Alien (1979)
The alien movie that really started it all.
Presentation:
Ridley Scott impresses audiences with a spectacle sci-fi for 1979 with similar techniques to his iconic Bladerunner. It looks good in 2024 despite the outdated computer tech because of the anamorphic image texture and set design. The film opens up with the spaceship corridors, which immediately immerses you into the setting. I think for this reason alone it looks better than James Cameron’s sequel Aliens. Although we don’t get to see as much of the alien, the way they are presented are more menacing and powerful even compared to sequels. You can feel the aliens more in the original, and I think sequels are really not worth the watch including James Cameron’s version, which devolved into an action film. This one is more of a sci-fi horror with reasonably interesting turns. The mood established here is what alien movies should be about, mysterious, exploratory and futile.
Conclusion:
Alien movies in essence are similar in formula to slashers, except with a monster. The plot can’t really move forward without incompetence, which is why I’m usually not a huge fan of them especially when they devolve into brainless sci-fi action movies. It’s not horribly egregious for this film, but it is still infuriating to witness how useless the entire crew is, including Ripley and her stupid cat. I mean seriously, tackling an alien instead of shooting it is an insult to our audience IQ. Still, an iconic film that is watchable today, but other alien franchises are have filled in the holes of these tropes. It might seem unfair to give this film a lower ranking as it was revolutionary for its time, but compared to modern alien films that critics would attack like Life, you can’t seriously say this one would be judged better today. But it is a great film for it’s time that should still be watched despite its forgivable flaws.
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A philosophical odyssey venturing into our cosmic subconscious.