Good, but not as good as the sequel...

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 2003)

...for most cases I have trouble saying that the sequel is better than the original because the original is the reason that the sequel was made, but "Alien" just isn't as suspenseful as "Aliens". The story focuses on Lt. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the crew of her ship, the Nostromo, battling an unusual alien which is lost on board. The rest of the crew consists of captain Dallas (Tom Skerrit), sinister scientist Ash (Ian Holm), Kane (John Hurt), Parker (Yaphet Kotto), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton).
The main problem with "Alien" is that there are just too few characters to create an intense, hostile atmosphere - like the sequel. Dallas is a conceited annoying hack and Ripley is a whiner. Also, Kane is killed off too early and Lambert and Brett are just...boring. Although, Holm plays Ash wonderfully, and same goes for Kotto as the careless Parker.
Of course, I would have to consider that the film was made in 1979, and from a technical aspect, it's perfect. The alien costume looks incredibly realistic - even better than some of the CGI we see in movies today. And there are some suspenseful scenes, including Dallas' searching for the alien in an air duct and Ripley's climactic battle with the alien.
Don't get me wrong, "Alien" doesn't disappoint, but it lacks in hard suspense, 8/10.