Alien

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Ant, Emilia, Tyler, Kim

Such a cool film. Ridley Scott gave a b-movie an a-grade look, populated it with great actors and turned it into a classic.

Such a slow burn, I always forget the whole set up, how it lulls you in. And then after a few shocking moments things get very claustrophobic and the tension ratchets up right to the very end. I think for this reason alone I prefer the theatrical cut, as cool as that extra scene is with Dallas all cocooned up it does slow the pace at the end too much for my tastes.

Ripley is such an interesting character, especially in this film. I was someone who grew up with Aliens and Alien came later so the shock of her surviving when the captain who is set up as the hero gets killed off was lost on me, but I can imagine it being pretty neat back in the day. You hear stories of people running out of the theatre to throw up during the chest burster scene. That would have been something to behold.

The score is sparse. It's all about the silence here. The most tense moments have hardly any sound. The whole chest burster scene just comes out of nowhere. Poor John Hurt. You know I can;t watch that scene now and not think of Spaceballs. Thanks Mel Brooks.

I also love Ian Holm's Ash. He's kooky.

Love watching the film again. I'll try and get through the rest of the series too.