Alien

It’s often daunting to come to a classic film and try to explain why it works so well. Obvious elements spring to mind - the peerless design work, both of the central creature and the sets themselves; the beautifully haunting score; the creation of one of the greatest female action heroes; the perfect pace of the film (slightly spoilt by the Director’s Cut, but the original edit still shines); the “birth” of the creature that may have lost its ability to surprise over time, but still horrifies largely down to the performances that sell this moment so well; the masterful build-up of tension as each character confronts their fate. But, more importantly, this is simply a story that is well told and a reminder of how powerful an experience film can be when all the elements come together so perfectly. Is it any wonder that Alien has been oft-imitated, parodied and copied, but rarely bettered, if at all?

This is still such a masterpiece, hands down!

It is a truly brilliant piece of cinema. By todays standard, you may consider it tame, but if you are old enough or have watched enough films to understand it from the perspective of when it was made, it is the best definition of sci-fi horror you can find. Lots of similar angles of shots and perspectives from this were used in Event Horizon if you watch them both enough, many movies owe their existence to this classic.

I forgot just how good this is, it's pretty much perfect. The world building, the production design, the monster, and the acting are all top notch.

"Alien" is an excellent, smart and scary film. The dark and cold atmosphere created by director Ridley Scott sets up a sense of isolation and danger. One of the best scenes occurs when three of the crew members board a strange ship and find the fossilized remains of the craft's pilot, a giant, who is still frozen in time in his seat after being a host for the alien spawn. This scene alone demonstrates the wonders of great science fiction film making that is almost always forgotten or ignored in today's Sci-Fi.

After watching this for the first time in years, I realized that there is surprisingly little screen time for the alien itself. But it really doesn't matter because the director does a great job of building suspense and trusting that the viewer will use his imagination. This is really the coolest looking alien of any in the series other than the "Queen" alien of James Cameron's "Aliens" feature. The effects used to create the android Ash are amazing for the time, also. Especially in a scene where he is beaten by Parker. The way that Ash's head is dangling from his shoulders is truly demented fun.

This is a total "must see" for any science fiction or horror buff.

My favourite a true masterpiece if you say otherwise I'll slap you in the mouth. 👋

**The Good**:

+ **Ridley Scott's** science fiction horror classic has a gritty visual style that still holds up greatly today.
+ Focus on creeping horror and building suspense, rather than endless action (watch and learn, **James Cameron**!).
+ Claustrophobic, dark and timeless sets and beautiful production design
+ An amazing cast lead by **John Hurt**, **Tom Skerritt**, **Ian Holm** and **Sigourney Weaver**.
+ Despite being in the shadows for large parts of the film, Weaver's Ripley is the primary protagonist of the feature - and an unusually strong female character for the time.
+ The simple story is perfected with flawless performances, strong direction and stunning visuals.
+ Clearly draws inspiration from _Star Wars_, released two years prior, but does it well.
+ The tense editing and atmospheric music make the film feel like a **Hitchcock** movie in space.
+ Still amazing how realistic the Xenomorph looks 40 years later.
+ Scott shows the alien very sparingly, maintaining the mystery for most of the film.

**The Bad**:
I am not even going to try. This is pretty much a masterpiece and I cannot find any flaws with it.

**Verdict**:
The science fiction classic is an expertly crafted horror tale and a movie you just cannot skip!

Alien is a film that oozes with ambition and somehow in equal measure confidence. The world is so lived in, not just with the immaculate set of rust and practicality, but in its worldbuilding. The characters know this world, so they don't stop to dump exposition about it. We learn what we need to, and it allows us to focus on the things that matter. Like Ripley, revealing she was the hero all along because of how she balances her heart and her head. Weaver displays both wonderfully. There's Lambert's hidden heart of gold, with Kotto radiating charisma. There's Ash, masterfully portrayed in all his deceptive layers by Ian Holm.

And most of all, of course, is the alien and the fear it brings. A predator hunting prey, the costume looks fantastic, and all the better for how the lighting and angles obscure it until the right moments. The alien and Ash portray two opposite spectrums of horror. The alien being this primal natural animalistic thing that will use you for its circle of life without a thought or care because it’s an animal. And Ash is this highly unnatural construct that is just as unfeeling and will use you for its own means, but it’s not even survival or instinct, it’s greed and obedience. The chestburster scene is iconic for good reason, a surprise disruption of a casual scene thought to be safe. But I found Ash's reveal and his decapitation almost as unnerving, and his insides are portrayed as just inhuman as the alien's is. The parallel between these two scenes tie a bow over the movie, I think. The alien a fear of the unknown and primal. Ash, and Weyland-Yutani by extension, a fear of ourselves, of the learned and known greed in us overtaking us where we become just as alien and unfeeling as any other predator. It's the combination of the two that can tear us apart.

I was going to give it a 10 then I seen it was rated slightly higher than Aliens and well that is appaling I'm sorry to say folks but Aliens is the far superior movie