A Landmark of Science Fiction on Film

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2009)

(very small spoiler present - but nothing worth worrying about for prospective first time viewers).
Alien is a film which dictated the true meaning of Science Fiction on Film, paving the way for many films which have followed from the day it was put to tape.
The Sets in the film were, and still are, the BEST sets I have EVER seen in a film. Millions were spent on those sets to give you the feel of the different environments within the Nostromo, Alien Planet, and the Alien Ship. This was done to make SURE that they were all completely unique from each other, futuristic - AS WELL as completely different to anything previously seen. Even without CGI, this film looks futuristic & unsurpassed even by a nowaday definition, if this film were made in the modern day CGI it would no doubt be crap - much like every other film done purely with CGI...all the lighting would no doubt be off, all the shadows, all the thuds of person to set interaction wouldn't play out on camera as well - all of which making THIS film tense & eerie to watch, given the intention.
Ridley Scott's influence on the script in the films production is astounding in that regard, with him not only orchestrating the storyboards, but also the construction through to the finished sets to make them the masterpieces that they were. Ridleys used exemplary lighting & camera techniques in order to build tension at the right moments, which made this film the masterpiece that it was to watch...you will usually know when a tense moment is about to happen for example whenever you see strobe lighting in the dark, or hear a heart beating in the background of the soundtrack via Jerry Goldsmith, etc etc...ALL expertly done.
Many people ask me if I thought 'Aliens' was better than the original 'Alien'...and this is my answer:
I DO think the 'Aliens' sequel had a tighter story than the original. The first one seemed to have a 'one track' direction once the crew started getting killed off, whereas the second had more substance with the individual characters in my opinion. Aliens also had the 'ticking clock' factor constantly present - pretty much after the marines get ambushed right at the start, giving the film more pace & direction, and keeping us on the edges of our seats when watching for the first time. There were also more 'jumpy' scenes in the sequel, which in some regards, the first one lacked which allowed attention to drift at points.

That said however, it MUST be pointed out that the first film DID pave the way for the second in many ways, the sets as well as the entire look and feel (not to mention the soundtrack) surpassed Aliens without doubt, and without Ridley's camera work in the original - Cameron would of been NOWHERE with his camera work in the second. The same can also be said of the script and screenplay from the original writers, not to mention HR Giger's original artwork!!! without their ideas and groundwork Cameron simply wouldn't of had a hope of making a film which some (not all) consider to be as good as this one. In truth, on all of those merits compared, their about the same...in my opinion however Alien grabs it (JUST) simply because it was done in all with originality, and borrowed NOTHING from ANYONE!

Conclusion:
Alien 9/10 Aliens 8.5/10 (p.s. Alien 3 is barely worth watching, and everything after that is SHITE! thats free advice)