The foundation for a line of movies to come begins here. I’ve been a fan of this film since I can
remember first seeing it. It has the
science fiction I crave with a story that meshes very well with a cast that can
act it out. I haven’t seen the movie
anymore than three times from what I recall but it’s a suspenseful experience
even after the first watch.
The crew of Nostromo, a mining spaceship,
receives a transmission from an unknown planet on the outer rim. They go to see if there is any intelligent
life there to the dismay of some crew members.
They find a spaceship of unknown origin.
Upon investing the ship they find a fossilized corpse with its rib cage
broken upward. This body is huge
compared to the human explorers on the mission.
You get a close up of the body and see it’s not human at all, however,
that is all you see or hear about that once alive entity. I’ll admit I’d love to know where it came from
and why it was on that planet. The
distress signal, which seems to be a warning signal, was never actually located
anywhere, so it’s a slight mystery as to why it was on or who activated it. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) deciphered
the signal as it was original thought to be an S.O.S. Has it been signaling for hundreds of
years? Was it somehow a trap set by some
unknown adversary? It really makes me
wonder. It’s a good feeling to be
thinking while you watch the film. I
enjoy some of the mystery this film leaves on the table. Kane (John Hurt), the unlucky SOB, discovers
the egg field of the aliens. It was
interesting to imagine how all the eggs got there in the first place. Did the original owners of the spacecraft try
to grow them as their own weapons? Was
it part of some greater plan that went wrong?
It’s the subtle mystery of the discovery that keeps you glued to your
seat. Kane gets a bit too curious for
his own good, which delights me greatly, and gets the “face hugger” attached to
his space helmet.
I loved
the conflict between Ripley and Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt), upon trying to
get back on board the space shuttle.
Quarantine orders forbid immediate entry which is most logical; however,
Dallas commands to be let in. You know
protocol Captain, shame on you for endangering your crew. It creates a power struggle and a “should I
follow the rules”? Ripley denies entry
but he is permitted by the scientist Ash (Ian Holm) to enter.
The
story continues to flow masterfully as the “face hugger” puts the alien into
Kane. He is lying in a medical room on
his back when his crewmen try to remove the alien entity. They attempt to cut off one of the finger
like parts but get shocked by the acid blood that drops out of it. It’s at that moment in the history of this
franchise we discover that horrifying defensive mechanism the alien has. The crew has no choice but to wait and see
what happens. He eventually awakens as
the “face hugger” detaches itself from the body leaving him to be extremely
hungry! There is a thrilling scene where
they are searching for the “face hugger” in the medical room. It’s dead when they do find it leaving some
mystery as to why it would suddenly be in that state. At the last meal before going back to the
freezer, space sleeping, Kane’s chest explodes and the real suspense begins. The classic, absolutely classic scene of the
baby alien scurrying away into hiding mortifies you.
Great
on the seat of your chair scenes occur, but a troubling one to me is when they
split into two teams. Why do that? An unknown alien entity is loose on the
spaceship and the Captain wants to divide and conquer his own crew? For the film’s sake it’s not too bad overall
since you need a method to create suspense.
I personally would want to keep together at all times, track down the
little bugger and destroy it. It didn’t
look friendly to me in the first place.
Ripley, Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) sent off to
find the little alien but find a cat, named Jones, instead. They are using a motion tracker and that cat
runs off. Obviously someone must find
that stupid cat so they don’t track it down again and waste time. The scene that gets me is when Parker sends
his good buddy Brett off to find the cat solo.
The movie gives you the impression Parker and Brett are good buddies so
wouldn’t they at least go together? I
mean, Captain Dallas said to stay together and why would Brett go off alone
anyway? I would have refused outright.
Enter
the lengthy death march of Brett. We get
a somewhat long, I know this guy gets it, kind of buildup. He searches around saying, “Jones” so much I
became annoyed. He wanders in and out of
dark rooms that you are wondering which room will be his last. Obviously the alien gets him and thus
finishes the worst part of the film in my opinion. The rest becomes a survival situation very
fast. A part I like is when Ash is
intently studying the now dead “face hugger”.
He is very intrigued by it and wishes to return it to earth with
them. He is later revealed to be an
android under orders to bring back any potential useful life forms with him at
any cost. Ripley and he go at it
furiously until Ash is destroyed. It’s
that kind of inner turmoil that adds to the disruption this unfortunate crew is
undergoing in such a short amount of time.
It’s very tasteful writing makes you already hate the corporation they
work for to think of their own employees lives as expendable.
The crew
dies off one by one for the most part until Ripley decides to blow the spaceship
up. I mean at this point the alien is
fully grown and that has become the best option. She also goes way out of her way for that
accursed Jones cat. Why? It’s a cat; it’s not worth dying for at this
point. The alien could be anywhere and
you want to risk getting killed by it?
The alien recognizes the spaceship is going to blow, from what I can
tell, and it stows away in the small shuttle presumably while Ripley is
searching for Jones. I hope it was worth
it.
The
climatic ending serves well as the alien is found sleeping in the corner. It’s kind of surprising to see a sleeping
alien but it must be tired of killing people.
It deserves a rest right? Ripley
ends up vacuuming it into space through the hatch. All in all it’s a great quiet thriller to
watch. The alien makes few appearances
but that’s perfect enough. The best part
is the film doesn’t set up a sequel.
It’s good to watch knowing it won’t need to be concluded in another
movie.
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