Sadly and ironically it’s the alien fans and Scott that have ruined this franchise. Alien covenant tanked and fans loved it because “you get to see the alien”. It’s an classic example to NEVER let fans decide a movie. Fans don’t know what they want to it hits them. Another is the disgusting 2019 Godzilla film. 🤮
Homemade Collectibles2021 Scott sunk the Alien franchise with “Prometheus” when he turned the 16 foot long mysterious, alien Space Jockeys and turned them into buff, bald humans. He removed anything alien from the Alien films with those god-awful prequels and if anyone should’ve known better, it was him.
My father asked my mother to see Alien as their first date. She already saw it, pretended she didn't, and saw it again with him. 40 years later and they're still in love!
I took my soon to be wife on our first date to see Alien as well. She was so frightened she kept grabbing my arm. I thought she was going to wind up in my lap. Well, that did come later.
Alien was playing on Cinemax the week before Prometheus came out. I. had my GF at the time watch Alien w me w the idea we’d see Prometheus the next week. Then Ripley “took the lord’s name in vane” w a GD. My date had no memory of anything that happened after that she was so shocked by the language. Next week we’re literally at the ticket window when she drops “I don’t want to see this movie because…” while dozens of people were waiting in line. So she saw a stupid kids movie while I saw Prometheus alone. Afterwards, I had to wait for her kids movie to end. She emerges and can’t shut up about how good her PG-13 movie was. Never asked once how Prometheus was. Lesson: Don’t take religious little kids in adult bodies to R rated movies. Just go by yourself and leave the wet blanket at home to read her bible.
Alien is one of those rare "perfect" movies. All the elements of great moviemaking are present and well balanced. The pacing, direction, and editing are unparalleled.
Recommended it to a someone younger than me. They said it was "slow". I kept my composure and shrugged it off, but inside I simply could not believe what I was hearing.
Agreed. From the opening title sequence alone you get the feeling that you're in for a ride. Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack - which is not so much "music" as it is environmental ambiance - is simply perfect, slowly drawing you in to the story. And the last ten minutes or so, starting from the self destruct sequence is a heart pumping ride to this day. AlienS, is also a great movie, but for totally different reasons. Where Alien is a "slow burn thriller", Aliens is more of a straight action Sci-Fi movie (though done extremely well). I appreciate both of them nearly equally.
@Bee Zo Rich well written characters, for those days a surprising final surviver, a beautifly strange designs all arround, the atmosphere, the twists. I can only imagine seeing this i nthe theatres, not knowing what comes next, as these days they show you the damn movie in the pre-trailer trailer trailers.
When Ebert mentioned creature from the black lagoon, he mentioned a movie that was 25 years old at that time. That's like mentioning Pulp Fiction or Forrest Gump today.
@@newyorker14622 Yeah, anything before 1970s felt super old to me, and even the 70s felt rather old. I was born in 1976, so I gave it a halfway pass as being sorta modern, and since I existed for part of the decade it was modern enough. But I know the way we thought, is the way people younger then us born in the 80s and then born in the 90s, these kids today think of the 2000s....etc....I'm sure this is the way our parents born in 1945/1946 thought of the 1930s, 40s, 50s....etc
I saw Jerry Goldsmith conduct the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in the early 90s and the first piece out the gate was the opening them from "Alien." One of the best concert experiences of my life.
I believe if it hadn't been for Siskel & Ebert there will be no RU-vid Channels reviewing movies, tv, games, etc. They changed our lives forever. God Bless Siskel and Ebert!!
@@JoeBobTarheel There were other movie reviewers you know. Barry Norman being one of them. I always found Siskel and Ebert (particularly Siskel) to be a bit snobby when it came to film, and it felt like they thought their opinion was gospel.
@@bathombre9739 That's definitely the wrong way around. "Alien" was a smaller, more claustrophobic film. Whilst there's no denying it's quality, it doesn't have the wham! bam! thrills of Aliens.
Most terrifying movie I’ve ever seen. The realism of this world draws you in and the creature is just so far beyond any monster ever conceived during that time period. Couple that with a young Ridley Scott’s incredible directing and ability to elicit such tension and fear. It’s an amazing film.
We're all still fascinated by and terrified of that creature. It instantly feels real and intriguing in a way that no other monsters in any film I can think of really do. It's haunted my dreams ever since I saw it as a kid too. It's truly terrifying, and weirdly beautiful at the same time. Giger was some kind of genuinely twisted genius.
@@SurfingTubes Really? Didn't know that. Opium never inspired me to come up with anything like that. It just made me fall asleep and stop caring about stuff.
