Rating: 
Summary: Buy ALIEN, Forget the Sequels
Review: And ignore the Amazon reviews, i.e., Marshall Fine and Leonard Maltin. This gem of a film blends excellent characterization, brilliant visuals, an ominous score, tendon-splitting suspense, and the scariest nightmare-inducing creature ever to grace the silver screen. Ridley Scott absolutely shines in his direction of this taut sci-fi/horror thriller, carefully building the story piece by piece and allowing the viewer to actually CARE about the people caught up in the nightmare. Jettisoning the previous sci-fi mode of clean, white, sterile spaceships and sleek, Junoesque astronauts a la Star Trek, Scott gives us a cramped, leaky, "semi in space", crewed by blue collar joes, giving the film a gritty and accurate realism and a vision of an all-too-plausible future. An absolute must for all serious fans of the cinema. Of course, if you're one of the many filmgoers who demand "immediate gratification", have no appreciation for subtlety, nuance of character, or complexity of plot and idea, and must be "spoon-fed", skip this film and go directly to James Cameron's far inferior sequel ALIENS.
Rating:
Summary: AN ALIEN THATS NOT A HUMAN IN DISGUISE!
Review: To young at the time to watch this brilliant movie, I had to wait a number of years before I saw it on TV, (My knees were knocking throughout this entire movie! its ultrascarey! ), I was terrified, everything that built up to our now famous critter was excellent, a story well told! Im an Aliens fan now and forever the whole series in my opinion is the greatest scifi/horror flick to ever grace the big screen and my little TV, thanks to the creators and all involved in bringing this movie to the dark and flickering light, I urge anyone to see and enjoy this heart accelerating movie!
Rating:
Summary: Sci-fi masterpiece from one of cinema's greatest visualists
Review: Overrated, as Amazon and a previous reviewer states? Hardly. It seems that those two viewers missed the finer point(s) of the film, and it's hard to appreciate something you don't understand. In actuality, Alien is a deep, absorbing film with revolutionary visuals and meaning to spare. Scott deftly manages to retain subtleties that other directors would have shoved into the spotlight (so it's understandable that some will miss these finer points). It is one of those rare films that manages to be popularly accessible and good works of film art simulataneously. Making strong statements about biology, maternity and human nature, while scaring the pants off us at the same time, Alien is truly a bio-horror/science fiction masterpiece that is required viewing for any fan of the genre. Easily one of the top 10 sci-fi films of all time, and vastly underrated by those who think it's overrated. ;-)
Rating: 
Summary: "crew expendable"
Review: the "Alien" series is a diverse set of mvies, each with a completely different take on the same plot, and I think it's best to simply take them all for what they are. The first movie was the most intelligent, while the second was action-packed and militant, the third installment the overall the creepist, while the fourth and likely final movie was the funny slapstick violence 90's horror romp. This first film, depsite those who said it was "boring" is in fact a terrific introduction to both Ripley and to the Aliens, as there are several scenes detailing the anatomy and feeding habits of the beasts. It gives the viewer an excellent look at just what the Aliens are, and what their purpose is, as well as a good look at Weaver's death-repelent Ripley character. The fact that it takes awhile to really get exciting is irrelevent in my book, so long as the movie offers something interesting in the place of action early on, and this movie does. Like I said, it's the smartest of the four films. It's a terrific leap over the teenie-bopper Star Wars mania that occured two years earlier. Star Wars offered NOTHING in regards to science, which is usually what seperates good sci-fi movies from bad ones. Good sci-fi movies try their best to explain their scientific content, Star Wars didn't do that in any way, but Alien certainly did, only is this movie the science is centered around the strange life-forms that would be the centerpiece to the other four films. I guess the fact that some people don't like this movie is just a sign that people these days only want fast-paced and brainless wall-to-wall splatter horror. Try not to think of Aliens and Alien Resurrection when you watch this, because that's not what you're gonna get, watch this movie as something independent from the rest of the series. That's the only way you can appreciate the third and fourth installments, which hardly anyone seems to like.
Rating:
Summary: Alien DVD
Review: This is simply the best DVD currently available. In terms of the quality of the film itself and the extras on the disc, it surpasses everything else I have seen. The film has not dated (no dodgy haircuts) and it's ideas are still influencing sci-fi today - along with Kubruck's 2001. Ridley Scott's commentary, which can be heard alongside the film, is brilliant - giving genuine insight into the production. A superb film on a superb disc. Just as atmospheric and full of suspense now, no matter how many times you've seen it. It should be a legal requirement for anyone with a DVD player to purchase this movie. Trust me - it is that good !
Rating:
Summary: One of the greats!
Review: This film is great! The tention builds and the audience feels the horror just like the crew. This movie is NOT for those who want instant action. This movie draws the plot to a point of cool perfection! The DVD transfer was amazing, especially for a movie this old! The extras will keep any fan of the Alien movies coming back for more. NOTE Look out for the hidden features!
Rating:
Summary: Quite frankly one of the most eligant and gothic films ever.
Review: When Ridley Scotts Alien made its debut on May 25th 1979.It had a reaction from the audience that saw it most of then coming for HR Gigers grousome creture design of the alien creature. 7 miners of the Nostromo mineing vehicle when the crew recive a distress call from an small planet when they decide to explore where this signal is coming from, they find a frightning descovery an alien ship when they explore the ship further one of the crew members travels to far and awakens one of the nesting aliens. What they unleash is beyond anything they could ever imagine , a perfect war machine a a creature so terrifying that it's only task is to eliminate human life and its perfectly engineered to do just that. Incredible visuals and great DVD options including a commentary by ridley scott.Alien is one that you should not given the chance to buy it you should not pass up.One of the best science fiction movies ever.
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Summary: definitely the best of the 4
Review: this is the best, most frightening scifi movie ever made. all of the sequels were top-notch but none approach this one. scott captures the claustrophobia of a huge spaceship in the infinity of space perfectly. sigourney weaver turns in a great performance as usual. the scene of the alien spaceship will never be matched anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Don't listen to the "official" reviews which appear above
Review: Amazon's reviewer calls this movie overrated and drawn out, while the Leonard Maltin movie guide review seems a bit baffled that some people like this kind of entertainment. Don't listen to either of them. Alien is, quite simply, one of the best movies ever made in both the sci-fi and horror genres. Those who complain that the film takes too long to get going suffer from some kind of cinematic attention span disorder; Ridley Scott draws his scenes out because he wants to build tension and establish a sense of realism before introducing H.R. Giger's terrifying creation. Unfortunately we can all see that the monster is just a guy in a suit during the closing sequences when Scott finally lets us see what the big slimy nemesis really looks like, but otherwise the film hasn't aged a bit since it came out two decades ago. The DVD is great too, with excellent picture quality and a really great commentary track, despite some disastrously inappropriate menu screens (the interfaces are all CG-rendered glitz, which really doesn't go with a movie known for its slow, elegant, quiet suspense). Anyone with any interest in horror or science fiction films in general should pick up this classic immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Great mix of science fiction and horror
Review: The first 45 minutes or so of Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic are actually pretty boring. The usual great visuals from Scott appear but there is not a whole lot to the story. Until an alien gets planted inside a crew member of a spaceship and pops out of his stomach. Then there is an alien on board that feeds off of man. Some great suspense and horror follows also keeping things intelligent too. It's very good overall and the excitement of the film's second half is truly worth it.
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