Alien

Rating: 5/5

For decades there have been movies made about space and the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Though made before the time of advanced special effects, Alien remains to be one of the greatest sci-fi/horror films of all time.

Alien tells the story of the crew on board the Nostromo. They are all in hypersleep and are traveling through space back to Earth. Slowly, they begin to wake, assuming their ship must be close to home. To their surprise, they learn that they are still about ten months from reaching Earth, and they have been prematurely awakened to investigate a signal that was picked up by their ship. As per their orders, a few members of the crew leave the ship to investigate the planet that the mysterious signal is coming from. The crew that remains on the ship must figure out exactly where they are and what the signal could mean. Among the crew staying behind on the ship is Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).

While investigating the unknown planet, Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt), discovers pod like organisms that appear to have life inside them. While inspecting the pod, and an unidentified life form attaches itself to Kane's helmet. He is rushed back to the ship, and though its' against quarantine protocol and Ripley's orders, Kane is allowed inside.

Alien is the film that shot Sigourney Weaver into stardom, and it is very clear why. Ripley is a tenacious and assertive character and to achieve Ripley's sense of power and strength, any lesser actor could have made the mistake of making Ripley seem controlling or even too masculine. Sigourney Weaver was able to turn Ripley into a famously strong female character, but not to push her to the point of becoming artificially tough.

I often wish that current science fiction movies wouldn't rely so heavily on CGI, and Alien is one of the reasons that I feel this way. It is the perfect example of the phrase less is more. Alien uses practical effects, and by doing so, the actual alien and the terror it ensues seem all too real. No matter how far we've come in the special effects department, you can always tell when something isn't truly there or real, and that is why Alien is so brilliant.

Alien is unnervingly quiet, and it is in that silence that the movie thrives. Without the extra noises of the spaceship or sci-fi gadgets, you are left with the sounds of fear, and that leaves much more of an impact than any fabricated noise that could have been created.

Alien is spectacular in every moment it brings to the screen. It is a tribute to all those involved in its' making, that almost 40 years later, it is still a science fiction film that almost all others are measured by.