Sci Fi Top 100, #3: "Alien" (1979)

Note: The disc I received gave me the option of watching either the 1979 theatrical release or the 2003 director’s cut. I chose the theatrical release.

Movie Stats:
Released 1979 (USA)
American & British, in English
Director - Ridley Scott
Stars - Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and many others

Plot Summary:
When the crew of a commercial space vessel, on its way back to Earth with a load, is diverted by a distress signal, they encounter a hostile alien. Weaver stars as crew member Ripley & Skerritt as crew captain Dallas.

Warnings:
Heavy blue language; violence; extreme gore; brief female nudity (breasts only) via nudie pics on a wall.

Bad Stuff:
I think this movie is incredibly slow, especially in the beginning.

On the one hand, I can’t blame her because I’d be freaking out too, but on the other hand, Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) is supremely irritating. Why couldn’t she [SPOILER] die first [SPOILER]?

[SPOILER]
I can’t decide if the film was trying to imply that the company put Ash (Ian Holm) on the team specifically to bring back the alien or not. It’s stated that he was added last-minute. The rest of the crew didn’t know he was an android. So was he placed there in case the company needed to make sure it had someone on the team who would do whatever it said? Or was the alien the prime directive all along? [SPOILER] This plot point raised a lot of questions without answering them, and that bothers me.

Good Stuff:
As I mentioned in my review of the sequel, I love that Ripley isn’t a natural bad ass. She’s just a person who finds it in herself to do what has to be done in order to survive.

The practical effects are phenomenal. This movie is nearly 40 years old and it still looks great.

I like the soundtrack.

The Verdict:
I’ve never been a huge fan of this film. I don’t hate it, but it’ll never make any of my personal top 10 lists. Mostly, I think the pace is too slow. It bores me. Perhaps I wouldn’t feel that way if I’d been old enough to see it when it first came out. This is one of those movies where it’s difficult not to know practically everything about it. I saw spoofs of the famous scene long before I saw the actual scene itself. If I hadn’t, perhaps this movie would’ve held a lot more tension and scares for me. I think it’s a good story, and I appreciate that it doesn’t suffer from an overabundance of the “horror movie stupids,” wherein people in horror movies do stupid things simply to move the story along. I also think the acting is pretty good. Lastly, I like the way the crew interacts with each other. It feels like natural co-worker relationships. Overall, I think it's a solid film, even if I’m not its biggest fan.

I give it 3.75 stars.