Subject: Retrospective: Alien (1979)

From: Marshall Garvey <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 01:59:00 -0000

"Alien" (1979)
Review by Marshall Garvey
Rating (0 to 5): *****  Grade: A+ (Director's Cut)  Original rating:
****1/2  Original Grade: A
Starring Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Sigourney Weaver (Ripley), John Hurt
(Kane), Ian Holm (Ash), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), Yaphet Kotto
(Parker), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett 
Original music by Jerry Goldsmith
20th Century Fox
116 minutes (Director's Cut)
Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore and language 

When directors cut one of their films for a theatrical re-release or
DVD, chances are they might not only fine tune it: they might also
heighten its impact. "Alien", the 1979 horror classic that's been
reissued with restored print, sound, and new footage, is a prime
example. When I first watched it on home video, I loved it, but
thought it could have been a little better. That time around, I gave
"Alien" a 4.5 rating. Now seeing it in the theater in pristine
condition, it's a definite 5. For this, one may ask: Is it better than
the second now? The answer: No. But even if there was no "Aliens",
"Alien" would still remain a classic in its own right, and with this
director's cut, Ridley Scott has instilled brand new life into every
frame.

Some people may find the setup for "Alien" to be simple or perhaps
boring. Surely enough, those with a lack of an attention span will
scorn it because it doesn't throw shredded intestines at the screen
the minute it begins, and in all actuality it's the simplicity of the
first thirty minutes that magnifies the film's overall effect. After
the credit sequence ends, we simply see a four-tower spaceship
drifting through space. The craft, called Nostromo, is making its way
back to earth with a heavy cargo and a crew of seven aboard. These
people aren't quite like the Enterprise crew of "Star Trek" or the
space explorers in "2001"; they're working class employees in space,
unaware of the terror yet to come. There's Captain Dallas (Tom
Skerritt), a slightly lazy, laid back pilot, and Ripley (Sigourney
Weaver), who commands her authority when it comes to hand. There's
also the sleepy eyed Kane (John Hurt), Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and
Parker (Yaphet Kotto), two grunt engineers who incessantly complain
about their bonus payment, science officer Ash (Ian Holm), and the
quiet Lambert (Veronica Cartwright).

When the crew awakens from cryosleep, they learn that Nostromo's main
computer, Mother, has intercepted what seems to be an SOS call. When
played, the message is garbled and indistinct, but the policy, as
Dallas explains, requires them to respond to any call they receive.
Parker advises against it, claiming that they're not a rescue crew,
but the company heads down to the planet where the signal seems to be
coming from. Once there, Dallas, Kane, and Lambert don spacesuits and
set out to explore the terrain and at one point come across a bizarre
looking ship with curving tails jutting out from the ground. Inside,
the ship is even more grotesque. The walls look giant bones lined
together with greasy slime, and deeper within lies a strange organism
that looks like an elephant's skull with a ribcage covering its body.
Upon seeing such a thing, Lambert proposes that they leave, but the
insistent Kane discovers a dark opening and explores. Down under, he
encounters a nest, with "leathery objects of some sort, like eggs".
When he approaches one, a spider-like creature leaps out and grabs his
face.

Once they return to the ship, Dallas and Lambert argue with Ripley to
let them bring Kane in. Ripley refuses, claiming it's against
quarantine, but Ash opens the lock and Kane is taken to an examination
room. When the helmet around his face is broken, one of the most
horrifying sights is revealed: a yellow, eights-legged object grasping
Kane's face with its tail coiling around his sweaty neck. Dallas and
Ash scan his body and find that the thing, whatever it is, hasn't
killed poor Kane: it's actually giving him oxygen to keep him alive
while simultaneously keeping him unconscious. Prying it loose or
hurting it is useless, for it bleeds acid that eats right through the
ship's hull, and it won't die without tearing off Kane's face first.
It eventually does come off and die, and Kane recovers from his coma,
but Ash only further infuriates Ripley when he decides to keep it for
further examination despite the concern it has caused.

With the ship heading back on its way home and Kane alive and well,
things seem back to normal again, but as the crew joyfully eats their
dinner, Kane suddenly starts gasping and choking. Parker assumes he's
joking about the terrible food, but he isn't. He starts shaking and
screaming, and as everyone else tries to hold him down, an alien
erupts from his chest. The blood-covered creature surveys its
surroundings, lets out a shriek, and runs off into the ship. The rest
of the crew sets off to try and catch it with a net, but by that time
the creature has grown into an enormous beast. Even more, it manages
to pick off two crew members and disappear without a trace. Ripley
proposes that they blow the creature out of the airlock, but Ash has
other plans, and so does the alien as Ripley tries to escape while the
ship counts down to self-destruct. I won't elaborate on the details if
you haven't seen this ending, but for your sake I hope you make it.
I'm sure you will, just so as long as your nerves haven't given away
because of anxiety. Mine almost did.

I can imagine how difficult it must be for most horror films to hold
up with a second viewing, let alone retain the impact of the first
viewing. As I walked into "Alien", I pondered this, and let me say
that the film doesn't retain the impact in theaters: it multiplies it.
Watching it this time, the atmosphere was even more grating and
haunting, and the suspense is killer. Kane's encounter with the
facehugger egg alone was enough to bring the film's suspense to an
unendurable level, making each other tight moment harder to bear.
Jerry Goldsmith's score also gives viewers the creeps in a resounding
way, even just as the credits slowly appear.

