Alien

Rating:
Summary: True Horror Movie
Review: The original Alien is the first and probably the best of the series. Alien may have a slower pace than the action packed Aliens, it had more tension and suspense which is more important in a horror movie. The suspense in Alien is more unnerving than the Alien it self. In Alien, the alien was invicible, no one could kill it. The aliens in Aliens were fairly easy to kill which made for stuning action sequences, but adversely made them less frightening.
Don't get me wrong Aliens is a great Action Thriller movie and it is the perfect sequel to Alien, Aliens is an Action Thriller movie while Alien is a true horror movie.

Rating:
Summary: Top Ten Sci-Fi
Review: Wonderful sci-fi thriller that borrow its theme from the 1950s sci-fi B-movie "It."

The Nostromo, a space-faring ore cargo vessel, sets down on planet LB426 to investigate an apparent automated distress signal. Upon investigation of an alien vessel crash site, the seven-person crew finds that the signal was, in fact, a warning to stay away from the alien ship. This truth comes too late for one the members of the crew, Kane, played by John Hurt, and he is attacked by an organism that attaches itself to his face like some sort of octopus.

Disobeying orders, the ship's science officer, Ash, played by Ian Holm, breaks quaranteen and allows the infected crew member back aboard ship. That sets the stage for a kill or be killed showdown against a predatory alien that is both clever and evil to the core. By the way, the alien's "coming out" was (when I originally watched the movie) intense and gory.

There are many wonderful scenes in this movie, but my favorite is when Captain Dallas, played by Tom Skerritt, hunts the alien in the air ducts with nothing more than a miniature flame thrower. I still vividly remember that beeping sound made by the electronic tracker during the scene. I also enjoyed the unexpected revelation by Ash.

The crew is methodically picked off one-by-one by the alien, leaving a climactic showdown between Ripley, played by Sigorney Weaver, and the non-stop killing machine. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that it is very well done.

The sets are extraordinary, as are the special effects, especially considering the limited budget the first movie was made on. The ship has a grungy feel to it, which is what you would actually expect in reality. The acting is excellent all-around from the actors I mention above, as well as from Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, and Veronica Cartwright. The tension builds slowly and never lets up. Definitely a must own!

Rating:
Summary: Starts slow, but gets much better
Review: The first half hour or so of this movie was a bit slow, and I honestly had a hard time not falling asleep. It got a lot better though and kept me on the edge of my seat. I would recommend this movie if you like science fiction or suspense.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! See it! See it! See it!
Review: Superb and truly scary sci-fi masterpiece from the genius director Ridley Scott. Taking naff B-movie classics such as "Planet of the Vampires" and "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" and spinning it into a pant wettingly scary film that is packed with tension, suspense and gore. The trump card that Scott masterfully blends the genres of sci-fi, thriller and horror and does it brilliant effect to produce one of the most memerable films in history. Pluses are the fine performances from Weaver, Skerrit, Holm and Hurt, (until he gets serious tummy ache), Scott's eye for detail and a fine script that produces several notable twists to the plot. Unlike James Cameron's equally superb sequel, Scott relies on abstract tension and suspense that are even scarier than the blast fest that came in 1986, especially on video without the benefit of Dolby Surround Sound or the Big Screen. Pacy plot, slick beatiful timed direction, cracking performances and knife edge tension, mean that two hours pass by all too quickly. But of course all these are upstaged by H.R. Giger's superb designs; the most terrifyng screen monster ever.

Rating:
Summary: "Alien" S.E. DVD REVIEW!
Review: Ridley Scott's 1978 film, "Alien" changed the face of horror/science-fiction thrillers and turned the relatively-unknown Sigourney Weaver into a major Hollywood superstar. For its 25th anniversary, Fox Entertainment released a new "director's cut" of the film into theatres. While it didn't do nearly as well as they had hoped, the new two-disc DVD features both the original classic and the new director-approved edition.

While "Alien" may not quite be viewed by today's audiences as the landmark suspense film that it was in its day, it is still an exceptionally-done and exciting film. Such moments as John Hurt's "chest-burster" sequence, the Ash robot struggle, and the concluding confrontation between Ripley and the Alien are all so thoroughly well-done. Having the sole survivor of the film be a female is still very rarely seen in films today though most of the film's other major plot twists have been ripped off time and time again by other film-makers over the years.

