Alien

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton and Bolaji Badejo as the Alien.
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Release date: May 1979
Trailer: [via YouTube] [via AllTrailers.net]

This is a bit of a difficult review for me in a sense. Let it be known now that Alien is one of my favourite movies of all time, definitely slots into my top 5 and probably top 2. Therefore I find it extremely difficult to be objective, but since I don't have to be, let the praise begin.

Let's get the necessary and frankly unimportant stuff out of the way first. Alien is a sci-fi horror film about the crew aboard a commercial towing vessel called the Nostromo. They're woken from hypersleep unexpectedly halfway home to investigate a distress beacon of some kind. And so ensues the alien face eating terror. I'm kidding, there's no face eating. But yes, there is an Alien. (shock horror spoiler alert!)

Now let's get down to business and talk about the important things. Kicking off with the director behind this masterpiece. The supremely talented Ridley Scott, also responsible for another of my most loved cinematic masterpieces, namely Blade Runner. But hold on a second, let's not forget that Mr. Scott is also responsible for the directing and producing of G.I. Jane and the promising first half of Gladiator and then sadly the extremely disappointing conclusion. So, a mixed bag for Ridley.

Alien is Scott's second feature film, after 1977 Cannes award winner The Duellists, and remains to this day his best. Scott is much renowned for his offhand approach towards directing actors, preferring to line up his shots instead, and it shows. The actors will sometimes fumble lines a little or repeat themselves and look a little bit more unsure of what's going on that in your regular modern Hollywood film, it may be due to the fact that a lot of the dialogue came from improvising. Honestly, I think it adds character. Let's face it, being a little awkward and tripping over words is realistic if not desirable in any other movie, in this movie, it fits so perfectly that I find myself wondering if that's the reason Scott paid his actors no heed. The pay off for this awkwardness is the fact that this film is dripping with atmosphere. And when I say dripping, I mean it's positively gushing from every filmic pore. It's not often that a film attempts to make its audience this tense, this expectant, over such a long period. There's a good wait of 40 minutes or so before things really kick off in an action horror sense, the first five minutes of the film are completely without dialogue and the last portion of the film is largely without it too. So what did that mean to me as a viewer? That I was bored out of my mind waiting for someone to die? Hardly. What it actually means is that it's hard to be sure what's going to happen because it feels like anything could happen at any moment. The slow burning tension is enough to keep anyone on the edge of their seat, the constant steady humming of the ship only heightening the sense of anticipation because there's never any doubt that there is no escape here. There are very few clear cues for the bad things to happen, yes sometimes it's easy to know when something IS going to happen, for example when someone wanders off alone it's probably not going to end well, but there are numerous other times when nothing happens and it's not difficult to find that you're waiting for it...And waiting for it...And waiting for it, until it becomes unbearable. It's easy to watch the film and think, where is the threat coming from here? But I always find myself looking for it at every turn and that's quite a feat. The not knowing is a large part of what makes this such a sucessful horror film, those moments when the shit does hit the fan have all the greater impact for the long wait that preceeded it. And trust me, on a first viewing it is a scary film.

It's difficult to find that kind of slow pace in a modern film and it's a shame because here it works so well, these days it would probably be a crime to assume an audience has the patience to sit through that kind of build up. Pacing is always a key element in a film and in if you're an impatient shithead who only likes films like Bad Boys II where the film starts out with things blowing up...Then some things blow up and then right at the end more things blow up, then this film isn't for you.

If you do have any kind of patience whatsoever though, you'll stick with it and let the film drag you in slowly. And by the time it has you, it's so easy not to care that the wait for the title to start making sense is a little longer than usual, because all it means is that it's easier to absorb the amazing Nostromo set, built from bits of scrap aeroplane and whatever else they could get their hands on and not break the relatively low budget, the equally stunning H.R. Giger designed 'space jockey' set aboard the alien ship, the gorgeous and truly atmospheric lighting and camera work, especially the handheld shots filmed by Scott himself, and last but not least the stunning performances from the actors.

That's right, a sci-fi film with good acting, who would have guessed it. Let me assure you that you'll be relishing the work of the cast, fine actors like John Hurt and Ian Holm, who despite probably being most well known as a a wand selling wizard and a fat hobbit respectively these days, are both in fact fabulous character actors. Holm's performance as slightly sinister Science Officer Ash will have you singing his praises, Kane's fate and the way Mr. Hurt handles it will have to be seen to be believed. Harry Dean Stanton's portrayal of Brett leaves him saying little more than 'right' throughout the film, but there's no less empathy with him as a character for it. Let's not forget Sigourney Weaver, this is the film that made her a Hollywood star, and rightly so, there could not have been a more perfect Ripley had they spent 15 years casting this film.

Let's make a brief detour now and chat about the score. Jerry Goldsmith is the man responsible for scoring the most of the film, and the score as it is is nothing short of outstanding. You can if you so wish get a hold of the special edition DVD and hear the original Goldsmith music cues, as opposed to the final cues used in the theatrical cut, but really...Why fix something that isn't broken? The music is bleak and sometimes bizarre but perfect for a horror film. Often I find that the best music in a film is the music that you don't really notice and here it does a good job of adding to the tension without being intrusive.

There's another plus point, if I was keeping score this film would be off the charts by now. So let's take a u-turn and discuss one of the bad points of the film, oh yes, this film has bad points.



You'll never see much of the Alien, and one suspects that as well as being a deliberate choice on the part of the director, it's also a choice based on the restrictions of special effects back in 1979. Let me tell you this, the Alien looks good when it does get screen time...For the most part. Sometimes it's all too apparent that we're dealing with a man in a suit, but that's kind of OK. I'd probably take a man in a suit now over some of the appalling overuse of frankly terrible CG I've seen in recent years (I'm looking at you Spider-Man 3), so it's just dandy for 1979. There's nothing particularly outstanding about creature effects, it's never going to be on par with say, The Thing, for innovation and there are a couple of particularly bad parts that I can't help wondering about. Let me take you back to those parts. Lambert (Cartwright) is backed up against a wall and the big scary Alien is all ready to eat her face (That was a bit spoilery, but if you can't predict that the crew die in a sci-fi horror film about an Alien, well then you're probably a retard) and some crappy looking coat-hanger reaches up her leg in a closeup. That's number one. Number two would be the end of the film, with the stupid looking Alien in all it's glory getting bandied around the outside of the ship. (again, spoilery, but again if you can't predict an ending as obvious as THE ALIEN DIES then you should probably be shot.) I'm being harsh, these are blips, the Alien head models designed by Giger for the film and inspired by his earlier work Necronom IV, make up for it by being spectacular and original and one shot in particular involving said head will make you shit your pants, and that's good enough for me.

Almost there now kids, one last mention, Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. Who are they? I hear you cry, well without the minds of Mr O'Bannon and Shusett (two writers who are also of course responsible for Total Recall, another cinematic masterpiece) there would be no Alien because these are the brains behind the script and the original concept and the ones responsible for marking the crew as unisex on said script, essentially giving rise to the idea that Ripley could be female, although they had intended her to be male, and thus giving birth to one of the greatest heroines ever seen in cinema and notably, the first female action star on screen.

So...What am I really saying here? Let me break it down. Everything (man in suit blips don't count) about this film is spectacular. The writing, the sets, the pacing, the lighting, the cinematography, the casting and the acting. Why are you not watching it right now?

In space...No one can hear you scream.