Alien Review "You...BITCH!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, well this post is something of a revisit of VERY old post on this blog but its so out of date that I've decided to complete redo as it as a new review, so it is technically a new one after lol! So, the review in question will be on the classic sci-fi horror film, Alien. 

So, after 41 years (yep amazing!) let's take another look at this modern classic and see how it still stacks up. And just to warn you...this is going to be a BIG post! 

And the usual warning (for what its worth!) is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!! 

STORY

So, the story itself takes place in deep space with a commercial spaceship, the Nostromo enroute for Earth with its crew members all in deep stasis. However, the ship soon picks up a transmission, which awakens the crew out of stasis. The crew members consists of seven people, five men and two woman that are lead by Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) and the other members being Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Executive officer, Kane (John Hurt), Flight Navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Science Officer, Ash (Ian Holm) and the two ship engineers, Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton). 

Dallas on checking with the ship's computer, Mother, discovers that it appears to be a distress beacon coming from a nearby alien planet and under their contract, they are obliged to investigate. So, as the ship lands on the surface of the planet but is damaged in the process due to the planet's rocky terrain and high winds. Despite the barren landscape and gale like winds, Dallas, Kane and Lambert head out to investigate, while Ripley, Ash, Parker and Brett stay onboard.

Dallas, Kane and Lambert soon come along a derelict ship, which they enter and Kane finds a hole inside that leads down into a chamber that is filled with leathery egg like objects. As Kane enters the chamber, he takes a closer look at one of the eggs however as he gets near, it open and the creature inside leaps out onto Kane's helmet, knocking him back on the ground. 

Dallas, Lambert take the incapacitated Kane back to the ship's entrance but Ripley refuses to let them onboard due to strict quarantine rules, however Ash disregards Ripley's order and let's them onboard. On examining Kane, they remove his helmet and discover the alien creature attached itself to his face and as Dallas orders Ash to cut it off, acidic blood spills out of the alien and penetrates two decks of the ship's hull but stops before any further damage is done. 

The alien however soon detaches itself from Kane and is found dead by Ash, Dallas and Ripley and Ash insists that the alien is taken back for study, much to Ripley's disapproval but Dallas agrees and with the repairs to the ship done, they take off from the planet. Kane, soon comes around and the crew have dinner together but all of a sudden, Kane starts to convulse in pain and blood spatters from his chest as a small creature bursts out him and flees from the quarters. 

As Kane's body is ejected into space, the crew decide to capture the alien with Ripley, Parker and Brett sent to catch it but they find no sight of it together but Brett soon finds the alien on his own but it has grown significantly in size and it kills him. This leads Dallas toward the decision to try and corner the alien creature and blast it into outer space through the airlock but he too is soon killed by the alien as he tries to locate it in the air shafts.

And its from here, Ripley takes charge and decides to continue with Dallas's plan but from here things take an unpredictable turn and the crew still face the terrifying challenge of killing the fully grown alien...

THOUGHTS

There is no doubt that Alien remains one of the great sci-fi films of its time and one of the landmark films in sci-fi history and it is a thoroughly tense and gripping experience, which has a very slow build up but it remains expertly directed by Ridley Scott throughout, who announced himself here. The alien creature design itself is nothing short of a masterpiece in itself as the designs by conceptual artists, H.R. Giger are truly unique not to mention very scary and it is brilliantly realised in the film. 

The film is also helped along by a very good script written by Dan O'Bannon (with the story co-written by Ronald Shusett) which features some fine dialogue, plenty of mystery and things left to the viewer's imagination. O'Bannon himself previously had written the script for John Carpenter's cult classic, Dark Star, which was made back in 1974. 

PERFORMANCE AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain spoilers!)

As for the performances in Alien, overall they are excellent from its small cast of seven. 

Starting with Tom Skerritt who is very good as Dallas, the cool headed Captain of the Nostromo, who leads his crew to the alien planet on orders of the Weyland Utani company. 

And Tom has some good scenes worth of mention such as the one where he briefs the crew on their orders to investigate the transmission. So, Dallas says to the others "Well... some of you may have figured out we're not home yet, we're only half way there. Mother's interrupted the course of our journey. She's programmed to do that should certain conditions arise. They have. It seems that she has... intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. She got us up to check it out". Ripley, surprised asks "A transmission? Out here?" and Dallas says "An acoustical beacon. It repeats at intervals of 12 seconds" and Kane asks "SOS?" and Dallas says "I don't know" and Ripley asks "Human?" and Dallas says "Unknown". 

