Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Sigourney Weaver,Tom Skerritt,Ian Holm,John Hurt,Yaphet Kotto
This is one of my favorite sci-fi movies of all time, so first off, I’d like to say that anyone who didn’t like this movie needs their head examined. For those who find it a generic alien-hunting-humans movie, I can forgive you, because you’re simply forgetting that the first Alien movie created the genre. But for people that say it’s boring, I cannot be so kind: you are officially a tool of the new generation of dumb sci-fi action flicks—as far as I’m concerned, you can go watch Armageddon and let your brain rot.
Without giving too much away, the story follows the fated crew of the Nostromo—a space-mining ship—awakened from cryosleep to investigate a mysterious signal from an unknown planet. While on the planet, a tentacled alien creature (affectionately known as a “facehugger”) attaches itself to one of the crew members, who is brought back onboard to be examined. When the alien is finally unleashed aboard the ship in the movie’s most famous scene, the horror begins…you can probably guess the rest.
This movie was gripping from beginning to end, and please don’t tell me it wasn’t. Unlike today’s cliched chase scenes and brain-numbing, random explosions, à la Jerry Bruckheimer, Alien embodied sheer terror. Narrow corridors, dim lights, and blazing klaxons, not to mention an acid-for-blood killer alien, heightened the suspense. The cast was excellent, including Sigourney Weaver as the Amazonian Lieutenant Ripley, Ian Holm as an evil medical officer, Tom Skerritt as the crew’s intrepid leader, and John Hurt as an unfortunate alien host. All the crew members’ names—and their messy deaths (that should not be a spoiler)—will stick with you well after the credits have rolled past.
What amazes me about this movie is how few kids have actually seen it. Whatever the reason is, they’re definitely missing something good. This is not your generic horror flick—it will scare the living daylights out of the uninitiated, and will even give those of you who think you’re pretty tough more than a squirm or two. So I recommend that one night, when you feel ready, turn down all the lights, take the phone off the hook for your own sake (‘cause your blood will freeze if it rings!), keep your security blanket handy, and get ready to immerse yourself in the motion picture that brought sheer terror to the big screen in a way no one dared to do before. And if you somehow think this movie is boring, you officially have no clue what a quality thriller is.
