|
MOVIE REVIEW
Alien
(1979)
Starring:
Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
Director:
Ridley Scott
Rating: R
Studio:
20th Century Fox
Release Date: 10.29.03
Review
Posted: 10.29.03
Spoilers:
Minor
By
Sara M. Fetters
Scott’s
Masterful "Alien" Back Where it Belongs
There is
nothing like an enduring classic to paint perfectly everything
that is wrong with scary movies today in
Hollywood.
Even better, how refreshing it is to see said classic back in
theaters right where it belongs, its pure, simple claustrophobic
terror proving to be ageless. Where other movies seems to date
almost before they leave the multiplex, Ridley Scott’s
masterpiece of fright “Alien” holds up as the real deal in
screen screams, a Halloween treat for everyone looking to spend
some quality time in a darkened theater.
Lord knows,
the near 25-years since the film’s original May 1979 release
have been more than good to it. Currently listed as the 65th
best film of all time on the Internet Movie Database, it has
also managed to make its appearance on a few of the American
Film Institutes seemingly never-ending cadre of lists. Most
recently, its villain the Alien is the 14th greatest
of all time, while Sigourney Weaver’s Warrant Officer Lt. Ellen
Ripley is the eighth greatest hero. Even the E! television
channel has gotten into the act, naming Scott’s film the sixth
greatest American thriller ever made. Not too bad for a sci-fi
chiller not especially well-reviewed and only expected to make
back its budget at the box office the first time around.
By now, we
all know “Alien” did far more than that. Not only did it launch
a varied and quite successful series of films – each directed in
a different style and fashion by a young, up and coming director
for that matter – its main villainous character had its own toy
action figure for goodness sake. But the real question, of
course, is, does it still hold up almost a quarter of a century
later? More so, does Scott only muck things up by giving us a
new-fangled director’s cut of a picture that wasn’t broken to
begin with?
On the first
question, that’s a huge yes, and while I can’t be as adamant
with my negation on the second one, Scott’s tinkering doesn’t do
any damage that dilutes either the film’s chills or its
terrifying legacy. “Alien” still scares, remaining a
white-knuckle thrill ride from first frame to last.
By now, the
tale told in “Alien” is almost cliché. The deep space mining
team of the spaceship Nostromo, on their way back to Earth, is
awakened from their hibernation to check out what appears to be
a distress signal emanating from a distant planet. Once there,
they discover a ship filled with leathery egg-like sacks, one of
which opens up and releases a nasty little beast that attaches
itself to one of the crew’s face. Later, back on board the ship,
said creature disengages, dies and the crewman appears to be
fine. But all is not well as it quickly becomes apparent that
the alien creature was using the man as a host, its offspring
bursting forth from his chest during dinner (a moment in film
history actor John Hurt will never be able to live down). Now,
one by one, this new creature dispatches the crew in
particularly gruesome fashion, all of them trying to find away
to stop the alien and make it back to Earth alive.
While some of
the computer technology used in the film is undeniably dated –
love all the green teletype and what appear to be Christmas
lights dangling all over the place – many of the movie’s visual
effects and, especially, H.R. Giger’s impressive Alien effects
are not. While CGI definitely gets what actual outer space
flight might actually look like, the vehicles and planets still
look as if they were rendered in a computer. I’ll always be a
fan of miniatures and scale models, their hard three-dimensional
edges far more realistic to me than anything created (so-far) in
a computer. As for Giger’s creature, it hasn’t lost its – well –
bite at all, every bit as gruesome and petrifying as it must
have been to those that saw it for the first time in ’79.
What also
continues to shine is Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett’s assured
story and screenplay. Made in the wake of George Lucas’
massively successful “Star Wars,” Scott’s film hold more in
common with Stanley Kubrick’s “2001” than it does with the
Lucas’ ever-popular space opera saga. It’s a sparse, mesmerizing
tale, equal parts Agatha Christie and F.W. Murnau. Even better,
O’Bannon and Shusett give us real people to care about, not
character types like most horror films. There are struggles and
issues just beneath the surface during nearly every scene. From
Parker (Yaphet Kotto – in what still seems like a career-best
performance) and Brett’s (Harry Dean Stanton) working class
distress at what they see as disreputable treatment, to Ripley’s
(Weaver) bitterness at a perceived lack of respect from the male
members of the crew, to Lambert’s (Veronica Cartwright) fury at
what she sees as Ripley’s uncaring nature, this is a messy and
muddy spaceship clouded by human frailty every bit as much as it
is bullied by this aggressive alien menace.
As for the
new scenes, most of them don’t really add too much. Even more,
they aren’t going to be all that new to anyone who’s watched the
wonderful collector’s edition DVD that’s currently available.
Even the fabled “Nest” sequence where we learn the fate of
Nostromo captain Dallas (Tom Skerrit) – while undeniably
unsettling and creepy – doesn’t really increase the movie’s
value all that much. If anything, it comes just this close to
slowing the film’s final act down just a wee bit too much,
allowing some of the rising tension with regards to Ripley’s
escape to dissipate. One added scene I definitely did like,
however, is an early confrontation between Lambert and Ripley,
crystallizing the constant animosity that lingers between the
two for much of the epic.
No matter,
Scott’s movie is a masterful motion picture worthy of every
accolade it has been handed. It was a pure delight to see the
film in a theater – unfortunately for the first time I have to
add, I was far too young to see it the first time around – and I
can’t wait to head out and see it once again. As the tagline
says, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” In a theater,
however, at least everyone in the crowd can join along with you.
Rating:
êêê1/2
(out of 4)
TOP
|
