Alien [Blu-ray]

This review is for the UHD edition of Alien released by 20th Century Fox in April, 2019I pre-ordered this release and I sat down to watch the movie in it's entirety for the first time since it's theatrical release, 40 years ago. I've seen bits and pieces and I've seen 'Aliens' a few times. Other than that, the only other movie from this franchise that I've seen more than once is 'Prometheus'.UHD Disc: I'll get right to the point. The picture is very clear as would be expected from a UHD release of a movie of this magnitude. I don't know much about photography. I just go by what my eyes tell me. If you want an in depth breakdown on the picture, you will have to check elsewhere in the reviews. The picture looked great. The only thing that I can really comment on is the color saturation. This seems somewhat muted but I suspect that is the way the movie was filmed. Other than that, I don't think you will be disappointed if you are watching this on a large screen television.There are two different versions of Alien presented. You can watch the original theatrical version or the director's cut.WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE THEATRICAL CUT AND THE DIRECTOR'S CUT?:There are many differences and changes made between the two movies but the director's cut is actually about a minute shorter than the original cut.In the director's cut many minor scenes are cut and some scenes are trimmed to eliminate some unnecessary excess.There are several scenes added to the director's cut. They are:-The crew listens to the transmission on the Nostromo's bridge shortly after being woken up.-A longer scene is used when Ripley comes to the medical bay where Kane is after being attacked by the facehugger.-The most notable scene that is added is the scene where Ripley finds Dallas and Brett in cocoons and she incinerates them.EXTRA'S: You get two versions of the movie, the theatrical cut and the director's cut. You get both the Blu-Ray version and the UHD version.-Audio Commentary by Ridley Scott and cast & crew.-Audio Commentary by Ridley Scott on the theatrical version-Introduction by Ridley Scott on the Blu-Ray version.-Final Theatrical Isolated Score-Composers Original Isolated Score-Deleted and extended scenesCOMMENTS:WHAT WERE MY THOUGHTS AFTER WATCHING THIS MOVIE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 40 YEARS?: I was actually quite surprised at how little screen time the 'alien' has in this movie. I am so used to the sequel, 'Aliens', which I've seen many times, and having played many video games, that I never realized how rarely you see the 'alien' in the original. I thought the movie in some respects was better than I remembered and in other respects it was worse. As a young teenager I wanted action and this movie is very slow in the first half. Today, I like the slow build up and the slow development. What I don't like is the unrealistic actions of the characters which is normal for most science fiction movies. I go into more detail below under 'WHAT I DON'T LIKE'. It had always been my impression that this was a big budget movie. Listening to the commentary, this is not the case. Ridley Scott talks about short cuts they had to make since they didn't have the budget to do it the way he would have liked. The bottom line is that after watching this movie again for the first time in 40 years, my opinion is basically exactly the same. I don't think any higher or lower of it.WHAT I DIDN'T REMEMBER:-Ripley isn't nearly as tough as I remembered nor as tough as she is in later movies.-I remember almost nothing about the cat. I have no memory of it.-Being that I was only 13 at the time this movie was released, I wasn't paying much attention to the details. I never realized that the trip was a set-up. I knew, of course, that in later movies, such as 'Aliens' that this was the case but I wasn't aware of it in the original.-I thought that the android was the same one that was in 'Aliens'. Obviously, my memories are scrambled!-I did not realize that Kane was alone when the facehugger jumped on him. I found it surprising that the next time you see him, he is being brought on the ship.WHAT I LIKE:-The Alien design is as classic a look as it gets for an 'alien'.-I very much like the look of the interior of the 'Nostromo'. This is excellently designed. Even taking into account the unexpected leap in computer technology, things still look good. The exterior is nothing to write home about. Of course it's a mining ship!-While 'Alien' has been criticized for having a slow moving plot, I think that is a plus. I like movies that slowly build up the story, characters and world. If anything, I wish most movies of this type were longer so that they can be fleshed out even more. I'm not one to complain about 3 hours movies. I like epics as long as they are good. I don't care of a movie is 10 hours longs as long as those 10 hours have interesting stuff in them.WHAT I DON'T LIKE:-Call me whatever names you like. I don't like strong female protagonist's. I know in this day and age that makes me Public Enemy #1 to half the country. So be it. I very much prefer the 'damsel in distress', any day and time of the week.