Also as Parker argues with Dallas and the crew about their contract and the money he and Brett get in contrast to theirs, he says "I want to go home and party" just as Ash says they are under contract to investigate it, which prompts Dallas to shout "Parker, will you just listen to the man?!". And as Ash tells Parker "A penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money" and Dallas asks Parker "You got that?!" and Parker laughs and says "Yeah!" and Dallas says "Alright, we're going in". 

Then there is the scene where Dallas and Lambert take the incapcitated Kane back to the ship but Ripley refuses to let them due to the alien creature attached to Kane and their quarantine rules. 

So, in the scene says to Ripley "Ripley let us in" and Ripley asks "What happened to Kane?" and Dallas says to her "Something attached itself to him. We need to get him to the infirmary right away" and Ripley asks "What kind of thing? I need a clear definition" and Dallas impatiently says "An organism. Open the hatch!". Ripley then warns Dallas "Wait a minute. If you let in, the whole ship could be infected. You know the quarantine procedure. 24 hours for decontamination!" and Dallas tells her "He could die in 24 hours! Open the hatch!". And Ripley still refuses to let them in prompting Dallas to angrily tell her "Ripley, this is an order! Open that hatch right, do you hear me?!" and  Ripley says "Yes" but does nothing. So, Dallas angrily repeats again "Ripley, this is an order! Do you hear me?!" and Ripley "Yes. I read you. The answer is negative" but then Ash opens the airlock door anyway. 

Then there is the scene where Dallas and Ash cut open Kane's helmet, which reveals the alien is wrapped around Kane's face and Dallas looks shocked and says "My God!". And as Kane does a body scan of Kane and we see something inside Kane's chest and Dallas asks "Its got something down his throat, now what the hell is that?" and Ash says "I'd suggest its feeding him oxygen". So, Dallas insists that they cut the alien of Kane's face despite Ash's pleas not to but on doing so, acidic liquid pours out of the alien and melts a hole in the floor and Dallas says "That crap will eat through the hull!". So, Dallas opens the door and rushes and shouts to the others "That crap will eat through goddamn hull! Come on!". So, they check the lower decks but thankfully the acid stops and Dallas asks Brett for a pen "Brett, have you got a pen there? Come on! Come on!" so Brett gives him a pen and Dallas reaches to the steaming roof with drops of acidic liquid smouldering on the pen. So, Dallas says "I haven't seen anything like that except, uh molecular acid". 

And then there is the moment where Dallas and Ripley argue over his decision to let Ash study the dead facehugger alien rather than destroy it. So, Ripley stops Dallas from leaving and shuts a door on him and sighs and she asks "How could you leave that decision to him?" and Dallas angrily tells her "Look, I just run the ship! Anything that has to do with the science division, Ash has the final word!". Ripley then asks him "Since when was that standard procedure?" and Dallas tells her "Standard procedure is to do whatever the hell they tell you to do!". Ripley then asks "Did you ever ship out with Ash before?" and Dallas says "I went out five times with another science officer. And they replaced him two days before we left Thedus with Ash". Ripley however warily says of Ash "I don't trust him" and Dallas says "I don't trust anybody!". Dallas then asks her how the repairs are going and Ripley they are mostly done but they are still some things to do but Dallas says to her "Aww that's a bunch of horseshit, we can take off without any of that!" and Ripley asks "Is that a good idea?" and Dallas bluntly tells her "Look, I just wanna get the hell out of here, alright?!". 

Sigourney Weaver is excellent also in her role as Ripley, who would of course go on to feature in the future sequels, which vary in quality! However here, Weaver does a great job at playing Ripley, a stern and conscientious officer, who insists on doing things by the book. 

And Weaver has her share of good scenes, starting with the one where Ripley goes down into the engine room where the two ship engineers Parker and Brett are working and Parker can't help but bring up the shares again!

