Normal People In Insane Situations

Rating: Null/10 (28 August 2001)

As fast as George Lucas made space seem fun and exciting, Alien made it hostile and claustrophobic. No one knew that birds could be our arch enemies until Hitchcock. No one believed of a 25 foot White Shark prowling your coast until Spielberg. And no one knew how terrifying space could be until Ridley Scott and H.R. Giger showed us the "Alien." One thing that makes this movie seem so real is the characters, who seem like you and me. For instance, the first conversation in the movie is a discussion over contracts and fair shares of money. Unlike Alien's many ripoffs, these aren't gung-ho space cowboys; they are normal people that just want to be paid and go home. This is what makes you care when they die. *Spoilers Ahead* One ingenius thing I think Scott did with this movie is the body count. All but one character is killed off. Obviously, people are gonna die in a movie like this, but after awhile people start to think "uh...wait a minute. That's a bit much, how many are left now?" And when Ripley is left alone, you too, feel alone in the Nostromo, which makes it seem so scary. The alien design itself is amazing, and makes the movie work. You can't be that dramatic in showing the alien little by little unless you have an alien that is so unique that it is actually worth waiting till the end to see it. H.R. Giger has quite an imagination. The special effects, although maybe not as flashy as, say, Star Wars, are effective and amazing. Sigourney Weaver gives a very good performance as does the rest of the cast, more specifically Yaphett Koto and whoever played Ash. James Cameron's sequel "Aliens" most definitly equals this movie, and is surprisingly inventive for a sequel, but the original is the one that started it all. I highly reccomend seeing the entire trilogy (yes the trilogy) and leave "Ressurection" alone (I covered that more in my review of Ressurection). I give this a 8/10 for inventiveness, darkness, and suspense.