Review of Alien (1979) by Jimbo82 — 12 Apr 2013

Technically, Alien is pretty much flawless and right from the start when the camera is panning round the ship you know you're in for something special. The film starts slowly by gradually building the tension and suspense once the crew get to the distant planet (the build up was a little too slow if I'm being super critical). The cinematography was also excellent and once they reach the distant planet to investigate the apparent S.O.S you really feel as though you are at a bleak and desperate place and this really helps to set the scene and continues to build the tension.

The main crew on board the ship consists of; Ripley (Weaver) Dallas (Skerritt) and Parker (Kotto) to name a few. All performances given by the cast were good, but no-one gave a stand out performance in my opinion. I did enjoy the interaction between all the characters and felt as though they all connected well together they all squabbled with each other at times, but were all there for each other and worked as a team when it mattered.

Alien also benefits from impressive special effects (considering it was made in 1979) and once the alien grew to full size I thought it looked quite menacing.

The main problem I have with Alien is the rather poor ending. Once all the crew on board are killed, there is only Ripley as the surviving member. Having hunted down and killed all her crew, the Alien doesn't chase Ripley and instead just lets her run round the ship, pick up her cat and then get in the escape capsule. Then the Alien turns up wedged at the front of the capsule (for no apparent reason). Ripley then gases the Alien, fires at it and it gets blasted out of the door and that's pretty much the end. How I wish that Ridley Scott would have opted for a 'proper final showdown' (a la Predator). But instead Ridley opts for a rather pathetic ending.

I probably would have rated Alien either 8 or 9 had it not had such an anti-climactic ending, but for that resson I have given Alien a 7.