One of Ridley Scott's greatest achievements

Rating: 9/10 (5 July 2000)

I liked many things about this film that make it unique from the others, and contribute to the tension in the atmosphere. Firstly, the miniscule cast. It consisted of nine people, including the alien and the cat (not really a person), whom we really get to know and relate to. The characters are well developed, the acting fine. Next, the claustrophobic and tense atmosphere. Everything that goes on is in the same ship, making for (almost) no escape, hence the claustrophobic effect. When some of the crew check out the alien ship, the atmosphere is very tense as we don't know what will happen next. Next, the way it didn't feel staged in any way. It felt REAL, which was the whole point. The conversations weren't just one person talking at a time, rather several at once. This contributes to the realistic ambience making it generally more terrifying.
It has to be said, the alien has to be one of the most intimidating ever designed, with it's double mouth etc. I'd be scared out of my wits if I came into contact with something such as that! The excellent camerawork was a brilliant contribution to the chaotic feeling surrounding the events, it that it was very rough and raw, making us feel like we're there and that this is no simple studio production (it almost feels documentary-esque). One final thing would be to mention Jerry Goldsmith's amazing score for the film. It was a completely new genre of score, unorthodox in every sense, dark, haunting, chilling, you think of it it draws it out from you. Definitely not an action score. The imagination in this film is overwhelming, for example, the android, the alien (obviously), the conspiracy (is that a spoiler?), the ship, the hypersleep, EVERYTHING!!. That's what makes this film so great. It is the pioneer of its genre, and as such is is unparalleled by anything else. As a butter advert on the TV once said: "Often copied, but never equalled"