Amazon.com Essentials:
A landmark of science fiction and horror, Alien arrived
in 1979 between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back as
a stylishly malevolent alternative to George Lucas's space fantasy.
Partially inspired by 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space,
this instant classic set a tone of its own, offering richly detailed
sets, ominous atmosphere, relentless suspense, and a flawless ensemble
cast as the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, who fall prey
to a vicious creature (designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger) that had
gestated inside one of the ill-fated crew members. In a
star-making role, Sigourney Weaver excels as sole survivor Ripley, becoming
the screen's most popular heroine in a lucrative movie franchise. To
measure the film's success, one need only recall the many images that
have been burned into our collective psyche, including the
"facehugger," the "chestburster," and Ripley's climactic encounter with
the full-grown monster. Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott,
Alien is one of the cinema's most unforgettable
nightmares. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com Essentials:
An interesting feature of Alien, Aliens,
Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection, worth watching together if only for the
chance to see how different directors handle essentially the same idea. The results are
decidedly mixed. Ridley Scott's Alien is the most traditional of the
bunch, essentially a haunted-house picture set on a space freighter,
where a monster is picking off crew members one by one. James Cameron's
Aliens is the all-out adrenaline bath, a pulse-pounding action
thriller from start to finish. It plays a little like a Western in
outer space, where the settlers are waiting for a cavalry that never
comes--and the Indians are acid-veined aliens. And David Fincher's
Alien 3 is the rock-video version, in which substance and
storytelling are sacrificed to editing and imagery, as the aliens
attempt to take over a space penal colony.
--Marshall Fine
