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Alien was the film that introduced us to Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her battle against the perfect killing organism. This first film is still the best.
The crew of the spaceship Nostromo investigate a transmission from a desolate planet. One of the crew, Kane (John Hurt), finds a hoard of eggs. As when splits open, he has a closer look. A parasite leaps out and attaches itself to his face.
The other crew members try and get it off but are unable to do this due to the creature having acid blood. Eventually, it appears to die and Kane seems fine. While the crew have dinner, Kane starts convulsing wildly. As the crew hold him, an alien bursts out of his chest.
The crew now must find a way to kill this newcomer before it kills them!
Alien was the film that re-invented the Sci-Fi genre even more than Star Wars did. It became a huge hit and spawned 3 sequels of varying quality. This film is still great after 22 years. It has hardly dated at all and is still as tense and scary as it was back in 1979. The small cast all do well in their roles and the title character is also well achieved.
Another good thing about the film is HR Giger‘s wonderful set designs. They really are awe inspiring and contribute to the film’s dark emphasis. Ridley Scott would later make another sci-fi classic, 1982’s Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford.
The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is excellent and this really makes the film look a lot less younger than it actually is. There is hardly any sparkle, grain or digital artifacts. It just shows what DVD can do for classic titles.
The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is used well. There is not much action in this film but when there is, the sound is excellent. Dialogue is clear as is Jerry Goldsmith‘s score.
Extras:
- Trailers: 4 trailers are present. Two of these being theatrical trailers and the other two are TV Spots. All but one of these use the same material: a shot of an alien egg splitting open with a howling noise in the background. The one trailer that does not use this has clips from the film edited together well. All trailers are non-anamorphic.
Deleted Scenes: There are 10 one of these and come to a total of 18 minutes. These include character development particulary for Ripley and Lambert, a scene shortly after Kane’s death where the crew discuss how they are going to deal with the alien, an alternate version of Brett’s death and the famous cocoon sequence where Ripley finds a cocooned Dallas and Brett. All are worth watching especially the cocoon scene which shows Ridley Scott’s ideas on the alien origins which are contrary to ideas posed in the other films. All of these scenes are in non-anamorphic widescreen.
Outtakes: These are just two more deleted scenes. One featuring Kane shortly after waking up and another which features an alternate version of the alien’s attack on Lambert where we actually get a good look at the creature. The beginning of the first has a guy with a clapperboard and directions being given from the set. The first outtake is non-anamorphic widescreen but the second appears to be fullscreen.
Commentary: There is a audio commentary from the director Ridley Scott and it is a very interesting one. If you have never listened to a commentary before, then this one would be a good one to start with. There is also a topic search so you can skip to any part of the commentary you wish to listen to. A great idea which has not been widely used for other commentaries.
Artwork and Photo Galleries: This shows H.R Giger’s artwork as well as still from the film, behnid-the-scenes and publicity material.
Original Story Boards: These are Ridley Scott’s original storyboards for the film which he sold to FOX so that he could make the film.
Isolated Original Score: There is an isolated version of Jerry Goldsmith’s music so you can listen to it while watching the film.
Alternate Music Track: This is a different version of music for the film.
Easter Eggs: When you go into the main menu, highlight the left window and click on it. You are taken into a menu which offers bios for the crew of the Nostromo. The other egg is in the special features menu. Highlight the acid puddle at the bottom of the screen and click on it. You will find information on the alien and the stages it goes through.
Menus: The menus are fantastic. On loading the disc and getting past copyright info and the FOX logo, there is a text read out from the Nostromo which activates the ship and takes you inside the main crew area which displays the options. There are also links for sub-menus.
Languages and Subtitles: There is only one language on the disc and that is English Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Icelandic.
Chapters: There are 20 chapters spread throughout the film which is good but it could have used a few more.
Overall, this disc is just about perfect. The only thing missing is a documentary although there is one if you buy the Alien Legacy box set.
If you buy that, you get all four films plus a bonus disc which features a 66-minute documentary called The Alien Legacy which is about the making of the first film. As it stands though, this disc is still an essential purchase even without a documentary.
Alien is out now on Blu-ray, Amazon Video and DVD.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
7 10 8 8 |
| OVERALL | 8 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 116 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 1979
Released: 2000
Cat.no: 01090DVD
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 20
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, Sewdish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Icelandic
Widescreen: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic Panavision)
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD9
Director: Ridley Scott
Producers: Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Screenplay: Dan O’Bannon
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Cast:
Ripley: Sigourney Weaver
Dallas: Tom Skerrit
Kane: John Hurt
Ash: Ian Holm
Lambert: Veronica Cartwright
Brett: Harry Dean Stanton
Parker: Yaphet Kotto