-I find that a common theme with Ridley Scott's science fiction movies, is a decided lack of 'common sense' amongst the characters of his movies. He doesn't really seem to care about realistic scenario's. Some examples of what I'm talking about:a) Looking at the size of the Nostromo, how hard could it have been to quarantine the 'alien' once you knew where it was. It should be quite easy to seal off area's of any ship whether it be a sea going vessel or even a proposed space ship. In any event, any type of ship would have these types of safety features.b) Kane could have been quarantined but they chose not to do this. Even taking into account, going against procedure, they still should have had him completely isolated, especially on a ship of that size.c) Why even attempt the landing? They did what they had to do and went to the planet to answer the distress call. Once there, there was no response and there was no reason to attempt a landing that was that dangerous. The excuse that the whole thing was a set up is not really valid here since the captain was unaware of what was really going on.STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST'S: Yes, that pretty much starts here. There were some others that came before but Ripley is the first genuine heroine of this type that everyone thinks of. Of course, today, this sort of thing has gone way 'over the top'. We are now just about at the point where strong male protagonist's are unusual.RATINGS:Plot: 7/10 - The plot is actually thin and it takes big parts from earlier movies. Significant, of course it is, but I've created a separate category for that.SFX: 7/10 - For it's day, the effects were very good but for this movie, I'm creating a set design category because that is what truly stands out.Set Design: 10/10 - The ship is excellent as is the planet landscape. Based on Giger, that's all we need to know.Picture: 9/10 or 5 stars - I always think there is room for improvementHistorical Significance: 10/10 or 5 stars - This should be obvious.Extra's:Overall: 9/10 or 4.5 stars which I'm rounding up to 5 starsCONCLUSIONS/DOES THIS MOVIE STAND THE TEST OF TIME?: This is an all time science fiction classic. It has to get 5 stars. I was quite happy to get the director's cut which I had never seen until now.I was never really a big fan of this franchise to begin with. Thus, this is the first time watching this movie in 40 years.The obvious franchise to compare it to is 'Predator'. I much prefer the 'Predator' franchise to the 'Alien' franchise.I think it pretty much stands the test of time, even if some of the special effects and the computer graphics are dated. This movie looks as if it could have been made today. Thumbs up for 'Alien'.WHAT COMES NEXT FOR THE ALIEN FRANCHISE?:If you are purchasing this release, I doubt very much that you need me to tell you about future movies. Obviously, 'Aliens' is next followed by 'Alien 3' and 'Alien Resurrection'. After a hiatus, next comes the two Alien vs. Predator movies. More recently the prequels arrived in the form of 'Prometheus' and 'Alien: Covenant'.

Short version:If you haven't seen Alien yet (or haven't watched it lately), wait until late at night, turn off all the lights, press "play" and enjoy... ;)Long version:It's almost hard to believe that Alien came out over 40 years ago. I was 13 when I saw it on the big screen, and I still remember watching it in a dark, almost empty theater. To say it scared me back then would be an understatement.The plot is simple - an alien gets onboard a tug/freighter spaceship, and the crew attempts to kill it as it picks them off one-by-one. On paper it doesn't sound exciting or scary, but the atmosphere, pacing and overwhelming sense of dread steadily turn up the tension. Make no mistake - this isn't a fast-paced pace, Michael Bay action flick - it's a dark, claustrophobic, slow burn horror film 1st and foremost.The various versions of the title creature were very unique (at the time), terrifying and visceral. HR Giger's designs - both for the alien, the derelict ship, and its pilot - and were very unsettling in a way that's still hard to describe today. Giger's biomechanical art style has been imitated in films many, many times over the years - but in my opinion its never been improved upon. The only film to successfully use Giger's biomechanical design/style - and build upon it in a lateral sort of way - was the sequel "Aliens" (an equally impressive film for completely different reasons).