So, in the scene Parker asks "Hey Ripley! I wanna ask you a question! If they find what they are looking for out there, does that mean we get full shares?!" and Ripley tells him "Don't worry, Parker, yeah. You'll get whatever's coming to you!". Brett however says to Ripley "Look, I'm not gonna do anymore work until we get this straightened out!" and Ripley assures him "Brett, you are guaranteed by law to get a share!". Parker then shouts over the noise of the compressed air canisters he is firing and says "What?!" and Ripley annoyed says "Why don't you just fuck off?!" and Parker teases and says "What?!" and Ripley says "If you have any trouble, I'll be on the bridge!" and she walks off. 

Another good scene is when Dallas and Lambert return to the ship outside with Kane incapacitated by the alien but Ripley refuses to let them in due to quarantine rules. 

So, in the scene says to Ripley "Ripley let us in" and Ripley asks "What happened to Kane?" and Dallas says to her "Something attached itself to him. We need to get him to the infirmary right away" and Ripley asks "What kind of thing? I need a clear definition" and Dallas impatiently says "An organism. Open the hatch!". Ripley then warns Dallas "Wait a minute. If you let in, the whole ship could be infected. You know the quarantine procedure. 24 hours for decontamination!" and Dallas tells her "He could die in 24 hours! Open the hatch!". And Ripley still refuses to let them in prompting Dallas to angrily tell her "Ripley, this is an order! Open that hatch right, do you hear me?!" and  Ripley says "Yes" but does nothing. So, Dallas angrily repeats again "Ripley, this is an order! Do you hear me?!" and Ripley "Yes. I read you. The answer is negative" but then Ash opens the airlock door anyway much to Ripley's surprise.

Then there is the scene where Ripley drops in on Ash while he is working using a microscanner on what is presumably a sample of its tissue (not sure of that though!). So, Ripley in the scene says "That's amazing, what is that?" and Ash says "Yes it is. I'm not sure yet. Did you want something?" and Ripley says "Yes, a little talk. How is Kane?" and Ash tells her "He's holding, no changes." and Ripley asks "And our guest?" and Ash makes some notes and he tells her some details of his findings so far and asks "Is that enough?" and Ripley says "Its plenty". 

So, Ash continues and tells Ripley "Well, its an interesting combination of elements that makes him a tough little son of a bitch" and Ripley says "And you let him in" and Ash says "I was obeying a direct order, remember?". Ripley however firmly tells Ash "Ash, when Kane and Dallas are off the ship, I am the Senior Officer" and Ash says "Oh, yes I forgot that" and Ripley says "You also forgot the science division's basic quarantine law" but Ash says to her "No, that I DIDN'T forget" and Ripley asks him "Oh, I see you just broke it?". Ash however says to her "Look, what would you have done Kane? You knew his only chance of survival was letting him in here" but Ripley warns him "But by breaking quarantine, you've risked everybody's life". Ash then says to Ripley it was a risk he was willing to take but Ripley almost teasing says to Ash "That's a pretty big risk, for a science officer. Its not exactly out of the manual, is it?". 

Another good scene comes just after Dallas has been killed by the alien, the crew really begin to panic and Ripley takes command and suggests they carry on with Dallas's plan.

So, Ripley says to the others "Unless somebody has a better idea, we'll proceed with Dallas's plan" but Lambert nervously says "What?! And end up like the others?! No, you're out of your mind!" and suggest they take their chances in the shuttle but Ripley reminds her "The shuttle won't take four". So, as Parker is about to angrily storm out to try and find and kill the alien, Ripley says to him "Will you listen to me, Parker???! SHUT UP! Its using the airshafts" but Parker says "We don't know that!" and Ripley insists "Its the ONLY way!". So, Ripley then says to the group "We'll move in pairs. We'll go step by step and cut off every bulkhead and every vent until we have it cornered, and then we'll blow it the fuck out into space! Is that acceptable to you?" and Parker says "If it means killing it, that's acceptable to me" and Ripley tells him "Obviously it means killing it! But we have to stick together".

And after Parker leaves the room, Ripley then asks Ash "Ash? Any suggestions from you or Mother?" and Ash tells her "No, we're still collating". And Ripley incredulously asks "What?! You're still collating?? I find that hard to believe!" and Ash asks her "Well, what would you like me to do?" and Ripley firmly tells him "Just what you've been doing, Ash...nothing! I've got access to Mother now and I'll get my own answers thank you!". 

