Great Film

Rating: Null/10 (11 December 2003)

Recently saw the Directors Cut version in the cinema, much, much better on the big-screen than on the horrible 20-year old VHS tape I saw it on the first time last year. It's wierd, I saw Alien the last out of all 4 Alien movies, I used to watch Aliens when it was on TV every year in the late 80's/early 90's, must have seen that half a dozen times.
I imagine that watching Alien for the first time back in 1979 before anyone knew of the "Aliens" must have been incredible, I felt a little closer to those original Alien watchers with my big-screen experience. The movie had much more impact, was more immersive and made me jump slightly several times in the cinema. I'm not sure what scenes were added for this version but it seems surprising that scenes were cut in the first place considering the running time is under 2 hours.
Alien is a damn good film, pipped at the post by Aliens for all-around best Alien film. Alien is definately the scariest of the lot and is an expert film in every regard (I'm still not sure about the use of dripping water though). The film had a slightly "Thing"-ish quality in that there's a lone beast that can stike at any time, and it's not clear who is friend and who is foe, it was good to see all these now well-known actors in younger bodies trying to save their own skin. See this at a cinema get if you get the opportunity, or watch the DVD on a big screen with surround sound in a darkened room.