At its most fundamental level, "Alien" is a movie about things that can jump out of the dark and kill you. It shares a kinship with the shark in "Jaws," Michael Myers in "Halloween," and assorted spiders, snakes, tarantulas and stalkers. Its most obvious influence is Howard Hawks' "The Thing" (1951), which was also about a team in an isolated outpost who discover a long-dormant alien, bring it inside, and are picked off one by one as it haunts the corridors. Look at that movie, and you see "Alien" in embryo.
In another way, Ridley Scott's 1979 movie is a great original. It builds on the seminal opening shot of "Star Wars" (1977), with its vast ship in lonely interstellar space, and sidesteps Lucas' space opera to tell a story in the genre of traditional "hard" science fiction; with its tough-talking crew members and their mercenary motives, the story would have found a home in John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction during its nuts-and-bolts period in the 1940s. Campbell loved stories in which engineers and scientists, not space jockeys and ray-gun blasters, dealt with outer space in logical ways.
Certainly the character of Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, would have appealed to readers in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. She has little interest in the romance of finding the alien, and still less in her employer's orders that it be brought back home as a potential weapon. After she sees what it can do, her response to "Special Order 24" ("Return alien lifeform, all other priorities rescinded") is succinct: "How do we kill it?" Her implacable hatred for the alien is the common thread running through all three "Alien" sequels, which have gradually descended in quality but retained their motivating obsession.
One of the great strengths of "Alien" is its pacing. It takes its time. It waits. It allows silences (the majestic opening shots are underscored by Jerry Goldsmith with scarcely audible, far-off metallic chatterings). It suggests the enormity of the crew's discovery by building up to it with small steps: The interception of a signal (is it a warning or an SOS?). The descent to the extraterrestrial surface. The bitching by Brett and Parker, who are concerned only about collecting their shares. The masterstroke of the surface murk through which the crew members move, their helmet lights hardly penetrating the soup. The shadowy outline of the alien ship. The sight of the alien pilot, frozen in his command chair. The enormity of the discovery inside the ship ("It's full of ... leathery eggs ...").
A recent version of this story would have hurtled toward the part where the alien jumps on the crew members. Today's slasher movies, in the sci-fi genre and elsewhere, are all pay-off and no buildup. Consider the wretched remake of the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," which cheats its audience out of an explanation, an introduction of the chain-saw family, and even a proper ending. It isn't the slashing that we enjoy. It's the waiting for the slashing.
Hitchcock knew this, with his famous example of a bomb under a table. (It goes off -- that's action. It doesn't go off -- that's suspense.) M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" knew that, and hardly bothered with its aliens at all. And the best scenes in Hawks' "The Thing" involve the empty corridors of the Antarctic station where the Thing might be lurking.
"Alien" uses a tricky device to keep the alien fresh throughout the movie: It evolves the nature and appearance of the creature, so we never know quite what it looks like or what it can do. We assume at first the eggs will produce a humanoid, because that's the form of the petrified pilot on the long-lost alien ship. But of course we don't even know if the pilot is of the same race as his cargo of leathery eggs. Maybe he also considers them as a weapon. The first time we get a good look at the alien, as it bursts from the chest of poor Kane (John Hurt). It is unmistakably phallic in shape, and the critic Tim Dirks mentions its "open, dripping vaginal mouth."
Yes, but later, as we glimpse it during a series of attacks, it no longer assumes this shape at all, but looks octopod, reptilian or arachnoid. And then it uncorks another secret; the fluid dripping from its body is a "universal solvent," and there is a sequence both frightening and delightful as it eats its way through one deck of the ship after another. As the sequels ("Aliens," "Alien 3," "Alien Resurrection") will make all too abundantly clear, the alien is capable of being just about any monster the story requires. Because it doesn't play by any rules of appearance or behavior, it becomes an amorphous menace, haunting the ship with the specter of shape-shifting evil. Ash (Ian Holm), the science officer, calls it a "perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility," and admits: "I admire its purity, its sense of survival; unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."
Sigourney Weaver, whose career would be linked for years to this strange creature, is of course the only survivor of this original crew, except for the ... cat. The producers must have hoped for a sequel, and by killing everyone except a woman, they cast their lot with a female lead for their series.
Variety noted a few years later that Weaver remained the only actress who could "open" an action movie, and it was a tribute to her versatility that she could play the hard, competent, ruthless Ripley and then double back for so many other kinds of roles. One of the reasons she works so well in the role is that she comes across as smart; the 1979 "Alien" is a much more cerebral movie than its sequels, with the characters (and the audience) genuinely engaged in curiosity about this weirdest of lifeforms.