Then there is the great scene where Ripley in the computer room asks Mother what the special order was for Ash and it reveals that the order was to bring back the alien lifeform and all other priorities were secondary and the crew were expendable. So, as Ripley sits back in shock, Ash suddenly appears next to her and says "There is an explanation for this you know" and Ripley suddenly grabs him and violently throws him against the wall and shouts "I don't wan't to hear your goddamn explanation!" and she sobs and storms out.

Then we have the scene where Ripley activates the self-destruct system on the ship but she has a change of mind and tries to deactivate it but just misses the 5 minute window to do so. So, in the scene, Ripley tries to turns it off and she shouts to Mother "Mother! I've turned the cooling units back on! Mother!!" and Mother announces that the ship will continue to self destruct in 5 minutes. So, Ripley grabs her flamethrower and shouts "You...BITCH!" and smashes the monitor giving the countdown.

And last of all is the scene where Ripley manages to escape the Nostromo in the shuttle just before it self destructs and as the shuttle flies off, the Nostromo fades into the distance and we see a giant explosion, which rocks the shuttle until it dies down and fades away. So, Ripley with her eyes closed, breaths with relief and says to herself "I got you...you son of a bitch!". 

Ian Holm is also excellent in his role as Ash, the science officer, who is not all he appears to be at first in the film and there is a plot twist with him later on.

Ian also some good scenes that include the one where Ash tells Parker that they must investigate the transmission as they will forfeit their shares if they don't. So, Ash says "I'm sorry, can I say something?!". So, Ash says "There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated". Parker however refuses to listen and says "I don't wanna hear it! I wanna go home and party!" and Dallas snaps at him "Parker, will you just listen to the man?!" and Ash tells Parker "On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money!". 

Then there is the scene where Ripley tells Ash that she has decoded part of the transmission they have received.So, Ripley says to Ash "Ash, Mother has deciphered part of the message we have received. It doesn't look like an S.O.S" and Ash asks "What is it, then?" and Ripley says "Well...it looks like warning. I'm gonna go out after them". Ash however insistently says to Ripley "What's the point?! I mean by the time it takes to get there, they'll know if its a warning or not, yes?" and Ripley gives in and Ash breaths a sigh of relief.

Then there is the scene where Ripley drops in on Ash while he is working using a microscanner on what is presumably a sample of its tissue (not sure of that though!). So, Ripley in the scene says "That's amazing, what is that?" and Ash says "Yes it is. I'm not sure yet. Did you want something?" and Ripley says "Yes, a little talk. How is Kane?" and Ash tells her "He's holding, no changes." and Ripley asks "And our guest?" and Ash makes some notes and he tells her some details of his findings so far and he tells her "Well, as I said, I'm still... collating, actually, but uh, I have confirmed that he's got an outer layer of protein polysaccharides. Has a funny habit of shedding his cells and replacing them with polarized silicon, which gives him a prolonged resistance to adverse environmental conditions. Is that enough?" and Ripley says "That's plenty".

Ripley then asks Ash "What does it mean" and Ash tells Ripley "Well, its an interesting combination of elements that makes him a tough little son of a bitch" and Ripley says "And you let him in" and Ash says "I was obeying a direct order, remember?". Ripley however firmly tells Ash "Ash, when Kane and Dallas are off the ship, I am the Senior Officer" and Ash says "Oh, yes I forgot that" and Ripley says "You also forgot the science division's basic quarantine law" but Ash says to her "No, that I DIDN'T forget" and Ripley asks him "Oh, I see you just broke it?". Ash however says to her "Look, what would you have done Kane? You knew his only chance of survival was letting him in here" but Ripley warns him "But by breaking quarantine, you've risked everybody's life". Ash then says to Ripley it was a risk he was willing to take but Ripley almost teasing says to Ash "That's a pretty big risk, for a science officer. Its not exactly out of the manual, is it?". Ash then firmly says to Ripley "I take my responsibilities just as seriously as you do, you know. You do your job and let me do mine, yes?!" and Ripley leaves.

