Aliens (1979) Movie Review

Alien is without a doubt one of the most influential movies of all time for it’s visual presentation, characters and most of all the Xenomorph. The impact Alien has had on the sci-fi and horror genre is still felt in modern movies, but does Alien still hold up to today's sci-fi standards?

Warning: As with most film reviews, there will be slight spoilers below the cut. So, avoid reading further if you don’t want to be spoiled!

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Alien follows a crew of space merchants that are returning to Earth from a successful mining operation. They receive a distress call from a planet and one of the members is attacked by a creature. The crew then finds themselves being hunted by an unknown alien.

The big question: Does the storyline make sense?

Most definitely! The premise of Alien is very simple in nature, but it’s the writing that makes the story of Alien such a compelling film. As time goes on and we learn more about the characters, we get more invested in their survival. 

Setting:

Alien has two main settings:

• Spaceship Nostromo
  - This is where most of the movie takes place, and is where all the characters eat and sleep.

• Alien Ship and the Planet
  - The distress call was sent by the ship and this is where one of the crew members was attacked, and in turn, brought the Alien back to the main ship.

The Characters:

This film has seven characters who all have their role in the ship like Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt), Chief Engineer Parker (Yaphet Kotto), Engineering Technician Brett (Harry Dean Stanton), Navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm), and Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).

 Out of all of the cast, Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley was the last survivor of the group and had the most development. In the beginning is relegated to the intercoms for the crew that went out on the field being a hard strong, bet intelligent overseer for her crew. At the end she is the one that is going head first into the action against the Alien onboard the ship.

Lastly, the low and high points in the movie:

There are very few low points in the film, if anything the beginning starts off slow with introducing the characters, the environment and their current situation. Once the crew receives the distress call, the movie begins to steadily and beautifly build up tension.

The highest point in the film is without a doubt the chest bursting scene. The whole crew’s eating lunch and Kane starts having a seizure. All of a sudden, the Alien bursts through Kane’s chest and kills him in the process.

So overall

Alien is such an incredible film! It deserved the praise that it got back in the 80’s and still does today. Because of this film, Sigourney Weaver became a cultural icon to many Americans and boosted her career in Hollywood.

If you are a fan of sci-fi or horror, we highly recommend you watch Alien!

Got other films you’d like us to review? Let us know in the comments! Remember to stay updated for our future posts!