In space no one can hear you scream.

Rating: 8/10 (18 April 2010)

Ridley Scott's "Alien" can be counted among the most influential science fiction films of all time. Taking cues from earlier landmarks like "The Thing From Another World", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Star Wars", Scott created an atmospheric thriller capitalizing on the isolation of space. Thirty years and several sequels later the film remains impressive.
The story concerns a mining ship crew on their return to earth who investigate a possible S.O.S. on a remote planet. They stumble upon alien life forms and circumstances dictate bringing one aboard the ship. Little do they know that they've invited a highly dangerous extraterrestrial into their midst.
The cast is small but well-assembled. Sigourney Weaver gets most of the attention but there's also excellent work from John Hurt & Ian Holm. In fact, the entire cast is deserving of praise. I can honestly say that there's no weak link in this ensemble cast.
Scott's direction is impressive and often methodical while not allowing the film's pacing to suffer. The cinematography is routinely attractive and really shows off the excellent, Oscar-nominated art direction. The Oscar-winning special effects may be a bit rudimentary by today's standards but they're still convincing for the most part.
Musically, Jerry Goldsmith's score is generally effective but to me there's some material that just seems a bit out of place. This is perhaps unsurprising considering the fact that Goldsmith and the filmmakers didn't exactly see eye to eye. This is only a minor drawback, though.
Ultimately, "Alien" is an important science fiction film whose influence is still being felt today. Even non-science fiction fans should be able to appreciate the movie as a high concept thriller. The sequel ("Aliens") is also well worth watching, though it should be noted that it's more action-oriented than the first entry in the series.