This is followed by the scene where Dallas, Ash and Ripley discover the alien had detached itself from Kane's face and is missing so they look for it and it soon lands on Ripley who screams out and Ash places it onto a tray to examine it. So, Ash "Ripley, for God's sake, this is the first time that we've encountered a species like this. It has to go back. All sorts of tests have to be made". Ripley however says to Ash "Ash, are you kidding? This thing bled acid! Who knows what its gonna do when its dead?!" and Ash says "Its safe to assume its not a zombie!" and he says to Dallas "Dallas, it has to go back" and Dallas says to him "Well, I'd sooner not burn it at the steak but its your decision, Ash". 

Another notable scene from Holm is where just after Brett is killed by the alien, the crew discuss what they should do to try and kill it. So, Ripley asks Ash "Come on, Ash. Science department should be able to help us. What can we do to drive it?" and Ash says "Yes, well, it's adapted remarkably well to our atmosphere considering its nutritional requirements. The only thing we don't know about is temperature". So, Ripley then asks "OK, what about temperature? What happens if we change it?!" and Ash says "Let's try it. I mean most animals retreat from fire, yes?". 

Then there is the scene where Ripley while in the computer room discovers from Mother that Ash had a special order that he was to bring back the alien and all other priorities are secondary, even the crew. So, in the scene we see that Ash is actually in the computer room with Ripley and he says to her "There is an explanation for this, you know" and she grabs him and shouts "I don't wanna hear your goddamn explanation!" and pushes him against the wall and Ash suddenly looks a little different. 

So, as Ripley leaves the computer room, Ash begins to seal off the doors around here and we see a milky like liquid drip from the side of his head and as Ripley tries to get by him, he stops her and grabs her hair and rips a piece of it and Ripley desparately tries to crawl away from him but Ash grabs her and throws her into one of the bunks. Ash then grabs a magazine, rolls it up and tries to suffocate Ripley with it but he is soon stopped by Parker, who knocks Ash's head off, revealing him to be android with milky liquid spraying everywhere, Parker beats him into inactiveness but Ash is briefly revived and attacks him but Lambert zaps Ash with the cattle prod device to deactivate him.

And lastly there is the scene where Ripley manages to reactivate Ash to ask how can they kill the alien and what he is order was from the company. So, Ripley asks him "What was your special order?" and Ash in a modulated sounding voice says "You read it, I thought it was clear" and Ripley asks "What was it?" and Ash says "Bring back lifeform, priority one. All other priorities are rescinded". Parker however angrily stands up and shouts "That damn company! What about our lives, you son of a bitch?!" and Ash says "I repeat, all other priorities are rescinded". 

Ripley then asks Ash "There's got to be a way we can kill it, Ash. How can we kill it?" and Ash says "You can't" but Parker angrily says "That's bullshit!". Ash then tells them "You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility". Lambert says to Ash "You admire it" and Ash says "I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality". Parker then asks Ripley to pull the plug on Ash but before Ripley does, Ash says "Last word" and Ripley asks "What?" and Ash says "I can't lie to you about your chances but...you have my sympathies" and he smiles and Ripley then pulls the plug and deactivates him permanently. 

Yaphet Kotto next is great in his role as Parker, the wise cracking engineer, who probably acts like some sort of alpha male but he does do a good job later on at defending the crew as the alien threat worsens (well up to a certain point!).

As for Yaphet, he also has his share of good scenes that include the one near the start where Dallas informs the crew they have to investigate the transmission. 

So, Parker complains about the bonus situation (not for the first or last time either!) and says "I hate to bring this up but we're a commercial ship, not a rescue ship and its not in my contract to do this kind of duty. If you want to give me some money to do it, I'm happy to oblige..." and Dallas warns him "Parker...!" and Parker continues "Let's go over the bonus situation. Can't we just go over it?". And Ash interrupts and says "Can I say something?" and Ash says "There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated". Parker, however refuses to listen "I don't wanna hear it. I wanna go home and party!" but Dallas shouts at him "Parker, will you just listen to the man?!" and Ash tells him they will forfeit their money if they don't investigate and Dallas says to Parker "You go that?!" and Parker laughs and says "Yeah!". 

Then there is the scene where Parker asks Ripley once again about the share situation if Dallas and the others locate the transmission source and find what they are looking for. 

