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A L I E N Appreciation Thread

Chris_Johnston

Chris_Johnston

Captain
Captain
May 25th is the 30th anniversary of the release of A L I E N.
I was 16, and my Dad (an Emmy®-winning set designer) defied my stepmom's decree that I not be allowed to see it.
Opening weekend, the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood had pieces of the set laid out: We got to walk through the corridor into Mother's annex, then stare in awe at the Space Jockey (before the religious zealots set it on fire (they feared it was the work of the devil)).
My Dad and I couldn't stop talking about the Nostromo's sets afterwards.
I've been obsessed with Ron Cobb's designs ever since!

What say you all?
 
I've watched the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD bunches o' times, but I just got around to getting the 2-disc Director's Cut.
Man, they went to town with that!
Love that they digitally restored the original theatrical cut as well as the new version.
The making-of documentary and the commentaries are fantastic!
They also included all of Ron Cobb's designs that nobody's ever posted online!
 
Chris_Johnston said:
We got to walk through the corridor into Mother's annex, then stare in awe at the Space Jockey (before the religious zealots set it on fire (they feared it was the work of the devil)).
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I believe you. Why do I believe you?

Anyway, Alien was an excellent film. Moody and atmosphereic, I wonder if something like that (or something that good) could be made today. I'm envious you got to walk through the sets and see all that beautiful craftsmanship.
 
And let's not forget Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful score for the movie.

I remember watching ALIEN for the first time and realizing "Wait, don't I know this character Ripley?", and sure enough I did. It was than I realized that this was the first movie in the series because I watched ALIENS before I saw Alien! That was cool.

So much talent and creativity went into this movie and I'm very happy on the work they did. I also loved how we didn't get to know jack about the real alien species that transported the eggs. Were they weapons? Did they belong on another planet? Was the Alien some kind of Virus? Were the eggs actually the CREW*?!

Unfortunately I had the honor of meeting Ridley Scott personally at an auction event and he was a freaking douche bag. He's got talent and know-how that I respect, but he is a jerk.

* Director's Cut hints that the derelict ship was manned by several other shipmates and not just the space jockey because the Alien aboard the Nostromo was slowly mutating it's victims into eggs. That's a lot more scarier than the Queen**.

** I LOOOOOOVE the Queen Alien! I love ALIENS! There isn't anything wrong with Aliens! In some ways, I like it better than Alien. I just think that the possibility that all those eggs in the lower decks were once crew members to be a lot more creepier.
 
I adore this film. I didn't see it at the cinema. I was too young at 13 (although these days that's probably not too young!) I saw it a few years later. It was on a small colour portable tv. I distinictly remember it was a Wednesday evening because my father had gone out for the evening, as he did every Wednesday evening, and coming home he scared the living crap out of me, I was that tense watching the film. I've loved Sigourney Weaver and Ridley Scott ever since. Excellent film. Maybe one day I'll get to see it on the big screen, too.
 
Jeyl said:
I remember watching ALIEN for the first time and realizing "Wait, don't I know this character Ripley?", and sure enough I did. It was than I realized that this was the first movie in the series because I watched ALIENS before I saw Alien! That was cool.
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I also saw Aliens first. Kinda ruins the fun of watching Alien and not knowing who is going to live or die.

Agreed that the sets were gorgeous. It always strikes me now great simple things like the text display for Mother looks, even now. Kinda reminds me of the Matrix text scroll effect. I can only imagine how difficult it was to make it look that good back when the Atari 2600 looked great!
 
All of the 4 initial movies had the honor of being directed by guys who went on to become true Masters of Cinema (Ridley Scott, Cameron, Fincher and Jeunet) though Jeunet had already become more famous before he did RES.
 
The only thing I don't like about the restoration on the Director's Cut DVD is that when they brightened the image, some of the more subtle detail got washed out...

ALIEN_DVD_Comparison_small.jpg


Also, it looks like they did some re-cropping, so we've lost a bit of the frame on the sides.
 
Chris_Johnston said:
then stare in awe at the Space Jockey (before the religious zealots set it on fire (they feared it was the work of the devil)
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This is the first time I've heard this! Who were those people? And why did they think it was a work ''O'' the devil? Are you serious or just pulling are legs?
 
miraclefan said:
Chris_Johnston said:
then stare in awe at the Space Jockey (before the religious zealots set it on fire (they feared it was the work of the devil)
Click to expand...
This is the first time I've heard this! Who were those people? And why did they think it was a work ''O'' the devil? Are you serious or just pulling are legs?
Click to expand...
All my life after seeing the movie, the only info I'd heard was that somebody who must've been drunk/stoned flicked a match on it, and it went right up (being sculpted out of foam rubber). It supposedly happened between shows, so the lucky moviegoers got a good last look at it going in, and came out to find firefighters hosing down a charred circle on the ground!
It wasn't until just a few weeks ago that I read the Wikipedia entries...

A L I E N (film) - Wikipedia
The film had no official premier in the United States, yet moviegoers lined up for blocks to see it at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood where a number of models, sets, and props were displayed outside to promote it during its first run. Religious zealots set fire to the model of the space jockey, believing it to be the work of the devil.
Click to expand...
Space Jockey (Alien) - Wikipedia
The full-scale Space Jockey prop was 26 feet (7.9 m) tall. A smaller version of the prop was destroyed by arsonists while on display at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
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Now, I thought there was only one Space Jockey!
 
Both this and ALIENS are near perfect sci-fi films. I can never decide which I like more. I usually pick ALIEN because I think the atmosphere on the ship is just a little better than the destroyed colony.
 
The thing that is amazes me about Alien is the year it's made. It was so utterly different to anything else out there are the time style wise that it blew people away. The "naturalistic" style to it certainly contributed to the horror in my opinion.
 
What amazes me is how well the movie holds up. The sets, costuming, special effects have dated very little. it really holds up.
 
Fabulous movie. When the Director's Cut came out, Lesley (my wife) and I went to see it at the cinema, and she still screamed and jumped several times, despite being familiar with all the shocks from TV and video viewings - it's that well-done.

The score's good, and there's a two-disc version of that as well.

Insert gratuitous plug for Beautiful Monsters here. http://74.54.78.50/~telosco/culttv/ctv-main02.php#bmonsters
 
WillsBabe said:
The thing that is amazes me about Alien is the year it's made. It was so utterly different to anything else out there are the time style wise that it blew people away.
Click to expand...


And then he went on and made Blade Runner and did it all over again.
 
One of the best science fiction films ever made, in my opinion, and certainly the best scifi horror film.

Like many in this thread I have difficulty deciding whether I like Alien or Aliens the best, but I think they are different enough to not have to compare them too closely. I really respect James Cameron for not making the sequel a rehash of the same formula, like so many horror sequels are.

But without everything that Alien does brilliantly - Ripley, the production design, and especially the iconic Xenomorph design, Aliens would never have been so powerful. It would still have been a good scifi action film, but the two films are stronger with each other, than without.

(a thought: are there "Alien" purists in the same way there are "Star Trek" purists? - you know, people who say things like "Alien was one film made in 1979 - no queen, no space marines, no power loader")
 
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