Legendary Sci-Fi Thriller

Rating: 8/10 (1 April 2005)

OK, who hasn't seen "Alien"? I believe that nearly everybody belonging to the age group of 30 - 50 (like me), have the shocking scene of the "chestbuster" alien coming out of the poor crewman's belly forever imprinted in their minds... "Alien" was a pioneer and trend-setter in the sci-fi thriller/horror genre, and it manages to stay that way despite 25 years of age and numerous sequels and similar films.
In "Alien", we watch the crew of spaceship Nostromo, who are on their way to Earth, eager to go to their homes, and get their pay and stock bonuses by their employing firm. However, Mother, the ship's computer, detects an SOS signal, and diverts their course completely to get them to the planet where the signal originates from; the crew has been on a hibernation-type of sleep, and wakes up completely unaware of this diversion. Grudgingly, Dallas (Skerrit), the ship's captain, with two crew members, go on an S & R mission so as to get this over with as soon as possible and leave. However, a mysterious creature (the "alien") attacks one of them, hugging his face with its long, disgusting tentacles, and the trio rushes back to the ship in panic. Second-in-Command officer Ripley (Weaver) refuses to let them inside the main part of the ship, for quarantine purposes, but the science officer Ash (Holm) disobeys her. Things go downhill from there, as Ripley's fears about the danger prove to be well-founded, and the alien brings total havoc to the ship and crew...
This is the film that made Sigourney Weaver famous, and it is true that she delivers a very good performance as heroic Ripley. Yet, I believe that there other performances are equal or even superior than hers, as for example Ian Holm's as the cold and mysterious science officer.
Ridley Scott's direction is very good, with lots of impressive effects (for the 70's standards, at least). He keeps his audience on a non-stop fright journey, without letting the adrenaline down for a minute. Contrary to "Alien 2" (I haven't seen the rest of the series) which is more of an action/adventure than of a horror/thriller film, "Alien" is definitely a typical representative of the latter category. 8/10.