Rating: 
Summary: Better if the cast had been nude
Review: On the DVD, Ridley Scott provides a commentary to this film; he reveals that he wished the crew to be naked when they awoke from their deep sleep - he claims that this would have been preferable solely in the interests of 'realism'. Right. 'Realism' also no doubt dictated Sigourney Weaver's wearing of skimpy pale grey underwear in the final fight sequences, and filming her from her behind as she reaches for apparatus, her panties slipping a little way down. More insightfully, Ridley valourises the production design and the music score. Significantly, similar factors helped 'Blade Runner' achieve excellence. What this film lacks is depth of character and sensitive direction when human interaction takes place - of course, it doesn't need them: it's a horror film. Scott, in the commentary, tells how he saw each of the crew as fundamentally unknown to the others, having been thrown together to man the spacecraft, but not linked by any personal history - conveniently, this obviates the need to depict or develop any human relationships (thus the character emotionally closest to Ripley is the ship's cat). It also lacks humour (unless you find verbal abuse of Ripley 'funny') - again, humour is unnecessary here: if anything, the crew's inability to crack a successful joke underlines their powerlessness in the face of the alien (and Mr.Scott). This is a great horror film. The world it presents is consistent, credible, and detailed. The design of the alien is inspired, and many directorial decisions relating to the creating and building of suspense work very well. 'Alien' appeals to basics fears and desires, and it does so effectively. While it displays Ridley Scott's strengths as a director, it also suggests his weaknesses, weaknesses that undermine much of his later work, and weaknesses which he (if his commentary is anything to go by) is unwilling or unable to acknowledge. His interest in character appears superficial (Consider Maximus in 'Gladiator' - does he have a real relationship with anyone in this film? Similarly, Ripley, or Harrison Ford in 'Blade Runner'.), and as for his alleged interest in 'realism'?...well, come on Ridley, be honest, you wanted to see Sigourney in the nude, didn't you. (The awakening scene was apparently shot with the crew topless (Ridley can't help letting us in on that one), but this take was not included in the DVD's extra features (surprising, since I'm sure it was extremely 'realistic').)
Rating: 
Summary: Terror personified- a true classic!
Review: The first movie in the legendary Alien series is by far the best of them all. No other movie captured the feeling of utter terror or suspense. The other movies were action movies. This was horror at its best. Aliens would introduce the series to the action genre, but Alien will remain the most terrifying movie of them all.From start to finish, you will be on the edge of your seat. H.R. Giger's creation comes to life with flawless perfection. Sigourney Weaver's career launchpad and excellent performances from Tom Skerrit and Yaphet Kotto. It begins with the commercial towing vehicle Nostromo drifting through space. Crew compliment 7. Returning to Earth from a successful mining operation. The ship picks up a very strange signal. Law requires that any transmission indicating intelligent life MUST be investigated. This may have been a terrible mistake... The ship lands on the planet, much to the dismay of a few of the crew members. Captain Dallas leads an exploration to the source of the distress beacon. Unfortunately, while the team is away, the signal is deciphered by the ship's computer, as a warning... It is too late. Kane, one of the crew members who went with Dallas finds a compartment of egg-like objects. Upon investigating one of them, the egg open, and the being inside lashes out, attaching itself to his face. And the terror begins shortly thereafter... Frightening in every sense of the word, from the birth of the Alien to the final confontation, you will be staring at the screen, open-mouthed and frozen in terror. Even if you have seen the movie a hundred times, you will always feel a chill down your spine. Some of the most tense moments in movie history are in this movie. Air Duct scene anyone? The music helps to create the mood of suspense, fear and desperation. One of my all time favorite movies and clearly the best in the series. Unfair to compare Aliens to this movie, because Aliens was a different genre: action. However, Aliens also has its share of suspense and fear. In my opinion, Alien and Aliens are two of the best movies ever made, by far. Ridley Scott pulls off a magnificent work of art once again! It is a shame that he still has not won an award for best director. With movies such as Alien and Gladiator in his background, he is, again, in my opinion, one of the greatest directors of all time.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing, scary, smart, stylish well written film
Review: I can't believe that people think "Alien" is overrated (or that "Aliens" is a better film). Those who found the first half of this film "boring" have no idea of story structure (take a look at Psycho....similar situation there). I saw this film at age 11 (my first R-rated film) and it was just amazing....If you haven't seen it....do so!