So, Parker in the scene shouts to Ripley "Hey Ripley! I wanna ask you a question! If they find what they are looking for out there, does that mean we get full shares?!" and Ripley tells him "Don't worry, Parker, yeah. You'll get whatever's coming to you!". Brett however says to Ripley "Look, I'm not gonna do anymore work until we get this straightened out!" and Ripley assures him "Brett, you are guaranteed by law to get a share!". Parker then shouts over the noise of the compressed air canisters he is firing and says "What?!" and Ripley annoyed says "Why don't you just fuck off?!" and Parker teases and says "What?!" and Ripley says "If you have any trouble, I'll be on the bridge!" and she walks off.  So, Parker shouts after her "Come back, Ripley, baby!" and he laughs as she goes.

Another good scene for Yaphet is when the crew sit down and eat a meal together with Kane seemingly recovered from his alien ordeal. So, as they eat Yaphet says to the others of how poor the ship food is "I'd rather eating something else but right now I'm thinking about food!" and Kane jokes with him and says "Now you know what its made of!" and Parker laughs and says "I don't care what its made of!" but Kane starts to cough violently and Parker at first laughs and says "What's the matter? The food ain't that bad, baby!". 

Then there is the scene just after Brett is killed, Parker is clearly shaken and says "Whatever it was...it was big!" and he asks "The question is, is it using the air ducts to move around?". And as Dallas makes his plan to force the alien into the airlock and zap it into outer space, Parker anxiously says "How?! This son of a bitch is huge! Its like a man! Its big!". 

And then there is great scene where after Dallas buys it against the alien, Parker slams Dallas's flamethrower down on the table and says "We found this laying there. No blood, no Dallas, nothing!" and he angrily slams it again and picks it up and puts the strap on his shoulder. Parker then angrily says "I don't hear anybody saying anything round this place!" and Ripley interrupts and says "I'm thinking!". Ripley then suggests that they carry on with Dallas's plan but Lambert objects and suggests they take the shuttle but Ripley points out it won't take four people. So, Lambert says "Why don't we draw straws?" and Parker angrily says "I'm not for drawing any straws, I'm for killing that goddamn thing right now!". 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP! 

Then there is the scene where Ash is revealed to be an android as Ash malfunctions and attempts to kill Ripley, Parker runs in and saves Ripley and he uses a tracker to hit Ash and it knocks his head out of his shoulders, revealing he is a robot. So, Parker shouts "Its an android! Its an android!" and he continues to hit Ash until he falls back and milky liquid sprays everywhere and Ash's hands go limp. And Parker stunned says "Its a robot! Ash is a goddamn robot!" but Ash suddenly springs to life again and struggles with Parker, who shouts "Get this thing off me! Get this fucking thing off!" and Lambert rescues him by stabbing Ash in the back with the electrified rod Brett made earlier. 

And lastly there is the scene where Ripley wires up Ash's head so they can talk to him again and Ripley asks Ash "How do we kill it, Ash? There's gotta be a way. How do we do it?" and Ash says "You can't" but Parker defiant says "That's bullshit!". So, after Ash says how he admires the alien for having no conscience or morals and being a pure creature, Parker says "I've heard enough of this and I'm asking you to pull the plug!". So, after Ash says he can't lie about their chances and he offers his sympathies, Ripley pulls the plug and says "We're gonna blow up the ship. Take the shuttle" and Parker says "Good" and helps up Lambert and says "Come on" and before he leaves, he stops at the door and sets fire to Ash's head with his flamethrower and incinerates it.

Veronica Cartwright is also very good in the role of Lambert, the navigation officer, who is somewhat highly strung and struggles to cope with the pressure of the alien crisis.

And I will for time just mention a few of Veronica's scenes such as the one near the start where the crew scan above the alien planet and Lambert asks "Where's Earth?" and Kane says "You should know!" and Ripley says "That's not our system". So, they continue scanning and Lambert says "Found it! Just short of...(words that I cannot decipher!) and Ripley says in "I told you so" voice "That's not our system!" and Lambert smiles and says "I know that!". 

Then there is the scene where Dallas, Kane and Lambert go out on the surface of the alien planet in a blizzard wearing their space suits. So, as they proceed, Lambert complains "I can't see a goddam thing!" and Kane says to her "Quit griping!" but Lambert fires back with "I like griping!" which prompts Dallas to be a bit annoyed and tell them "Come on, knock it off!". 

