Reviews: Alien (1979) Movie Review
Subgenres: Aliens, Body Horror, Confined, Cult Classic, Sci-Fi, Space
Horror fans searching for a breakdown of Alien (1979) will find our review covers the plot, themes, and the shocking ending everyone talks about.
Alien (1979) is a 1h 57-min British-American science-fiction horror film that was shot at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK and Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK. Director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner (1982), The Martian (2015), Prometheus (2012)) gave us an astonishing alien movie that blew most of its audience away with its unique screenplay. The film contains suspense, twist, thrills, violence, bad language, frightening scenes, and gore.
Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt - Top Gun (1986), Picket Fences (1992-1996), Ted (2012)) and his six crew members are returning home to Earth on a commercial spacecraft named Nostromo. Nostromo’s computer, system awakens the crew after detecting a mysterious transmission from a nearby planetoid. They followed protocol and landed on the planetoid not knowing that they will damage their ship upon landing. Dallas, Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt - V for Vendetta (2005), Hellboy (2004), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)), and Navigator Lambert leaves Nostromo to investigate. The trio found an alien spacecraft with a giant alien whose ribcage appears as though it was exploded from within the body.
Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver - Aliens (1986), Avatar (2009), Alien 3 (1992)) who remained on the spacecraft discovers that the transmission was a warning and not a distress signal. Kane found hundreds of eggs in a chamber and decides to inspect one of them resulting in a creature coming out of its shell to spit acid on his helmet and then the creature attaches itself to Kane’s face. Dallas and Lambert took Kane, who is unconscious back to Nostromo, but Ripley denies them entry because of quarantine regulations. Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm - Ratatouille (2007), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Fifth Element (1997)) overrides Ripley’s lock and lets the trio in. I will leave you with this - a small alien-like creature exists in Kane’s chest resulting in his death, and now the remaining team of six has to fend for their lives.
I gave Alien a score of an eight because it was an excellent watch with a terrific screenplay, great directing skills, phenomenal acting, good shots/camera angles and it was one heck of a thrill ride. The movie had some goofs/mishaps, but it can be easily overlooked with all the goodness the movie had to offer. The cinematographer and editor also deserve a hand of applause for this incredible film. Movie fans might not enjoy this movie today as I did several years ago.
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Alien Rating Scores
- Our Score: 8/10
- Overall Score: 8.59/10
- IMDB: 8.5/10
- MetaCritic: 8.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 9.3/10
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