Rating:
Summary: A classic Science Fiction!!
Review: I love this movie!! If you love Sci-Fi and action movies, you will enjoy this very much. Special effects are great for such an old movie! Seven people are out on a mission and get an alien on board (I won't ruin it for you!) and it finishes them off one by one. Great movie! Add this to your collection!
Rating:
Summary: Ridley Scott + Sci Fi = Excellent
Review: This is perhaps one of the best Sci-Fi films ever made. The level of detail in this film is amazing, a bounty for the eyes. Ridley Scott created a "real" environment in this film, a place where one could see people living and working. Giger's alien was the most original one in film history. Although not original, the story cotained enough thrills and chills to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Great movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Deep Space Slime
Review: The first film in the "Alien" series and by far the best. The crew of a mining space ship investigates a distress call, and after landing and investigating, they end up with a pack of trouble. An alien life form gets attached to a crewman's face, and he ends up as the incubator for a creature in a very bad mood. The creature is much worse than "The Thing," being smarter, more aggressive and very ill tempered as it proceeds to kill off the crew, one-by-one. In this move all the men are stupid; the only one capable of dealing with the creature is the crew-woman Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). The film is very effective at scaring the audience (it scared me a lot), but it's really a grade B slasher move in the garb of a sci-fi thriller. The acting is generally wooden (especially Weaver), and perhaps this is why the creature was in such a bad mood for the whole movie. The technology on the ship is inconsistent-- advanced robotics and machine intelligence, but there're still typing on keyboards, and perhaps even running some future version of Windows that's still buggy. Still all in all, the film is fun, and if you like getting scared then you'll love it. Unfortunately the rest of the "Alien" series doesn't measure up to the first-- they should have quit while ahead.
Rating:
Summary: This is how it's done!
Review: It's fitting that such an influential movie as ALIEN would end up being a lession on how to produce a worthwhile DVD. From the opening interface to the extras, this must be one of the best quality DVDs yet released. With so many DVDs not even including a trailer or not bothering to enhance the movie itself, ALIEN is an example of how it should be done. The picture quality is a solid 5 out of 5 with almost no graininess. I think the picture is better than The Matrix or Fifth Element. The sound is quite good too but to a lesser degree. This is the only way to watch this classic. The extras are incredible! The deleted scenes, including the much discussed Cuccoon Sequence, are amazing! There's a large library of artwork, movie stills, publicity shots and more that would probably fetch the price of this DVD if sold in hardback book form. The tv spots and trailers are very familiar to me. Since mom would not allow me to see it when it came out, the tv commercials were all I knew of it until I was "old enough". As for the movie itself, it's influences on the sci-fi/horror genre is apparent in practically every movie of its type released. Of course, they rarely even come close. One observation I've made is the sense of merely watching something real happening. There's something to be said for the "small talk" dialog. The whole movie has a vouyeristic feel to it. It's all the more potient. And the whole thing looks incredible. On DVD, the visuals are breathtaking in and out of the ship! Fans (i.e., your great grandchildren) will be watching this movie 100 years from now.
Rating:
Summary: very intense
Review: this movie really left me shocked. No wonder it's considered a classic! After the extremely disturbing 'exploding stomach' scene, I almost wanted to stop watching. But I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. At the end, it left me so tense, I almost fainted. Although this movie doesn't contain any deep sci-fi messages (it's no 2001), as a suspense film, it worked remarkably well for me. It was one of the most suspenseful films I've seen in a long time!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Sci-Fi movies ever!
Review: Alien, the first installment of the 4 alien movies, is definitely the best. Why is it better than the second installment, Aliens? First of all, I though Aliens was kind of overrated. In Aliens, they mostly rely on firing at the aliens with hi-tech guns to keep you entertained. In Alien, though, they rely on atmosphere and suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat! All the characters, especially Sigourney Weaver, give very good performances. I was scared at times! A great DVD, and a must-buy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: This movie was the best sci-fi movie I have ever seen! Good sound, scary music and a good story too. So, here's the plot. In the future, a cargo ship was heading back to Earth when the crew is awakened from cryogenic sleep by a distress call. The ship lands to investigate. There are more things yet to come... This movie has great special effects. The alien sure freaked me out during this movie. Some of the best parts were when Dallas was in the air shafts, STUNNING! And when Ripley was fighing the alien on the shuttle, that was a blast! TV Rating - *** out of ****
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