A peculiarity of the rest of the actors is that none of them were particularly young. Tom Skerritt, the captain, was 46, Hurt was 39 but looked older, Holm was 48, Harry Dean Stanton was 53, Yaphet Kotto was 42, and only Veronica Cartwright at 29 and Weaver at 30 were in the age range of the usual thriller cast. Many recent action pictures have improbably young actors cast as key roles or sidekicks, but by skewing older, "Alien" achieves a certain texture without even making a point of it: These are not adventurers but workers, hired by a company to return 20 million tons of ore to Earth (the vast size of the ship is indicated in a deleted scene, included on the DVD, which takes nearly a minute just to show it passing).
The screenplay by Dan O'Bannon, based on a story he wrote with Ronald Shusett, allows these characters to speak in distinctive voices. Brett and Parker (Kotto and Stanton), who work in the engine room, complain about delays and worry about their cut of the profits. But listen to Ash: "I'm still collating it, actually, but I have confirmed that he's got an outer layer of protein polysaccharides. He has a funny habit of shedding his cells and replacing them with polarized silicon which gives him a prolonged resistance to adverse environmental conditions." And then there is Ripley's direct way of cutting to the bottom line.
The result is a film that absorbs us in a mission before it involves us in an adventure, and that consistently engages the alien with curiosity and logic, instead of simply firing at it. Contrast this movie with a latter-day space opera like "Armageddon," with its average shot a few seconds long and its dialogue reduced to terse statements telegraphing the plot. Much of the credit for "Alien" must go to director Ridley Scott, who had made only one major film before this, the cerebral, elegant "The Duelists" (1977). His next film would be another intelligent, visionary sci-fi epic, "Blade Runner" (1982).
Though his career has included some inexplicable clinkers ("Someone To Watch Over Me,") it has also included "Thelma & Louise," "G.I. Jane," "Gladiator" (unloved by me, but not by audiences), "Black Hawk Down" and "Matchstick Men." These are simultaneously commercial and intelligent projects, made by a director who wants to attract a large audience but doesn't care to insult it.
"Alien" has been called the most influential of modern action pictures, and so it is, although "Halloween" also belongs on the list. Unfortunately, the films it influenced studied its thrills but not its thinking. We have now descended into a bog of Gotcha! movies in which various horrible beings spring on a series of victims, usually teenagers. The ultimate extension of the genre is the Geek Movie, illustrated by the remake of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," which essentially sets the audience the same test as an old-time carnival geek show: Now that you've paid your money, can you keep your eyes open while we disgust you? A few more ambitious and serious sci-fi films have also followed in the footsteps of "Alien," notably the well-made "Aliens" (1986) and "Dark City" (1998). But the original still vibrates with a dark and frightening intensity.
I hope you will get a better view of Alien now. One of the best movies of all time
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-01 12:47
>>156 Why do you bring up your childish spat with that community here? What the fuck is your problem?
Yeah, I know, I know. It hurts, right? You want your thread back, so you can talk about animation like good old friends. I also know it's bait, but why not repeat myself again?
I don't fucking care about anyone from you sakuga fucker anymore - that place is my shitposting area and as long as anyone still read here or even post stuff, I will proceed. How do you even thought, I wouldn't turned against you? How can you be THAT retarded? I mean, seriously?
Said the pussy who still trying his best to hide the truth.
Come on tell me, is that all you can do?
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-01 12:52
Warum heult ihr eigentlich immer noch rum? Ihr wolltet das ganze doch genau so wie es jetzt ist. Habt ihr gehirnamputierten überhaupt keinen Charakter?
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-01 12:56
Wenn es euch nicht passt, hört einfach auf, meine Posts zu lesen. Ich werde mich garantiert nicht ändern; es gibt wie gesagt, absolut nichts, was mich davon abbringen kann. Ich mache nichts falsches.
Ihr musstet ja so bescheuert sein und mir folgen
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-01 19:20
>>168 that place is my shitposting area and as long as anyone still read here or even post stuff, I will proceed.
Man, you sure sound like a kid throwing a tantrum.
How do you even thought, I wouldn't turned against you?
Go fix your English first before posting on the internet you autist, you're making your fellow countrymen look bad.
If you really hate the sakuga community why not come on IRC? Oh wait, you don't even have the guts to face the people you hate- I bet you don't even talk shit on Twitter! Instead you turn to spamming an unmoderated thread on a text board. What a massive pussy you are.
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 8:20
>>171
You sure trying your best to bait, aren't you? Too bad, you're not very clever.
Why the fuck should I talk with you anymore? All you do is telling lies, as I experienced it - even from Kraker. You're also the same.
Like I said, I don't care at all about your whining and baiting. It's your own fault, all I do is just the result of your stupidity. Maybe you will learn from it for the future. You thought it would be a good idea to fuck with me and trying to protect some idiots who have nothing to do with animation (or other areas) and just came for trolling? I have never done anything wrong, you fucking monkey.
