At the Edge of Space, and at the Edge of your Seat

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2015)

Space isn't all lasers and light swords but rather a dangerous unforgiving place. Throw in the mystery of space, a spectacle of Sci-fi technology, and deadly chest-bursting creatures; and you have the Ridley Scott film.
The film is a unique sub-genre of a (soft) science fiction- a thriller. Just like any thriller the story allows you to get used to the characters and get you on their side before hell breaks loose. Now Ripley, played by the talented Sigourney Weaver, being impressive and funny as the Nostromo's executive officer who manages to act tough, efficient and sexy all at the same time. This extremely likable character is the main driving force behind your sub- conscious feeling of wanting to see this person survive.
The world that we are introduced to in Alien is in a time far into the future where space exploration is a norm. There's cryo-sleep capsules, advanced suits that allow you to survive in the vacuum of space.
The movie is short which is perfect for this science fiction-thriller, a thriller going on for more than two and a half hours gets old quickly. The amount of momentum the movie has from start to finish is quite impressive in Ridley Scott's dark take on space exploration. You get a sense of progress and increase of momentum as you see the evolutions of the 'alien', and the build up of fear from the crew from being trapped on a ship with this deadly being. As the story progresses the crew is picked off one by one just as thrillers go, but good 'ol Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) keeps the rest of the crew going just off of pure grit and tenacity. Add in killer androids, the deadly vacuum of space, and near impossible scientific situations-you get the formula for a great Sci-fi thriller film.
This movie was the one of the starts to thriller Sci-Fi's, there were already films made that had these themes-but this film definitely popularized this specific genre. It gave us intense situation and different outcomes of what can happen in the dark vacuum of space, giving us fear of the great beyond, and many movies after followed in the same concepts: Interstellar (2014), and Gravity (2013).