Review: Alien

Alien Promotional Poster

The concept for the movie Alien originated from some early developments by Dan O’Bannon in the mid 1970s. Over time, O’Bannon formed a collaborative relationship with Ronald Shussett who was working on some early concepts for the movie Total Recall. They agreed to work on both movies together and opted to do Alien first. During this time, they pitched the script to a number of different production companies, but they were unable to sell the idea until after the success of Star Wars in 1977. Eventually, Fox Studios decided to make the movie and Brandywine Productions finally picked up the script.

However, bringing the movie into development was anything but a smooth process. The producers, Gordon Carroll, David Giler and Walter Hill, found the concept for the movie interesting, but decided the script needed substantial changes before the movie went into production. They made several changes to the plot, including the addition of the android, Ash. This ultimately led to some tension between Dan O’Bannon and the producers, and O’Bannon did not actually receive full credit for the script until winning the battle years after the film’s release.

Once the script began to take shape, the producers contacted Ridley Scott, who at the time was not well known, and eventually they struck a contract for him to serve as the director. Ridley Scott brought a unique cinematic style to the film, and focused more on the environment and the feel of the movie rather than the characters. Scott drew a lot of inspiration from the movies, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars and even some of the works of Alfred Hitchcock.

The story is relatively straight forward. A cargo ship, Nostromo, with its crew in cryo-sleep is on its journey home when the crew is suddenly awakened in the middle of their trip. The ship has intercepted a some kind of distress signal and as part of their contract with the Weyland Corporation, they are obligated to investigate it. Led by Captain Dallas (played by Tom Skerritt), the crew lands on the planet’s surface and discover a large alien ship. Dallas rallies a team to investigate the ship. Inside the ship, they discover that one of the alien crew members was mysterious killed by something emerging from its body. Later Kane (played by John Hurt) discover a room full of eggs and unleash a terrible creature that attacks him.

The creature appears to be a parasite in nature and uses Kane’s body as a host while it breeds inside of him. The android Ash, studies the alien creature, but does little to improve the situation. Eventually, the parasitic creature falls off and Kane appears to be in good health again. However, things take a turn for the worst when a young alien creature gruesomely emerges from his chest and disappears inside the ship. Kane dies in the process, and the rest of the crew formulates a plan to hunt down and kill the alien creature as it grows and develops.

The special effects for the movie are well-done but can appear a bit dated by today’s standards. Special effects were undergoing a revolution during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As such many of the effects we see so often now were just being invented then. The alien creature and related effects were generally well-done, and the creature as a whole was both fascinating and eerie. The original designs were inspired by the work of H.R. Giger, who also became a designer for the movie. The “chestburster” scene as it rose from Kane’s body was well executed and added to the creepy tone of the movie. However, its eventual escape was a little less convincing. In addition, the props and techniques used for the destruction of Ash, are plainly clear to be faked. In one scene, the distinction between the “prop” head and the actor’s real head can clearly be distinguished. Yet, Alien was a movie done on a limited budget and really was a breakthrough for director, Ridley Scott. The movie was very well-executed and the appeal of the plot and characters made any of its shortcomings less of a drawback.

As both a science fiction and a horror movie, Alien strikes many of the right notes that led to its eventual success. Overall, the quality of the script and the cinematic style of the director are probably what allowed the story to rise above the rest. The characters come across as real and believable, and the story is engaging and carefully played out in great detail. Scott’s attention to detail made the movie stand out among a list of movies centered on typical formulaic techniques and sub-par story-lines. As such, Alien is one of the movies that will even now continue to stand the tests of time.