@@thesprawl2361 Pretty sure I saw that in a youtube documentary about Giger. Said he was a kind spirit who would casually offer you a toke on his opium pipe....can't recall where I heard that though. There's a Giger museum in Switzerland, looks amazing, hope to see it someday.
@@SurfingTubes I think the guy had an extraordinary mind, but he was obviously pretty fucked up too. At art school someone had a big book of his work, like a huge book with all kinds of stuff he'd done in it. There was some seriously disturbing stuff in it, and I mean not just weird, but basically pedophilic stuff. One painting that stuck in my head was of a little boy getting fucked from behind in a dustbin by an old guy. He was really fucked up.
The music. The atmosphere. The design. The casting. The acting. The script. The lighting. The pace. It’s as close to a perfect movie as any I’ve ever seen, across all genres.
Well said. The casting is rarely mentioned, but all the roles were so well cast. As far as I know, none of these actors were household names, yet I can't see anyone else playing their parts. Almost every scene is engrossing as well. One of the few films I give a 9.5. No one gets a 10 :)
Andrew Koines oddly enough, at the time Ian Holm was probably the best known, but mostly for his stage work. Anyway, the performances all come off perfectly natural, no caricatures. Some of the best cut dialogue scenes outside of Robert Altman (and that is saying a lot). Also, I agree nobody quite gets a 10. For me, Brazil is at about 9.7 Oh, and... Ian Holm again.
Most of the actors had secondary or tertiary roles in well known films in the 1970s, but none that you could recall their names. Yaphet Kotto probably had the biggest role amongst the cast at that point as the main villain opposite James Bond in 1973's "Live And Let Die".
The music is rarely mentioned when it comes to this movie but the ambient tones really fit the dank and claustrophobic atmosphere of this movie. Especially, the sequence when Ian Holm starts to malfunction.
6:08 - Ebert immediately identifies exactly the part of the film that really makes Alien different from other genre flicks. He's spot on here - the space jockey scene is one of the most striking scenes in cinema history, and it lingered in my mind when I first saw it at the age of seven or eight.
@@MiloDC And the cretins at the studios didn't want it included because it was so expensive and lasted for such a short period. If you have a vision, accept no compromises on it.
@@peg202xo7 It was my dad who rented it :) He rented out all his favourite movies, to educate me on great cinema I suppose. I didn't really think about it at the time but it was bit thoughtless of him. And Alien had a big effect on me. To this day, if I have a nightmare it usually involves the xenomorph. That thing lodged in my subconscious.
@@thesprawl2361 that’s the exact reason why 98% of movies have been unwatchable for the past 5-10 years. Studios only allow the cheapest/easiest way to film movies designed only to make as much money as possible…with zero artistic integrity. A new movie like Alien would never be made today…but it did I guarantee it’d be all boring CGI and the plot would be stretched thin into a 4 part trilogy then have a Ripley, Dallas, and Ash standalone movie all full of stupid Easter eggs, callbacks and lame self referential jokes
Saw it on opening day. I had a subscription to OMNI magazine, and they had done a story on it, a few weeks before it hit theaters. It was the frighteningly grotesque artwork of H.R. Giger that really drew me in.
I believe if it hadn't been for Siskel & Ebert there will be no RU-vid Channels reviewing movies, tv, games, etc. They changed our lives forever. God Bless Siskel and Ebert!!
Remember when film critics (like Siskel) still we’re reserved and critical of even 4 star movies? Now we have fan boys that crap their pants from just the sight of nostalgia or bright moving lights on the screen.
Wtf are you talking about? Ghostbusters=roasted by fans. Star Wars=Roasted by fans. Hell the newest Alien movie=roasted by fans. What series are you talking about that “fan boys crap their pants for”. Rogue One? The movie that is the one people point to directly as overusing nostalgia?
@@nowhereman6019 Prometheus was a noble failure and Covenant was him shitting all over the franchise he helped to spawn. What a waste of time. When videogame developers can do a better job at recreating and illiciting your original work than you can (Alien: Isolation), then probably best to just leave well alone.
Maybe the best Sci-Fi movie of all time. At first, I didn't know what to expect. But, after the birther scene (John Hurt), I thought I knew what to expect. But, it didn't happen. Pure Hitchcock. Create a certain suspense and then take it in another direction. And, great set design. The ship of the aliens actually seems organic rather than a metallic construction.
Yes, I believe that ship was also conceived by H R Geiger, the one who designed the creature itself. This film goes way beyond traditional sci fi in my opinion. It feels like they tapped into the evolution of this universe in a very logical and believable way.
