The Penultimate Classic Space Horror Movie

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2016)

This is the one that set the bar very high for those movies to follow...
After so many years, Alien grabs you right from the beginning. Casting was superb, special effects were way out there perfect, and the story simply could not be improved upon...
The space commercial tug Nostromo, on it's way back from a stint of "mineral mining" operations, is tasked by the "company" to investigate a strange alien signal sent out from a planet not far from the tugs course. The crew is comprised of a Captain, First officer, two interestingly rebellious engineers, a planetary engineer, and a strange crew member who apparently is the ships medical Doctor, but later turns out to be a sinister company android.
I won't go through the whole screenplay, but this movie was written with the twists and turns of Twilight Zone in mind, it is that good...
One thing that amazed me over the years is the incredible detail put forth in the models of both the tug Nostromo, and the complete mining and processing platform it is towing. The exterior and interior shots of the space tug is quite simply "believable". It looks like a completely utilitarian workhorse, as it should. You could literally close your eyes and imagine being a crew member in the far future...
Alien is the mark that all space operas must live up to now...