Goddamned company! What about our lives you son of a ....

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2000)

Along with Blade Runner, Alien marks the career highpoint of Ridley Scott, who in these two films manages to provide enough depth and character to match his visual splendour, unlike efforts such as Legend and Black Rain, which although looking brilliant, are relatively hollow films. Initially this may seem like a simple horror with its crew of a mining vessel being eliminated one by one by a cold-blooded alien, and structurally it follows a lot of the same plot events (walking around in the dark, false endings). What should be noted is that the cheap imitations that have followed (some good such as Predator, some bad such as The Relic), as well as the much more intense sequel Aliens have undermined the much more subtle terrors of the original. It has to be said that as terrific as Aliens is, it is a far more accessible and immediate film than Alien. This is not necessarily a bad thing, its just that this does not do Alien many favours, especially for those who may have seen Aliens first and hoped for an original of equal intensity. The truth is is that Alien is just as intense, but in different ways. Whilst Aliens form of terror puts you in the middle of a full-scale war, Alien prefers to leave you lost in a maze-like house with a monster chasing after you.
Like Blade Runner, Alien should be watched alone, and with full concentration paid to it. The rewards are many: predictably, it looks absolutely brilliant, with atmospheric, stunning use of lighting (see Captain Dallas' descent into the vents to catch the alien). The music by Jerry Goldsmith is truly sinister and haunting, lending more drama and suspense to the proceedings. The acting is the most involved and believable of all of the Alien films, thanks to a very good script, though Sigourney Weaver's Ripley, whilst still a great performance, doesn't really develop truly until the sequel.
All this adds up to a masterpiece of tension and technical excellence, as well as character and story pace. Credit to James Cameron for taking the sequel to a different level and not attempting a re-run of the original because in its field, Alien is peerless.