"Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility"

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2010)

I was recently fortunate enough to experience 'Alien (1979)' at the cinema, and now it's become one of my favourite science-fiction films. That Ridley Scott was partly influenced by Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)' is a given. When the Nostromo crew members are exploring the unknown planet in their spacesuits, Scott frames the action so that their space helmets claustrophobically crowd his hand-held camera; in this way, as in the Moon-walk in '2001,' the audience imagines themselves walking alongside these figures. It's this evocation of setting that most impressed me about 'Alien.' Despite a relatively modest budget compared to its sequels, the film does an incredible job of genuinely placing the viewer inside its manufactured reality. For this reason, I may be in the minority in declaring my greatest admiration for Scott's opening act, in which the titular Alien scarcely makes an appearance.
Though the excessive parade of sequels and spin-offs has potentially dampened its impact, the Alien body design by H.R. Giger remains unforgettable. The organism's arachnid-like appendages and movements are given life – and even an astonishing sort of beauty – by the tall, slender frame of Nigerian-born Bolaji Badejo, who portrayed the Alien in most scenes. Additionally, what separates 'Alien' from most inferior "monster movies" is a legitimate affection for its own monster. In one scene, the Nostromo's science officer Ash (Ian Holm) confesses an admiration for the creature's evolutionary purity, an instinct for survival "unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality." From this perspective, it's very difficult to hate the Alien. Indeed, in the film's climax, when Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) blasts the organism into open space, I even felt an unmistakable pang of regret.