Just two years after the release of Star Wars, Ridley Scott turned his attention to the sci-fi genre, creating a suspenseful film with well developed characters and breathtaking scenery.
The deep space mining ship, Nostromo, responds to a distress call from an uncharted planet. A handful of the crew boards an ancient alien vessel on the surface and soon discovers that the distress signal is actually a warning to stay away. Unfortunately, one of the crew had already become a host for the growing alien entity.
What that makes this film so successful is the exceptional treatment of the social structure between crew members. The tension between officers and engineers and the misogyny suffered by the film’s lead, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) brings an all too real feel to the plight of the characters.
Bringing the characters to life may be an essential part of the film, but placing them in peril through stunning visual effects and one hell of a scary alien provided by H.R. Giger was another crucial part of the film’s triumph. Scenes of the crew searching through the ship’s dark chambers create a kind of claustrophobic tension. Dripping with slime and acid for blood, the alien makes a formidable foe for injuring it can cause considerable damage to oneself.
An enduring character to this day, Weaver’s Ripley is beautifully conceived and attain. Her seeming vulnerability in the opening of the film makes her confrontation with the alien all the more interesting. Toward the end of the film, Ripley’s true survival skill become evident and in one edge-of-your-seat escape sequence begins as Ripley plans to leave the Nostromo before she becomes the last victim.
Less science than good fiction, Alien became a boon for the sci-fi genre with Giger taking home an Academy Award for his Visual Effects.

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers: Dan O'Bannon
Ronald Shusett

MPAA Rating: R for violence