And that's truly the last civilized post you ever get from me, you scum
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 8:40
Go watch some movies, it might give you an actual brain. Why not start with L.A. Confidential? Roger's review about it just for you:
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 10:34
Oh yeah, zeigt mir euren überlegenen Verstand!
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 10:35
Was ist jetzt? Was soll ich erneut versuchen? Wenn ihr es mir nicht sagt, kann ich es doch nicht wissen. Oder?!?!?!?
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 10:37
Das ihr NOCH IMMER nicht begriffen habt, dass ihr der Definition von hirntot entsprecht, ist wirklich heftig.
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 10:41
Frag mich immer noch, was euch eure Stalking-aktionen gebracht haben, außer sich permanent zu blamieren natürlich.
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 10:47
Gott, seid ihr feige. Fast so schlimm wie Zaku und Kraker
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-02 10:48
Ach ja, Zaku, schaust du immer noch Pokemon an und besuchst täglich /vp/?
Wow, it's even worse than expected, Nazitards from aniPodium.
From left to right, top to bottom Listing all movies
Most retarded thing I've seen in a while, but not surprising coming from the guys who write something like
>alright be cool harrison. eveythings fine. you're just gonna get yourself a slice and sit back down. man maybe it wasn't such i good idea to smoke that doob with leto and mcconaughey. I'm not a kid anymore.
>there are only 40 million people watching me right now. just act natural. do i look weird right now? i bet i look weird right now. this is worse than that time ridley slipped me that acid on the set of blade runner. hauer always gets credit for tears in rain, but you try keeping your cool when you see the millennium falcon come barreling out of your co-stars right nipple mid-scene. what the fuck is on this shit anyway? jesus ford just pick the fucking thing up. dont get lost in the details.
>alright that looked way to suspicious. we need some damage control. shit shit shit shit. oh i got it! ask for a napkin! a man blitzed out of his skull wouldnt ask for a napkin, right? who the fuck thought it would be a good idea to let a teenage boy host the oscars? the times they are a changin i guess.
>alright just sit back down. relax. its over. you nailed it bud. now you got this bitchin pizza and all these fags are none the wiser. you still got it ford.
>you still fucking got it.
and laugh about it. The list also doesn't make sense, movie-wise. Best way to show how retarded newfags (and germans) are
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-10 5:41
Anipodium nazis, that's a really bad and retarded thread that you have made:
What you think about that "joke" of yours and the result is even better:
SOMEBODY SHOOP THIS NOW. LET'S MAKE HISTORY.
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-10 5:41
Since we're at it, why don't we mention DarkHaseo too? His "Who want you to fuck" threads on /tv/ were a great contribution, weren't they? That smart wording, openly admitting what's always on his mind (probably the only thing) and supported by Tyrnos of course.
DarkHaseo, are you still thinking and dreaming of Women without Underwear walking around in public?
Oh and DarkHaseo, you've learned some language aside from your first language a bit by now? Or are you still lying about that illness of yours? And with illness I don't mean your mental illness of course - that is true.
Was always annoying to read your posts where not one single word was written correctly, let alone whole sentences... You know, russia has also internet; or wherever you came from
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-10 5:42
derail the thread (aniPodium user)
How?
Well, we're talking about shitposters right now (aniPodium user)
Again, how?
No you fucker. YOU. ARE. SHITPOSTING. (aniPodium user)
.....
Great one, aniPodium!
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-10 5:42
Hey Tyrnos, since it's sunday and I'm in a good mood, I searched and find some nice presents for you. They're about your biggest love - COWTITS!
You motherfucker! (Yes, he's talking like an teenager, although he is already 30 years old)
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-10 5:43
Jesus Christ. From Conny, another user from aniPodium (a female):
Matthew McConaughey is the greatest actor right now in Hollywood and so fucking good, I can't believe it
Just because he won the Oscar cause he had lost weight for a role. But you also said something similar about Christian Bale, didn't you? Also
Matthew McConaughey's acting in True Detective is the best work an actor has ever done in any TV show
EVER!!
Conny, I bet you also think Interstellar will be the new 2001, right? Of course, Nolan as director and writer and even McConaughey as the main lead cast.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!!!!!!
IT WON'T BE THE NEW 2001, IT WILL BE BETTER THAN ALL MOVIES EVER COMBINED!!!!
EVEN BETTER AND MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE BIBLE!!!!!
IT WILL BE THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-10 16:05
>>183
awesome
cool to see this thread back (a bit)
Name:
Anonymous2014-03-11 10:30
Hey aniPodium, it seems you were so mad yesterday, that you created even a bait thread:
Also, trolling or serious, never forget one thing. You are watching anime, no one ever will believe you, when you criticise or shitposting about a superior medium (in every way).