So close to perfection

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2010)

To be honest, I do not know why I did not put 10 out of 10 for this title; knowing that perfection is like a myth, it is not supposed to exist. Still, "Alien" is one of the most famous movie that was ever made; this even applies today, in the twenty-first century, while, as we know, it belongs to the twentieth century. Indeed, with all these references in TV series, comics, shows, movies, music etc., it is impossible that you miss that one, especially when you like science-fiction (more than horror - you clearly see that the Alien is a puppet (it was not gonna be a real one dude!), and this, surely thanks to advantage of hindsight, curtails the overall ''horror'' aspect of the movie; to my mind, only a few elements in this movie are scary actually.)
The screenplay is simply astonishing, the action is yet quite slow, fortunately, and the visual is aging, but the overall effect is that it brings suspense rather than impatience. Sigourney Weaver, who embodies the young Ripley, is very convincing in the way she acts and reacts, and, unlike nowadays' movies, you cannot tell from the beginning who is going to survive and who is not. Even when you have seen AVP first (I was born in 1991 so that it was impossible for me to see Alien when it came out!), you have the impression to watch a different franchise that you are pleased to discover again and again. No, this movie is far from being boring, this movie is in fact a vintage and I hope that it will remain so, at least until the end of the world (2012 ? oops, that's another story...)
Believe me or not, when watching this film, I understood what the "seventh art" really was. There is little horror in this title, and do not come to the idea that Alien the first has something to do with the 2007 AVPR, in simple words, I see no relation between the two. If you do not know any of the Alien franchise yet, jump the shark and go buy the complete collection, it is cheap and you are sure to spend couples of hours watching one of the best movie ever made. Of course, you will have to forgive the lack of FXs... Obviously, the story is so good and the plot so immersive that you will not take heed of such a lack. Try it!