Alien

Hello all and welcome back to my ongoing quest to conquer my "Catch-Up" List, one movie at a time. 

Along with several other classic films and franchises, the Alien franchise has always been one that escaped me. I'd seen parts on TV, but not enough to put together an accurate opinion, and recent entries in the franchise (i.e. Alien vs. Predator) did little to excite me, hence why I kept putting it off. But recently I've been doing a bit of travel for work, which offers quite a bit of hotel/plane/airport time to catch up on lists like these. 

Unlike the Terminator franchise where I knew generally what happened in the first film, I was far less familiar with the Alien franchise, so I decided to start with the Ridley Scott-directed, space-horror original. *Side note: I've hear the second one is strong as well...but what about the final two? Ive heard mixed feelings and I'd appreciate any feedback in the comments below.* Much like his other iconic film, Blade Runner (which I ended up liking less than I anticipated, but still found a lot to enjoy) Alien has a very distinct feel to it. Not only does it have Scott's classic framing in scenes, but a certain 80's quality (even though it came out in 1979) as well. I found myself immediately hooked on the film, which is a bit of a slow burn, particularly at the beginning. But across the length of its runtime I found a film that felt like a near classic in 2015 and I'm sure must have terrified and wowed audiences attending it for their first time in 1979.

"Yeah, Dave...you've got a bug on your face."

[Music playing] "One of these things is not
like the other!"

Easiest way to put it is: Alien is one of those films that really holds up, even decades later. 

Almost from the very first scenes, Alien felt unique to me and it sets its tone well. We are introduced to the crew who seems to be on their way home after a long venture. They receive some type of odd transmission and decide to track its origins, landing on a nearby planet to investigate. From there their trip begins to go downhill as something attacks a crew mate and they attempt to save him. These first scenes are filmed without much pizzazz, which I found refreshing as it makes everything else later feel so crazy. This is just a simple crew of guys and gals (I'd argue that not even Sigourney Weaver's Ripley has that much focus on her in these early scenes) going about their business. Not much hubbub is made about the odd transmission they pick up, making it all the more eerie in my opinion. Over the course of the next two hours, events unfold, presenting us some truly iconic scenes (including an Alien "ribcage" birth) and some horrifying sequences of which audiences had never seen before at that time. 

The cinematography and editing are great for a film from that time, and really do a lot towards making the film instantly (read: subconsciously) memorable. These facets also play into the horror of the hunt in the film. I was never really jumping from fright, but it was a horror of dread and terror from seeing what this monster was capable of. As the numbers of the crew dwindle, the intensity ratchets up, and even knowing that sequels exist, I was pretty nervous for our female protagonist (one of the best of all time, by the way), Ripley. As an original film in 1979, I imagine many people had already sealed her doom an hour into the film. This is all elevated by what I would consider is Ridley Scott "reigning it in". These horrors are simple (and somewhat low budget all things considered). There isn't really a huge setpiece with the practical effects and it really boils down to a simple 3 vs. 1, 2 vs. 1, and 1 vs. 1 survival match. 


"Maybe if we tiptoe gently, it won't hear us!"

If I had any complaints about the film I would really say there are two main ones. Main doesn't necessarily mean "big" and I find that they don't have too much effect on my final opinion. First, the ending has essentially a false climax, which always kind of annoys me (unless done well). I'd argue it's done decent here, but the final few minutes really felt unnecessary and didn't give me much more from the film. Additionally, I wanted to see more of the Alien. We see mostly glimpses of it, and a few held shots, but over the course of the film, it's hard to gauge what exactly it looks like, how long it is, what its deadly features are, etc. For a horror film centered around a single monster, I would have enjoyed having a much better grasp as to what was hunting them. 

Obviously those are minor complaints for a film that is genre defining and truly ahead of the time that it was made in. Alien helped to write the book for sci-fi, horror, space-horror, monsters, and several other genres and its reach can be seen in hundreds and thousands movies, TV shows, and videogames today. I'm a bit disappointed it took me so long to finally take the time to see it, but now that I've rectified that problem, I'm happy to write a review for its praises. 

It's truly an iconic Hollywood film. 

Hello sexy!

CONS:

• The ending has a false climax and I felt like most of the additional minutes didn't add much to the film
• I would have liked to see more of the actual Alien monster. A long, full body shot would have been welcome
• Some of the action editing is slightly choppy

PROS:

• A highly original film that melds the genres of sci-fi, horror, and monster movies together effortlessly
• It's influence can be seen in SO many different places today
• Ripley is a strong female character and one of the most iconic roles ever. Sigourney Weaver nails it
• Fantastic, practical visuals that are ahead of their time
• Strong cinematography and editing
• The tone is well managed...starting off seemingly telling an average story and quickly turning into an intense survival/hunting battle
• Well designed dread that is still intense in 2015
• The Alien is a wonderfully designed monster...unlike really anything before it
• Some truly iconic scenes throughout this film
• Well crafted and presented all around

Retro Rath's Review Score:

10/10 -- Instant Classic