Alien is a masterpiece of film making as it transcends with its immersive visual, audio, and acted experience. It will probably remain my second favorite sci-fiction/horror film forever, right behind number 1 John Carpenter’s The Thing! It’s so difficult to make movies as good as those nowadays.
I've always found that the superb acting is the element that makes "Alien" such a great film, although the f/x and the alien itself are certainly impressive.
The alien is the star...but the acting is terrific, and realistic from the start. The acting has an almost documentary feel to it, which instantly puts you on edge, because it lets you know that plot armour and cliches and heroic moments are not going to figure in the film. It feels like there are no heroes or baddies - you are just going to watch something unfold and the director is neutral about whether good or evil will triumph. That lets the viewer know that anything can happen.
Solid acting is right on, as well as great dialogue too. To this day, in certain situations I'll find myself saying to myself "Get the Hell outta the Way!!" LOL!
Actually it's really a remake of an early 50's sci-fi I can't remember the name of. It works brilliantly as a film on every level, but it's not really original in the plot sense.
Went with a bunch of my friends in Northern Minnesota. One of our mothers had to pick us up after and she was waiting outside the theater and could hear everyone screaming their heads off! She was wondering what the heck we'd gone to see!
A feminist movie critic would say...”Alien is a movie where none of men listen to the one woman and they all die gruesome and painful deaths. The only two to survive are the woman and her cat. Four stars”
When I was young I remember the trailer for Alien would be shown after 9pm on the major networks. The trailer alone scared the hell out of me. I didn't watch Taxi for several weeks because of it.lol
Saw it when it came out at the old Cinema 150 in Little Rock Arkansas which had a curved 120 degree screen that wrapped around to include your peripheral vision so you couldn't look away. Saw some other great films there as well. It was the last theater of its kind to close in America and has since been torn down but it was great while it lasted
I was fortunate to see the premiere of "Alien" at The Egyptian in Hollywood in 1979, and I don't think I have ever seen a large audience so thoroughly scared by a horror film. I can tell you it's a horror film first, and that it's a science fiction film in very distant second place. The tension in the theater was incredible and I can only compare it to seeing "Halloween" the first time with a big audience. People who see these films the first time at home are not having the same experience. There's the scene at the end where different people in the audience realized something horrifying is present, and screams here and there in the audience built up, so as to clue in others and make them look for it. Brilliant stuff.
My Dad and I saw it at the Egyptian, too! He was an Art Director for TV, so being able to walk through the bits of the Nostromo set was a real treat, especially seeing the "Space Jockey" (before it was set ablaze by some religious nutjob).
The first I heard of "Alien" was a teaser trailer at a drive-in where I was seeing the original "Carrie." Not recognizing any of the actors, I dismissed it as a grade-B film, perfect for the drive-in crowd. Was I ever more wrong? When the film came out, the city's newspaper devoted the whole front page of the Entertainment section to it. The coverage included a review by the paper's film critic, who gave it four out of four stars -- something he had never done before. When I saw that, I knew that this film was a far cry from the low-budget "B" film I thought it was.
In 1979, it was the TV commercial that did it for me, with the Tagline, "In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream". It was the start of my long love for Scifi movies. And this was among the best. I left the theater feeling like I had actually been there. And in fact, was where I was in reality. It just took a movie like this, to wake me up to that fact.
Wow, what a find! Alien is my favorite film and I’ve been looking for this review of it forever. Even that now defunct Siskel and Ebert archive video site didn’t have this one. I had heard they didn’t like the movie when they first reviewed it. Guess not!
On their Take 2 program, Invasion of the Outer Space Movies, which is on RU-vid, they lumped Alien, Star Trek: TMP and the Black Hole together and Ebert called them "real disappointments" compared to 2001, Star Wars and CE3K. Ebert said it had "one scene" with imagination, echoing what he said here about the exploration scene. Siskel basically agreed. It definitely sounded on that program like they didn't like Alien. In light of this original review, you'd have to assume they liked Alien but thought it was only a minor entertainment compared to other sci-fi films. Ebert later putting it on his Great Movies list would almost have to represent a reevaluation of the movie.
I saw this movie for the first time on VHS on what was a big tv at the time with a 32 inch screen. It was mostly dark, you couldn't see much and I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I then had an opportunity to see it on a huge screen when one of the very first multiplexes opened in my area and they did a free weekend movie marathon. It scared the absolute crap out of me. LOL, There really is a difference for some films between theatre and home viewing.
Thank you so much for posting this, I remember watching this in its original time slot, an April Thursday night on PBS! I was able to catch Alien before anyone else got to, in a major Studio sneak preview. Everybody in the theater was glued to the screen!