And lastly there is the scene where just after Dallas has been killed by the alien, Lambert becomes hysterical as Ripley suggests they proceed with Dallas's plan.

So, in the scene, Ripley says to the others "Unless somebody has a better idea, we'll proceed with Dallas's plan?" but Lambert anxiously says "What?! And end up like the others?! No, you're out of your mind!". Ripley then asks Lambert "You have a better idea?" and Lambert says "Yes! I say we abandon this ship! We just get the shuttle and get the hell out of here! We take our chances and just hope that somebody picks us up!". Ripley however shoots down Lambert's plan by saying "Lambert, the shuttle won't take four" and Lambert then suggests desparately "Then why don't draw straws?!" and Parker says "I'm not gonna draw any straws, I'm for killing that goddamn thing right now!". 

Harry Dean Stanton next is also pretty good in his role as Brett, the second ship engineer, who works with Parker. 

And I will mention a few of his scenes starting with the one where Parker and Brett are down in the engine room talking and complaining about their work situation. And Parker says to Brett "I don't know why they don't come down here?" and Brett offers "The same reason we have a half share to their one, our time is their time, that's the way they see it. Same old shit, man!". 

Then we have the amusing scene where Ripley is annoyed that Brett only seems to say the word "right" all the time after Parker talks. So, Parker in the scene says of Kane "I can't see why they can't just freeze him, and sort back when we get home" and Brett says "Right". So, Ripley somewhat irked says to Brett "Whenever he says ANYTHING you say "right", Brett, do you know that?" and Brett says "Right" but Ripley is still annoyed and says to Parker "Parker, what do you think?! You're staff just follows you around and says "right". Just like a regular parrot!" and Parker laughs and says to Brett "Yeah, shape up. What are you, some kind of parrot?" and Brett once again says "Right" which annoys Dallas who snaps "Come on, knock it off!". And when Ash comes through on the intercom and tells the others to come and see Kane, they all make their way out and Brett as he goes says "Right!". 

And last of all is the scene where after Kane's death, Brett makes up some rods that are like makeshift cattle prods and he says to the others "I put portable generators in each of these. They're insulated down here. So, just make sure you don't get your hand down the end". So, Brett demonstrates the effectiveness of one of the rods, which produces a loud spark and he tells them "Shouldn't damage the little bastard but it should give him a little incentive!". 

And last of is John Hurt as the ill-fated Kane, who becomes the first victim to the alien lifeform as the facehugger attaches itself to home and we all know how that ends up! And Hurt's performance is pretty good overall albeit somewhat brief in comparison to the others. 

And I will mention a couple of Hurt's scenes such as the one where Kane inside the alien craft, uses a rope to drop down inside a large chamber filled with alien eggs. So, Kane says as he drops down "I'm in a cave of some sort! I dunno but its like the goddamn tropics in here!" and he looks around at the eggs and says in amazement "What the hell is this?!". And after Kane touches ground, he walks up to the eggs and looks at them and says to Dallas "I see alot of leathery objects that look like eggs or something" and he stops by one and sees something inside it move and says "Wait a minute, there's movement!". So, as Kane get's closer he says "It seems to have life. Organic life" and suddenly the egg opens and Kane looks in closer and suddenly the alien jumps out and lands on his helmet, knocking him back on the ground. 

And lastly there is the scene where Kane having recovered from his ordeal with the alien attached to his face (having fallen off and died off-screen) he sits up and drinks some coffee. And Dallas and the others stand around him warmly and Parker asks "How you doin?" and Kane takes a sip and says "Terrific! Next silly question!" and Dallas asks him "Do you remember anything about the planet?". Kane then takes a moment and says "I remember...some horrible dream about...smothering??" and then he snaps out of his confused state and asks "Where are we?" and Ripley cheerfully says "We're on our way home!" and Brett says "Yeah, back to the old freezerinos!". And Kane smiles and says "I could do with some food, I'm really hungry!" and Dallas smiles and says "You all want one meal before bedtime, I'm buying!". 

