“Well, it’s an interesting combination of elements making him… a tough little son-of-a-bitch.”

Overview: The crew of the Nostromo is returning from a trip to pick up some raw ore to be refined when they get a distress signal from a nearby planet. They’re approximately six weeks from home, and were all woken up by the ship’s onboard computer from Hypersleep in order to investigate this signal. The law requires that distress signals are always investigated. The crew touches down on the alien planet and investigates a crashed ship. Inside, they find some really bizarre things, and one of the crew members, Kane, gets separated from the group to investigate a downward tunnel — down there he finds an array of pods underneath a layer of mist. One of the pods pops open near him and… well… all hell breaks loose. This movie definitely preys on our fears of Parasites and more importantly, of the unknown.
Noteworthy Actors / Actresses: Sigourney Weaver (Ripley), John Hurt (Kane), Ian Holm (Ash), Tom Skerrit (Dallas)

Trivia / Homages: The graphics used on-screen for the undocking sequence were the same used in the movie Blade Runner. The inspiration for the chest-bursting parasite is from Spider Wasps, which gave the screenwriter nightmares. (Spider Wasps sting a spider to paralyze it, then lay eggs on the still-living spider. The larvae hatch out and consume the spider while it’s still alive). However, the “Alien” chestbursting phenomena is more accurately found in both the Ichneumon and Braconid insects, which lay their eggs inside of beetles and caterpillars, respectively. When the eggs hatch, the larvae eat their way from the inside out.
Verdict: This movie has an awesome balance of pacing and thrills. One thing I really like about this movie the most, and you don’t see this very often in modern films, was the lack of shots of the villain. Most of the thrilling and tension is created implicitly by an “unknown danger.” Most modern films have a tendency to use overly-gratuitous shots of the villain / anti-hero. Consider a modern movie like “Van Helsing” vs. a modern movie like “Signs” — In “Signs”, the villains (aliens) were rarely seen — and if you did see them it was just a glimpse. “Van Helsing” is a typical “creature feature” where the villains (various mythical baddies) are shown with flashy gratuitous footage showing off the amazing CGI they used for them. “Alien” is more like “Signs”. You see the actual adult Alien in a couple shots… but I bet you’d have a hard time drawing a sketch of exactly what it looked like after only watching the movie once. Understandably, the lack of footage was PROBABLY because of the lack of technology — but I think it works the film’s advantage. We are typically more scared of things we can’t see than the things we can.
Another thing that I liked about the movie was the technology. It’s high-tech, but not too high-tech. The characters are miners picking up raw ore to be refined, they aren’t Intergalactic Diplomats or Warriors or anything flashy. They’re the common man and woman from the future. The way the technology looks and feels it’s treated like an appliance — which is the surest sign of a technological assimilation.
This movie, and the sequel, are both awesome, and definitely worth watching.
From IMDB: (1979) When commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, heading back to Earth, intercepts an SoS signal from a nearby planet, the crew are under obligation to investigate. After a bad landing on the planet, some crew members leave the ship to explore the area. At the same time as they discover a hive colony of some unknown creature, the ship’s computer deciphers the message to be a warning, not a call for help. When one of the eggs is disturbed, the crew do not know the danger they are in until it is too late.

Categories: Movies & the IMDB 250