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Dom Robinson reviews

Alien

Distributed by
Encore Entertainment

Cat.no : EE 1088
Cert : 18
Running time : 116 mins plus trailers
Sides 2 (CLV)
Year : 1979
Pressing : UK, 1995
Chapters : 33 (18/12+3)
Sound : Dolby Surround
Widescreen : 2.35:1
Price : £21.99
Extras : Trailers for all 3 films

Director:

Ridley Scott

Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, White Squall

Producers:

Glenn Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill

Screenplay:

Dan O'Bannon

Music:

Jerry Goldsmith

Cast:

Ripley : Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters, Gorillas in the Mist)
Dallas : Tom Skerritt (Picket Fences, M*A*S*H, Top Gun)
Kane : John Hurt (The Elephant Man, Rob Roy, "1984")
Ash : Ian Holm (The Madness of King George, Naked Lunch)
Lambert : Veronica Cartwright (The Right Stuff, Witches of Eastwick)
Brett : Harry Dean Stanton (Wild at Heart, Paris Texas)
Parker : Yaphet Kotto (Live and Let Die, Midnight Run)

Alien: The Nostromo is a commercial towing vehicle carrying 20 million tons of mineral ore, a crew of seven people, and is on a course heading back to Earth...
...that is until they are awoken from suspended animation several months before their arrival to answer a space distress call.

When they land on the once-inhabited planet and go exploring, the unlucky John Hurt is attacked by something strange which attaches itself to his face, causes him more than an ounce of trouble, and escapes to another part of the ship.

One by one the crew are picked off by the alien as they attempt to track it down and destroy it, leading to an incredibly tense finale.

The alien creature was designed by H.R. Giger, who also worked on the designs for the spaceship and the creature's lair, and was handpicked by director Ridley Scott himself.

"Alien" is one of the perfect examples of how to make a suspense-filled film, without resorting to unnecessary violence and bad language.

I was fortunate enough to catch a double-bill of "Alien" and "Aliens" at my local cinema two years ago, and they are an absolute knockout on the big screen. The suspense is in no way diminished on the smaller screen, the widescreen ratio giving you the full composition of the picture so it makes for a fantastic home cinema experience.

Colours are sharp and vibrant, and it's worth pointing out that the widescreen video which came as part of the VHS 'facehugger' boxset a few years ago had the film in a slightly less-wide ratio. Thankfully, Encore have used the same master as the original single-tape widescreen release which retains the exact 2.35:1 ratio.

The surround sound is used to excellent effect as the sound of the ship's computers and controls hum from all around; computers bleep from their respective screen positions and when the ship is set to self-destruct, your speakers had better watch out... and the sound of the alien attacking its victims makes your flesh crawl right off!

The side-break is well placed coming after the scene where Ripley, Parker and Lambert think they've found the alien, but it turns out to be Brett's cat, Jones, which is followed on side 2 by the scene where Brett goes "Looking for Jones".

Chapters are sensibly placed at each key scene change, with chapter titles helping to find your chosen favourite moment with ease such as "Something he ate?", "Ash's True Colours" and "Looking for Jones".

The price of the disc is a key factor in making it a smash hit, and you pass this one up, you'll kick yourself for not entering into one of the best film trilogies in movie history, especially as it won Oscars for Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects.

The disc is made complete with trailers for : Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3...

...and if you skip straight to exactly 53 minutes in on side 1, John Hurt seems to be having a little trouble keeping his lunch down....

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1996.

The following is a list of all the Alien films reviewed online to date :

2005	DVDfever Dom: Alien Vs Predator Special Edition (DVD)
2001	Adam Duncan: Alien (DVD)
2001	Adam Duncan: Aliens: Special Edition (DVD)
2001	Adam Duncan: Alien 3 (DVD)
1996	DVDfever Dom: Alien (PAL Laserdisc)
1996	DVDfever Dom: Aliens: Special Edition (PAL Laserdisc)
1996	DVDfever Dom: Alien 3 (PAL Laserdisc)

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