(Side-note: An incredibly talented high school classmate of mine went into the special effects industry, citing Giger's' work as a major influence. He even met and spent some time with Giger prior to his death in 2014).The film was a stark contrast to Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc., where the spacecraft interiors were smooth, clean, and sterile in appearance. It was easy to believe that the characters actually worked on/in their ship (the Nostromo), which had an appropriately grimy, gritty, worn and "used" feeling. The Nostromo also had a vastly different exterior design and overall feeling than other spaceships portrayed in film at the time. It was big, bulky, and decidedly not aerodynamic nor sleek in any way (it was designed to give the impression of a riverboat tug that takes 1 or 2 miles to slow down and execute a simple turn to go back the way it came). Landing on the planet (to investigate the alien "distress" signal) is portrayed as a slow, difficult, and inherently risky/dangerous process (no transporters here to beam the crew to/from the planet).Space travel is also depicted in a unique and more realistic manner than in many previous sci-fi films - travelling to/from star systems takes months or years vs hours/minutes/days.Costume design for the crew follows the same "well-used and worked-in" theme as the spaceship interior and exterior - no skin-tight spandex jumpsuits here. This further reinforces the idea that the crew are akin to a sea-going freighter crew (captain/pilot/radio operator/mechanics/etc.) that just happen to work in space.Although there's little time for character development, the acting is solid across the board. The entire cast went on to have long, impressive careers - with several of the surviving actors/actresses still active today.The title creature isn't shown in full until very late in the film - the viewer only gets a partial glimpse here and there - a formula other good creature films often follow. When it is finally revealed (after having blended perfectly into its surroundings – VERY creepy) its horrific yet somehow elegant & captivating at the same time.In my opinion, the film has held up very well over the years. Only a few scenes/props/special effects betray the movies' age. The 1st being the computer interface(s) various crew members interact with, and the 2nd when the science officer is being questioned about the alien (after he is the victim of a VERY traumatic injury).Even with its minor flaws, Alien (and the Aliens sequel) is a 1st class Sci-Fi film that set a high standard (a standard that few sci-fi films have matched even to this day) and is highly recommended.Trivia 1:In an the early versions of the script, the alien derelict ship is found and explored - but they only find the dead pilot - the alien eggs aren't onboard.Later, while the crew ponders what happened to the crew of the derelict, they locate a nearby pyramid-like structure. When they investigate it, they discover strange hieroglyphics on the walls and ultimately the alien eggs. (The final script/plot for Alien removed the alien pyramid completely, and the alien eggs are found aboard the derelict).This basic plot structure (pyramid included) was later used in the low budget film "Galaxy of Terror" which was released only two years after Alien. A spaceship crew (this time on a rescue mission) lands on an alien planet only to find a derelict (human) ship with dead/missing crew. They later investigate a mysterious pyramid nearby which contains numerous, unspeakable horrors.(Interestingly enough, James Cameron worked on Galaxy of Terror as the production designer and 2nd unit director and was responsible for much of the special effects).Aliens (the direct sequel to Alien) was directed by Cameron 7 years after Alien (and 5 years after he worked on Galaxy of Terror) and utilized the same basic story structure as Galaxy of Terror. However, instead of exploring a derelict ship, the protagonists/rescuers explore the abandoned/empty colony of "Hadley's Hope". Later they explore the vaguely pyramid shaped atmosphere processor and find alien eggs, multiple aliens and ultimately the alien responsible for laying all those eggs...Trivia 2:Several design elements in early, preproduction sketches of the Nostromo (named "Snark" at the time), found their way into the design of the Prometheus ship in Ridley Scotts (non-Alien sequel) film of the same name.Prometheus also has a dome/pyramid structure (with a menacing skull/face on it's top) as the main environment the crew investigates. The exterior design is reminiscent of both the (unused) pyramid design from Alien and another pyramid/dome structure Giger designed for the movie "Dune". The dome structure in Prometheus also contained a large number of mysterious urns on the floor - very reminiscent of the egg chamber seen in Alien. On the walls of the urn chamber are numerous hieroglyphics, many of which are taken directly from HR Giger's early, preproduction artwork/paintings of the alien's life cycle.