Review of Alien (1979) by Ethan J — 28 May 2017

ALIEN' was directed by Ridley Scott and stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerrit and John Hurt. When the crew of the Nostromo reach a foreign planet that may contain life, a mysterious life form attaches itself to one of the crew and begins to wreck havoc on the ship.

If you enjoy this movie then I envy you. I genuinely do. I just cannot see the appeal in this movie and would want nothing more than to understand it but I just cannot. Nothing in this movie is particularly frightening, the story is pretty bland and weak and don't get me started on the evil lighting. Not to say I can't see any strengths in the movie. Sigourney Weaver was, to start, really good as Ripley and redefined the movie heroine. To be fair, the majority of the cast did a good job and sold their role. Except for Lambert, Lambert can go to hell. The Xenomorph is also one of the best designed aliens/creatures in movie history and I do congratulate them for holding that title. Despite these revolutionary things that this movie did for cinema, it's just not scary. The number one thing a HORROR movie should be to make me scared or tense or fearful but I just didn't. This isn't down to the effects which are actually good but rather down to the lack real atmosphere or anything to make the movie feel more intense. Again, If you like this movie then I'm happy for you but I just don't see what is so good about it.

In my opinion, the story for this movie is utter stupidity. When some scientists and astronauts, some of the most capable minds on Earth, find an Alien egg on a foreign planet, and their first thought is 'let's stick my face right into it', you know that this movie is god damn stupid. The plot makes literally no sense and its all down to some of Earth's most capable people deliberately breaking rules to keep them alive. That said, I did like the ending and do see it as being genuinely frightening seeing that in cinema's. That said, I think that it meant less to me for the fact I saw it on DVD, and knew how long was less. In addition to that, they do also kind of build up that something will happen without directly saying it, thus ruining the surprise.

Again, I will also compliment the cast for this movie. Pretty much everyone from the wonderful Signourney Weaver to the chilling Ian Holm provided a solid performance and in some ways created the tropes so many Science-Fiction movies would follow today. With the reckless captain, the level headed vice, the crazy scientist - all of that probably derived from this movie and I respect them for that. Now for someone who I couldn't stand in this movie: Veronica Cartwright as Lambert. Screw Lambert. If she died before the script was even written, I would have maybe liked this movie. She was so obnoxious and no annoying and whiny - she puts Temple of Doom's Winnie to SHAME at some points. If that was the point, then fair enough but it doesn't excuse one of the most frustratingly annoying characters I've seen in a long, long time.

Something this movie was praised greatly for was it's 'eerie' and 'tense' cinematography. How? I don't get it? Sure the movie is tightly edited and the camera was steady but I don't see how this movie revolutionised how these movies are filmed. That and the lighting was ridiculous. If you have epilepsy, do NOT watch this movie. Don't even look at the box because that might cause seizures. I respect Ridley Scott immensely and love him as a director but I had to look away from some scenes purely because of the lighting, and I've never had issues with that; my eyes are actually more used to glaring lights so it shouldn't have affected me but I thought I was going blind at points.

A horror movie should be scary, yes? I've always assumed that is what a horror film should do but from the pedestal this movie is placed on, I don't understand why. I was never, at any point in this movie, tense or scared, or even slightly concerned. This is nothing to do with the effects/alien design(which are both pretty good by the way) but more to do with the lack of atmosphere. A lack of atmosphere can make a movie disturbing but I think it just made this movie less enjoyable. This movie's primary directive was to make me scared but I don't think it did that in any way.

In conclusion, I do, to some degree, respect this movie. It revolutionised some aspects of cinema and things like the Xenomorphm, or ship design still echo through the ranks of cinema today. That said, I just couldn't enjoy this movie. I felt no emotion towards any of the characters. I felt so actual care. I just didn't enjoy this movie and it genuinely saddens me to say that because I wanted nothing more than to like these movies. Perhaps I'll enjoy 'Aliens' but I just can't say I recommend this movie.

4/10.