With the most obvious parts excepted, the two keys to the movie's
overall effectiveness are the aforementioned setup and the mystery and
minimal detail that surround the presentation of the alien species.
When Dallas, Kane, and Lambert explore the ship, we wonder just how it
got there and how the elephant like structure (aka the "space jockey"
according to fans) and the eggs came to be. Having already seen the
rest of the series and observed and considered several different
theories about the aliens, it's amazing that this film could still
weave an unknowing sense around me no matter how much consideration I
could put into the origins of these mysterious objects.

One other staple in the classic sense of "Alien" is its strangely
unique cast, which while small is also one that is entirely likeable.
Most casts in horror films are populated by teen icons with pretty
faces and trimmed bodies, but the actors here are far more dimensional
and believable. Their characters are also easy to relate to, and as
you watch them you feel a sense of hopelessness and fear as the alien
picks them off one by one. There's also a feeling of loss when they
die, which is far more important for a film such as this than spraying
as much blood as possible onscreen.

There are elements of "Alien" that evoke memories of other films of
its two kinds-horror and science fiction-as well as elements of
suspense, mystery, and originality. While watching the opening shots
of the ship's interior, I was instantly reminded of "Star Wars", and
the long, vast exterior shots of the Nostromo and the drop shuttle
were one of two things that reminded me of "2001". The other was Ash's
mutiny, namely when he closes the doors to trap Ripley and she orders,
"Open the door Ash." I also thought of "The Shining" when Dallas makes
his way through the tunnel, not because of the scene itself, but
because of the music in the background. As it played, I was suddenly
reminded of the chilling scene in Stanley Kubrick's horror classic in
which Danny Torrance stands outside room 237 ("Alien" was released a
year before that film, but both are hard to erase from your memory).

The director's cut for "Alien", like that of the other Ridley Scott
classic "Blade Runner", doesn't just have footage added; it also has
some removed. In fact, Scott actually cut about seven minutes out and
added six. While I can't fill you in on what's gone, there are some
excellent new scenes that help improve the film, such as Lambert
confronting Ripley after she tried to keep Kane off the ship, some new
exterior shots of the Nostromo, Kane pulling out a gun before
approaching the egg, longer shots of the alien when it kills Brett,
Parker and Lambert, and the crew gathering to hear the transmission.
The most notable and hyped, though, is the "cocoon" scene towards the
end where Ripley finds Dallas and Brett encrusted in some kind of
slimy, crusty substance the alien has produced. Brett has almost
entirely transformed into an egg, but Dallas weakly orders Ripley to
kill him with the flamethrower she's carrying. Although this scene
spoils one of the film's best mysteries, it's still effective and
harrowing, albeit equally miserable to watch.

The most towering of all the brilliant aspects of "Alien" is its
influence, which still shows even after 24 years and three sequels.
While James Cameron broadened the series' horizon with "Aliens" (still
the best film in the series), the establishment of "Alien" is
monumental. The designs of the alien, courtesy of the famous Swiss
artist H.R. Giger, rank among the most effective and creative monster
designs in all of movie history. Best of all, though, is the
establishment of Sigourney Weaver's famous Ripley character, who shows
little sign of playing the hero at first but rises to the occasion as
the crew grows smaller. It's fairly typical for the main hero in a
horror film to be female, but the way in which Ripley fights back and
survives is similar to Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor of the
"Terminator" films: she's a regular woman whose life is suddenly
changed when she finds herself the target of an unknown, seemingly
indestructible species (or, in Connor's case, a muscular cyborg).
Through the first two films, Ripley always seems to be shouldered out,
first by the rest of the crew of the Nostromo and in the second by a
group of macho marines. In the end, however, she rises as the hero,
and quite fittingly. Moreover, she's so great that even when you
struggle to find characters to care for in the last two, she's still
the easiest one to root for.

I have constantly searched for the first two films on DVD, and have
found that they are out of print. A new quadrilogy set containing all
four films and plenty of extra goodies is scheduled for release in
December, but the former individual discs have seemed to disappear
from major retailers. I was disappointed that I couldn't find fresh
copies of "Alien" and "Aliens", but now after seeing the director's
cut of this film, I'll definitely want to wait for it to come out.
Even though it is a minute shorter, the new edition is a definite
improvement, but this isn't a guarantee for all. If I were you, I'd
get off the couch, get in the car, and go see just how much better
"Alien" is after its new treatment. You just might fall in love with
it all over again, and if you didn't like it the first time (which is
unlikely) or haven't seen the original, you're in for more than a
treat: you're in for a full course meal.

This review is purely of my doing, and I do not copy off other
reviewers.

So, what does this rating system mean anyway? 
*****-A masterpiece of filmmaking that should be seen at all costs
****1/2-A fabulous movie. An absolute must catch. 
****-An excellent show. Be sure to see it.
***1/2-A good film. Recommended. 
***-Decent movie that could be a lot better. 
**1/2-Average movie with a number of flaws. 
**-Pretty bad with a few saving graces. 
*1/2-Bad. Don&#8217;t see it. 
*-As much fun as having your seat kicked for two hours.  
1/2-Just plain awful. 
0-Death may come

==========
X-RAMR-ID: 36218
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1214721
X-RT-TitleID: 1000604
X-RT-AuthorID: 8934
X-RT-RatingText: 5/5