The time is the future. The crew aboard a massive, commercial space vehicle is en-route to earth with a load of extraterrestrial ore when they are sidetracked by mysterious signals from a nearby planet. The signals seem to be calls for help and when the space ship arrives they find a ruined, moldering spacecraft and within it egg-like living organisms.
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With Alien: Romulus in theaters, which is a sequel to a prequel (or something – it’s gotten confusing), it seemed like a good time to go back and revisit the original Alien. Would this Ridley Scott classic stand the test of time, and still be any good today?
The cast is varied. Sigourney Weaver showcases why she lead the cast for three sequels, as her character seems to be the voice of reason during the film. While she doesn’t showcase the bravado she does in later films, there’s an inkling that she’s a much strong woman than she originally lets on. For this first film, that’s enough. Ian Holm also turns in a convincing performance, but the others are not as great in their roles, with Veronica Cartwright being the worst of the bunch – but since hers is the worst role, that’s to be expected.
The storyline doesn’t help the cast of Alien. Since it doesn’t give much to aid them in making their characters either unique or really likeable, it’s hard for the cast to really have much to sink their teeth into. The storyline makes the cast secondary to the title creature itself, and that’s where the film really shines. Ridley Scott sets the scene well, especially during the climatic battles, with flashing lights and darkness heightening the tension – while also managing to make the alien look even better.
That said, there should be credit given to the special effects guys for their part in the film though. With a freaky design by H.R. Giger leading the way, the special effects help bring this nightmare creature to life for the most part. There is a scene or two that viewers might notice the animatronic quality of the alien, but those are few enough that it doesn’t detract much from the film as a whole.
Since the advent of CGI, viewers have been able to see the alien creature so clearly most would probably be able to draw it from memory. In this first film, the alien is largely in shadow, with only pieces braving the light – like the mouth in a mouth they are famous for. Otherwise it’s just a murky presence, which actually seems to work pretty well for Alien. Still plenty watchable, Alien is a decent base for the prequels and sequels that have continued to come out since its release.