While the "director's cut" does feature some new added scenes, it actually runs a minute shorter than the original as Ridley Scott has also taken out scenes that he feels have not aged well. I actually prefer the older version though a new sequence featuring the infamous "cocoon" scene is worth checking out. Both versions feature a full-length commentary from the cast and crew including Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver.

This double-disc edition has even more special features to offer than just both versions of the movie. The featurettes on the making of the film are very intriguing and insightful and offer a glimpse into the potential problems that the crew faced. It's also interesting to learn that this film was actually originally planned as a low-budget Roger Corman picture. There's also so more deleted footage from the film that didn't make the "director's cut" on disc two.

If you are even a slight fan of the "Alien" series, this DVD has everything that you could possibly want. You can get this two-disc "special edition" either by itself or as part of the nine-disc "Alien Quadrilogy" boxed set.

Rating:
Summary: truly terrifying
Review: one sick twisted, amuzing movie. glad my dad let me watch it with him when I was 12. it lives up to its name. it shocks and amuses all at once. it's worth watching again and again. from beginning to end. truly a horrifying horror movie with very creative sci fi plot and cinematics. the whole cast is great. glad I have this on dvd.

Rating:
Summary: Seems kind of tame by today's standards by still great
Review: In the featurette "Nightmare Fulfilled" on Disc 2, people mentioned that people literally threw up after seeing the film or during and one usher actually fainted during a scene. Maybe it just takes a lot to scare us now. I wasn't like "holy #$^%!" throughout the film but it does give a rush(especially the only scene that actually made me jump). While I did review the Quadrilogy set, I might as well do the films seperately too.

The refinery ship Nostromo is on its way to Earth when the computer intercepts a transmission and goes to investigate while its crew is in hypersleep. By law, they're supposed to investigate mysterious transmissions. So they land on a really windy and hostile planet and investigate a ship that seems to have been there for a long time. One member finds an egg which opens, and sticks his face in.

Don't want to spoil the rest but it's quite a thriller, even if it was in 1979 this film was made. It has a really slow build until a moment comes, then that snowballs and the pace starts to really pick up. It's better then most horror films which are just basically creepy scene/death of dumb teen, next teen.

The film takes the "what you do don't see" technique to great effect. In fact, throughout the entire film, the alien full grown is only involved in 3 scenes until you see a better look at the end. With the look of the creature, it could easily blend into the architecture, done by the quite brilliant but really creepy artist H.R Giger.

Like Ripley says in a little booklet, this is being marketed as the "Director's Cut" even though he finds the original the best. While a couple scenes are nice, it does ruin the original's perfect pace. Call it more of an alternate version than anything.

The film is great obviously, but one thing bugged me and oddly it has nothing to do with the film, it's the packaging. The clear holders that holds the discs had really flimsy glue so when I opened it, it actually came off a bit, it's like I have to keep pushing it in everytime I open the case. What's with you Fox?

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This may be the definitive "scary space-monster" movie. There have been lots of horror movies before and since, space movies, and movies based on evil beings with varyin amounts of blood-lust. There have been combinations of those two or three. When it came out, Alien combined all three in the best mix to that point, and maybe since.

Pacing is part of what makes this work so well. It gets off to a slow start, making clear just how tedious life can be in those months between solar systems. The pace picks up over the course of the movie, and tension just keeps building. Somehow, just when you thought Ripley was safe, the Alien appears again. This happens over and over, and Scott's direction makes it a new shock each time. The last scenes, with Ripley in her underwear, just reinforced the vulnerable mood. (Somehow, and I like this, Weaver looked good wearing not a lot, but the scene completely lacked in sexual overtones.)

Just about everything in this movie works. H. R. Giger's Alien is unforgettable. Sigourney Weaver's "Ripley" is one one my all-time favorite characters. In fact, I like Ripley even better because of the great job Weaver did in Galaxy Quest. There, she played another character almost identical, except all the ways she was Ripley's opposite. The later part of the Alien movie is a blatant assualt on the senses - aggressive, but it helps keep the audience on edge, and was very effective in the big-screen environment.

