Review of Alien (1979) by Chris K — 28 Jun 2014

33 long years later, Alien is still a definitive sci-fi film. It provides some geinuinely intense scares, and the execution still remains strong.

After 33 years, this movie still feels executed like a modern film, which is a true testament to the genius of Mr. Scott. The slow brood of atmospheric storytelling and action is paced so well; my heart was genuinely pounding as the characters walked the many corridors of the Nostromo. The special effects are fairly incredible for such an old film, save for a few outdated effects. Ash's reveal totally took me surprise and the discovery of a certain ship is pretty incredible, and the alien was incredibly realized for such early years of advanced sci-fi film making.

The acting is so strong and so intense, which is something I love about old films. Sigourney Weaver felt like a secondary character at the beginning, but her character evolves so well by the end, and by the finale I realized the power of her performance. Not only is it strong, but 33 years ago these actors had to use an incredible amount of imagination and creativity in their performances. Back in the late 70s sci-fi horror genre, a barley explored genre with less than mediocre results, aliens were a scarcely explored film topic (save for Episode IV), so this "new frontier" made all the performances so strong and so intense, and so sincere.

The acting, the pacing, the storytelling, the suspense, and roller coaster second half all proves Alien a triumphant classic. And it also proves that creativity and shocking originality can be more memorable than superb special effects and big budgets. (seen for the first time 6/5/12).