Alien

[Ozymandias]

I might be one of the few that liked Alien a tad more then Aliens.

 

Is that really true?  I thought they were loved pretty much evenly down the middle. Aliens is responsible for the fanboy culture with all the comic books and video games it spawned though.  Anyways, I agree Alien better.  Aliens is just the best video game/vietnam movie ever made(seriously, on the side of the shuttle thing it says "bug stomper".

Edited March 17, 2013 by Shpongle

[fishstick]

Alien is almost the opposite of Prometheus. This got natural acting, believeable dialogue, and an almost flawless script. Everything in Prometheus is seriously over-the-top.

 

Not almost, it`s the opposite, period.

 

Alien doesn`t take any detours in the story. We get the handle of the crew within first 10 minutes of the movie and that`s where they find out about the extraterrestrial signal. We know about them only what we need to know. No daddy issues dream flashback bullshit, no douchebag boyfriends, no sibling rivalry between robots and humans, no daddies in bad old age make up,no evolution mumbo jumbo, no lost crewman,etc. It`s irrelevant for the story what those guys background is. All we need to know is why they are here (work for the company) , how they feel about taking the detour to the remote planet (hate it but are under the threat of losing their jobs) and some differences in character and rank (Ash is weirdly cold and detached, Ripley has a cat, some are officiers some are just staff). End of. Lets get to the planet. It`s perfect from start to finish. Not an ounce of fat and no underdevelopment either.  

 

Aliens is like that too. Thopse movies udnerstand that background info does not a characterisation make. Many scribes make a mistake thinking that if they provide tons of irrelevant background shit that will add layers to their characters. Nope. It`ll only bloat the running time. Han Solo is a complete blank slate as far as where he comes from before ANH goes and yet is a great layered character. Because characterisation happens during the events not because we saw who raped his childhood or didn`t.

Edited March 17, 2013 by fishnets

[Master Scottb]

Is that really true?  I thought they were loved pretty much evenly down the middle. Aliens is responsible for the fanboy culture with all the comic books and video games it spawned though.  Anyways, I agree Alien better.  Aliens is just the best video game/vietnam movie ever made(seriously, on the side of the shuttle thing it says "bug stomper".

 

Most people I know like Aliens a tad better. They are both great films but I tend to like Alien more for some reason.

[luna]

very good. i kind of rolled my eyes whenever anything to do with the cat came about but that's about the only outright complaint. well that and i don't really like being terrified.

 

B+

[RobinHood26]

One of my top 25 films of all time.

 

I mean its fucking perfect! The tension in the first half is Kubrick esqe and you having this invisible driving force building the whole movie.

 

Watch this movie then look me in the eye and tell me your digital over film, I won't believe you.

 

HOLY FUCK ITS SO GOOD

 

A (96)

[Dementeleus]

What does digital vs film have to do with anything?

[RobinHood26]

hahaha Its a weird statement I know. But Alien looks damn good and its 35 years old. It ages so well. All these films today in 35 years wont look half as good. At least so I believe.

[DAR]

I slightly prefer Aliens but this is still great. A

[mattmav45]

"In space no one can hear you scream."

 

Simply a damn cool tagline for a damn cool film.  While it may seem quite simple on the surface, there is so much more to it.  In effect it is WHAT  is making you scream that is legendary here.  The fear of the unknown is very much at play here.  This is the perfect tagline for a film such as this.  Much like the tagline, the set-up itself is pretty simple but it is the execution that solidifies Alien as an all-time classic of cinema.

 

Say what you will about Ridley Scott, but he is a master at creating a world and complementing atmosphere to go along with it.  The atmosphere here is put at the forefront right away.  The introduction in which the camera is transgressing through the empty ship while the crew is sleeping is such an underrated scene.  To me this scene is establishing the playing ground and inevitable battle field that is to come.  It establishes the gritty and claustrophobic feel the film will thrive on.  It is once again the fear of the unknown that drives the proceedings here.

 

This is one of the few films that uses atmosphere to drive the actual film.  The atmosphere here preys on one's fear of the shadows.  It preys on one's fear of things that are bigger than we are.  It builds the suspense to unbearable limits.  Cameras zoom in and zoom out of hallways.  The camera angles here are immaculate as you are constantly lurking for something to catch your eye in the shadows.

 

The film itself is very much a slow-burn exercise tension and suspense.  What I love about this film is the fact that the atmosphere and ideas have an equal hand in driving the suspense.  Once again the fear of the unknown takes main stage here.  All of this erupts in the climax that is in my opinion twenty of the best minutes in cinema.  All the atmosphere and ideas explode in nothing less than spectacular fashion.

 

It's hard to begin to sum up what makes a film like Alien work.  My love for this film comes from the fact that this remains a science fiction film at its core.  Sure, there are elements of horror here, but I can't help but think the horror is brought out by the ideas.  In many ways this is primal and raw science fiction.  Science fiction gone bad, if you will.  A crew detoured on a rescue mission in deep space.  An alien organism is found. Themes about the never-ending search for life here, but unfortunately sometimes you find life that perhaps was never meant to be found.  When one searches for the unknown they may not always like what they find.  Thankfully for all of us, such was the case here.

