The eye of an artist,not that of an accountant.

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2006)

Ridley Scott has made two good films,"Alien" and "Blade Runner". Both concern themselves with men and women functioning in an artificial environment,an arena of perpetual darkness where the only light is that created by machinery.In both the challenge to the survival of the main character comes from "otherness".Of the two,"Alien" is the more likely to be regarded by future generations as a work of lasting merit. Constrained by a comparatively small budget,Mr Scott pushed his and his cast and crew's creativity and ingenuity to the limits.Miss Sigourney Weaver seized the opportunity the part of Lt. Ripley provided her to become a beacon for the empowerment of women. The special effects,although small - scale compared to the likes of "Star Wars",are beautifully realised and genuinely shocking. "Alien" is a haunted house movie set in deep space,Mr Scott's achievement is in spinning that familiar theme to the extent where its very familiarity is hidden by his smoke and mirrors. Mr.James Cameron's "Aliens" is flashier,noisier and more populist,but it is the work of an artisan rather than an artist.You get more bang for your buck but it's movie making by numbers. In "Alien" Mr Scott's vision comes to fruition in relative austerity, but it remains his vision and not that of a committee,it is a movie made with the eye of an artist,not that of an accountant.