Alien

Rating: 10/10 (9 March 2005)

Director Sir Ridley Scott here creates one of the best science-fiction films ever made, with some horror, action and thriller moments thrown in. Basically, the commercial towing vehicle, Nostromo, is heading back to Earth, when they receive an SOS signal from a nearby planet, and they are under obligation to investigate. They have a bad landing, but three of the crew members, Dallas (Tom Skeritt), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) and Kane (BAFTA nominated John Hurt) leave the ship to investigate. There they discover a hive colony of unknown creatures, the computer message was not an SOS, it was a warning. One of the eggs is disturbed, and a parasite (face hugger) attacks and attaches itself to Kane's face. Dallas and Ash (Sir Ian Holm) do try to get it off, but its defense mechanism of acid for blood and the possibility of killing Kane (because it is feeding him oxygen) stops them. Soon though, he seems fine and this creature has detached and died. The pinnacle scene is where all the crew have dinner, and Kane starts coughing and struggling in pain, till his stomach suddenly gushes blood, and the alien (or Xenomorph) is born (looking pretty phallic). It grows very quickly, and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) is first to be attacked by the big, double-mouthed, acid dribbling alien. The crew plan to kill the creature and escape in the shuttle, and one by one die trying to find it. Ash also grossly reveals himself to be a android with the "special order" to bring this alien to Earth for scientific discovery. Eventually the other crew members, Lambert and Parker (Yaphet Kotto) are killed, till the commanding officer, Ripley (BAFTA nominated Sigoureny Weaver) (who grew a bigger character as everyone else died) is the lone survivor, along with cat Jones, and sets the Nostromo to self destruct and escapes in the shuttle. The alien was not destroyed though, but eventually she gets it out of the blast door, sucked into outer space, and blasted by the shuttle rockets. She concludes by making a report of the situation, with hope she will be picked up by the company, and she and Jones go into the pod for hibernation. I have also seen the 2003 Director's Cut version, but the only real major change is seeing Dallas cocooned, and a few chats, and many interesting scenes and moments cut out, I think the original version is much more interesting and essential. It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and it was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, it won the BAFTAs for Best Production Design and Best Sound Track, and it was nominated for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for Jerry Goldsmith, Best Costume Design and Best Editing, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Score. Sigourney Weaver was number 20 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, John Hurt was number 27 on The 100 Greatest British Actors, Ellen Ripley was number 8 (Hero) and The Alien number 14 (Villain) on 100 Years, 100 Heroes and Villains, the film was number 6 on 100 Years, 100 Thrills, it was number 4 on The 100 Greatest Scary Moments, it was number 11 on Film 4's 50 Films To See Before You Die, and it was number 36 on The 100 Greatest Films. Outstanding!