Suddenly became tied with "The Thing" as my fave sci-fi/horror!

Rating: 10/10 (16 December 2014)

As a younger kid, it was ALIENS rather than ALIEN, and though I still love Cameron's ALIENS and its balls to the wall constant action and acid-shed, I have very recently come to love the subtle power that is the first ALIEN. I must first say that much of this adoration comes from the beautifully sinister score by Mr. Goldsmith, and, as I very recently learned, a piece from "Romance" by Howard Hanson. This became Ripley's theme of defeating the Alien at the end of the film. But I also love Sigourney Weaver, who will always be Ripley. If they dare to remake this film, I won't go see it. We need to learn to quit "needing" to remake everything and accept the classics as they are, products of their time. I am sick to death of CGI.
This film is a real classic, directed by the innovative Ridley Scott, and its cast includes Tom Skerrit as the temperamental and not-so- sensible Capt. Dallas, John Hurt as the tragic Kane, Veronica Cartwright as yes, the weepy but understandably terrified Lambert, Harry Dean Stanton as Brett, a mechanic of few words, Ian Holm as Ash, the science officer, the incomparable Yaphet Kotto as Parker, who was somewhat of a comic relief for a while here, and then went on to an amazing dramatic career, and last but not least, Jonesy (I'm a cat lover, OK?)
The story is simple...a space "towtruck" called the Nostromo is "lured" by a signal to a small planet to investigate. They wouldn't bother. They are only a commercial civilian vessel after all, but their employers have ordered them to investigate via "Mother" their ship's computer. You know the rest, or if you don't, you need to watch this peerless film. Then follow it up with ALIENS. After, you could check out the impeccably acted but disappointing ALIEN 3 (mainly due to the fact that they killed off Michael Biehn! Rackin Frackin critters at 20th Century Fox!!!), and if you have an hour or so to waste, ALIEN: RESURRECTION.