Alien - 1979
Are there any original takes for forty plus year old movies? It's kind of hard to imagine, especially for one as airtight as this one. So, I realize I'll be reinventing the wheel now, highlighting constituent parts that have long been spotlighted in corners of the internet as far reaching as LV-426 itself. Hopefully, like the Nostromo before me, I'll transport an abundance of resources from the silver screen to your eager minds. But, if i don't, look...just watch the film. It's a total cinematic masterpiece.
To me, the greatest strength of Alien (is this the hottest take?) is how well it hides its heroine. I would encourage you to go back and watch the first hour again and closely observe what you're getting. More specifically, note the characterization. Who is Dallas and how does he lead? What is Kane like? What is the beef that Parker and Brett are harboring from the lower docks? I ask these questions specifically because you'll get answers for all of them in those opening scenes. Do you know to which query you will not receive a response? This one: Who in the actual hell is Ellen Ripley?
She is the eventual protagonist of the film, yet we learn almost nothing about her except that she a) sticks to her guns, b) is confident and strong, yet she is c) capable of authentic fear in the face of the unknown. Those first two offer a phenomenal counterpoint to the xenomorph, who is equally enigmatic. Indeed, one of the reasons that Alien is such a perfect draught from the Sci fi horror tap is exactly this. We do not get the motivations of the alien, its reason for existence. Its purposes and aims. It is simply a perfectly constructed being (quoting Ash here) whose sole aim seems to be self-preservation and propagation of the species. It is wholly "other," and as such, it is the perfect antagonist for our nightmares.
Beyond these matters, the aesthetic is really everything. HR Giger is a name that deserves to be mentioned and lauded for his set and creature design. Talk about world-building and atmospherics. The xenomorph still holds up forty years later. So too does Ridley's ability to use smoke, lighting, wind, and other elemental factors to create a palpable sense of dread. There is an almost tangible unease which is present from the OPENING MOMENTS of the film. It doesn't arrive with the alien. It's there from the beginning, and Scott is able to just ratchet it up slowly and steadily until we can hardly bear it. Of course, Jerry Goldsmith's score works in tandem with Giger's creations and Scott's eye to bring this whole thing to life.
Alien is also just the right amount of lean. It clocks in at a much shorter runtime than its successor and uses a far more modest budget. But these factors are not to its detriment. Scott employs all that has been mentioned to give this a kind of creature feature, monster in space vibe. It is science fiction, to be sure. But it is filmed with the kind of horror tropes that were really in vogue from the late 70's into the early 80's. Due to these matters, this picture did not NEED dozens of aliens and an all out war. Its content to pit one blank slate of an evil form against a gutsy ship grunt who has her own parallel shadow side. It becomes a battle of wits uncluttered by psychological detritus complicating the tete-a-tete.
We wait patiently for the two to come eye to eye, through an hour of mounting suspense, and a creature coming to full bloom. (Come on. The Kane chest explosion at supper? Then the tail whip, sky drop of the full grown creature behind Harry Dean Stanton's head? The android reveal, which is as good a twist as you'll ever find. These are all-time great sci fi horror sequences, friends). At last, after much carnage and an evaporated crew, we have it. Her escape plan hatched, Ripley rounds a corner and almost smacks straight into the creature before quietly retreating. Again here the lighting is critical, as the strobes catch Ripley's terrified visage.
This may be the final great insight of the picture. Ripley is one of the all-time great action film heroes period. She eschews the bulky, robotic performances of Sly and Arnold in the 80's for a courageous feminine presence which is unparalleled (until maybe a gal named Connor over a decade later). We will not see this kind of humanity in an action star until John McClane 9 years later. But it is SO perfect for this good vs. evil fray, because we actually BELIEVE that Ripley could get hurt! She shows fear. She displays hysteria and with it, increases our own sense of claustrophobia. She emits a sense of hopelessness which is tactile.
A woman, alone, lost, and running scared from an almost faceless enemy with no perceivable defects. This is the way you construct an all-time thriller. Show, don't tell. And let us feel the tension and suspense of a possible catastrophic menace lurking around each and every corner. Uncle Alfred H. would be proud. With Alien, Ridley Scott and Dan O'Bannon launched an enduring film series and proved that just the right amount of "less is more" generates an impeccable product destined for the sci fi pantheon.
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