A piece of art

Rating: 10/10 (5 November 2000)

Alien was probably the first really great film that I ever saw. The first time it freaked me out pretty good, but afterwards I knew what an awesome movie it had been. A great blend of science fiction [which I personally dislike] and horror. I taped it off of cable many years later and I realized I had forgotten how good of a movie it was. Let's dissect it, shall we?
Story: Simple, but with a good plot twist and nice resolution. It moves slowly, but it wouldn't have been as good if it moved any faster. I found the end chase scene to be kinda contrieved with Ripley going back to get the damn cat...but oh well...the first hour built up the characters and the tension until the Alien literally burst from Kain's chest and slithered into the dark. Then the Alien would systematically hunt down the crew until one was left...like a slasher film, only better. The ending, while flawed, was very tense with the death almost lurking around every corner until the final confrontation. It essentially uses the first hour to establish the characters, the story, and mood...the second hour is when all hell breaks loose. Slow by today's standards, but it works well.
Direction: Ridley Scott truly turned what could've been a bad move into a piece of absolute art...well except for Ripley going back to get that damn cat! But seriously, the atmosphere is what makes this movie as well as the direction. We never fully see the Alien, which stops it from becoming another cheese-fest with a guy in a suit popping out..Scott truly made one of the most tense movies ever,simply due to the atmosphere, the setting, and some slow direction....speaking of which...
Setting: The idea of chains hanging from everywhere around would make it into all the following Alien films and it works quite well here. The fact that the Alien blends into the dark side parts of the ship make it all the better.
Characters: Well acted and diverse characters all around and an Alien beast. Nuff said.
My last thoughts: I think the best movies are the ones with lots of emotion. In this movie, the emotions happen to be absolute fear and paranoia. The next two sequels were movies I enjoyed a bit more than the original, but all the Alien movies were different because they were made by four different film makers with four different styles and four different stories to tell. Other franchises should take a hint from the Alien series...3 out of 4 were excellent films [with Resurrection being weak compared to the others]...
All in all, if you have two hours to blow and you want to see a good movie that keeps your eyes glued to the scene and doesn't have a loud explosion every two minutes or doesn't have an sensitive back story, this is for you. A must see.