Alien (1979)

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers (WGA):

Dan O'Bannon (story) and
Ronald Shusett (story) ...

Release Date:

25 May 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

In space no one can hear you scream.

Plot:

A mining ship, investigating a suspected SOS, lands on a distant planet. The crew discovers some strange creatures and investigates.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Spaceship | Egg | Parasite | Creature

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 11 wins & 18 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Dec. 31

1:30 AM

AMC

Cast

Tom Skerritt	...	Dallas
Sigourney Weaver	...	Ripley
Veronica Cartwright	...	Lambert
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Brett
John Hurt	...	Kane
Ian Holm	...	Ash
Yaphet Kotto	...	Parker
Bolaji Badejo	...	Alien
Helen Horton	...	Mother (voice)

Also Known As:

Alien: The Director's Cut (USA) (director's cut)
Star Beast (USA) (working title)
Alien - El octavo pasajero (Argentina) (International: Spanish title) (Mexico) (Spain) [es]
вСФНИ (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
Alien (Sweden) [sv]
Alien - Das unheimliche Wesen aus einer fremden Welt (West Germany) [de]
Alien - Den 8. passager (Denmark) [da]
Alien - Director's Cut (Germany) (director's cut) [de]
Alien - Le huitième passager (France) [fr]
Alien - O 8.º Passageiro (Portugal) [pt]
Alien - kahdeksas matkustaja (Finland) [fi]
Alien den åttonde passageraren (Sweden) [sv]
Alien, el octavo pasajero (Uruguay) [es]
Alien, el octavo pasajero: El montaje del director (Spain) (director's cut) [es]
Alien, o Oitavo Passageiro (Brazil) [pt]
Alien, o epivatis tou diastimatos (Greece) [el]
Alien: Den åttende passasjer (Norway) [no]
El octavo pasajero (Spain) [es]
Ha-Nose'a HaShmini (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
L'étranger: le huitième passager (Canada: French title) [fr]
Nyolcadik utas a halál (Hungary) [hu]
Obcy - ósmy pasazer Nostromo (Poland) [pl]
Osmi putnik (Yugoslavia: Serbian title) [sr]
Vetrelec (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Votrelec (Czechoslovakia: Slovak title) [sk]
Yaratik (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore and language. (director's cut)

Runtime:

117 min | USA:116 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating) | New Zealand:M (re-release) | New Zealand:R16 (original rating) | Italy:T | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Finland:K-18 (director's cut) (DVD rating) | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Portugal:M/16 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 (re-rating) (2003) | South Korea:18 (original rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:14 | West Germany:16 (f) | Israel:16 | India:A | Czech Republic:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 (director's cut) (2003) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (director's cut) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R (certificate #25541)

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Brandywine Productions

Trivia:

To get Jones the cat react fearfully to the descending Alien, a German Shepherd was placed in front of him with a screen between the two, so the cat wouldn't see it at first, and came over. The screen was then suddenly removed to make Jones stop, and start hissing.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kane, Dallas, and Lambert are in their spacesuits exploring the alien ship, all are wearing white/gray fabric covers on their heads under the domes of their helmets. These are like the "communication carriers" or "Snoopy hats" worn by Apollo and later astronauts. But when Kane's helmet is cut off in the sick bay, no Snoopy hat.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Brett: This is the worst shit I've ever seen, man.
Parker: What you say? You got any biscuits over there?
Ripley: Here's some cornbread.
Parker: Cornbread. Yeah.
Lambert: I am cold.
Parker: Still with us, Brett?
Brett: Right.
Kane: Oh, I feel dead.
Parker: Anybody ever tell you you look dead, man?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beethoven's Big Break (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Excerpts from 'Symphony no. 2 (Romantic)'

My favourite tagline for a movie

"In space, no one can hear you scream." This remains my favourite tagline ever for a movie. When 'Alien' was released in 1979, it caused almost as much talk as 'Star Wars' did when released two years earlier. The science fiction genre was being revolutionized at this time and 'Alien' had a horror characteristic to it which was psychological, visually striking and compelling with the type of strength in silence not seen since '2001: A Space Odyssey' in 1968. Definitely a big influence in blockbuster film making, 'Alien' has spawned three sequels so far and is a great horror/science-fiction classic not to be missed. It is director Ridley Scott's best effort on the big screen for making fear the best character in the film.