And as a special last mention there is of course the actor who plays the fully grown alien, Bolaji Badejo who was a 26 year old design student at the time from Nigeria. Badejo himself was 6 feet 10 inches in height. Badejo himself was apparently spotted by a casting crew member in a bar and given his long, slender build, Scott thought he would be perfect for the role as the layout of the suit demanded someone very slim to fit into it and Badejo certainly fit the job.  

DIRECTOR 

Finally moving onto the direction, Ridley Scott does a terrific job here with the film and he expertly builds up the suspense slowly as the film progresses from the start with its chilling opening titles (the graphics for which were done by Doctor Who titles creator, Bernard Lodge). Scott himself was offered to direct the film after the film producers were impressed with Scott's debut film, The Duellists. Scott's visual design is also very stylish and creative and he employs liberal and effective use of slow pans to build up tension, which works well aswell as some frantic camera work later on near the end of the film's climax. So, overall this remains one of Scott's finest directorial works.

MUSIC

As for the music score it was written by the late great Jerry Goldsmith (and conducted by Lionel Newman) and it is a terrific score in its own right and its main theme is highly memorable, not to mention chilling and atmospheric. Goldsmith himself ironically was not too keen on the score itself as he had originally composed a different more romantic sounding score but Scott was not impressed by it, so Goldsmith had to recompose the main theme, which he felt was more "obvious" in its sound. Regardless of any issues, Goldsmith might have had this is still a great, sinister and highly atmospheric sounding score.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws...yes OK, Alien still does have some.

For starters, I think its safe to say that the film is VERY slow paced at times and it does take a while for it to get itself into gear and even then it tends to slip out of gear during certain sections of the film as we get some tense scenes of action/horror and then back to more dialogue or slow camera pans. Don't get me wrong, as I think Scott obviously did this on purpose to create a stronger suspense and sense of unease in viewers and it does work but at the same time the pacing at times is definitely quite slow. 

Another issue I had was to do with a couple of curious moments in the film, with the first being just how did Ash end up in the computer room with Ripley at the same time when we didn't see him when she first entered and even during the scene before he makes his appearance? So, this suggests to me that they must have cut out a scene where presumably Ash entered the room and joined Ripley. Either way its a strange decision to have Ash just randomly appear in the room the way he does.

The second issue is to do with the following scene where Ripley leaves the computer room and all of a sudden we see she has a nosebleed! And this literally comes out of nowhere! And I can only suggest again there must have been a deleted scene that explains why Ripley suffered a nosebleed at this very moment. The only other thing that could have been a factor is the stress of the situation may have caused Ripley's nose to bleed but that's just an outside chance of course. Whatever the reason, its another curious moment that is never explained.

Then there is the scene where the alien advances on Parker and Lambert and grabs Parker and kills him and while this is all going on, Lambert has ample time to run away but she never does it! I mean, Parker is in the alien's grasp for easily a minute or so and that would have given Lambert an opportunity to leg it! But nope, Lambert decides to just stand there and do nothing but wait for her turn and she meets her demise by what looks like the alien about to fist her with his big tail! So, yeah Lambert's refusal or fear response here is just silly. 

And last of all is a slight issue I had to do with a design aspect of the film, which makes it look a bit dated and that is the crew's space jackets, which have the word "Nostromo" written on the back of them. However, when you look closer at the back of their jackets, you see that the Nostromo is written in a VERY 1970's looking font! So, yeah its the one aspect of the film that is really dated looking and just a bit silly and its a shame that their jackets didn't have that design on them. Maybe a nitpick but all the same. 

Anyway, so that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, overall, Alien is still a terrific sci-fi horror film to this day and it remains a landmark of the genre and it would never be bettered by the films that followed it (Aliens came the closest but that's it!). And the film itself is a masterpiece of design, suspense and atmosphere (even if it takes place in deep space alot of the time!). It also features a very solid cast, who all give fine performances and it launched the careers of Sigourney Weaver and of course Ridley Scott. The visual effects for the alien by H.R. Giger are terrific and unique and the miniature effects are also very impressive for their time. 

And if there are any niggles then they are fairly minor as this is definitely one of the best sci-fi films of its time and indeed all time and it remains a must-watch film. 

So, with that said I will give Alien a rating of:

10 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post soon, which might be a video game review of the action game, Control, which I recently finished.

So, until the next one, bye for now!