Alien (1979)

***Alien, the eighth passenger*** (*Alien*) is a horror and science fiction film released in 1979, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt and Ian Holm. It is considered one of the greatest successes of the horror genre and one of director Ridley Scott's masterpieces. It has had three sequels, released in 1986, 1992, and 1997, and two prequels released in 2012 and 2017.

The special effects of the tape were in charge of a great team of teachers in this category. The alien, the creature that stalks the protagonists, was the work of Swiss cartoonist Hans Rudi Giger, who was inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The space suits were created by the famous comic book artist Jean Giraud "Moebius", also with the participation of the visual effects artist Carlo Rambaldi who years later would design the character of E.T.
It was awarded the Academy Award for its Visual Effects.

## Synopsis

Back on Earth, the cargo ship *Nostromo* interrupts its journey and awakens its seven crew members. Mother, the central computer, has picked up an alien transmission from a nearby planet. The ship then heads to the strange planet to investigate the origin of the transmission.

## Alien (1979)

### Year

1979

In 2003, Fox was planning to release the DVD box set *The Alien Quadrilogy,* which would include all four films from the Alien series. Additionally, it would contain alternative versions of each of the films in the form of "special editions" and "director's cuts". Fox suggested to Scott that he remaster and restore certain shots that had been cut from the final version of Alien, for the release of an extended version of the film. After seeing the finished edit, he thought it was too long and decided it was better to cut it down to a shorter version.

The director's cut contained an extra four minutes of outtakes, but to fit them into the original tape another five minutes had to be cut, making the film one minute shorter than the original version. Many changes turned out to be minor, like some tweaks to the sound effects, while some previously unseen scenes, like the one where Ripley meets the assholes Dallas and Brett while escaping from the Nostromo, were digitally fixed. Fox decided to release it in theaters, and it debuted on October 31, 2003. The Alien Quadrilogy compilation went on sale on December 2 of the same year, with both versions of the film.

The additional new scenes were dubbed in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

## Information of interest

### Technical data

* There are three versions of the film, the original theatrical version, the television version and the director's cut. Only the first and third feature dubbing. Although the dubbing of the extended version is a partial dubbing, since the original film dubbing was taken up and adapted to said version.
* For the extended version, the original dubbing was taken up, adapting it to the new cut, and the additional scenes were dubbed in Cuernavaca with a new cast.

### About adaptation

* For the remastering, some cuts were made in the dub to mix it with the new international band. This caused some errors that did not happen in the original mix. For example: in the scene where the alien comes out of Kane's chest, Lambert's English dialogue can be heard alongside the Spanish dialogues.
* In the original version Antonio Raxel is heard saying the cast and the title of the film *The Eighth Passenger*, while in the 2003 version the cast is not mentioned and a voiceover mentions the title *Alien.*
* In the original English version before Ripley expels the Alien from the capsule she sings *You are my lucky star¨¨¨*, in the dub of the 1979 version this melody is removed and replaced by dialogue ***¨I have to destroy you¨'**, in the 2003 version, this song is included in its dubbing.*

## See also

* Alien (franchise)
* Prometheus
* Alien: Covenant
* Aliens
* Alien 3
* Alien: Resurrection
* Alien vs Predator
* Alien vs. predator 2