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"I Hate To Be The Bad Guy, But....."
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Rating:
Star Wars may have gotten the sci fi ball rolling in the 70's with a future that isn't always clean and where people don't always eat food pills, but Alien perfected it. The computers aren't fast, the seats are held together with duct tape, the machinery looks like it works and your crew members are a lot like co workers who you wish would mind their own business and do their job.
+5
It also presented the most memorable creature to ever grace screens, the Alien. An always changing carniverous beast that stalks your halls looking for yummy human flesh to slobber acid and slime and knash it's teeth at.
Alien takes place in the great future that we can all imagine with a big unlovely spaceship thats almost a flying refinery in space. The crew is on it's way home in stasis when it gets woken up to investigate a distress call from a small planet. Landing to investigate the crew finds a derelict craft with a cargo room full of mysterious pods, they're lifeforms and one attacks the crew. Returning to the ship and taking off again, the crewmember seems fine until the Alien attacks again. The crew must find the creature and get rid of it before it destroys the crew.
The other Alien movies slowly degenerated after this one film which used science and reason to stop the foe instead of mere brute force. While some argue Aliens the superior film, Alien sets all the ground work for how this monster in the dark francise got started and none of the sequels have beaten it yet. Out of all the other movies cast, Alien takes 7 crew members all with a distinct personality and has them slowly but surely become Alien food.
Alien isn't for the weak hearted. This movie takes it's good, long time to set up it's suspense and when something happens, you jump. Everyone jumps the first time. Ridley Scott was in no hurry to simply have gross out scares and gore and the way he handles the build up in scenes is supurb.
Between the original 79 version and the 2003 directors cut version there are things I like about each. Some scenes which were originally deleted scenes have alternate takes integrated back in with a key sequense restored and Ridley even throws out some new ones and snips out an old one or two. He's perfectly happy with his original 79 version and he has said "it isn't going anywhere" and that the 03 version is mainly for fun. So rest easy Alien fans, it's not going to suffer the Star Wars fate.
IF your feeling brave and you've never seen this movie, turn off the lights and crank up the home theater and pop it in your player. You have no idea what you've been missing. You may THINK you know Harry Dean Stanton is doomed when he walks into that room, but when, and how?
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BOO!
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FM_ALEX
October 26, 2010
Another wonderful review to a classic.
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About the reviewer
John Nelson (TheJohn)
Born in Wausau Wisconsin. Move at an early age to Ventura California and lived for 8 years. Growing up in a big city landscape didn't prepare me for my next move: Archbold Ohio with a population of … more
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About this movie
A landmark of science fiction and horror,Alienarrived in 1979 betweenStar WarsandThe Empire Strikes Backas a stylishly malevolent alternative to George Lucas's space fantasy. Partially inspired by 1958'sIt! The Terror from Beyond Space, this instant classic set a tone of its own, offering richly detailed sets, ominous atmosphere, relentless suspense, and a flawless ensemble cast as the crew of the space freighterNostromo, who fall prey to a vicious creature (designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger) that had gestatedinsideone of the ill-fated crew members. In a star-making role, Sigourney Weaver excels as sole survivor Ripley, becoming the screen's most popular heroine in a lucrative movie franchise. To measure the film's success, one need only recall the many images that have been burned into our collective psyche, including the "facehugger," the "chestburster," and Ripley's climactic encounter with the full-grown monster. Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott,Alienis one of the cinema's most unforgettable nightmares.--Jeff Shannon
Cast:
John Hurt,
Ian Holm,
Yaphet Kotto,
Tom Skerritt,
Sigourney Weaver,
Veronica Cartwright,
Harry Dean Stanton,
Helen Horton,
Bolaji Badejo
Director:
Ridley Scott
Genre:
Adventure,
Horror,
Sci-Fi,
Thriller
Release Date:
25 May 1979 (USA)
MPAA Rating:
R
Screen Writer:
Dan O'Bannon,
Ronald Shusett
Runtime:
117 min
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