We live as we dream, alone

Rating: 8/10 (30 July 2005)

*** SPOILERS ****
As in the original novel by Joseph Conrad ("NOSTROMO"), this classic movie illustrates the consequences of corporate greed in which human lives are of no consequence. This premise nor the story are very original, however the execution is almost perfect.
We start by seeing the ship "Nostromo" gliding through the cosmos, comfortable and steady. Later we'll see that image back and could be forgiven to think of it as an iron coffin. Hard, rectangular and final.
When we switch to the view inside the ship, the movie scores it's first major point. Gone are the metallic and plastic oddities from earlier sf-movies. Instead, we get a realistic or at least believable interior. The bridge looks like the cockpit from a large airliner with multiple seats, the corridors like the interior of a ultra-modern hospital. All of it has been used, there's nothing alien or 'plastic' about it.
All of this makes that the outstanding out-worldly design of the alien ship by H. R. Geiger is even more imposing. Circular and without a clear definition of what place is what. Even with the extra guest, you could imagine Dallas and Lambert being relieved to be back "home" after their disastrous visit.
The second point on which this movie scores is the characters. There's no search for one-liners here and everyone (even Ripley) has its minor faults. Everybody just does his/her job. They don't get too personal, they're at work, not at home. And yet all characters tell us something about the world outside of the "Nostromo". The news isn't that good. Not much has changed and reading between the lines you can hear each characters point of view.
As with the environment, the characters seem very natural and quite complex (except for the somewhat enthusiastic Kane), but this is understandable. To go into detail on all of them would take up a couple of pages. When one of them dies, it's not just a pawn that's been taken away, but a human being. The relations between the remaining members change.
Compared with later movies violence and gore aren't predominant in this movie. Instead there's fear. The alien is unknown, it behaves like nothing we know and it could strike wherever and whenever. And the director uses all the tricks he knows to keep the tension up. Just a few examples :
Brett taking the skin and realizing what he's holding. Dallas'crawl through the vent-duct. The countdown, copied a hundred times, never done better (I've never heard someone curse more convincingly than Ripley in the smoke-filled corridor) And my favorite : Ripley searching for the obligatory cat in the cockpit. In that scene, everything, even the music wants to fool you. I think Hitchcock would be pleased.
On top of all this, the cast without any exception (a rare occasion) do sterling work. To single out any of them would be wrong.
Do I still need to say I like this movie ? Thought not. I gave it 8 for being a true classic in it's field.