Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Alien’

8/10/2024

Written by Scott Edwards

Sigourney Weaver as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s ALIEN. (Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Studios.)

The Nostromo is returning to earth when they receive an S.O.S. from a distant planet. Worrying about their current haul along with what the find would have in store for them, monetarily, they decide to check it out. Working on a hostile planet is not what the crew had in mind, but when a strange ship is discovered, the crew has nothing to do but to investigate. With every salvage operation that is held in space, a share has to be given to every crew member and even though it may not be what they expected, they get what is coming to them.

With everything in the future seeming to be run by the company, it is hard for the crew and anyone else to get their own agenda taken care of. Having their ship run by a program called ‘Mother’ where only one person/thing is allowed to access what is stored in the data banks, it is shown that nobody will ever be trusted, no matter their authority. With cyborg Ash controlling everything that has to do with scientific discovery on the trip, it is easy for the crew to forget who is really in charge… the company.

Finding something that should never have been located on the distant planet and having crew member Kane attacked by something that they have never seen before, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley is faced with the decision of a lifetime. Not wanting to allow the organism attached to Kane back onboard the ship, she is overruled by Ash, for a find that may be more valuable than their current haul. As Kane is put on the operating table, the rest of the crew is squeamish about what has attached itself to his face and has no idea what to do next. The parasite is somehow allowing the fallen crewman to survive in its grasp but will not allow itself to be removed.

Feeling somewhat comfortable with what is happening, the crew is able to get back to their main ship and start their way home once again. Although the captain seems to be in control of the ship, there seems to be something strange lurking in the background as science and discovery seems to override everything. Once the parasite comes off of Kane’s face, he feels like a new man, but the creature that has been embedded in his chest has other ideas. Bursting its way out of Kane's chest, the creature runs around the ship and grows at an alarming rate.

With one crew member dead, more start to follow as the creature runs room to room and takes them out one by one. Although Ripley was the voice of reason from the beginning, she is now in the middle of an alien attack onboard the ship and has to do everything in her power to not allow it to make it back to earth. Deciding that blowing up the ship is the best course of action; Ripley finds that the creature is far more intelligent than anyone anticipated, and it has survival on its mind as well. When it winds up on the escape pod with her, Ripley is challenged once again and has to put her own life in jeopardy to rid the ship of the creature.

One of the finest movies to ever start a series and a franchise, what Alien brought to the big screen was something that had never been seen before. Keeping with the classic horror formula by not really seeing the monster until as late as possible was nothing new to the 70’s screen, but having no way to defeat the monster was, and that's something to this day that few films have ever tried to accomplish. Not to mention adding pure terror into the realm of science fiction and having a nearly invisible monster lurking around the ship was a stroke of genius.

Alien was a movie that opened up the minds of a generation by giving us a new kind of monster. A creature/monster that has no other purpose than to survive. It is really that easy to explain the creature, but what is happening behind the scenes is far more terrifying. The company is really in charge of the ship, the crew and the cargo that is being transported, and nothing will stop them from getting what they want. With the discovery of a new life form that does not seem to have any natural predators, along with the finest defensive capabilities ever seen, they will risk the lives of their crew along with everyone on the planet earth to secure it.

Of all the strong performances by the cast, Ian Holm's (Ash) had to be the most powerful. Having to play the smart android science officer, along with the villain for risking the lives of the crew to keep the creature safe, he went well beyond expectations. Not to discredit the performances laid down by Tom Skerritt (Captain Dallas) or Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) and the rest of crew, this movie was very well acted, and it would be a dream to see another film like this take the screen. Ridley Scott’s Alien opened the minds and imaginations of the audience and sparked the series for years to come.

Watch ‘Alien’

0 Comments