ALIEN 
(1979)
review by Head Cheeze

Brilliant first entry in the Alien series introduces us to the tough as nails Ellen Ripley, and, of course, thenightmarish xenomorph of the film's title.

The film opens with the crew of the space freighter, Nostromo, beingawakened from hyper-sleep by the ship's computer, Mother. A distresssignal on the uninhabited planet LV-426 merits an investigation, and thecrew sets down on the inhospitable ghost world's surface to discover a giant derelict vessel with a cargo of hundreds of egg shaped cocoons. When one crewman gets too close to the strange cargo a crab-like creature mounts to his mask and implant's an egg of it's own, and it's not long before the baby grows up to be a mean and hungry beastie with
a taste for the Nostromo's crew!

Alien marked the first marriage of big-budget sci-fi and nail biting suspense and virtually created a genre unto itself with a formula thatwas often copied but never duplicated. Scott's claustrophobic direction married to the organic set designs based on HR Geiger's nightmarish motifs culminated in a dark, moody and atmospheric example of classichorror cinema.

Alien was Sigourney Weaver's breakthrough role, and her Ripley wasnever more convincing than under the watchful eye of Scott. The character oozes a sort of uneasy confidence, as she is often secondguessed by her shipmates and, on occasion, herself. The character's
vulnerabilities displayed in this first installment were only briefly touchedupon in the sequels, which is a shame, because the Ripley of Alien survives not only through tenacity and sheer will, but also because she is actually quite terrified, and not the "Hero" Ripley of later entries.

My only gripe with Alien is it's pacing. The film does move along quite slowly at times, however, to be fair, this is more of a plot device than a technical flaw. I wouldn't say this detracts from the film upon first viewing,but after multiple viewings you may find yourself jumping to a chapterhere and there.

The DVD extras here are pretty sweet. We get a proper commentary byRidley Scott, which is more of a walk down memory lane, but fun and informative stuff. We also get some deleted bits in rather bad quality, but after one viewing you can see why most were deleted. In addition we get some out-takes, an isolated score by Jerry Goldsmith, and the obligatory cast andcrew bios. An excellent video and audio presentation is present as well, given the film's age.

While not my very favorite Alien film, this one started it all, and is as effecrive now as it was over 20 years ago. Fit for any fans library