Retrospective: Alien (1979)
Walter Frith
A retrospective movie review by Walter Frith
'In space no one can hear you scream'. This is my favourite tagline for a
movie. It probably always will be throughout the remainder of my life.
Millions of miles away from home. No one to help you. No 911 calls to be
made. No one can hear your cries for help. Such is the physical and
psychological state of the legendary and landmark film 'Alien' from director
Ridley Scott. This is and probably will be the best film in his long line
of successful achievements put on celluloid. Scott's long tracking shots
that dangle the audience's anticipation of what's coming next is matched
only by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock and if Hitch himself had
made this film, he couldn't have done much better. In fact, next to Stanley
Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' from 1968, this is the best directed
science fiction film of all time. Brimming with gothic images that tap into
the audience's fascination with violence, the unknown, and ultimately,
what's possible. And in the wonderful world of movies, the sky's the limit
as the imagination can take us anywhere. Is this obvious? Too true. But
films like this go beyond the definition of the understated and live up to
the highest expectations.
Seven crew members. Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Ripley (Sigourney Weaver),
Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Brett (Harry Dean Stanton), Kane (John Hurt),
Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and the very mysterious Ash (Ian Holm). Each one
capable in their jobs aboard the ship and each one just as vulnerable as the
other in their encounter with the unknown. And isn't that just what makes
films like this so great? The very thought of seeing something for the
first time. Not seen before this and not seen since outside the realm of
this storyline that would spawn three sequels so far with a possible fifth
film to be made sometime in the future that has the alien creatures roaming
the Earth is some capacity.
Each actor in the film never really found super stardom. Not even Weaver
who would go on as the protagonist in the other films. The 'Alien' series
are her only great films and while she received an Oscar nomination for best
actress for 'Aliens', her other two Oscar nominations, both in 1988, as best
supporting actress for 'Working Girl' and best actress for 'Gorillas in the
Mist', never really had her in contention with the other people with whom
she was nominated. Some actors prefer never to reach the pinnacle of the
movie industry, content with being successful character actors, their
respectability with film buffs is re-enforced by the intelligence of the
roles that they choose and each one of the people in this film has
accomplished this.
The Nostromo is an industrial ship maintained by the seven person crew that
is on its way back to Earth carrying a cargo of mineral ore and it appears
to be orbiting Saturn as its next mission is about to take place. Judging
by the rings around the planet they are passing by, this seems to be a
logical conclusion. The Nostromo's main computer, called 'Mother', informs
them that a transmission has been made and according to a clause in their
contracts that sent them on the mission, they must investigate any
transmissions of distress or they will not be paid for their labour for the
entire trip. As they touch down on what appears to be one of the moons of
Saturn, Dallas, Lambert and Kane explore the surface and come across a
phenomenon of alien life that incapacitates Kane for a trip back to the
shuttle where he requires emergency medical attention.
From this point on, without spoilers, the crew is on a trajectory with their
mortality and their very existence. Ridley Scott does a very capable job of
showing us just enough of the alien to tease our desire for more while
defining the thought that sometimes less IS more. Steven Spielberg once
stated that when he made 'Jaws', he didn't intend to show you little
glimpses of the shark until the climax but because they had so much trouble
trying to get the shark to work, it just worked out that way. Ridley Scott
was looking for a breakthrough film after efforts such as 'The Duellists' in
1977 and work in short films and television. He found his masterpiece in
this film written by Dan O'Bannon and produced by Gordon Carroll, David
Giler and Walter Hill. 'Alien' is part thriller and part science fiction
but it works best as a horror film as fear is the best character in the
film. The first time I saw the film, I was 14, and it got me turned on to
the possibilities of what the science fiction genre could be after I had
seen 'Star Wars', made two years earlier, over 50 times. When 'Alien' was
released in 1979, it caused almost as much talk as 'Star Wars' did when
released two years earlier. 'Alien' had a horror characteristic to it which
was psychological, visually striking and compelling with the type of
strength in silence not seen since '2001: A Space Odyssey' in 1968.
For all that has been said and written about this film, for me the true hero
of this film is conceptual designer H.R. Giger who designed the sketches
that would become both the planetary sets and the design of the alien
itself. Detail being the main key, Giger's gothic imagination resonates
with the most discriminating of movie audiences. Through it all, the very
concept of something never seen before and having it work miraculously, is a
testament to why Giger won an Oscar for the film's visual effects along with
Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder and Denys Ayling. I've always
said that with technology advances in motion pictures in the last fifteen
years or so, beginning with 'Jurassic Park', the computerized special effect
can sometimes look phony with sloppy crop markings and one dimensional
tackiness. Matte shots, model designs and tangible designs made from good
old fashioned elbow grease will always be the best thing that Hollywood has
ever designed for the viewing pleasure of audiences. Period.
Visit FILM FOLLOW-UP by Walter Frith
http://home.cogeco.ca/~wfrith1/movies.htm
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