Alien (1979)

The crew of a commercial deep space mining ship, investigating a suspected S.O.S., lands on a distant planet and discovers a nest of strange eggs.

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

Dan O'Bannon (story), Ronald Shusett (story),

Stars:

Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright

Top 250 #40 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tom Skerritt	...	Dallas
Sigourney Weaver	...	Ripley
Veronica Cartwright	...	Lambert
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Brett
John Hurt	...	Kane
Ian Holm	...	Ash
Yaphet Kotto	...	Parker
Bolaji Badejo	...	Alien
Helen Horton	...	Mother (voice)

Storyline

The crew of the deep space towing vessel Nostromo are awaken from hypersleep to investigate a strange signal from a nearby planet. While investigating the signal, they discover it was intended as a warning, and not an SOS.

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Plot Keywords:

spaceship | egg | warning | parasite | deep space | 

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Taglines:

The Scariest Movie Ever Made. Experience it only on the big screen (USA 2003 re-release)

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

25 May 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien: The Director's Cut

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£208,081 (UK) (31 October 2003)

Gross:

$1,983,690 (USA) (28 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brandywine Productions, Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 116 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (as Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The blue laser lights that were used in the alien ship's egg chamber were borrowed from The Who. The band was testing out the lasers for their stage show in the soundstage next door.

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Goofs

At the very beginning, when Dallas is going through the computer login sequence to communicate with Mother, and all the green-lettered commands are flashing by, the word "ALIGNMENT" is spelled "ALLIGNMENT".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Brett: This is the worst shit I've ever seen, man.
Parker: What you say? You got any biscuits over there?
Ripley: Here's some cornbread.
Parker: Cornbread. Yeah.
Lambert: I am cold.
Parker: Still with us, Brett?
Brett: Right.
Kane: Oh, I feel dead.
Parker: Anybody ever tell you you look dead, man?

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)

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Soundtracks

"Eine kleine Nachtmusik'"
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (as W.A. Mozart)

User Reviews

As Near Perfection As Possible.

Three words perfectly describe ALIEN: Long, dark and ominous.

You know you're in for a good time when even the opening title gives you a shiver. The music plays perfectly as the word 'ALIEN' slowly appears, line by line. Then there are the establishing shots of the ship; poorly maintained, claustrophobic.

And then there's basically forty minutes of people in a ship pondering and eating and getting along (or not). The film has one little thing that allows it to draw you along so slowly - a promise. A promise made by the advertisements and hype that this was going to kick your ass. You just had to wait.

But when it happens, it happens. Though the film doesn't speed up per se, there's a lot more happening in front of the screen to make it at least look like stuff's going on. The first half crawls almost depressingly, but the second half catches your eye and refuses to let go.

I suggest everyone sees this film. Even if you skip through the beginning, you need to see this. It defined sci-fi and horror all in one.

It's perfect.