Alien (1979) Review

I am off to see Alien: Romulus tomorrow, so I thought it was about time to rewatch the film that started the franchise and the film that takes place before Alien: Romulus chronologically in Alien. So I watched it today and here is my review for a film considered a classic. The premise of the film sees a crew answer a distress call which ends up with them encountering a deadly lifeform.  

Main Character

Sigourney Weaver plays Ripley and she is great in this film. She is a strong character and is one of the most famous female lead characters of all time and this film introduces us to the awesome performance. She gets plenty of time to shine in this film and she was a great lead character. 

Supporting Characters

A young Ian Holm plays Ash and for me he is the most interesting member of the Nostromo crew and Holm absolutely nails it in the role. He is the science officer of the crew and there is just a lot of intrigue about his character and Holm really excels here. 

The rest of the crew are good and involve some big actors such as Tom Skerritt as Dallas & John Hurt as Kane. They are decent but their characters are never really fleshed out but they fill the roles well and do well with what they are given. 

The Alien itself is such an interesting design and I love how this film conveyed The Alien as a true threat to the crew and its lack of screen time actually added to that effect and made every time it does appear feel special. 

Story

The story does a really great job of showcasing a predator hunting down its prey and these humans really struggling to deal with it. There is another interesting story that comes into play in the film which is pretty interesting but isn't particularly the focus here. The issue is that the film doesn't really make you care too much about the majority of the characters and spends a bit too long building atmosphere and tone instead of a plot. 

Script

The script is fine, there are one or two scenes that are pretty memorable and have some good dramatic dialogue. But I never really felt the relationship between the characters and as I mentioned above I never really cared about anyone and the lack of interesting dialogue plays its part. 

Style

The film does a really great job of building tension and atmosphere. You have no idea when The Alien is going to strike next and the film really delves into its horror vibe in order to keep the viewer on edge. But, I have to be honest this film is really slow, especially for the first act. It takes way too long to get going and doesn't do enough in that build up to add to the complexity of the majority of the characters. 

Overall

Overall, Alien is a good film that nails its atmosphere and the objective that it wanted. I know it is probably a controversial opinion to say this film is a bit overrated but I kind of feel like it is, but it is still a good watch especially if you are a fan of horror. 

Rating - 7/10