It was also interesting to see how much Scott carried forward from this movie, especially into Blade Runner. Alien has an earlier and cleaner form of the Tech Noir environment, man-made but somehow lacking in places for humans to fit in. Blade Runner toned down the flashing distractions, but made them into a kind of background that never allowed a truly quiet moment.

This movie works in a lot of ways: by itself, in its genre, and in the careers of Scott and Weaver. Even though effects technology has changed in the last 25 years, this movie still carries itself well.

//wiredweird

Rating:
Summary: Director's Cut is NOT 137 Minutes Long
Review: I love this movie. I couldn't wait to get the directors cut to see 20 more minutes of footage. But the time given here is WRONG. There are not an additional 20 minutes, maybe 5 minutes at best. The running time on the box says "Director's Cut: 116 minutes." which would make it one minute shorter than the theatrical version.
Definitely NOT worth buying if you already have the theatrical version.

Rating:
Summary: Alien - the NOVELIZATION
Review: This is the review for the novelization of Alien - for some reason, every other review that I've found here has been for the movie.

Alan Dean Foster's novelization of Alien is a stark, somewhat barren re-telling of the story that most of us are familiar with. However, the rather dry, impersonal style used in narrating the story actually adds to the horror and sense of hopelessness.

Some interesting tidbits which were either added to the story by Foster or which were in the original script and ended up on the cutting room floor are:

1) Ripley sensing something odd about Ash and asking Lambert if she had ever slept with him (the answer is: no - Lambert goes on to say that she never even got the sense that Ash was interested).

2) Lambert suggesting an "alternative" to hunting down the Alien...suicide...she holds up a bunch of suicide pills and states that this is a pretty painless alternative to getting ripped to pieces by the Alien. For me, this added to the almost depressing sense of hopelessness of the story - the situation of the crew was so dismal that some of them began to consider suicide as an 'option'.

3) The crew discovers the Alien has escaped into the air ducts after they burst into a supply room and flame the contents - which happen to be canned food, etc. - the Alien didn't grow that big before killing Brett by just metabolizing air.

4) Ash, when he tells the crew that they can not kill the Alien, states that the crew of the derelict space ship in which the eggs were found were, no doubt, larger/stronger and more intelligent than humans...and even they were overcome.

5) Ripley, before she abandons ship, discovers the bodies of Brett and Dallas. They have both been cacooned by the Alien and impregnated by a parasite. The life cycle of the Alien as conceived in this version is much different from that of the social insect analog as pictured in Aliens - in fact, Ash compares the Alien to certain species of parasitic wasps which lay their eggs in unsuspecting spiders which go about their lives while the wasp larvae eat/kill them alive. This scene was actually filmed and can be seen in certain cuts of the film but I was disappointed...the scene, as conveyed in the novelization, was pretty macabre...the actual filmed scene was not very convincing (which was probably one of the reasons - outside of pacing - it was cut from the final theatrical cut).

6) As mentioned above, Ash hypthesizes that the life cycle of the Alien is similar to certain parasitic wasps on Earth. The Alien was envisioned as being more of a solitary animal rather than the social insect analog seen in the sequels. Essentially, the facehugger implants the embryo, the embryo bursts out, grows, captures prey, cacoons them, implants them with an egg. etc. This was a more satisfying hypothetical life cycle for me since the whole 'parasite-social insect' angle doesn't really seem too convincing to me.

7) Passing mention is made of Ripley's home town - a little village somewhere in El Salvador.

In my experience, most novelizations of movies tend to be "lacking"...they're either bare bones, providing nothing more than a threadbare summary of the narrative of the movie itself or they go off the deep end, providing a lot of "extra" information that often fails to mesh with the original narrative. Alien is one of the few movie novelizations that I've read which actually seems to work and has merit as an entity separate from the movie itself. It would be difficult for any novelization to capture the sense of disgust and fascination that H. Geiger's design of the Alien evoked in many viewers and Foster doesn't (wisely) even try - instead, he concentrates on the feeling of hopelessness on the part of the crew as they attempt to deal with an entity that always seemes to be one step ahead of them and whose goal is nothing more than a metaphorical rape and forced pregnancy (and eventual, horribly painful childbirth) of its victims.