 

It can simultaneously be called one of the best horror and science fiction films ever made.  What more could one want?

[RobinHood26]

Alien > Aliens

[Kevin Bacon]

So I've got the Anthology sitting in front of me in preparation for Isolation this Tuesday and I've never sat down and watched this all the way through. Director's Cut or Original? The original is curiously longer than the DC.

[Dementeleus]

So I've got the Anthology sitting in front of me in preparation for Isolation this Tuesday and I've never sat down and watched this all the way through. Director's Cut or Original? The original is curiously longer than the DC.

Original. DC is interesting and not without merit but original is a bit more streamlined.

[The Futurist]

When you look at the blu ray documentary of the film, you realize that this masterpeice exists because of hazard and luck.

Without Giger, this movie would have gone nowhere.

Also, it is interesting to note that Alien came out of the ashes of Jodorowski s Dune that never was and they even keep´some of the art concept and design of Dune for Alien.

I still prefer Aliens cuz I am a Cameron loonie and Aliens is probably my fave movie ever but the two movies are flawless masterpieces that have never been surpassed since.

[K1stpierre]

Alien is what a true horror masterpiece is suppose to be. All these new horror flicks we get are really a disgrace and embarresing. All it is is just gore. Or some ghost/supernatural crap that we get every year.

[Dementeleus]

When you look at the blu ray documentary of the film, you realize that this masterpeice exists because of hazard and luck.

 

Good call, although I think that's true of just about every masterpiece.

[The Futurist]

Good call, although I think that's true of just about every masterpiece.

Of course we don t have a big documentary of every masterpiece that is as detailed as the one you find in the Alien blu ray boxset but for this movie, it is really scocking how many random events led to the final film we have, Giger being the biggest event. The guys knew they had nothing with a simple horror monster movie in space but when they found how the alien reproductive system worked and Giger came up with his unique brand of bio mechanical designs, it was ON.

THe making osf Aliens is fucking classic too, Cameron was at war with all the crew on the movie. Why ? Because the english are sometimes nationalist pricks and because the first Alien was made at Pinewood, they felt Alien was english, Scott was english and the english crew simply didn t like this idea of a young canadian giving them orders. But Cameron tamed those fuckers like the lion he is and he even battled them about the tea time break.

Also fascinating are the interviews of the special effects teams where you realized that Cameron was able to find solutions to any special effect difficulty and the guys always conclude by a comment like, at the end of the day, Cameron was right about this and that. The construction of the mechanical Alien Queen is also a sight to behold. What they accomplished before the digital age was amazing and to me, the Alien Queen is the most beautiful monster in the history of film, pre digital age.

Edited October 6, 2014 by The Futurist

[Ozymandias]

Good call, although I think that's true of just about every masterpiece.

 

Thats true to a degree, but masterpieces don't come together by pure luck by a crew of people who don't know what they're doing.  A group of talented people are going to make something good most of the time, the "luck factor" is often what makes it a masterpiece or not.  I mean saying like all masterpieces are an accident and pure luck is just silly to me.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Ozymandias

[Kevin Bacon]

Original. DC is interesting and not without merit but original is a bit more streamlined.

Since only you answered, I will listen to you!

 

Alien is what a true horror masterpiece is suppose to be. All these new horror flicks we get are really a disgrace and embarresing. All it is is just gore. Or some ghost/supernatural crap that we get every year.

Well that's not entirely fair. Granted it's not like we get a true horror masterpiece very often but there's still usually a solid horror or two a year, and they seldom do well at the box-office. The Cabin in the Woods was amazing in 2013, last year You're Next was awesome (and Evil Dead was good too but it was a remake and doesn't really belong in the conversation anyway). I hear The Guest (from the crew who made YN) is great this year. These movies seem to rely on satire to be great more-so than scares, granted, but it pays off.

 

Last truly awesome comedy-free horror movie I can think of that I'd call a classic was... maybe 1408. That was awesome. The Descent too. And I just realized those movies came out 7+ years ago. I'm young and that makes even me feel old.

[Dementeleus]

Of course we don t have a big documentary of every masterpiece that is as detailed as the one you find in the Alien blu ray boxset but for this movie, it is really scocking how many random events led to the final film we have, Giger being the biggest event. The guys knew they had nothing with a simple horror monster movie in space...

 

For a goofy trip, you should check out DARK STAR. It's basically ALIEN through the lens of a stoner comedy -- written by Dan O'Bannon and directed by John Carpenter when they were straight outta college. The alien that they find (and which eventually escapes and wanders through the ship) is a painted beach ball with webbed feet.

[The Futurist]

For a goofy trip, you should check out DARK STAR. It's basically ALIEN through the lens of a stoner comedy -- written by Dan O'Bannon and directed by John Carpenter when they were straight outta college. The alien that they find (and which eventually escapes and wanders through the ship) is a painted beach ball with webbed feet.

It is crazy to think that Alien is 35 yo and no monster has ever come close since to match the majesty, sexuality, beauty, horror and fear contained in Giger s design of the creature..

Alien is still the king of the horror movies.

Edited October 6, 2014 by The Futurist