To say that 'Alien' moves too slowly is an idiosyncratic peeve....the movie utilizes this build-up to its advantage (you relish the terror sequences more once you've had the luxury of becoming a little bored) while preserving a realism that James Cameron just couldn't capture in his more soporific magnum opus. There's just no symbolism in 'Alien' to make it something it's not: it's just a straightforward space thriller presented on such a slow-moving vehicle that you can't appreciate what your going through until you watch it for the second or third time. To be sure, there is much borrowed from Fifties 'B' certificates, but that matter is so minute that it doesn't even register when put on the scales opposite what this pic has going for it. Good direction, state of the art SFX (the horror element in 'Alien' kept parallels with 'Star Wars' from being drawn in the same way that you're not allowed to compare the architecture of Transylvania to that of Disneyland), the use of a nondescript cast (come on, people - what had John Hurt actually done of note prior to this?) as well as the aforementioned protraction of plot development make for one killer movie. This is a film about hunting and a film about hiding with you on the hiding side, the slow areas only serving to heighten the tension as surely as if you were lost in a video game. Get it now and wonder how you went for so long without it.
Rating: 
Summary: See the sequel.
Review: This is one of those rare cases where the sequel (ONLY the first, mind you) is better than the original. Alien is, to me, dull, dark, shock-horror, trying to scare you with sudden noises and camera turns. I sat there waiting for something to happen for most of the film, mostly bored to tears. To me, the only purpose for Alien is as a set up for the far superior Aliens.
Rating:
Summary: The nightmares have started again....
Review: The sheer level of suspense that this movie instills is awesome. View it first before accessing the extra's on the DVD. Admire the sheer detail and realism of the sets, wallow in the atmospheric soundtrack. Share the experience with the crew and feel like your just signed on yourself. Then prepare for a ride in suspense and terror as the movie unfolds like your worst nightmare. From the beginning you can never truly relax, it is a gentle state of uneasiness that builds up gradually until you realise that you have become so absorbed in the plot that often you wonder if the heartbeat you can hear is your own or the soundtrack. Watch and experience the event that is the birth of the Alien industry. Then, when all is done, start accessing the treasure chest of DVD content. The commentary is so revealing and interesting that these insights often lead to another essential viewing. If you like Si-Fi then this is one movie you'll go back to again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Very good sci-fi classic....
Review: This is a modern classic which has plenty of shocks and gore. Slow in places, but the actors and acting is brilliant. Stars Tom Skerrit (Poltergeist 3), Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters), John Hurt (Elephant Man) and Yaphet Kotto (Running man, Freddy's dead) It's now considered a cult classic.
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