Yes, he says it's basically a haunted house film and my reaction to that is... *so what?* They weren't trying to make "2001," and if they had, the movie probably wouldn't have worked as well. Sometimes it seemed like Siskel didn't want to like thrill ride films like this. They weren't intellectually sophisticated enough for him to completely embrace, and I found that rather pretentious of him.
It's because it represents the atmosphere of the old cramped "space truck" that was anything but perfect, squeaky clean, well-lit, well-organised and advanced. The horror of the movie was living in this yellow-tint, gritty, vintage setting that many things could go wrong - and they did. Additionally it also represents the era that the original movie was made in. Both of these are given better with imperfect image and sound quality than pristine ultra-sharp 4k and multi-channel Dolby.
4K is actually closer to looking like the original analog tapes. So if anything, if you had watched this or any other old film in the theater decades ago you'd would have witnessed it in its raw, unaltered and fully DETAILED manner. Watching stuff in the quality shown in this review strips away any purpose of having put in hundreds of possible hours of work on the ship interiors or costumes or even the alien itself. I am so glad we're getting ever closer to having true direct-from-the-source quality in the palm of our hands.
There's a great video on the channel hbomberguy about this. It's part of the show 'scanline' and they talk about the effect a medium has on it's content. In this case VHS. It's fascinating
I remember my friends and I watched Alien on cable in the early 80s when we were 9 or 10. The special effects were cool and the alien was plenty scary, but our most vivid memory was seeing Sigourney Weaver in that skimpy underwear at the end of the film. 8-)
My dad saw this with my mom while I was away at my Grandparents for early summer. When I came back my dad insisted I see Alien even though I was only 13 and it was rated R. Sooo, one Saturday afternoon Dad took me to the Midland theater in downtown Kansas City, bought one adult ticket to Alien, handed me the ticket and I got the crap scared out of me for 2 hours in a great, old theater that still stands to this very day. Thank you Dad!
The infamous chest-burster scene when John Hurt is eating chow mein. A friend of mine ran to the theater's aisle and threw up in the nearest garbage can. Ironically, about 5 or 6 years later, he and I were at the county fair and I ate a bad carnival hot dog that kinda looked like Gieger's alien. Then we went on the ferris wheel. Every time we rotated up to the top I threw up that hot dog all over his shoes like we were in that pie eating contest in Stand By Me. Good times! Ah, Jaybird... Where are you now?
4:04 - the use of music in this film is so subtle and spare. It is crucial in establishing the tone of the film. Imagine the music from Halloween or something slathered over this...it'd destroy it.
I wouldn't be born for another 7 years but the movies Alien and Aliens are one of my favorite scifi movies of all time. Very cool to see this piece of cinema history preserved on RU-vid.
Well technically _(adjusts glasses)_ it did have eyes, but they're under the carapace on the top of its head. In certain scenes you can see the eye sockets when the light hits the alien just right. Much better without the eyes imo, but still, it does have them in the original incarnation.
...Also, to be fair, the film doesn't really let you see very much of the creature at any point. It's only in subsequent sequels that we get a better look at the xenomorph. In Alien Ridley Scott wanted to keep the Alien as out of sight as possible to build tension and make it more frightening. I'd say it worked.
Alien is not only one of the best science fiction movies ever, I consider it one of the BEST horror movies I have ever seen because no movie scared me as much as this one did.
I saw this on opening day with my best friend, Bruce. I still remember the two cute girls in front of us screaming and throwing their popcorn bucket in the air.
They missed the boat on this. "Good haunted-house-in-space movie." Well, almost every sci fi that followed for years did that and it wasn't enough. Forget that it's "sci fi" and realize that this is a GOOD script with GOOD acting. It's a smart movie that even examined corporate greed before that became standard operating procedure for every film. This movie changed movies, period. It was more significant than was given credit by these two, proving again the limited value of "professional" movie critics.
When Ridley Scott first saw Giegers artwork he said “That’s it”. Then he had to fight with the studio to get the alien design approved. Also, all the lighting and 80% of the camera work was done by Ridley himself.
0:40 - You can just tell by the amazing music in the soundtrack this hunt in the air vents is not going to come out well. Thanks for posting this, it really takes me back. Sneak Previews was the first really good movie critic TV show and went on until Gene Siskel passed away. I found out about so many good movies, the Independently produced and distributed and a lot of foreign movies too that I never would have seen.
No mention of the phenomenal performance that Weaver gives???? The final act was mesmerizing and a real nail biter, I can’t think of any scene in any movie since that matches it!
