Way overrated.. saw it when it opened, haven't bothered to rent it since.

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2003)

Things I remember best about Alien: Seeing it during its opening run in Times Square at 3:30 am, the only time I have attended a movie at that ungodly hour. (My best friend and my girlfriend talked me into it.) And I've gotta say -- it did keep me awake.
I liked the beat-up condition of the ship, and the Corporation being the villain, but beyond that I found the story predictable. The men of Nostromo couldn't've been more doomed if they'd had "dead meat" stenciled across their foreheads. I knew way ahead of time when each one was gonna get it -- I might even have been muttering, "this one's a goner" or supplying the screen characters with lines of my own like "oh, why don't I go alone into this dark place -- it should be easy to kill me there!"
I'm not saying I didn't jump with the rest of the audience when each pathetic sucker got the coup de grace from the rapidly evolving Alien. But that's shock, not suspense. And it's a very old formula, one that I believe goes back to the silents, the old haunted house where characters get separated and picked off one by one. Not inventive. Not surprising. Not involving.
The stomach-buster was kind of cool. It grossed me out, and I certainly remember it. But the one moment I found completely captivating was when they rip the bad guy's head off ... and he keeps talking. Now, THAT was spooky. The android doesn't care about dying... because he's not actually alive. Without missing a beat, he keeps telling 'em they're all doomed. And just for a second I had a flash, a vision, of a whole other, more fascinating movie.
Then poof! it went away again. To sum up: while the monster design was effective and original, and Sigourney strong and sexy, much else fell flat. I'm proud to hold the minority opinion, that this film is overrated in the extreme. I'd give it 2 1/2 stars out of five.
Except for having five endings where one was needed, Cameron and Hurd's ALIENS is stronger than Scott's ALIEN in every way. [Maybe they were given the franchise just to humiliate him?] I felt completely involved with Ripley and the little girl. Lance Henriksen's GOOD android (to make up for the first story's BAD one?) was sympathetic, too. Maybe this isn't a fair comparison. As others posting here have pointed out, ALIENS is a whole other genre -- more action/adventure than horror suspense.
I'd Compare ALIEN instead to John Carpenter's remake of THE THING. I prefer THE THING. And the 40's black & white CAT PEOPLE. And the original NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. And CARRIE. And, of course, every horror movie David Cronenberg ever made, even the one he made right out of college that must've cost 75 cents (THEY CAME FROM WITHIN). His films always make your mind bend while your skin crawls.
Not having seen ALIEN in twenty-three years, maybe I oughtta rent it and give it another chance. Then again, I still haven't caught all these great new filmmakers from Iran...