"What's the story Mother?"

Rating: 9/10 (28 January 2009)

For me, "Alien" was one of the seminal films of the Seventies that had a way of reinventing a genre, much in the way "Star Wars" did for sci-fi fantasy or "The Exorcist" did for horror. Sci-fi horror was treated to something new and different here, with scenes and concepts that were truly unique that hadn't been done before. I still think back to the time I saw the picture during it's original theatrical release, and marvel at the idea of the chest-burster for example. And I can't tell you how much the scene with Ash (Ian Holm) that revealed his robotic form blew me completely away; it was almost too difficult to concentrate on the rest of the story. Then there was the title character itself, a creature assuming horrific proportions through the same process of metamorphosis that transforms caterpillars into butterflies, but here done with complete disregard for the norms of natural evolutionary process.
What's striking in watching the film today is how both timely and timeless it is. Timely in that as a product of the Seventies, the set design seems almost minimalist, to the degree that sci-fi films of the 1940's and '50's were dated to reflect the technology of those periods. Timeless however in the constructs that work to achieve their intended effect in the mind of the viewer, a fear of the unknown and a fascination with fantastical creatures that have a right to exist only in our imagination. Something as simple as Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) picking up the reptilian shed skin of the chest burster claws away at one's mind, forcing the viewer to consider what might be in store for the survivors of this mission.
Speaking of which, I haven't seen any comments on the role of the spaceship on this board. There was a point in the movie when it began to emerge that the Nostromo itself became a hostile entity to the crew. 'Mother' herself appeared to have, in the words of many a 'Star Trek' episode, a prime directive of it's own, that of investigating and securing alien life forms. Was there a more chilling moment in the story than the words Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) read as Mother's response to her question about the nature of of Nostromo's programming? - "Crew Expendable".
So it's thirty years since the release of "Alien", and the film is just as fascinating to watch today as it was that long ago. Granted, some of the early going is a bit slow in the delivery, but as a set up to what follows it's a wait that's made worthwhile for the suspense that builds and reaches a crescendo in the second half. I'll take this one head and shoulders over any number of present day efforts that attempt to dazzle the audience with over the top action and mind blowing special effects, each successive effort attempting to outdo the one that came before. With "Alien" you have the real deal, a story and a creation that stands the test of time to emerge as an icon of popular movie and cultural entertainment.