LOL yep, I saw it when I was 9, too! (My sister was with us, she was only 7!) So glad my parents took me, never gave me any nightmares but I LOVED it, ate up everything Alien I could find after that! Still my #1 favorite movie to this day!
I used to watch siskel and Ebert as a kid and get excited for upcoming movies. That's what people had to do before RU-vid. Brad Pitt has an upcoming space movie that looks great by the way it with Tommy Lee Jones.
The 70’s had so many ground-breaking films from Alien, to Jaws to Close Encounters to Star Wars -- today’s movies seem like they’re all duplicates of each or repackaged movies form the past.
Definitively one of the greatest movies of all time. It literally changed my perception of just how good Science Fiction movies could be on a production and script level. Before that, there was only 2001 Space Odyssey which was just not interesting to me given that I was so young I didn't understand it. And although Star Wars is a great film it's production value was no match for the hyper realistic (for me most part) set production of Alien. Just an all-time great. For me, anyway :)
Still love this movie. While I think the alien itself is cool visually, it's actually the space ships and set design that I thought was so amazing in the first three movies.
Every movie that Siskel and Ebert review (on youtube): Siskel/Ebert (usually the former): criticizes some aspect of the movie, even a minor one Commenter: But this is my favorite movie!!!
I love Siskel, but i have to really disagree with what he says at @5:47. If you "set aside the beautiful scenery and the evocative weirdness" of the movie you're disregarding the execution of the movie. Yeah it's a pretty basic monster movie scenario, but the execution is the whole thing that makes it special. Ridley Scott made an incredibly atmospheric and visually influential movie using a story that a lesser filmmaker would use for forgettable B-movie horror schlock. Also, even though it's subjective, most people who care about such things would probably agree Alien is on a very short list of films that have a reasonable claim to the title "best science fiction movie ever made " . Thankfully Gene seems to get why this movie is so special. :)
Back in the day when you had to tell 8 year olds to not go see an R rated movie because nobody gave a shit back then about who they let in the theater.
wish this and the other shows were remastered and on netflix or something. i could easily watch this for hours and make lists to watch. I also wish there was something similar today.
Agree with Siskel here. Alien can really only tangentially be described as science fiction, and that’s only because of its setting. It’s a straight up horror film. A very good one.
It doesn't really ooze at all....it quietly stalks the crew. It's like 9 feet tall later on but you never hear it coming till it's too late. It oozes acid though if you damage it.
Man,I've been looking for this for awhile❗The one nitpick I have is there's a part toward the end of the review where one of the two guys picks up the Kenner 'ALIEN'toy and says "You can hardly call it a toy"! I swear I saw this!
Alien is still the best science-fiction, psychological-thriller/horror flick ever made, in my opinion, with Aliens being the best science-fiction, action-thriller/horror flick every made.
"Alien" is a perfect masterpiece of horror in suspense that made me cry out of fear! No other horror movie has even come close to doing that! The alien has only about 4 minutes of screen time for the entire film, but there's always a sense that it's lurking in the shadows just off screen. Speaking of which, I have to give a shout out to the alien's actor Bolaji Badejo! It was his one-and-only film role and he looked amazing! His physique was one of a kind. RIP Mr Badejo. 😢 I'm also in the super minority on this, but i do not like ANY of the sequels at all! "Alien" is one of those movies that's on a special type of pedestal that should not be tampered with. The effort that HR Giger and Ridley Scott put into it was something that couldn't (and imo wouldn't) be successfully imitated. "Alien" is an amazing movie and it is my second favorite horror film of all time! Easy four out of four stars for me!
The technology depth in this movie was enormous and very believable at the time. Being two years after Star Wars it kept up with the pace of starship realities and set alot of standards going forward of paying attention to detail regarding physics and atmospheres.
I recall in the late 70's early 80's watching a S&E special on scary movies with clips from Nosferatu, Halloween Exorcist ect. does anyone know where I can see this?
I was 6 yrs old when the movie came out but I do remember my dad saying it was a tough watch the next day. The parents saw it opening night. He doesn't like horror films but figured it might be more like a Star Wars flick than full-blown horror. He was one of those people that watched Star Wars about dozen times (even going by himself when he couldn't drag my mom along) since it stuck around in the theatre for over a year. But about Alien, he was not at all prepared. He said there was this thing like a sea anemone and then this guys stomach exploded and that he didn't know what happened after that because he basically hid his eyes for the rest of the time. That description made an impression on me. Then I saw the Kenner commercial for the Alien doll. We went to Toys 'R Us and I distinctly remember rows and rows of the blue Alien doll box. I wanted one, but my mom didn't think it was an appropriate toy for kids, considering how ghastly the movie was!
