The Stuff I Watched: Alien
Upon rewatch, I thoroughly enjoyed this and it has easily become one of my favorite films from the 1970s. Really shocking take I know.
Howdy!
With my final semester of undergrad underway, I’ve gotten quite busy yet again. Surprise surprise.
Fortunately, the workload is nothing I can’t handle so I’ll still be able to write about movies. Instead of writing on the latest films, I decided to go back to a classic sci-fi horror picture that I had to watch for a class.
I was really happy that I actually watched Ridley Scott’s Alien. I hadn’t seen it in a few years and never really appreciated it when I viewed the film on my laptop. But watching it on a TV, I was so impressed. For being one of the most influential films of all time, there are still interesting
Here are my thoughts on Alien:
Alien (1979)
Director: Ridley Scott
A
Like many great classics, it’s impossible to know how to write this review because Alien is one of the most discussed and chewed-upon films in the history of sci-fi and horror. But alas, I will try to explain why this movie is so revolutionary.
For those of you who don’t know, the film follows the crew of the spaceship Nostromo trying to survive a deadly extraterrestrial (named the Xenomorph in the sequel). It’s a mixture of Jaws and Friday the 13th but IN SPACE. The connection between the former Alien may seem obvious, but the creature takes the form of a silent serial killer in the same vein as Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.
Part of why Alien works is through its galactic setting and the Nostromo. The classic tagline that is shown in the film’s poster establishes the endless void that our heroes inhabit. As the monster chases them around, no one will come save them. Space works as the ultimate horror environment in a sense because you’re all alone.
But there is simultaneously a feeling of claustrophobia because of the spaceship everyone is on. Since the alien that is trying to kill them is somewhere on the ship, there’s a set limit on where it could be. But neither the audience nor the characters know where. I noticed how Scott would contrast an establishing shot of the Nostromo before cutting to a shot of a tight hallway. It’s one of the more ingenious ways of building suspense and cosmic dread.
The characters could’ve mostly survived. But through a mixture of greed and invalidation led to the ultimate demise of everyone except Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).
What I found super fascinating was how Ellen was treated by her crewmates. The Aliens franchise has a lengthy subtextual history of feminism. In the James Cameron sequel, we see Ripley become a hardened badass because of her femininity when she fights the Alien Queen. But Scott uses Ripley gender to show how no one will listen her when they skirt procedure by bringing an infected crew member (John Hurt) on board.
Furthermore, in the 1979 original, we see Ripley stripped of her clothes in the final moments of the film when she is on an escape pod. While this may seem like the film is undermining Ripley, Scott in reality uses horror tropes in order to build fear and suspense. This may be an oversimplification, but the gender politics make the film a really fascinating rewatch.
I don’t think you will be disappointed by rewatching Alien. It’s such a well-crafted, brilliantly acted and directed piece of filmmaking. It truly does pioneer the genre through iconic moments like the chestburster scene. And if you dare to go deeper in this film, I guarantee you will come to fascinating conclusions.