Alien (1979)
97%RT Audience Score: 94%
Awards & Nominations: NA
A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.
Alien is like a delicious sci-fi/horror smoothie with a dash of bleak poetry thrown in for good measure. It’s a modern classic that seamlessly blends all these genres together. It’s like the perfect mix of sweet and sour, with just the right amount of kick to keep you on the edge of your seat. You’ll be sucked into the story faster than a vacuum cleaner on steroids. It’s a must-watch for anyone who loves a good scare and a great story. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-14
Year of Release
1979
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 57m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 25, 1979 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 1, 1999
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
Alien, R, Horror, Ridley Scott, Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, David Giler, Gordon Carroll, Walter Hill
Worldwide gross: $78,944,891
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $78,944,891
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Sigourney Weaver – Warrant Officer Lt. Ellen L. Ripley
John Hurt – Engineer G.W. Kane
Veronica Cartwright – Navigator J.M. Lambert
Harry Dean Stanton – Engineering Technician S.E. Brett
Ian Holm – Science Officer Ash
Director(s)
Ridley Scott
Writer(s)
Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Producer(s)
David Giler, Gordon Carroll, Walter Hill
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Visual Effects Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (129) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (126) | Rotten (3)
The filmmakers have come up with some images that are sheerest nightmare. The film earns its shudders honestly: Scott is too talented to need gratuitousness as a aid.
August 13, 2019
Jeff Millar
Houston Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
This gorgeous, leisurely horror film expresses a spectacularly British xenophobia, a parenthetical nightmare of invasion envisioned between an awakening (at the start of the film) and a return to sleep (at its close).
March 4, 2019
Philip Strick
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
After 40 years, this sci-fi horror masterpiece still feels lethally contemporary.
March 1, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Everything shrieks fit to burst, ignoring the poster tagline (“In space no one can hear you scream”).
February 20, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
I adore this movie. It’s a movie that has engaging characters, an incredible creature, and its incredibly scary. It’s one of Ridley Scott’s best films.
May 12, 2018 | Rating: A+
Chris Stuckmann
ChrisStuckmann.com
TOP CRITIC
This is a screamingly spooky sci-fi tale with more than a few echoes of “The Thing” but echoes which enhance rather than detract.
May 25, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Ernest Leogrande
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Alien is one of those films so familiar to audiences, and so widely and unconditionally liked, that it is easy to forget exactly how and why it is as effective a film as it is.
March 11, 2022 | Rating: 10/10
Grant Watson
Fiction Machine
Visionary and terrifying, Ridley Scott’s Alien hybridized the horror and science-fiction genres in 1979 to effectively launch a new subgenre, and countless clones have since borrowed from its DNA.
March 2, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
It’s a story that resonates to this day, in no small part because of the devastatingly human portrayals of each of the Nostromo’s crew members.
October 20, 2021
Maddy Myers
Polygon
Ridley Scott’s original film remains singular in its perfect synthesis of horror, mystery, and anti-capitalist subtext.
April 27, 2021
Toussaint Egan
Polygon
Utilizing nothing more than the camera quietly panning around lengthy, isolated, ill-lit corridors is enough to muster chills.
August 27, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Where 2001 explored mankind’s place in the universe and Star Wars was a grand adventure, Alien depicted space as a frightening trap where escape was near impossible.
July 17, 2020
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin…
Plot
An alien, who has crashed landed on earth on a mission to destroy humanity, assumes the identity of Dr. Harry Vanderspeigel, so he can remain undetected by the residents of Patience, CO while he searches the snow-covered Colorado Mountains for pieces of his ship. He learns “to be human” by watching Law and Order and mimicking the late, great Jerry Orbach. One day the sheriff of Patience, Mike “Big Black” Thompson and his deputy, Liv Baker, show up at his isolated cabin. There has been a murder in town and they need a doctor. The murder victim is the town doctor. Soon, he finds himself as the new town doctor and in constant contact with the people of the town. Something, until now, he has vehemently avoided. Now, as he is spending more time with humans, he is learning more about them and what makes them human. Which gives him pause, but is still determined to complete his mission to destroy the people of earth. He also discovers there is one person in town who can see him in his true form; which, of course, is less than ideal.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Alien is praised for their performances, with Sigourney Weaver being hailed as the ultimate badass.
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