I like this series so much that my laptop is named Ripley. I'm serious.
Anyway, this is one of the best sci-fi horrors of all time. Sigourney Weaver does a great job at playing more than the usual useless female role, yet keeps it believable. Ripley still panics towards the end, as any sane person would in the presence of a Xenomorph, but she works through it. It would have been unrealistic if she evolved from a normal human into a badass in the course of one movie (save that for a more gradual change over the next four movies).
The other human characters are alright too, though I never really connected with then, and I wasn't particularly crushed when they died. I did like the cat though, and the alien.
The Alien. A feat of design brought to life from Giger's original art - who has his own awesome looking pub/museum in Switzerland that I have to go to at some point. This terrifying creature, and it's origins, are only touched on in this movie. I like that it isn't fully explained, it lets our imaginations imagine. A lot of the time (especially with sci-fi and fantasy - Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc) I like to spend some time learning the ins and outs of the world that the characters inhabit, but this isn't the case with the 'Alien' franchise. I like that Weyland Industries is so distantly controlling, and that we never learn where the aliens come from and why (though this has been pretty much filled in since, but this is just 'Alien' that I'm doing here).
Though the computer called mother thing is pretty dated now (someone made this remark as I watched it with them - I admit, I struggle to actively come up with problems with this movie) it wouldn't really have been so at the time, and I like that element too. Also, I like mothers' digs: the contrast with the rest of the ship was nice, and it reminded me of 2001. The rest of the ship has that dirty, run down quality to it, which works perfectly in this film. I imagine earth looking a lot like it does in 'Blade Runner' in this universe (and there is some disturbing evidence that Scott might be merging the two some time in the future).
The tension in this movie is just so perfect, especially the end, where she's all alone. When I was younger I thought this part dragged a bit, but whenever I watch it again now I disagree. Maybe I just didn't really get what was going on, with the whole self-destruct thing and whatnot. It is a fairly slow paced movie, but that's not a bad thing, and the last sequences are just the right length when compared with the film as a whole (with the possible exception of the ship blowing up bit, I mean how many times did it need to explode? It wasn't as if the explosion effect was even particularly exciting).
I loved the combination of soft blue and flashing red light in these bits. It really helped create a sense of panic, along with the siren and Sigourne's awesome panicky acting. Also, it was a stroke of genius giving these hallways an abundance of plumbing. The shadows are thrown about with every flash of red light, making it difficult to focus on anything, and it all disturbingly resembles the alien itself. You really get the impression that it could be lurking anywhere.
In the whole 'Alien' franchise, I've always liked the android characters (Bishop from 'Aliens' in particular, and David from 'Prometheus' as a close second) and Ash is not an exception. Fair enough, he is a totally unsympathetic character, but I sympathize with those.
Right near the start of the movie the crew explore the downed alien ship, and we get to see Ridley Scott's kids (who are wearing the space suits in those long shots, so that the set looks bigger) explore the incredible interior that Giger himself painted. These scenes are really open compared with the rest of the movie, because from here on out its all claustrophobic rooms and corridors.
There are so many design elements that this is a very difficult movie to write a short piece on. There is already so much out there about it that it kind of seems pointless even trying, and I totally recommend watching some of the behind the scenes stuff on it. This movie is so important to sci-fi in so many ways, almost as much so as 2001, I'd say. If you haven't seen it you need to, and I hope you like it.
The other human characters are alright too, though I never really connected with then, and I wasn't particularly crushed when they died. I did like the cat though, and the alien.
The Alien. A feat of design brought to life from Giger's original art - who has his own awesome looking pub/museum in Switzerland that I have to go to at some point. This terrifying creature, and it's origins, are only touched on in this movie. I like that it isn't fully explained, it lets our imaginations imagine. A lot of the time (especially with sci-fi and fantasy - Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc) I like to spend some time learning the ins and outs of the world that the characters inhabit, but this isn't the case with the 'Alien' franchise. I like that Weyland Industries is so distantly controlling, and that we never learn where the aliens come from and why (though this has been pretty much filled in since, but this is just 'Alien' that I'm doing here).
Though the computer called mother thing is pretty dated now (someone made this remark as I watched it with them - I admit, I struggle to actively come up with problems with this movie) it wouldn't really have been so at the time, and I like that element too. Also, I like mothers' digs: the contrast with the rest of the ship was nice, and it reminded me of 2001. The rest of the ship has that dirty, run down quality to it, which works perfectly in this film. I imagine earth looking a lot like it does in 'Blade Runner' in this universe (and there is some disturbing evidence that Scott might be merging the two some time in the future).
The tension in this movie is just so perfect, especially the end, where she's all alone. When I was younger I thought this part dragged a bit, but whenever I watch it again now I disagree. Maybe I just didn't really get what was going on, with the whole self-destruct thing and whatnot. It is a fairly slow paced movie, but that's not a bad thing, and the last sequences are just the right length when compared with the film as a whole (with the possible exception of the ship blowing up bit, I mean how many times did it need to explode? It wasn't as if the explosion effect was even particularly exciting).
I loved the combination of soft blue and flashing red light in these bits. It really helped create a sense of panic, along with the siren and Sigourne's awesome panicky acting. Also, it was a stroke of genius giving these hallways an abundance of plumbing. The shadows are thrown about with every flash of red light, making it difficult to focus on anything, and it all disturbingly resembles the alien itself. You really get the impression that it could be lurking anywhere.
In the whole 'Alien' franchise, I've always liked the android characters (Bishop from 'Aliens' in particular, and David from 'Prometheus' as a close second) and Ash is not an exception. Fair enough, he is a totally unsympathetic character, but I sympathize with those.
Right near the start of the movie the crew explore the downed alien ship, and we get to see Ridley Scott's kids (who are wearing the space suits in those long shots, so that the set looks bigger) explore the incredible interior that Giger himself painted. These scenes are really open compared with the rest of the movie, because from here on out its all claustrophobic rooms and corridors.
There are so many design elements that this is a very difficult movie to write a short piece on. There is already so much out there about it that it kind of seems pointless even trying, and I totally recommend watching some of the behind the scenes stuff on it. This movie is so important to sci-fi in so many ways, almost as much so as 2001, I'd say. If you haven't seen it you need to, and I hope you like it.
Alien: 90.8