Alien (1979) Review

Synopsis

In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside an egg leaps out and attaches itself to one of the crew, causing him to fall into a coma.

Release date: May 25, 1979

Director: Ridley Scott

Screenplay: Dan O’Bannon

Budget: 11 million USD

My Review

Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) will have you sitting in suspense throughout the entire film. The pacing of this movie plays with the audience’s mind and mental state in a way that you won’t want to look away from the screen for a single moment. The beginning of the film takes its sweet time establishing the characters and setting before introducing conflict.

Unlike many modern-day horror and sci-fi movies, this film has a strong buildup that leads to an intense climax and resolution. In well-established suspense films, it is the waiting and the build up that excited the viewer and draws them into the movie. While this film isn’t full of intense jump scares in every scene, it’s the anticipation and the build-up that will have you sitting in anticipation. This film is far from predictable, and by creating an alien that changes and adapts the audience never knows what to expect.

Alien was masterly cast, and the actors did an incredible job of stepping into their roles and feeding off of each other’s energy. Sigourney Weaver’s performance is both memorable and captivating. She completely steps into her role and brings her character to life. Because of the established set-up of the film, each character is well developed and the audience is made well-aware of their character traits.

Overall, this film has aged well through time and I highly recommend giving it a watch!

My Rating

4.5/5

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Listen to Lucas Harger’s full podcast with Film Riot Here

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Read Mimi Leder’s full podcast with The Directors Cut Here

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Listen to Arron Schneider’s full podcast with Film Riot Here

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Listen to John Badham’s full podcast with Film Riot Here

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“One of the great things about being a director as a life choice is that it can never be mastered. Every story is its own expedition, with its own set of challenges.”

-Ron Howard

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Listen to the Directors Guild Podcast The Craft of The Director with Ron Howard Part 1 (Ep. 258) here.