SF "lost patrol" movie

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2003)

"Alien" follows the general conventions established by John Ford's "The Lost Patrol," his highly influential 1934 work. It's been redone any number of times as a war movie or a Western. Now it's in outer space. The sub-genre looks something like this. A small contingent of people -- a mixed group -- in an isolated situation are confronted with a rarely seen enemy who strikes out of the darkness. There is no way to fight back effectively. One by one, the group members are picked off, beginning with the leader. This shifts the responsibility to the next in command, who turns out to be the lone survivor or, sometimes, the last to sacrifice himself or herself for the sake of the mission.
But it's hard to recognize the basic plot under all the gloss. This movie was something of a shocker on its release, and introduced a lot of innovations into SF movies. For instance, in all earlier movies in which a team lands on an alien astronomical body there is no wind. Here, there is a howling gale. This may not seem like much, stated so baldly, but no one had thought of it before, although it's long been known that planets like Jupiter have atmospheres that are in a state of constant turbulence.

The monster was also a vehicle for a new, slimier conception of raw evil. This one is no Gill Man or furry pet with teeth. This thing is positively reptilian in its detestability. And it doesn't just "do away" with its victims. It begins by incorporating every revolting image from our worst nightmares -- a scaly muscular skate-like creature that plasters itself to John Hurt's face and embeds itself in his innards in order to plant a seed of some sort, which later develops into a juvenile that, in a famous scene, bursts out of Hurt's chest during a shipboard dinner that didn't look very appetizing anyway. This was the first movie that could really turn one's stomach, what with jelly-like substances and gooey sounds. Everything connected with the alien looks as if it belongs under a rock in a jungle. The f/x are outstanding. If they look a little tired today it's only because they've been so often imitated.
The performances are professional all the way down the line. Sigourney Weaver has a strangely boney face and tiny mouth, but she's believable and turns in a good performance, especially for a Stanford graduate. Her first name was plucked by her father from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby," one of my faves. Tom Skerrit isn't around that long, but he is so likably easy-going that we hate to see him disappear from the plot early on. John Hurt is a fine actor. He was my supporting player in the art-theater classic, "From the Hip." He's never done less than a first-rate job. Whatever happened to him? Veronica Cartwright exudes vulnerability. She needs protection as an adult as much as she did when she was a child in "The Birds." In an interview she revealed that when the juvenile creature first appeared everyone laughed at it because it looked so much like a penis. Ian Holm as the robot is suitably cold. He's a good Shakespearian too. Yaphet Koto is an earthy comforting presence -- while he lasts. The alien itself doesn't have much screen time but makes the most of it, dripping all over with what looks like saliva. It reminded me of a boatswain's mate I once had the misfortune to serve under.
There are a couple of curious things that shouldn't get more than footnotes. The music is almost all taken from Howard Hanson, a moody and underrated composer, and effectively evokes distance, darkness, and the mystery associated with them. There are also a couple of references to Joseph Conrad thrown in (eg., the name of the ship is the Nostromo) for reasons I can't figure out. Maybe the writers or the director just happened to like Conrad. It should also be noted that Sigourney Weaver's figure, while not bursting with femininity, is sleek and smooth and looks designed for underwater swimming.
If you haven't seen this, you should probably try to. The gross factor isn't very high, viewed from today's perspective, so if that's what you're looking for, rent Carpenter's regurgitative newer version of "The Thing" or something.