Movie Review – Alien (1979)

“In space, no one can hear you scream.”

In honor of Ridley Scott’s upcoming science fiction movie, Prometheus, today we’re taking a look at Alien, one of Scott’s earlier science fiction movies.  As we already know, Prometheus takes place in the same universe and before the events in Alien, but it’s not a true prequel to Alien.  We’ll see some similar elements of Alien in Prometheus, but the two movies have completely different stories.

Back in 1979, Ridley Scott shocked the audiences with his sci-fi / horror / suspense movie, Alien.  Just like the birth of the alien creature, Alien came out of nowhere and horrified the audience with Ridley Scott’s thrilling yet eerie style of directing.  Throw in Dan O’Bannon’s creepy story and H.R. Giger’s horrific alien design, and there you go.  This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat and probably give you nightmares for some time.

Alien begins with the commercial towing vehicle Nostromo hauling 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore on a course to Earth.  Its crew of seven is currently in stasis as computers navigate the ship through the known universe.

A mysterious signal from an unknown planet is received by the Nostromo, and the computers begin to power up parts of the ship and wake the sleeping crew members.  One by one the crew awakens, and when they finally get to their duty stations they realize that they’re not anywhere near the Earth.  In fact, they’re only about halfway home.

The Nostromo‘s captain, Dallas (played by Tom Skerritt), checks with the ship’s computer (named “Mother”) and learns that the Weyland-Yutani company is ordering them to investigate the mysterious signal.  The crew of the Nostromo is unhappy with the company’s orders, but they follow through with them.  We see the Nostromo ship detach from its cargo and make a not-so-soft landing on the alien planet.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Upon touching down on the planet the Nostromo is damaged.  Engineers Parker (played by Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (played by Harry Dean Stanton) begin repairing the ship’s damage while Captain Dallas, Executive Officer Kane (played by John Hurt) and Navigator Lambert (played by Veronica Cartwright) put on their pressure suits and begin exploring the alien planet.  Warrant Officer Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) and Science Officer Ash (played by Ian Holm) remain behind on the Nostromo with Brett and Parker.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Dallas, Kane and Lambert soon discover that the source of the mysterious transmission is coming from a derelict spacecraft that crashed on the planet.  As they make their way towards the spaceship, the Nostromo‘s computer decodes part of the transmission.  Ripley shows concern that the transmission is more of a warning than a distress signal, and Ash prevents her from venturing out and assisting with the team.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

The team finds their way into the derelict spaceship and discover the former occupant still sitting at the controls.  The alien (nicknamed “Space Jockey”) is nearly fossilized.  The team takes a closer look and sees that the Space Jockey’s chest bones are bent outward, as if something burst from inside of the creature.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Kane discovers a cargo hold in the derelict, and with some gear he’s lowered deeper into the ship.  Down there he discovers a vast chamber filled with over a hundred egg-like objects.  He takes a closer look when one of the eggs starts showing signs of life.  The top of the egg opens, and when Kane tries to peek inside, something jumps out and attaches itself to Kane’s helmet.  The creature eats its way through the protective mask and latches itself onto Kane’s face.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Dallas and Lambert carry the unconscious Kane back to the Nostromo, but Ripley is unwilling to let them inside of the ship.  As she states, there’s a mandatory 24-hour quarantine policy to prevent the ship from being infected from unknown diseases or creatures.  Ash overrides the controls and allows Dallas, Kane and Lambert into the ship.  Kane is promptly taken to the medical station where Dallas and Ash try to figure out what the creature is doing to Kane and how they can remove it.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Ash wants to cut off one of the creature’s fingers, but when making the incision the creature’s blood hits the floor and begins dissolving the metal.  Dallas leads the rest of the crew down a couple of levels until the acidic blood finally stops destroying the ship.  Parker points out that the creature has “. . . a wonderful defense mechanism.  You don’t dare kill it.”

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

The creature eventually lets go of Kane’s face, and when the crew finally locates it in the medical lab, they discover that it’s dead.  Kane is still unconscious but appears to be doing well.  The ship’s repairs are finished, so the crew takes off in the Nostromo and re-joins the waiting cargo still in orbit around the planet.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

A little while later Kane awakens.  He doesn’t remember anything about the incident.  Everything seems well until the crew is having a meal and Kane suddenly starts convulsing.  The crew members try to subdue him, but he’s violently trying to fight against something inside of him.  In a horrific scene, an alien creature bursts its way through Kane’s chest, killing him in the process.  The little alien then runs away and hides in the ship.  The crew is shocked and speechless after witnessing the horrible death of their crew mate.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

At this point Alien changes from being an eerie science fiction movie into a horror / suspense film.  Now the remaining crew members of the Nostromo are forced to try to catch the creature before it can do any more damage.  The only catch is that they can’t shoot it, or its acidic blood will destroy the ship’s hull and expose them to the vacuum of outer space.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

As we see, the alien creature quickly grows and it’s not long before it’s stalking and killing members of the Nostromo one by one.  The ship’s onboard tracking system doesn’t work very well, and it’s not long before only a couple of people are left.

How are the remaining crew members going to survive?

Can they catch the alien before they’re all killed?

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Part of what makes Alien so fascinating is that we rarely see the creature.  After the violent birth of it in a scene deemed one of the scariest moments in the history of the movies, we only see glimpses of the creature here and there as members of the crew are killed.  This increases its shock when it does strike, and it also lets the audience to use their own imagination and fears as we see this thing pop out of nowhere and kill people.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Alien is one of those movies where it helps to watch it a few times to really appreciate the attention to detail and other elements.  It captures your imagination and mystifies you.  The more you watch it, the more you want to learn about the back story behind the characters, plot, and the setting.  As simple as the concept sounds, it drives you wild as you research more and more details behind the movie.  More questions continue to develop as you dive deeper and deeper into the Alien universe.

Alien is a movie that used to scare the hell out of me when I was a kid.  I really wanted to watch the movie and learn the plot, but the creature itself kept giving me nightmares.  It wasn’t until later in high school that I finally conquered my fear and watched Alien with my brother.  And it was that moment when fear was finally erased and my obsession into the Alien universe began.  Luckily, by that time Alien Resurrection was released to the theaters, and my friends and I had to go see that movie.

I think my favorite part of Alien isn’t the creature or any of the crew, but the Nostromo spaceship itself.  I love the surreal setting throughout the movie and continuous feeling of dread onboard the creepy spaceship.  The self-destruction system near the ending is one of the coolest sequences you’ll see in any movie.

Mother [over Nostromo’s PA system] – “Danger.  The emergency destruct system is now activated.  The ship will detonate in ‘T’ minus ten minutes.”

Alien (1979) – movie trailer

Alien is a must-see for any fan of science fiction or horror movies.  Turn out the lights and treat yourself to a very dark and sinister vision of outer space exploration.

Dallas – “As most of you may know, we’re not home yet. We’re only halfway there. Mother’s interrupted our journey for she’s programmed to do so unless things change. Things have changed. It seems that she has… intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. She got us up to check it out.”
Ripley – “A transmission? Out here in remote space?”
Lambert – “What kind of a transmission?”
Dallas – “Acoustical beacon. It, uh… repeats at intervals of 12 seconds.”
Kane – “S.O.S.?”
Dallas – “I don’t know.”
Ripley – “Human?”
Dallas – “Unknown.”