Alien (1979)

The Best

Well, I have just watched (yet again) Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece: Alien. The patient pace of the film taken with its stunning cinematography makes for a veritable visual feast. Scott can turn a clunky shipping vessel into a haunting work of art: his masterful orchestration of light and shadow within a wonderfully drab and metallic set casts the perfect visual mood for the encounter with the 'other.' The performances, too, are simply fantastic. The cast hits a wonderful sweet spot in refusing to over act their parts, rendering the characters surprisingly tactile: they brilliantly animate a minimalist but very competent script. In any case, it hard to find anything to criticize about this film, which is why I think it tops my list of best sci-fi films ever. June 16, 2008

A landmark in movie making.

First things first.
Aliens destroys this one.
Ok I'm done.
It's actually kind of unfair to compare the two. The directors take such a different approach to the films.
Alien is a piece of movie history.
Brilliant from start to finish.
Masterfully acted and directed.
Superbly paced.
One of the many movies you simply can not miss and should probably own by now.
Highly recommended. June 12, 2008

Best of my top ten scariest movies

Okay, I don't own this movie, but I have seen it.
It is on my list of the best top ten scariest movies. June 10, 2008

THE Standard for All Sci-Fi Horror Movies

What can I say that 462 reviewers before me haven't already said? This is THE absolute best sci-fi horror film ever made that serves as the standard by which all others are judged. 'Nuff said. June 9, 2008

The Director's Cut do not mean extended,

I remember when I was in still in grade school, my older brother came running into the house bragging that he had just saw the scariest, BLOODIEST movie ever made in history. Well, that movie turn out to be Alien.

I was intrigue by his pronouncement but given the fact it was rated R, I had virtually no chance of catching it in the theater. Well, I finally was able to watch it on video and I was instantly hooked. Through the years I have grown to appreciate and enjoy this movie more and more.

To watch Alien is like going to a gourmet banquet dinner...it is an experience to immerse youself into and to savor every moment. One of the many criticism toward it, mainly from the MTV generation who has grown up with instant gratification for everything was that the movie moved too slow. Well, it is supposed to and deliberately so. The movie's aim is to make you feel the horrorific atmosphere, not to gross you out with decapitations and dismemberment (although it does a pretty good job with the now iconic chestburster scene).

Alien is a mastepiece in the sci-fi horror genre. It took the familiar mad slasher vs. the final girl movie plot archetype to heights no other film since has managed to achieve, much less approach. One of the many comments are how the special effects don't really hold up to todays'. Personally, I think this film looked as if could have been shot yesterday. There is a timeless quality to it that has enable to withstood the test of time.

The horror of Alien is not cheap blood and gore so prevalent in today's movies. In fact, the chestburster scene is so primal and unsettling that it resonates with you for the rest of the movie, so you THINK that blood and gore splashes aplenty every time the alien dispatches another member of the crew. The opening titles with Jerry Goldsmith's haunting score set the tone immediately and this atmosphere of isolating fear and paranoia never lets up.

When the Director's Cut came out in the theaters, I was overjoyed that I was able to experience this movie on the big screen. However, one thing disappointed me with the Director's Cut....the film wasn't really extended....several scenes and quick shots were inserted, but at the expense of having some other scenes (mainly of the camera panning across the set) being cut. There was one interesting shot of Brett looking for the cat and a quick casual shot of the alien hanging above him. I wonder if that scene was left in the original release, would the viewers recognize the alien for what it is, or thought it was a piece of futuristic machinery.

I do have to admit that since after multiple viewings, Alien loses its effectiveness because you know what is going to happen...but I still watch it repeatedly for the performance between the 7 principal actors and the amazingly detailed sets and art direction.

Pity they don't make movies like this anymore.

May 29, 2008

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